Transcripts
1. Introduction: Hi, and welcome to my class. Today we are going to be doing a beginner's course
on mindfulness. Mindfulness can seem like such a daunting
thing to jump into. It's definitely a buzzword
that's out there right now. And for many, the
fact that it is a buzzword can be
a complete turnoff to wanting to try
something that can have so many benefits for you. There are many ways to
enter your day with mindfulness that
don't require you to be a yoga student or to
meditate three hours a day. And in today's class, we will be taking
those baby steps to help you have a
more mindful day. And your teacher, Hanna Carmona, I am a children's book author
and also an herbalists. I am excited to share
with you what I've learned over the past few years. And hope that you will take something away from this class that will benefit you for years to come.
Let's get started.
2. Breathe: So one of the first
things about mindfulness, I want to just get
out there is that this can be completely
free for you. You do not need to pay for a year subscription
at a yoga studio. You do not need to go
to a retreat that may cost you thousands of dollars. There are many things
that you can do, right? In your own home and anywhere, honestly, in your car at work. When you're out for a walk. That will help you on
your mindfulness journey. Of course, as you
learn more and more, you may find that you
want to do some of those other things and
that is perfectly fine. You're just adding more
tools to your tool belt. Hello, we're entering
into this journey. I want to put your
mind at ease that you do not need to spend money to get the benefits of
mindfulness or to even begin. The first place I want to start with you is with the breath. Yes. I know. It's completely cliche. But when was the last
time during your day you actually took a mindful breath, not just allow your body
to inhale and exhale air. Taking a mindful breath is simply taking a breath
while thinking about it. We could even go
as far as to take a breath and set an
intention with it. So when we talk about intention, all this is, is entering something with a
meaning behind it. So if I were to take an
intentional breath right now, I think the meaning I would
want to have behind it is just a sense of serenity
and relaxation. Together. Let's just take one mindful, deep breath in through our nose and out
through our mouth. Just to recognize how
that made you feel. Weird. That's okay. Did it instantly help
you with your intention? Wonderful. Was it just another breath? That's cool too. The thought behind this though, is that you entered
that breath mindfully. With every activity you
have during your day, you have the opportunity to enter those
activities mindfully. And a great way to
mark the beginning and endings of activities
is through the breath. So the next time you sit
down at your computer ready to work your eight-hour
shift, start with the breath. And maybe you'll find
you're so inclined to take a second or third breath. These filled with intention for what you want
during the day. Maybe peacefulness
through productivity, maybe groundedness, maybe joy. Then enter your
workday in that way. The wonderful thing is, with each breath in, you are inhaling the breath, love of the planet around you. And with each exhale out, you are releasing what
no longer serves you. Again, I know these
are buzzwords, but when we talk about releasing what no
longer serves you, it doesn't have to be
this big grand thing. It can simply be. Okay. I had a tough morning. My coffee came out like crap, and the kids were acting wild when I was trying
to get them to school. That's over and done with
there's nothing I can do now to ground me
into this moment. And what I do have control
over in this moment. I'm going to take a breath. We've released everything that's happened before this moment. Because in all honesty, the only thing you have control over is this moment right here. The two minutes
previous to this, when you started this course
are over and Gone With. The only thing you have
in control is right now, what are you going to do
right now this very second? Because the last second
is already gone. The next hour hasn't
happened yet. So we only have right now and right here where we can breathe.
3. Active Mindfulness: So let's talk about
active mindfulness. When we think of meditation
or we think of mindfulness, a lot of us think of
being in stillness. Stillness is great and I encourage you every day to sit in a little
bit of stillness. Start with thirty-seconds, and each day add-on,
thirty-seconds. Stillness allows the body to be grateful for what
is in this moment. While the first few times
that you are still, you might find
your mind rushing, trying to plan what's
going to come next. You'll find over time
it becomes easier. And honestly one of
the best ways to practice stillness is
in a waiting room. You're going to the
doctor for an appointment rather than pulling out your phone or bringing
a book to read, just sit in the waiting room,
observe your surroundings, and just allow
yourself to feel how that feels to do
nothing but wait. As we are working
ourselves up to stillness, active mindfulness is a
great segue into that. Active mindfulness is doing
things like taking a walk, going for a run, doing the dishes,
cleaning up toys, but all with an
intention behind it. So rather than just going
through the motions of oh, I have to do these dishes
and then I have to put the kids to bed and then I have to go work the night shift. Enter doing the dishes
with intention. Feel how the water feels on your hands as you're
washing the dishes, observed the sounds around you. Then just be aware of any
feelings that rise up. We don't need to
judge these feelings. We don't need to place
a label on them. It can just be a feeling
and we can acknowledge, Oh, I feel this way. And then continue on
with what we're doing, scrubbing the grease off of the lasagna tray
or whatever it is. Active mindfulness is so
great because a lot of us are prone to getting antsy or itchy or wanting to reach
for our phone, right? Because in our society, hustle culture is so promoted and we're sitting
and doing nothing. Our culture has made
us feel like we're doing the wrong thing and we
should be doing something. So until we can work
ourselves up to the acceptance of it
is okay to do nothing. Having that active
mindfulness can help us to calm the
brain and calm the mind. Go for a walk with the
intention of mindfulness. Go for a walk with the intention of
listening to the birds, smelling all the different
smells you can smell. These are great activities to do with young ones
if you have them. Or even just with a
stranger or a pet. What is that weird plant
your dog is peeing on, rather than just watching him p, maybe you can observe, you can observe how
many different kinds of plants to confine play different games with yourself during this active mindfulness. And you'll find that with
each task you enter, it becomes easier
and easier to enter those tasks with mindfulness
and with intention.
4. Meditation: So because we're talking
about mindfulness, we will of course now talk a
little bit about meditation. Meditation can get a bad rap because the great
Yogi's was **** you, you need to have a meditation practice of three hours a day
every single day. And that's just not
feasible for a lot of us. So what I encourage you
to do is just to find some sort of meditation
practice that works for you. For me, I can commit to ten minutes Monday
through Friday, and that's my
meditation practice. I don't feel guilty if
I need to skip a day, I don't feel guilty
if I forget a day, it's just oh, that happened. And then you move on when you're starting your
meditation practice. I again encourage
you to start small, start with one or
two-minute meditation and do a guided meditation. Don't feel like you have
to do this on your own. The great thing is there are so many resources out there as far as guided
meditations go. You can find them
for free online. You can also find them in different audio format so
you can check them out from your library and allow
someone to guide you into a state of before the
lack of a better word, unconsciousness where
they're leading you through different activities
that help you release the thoughts
from your mind, help you to find a place as Zen, that's probably a better word. Buying a place of Zen with them. Then you'll find moments where you don't want to
do a guided meditation. And you'd rather
maybe just listen to some music and lead
yourself in a meditation. There's such a beautiful
sense of control that happens when you can just sit down and lead yourself
in a meditation. There's so much that's out of
our control in this world. But the ability
to get to choose, to choose what we're
going to do next is a wonderful way to
harness and that control. I know I can choose to do a guided meditation and unguided meditation to
meditate on the floor, on my bed, on the grass. And then I'm going to stick by those choices because it's
a choice I want it to make as long as you're
entering these choices with kindness towards yourself
and kindness towards others, I see no harm and experimenting with the different
choices that you make. So if music doesn't
work for you while meditating or being
endorses too distracting. Go ahead, try going outside. The possibilities
are endless and then find a practice
that works for you. My practice is not gonna be
the same as your practice. And don't let anyone
guilt you into thinking that your practice
needs to look a certain way. Again, as long as you are
entering your practice with kindness towards
yourself and towards others, you are going to
see the benefits.
5. Reward: The last thing I want to
talk about is rewards. So who doesn't love getting a reward after doing a good job? On this mindfulness journey. One of the beautiful things you'll find that start happening is gratitude towards
everything around you. The little things
no longer seem like the little things you can
find joy in simplicity. Use that and you'll
find a reward. Doesn't have to be an expensive
vacation for yourself, or doesn't have to be
a bubble bath, right? You will find different
ways to reward yourself that field delicious and
fulfilling or your soul. Every week, I encourage you to find a way to
for work herself. I think once a week is
a good place to start. Eventually, you'll
get to once a day and rewarding yourself
because you'll find, like I said, reward doesn't mean buying yourself
something expensive. Sometimes it can mean that. It also does it mean
going somewhere luxurious or taking a bubble
bath every single day? Those are great ways
to reward yourself. But on this journey
you will find many, many other ways that feel rewarding and
fulfilling to yourself. It's kinda fun. You'll find like a deliciousness
in your soul. It's kinda like when you're craving something
you really want to eat and then you eat it
and it just hits the spot. It's the same way with
rewarding yourself. So I've listed a couple of ways that you can
reward yourself, right? We have the ever common like take a bubble bath
or maybe treat yourself to a nice
Starbucks coffee if you don't do that often. But other simple
ways you can reward yourself are with a
pair of fuzzy socks, first thing in the morning. So I like to reward myself first thing in the morning
and that's what I do. If I have to get
out of bed and put my feet on these
cold, hard floors. I'm going to do
it with a pair of luxurious feeling fuzzy socks. Socks. Wear it like a Christmas gift from
three years ago, but every morning, I know. Okay, Hannah, if
you get out of bed, you get to wear your
favorite fuzzy socks. So that's my reward first
thing in the morning. Other rewards could
be rewarding yourself with stillness, with time, just for yourself, with maybe a little extra
Kramer in your coffee. Honestly, the possibilities are endless and I could
just keep going, but only you are going
to know what we're bored feels right for your soul. And with each reward, you'll release a sense of
gratitude into the universe. And with each gratitude that you send out to the universe, you're going to receive
that thrice back. It'll get to the point where you're not even thinking about the fact that every time I put out gratitude
in the universe, I'm gonna get it back again. It's okay to think that way
in the beginning we all do. But you'll just find you
want to be gracious, but everything that
is surrounding you, because even during
the hard times, it'll become even more important for your soul
to find that gratitude. And you'll find situations
that before were extremely hard and
difficult on your soul. Well, they're not easy. They're much more manageable
because you're able to enter them with
mindfulness and intention.
6. Project: So I want to thank
you-all for joining me in this beginner friendly
mindfulness course. I hope it was enough
to help you kick off your journey for
your assignment. I would like you to set aside 30 seconds today to
take a couple of mindful breaths to
either sit in stillness or to do a little mini reward for yourself, you get to choose. Then I want you to comment
below or use the form that I'll upload to tell
me about your experience. Remember, we don't
need to judge it. We don't need to label it. It can just be this
is my experience and that will be fantastic if you want to stay in contact. I do have a YouTube channel
called deep dives and meditation's where I do provide guided and unguided meditation. Also, a deep dive into just other fun things
that interests me, other stories and all of that. Thank you again for joining me and I will see you
in my next class. Bye.
Hannah Carmona, Author, Audiobook Narrator, Herbalist
