Hello and welcome to this mindfulness meditation here on Insight Timer.
My name's Andrew and I'm absolutely thrilled to be here with you to guide you through this noting exercise.
You might have tried this exercise before and even if you have,
It's always good to be reminded.
I personally practice this one a lot and the reason it is so helpful is it brings awareness to when we get caught up in our worrying thoughts and we can start to break that cycle of thinking and instead focus on things we can control and impact in our life.
There's probably a good chance you might be feeling stressed right now and that's totally okay.
There's just so much going on in the world at the moment and it can really feel overwhelming.
But the good news is you're taking time to be kind to your body and mind and I'm so grateful you're doing this meditation with me today.
So to begin with,
Just take a moment to settle into a nice comfortable seated position with your feet softly resting on the floor and your back nice and straight but with an overall relaxed posture.
Resting your hands on your lap and let's start by taking a couple of big deep breaths in through the nose and out through the mouth.
And on the next out breath,
Gently closing the eyes,
Allowing the breath to return to its natural rhythm.
Try to guide your breath deep into your belly rather than your chest.
Just notice how your belly rises and falls with the breath.
And as you do this,
You're sending a message to your brain that you are safe.
Don't worry if this doesn't lower any residual anxiety or strong emotions.
We are now going to rest our attention on the breath,
Following each in breath and each out breath.
So just continuing now to follow that rising and falling sensation.
And as you follow the breath,
At some point the mind will likely become distracted.
And in that moment,
We're going to apply a very soft mental label.
So when thoughts arise,
We will note to ourselves thinking.
And if a sound enters,
We'll mentally apply the label hearing.
And if a particular physical sensation arise,
Gently apply the mental label feeling.
Noticing when we get lost in thought,
Apply the label and then gently return to the breath.
Not placing any judgment,
Just noting and returning to the breath.
If you get distracted chasing thoughts,
That's totally okay.
Just apply the right label and return to the breath.
Now just letting go of any focus on the breath.
Just giving yourself a few moments to allow the mind complete freedom to do whatever it wants to do.
And now just bringing your attention back into the body.
Noticing your points of contact.
Your feet resting on the floor.
Your hands resting in your lap.
Noticing sounds around you.
And when you're ready,
Slowly opening your eyes.
And before you move on with your day,
Just notice how you feel right now.
And I want you to congratulate yourself on taking some time for your body and mind.
