Welcome to Day 3 of your Mindfulness and Meditation Journey

 Day 3 - Intentional Actions: Investigating options to Be and Do

Day 3 - (1) Exploring Intentional Actions

In Day 1 we gained insight into our ability to RECOGNIZE when we move into and out of a mindful state.

In Day 2 we consolidated the notion of our observational self by becoming AWARE of our physical sensations during mindful moments.  We continued to explore the physical sensations as well as our interpretation of our inner landscape. 

Whilst Day 1 and 2 explored the concepts of recognition and awareness, practicing Mindful living is going to present challenges.  During the mindfulness and meditation activities, you might find your mind is distracted, becoming sleepy, perhaps agitated at times.  These are all completely normal reactions.  In fact, Pema Chodron, highly respected practicing Buddhist nun, author and teacher often states that she never thought her life would revolve around failing so often when referring to her practice and teaching of meditation.  She follows up with a few wise words.

 “This very moment is the perfect teacher, and it’s always with us” – Pema Chodron

If you recognize that you have moved away from your ideal state, acknowledge that you always have the opportunity to begin again in this next moment. 

Reflecting on your last 2 Days:

• Are you able to recognize moments when you are being distracted?

• Are you able to reset? 

• What challenges are arising?

• Is directed attention easy or challenging?

• How are you progressing with offering yourself gratitude, kindness, compassion, equanimity?

   

Yesterday, the concept of clear seeing, or having a different lens of perception was introduced.

• Did you notice whether you experience more distracted thought, were engaged in more multi tasking or experienced greater procrastination with certain activities more than others? 

• Is your field of viewing flexible in some areas and rigid in others?

• Are there times in the day where it is easier to reset?

• Does your physical location influence your ability to be mindful?

• What terms assist your ability to reset?  Eg.  Relax, centre yourself, explore your sensations, feel where you direct your breath to areas of your body

   

Initially, it is often helpful to focus on our own strengths and challenges when moving to a grounded space, rather than thinking about our relationships or the stories we have concerning our past.  We gain clarity and skill in returning to our place of centredness, or our ability to reset.  We then become observers of the self which opens us up to Awareness of our inner world of sensations, responses, triggers and resulting actions.  From this place we become familiar with our internal landscape.  These insights may offer a sense of ease in our internal world.

When exploring Mindfulness, accept the fluctuations of the mind as being valid.  Acknowledge that physical shifts in the body states are frequent.  If possible, reset to a grounded, vital place, where we may maintain a strong foundation within ourselves.  To access clear perception, we must first come from a centered or grounded place. 

Mindfulness living means bringing focus into our everyday lived experience with gratitude, kindness, compassion and equanimity.

Remember, throughout this 7 day journey, to honour yourself with:

• Gratitude for creating the space to carry out the activity.

• Kindness and consideration for those moments that you lose track of how and what you are "meant" to be doing.

• Kindness for the times when you find obstacles, or experience a sense of conflict whilst proceeding.

• Compassion for other’s perspectives. Each person’s experience is uniquely their own.

• Equanimity or establishing a sense of flow and non-judgement.

Day 3 - (2) Mindfulness Activity: Conscious Choosing

“Investigating physical sensations is one of the best ways for us to learn to be present with whatever is happening in the moment and to recognize the difference between direct experience and the add-ons we bring to it.” – Sharon Salzberg

Allow yourself to be comfortable in a seated position.  If you need to move during the session, do so, slowly and with as little distraction as possible. Alternatively, you may prefer another position that works for you to actively observe and connect more deeply with the mindfulness activity.  

Remember, if at any time you feel unsafe, uncomfortable or compromised please seek support from myself &/or your Health Care provider.

Day 3 - (3) Intention: Conscious Choosing

If you haven't yet completed the Day 3 Mindfulness – Conscious Choosing (Muscular Contraction and relaxation) audio, do so before proceeding further. This will set the Intention for the day.

Choosing to consciously activate or relax certain areas of the body is a skill that may become available to us as part of our Mindfulness practice.  During moments of mindful living we notice and are aware that there has become a shift away from a desired state. 

Frequently we act on auto pilot, operating in a type of default mode where certain unconscious actions may result in behaving in a manner that is unproductive or sometimes destructive to our Wellbeing.  In order to create a mindful practice, it may be helpful to exaggerate certain physical non-threatening movements which demonstrate a tangible result. 

So far, we have done this by focused breathe work as well as engaging mental processing.  During today’s mindfulness activity we did this by physically contracting or relaxing certain muscles.

Accessing controlled contraction and relaxing of many muscles is generally quite easy. 

Try –

• Opening and closing your mouth

• Blinking

• Try looking to your left and now your right

• Clenching your fingers into a tight fist and then relax your hand and lengthen your fingers

Bringing your awareness to a voluntary muscular contraction, identify any corresponding –

• Physical movements

• Effect on your Breathing

• Sensations

• Feelings

When you carry out a voluntary muscular relaxation or release, what are the corresponding –

• Physical movements ?

• Effect on your Breathing ?

• Sensations ?

• Feelings ?

These are examples of muscle activation, or the act of turning muscles on so that they can pull on a bone, which acts as lever to create movement of the limbs or joints. At the same time other muscles must turn off so that they don’t interfere with the movement or cause unnecessary resistance to the activating muscles

For example –

• You can’t look to the left and right at the same moment: Well not easily! 

• You can’t open and close your mouth at exactly the same time.  Try it now!

• These concepts we may have played with as a kid, but often by the time we become adults we have given up the notion of exploring the realms of our physical movement and consider them as irrelevant.

“… just as we’re starting to close down, when we feel the tightening, there’s the possibility of catching the urge to do the habitual thing, and not doing it.  Without meditation practice, this is almost impossible to do.” – Pema Chodron (How we get hooked and how we get unhooked:  Lion’s roar)

Recognize if you experience any areas of tension within the body.  Accept these and experiment with exaggerating and releasing the muscular tension.  Try this not to the point of pain, just to highlight the difference of on and off.  Acknowledge the shift from your ideal state.  If possible, reset to a grounded, vital place, where we may maintain a strong foundation within ourselves.  In today’s conscious choosing, we observe the shift between our centered space and a tense state.

Mindfulness living means bringing focus into our everyday lived experience with gratitude, kindness, compassion and equanimity.

As before, don’t forget throughout this 7 day journey, to honour yourself with:

• Gratitude for creating the space to carry out the activity.

• Kindness and consideration for those moments that you lose track of how and what you are "meant" to be doing.

• Kindness for the times when you find obstacles, or experience a sense of conflict whilst proceeding.

• Compassion for other’s perspectives. Each person’s experience is uniquely their own.

• Equanimity or establishing a sense of flow and non-judgement.

Day 3 - (4) Reflective Journal: Conscious Choosing

As previously mentioned, you can record your observations in your Reflection Journal, although it is optional and totally up to you. However, it is highly recommended that you at least take the time to reflect, as this helps us to better consolidate what we have learned from today. In order to focus on the reflective process better you may also like to consider the following Questions:

Q1.

• Are you able to recognize moments when you are being distracted?

• Are you able to reset?  

• What challenges are arising?

• Is directed attention easy or challenging?

• How are you progressing with offering yourself gratitude, kindness, compassion, equanimity?

Q2.

• Do I notice whether I experience more distracted thought, am engaged in more multi-tasking or that I procrastinate more with some activities than others?   

• Is my field of viewing flexible in some areas and rigid in others? 

• Are there times in the day where it is easier to reset? 

• Does my physical location influence my ability to be mindful?

• What practices assist my ability to reset?  Eg. Relaxing, centering myself, exploring sensations, feeling where I direct my breath to particular areas of my body?

Q3.

Focusing my awareness on a voluntary muscular contraction, I am able to identify the following corresponding responses -

• Physical movements

• Effects on my Breathing 

• Sensations 

• Feelings

Q4.

When I carry out a voluntary muscular relaxation or release, my corresponding responses cause - 

• Physical movements

• Effects on my Breathing 

• Sensations 

• Feelings

If you like, you can record any additional information, observations, thoughts or considerations that feel appropriate for you.

Day 3 - (5) Meditation: Exploring your inner sensations

When we crusade this internal landscape with impartial awareness, we discover with insight and illumination a sense of spaciousness and freedom that can only be experienced to understand.

Visualization is a means of creating an internal mental impression of a picture, story or journey. It’s a term that can be quite misleading as it appears to imply vision or being able to see a picture.  However, it is referring to an internal vision or deeper perception accessed through any of your senses.

As you are guided in the Visualization, you may find that you access the story via one of your other senses.  For example, if I ask you to “imagine the sun,” some people will see the picture of the sun in the sky, others the warmth on their body, or perhaps it is represented by a sound or smell associated with their past concerning the sun. If possible, access the Visualization through the sense that resonates the most with you.  

It is your story, your impression.  It will be unique to you each time you revisit this meditation.  It may be a familiar image, or one from your past experience, or an unexpected composite that you don’t consciously have a connection with.  Allow yourself to be guided.  Allow the sensations, thoughts and feeling to move past you, as you would watch clouds float through the sky.  Allow the story to create a delicate imprint, long enough to notice, short enough to not grasp, ruminate or over contrive the situation.  Remember, there is no right or wrong. Just be.

CONGRATULATIONS - You have now completed Day 3 of the Ezense Mindfulness & Meditation Course!

To continue on to Day 4, simply click on the “NEXT” button below. But please note: it won’t be accessible until it is time to be released as outlined in the Daily Schedule. Also remember, you can always come back to this page to go over any material in a previous Day at any time during your 7 day access to this course.