Welcome to week three of this Month of Meditation! I'm so glad you're here.
Monday morning we are going to discuss how bringing awareness to our five senses can cultivate mindfulness not only within a formal meditation but throughout the day.
As we have discussed in the previous weeks, our physical body is always living in the present moment even though our thoughts may be analyzing, judging, or predicting. By connecting to our physical body through breath or the five senses we are anchoring our mind into the body and therefore the present moment.
The five senses are sight, smell, taste, hearing, and touch. Traditionally, the five senses meditation is taught like this:
"First, notice 5 things that you can see. Look around you and become aware of your environment. Try to pick out something that you don’t usually notice.
Second, notice 4 things you can feel. Bring attention to the things that you’re currently feeling, such as the texture of your clothing or the smooth surface of the table you’re resting your hands on.
Third, notice 3 things that you can hear. Listen for and notice things in the background that you don’t normally notice. It could be the birds chirping outside or an appliance humming in the next room.
Fourth, notice 2 things you can smell. Bring attention to scents that you usually filter out, either pleasant or unpleasant. Catch a whiff of the pine trees outside or food cooking in the kitchen.
Finally, notice 1 thing you can taste. Take a sip of a drink, chew gum, or notice the current taste in your mouth."
This is a wonderful meditation prompt that will leave you feeling super connected to the space around you. How we are going to practice the five senses is similar, but will incorporate one central point of focus.
The morning coffee.
AHH the sacred sleepy ritual of brewing a hot cup of coffee or tea. Now, if you are not a coffee or tea drinker (we need to talk) any drink of your choice will do.. water, juice, smoothie.. maybe wait on the wine.
Whatever your morning beverage of choice is please have it prepared before we meet in our seat Monday morning. Make it special. Pour it into your favorite mug or glass. Add a little something extra-
like a lemon for your tea or water, cinnamon or honey to your coffee. We will use this special treat as our focus for the five senses.
How does it LOOK? How does FEEL? How does it SMELL? How does it TASTE? You may be wondering if we are going to listen to our drink? Nah. We will listen to the sounds of the space around and within as we enjoy our mindful sips.
The aim of this exercise is to begin the day with mindfulness.
Have you ever had one of those 'Manic Mondays'? Everything seems to be going wrong. The alarm didn't go off, you forgot about an appointment, or maybe you spill your coffee all over yourself because you are in such a hurry. (I have done this too many times to count)
Not today. Not on a Mindful Monday. No rush. No gulps. Only slow savoring sips.
Let's shift out of chaos and into consciousness. One cup at a time.
Namaste xx
-E