This practice is called the Sinamaran side.
It contains some visualizations to help guide you.
In mindfulness practice we use visualizations to help take yourself to the now.
That simply means we suggest a scenario in your mind's eye to lead you to yourself in the present moment,
Right here,
Right now.
It may seem a bit peculiar at first but you'll get used to it.
It's also important to remember at this juncture that practicing mindfulness is about non-striving.
We are not straining and stressing to do these practices.
We are letting go without judgment or striving and with acceptance,
Trust,
Patience and a beginner's mind.
So let's get going.
Sit nice and comfortably,
Place your hands on your thighs and allow your arms to hang naturally from your shoulders.
Notice the way your arms just dangle like they do.
Notice the air swirling around your body.
Notice your feet on the floor,
The contact with your hands and your thighs and the contact of your bum on the seat.
Notice how your head just stands up all by itself.
Consciously relax all the parts of your body one by one.
Many people hold tension in their shoulders so consciously drop your shoulders.
Others hold tension in their jaw,
Their tongue,
Their neck,
Their back or other places in the body.
So go through the major parts of your body and really let them go.
Now breathe through your nose.
Breathing through your nose connects you instantly with your brain via the olfactory nerve and by engaging your diaphragm in a focused way like this,
You tap into your wandering vagus nerve,
Thereby connecting you with your lungs,
Heart,
Gut and back again to your brain.
Don't just take any old breath.
Take a nice big deep breath and really feel the air entering your nose,
Going down your windpipe,
Into your lungs and filling every inch of them.
When you exhale,
Take the time to really feel the air leaving the boundaries of your body too.
Really get into your breath.
Feel it coming in,
Feel it going out.
Lengthen it,
Deepen it and slow it.
If you haven't done so already,
Allow your eyes to fall shut.
In your mind's eye,
Picture your favourite cinema.
If you've suddenly got a hundred cinemas going through your head,
Just pick the first one.
Go up to the counter and buy a ticket.
Walk across the foyer and grab everything you need from the concession stand.
Popcorn,
Drinks,
Sweets,
Whatever.
When you've finished at the concession stand,
Walk up to the usher at the entrance to the auditorium and give him or her the ticket and walk into the auditorium.
Now this auditorium is a little different.
This auditorium is inside your head.
Take a seat anywhere in the auditorium and make yourself comfortable.
When you feel ready,
Allow your attention to be distracted by the screen flickering on.
Enjoy the distance that you have between yourself and the screen for a moment.
Now without striving,
Relax and let yourself have as many thoughts as you like.
Let each thought exist just long enough to note what it is and once you've noted it,
Let it go and let the next thought come.
One by one,
Let them come,
Let them be,
Note them and let them go.
One scene at a time.
Beginning,
Noting,
Letting go.
Beginning,
Noting,
Letting go.
Now I'm going to leave you in peace doing this for 60 seconds.
So let the cinema inside run.
60 seconds.
Here we go.
Okay,
Great.
Take a nice deep breath,
Allow the credits to roll,
Get up from your seat in the auditorium,
Walk out of the auditorium and across the foyer.
By all means,
Say thank you to the ticket seller,
Walk out into the street,
Open your eyes and come back to clock time.
You can wiggle your fingers,
You can wiggle your toes,
You can come back quick,
You can come back slow.
There's no rush here.
Really stretch and really feel yourself stretch.
Some of you will have found that practice helped you to slow down and even stop your thoughts.
Some of you may have found your mind going completely blank from the beginning and not even being able to have any thoughts.
To the first group,
You have just begun to go to the place where your body and your mind are in awareness together.
To the second group,
You have discovered that your consciousness works well with a reverse psychology effect and you have also perhaps inadvertently discovered the space between your thoughts,
The place where your mind and your body are still in awareness and wholeness together.
Whichever group you fall into and even if you found you still couldn't quite quieten your mind to the extent that you were saying nothing,
Remember that daily practice makes you rapidly better.
It needn't be as long as 12 minutes,
It could be a simple pause like the one we started this album with.
Just keep doing the one you feel comfortable with and when you feel confident enough to move on,
Try the next one.
