Welcome to the beginner's meditation guide.
So before we begin,
Just make sure that you're seated somewhere comfortable.
Your back should be straight,
If possible.
You can sit on a chair,
So in that case,
Your feet should be planted on the ground beneath you.
And just keep your shoulders and neck in a relaxed position.
Your hands on your thighs.
And with a straight back,
Just make sure then that you are relaxed and that you're sitting comfortably.
And if you are comfortable to do so,
Of course,
You can sit in a lotus position or in a meditation chair or something like that as well.
Okay,
So just close your eyes.
And let's begin by taking a deep breath in through your nose.
And then you can slowly release through your mouth.
And one more time.
Let's take another deep breath in through the nose.
And release slowly out through your mouth.
And repeat this one more time.
Inhale.
And exhale through your mouth slowly.
Release all the tension that you may still have stored in your shoulders or neck.
And also in your jaw and in your face,
Which is often where we keep the most tension.
And now you can just return to your normal breath.
You may breathe a little heavier than you normally do if that feels comfortable for you.
For this first practice,
All I want you to do is simply to focus on your breath.
Your eyes are closed.
Your body's relaxed.
Now you just place your full attention and full awareness on your breath.
Notice what it feels like as the breath enters your nostrils.
Settle into a breath that is rooted in your lower abdomen.
So in the lower parts of your stomach so that you're not forcing the breath with your chest.
Your stomach is relaxed and that you're breathing with your stomach.
The breath will do its job automatically.
And it's simply your job now to pay attention to what it feels like.
And relax your face,
All the muscles around your eyes and your mouth.
Follow it all the way from the beginning of the inhale to the last part of the exhale with as much focus as you possibly can,
So that you feel the whole process intimately.
Now,
Whatever your experience is,
It's important to note that this is what meditation is.
Whatever it is that you are now discovering about yourself.
Maybe you're bored.
Maybe you find it difficult to focus on your breath.
Maybe your breath feels forced.
Maybe you struggle to relax in certain parts of your body.
Maybe you were distracted by thoughts.
There is no failure.
There is no mistake that you can do.
Meditation is about familiarizing yourself.
What's going on in there.
It's getting to the core,
The truth of your experience as it actually is.
And anything you learn is valuable.
So take another breath and keep in mind what I just told you.
That there is nothing that you need to achieve or understand or fix.
Everything that you now experience through this meditation is what the meditation is.
The purpose is whatever you are experiencing.
If you fall into a thought,
A stream of thought,
And you lose your focus,
Your job is simply to the best of your ability to catch that and then to come back to the breath.
Then you know how your mind works at times.
So let's just fall back into relaxation and acceptance for whatever is.
And then set the intention again that you're going to focus on your breath.
Great job.
That's your whole job for now.
I know it can seem a little meaningless for some people,
But meditation is a practice for a reason.
And if you continue to do it,
It has enormous capacity to take you to also more profound places and realizations.
But it is important that you get familiar with the basics first.
So thank you for joining me and I'll catch you in the next meditation.
