In this vlog article, we will explore an outline of mindfulness practice, followed by a guided 10 minute meditation. If you experience stress and anxiety or if you simply need some quiet reflection… Read on, because this vlog article will have you feeling calm and relaxed in no time!
What Is Mindfulness? Guided 10 Minute Meditation
What is mindfulness?
Is mindfulness a meditation? Is it a practice, an exercise? It’s actually all of those things. Mindfulness is a fancy way of saying being present.
If you are new to me my name is Emily Butler Meadows and I utilise the practice of mindfulness meditation in my career to help succeed as a day trader.
Let’s look at a quote from Jon Kabat-Zinn on mindfulness:
“Mindfulness is paying attention, in a particular way: on purpose, in the present moment, and nonjudgmentally.” – Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn
There is a summary of mindfulness for you but now let’s look a little bit more in-depth at what mindfulness really is.
The Elements of Mindfulness
Mindfulness is a mental state achieved by focusing one’s awareness on the present moment. Acknowledging and accepting feelings and thoughts and physical sensations. So it’s about being present and fully aware of what is going on in and around your body and being.
Mindfulness is comprised of three different elements:
Awareness
The ground of consciousness that encompasses all of our thoughts emotional states and sensory experiences
Attention
The mental Focus that discriminates selects and holds information in our awareness
Intention
The guiding principles by which we aspire to move through the world.
7 Foundations Of Mindfulness Practice
There are 7 attitudes and foundations of mindfulness practice lets explore these in further detail…
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Non Judging – Being an impartial witness to your own experience. Neither good nor bad, it simply is.
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Patience – Letting things unfold in their own time, without becoming overly tense, agitated or frustrated.
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Trust – To believe in yourself. Be your own intuitive guide and authority. The path is yours.
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Beginners Mind – Willing to see everything for the first time. Holding no expectations and not holding rigidly to what we think we know.
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Non-Striving – Focus on being in the moment as it unfolds and not chasing after some imagined perfection. To focus on being rather than doing.
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Letting go – Not clinging to how we want things to be, but rather accepting the present moment is always changing and staying willing to change with it, keep in the flow.
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Acceptance – Seeing things and allowing them to be as they actually are, rather than how we believe they should be. Acceptance is a core part of mindfulness practice.
Now that we have an idea of what mindfulness consists of let’s look at a quote from Pema Chodron…
“Meditation is one form of mindfulness, but mindfulness is called by many names: attentiveness, nowness, and presence are just a few. Essentially, mindfulness means wakefulness—fully present wakefulness… paying attention to all the details of your life… The object or focus of mindfulness can be anything that brings us back to right where we are. If we’re out walking, the object of meditation could be the motion of our legs and feet. If we’re washing dishes, it could be our hands. We can bring mindfulness to anything—opening a door, washing our hair, making the bed.” – Pema Chodron, Living Beautifully with Uncertainty and Change:
Guided Mindfulness Meditation
Take this time to get into a comfortable space and try to remove any distractions. Remember to put your phone onto silent and create a space where you’re going to be undisturbed for a short while.
Sit back on your favourite chair and get comfortable.
Take a deep breath in through the nose lift your shoulders up to your ears roll your shoulders back allowing your chest open and allowing your shoulders to relax and rest comfortably. Take a deep breath in through the nose and out through the mouth.
Allow your eyes to gently close.
Focusing on the breath breathing in and out through the nose. Focus on the sensation of breathing, the rise of your chest as you breathe in, the flow of your breath. If any thoughts start to arise simply become aware of these thoughts and allow them to pass without getting involved in the thoughts.
Body Scan
We’re going to do a body scan.
Bring your awareness to your toes, and allow your toes to relax.
Allow that awareness to rise through your feet allowing your feet to relax.
Moving up your lower legs to your knees feeling your muscles relax. Continuing moving up your legs allowing each muscle in your legs to relax.
Remembering to breathe as you bring our awareness up through our stomach and our lower back. If you feel any pain or tension, breathe into that area and allow your muscles to become heavy and relax.
Allow your awareness to rise to your shoulders. Moving down your right arm feeling your muscles relax your forearm your wrist, allowing your hand to relax and all of your fingers and thumb.
Moving your awareness down your left arm, your forearm and wrist. Allow your left hand to relax all of your fingers and thumb.
Take a deep breath and enjoy this sensation of deep relaxation.
Moving up through your neck breathe in and allow your muscles to relax. Allow the muscles of your face to soften. bring your awareness to the top of your head take a deep breath.
By now you should be feeling heavy and relaxed. Allow the breath to continue with its natural rhythm.
Now bring your awareness to the sounds in your environment. Not focusing on one particular sound but becoming aware of what is going on around you.
Remembering to let any thoughts pass without taking your attention.
Remember to use your breath to help you to stay fully present in the moment.
Just removing the focus from the sounds and become aware of your body. Take a few deep breaths. Bring your awareness down your body from your head to your shoulders stomach legs and feet.
Become aware of the parts of your body that are pressing against your seat. Feel the weight of your body pressing down and start to wiggle your toes.
Take another breath and when you are ready, start to open your eyes.
Mindfulness Meditation A Useful Practice
I don’t know about you but I feel a lot more relaxed and a lot more aware of myself, my body, my feelings and the environment. That is essentially the practice of mindful meditation. It helps you to centre yourself and bring awareness to the present moment. It is also the ability to carry that feeling with you throughout your day.
If you feel like you struggle with any particular experiences or stressful situations or if you have any parts of your life if where you are dealing with performance mindfulness can help you. As I said previously I day trade which certainly feels like a performance. so I take about 10 or 15 minutes before my working day to carry out a mindfulness meditation.
I feel like a mindfulness meditation helps me to get into a centred space so that I am at the best of my ability to carry on with my day.
I hope you enjoyed that mindfulness meditation. If you would like to learn more about mindfulness I am offering a free PDF guide. It’s called 28 Days of Mindfulness a Peaceful Transformation.
It includes a simple activity to do each day, whereby the idea is that if you carry out each activity for 28 consecutive days it helps you to build a habit, allowing mindfulness becomes a lot more natural to you. Sign up below to receive your FREE MINDFULNESS PDF!
You can also repeat this mindfulness Meditation practice. Please let me know in the comments below if you enjoyed this video!
Until next time,
Emily
