A 5 minute practice that will change your life

So I want to share with you today a five minute practice that will change your life.

What is it?

Meditation of course.

What comes up for you when you think about meditation?

I’m not a hippy?

It’s not my thing?

I don’t know how to meditate?

My mind can’t be quiet enough for meditation.

I don’t have time.

If you’re like most people all of these things come up when you think about meditation.

And all of these things are exactly why you need to meditate.

Essentially meditation is just the practice of being able to hear and be aware of your thoughts and not become involved in them.

We practice become separate from what’s going on in our mind so that we can pick and choose which thoughts we really want to listen to, which are helpful to us and which are not so helpful.

If you feel like you can’t even think straight.

You need meditation.

If you often feel stressed or overwhelmed.

You need meditation.

If you feel like you’re quite disorganised and playing catch up all the time.

You need meditation.

If you feel like have no spare time or space in your day.

You need meditation.

If you feel a little bit lost and you’re not really sure who you are any more.

You need meditation. 

Shall I keep going?

I think we all need at least five minutes a day where we can just stop. Once upon a time I think we had lots of these breaks in our day. Before we had televisions or smartphones. Remember when we used to read actual books with real pages?

We used to just sit down and have a cup of coffee without feeling the need to scroll and yet now I almost feel like something is missing if I don’t have something to DO all.. of… the… time. Maybe you can relate?

If this sounds like you – watch the video below to learn how to start this 5 minute practice that will change your life or read the rest of the transcript below.

So meditation doesn’t have to look like you sitting on a lotus. It can just be you going for a walk by yourself (without a phone, without anything to listen to) and being aware of your breath or your footsteps.

Your meditation might look you having a cup of tea sitting by yourself in the sun. Just having a cup of tea and not doing anything else or thinking anything else –  just enjoying and being present for every sip.

Your meditation might be a yoga practice, moving and staying focused on the breath.

If you’d like to get into more of the traditional meditation,  then that’s what I’d like to take you through today.

We are just going to sit for five minutes.

It will be a simple mindfulness practice  – just being aware of anything and everything that’s around you.

There is no right or wrong way to do this. If you find that your mind is jumping, flipping and generally going crazy – that’s fine. Just watch it and observe that you have a crazy monkey mind today.

Eventually with practice you’ll be able to find some quiet amongst the thoughts, and you’ll be able to start slowing down your mind.  But for today – just observe. No pressure or judgement.

To practice today we’ll just come find a comfortable seat. You’re welcome to lie or find a place against a wall with a cushion if you prefer.

I want you to breathe in and out through the nose. 

As you’re breathing, I want you to feel your belly and chest rising and then falling on the exhale. 

Notice where you’re connected to the earth. So whether it is through the sit bones, through the legs, maybe the whole back of the body. Simply be aware of the mat or the floor beneath you. 

With each exhale feel the body sinking a little bit further into your position. Resting. Settling. Slowing.

Relax the shoulders and neck. Relax the whole body.

Release any tension, whether it be in the fingers, feet or lower back. Release and soften.

I want you to notice any sounds that you can hear around you, whether it be children playing, maybe a TV on the background, sounds from the road, birds in the trees, waves from the ocean or whatever sounds that you can hear around you. 

Notice them, letting your mind drift from one sound to another.

Notice the temperature of the room or the space that you’re in. The cool breeze. The warm sun. Simply noticing how the outside of your body feels. Notice the clothing that you’re wearing. Is it holding tight to any particular places? Resist the urge to change or adjust your clothing,  just simply observe the sensations.

I’d like you to check in with the physical body now. Are there any parts of you that are feeling tight, or tense, any aches or pains, any sickness? If there is any tension – breathe into that space.

Imagine this area expanding on the inhale and slowly softening on the exhale.

I’d like you to check in too with your emotions. How are you feeling today? Feeling tired or bored? Stressed, sad or angry?

What is going on for you? Just notice. Don’t get caught up in the thoughts around that feeling. Just noticing the emotion, noticing where you feel it in the body. Stress is often held in the neck and shoulders, we often feel sadness in the heart, anxiety in the belly. 

We often think of emotions as a mind thing, that it’s something that happens in the mind, but it’s very much something that occurs in the body as well.

Breathe into the space where you can feel these emotions that you’d like to let go of and then slowly exhale. Imagine the emotion drifting off with the breeze, each exhale let go a little bit more until your body starts to feel lighter and lighter. Free of any tension and unwanted emotions.

Then once again bring your awareness back to your position in the room, the space that you’re occupying and the position of your body.

Be aware of the sounds around you and finally the breath. Notice again how you inhale and the chest rises and you exhale and the chest falls.

When you’re ready slowly start to open the eyes. Wiggle the fingers and the toes; maybe stretch out through the back.

This is a really beautiful little practice that you can do anywhere and anytime. You may have noticed (I don’t know if you can hear them) I’ve got children singing in the background.  They’re currently playing with a young girl that comes in and looks after them a couple times a week,  so I can get some filming done. I love that I can hear them in the background, I love that this is my practice, but also my life, that the two aren’t separate.

It doesn’t need to be that you have to meditate in complete silence. It doesn’t mean that you need to go on a retreat to be able to look after yourself really well. These are practices that we need to stop putting off until that day when everything is going to be perfect. These practices will help us daily and honestly five minutes is all that it takes.

If you can give yourself five minutes –  give this seated or lying mindfulness meditation ago but if you’re not ready for that go for the walking meditation, practice some yoga and really try and stay present.

I hope that this little practice helps you. I hope that it helps to make your days as a Mum a little bit less stressful, less overwhelming.

I’d love to know how you go. Give one of these little practices a try, maybe this one that we’ve done today and leave a comment to let me know how you felt. Whether your monkey mind started playing up even louder when you got quiet and how you feel about this whole meditation thing.

If you’d like more yoga, meditation and mindfulness (and a community to support you) I’d love for you to join me in my online studio. It has everything from pregnancy yoga, early postpartum, yoga with kids, and mindset for Mums to help you really enjoy this crazy ride.

Do you meditate?