The Five Senses Check In: A Short Mindfulness Practice
This is one practice I’ve used a lot on my own and taught frequently. I think of it as a “home base” practice. It’s more mindfulness practice than formal meditation because it’s one that you can do at any time, anywhere, for any length of time. It’s very flexible because it’s based on your senses. As the name implies, this practice is rooted in the five most common senses that are usually described (sight, hearing, taste, smell, and feeling), but you might notice other senses coming into play.
If one or more of the senses described is not available to you, you’re welcome to try it anyway as an experiment or pay attention to the body part associated with it (for example, noticing your ears, rather than hearing). Or, feel free to skip or ignore the sense if it doesn’t resonate for you!
Notice what feels grounding for you. For that is the intention of this practice: To help ground you in the present moment experienced by your senses.
This audio recording is about 14 minutes long. There is a short intro and a brief outro that sandwiches the practice. There is about 30 seconds of silence at the end of the practice.