When learning about mindfulness, one of the first things you come across is the body scan, not to be confused with muscle relaxation. While relaxation is inevitable with the body scan, its primary point is to bring awareness to body, body part by body part. Some scans are three minutes, others are 40 minutes or longer depending on how part-icular you get (see what I did there:). Here is a link to a twenty minute scan that I really like because it also includes gratitude.
Kernal of Wisdom Mindfulness Meditation
I'm guessing that most of us, though I can really only speak for myself and others I've sat with during meditation, spend a lot of time during the day out of our body. No, not in an astral out of body experience kind of way, but rather running around in our mind either in the past or present. If you imagine that your head is like a helium balloon that goes higher and higher throughout the day, you can either choose to bring it back down to the ground and anchor it, or it will just lose helium and sink to the earth looking very sad as it whimpers down a side street or gets caught in a tree. Have you ever just felt as though you were so emotionally and/or mentally stressed that your body also felt like a sad, whimpering balloon with no air left? If you want to be the balloon that stays anchored to the party table with a flashy little anchor weight to stay grounded, then give this body scan a whirl. Do it once and you'll think "ok, that was nice", do it twice and think "wow I never noticed how tight my hamstrings are, I better stretch!", do it three times and you start to recognize that you don't swear as much in the car anymore, do it at least four times a week and you'll change your body, your mind, and your life to some degree. Insight is key, and every mindfulness practice gives you more than your thoughts alone can.
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