Transcription of Mindfulness Exercise #1 - Being Non Judging
1 Mindfulness Exercise #1 - Being Non Judging Notice how you can become aware of Judging and non- Judging attitudes in yourself and others today. Try Being the impartial witness to your own experiences through the day. Notice the stream of thoughts going through the Judging mind .. good / bad / without trying to stop them. Just be aware of them. Use the senses, intuition and awareness to practice non- Judging through the day. Here are some suggestions - put at least one in to action several times during the day if you can: Over a five minute period, observe how much you judge someone or an event as 'good', 'bad' or just 'irrelevant'. The habit of Judging means our mind is not at peace and this adds to our stress. Be aware of making automatic judgements and when you notice yourself doing this, just OBSERVE it. Eat something and observe what you are thinking notice the taste and the texture, while trying not to judge it as good or bad. Touch an everyday object. Don t judge whether you like the feel of it.
2 Just be aware of the sensations. Look out of the window. Observe the whole scene and see if you can notice different buildings, structures, nature, weather, without labelling them as good, bad, beautiful or ugly. Be open to the smells that surround you at different times of the day. How does your mode of travel smell? How does your home smell when you return from your work? Do you smell food cooking? Try to notice these smells without deciding whether you like them or not. Listen to some music. Recognise it is music, and not just another noise, but try not to decide whether or not you like it. When something happens during the day and you have a gut reaction to the event, recognise that you are having a response but don t judge it, sit with it, be aware and listen to what your body is telling you. When you find it hard not to judge, try doing a 3-step 'Thinking, Doing, Being ' breathing practice and think about trying to 'mind the gap' between life and your response to it.
3 Notice if other information comes to you which can shift your perception. Be open to this change of mindset. Be aware that by not Judging , you are opening your life up to infinite possibilities. When we don t judge, we allow the possibility of discovering the positive in seemingly difficult situations.
