Matt QUEST detailed emotionally.
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Today we're going to be doing an external awareness meditation.
Before we get started,
Just take a moment to check in with your posture.
If you're seated in a chair,
Just notice your feet on the floor,
Your bum in the seat,
Feeling grounded and rooted,
Your spine and your neck straight,
Perhaps picturing a string pulling you from the crown of your head,
Not forcing your spine or your neck but holding you upward.
Next,
Just notice your hands,
Where they're sitting,
Perhaps you have them on your knees,
Maybe one hand inside the other with your thumbs touching.
Your eyes can be closed,
You may want to start with them closed for this exercise,
Or they can be slightly open,
Maybe looking just below the horizon,
About a 45 degree angle,
With your vision softly blurred,
Not looking at any one thing in particular.
Finally,
Just check in with your mouth and your jaw,
Making sure it's relaxed,
That your tongue is sitting at the bottom of your mouth,
Relaxed and perhaps just touching the back of your teeth.
Next,
Take a moment or two to actually check in with your breath.
Notice the coolness of the air as it passes by your nostrils or your mouth,
The warmth of it as you exhale.
Just notice where it stops in your body today.
Perhaps today it's stopping in your chest,
Perhaps it's in your throat,
Maybe today it's getting all the way down into your belly.
Try not to force the breath,
But just notice where it's at today.
This exercise will be focusing our attention on our external environment,
So anything that's happening outside of our bodies or where our body meets the environment around us.
What you'll be doing is just noting what your attention goes to and giving it a label.
There are four labels you'll use for external awareness.
The first is touch.
Touch is anything that you feel against your skin,
For example the feeling of the air against your skin,
Maybe it's cool,
Or your clothes touching your skin.
Or it could be sensations like your shoulder twitching,
Pain in your toe,
Or even things like taste.
It does not include anything you feel in your body that's provoked by an emotion,
So that feeling of butterflies in your stomach,
Or a bit of anxiety in your chest,
That's not what we'll be dealing with in this exercise.
So again that label is touch.
The other sensation you may notice is sounds.
Anything you're hearing in the area just around your ears and entering your actual eardrum.
So it doesn't include any internal dialogue,
Things you may actually hear,
Like maybe a TV in the distance,
Or the sound of the refrigerator,
Or air conditioning.
These are all sound.
You can give them the label sound.
Next thing you may notice is anything you see.
Again you can start the practice with your eyes closed,
Especially if sight feels overwhelming at first.
But at some point during the meditation you may want to try practicing with your eyes open,
And anything that you see in front of you,
So nothing that's in your mind's eye.
Actual things that attract your attention in front of you,
Just label it sight.
Finally you may have times when you check in and see what you notice,
And your body may notice nothing.
You're not particularly paying attention to feel,
Or sorry,
Touch,
Sound,
Or sight.
This is called all rest.
Now start to check in with what you're noticing around you.
Again the labels are touch,
Sound,
Sight,
Or all rest.
On each inhale,
Just check in and see what your attention notices in your external environment.
As an example,
It may sound a little like this.
Sound,
Touch,
Sound,
Sight,
All rest.
You can give the labels silently in your head.
Now again with every inhale,
Just start to notice what you notice in your external environment.
If your mind has wandered,
Just notice it.
Try to come back on your next inhale to the external environment and noticing what you notice.
Again,
If your mind has wandered,
Your next inhale,
Just gently come back to noticing,
Labeling,
Whatever is in your external environment.
Without judgment,
Without self criticism,
Just come back to it.
Again,
If your mind has wandered,
It's totally normal,
In fact it's expected,
Just come back on your next inhale to noticing and labeling whatever is in your external environment.
At this point,
You can continue with the meditation as long as you like.
When your mind wanders,
And it will,
On your next inhale,
Just keep coming back to noticing and labeling your external environment.
Like training a puppy,
Just keep gently bringing it back and noticing what you notice.
If you'd like to continue with the meditation,
You can simply stop or pause this recording and continue as long as you like.
If you'd like to finish with the meditation,
We'll ring the bell three times.
Come back to your breath,
Come back to your breath and just notice what you notice about where your breath stops and how it feels.
Perhaps end with the question,
What do I now know?
What did I learn from this experience?
Contemplate the answer as you hear the bell.
At the end of the third bell,
You may open your eyes.
If you're choosing to complete your meditation at this time,
I'd like you to finish with the question,
What do I now know?
What have I learned from this experience?
And as you hear the bell ring three times,
Just contemplate your answer and notice whatever comes up for you.
At the end of the third bell,
You can open your eyes.
The question
