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Written and narrated by Tamara Levitt.
Welcome back for day three of the seven days of calm to build on the concentration exercise from yesterday. Today we're going to explore a new practice to purposefully pay attention to, which is really what mindfulness is all about. You'd think this would be easier to do than it is. But our minds have this habit of being in constant motion. They continually wander between thoughts and worries, daydreams and ruminations. And of course, the thoughts that we ruminate and obsess about are usually thoughts of the past and the future. Since there's nothing we can do to alter the events of the past, the future has yet to unfold. The present moment is really the only one that counts. How many times have you gone on a date or had a job interview, and then ruminated about how you messed it up when you actually had no idea how it was going to work out? How many times have you stayed up all night worrying about something that hadn't yet happened and was totally out of your control? Meditating helps us recognize how often we're caught up in thought. Because we're observing what's going on, it becomes clear how often we're stuck in the past and future, and ruminating and worrying isn't really that helpful. Noticing our perpetual running commentary is the first step to releasing ourselves from it, allowing for a shift in perspective and contentment to grow. So for today's meditation, we're going to practice paying attention through a guided body scan.