Tuesday, May 17, 2005

A mindfulness exercise

Here's an exercise I found in Meditation for Beginners by Naomi Ozaniec:

Ideally the exercise of mindfulness should fill the whole day. This is not practical outside strictly regulated conditions. Being mindful for even an hour will give you the flavor of this approach.

The subject for this meditation will be the body itself. Become fully aware of your bodily posture, paying particular attention to the four basic postures of going, standing, sitting and lying down. These will naturally flow one into the other as you move. Become aware of the posture you have adopted, and of any change that takes place including the intention to change position. Also note any sensation connected with each posture. The aim is simply to note what is happening continuously and simply.

You might like to note how often your attention wandered away from the task in hand, and any feelings that this simple exercise evoked for you.

I think you can tell that this is a mindfulness practice you can do anytime, anywhere throughout your day. It's a wonderful way of checking in with yourself and bringing the mindfulness attitude to all your other activities.

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