A meditation practice by Susan Lindau, adjunct lecturer in Social Work, USC
- AWARENESS Bring yourself into the present moment by deliberately adopting an erect and dignified posture. If possible, close your eyes. Then ask:
“What is my experience right now… in thoughts… in feelings… and in bodily sensations?”
Acknowledge and register your experience, even if it is unwanted. - GATHERING Then, gently redirect full attention to breathing, to each in breath and to each out breath as they follow, one after the other. Your breath can function as an anch
or to bring you into the present and help you to tune into a state of awareness and stillness.
- EXPANDING Expand the field of your awareness around your breathing so that it includes a sense of body as a whole, your posture and your facial expression.
The breathing space provides a way to step out of automatic pilot mode and reconnect with the present moment. The key skill is to maintain awareness in the moment. Nothing else.
