Hello,
My name is Adam Rosen,
And welcome to this introductory guided mindful meditation practice.
I have been practicing mindful meditation for almost 10 years now,
And what I have found is what many studies have shown,
Is that a mindful meditation practice can help reduce stress and anxiety.
Mindfulness is an informal practice of being aware of the present moment,
Where meditation is a more formal practice,
Where we place the attention on an object,
Such as the breath.
A mindful meditation practice can be broken down into three basic steps.
We take a seat,
We turn our attention to the breath,
And when our mind wanders and thoughts arise,
We gently label that as thinking,
And return our attention back to the breath.
For the sitting posture,
You can sit on the floor with a cushion underneath your bottom,
So your hips are slightly above your knees.
You may sit cross-legged,
Or in the half or full lotus position.
You may kneel,
Or you may sit in a chair with your feet planted firmly on the floor.
In each of these positions,
You want to sit upright,
Not stiff,
As if someone has a gentle string pulling your head upwards into a straight,
Dignified posture.
You place your hands into a position called a mudra.
You may rest these comfortably on your thigh,
With your palms down.
Or you may take your right hand and rest it gently,
In your left hand palm up,
And let your thumbs gently touch.
You want to take your gaze and cast it downward,
At a 45 degree angle,
3 to 5 feet in front of you.
And based on your comfort level,
You may shut your eyes,
Or close your eyes,
Or just keep them slightly open,
To let some of the outside world and light come in.
If you're unable to maintain a sitting posture,
You may even lie down for this practice.
The second part is turning your attention to the breath.
You want to notice where you feel the breath most strongly.
You may notice the wind passing over your upper lip as you breathe in and out.
Or you may notice the rise and fall of your chest or abdomen.
But find the place that you notice your breath most strongly,
And keep your attention there during this practice.
The third part of the practice is that your mind will wander and thoughts will arise.
When that occurs,
Just recognize it,
And without judgment or bias,
Label that thought as thinking,
And turn your attention back to your breath.
So I will ring the bell,
And we will start our sit practice.
At this point,
You should be in a seated position,
Hands resting gently,
Eyes looking down the world at a 45 degree angle,
Three to five feet in front of you,
And let your eyelids close slightly.
Notice your body becoming still.
Determine where you feel your breath most strongly,
And don't force the breath.
Allow the breath to occur as it will,
But notice it.
Notice your breath come in,
And notice your breath go out.
If you're finding it difficult to maintain the focus on your breath,
You may use a gentle mantra.
On every in-breath,
Recite in your mind,
I am breathing in.
And on every out-breath,
As you breathe out,
Recite the mantra in your mind,
I am breathing out.
On the in-breath,
I am breathing in.
On the out-breath,
I am breathing out.
If thoughts have occurred,
Do not allow your mind to create a storyline.
Try to catch yourself,
Label those thoughts as thinking,
And return your attention back to your breath,
Gently,
Without judgment or bias.
If you notice discomfort arise in your back or hips or knees,
Try breathing into it and see if that discomfort passes.
If the discomfort persists or you have pain,
Gently adjust your posture to get into a more comfortable position,
And then return your attention back to your breath.
If your mind has wandered once again,
Gently label it as thinking,
And return your attention back to your breath,
I am breathing in,
I am breathing out.
Before I ring the bell to signify the end of our sit,
Contemplate this quote by John Kabat-Zinn,
Just this moment,
Just this breath,
Just sitting here,
Just this.
I want to congratulate you and thank you for sitting with me today.
Try to incorporate a sitting mindful meditation practice daily.
If you can fit in 20 minutes,
That would be excellent.
If 5 or 10 minutes is all you have time for,
Start there.
Practice makes perfect.
With time,
You will start to catch yourself before thoughts become a storyline,
And you will catch those thoughts earlier,
And always remember,
Without judgment,
Without bias,
Just gently,
Label those thoughts as thinking,
And turn your attention back to your breath.
I look forward to sitting with you again.
Until next time,
Be happy,
And be well.
