Body and Breath
This exercise is meant to help you train your mind and recognize your thoughts as just that…thoughts. You are not your thoughts and you can control your thoughts with some practice.
Start by finding a quiet place that you can spend 10 minutes alone. You can sit on a chair or lay on the ground. Make sure you comfortable, awake and aware.
You may close your eyes or focus on one object in the room. The Soothing Sand Art can work for this object.
Next, you will notice your body and how it feels. Start with your feet. How does the floor feel on the bottom of your feet? Is it cold or warm? Can you feel socks compressing your feet? Try to notice all sensations. If there is nothing noticeable, that is ok.
You should now work your way up to your legs. Spend some time recognizing sensations there and repeat the same steps as you work your way up to your thighs, hips, lower back, upper back, left arm, left hand, right arm right hand, neck, head, and face.
For the remainder of the exercise you will be focusing on your breath. Notice how your abdomen will rise and fall with each breath. You may place your hand there to notice this better. You may take some deep breaths and notice how you feel.
The mind will wonder eventually throughout this whole exercise. That is perfectly fine and normal, in fact the exercise is all about practicing control over your thoughts. When this happens we want to be kind to ourselves, notice where the mind was and gently bring the attention back to your breath. Your breathing is always there to remind you to be in the present moment.
“You cannot take a breath for five minutes ago, or for five minutes’ time. You can only take a breath for now. ”
Practice this exercise daily or twice a day. Remember, when you are going about your day and you start to feel a whirlwind of thoughts and emotions, you can control them. Use your breath to ground yourself in the here and now. Tell yourself “Be here now _______”. After the whirlwind passes, you will be able to think more clear and solve whatever the challenge is at hand. Be kind and loving to yourself, don’t fear the future and keep the past in the past.
You may enjoy some sounds of nature while you do this exercise. It is just about the perfect amount of time.
