WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.720 --> 00:00:07.640 This is a recording created for the Mindfulness Tools Program at the Center for Mindfulness at UMass Memorial Health. 2 00:00:08.420 --> 00:00:09.600 Welcome to this practice. 3 00:00:10.720 --> 00:00:15.900 Let's begin by finding yourself a comfortable place and whatever posture feels right for your body. 4 00:00:17.100 --> 00:00:22.920 It might be a sitting posture, or you may feel that lying down is what's appropriate for you today. 5 00:00:22.920 --> 00:00:37.000 If you're in a chair or on a cushion on the floor, sit comfortably, well supported, in an upright posture, with a straight back, legs uncrossed if you're in a chair. 6 00:00:38.100 --> 00:00:47.120 Feeling this gentle uprightness of the spine, and maybe even stretching ever so slightly, bringing the tip of the head about a half inch closer toward the ceiling. 7 00:00:48.940 --> 00:00:52.380 Feeling a nice, welcome elongation of the spine. 8 00:00:53.420 --> 00:00:58.020 If you're lying down, have your legs uncrossed and arms at your sides if that's comfortable. 9 00:00:59.540 --> 00:01:08.300 Whichever posture you choose, make it one that will allow you to relax and settle in, but that also embodies wakefulness and a sense of dignity. 10 00:01:09.380 --> 00:01:12.820 A reflection of your intention to be here, present and alert. 11 00:01:15.140 --> 00:01:21.420 And allowing the eyes to be closed if that's comfortable for you, or just taking a soft downward gaze. 12 00:01:21.420 --> 00:01:25.860 Maybe taking a few deeper breaths to help the body settle. 13 00:01:29.680 --> 00:01:34.780 Being aware that you're in this posture, and being aware that breath is happening. 14 00:01:34.780 --> 00:01:45.180 Letting go and releasing anything that's not needed. 15 00:01:45.980 --> 00:01:48.840 Maybe any tightness in the shoulders, any holding. 16 00:01:48.840 --> 00:01:55.680 And if the body is settling, maybe the mind is also settling, or maybe not. 17 00:01:56.860 --> 00:01:58.380 Noticing whatever is here. 18 00:02:00.700 --> 00:02:03.720 And turning our attention inward now to the body. 19 00:02:05.940 --> 00:02:07.720 Sensing the body from head to toe. 20 00:02:07.720 --> 00:02:12.380 Giving yourself permission to be exactly as you are. 21 00:02:13.160 --> 00:02:15.540 There's nothing to fix, or change, or improve. 22 00:02:19.220 --> 00:02:22.900 Bringing our awareness to what it is to be here, right now. 23 00:02:22.900 --> 00:02:35.400 And now, finding an anchor, or a touch point, that we can use as our home base, where our attention can return over and over again. 24 00:02:35.400 --> 00:02:44.380 Some examples for these anchors, or touch points, may be the breath, the feet, the hands, or sounds around you. 25 00:02:44.380 --> 00:02:53.280 And so now, paying attention to the touch points, where your body makes connection with the floor, with the chair, couch, or the bed. 26 00:02:54.360 --> 00:02:55.840 Awareness of this contact. 27 00:02:59.440 --> 00:03:05.200 Sensing the feeling of the effects of gravity, and the solid support of the earth beneath you. 28 00:03:05.200 --> 00:03:16.460 The weight of the body being held by the chair, or by the surface you might be lying on, or how firmly your feet are on the ground. 29 00:03:25.100 --> 00:03:27.980 Sensations on the surface, and also deep inside. 30 00:03:30.040 --> 00:03:31.200 Sensations of breathing. 31 00:03:32.240 --> 00:03:32.820 The pulse. 32 00:03:34.040 --> 00:03:34.640 Digestion. 33 00:03:36.040 --> 00:03:38.900 Everything in the body that's here for you right now. 34 00:03:43.080 --> 00:03:46.020 Resting in the sensations of the body, moment by moment. 35 00:04:05.200 --> 00:04:22.360 And now let's narrow our attention to the sensations of the breath coming and going in the body. 36 00:04:22.360 --> 00:04:29.960 Finding some location or aspect of the breath that feels steadying for you. 37 00:04:29.960 --> 00:04:33.520 Committing your attention to this narrower focus. 38 00:04:33.520 --> 00:04:44.400 And if the anchor of the breath does not feel available to you right now, you can choose one of the others for the next few minutes. 39 00:04:44.400 --> 00:04:47.380 The feet, the hands, or sounds. 40 00:04:50.140 --> 00:04:53.640 Noticing all the different sensations as air comes in through the nose. 41 00:04:53.640 --> 00:04:58.620 As it moves down to the back of the throat, filling the lungs. 42 00:04:58.620 --> 00:05:03.200 And as the lungs expand, the chest moves outwards. 43 00:05:03.200 --> 00:05:08.400 We feel the legs, we feel the ribs move, or we feel the belly rise and fall. 44 00:05:08.400 --> 00:05:11.440 We feel contact with our clothing. 45 00:05:11.440 --> 00:05:16.140 Just following the thread of the breath. 46 00:05:16.140 --> 00:05:28.980 You may feel a brief gentle pause when the in-breath reaches its fullest expression. 47 00:05:28.980 --> 00:05:58.960 Then it turns around to leave the body as an out-breath, and the invitation here is to continue following with awareness, following all the different sensations, not trying to control the breath or alter it. 48 00:05:58.980 --> 00:06:10.660 Just willing to stay with its changing nature, breathing and being breathed. 49 00:06:10.660 --> 00:06:16.540 Maybe noticing a change in temperature as the breath leaves through the nose or the mouth. 50 00:06:16.540 --> 00:06:26.160 This very subtle distinction compared to the in-breath. 51 00:06:26.160 --> 00:06:31.060 Then sooner or later you may notice that your mind is wandering. 52 00:06:31.060 --> 06:38.380 Attention is shifting toward the past, sometimes to the future. 53 00:06:38.380 --> 00:06:45.400 Thoughts about the day, plans, responsibilities, and to stories that our mind makes. 54 00:06:45.400 --> 00:06:56.400 When you notice when the mind is wandering, then gently, kindly, and without judgment, bring your attention back to the anchor of the breath in your body. 55 00:06:56.400 --> 00:07:05.400 Staying in the present moment, resting attention on this anchor, being present with the breath. 56 00:07:48.100 --> 00:07:52.200 And now releasing the anchor of the breath and drawing your awareness all the way down 57 00:07:52.200 --> 00:07:58.500 to your feet, a reliable touch point to the present moment. 58 00:07:58.500 --> 00:08:03.700 Noticing whatever sensations might be present in the feet. 59 00:08:03.700 --> 00:08:07.560 Noticing where the feet come in contact with another surface. 60 00:08:07.560 --> 00:08:13.680 Maybe the floor, or maybe a carpet or a couch, depending on your posture. 61 00:08:13.680 --> 00:08:18.740 Perhaps a sense of pressure or weight. 62 00:08:18.740 --> 00:08:23.840 Sensations may be in the soles of your feet, or the sides or the heels. 63 00:08:23.840 --> 00:08:28.040 Noticing what's here. 64 00:08:28.040 --> 00:08:34.500 Maybe there's a sense of constriction or ease, warmth or coolness, tingling. 65 00:08:34.500 --> 00:08:39.880 There might be a sense of dryness or moisture. 66 00:08:39.880 --> 00:08:45.560 Coming into direct contact with sensations here. 67 00:08:45.560 --> 00:08:50.120 Exploring them moment by moment. 68 00:08:50.120 --> 00:08:53.400 And perhaps there's no sensation at all. 69 00:08:53.400 --> 00:09:03.580 And what is it like to just experience that? 70 00:09:03.580 --> 00:09:09.500 Not needing to know something about the feet or have expectations of any sensations, whether 71 00:09:09.500 --> 00:09:17.960 they're here or not, but to be present just in the knowing of the feet. 72 00:09:37.960 --> 00:09:47.420 And if some sensation, emotion, or thought brings your attention away, you can kindly notice it, knowing that the mind has a tendency to wander. 73 00:09:47.880 --> 00:09:56.340 Remember, this is a thought, this is an emotion, this is a pain or an itch. 74 00:09:56.340 --> 00:10:01.800 And knowing that you can always invite yourself back home to this moment. 75 00:10:01.800 --> 00:10:04.800 Continuing to sustain your awareness as best you can. 76 00:10:04.800 --> 00:10:15.200 Gently, firmly, with intention, bringing your awareness back to the touch point. 77 00:10:15.200 --> 00:10:26.260 No need to go anywhere, we are just being here, with ourselves, with the sensations in this moment, at the chosen touch point. 78 00:11:10.260 --> 00:11:14.220 And like the feet, the hands can also help anchor attention. 79 00:11:14.220 --> 00:11:22.060 So shifting our attention now to the hands, becoming aware of the surface that they're resting on. 80 00:11:22.060 --> 00:11:28.060 Perhaps your lap, or one on top of the other. 81 00:11:28.060 --> 00:11:32.060 Perhaps the arms of a chair or a table. 82 00:11:32.060 --> 00:11:40.060 Being aware of the shape of the hands and the sensations of contact that you're receiving through fingertips and palms. 83 00:11:40.060 --> 00:11:44.060 Perhaps noticing texture. 84 00:11:44.060 --> 00:11:45.060 Maybe even noticing temperature. 85 00:11:45.060 --> 00:11:54.060 Especially if your hands are feeling the warmth of your legs or some other place where they're resting. 86 00:11:54.060 --> 00:11:55.060 Curious, kind attention. 87 00:11:56.060 --> 00:12:01.060 Attending to these moments of our lives. 88 00:12:01.060 --> 00:12:13.060 From time to time you may notice some restlessness, or thinking, or planning, wondering, where is your mind right now? 89 00:12:13.060 --> 00:12:18.060 If you've wandered, just coming back again to the chosen anchor or touch point. 90 00:12:18.060 --> 00:12:28.060 And doing so as gently and kindly as you can, without judgment, without striving to do it perfectly, or scolding yourself for having wandered. 91 00:12:28.060 --> 00:12:35.060 Patience and kindness just returning over and over again. 92 00:12:35.060 --> 00:12:38.060 Inviting yourself to stay present moment to moment. 93 00:13:19.060 --> 00:13:24.180 And now we can take this same natural curiosity, this willingness to simply allow things to 94 00:13:25.180 --> 00:13:30.880 unfold and direct it again, releasing the focus on the hands and directing our attention 95 00:13:30.880 --> 00:13:40.560 to the arising of sounds around us, opening to receive the sounds that are close by. 96 00:13:40.560 --> 00:13:47.980 It may be that the first sound you notice is the sound of your own breath, or maybe there 97 00:13:47.980 --> 00:13:57.320 are sounds of digestion in the body, and now expanding to hear the sounds in the room around 98 00:13:57.320 --> 00:14:09.240 you and in your environment, ambient air sounds, fans, clocks, people and pets, maybe noticing 99 00:14:09.240 --> 00:14:18.600 these sounds and the difference and the distance, exploring. 100 00:14:18.600 --> 00:14:24.640 How is it to bring attention to all the sounds without interpreting or making up stories about 101 00:14:24.640 --> 00:14:29.180 where the sound is coming from? 102 00:14:29.180 --> 00:14:35.700 Or if you're sitting in a place which is completely quiet, you may just sit with the silence, focusing 103 00:14:35.700 --> 00:14:41.820 on anything and everything that you hear with your ears, moment by moment, staying with the 104 00:14:41.820 --> 00:14:48.500 sounds or with silence. 105 00:14:48.500 --> 00:14:52.880 Sounds flow in, some linger, sounds flow out. 106 00:15:13.880 --> 00:15:15.880 And as we're attending to sound in this way, you may notice your attention getting caught up 107 00:15:16.880 --> 00:15:23.880 in thinking about the sounds, wondering what the location or the purpose, or how you don't usually 108 00:15:26.880 --> 00:15:29.880 hear that sound, or the tendency we may have to judge whether we like the sound or not. 109 00:15:33.880 --> 00:15:39.880 And so, noticing that thinking is arising, and as best you can, just letting go of the thought, 110 00:15:40.880 --> 00:15:48.880 and coming back to the knowing of sound itself, noticing it, and coming right back to whatever sounds are here now. 111 00:15:50.880 --> 00:15:56.880 It doesn't matter how often you have to bring your attention back to your anchor, just hearing, 112 00:15:59.880 --> 00:16:00.880 sitting with the sounds. 113 00:16:02.880 --> 00:16:03.880 Being present. 114 00:16:04.880 --> 00:16:05.880 Noticing how they change. 115 00:16:07.880 --> 00:16:09.880 Rising and falling. 116 00:16:11.880 --> 00:16:15.880 Resting your attention in the sounds and the space around you. 117 00:16:52.880 --> 00:16:58.880 And so now, choosing for yourself what anchor feels most supportive for the remainder of this awareness practice. 118 00:16:58.880 --> 00:17:01.880 It might be the hands or the feet. 119 00:17:01.880 --> 00:17:07.880 It might be the breath flowing fully through the body, or at a particular place where you feel it most prominently. 120 00:17:07.880 --> 00:17:10.880 Or maybe you'll stay with sound. 121 00:17:10.880 --> 00:17:14.880 Choosing an anchor and resting attention right there. 122 00:17:14.880 --> 00:17:19.880 Remembering that the quality of attention we're cultivating is friendly. 123 00:17:19.880 --> 00:17:24.880 Allowing what's already here to be here. 124 00:17:24.880 --> 00:17:29.880 Befriending ourselves how we are and how it is. 125 00:17:29.880 --> 00:17:32.880 Moment by moment. 126 00:17:32.880 --> 00:17:41.880 Offering this friendliness to yourself, even if you're aware that you keep wandering, or that you're judging the wandering or the experience. 127 00:17:41.880 --> 00:17:56.880 Gently escorting yourself back over and over again whenever you notice you've gotten distracted. 128 00:17:56.880 --> 00:18:02.880 And as we go about our day, remembering that you have access to these different anchors. 129 00:18:02.880 --> 00:18:05.880 These reliable touch points to the present moment. 130 00:18:35.880 --> 00:18:42.760 And now, once more, shifting attention from the more narrow focus on your anchor to an 131 00:18:42.760 --> 00:18:49.880 expanded sense of awareness, again this wide field of awareness to take in the whole body, 132 00:18:49.880 --> 00:18:56.840 sitting or lying down and breathing, all the sensations in your body from head to toe, 133 00:18:56.840 --> 00:19:03.880 not judging, not pushing away, to observe what is here in this body, in this moment, 134 00:19:04.840 --> 00:19:12.280 with a kind and friendly attitude, not wanting to feel a certain way, just sitting with whatever is here, 135 00:19:14.280 --> 00:19:17.880 noticing how it changes, how every moment is different. 136 00:19:17.880 --> 00:19:35.560 And for the last moments of this sit, you may thank yourself for the time and dedication, 137 00:19:36.280 --> 00:19:47.960 the attention and the presence you brought to this sit. 138 00:20:00.360 --> 00:20:30.120 And now allowing the eyes to gently open 139 00:20:30.120 --> 00:20:40.800 if they were closed, or the gaze to lift, seeing and being aware of seeing, present for 140 00:20:40.800 --> 00:20:42.400 all that's here right now.