Feel Your Feet.

Looking for a mindfulness tip in the moment? Feel your feet. Yes, you read correctly. Turn your attention to your feet, and feel your feet. Anyplace, anytime.

I completed my Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) teacher training at the University of California, San Diego, Center for Mindfulness, and am deeply grateful for the teachings offered by Allan Goldstein and Char Wilkins. Char shared this user-friendly, easy mindfulness tip in the moment to help unplug from unproductive thoughts or to deeply relax.

The mind is an endless source of chatter. Plug into the body and unplug from the head by feeling the feet—standing, sitting, walking, laying down, wherever you are. Direct your full attention to your feet. Can you feel them? What do you feel? A tingling? A tension? What do you feel on the soles of your feet? What do you feel on the tops of your feet? Your toes? Do you feel the touch of clothing or a shoe? Feel your feet on the ground. Just feel the feet.

Try it before you get out of bed in the morning as a purposeful pause, or before you fall asleep at night to plug into your body, unplug from your day, center and relax. Try it while sitting at the office when you find yourself distracted by thoughts or ruminating on an internal story that is unhelpful. In those moments, plug into your feet to get as far away from your head as possible. Try it sitting on the train or in a parked car before you hit the deck running at work. Just give it a try.

Use it in moments of stress as you feel yourself activating or in moments of calm to relax more deeply in the body. Create a space, increase awareness, connect with the body, recenter.

Enjoy!

Ashley