Few days ago I shared in this post few simple Mindfulness Exercises you can easily incorporate in our daily lives. The practises given were more about bringing the attention in the “externals” of the moment, through focusing on outside sounds and the physical body. The next two exercises are more about finding the “being in the now” through focusing on the internal.
As in the previous exercises, find a comfortable a seated position, on the floor or on a chair. Lying on a yoga mat is also an option but if you choose this, try not to fall asleep during your practise. You can choose any location where you feel comfortable to soften your gaze, or even close your eyes. Breath as you feel the most relaxed: Lengthening your inhales and exhales is always an option but if this does not feel comfortable or seems to take your main focus, just breath normally.
Internal Scan
Sometimes called the Mindful Check-In, the aim of this practise is to pause to check in how you are REALLY feeling at a present moment and acknowledging what is there. You might notice some physical sensations whilst starting to check in, such as tension, dullness or tingling. Start paying attention to your state of mind, the emotions that arise and notice them without any judgement. It is absolutely ok to notice feelings of frustration, irritation or even anger, or feeling sad and tired. Do not try to chase emotions that we might classify as “negative”, just notice them and acknowledge them. It might feel silly but you can try saying hello to them in your mind, and then just let them go, observing what comes up next.
Eventually you might be able to notice how many layers of emotions. For instance, there is a saying “angry is the bodyguard of sad.” So maybe, underneath the irritation or anger there are feelings of having been let down or disappointment. In a longer practise, acknowledgment of the feelings and noticing the underlying currents can help us to create a distance with ourselves and our thoughts and emotions. This is turn will help not to get caught up and owned by our feelings, as we start to understand where they arise and learn to create a moment of stillness when we need it. Be generous and kind with yourself: Mindfulness is about taking care of yourself and honouring what is within you at a given time.
Observing The Psychological Time
Psychological time, as opposite to clock time, can be described as the time that occurs in the brain, as the thinking mind projects to the past or to the future. Whilst it is natural for the mind to wonder outside the present moment, we should be aware of not being over consumed by the past or the present on the expense of what we are experiencing in the moment. For instance, many of us have found ourselves in holidays, starting to think how wonderful things are and how we wish that holidays would last forever. This line of thinking can however easily turn into negative thoughts about how it will be to return to work and to our normal routine. Rather than enjoying the moment, we are allowing the future – over which we have no control nor knowledge how it is going to turn out – to steal from the current moment and from the experiences we could be having.
Another example of getting caught up in the highly subjective psychological time is to let past events and/or emotions – both of which we cannot do anything about anymore – take excessive amount of time from the present moment. Whatever the past incidents might be, the only thing we can do about them is to acknowledge them, make peace with them and let them go.
The observing the psychological time practise helps us to increase self-awareness and to learn how to be more focused and fulfilled in the moment. Lying down or seated, start noticing where your thoughts are going, again with no judgement. Do you notice your mind wondering more to the past events, or to the future? Do you notice finding yourself going back (or forward) to the same moment, or moments have a similar theme? Gently acknowledge the psychological time of your thoughts and see if you can guide yourself back to the present moment, without any need to start trying to figure things our right now – that can always take place later. Take your time and accept the emotions that might surface.
As with all the mindfulness exercises in this post and the previous, allow yourself few minutes to come around gently. If you practise with eyes closed, gently open your eyes, maybe stretch your body a little bit, scrunch your face, take few conscious inhales and exhales. Acknowledge and thank yourself for your willingness to be present in the practise. Regardless of any feeling of how you think your practise went, recognise and congratulate the fact that you with any one of these practises you are contributing towards your well-being.
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