Preside Open 1: The Sponge Meditation

This is the first meditation exercise in the Preside Open Study Group Program for beginning and intermediate meditators. It is called "Just Preside" and is also known by its popular nickname, the "Sponge Meditation." This track is 5-minutes long and if this is your first time doing it, please be sure to listen to the debrief talk right after, "Preside Open 2" for the accompanying theory and context.

Thanks!

Transcript

So,

For this exercise,

I'd like you to sit comfortably and make your eyes soft.

The way to do this is to just relax the muscles around your eyes and make them soft the way they are when you're looking at a cute little baby or a little puppy or a kitten.

And then go ahead and close your eyes and take a slow,

Deep breath.

And just rest there for a second.

So what I'd like you to do is to please imagine that you are in your kitchen and that your mind is a big sponge,

Like a sea sponge or a big kitchen sponge or something like that.

And you've been cleaning the kitchen with this sponge and it's pretty soaked.

It's totally sopping wet.

Now this is your mind in its everyday working mode.

Being all day,

Getting things done,

Going to work,

Seeing friends,

Crossing the street,

Everything.

And because you've been using it all day,

The water probably isn't completely clean.

So what I'd like you to do is to go over to the sink and squeeze the sponge out into the sink to just get it clean.

Turn on the water and run a bunch of clean water over it and just squeeze it out a few times until the water runs clean and clear.

And when it's running clean,

Just squeeze it dry one last time.

And then please put the clean sponge of your mind down on the kitchen counter and take a step back from it.

Now this is your mind at rest.

And what I'd like you to do is to not touch it but also don't walk away from it.

Just stand there and preside over it and don't do anything else.

Now eventually your mind is going to get active again.

It's not going to sit still for long.

And so no matter what it does,

I'd like you to just stay there and preside over it.

Let it do whatever it wants to do.

Let it think whatever it wants to think.

Let it feel whatever it wants to feel.

Good or bad,

Fast or slow,

Happy or sad,

Anything is totally fine.

Just don't touch it but don't walk away.

Just stay there.

Okay.

Come on out.

Reviews

Found Artie in this platform after 20 yrs. So nice to meditate with you again🤗

Different than the types of guided meditations I've done previously. Felt very relaxed and continued sitting quietly after the end of the recording, letting my mind think thoughts. Looking forward to the next installment.

That was very easy to do. Really clear instruction. Thank you :)

This Sponge Meditation really captures my focus and intent for beginning to meditate. Thank you Artie!