Welcome to mind gem meditation.
Let us first explore what exactly are we trying to do before starting on the details about the techniques.
We will try to build up our attention's capacity to let go of thoughts by repeatedly bringing it back to an anchor.
As the attention latches on the anchor,
It automatically practices letting go from distracting thoughts.
There are many kinds of anchors that can be used in this technique.
In this meditation,
We will use an anchor that is a word with no particular meaning but capable of inducing an impactful sensation pattern in the body.
We will call this technique hover and anchor.
Let us start with a couple minutes prep.
Balance your weight evenly,
Whether you are sitting on a mat or on a chair.
Try to keep your back as straight as possible but not tense.
Gently close your eyes.
Before you start,
Think about an image that triggers a natural outpouring of love.
Image of pets or kids is usually very effective.
Think of a time when you were a small kid and when you were taken care of.
Try to experience the feeling of I am taken care of.
You need to do a self-affirmation that I do not want anything from this session.
If done with the right spirit,
This helps in settling down the thoughts like,
Am I getting there?
Or how am I doing?
Or is this thing working at all?
These distracting thoughts can become difficult to let go and can lure you in abandoning the practice.
Now let us start with some belly breathing to calm down our minds.
As you may know,
This is a simple technique.
When you inhale,
Belly goes out and when you exhale,
Belly goes in.
Just normal breathing but when you inhale,
The belly is going out and when you are exhaling,
The belly goes in.
Let us repeat this about five times.
Now say the word hum loudly.
You will notice that this word forces you to exhale when you say it loudly.
Hum.
Now draw this word out for say three seconds.
Hum.
Pay attention to the hum sound.
Please use this drawn out version of hum for this technique.
Observe the vibrations the word creates in the body.
Does hum cause a vibration in the abdomen around the solar plexus area?
And does hum create vibrations in your chest and neck area?
Now think hum without vocalizing.
Observe that the vibrations still exist.
Maybe a bit fainter.
Notice that your vocal cords are moving involuntarily ever so lightly even as you think about the word hum which is your anchor thought.
Get this thinking of hum to a lower volume where the involuntary movement of vocal cords is barely perceptible.
Observe the subtle sensations the anchor thought causes in the body when you think about it.
This subtle sensation combined with thinking of hum will be the anchor for your attention.
Let us do this a few times.
Keep your attention on the subtle vibrations and sensations of the word.
If your attention wanders into other thoughts get it back to the anchor hum whenever you become aware of the fact that you have wanted.
Continue to keep your attention on the subtle vibrations and sensations of the word hum.
If your attention does not wander wait for five seconds and think hum again and keep repeating that same procedure.
Stay with the sensations of the anchor.
You may zone out or move into the gap between thoughts sometime during the practice.
As soon as you realize you are in the zone bring the attention back to the anchor.
If your attention wanders into other thoughts get it back to the anchor whenever you become aware of the thoughts.
No need to judge the wandering away or the thoughts just gently favor the anchor.
Continue to be aware of the sensations of the anchor hum.
Continue to be aware of the sensations of the anchor hum.
Thanks for meditating with me today.
Thank you.
