Awareness Practice

Your mind is either present to the moment through your senses or lost in thought. It can’t be in both places. There is no past or future when viewing sensations, only the now. Conversely, the internal monologue of thought will block sensations. When you are not aware of sensation, the moment is lost.

Your conscious mind can only process 5 to 9 bits of information. Information your conscious mind processes includes sensory input from your five senses, like sound, sight, touch, taste, and smell. For example, have you ever turned down the radio in your car to see better?  

One of the benefits of your human brain is it can think about the past and imagine the future. Still, this function can also keep you from experiencing the now.  

The default functioning of your brain is “anywhere but here and now.” Unless you focus on an object like a task, your brain scans, thinks, worries, rehashes the past and imagines the future. You rerun old conversations and worry about what might happen in the future.  

Thoughts become your identity. Descartes wrote, “I think therefore I am” Thoughts can be a significant part of your being.

Buddha wrote, “Watch your thoughts. They become your words; watch your words, they become your actions; watch your actions, they become your habits; watch your habits, they become your character; watch your character, it becomes your destiny.”  

Thoughts can run an endless loop of chatter, shutting out the present moment. If you are in the past or the future, you are not in the now.

Think about how often you are truly aware of the now in your daily life. How often have you driven to work or run your daily errands and your subconscious found the way? You were lost in thought and didn’t remember the trip? You walk outside, yet your mind is not aware of the nature around you. Or worse yet, you are on your iPhone. How many ways do we distract, numb, and avoid sensing or feeling through TV and social media?  

There is nothing wrong with distractions, but constantly living anywhere but in the here and now creates a brain that will have difficulty focusing.

Meditation is a way to move from “anywhere but here and now” to the now. But keep in mind that if you have not been practicing taking your mind to the now, it will be more difficult, but not impossible, to start to train your brain to focus. It takes training and repeated effort, maybe a few minutes, to begin to open to the present, allowing your conscious mind’s 5-9 objects to include sensation at the moment.  

The Practice

The following practice is from Aligned, Relaxed, Resilient: The Physical Foundations of Mindfulness, written by Will Johnson, to help you move your mind to the now by focusing on sensation.  

The goal of this practice is acceptance, to be present to whatever you notice.  

Lie down on your back, or sit comfortably.

Start by placing your attention at the top of your head. Let yourself be aware of any sensation you feel there. They may be subtle sensations. For example, if your head is on a pillow, you may sense your head resting on this surface. Sensations may be slight, tingling, or dull. It does not matter whether they are pleasant or unpleasant. Notice them anyway.

You may wish to start to move your attention to other parts of your body, bit by bit.

Next, notice your whole Scalp area. What do you notice there?

Gradually shift to the face, forehead, eyes, temples, nose, cheeks, lips, mouth.

Notice the ears and tongue.

Be patient and allow the sensations to rise to your awareness.

Next, bring your awareness to the neck, the back of the neck, and both sides of the neck. Finally, notice the front of the throat.

What do you feel there?

Turn your attention to your right shoulder. Then, slowly down the length of your arm to your hand.

Notice each finger. Pause long enough to notice the sensation in each of these places. Notice if one finger has a different feeling than the others.

Repeat on the left side, starting with your shoulder, arm, hand, and fingers.

Next, turn your attention to your torso, the sides of your torso, your chest your belly.

What do you notice there? Maybe one sensation blends with another.  

Next, bring your awareness to your back. First, the top of your back, the spine, the shoulder blades, ribs, and the lower back.

Next, bring your awareness to your sacrum and pelvis. Do you notice any sensation there?

Continue scanning, moving to your legs. First, bring your attention to the right leg. Next, notice the right upper leg, the right knee, the right lower leg, the ankle, the foot, and the right toes.

Repeat with the left leg, the left upper leg, the left knee, the left lower leg, the ankle, the foot, and the toes.

Now, turn your attention to your whole body.  Notice the variety of sensations present. Maybe there are places where there is no sensation.

Body Scan for Awareness Guided Audio

I have recorded a guided audio for you to practice body scan meditation. The audio is about 7 1/2 minutes.

Body Scan Practice tips

Don’t force anything. If you become physically, mentally, or emotionally uncomfortable during the practice, stop the practice. You can get up, walk around, journal, or move to a breath meditation practice.  

You may not sense anything in some places. That is ok, notice there is no sensation and keep scanning. Try not to block the dull, not-so-pleasant sensations. If there is pain, move.  

As you watch, you may first notice sensations on the exterior of your body. You may notice where your body meets surfaces like the floor or a chair. You may notice clothing or air on your skin. As you continue to notice, subtler sensations may become apparent. There may be a vibration or shimmer from within your body. There may be other internal sensations. If you notice you got lost in thought, gently let your attention move back to sensation.

Enjoy!