Welcome to this mindfulness practice on focus.
My name is Kyle,
And today we'll be learning how to use the breath as an anchor to help ground us into the present moment.
And we can do this for both our runs and everyday life.
So the running experience,
We talk about the journey,
It's very dynamic.
There are the cliche highs,
The lows,
We have moments of runner's high and joy and optimism.
We also have the other side of challenge,
Struggle,
Even dullness and boredom.
So the beauty in the journey is being able to capture all of that.
And that's what we call being in the present moment.
So we do this practice to capture all that because the now is where it all happens at.
Your best performances,
Utilizing your strengths,
Collecting insights,
Truly taking in the full experience of life and running.
It only happens when you're absorbed in this present moment.
It's not outside of you,
It's within you.
And you can access this at any time.
And being present is a skill that we can train,
And that's exactly what we'll do right now.
So settling in,
You can do this lying down or sitting with a posture that embodies dignity.
And if it feels okay,
Closing the eyes and taking a few deeper than normal breaths,
And fully letting go on the exhale.
Grounding into the present moment.
And now allowing the breath to take on a natural rhythm.
We'll begin shining our spotlight of attention on the breath and noticing where you feel the breath in the body.
Maybe in the nostrils,
The chest,
The stomach.
Without evaluating or judging,
See what it's like to keep your focus on the sensations of breathing.
Seeing if you can be present for a full inhale and exhale.
And even staying with focusing on the breath throughout those cycles.
If your mind wanders,
Just notice that and non-judgmentally bring your attention back to focusing on the breath.
As one breath ends,
Another begins.
Maybe challenging yourself to watch three full cycles of breathing.
It is normal for the mind to wander.
When that happens,
Notice that and bring your attention back to focusing on the breath.
That is actually the practice.
Each time you notice your mind wandering and you can catch that and bring it to return to focusing on your breath,
You are doing a rep and training the mind to focus.
This is what it's like to train focus and to be present.
Being here,
Fully absorbed in whatever you are experiencing.
The more we can stay with this moment and this one and this one,
The more we open ourselves up to being invited into things such as flow,
Runner's high,
Personal insights,
And tapping into our deepest expressions of potential.
The breath here is our anchor.
It's a single point for us to focus on that's readily available.
But that isn't the only anchor that we have.
You may choose to focus on something such as your foot hitting the ground,
Maybe the air against your skin,
Or even a mantra.
For the sake of today's practice,
The invitation is for you to bring to mind a mantra that you have when you're running and experiment by focusing solely on this mantra.
So for the next minute,
Experimenting with focus on maybe just the breath,
The mantra,
Or any other single point that you'd like to anchor into.
As we wrap up,
Remember that your breath or any of these focus points are an anchor that you can return to at any moment during the day or during your runs.
Focus is just a breath away.
So I invite you to consider how you can integrate this into your day or your runs.
Maybe this is in preparation for a run,
Maybe during,
Maybe it's during the workday,
Or in the morning,
Or in transitioning activities.
Again,
Just know that the breath is always readily available to you.
And when you feel ready,
Wiggling the toes and the fingers,
Making some slight movements,
Maybe opening the eyes and getting readjusted to the room.
Thanks for practicing.
