Awareness Of Senses

Today we'll be practicing awareness of senses,

Focusing on the present moment to tune out unhelpful distractions and be even more productive.

Let's begin by finding a comfortable position sitting on the chair,

Perhaps filling the ground beneath the feet,

Sitting bones making contact with the seat,

Spine growing tall,

Head balanced on top of the spine,

Making a choice to allow ourselves to be exactly as we are in the moment and bringing our attention to the awareness of seeing,

Allowing the eyes to linger rather than moving quickly.

What do we see?

Seeing textures,

Colors,

Shapes,

Things close by,

Far away.

If you find yourself drawn into thought,

Gently coming back to just seeing without judging.

And shifting out awareness to the sense of touch.

What sensations do you notice as we sit?

Hot,

Cool,

Warm,

Pain,

Tingling,

No sensation,

Fluff,

Soft,

Pressure,

Internal sensations,

External sensations.

When ready,

Come into the awareness of hearing.

What are we hearing?

Noticing how sounds arrive,

Stay for a while and then dissolve.

Loud,

Soft,

Silence,

Close by,

Far away.

And coming to the awareness of smell,

Perhaps closing the eyes,

Allowing ourselves to smell,

Pleasant,

Unpleasant,

Maybe a connection to a smell.

Is there one fragrance or many?

If there are no smells,

What does no smells smell like?

And tasting,

Awareness of taste,

Picking up a glass of water,

Taking a sip.

What do we notice?

Noticing the taste,

Texture,

What's the smell?

Is it cool,

Warm,

Refreshing?

When does it leave our awareness?

Maybe taking another sip.

Is your experience the same or different?

And expanding awareness to the whole of our experience,

Pausing for a moment to reflect if we normally gather ourselves onto our senses in this way.

Or if it feels different and how,

What is different?

Being curious about our experience during this practice without judging.

As we draw this practice to a close,

Gently expanding into the room and when ready,

Opening your eyes.

This sensing practice is now complete.