Mindfulness Meditation Sessions | Pilot Theatre: Recent Episodes
Sam
Every Wednesday at 1:15pm - 1:35pm we have been running free online Mindfulness Meditation Sessions for people working in the arts sector. These sessions are led by mindfulness practitioner Lizzie Wiggs.If you would like to join us, please email sarah@pilot-theatre.com for the link. No previous experience is required and there is no need to have your camera on.
Hello Everyone,
Sorry not to be able to join you in person this week. I hope this recording supports you through the week and helps you find a little spaciousness, rest and welcome in your experience.
With kindness and see you next Thursday,
This week's practice invites us to tune into the 5 senses as a way of helping us to ground ourselves in the present moment.
I look forward to seeing you all next week on my return from Macedonia.
This week's meditation practice is an offering to stay curious to your experience as it is, without getting caught up in what you think is happening. To notice, with curiosity what is happening and to ask yourself how you're meeting it?
Here is this week's practice - an invitation to build a present moment awareness, to cultivate a sense of steadiness, a steadiness of the heart, moment by moment.
This is a mini meditation that you can do at any time, in the rehearsal room, sitting at your desk or on the train! Taking time to ask ourselves what’s present in our experience, acknowledging what’s here, taking our attention to the breath and then asking the question again, what’s here and acknowledging with kindness.
I’ll guide us through over 15 minutes, but once you know the stages you can practice this in a couple of minutes as a way to check in with yourself.
It sounds so simple and yet consciously changing the way you breathe sends a signal to the brain to adjust the parasympathetic (rest and digest) branch of the nervous system allowing the body to leave a state of stress and enter into a state of calm.
Practice this at any time so that when you notice yourself getting anxious, nervous, stressed you can pause and consciously breathe, helping to regulate and soothe your nervous system.
How do we find peace in the midst of the imperfections of our sitting practice? In the midst of everything going on around us in life? How do we welcome the undesirable noises from outside, the stiffness of joints, or discomfort in the body, the busy mind, the feelings that we push away?
The invitation in this week's practice is to allow for all of yourself and experience, to let the body, heart and mind be just as they are, to find a steadiness in amongst the imperfection.
The Body Scan practice allows us to build an awareness of the mind and body connection and a sensitivity in the body and what it’s trying to communicate to us. Our bodies are always communicating with us and so this practice helps us to be more aware of these messages from our body. A 5 minute practice is a great place to start.
It's not always easy to cultivate self-compassion or even to just go a bit easier on ourselves but if we can, the effects can be life changing.
There are many different Loving Kindness practices, this is a simple practice that invites us to offer ourselves and another a sense of kindness and ease.
Our autonomic nervous system refers to the functions that take place without any thought, such as the heart beating or the stomach digesting food. This system can be in a fight-or-flight or rest-and-digest state.
The ability to consciously regulate breath allows the body to leave a state of stress and enter into a state of calm. Box breathing is a simple but powerful relaxation technique which can help return your breathing to a relaxed pattern.
Try practising this for a couple of minutes daily to encourage deep breathing.
During our day there is so much vying for our attention - emails, social media, colleagues, family members, the sounds around us, thoughts about what we need to get done etc…
It can be really beneficial for us at any point in our day to drop out of the thinking mind and into the body. To spend a few minutes, sensing into the simple, the visceral, the feeling of being here, the breath in the body, sensations in the body, the sounds around us.
Grounding ourselves in the present moment, however it is, soothing and steadying the nervous system a little.
A 5 minute practice exploring how we can lean into the simple aliveness of this moment, with care.
Every Wednesday at 1:15pm - 1:35pm we have been running free online Mindfulness Meditation Sessions for people working in the arts sector. These sessions are led by interdisciplinary artist and mindfulness practitioner, Lizzie Wiggs.
During the summer weeks between Wednesday July 27th and August 31st these sessions will be offered as recordings for you to use in your own time. If you would like to join us in September for our weekly sessions on zoom, please email sarah@pilot-theatre.com for the link. No previous experience is required and there is no need to have your camera on.
Week Beginning Monday 25th July
Practice 1 - 15 Minute practice - Taking In the Good
This weeks offering is a 15 minute practice focussing on taking in the good, exploring what it might be like to train our mental muscle towards retaining positive experiences. This practice is inspired by the work of
Rick Hansen. Please feel free to return to this practice as often as you like over the next week.
Every Wednesday at 1:15pm - 1:35pm we have been running free online Mindfulness Meditation Sessions for people working in the arts sector. These sessions are led by mindfulness practitioner Lizzie Wiggs.
We understand that not everyone is available at that time, therefore we're making audio recordings of the sessions available.
This meditation was recorded from a live via Zoom session on 11 May 2022, led by Lizzie Wiggs. Please make yourself comfortable and enjoy.
This meditation was recorded from a live via Zoom session on 9 March 2022, led by Lizzie Wiggs. Please make yourself comfortable and enjoy.
This meditation was recorded from a live via Zoom session on 23rd February 2022, led by Lizzie Wiggs. Please make yourself comfortable and enjoy.
This meditation was recorded from a live via Zoom session on 9th February 2022, led by Lizzie Wiggs. Please make yourself comfortable and enjoy.
This meditation was recorded from a live via Zoom session on 2nd February 2022, led by Lizzie Wiggs. Please make yourself comfortable and enjoy.