The following exercise by Lula Spurgato is designed to enhance the skill of noticing and naming our internal experiences as a means of gaining perspective on such events.
To this end,
We will be employing the same skill set to any and all thoughts and feelings that arise during this exercise so that we have ample practice opportunities.
We'll be using the breath as an anchor into the present moment,
Repeatedly returning our attention to the breath.
So find a relatively comfortable position,
Either sitting or lying down if preferred,
Where you can be undisturbed for the next ten minutes.
With your eyes opened or gently closed,
I'll invite you to bring your attention to your breathing.
And for the next few breaths,
See if you can slow down your breathing as a way of anchoring more fully into the present moment.
We could do this by emphasizing a long,
Slow exhale,
Breathing out through what we call pursed lips,
Followed by a natural inhale.
And then gradually allow your breathing to find its own rate and rhythm,
No longer needing to control it.
And bring your attention to the different sensations of breathing.
In other words,
See if you can notice the air itself as it passes through your nostrils or your lips,
Depending upon if you're breathing in and out through your nose or your mouth.
You might also be able to notice the subtle rise and fall of your shoulders,
Rising as you breathe in and dropping back down as you breathe out.
You might also be able to notice the expanding and contracting of your rib cage as you breathe in and out.
So you can use any of these different physical sensations of the breath as an anchor back to the present moment during the rest of this exercise.
Now,
Your mind has likely already been generating all kinds of thoughts along the way here,
Including commentary about what we're doing,
Perhaps evaluating how you're doing,
Or time traveling into the past or the future,
All of which is completely normal and natural.
As that's what our minds were designed to do.
However,
Your objective for the rest of this exercise is to see if you can notice and name thinking as it's occurring.
In other words,
To see if you can catch thought in flight.
So anytime you notice thoughts showing up,
Regardless of their content,
Silently say to yourself,
There's thinking.
Once again,
Anytime you notice your mind getting hooked by a thought,
Perhaps even carried away into a narrative,
Which is also natural,
As soon as you notice you've been hooked,
Gently unhook yourself by labeling it as there's thinking and then return your attention back to the breath,
Back to the in and out of the here and now.
Now we're treating feelings in very much the same manner.
And you may already be noticing different feelings showing up along the way of this exercise.
A feeling could be an emotion or a bodily sensation.
And whether they're pleasant or unpleasant,
For the purpose of this exercise,
We're treating them all in the same way.
And just like with thoughts,
I'm inviting you to silently say to yourself,
There's feeling anytime you notice an emotion or bodily sensation.
So if you notice thoughts,
You're saying to yourself,
There's thinking.
If you notice a feeling,
There's feeling and then returning your attention back to your breath,
Back to the air going in and out of your nose or mouth,
The rise and fall of your shoulders,
The expanding and contracting of your rib cage,
Or any other movement associated with the breath.
Every once in a while,
You'll get hooked by a thought or a feeling,
Carried away from the exercise,
Which once again is totally natural.
In fact,
It gives you the opportunity to practice noticing you've been hooked,
Gently unhooking yourself by naming it,
There's thinking or feeling,
And then returning your attention once again to the breath.
Okay.
So now returning our attention to the breath one last time,
Noticing the air going in and out,
Noticing the movement of our body.
Perhaps taking another slow breath with a long exhale as a means of re-anchoring into the present moment.
Slowly opening your eyes if they're not already open,
And reorienting your attention to your surroundings,
Perhaps stretching a bit if you like,
And taking this skill with you as you move through the rest of your day.
