Start Slow | Sense-Based Mindful Meditation | 19 Minutes

And now taking the deepest breath you've taken all day in through the nose Let it wash out through the mouth Take two more like that in through the nose and out through the mouth Last one just for you Whatever's been wrapped around your mind or your body.

It releases through the exhale breath and Then stay with a really conscious breath Full awareness now placed upon the breath nasal breathing in and out through the nose Lips gently seal to support that and just simply for the next few moments that arise and pass Are you able to stay within the awareness of the breath?

Nothing else nothing more simple breath awareness Explore And notice that the slower you make the breath and the more expansive in the body The more restorative it is for you So over the next few moments,

We're simply expanding and stretching out the breath Without any force or tension.

We're just letting the breath find some space now and just notice How is it when you actually?

Click in to the breath When nothing else is there and your full awareness is placed on the breath How is it for you?

Is there a feeling or a color that arises when you can be fully present?

Just a few more moments of lengthening and expanding the breath Letting everything else dissolve around you focusing on the breath itself and if you'd like to Put a mantra upon the breath You could simply internally say to yourself as you breathe in breathing in and As you breathe out internally saying breathing out Try that for the next few rounds see how that goes for you breathing in Breathing out Try not to over complicate this try to strip it back stay minimal within your practice and As thoughts already come up to be explored.

Can you just witness them and keep choosing and honoring the breath?

Make the breath the star of this show You're doing really really beautifully We just got one more minute of breath awareness either using the mantra or simply staying within the feeling of the breath And over the next few moments,

We're going to start to soften into our senses So you can gently release all awareness that has been placed on the breath and Just refresh everything if you need to take another breath in and out just a clear you can do that beautifully done starting now with the sense of sound Just noticing the soundscape that is draped around you today in practice Can you locate the furthest sound away from you?

You don't have to label it Just notice it.

There's a difference and Then can you notice another sound that's far away?

Just watching witnessing listening in and during your sound awareness now into the space that you're in in the room What sounds are present for you?

Maybe sensing two or three sounds here and Then drawing in a little further now with the sense of sound Can you hear your breath?

And if you go even further inwards can you hear your heartbeat and Then noticing again from that space within to the external space Encapsulating the whole soundscape that is present now just letting the sound fill your ears fill your mind even the most subtlest of sounds Take it all in Take a moment to appreciate What our ears have done for us thus far What they're doing for us now,

And what they will do for us in the future All the beautiful sounds we've heard What we're to hear Thank you ears.

Thank you to my sense of hearing And then we gently release that and we tap into the sense of touch Start by noticing the surface of your skin Once you fell into the body in that way notice what parts of your physical body are in contact With the surface beneath you if those parts of the body were illuminated with a different color How would that look on your body?

All the parts that are in contact with the surface beneath you and Then noticing what parts of the body are in contact with another part of the body So anywhere that's touching maybe it's the underarm to the outside of the ribcage maybe it's a hand somewhere placed on the body and Finally sensing now into the touch of the clothes against the skin You might even sense if you look very closely you might even sense the feeling of the atmosphere between your skin and your clothes and With the sense of touch just exploring how the physical body feels for you today in this moment and Taking a moment to appreciate our sense of touch Everything we get to touch in our lives Thus far and now and what's to come to feel the embrace of someone that we love to stroke a beloved pet To feel the breeze upon your skin or the Sun upon your skin We take a moment to appreciate and acknowledge this sense Thank you for touch and gently releasing that sense And coming now into the space of the eyes as we explore the sense of sight even with our eyes closed Now with the eyelids closed,

What can you see?

Maybe there's a particular color.

Maybe there's some shapes Maybe it's really hard to put your mind around but you can sense it all the same just witnessing What can you see and then taking a moment to?

Acknowledge and appreciate All that our eyes do for us all that we have seen thus far and all that we are to see moving forward the faces of our friends and our family members a Golden sunrise The waves breaking upon the surface of the shore.

Thank you eyes Thank you for my sense of sight and then gently releasing that sense Dropping your awareness now into the nasal passages directly into the nose Take a deep breath in and notice any aromas that come up through the nostrils Any smell that is present and remember all is welcome Try and simply witness as opposed to judge We're not labeling.

We're not creating a bias We're just witnessing and observing now And if that smell that you're taking in had a color What color would it be?

Take a moment to acknowledge and appreciate your sense of smell What you've smelt thus far and what you will smell in the future no matter The bias or judgment around it.

We get to experience the world through our sense of smell Thank you.

My sense of smell and our final sense to explore now our sense of taste Allow your awareness to drop into the mouth now the tongue and the atmosphere with inside the mouth If you took a little swallow And then let your tongue move a little bit Is there any taste that is present?

Remembering not to judge but just to be aware of And if this taste in your mouth had a color What color would it be?

And then allowing acceptance around this And then a moment of appreciation that we get to taste all those things that we have done in the past And all that we will taste in the future Whatever your favorite food is or meal The joy of that here in your mouth Thank you my sense of taste And now are you able to switch on all your senses?

At the same time To hear all that is here to see to smell to touch to taste What happens when you switch your whole human on?

To the senses How it is to be a human and to sense the world around us?

Let me take a moment to appreciate this vehicle of experience that we have our physical form every single day I mean if it feels right for you to gently turn the dial down On those senses so that you can soften into this a little bit you can You could pick one sense to stay with for the remainder of your practice Maybe it's the sense of touch through the breath Or maybe it's just listening to the sounds So stay with one of your senses now for the next minute Make this the practice And every time the thoughts come up or the mind drifts off Come back to the sense that is awakened Notice where the mind has gone Come back again once more to that sense and if it feels good to do so you can start to Find some subtle and gentle movements through the body Maybe taking a few deeper breaths now as we start to come out of our practice together And if it feels good you could rub the palms of the hands together just to create a bit of warmth And then placing the warmth of your hands somewhere on your body that feels really comfortable and supportive In your own time,

You can slowly start to blink the eyes open And come back into the space