In today's meditation,
I'm going to tell you a little bit about why this form of meditation is effective for our mental well-being and then I will lead you in an exercise.
It's helpful if you are familiar with diaphragmatic breathing.
If you are not,
I have a meditation that teaches you how to do this.
Invariably,
As we do breath meditations,
Thoughts will arise.
These may be memories,
Worries,
Or plans about the future.
They can be ruminations about the past or why things happen,
Or judgments about yourself or others.
When this happens,
Be gentle.
With kindness,
Bring your attention back to your breath.
This will happen again and again.
Just bring your attention back to your diaphragm,
The in and out of your breath.
As you meditate,
Your thoughts might slow down.
They won't go away completely,
But they will become less frequent.
There will be spaces in between where you feel peaceful and quiet.
Our negative thought patterns drive so much of our emotional distress.
When you notice a thought,
You might say,
Thank you,
Mind,
And bring yourself back to the soothing emptiness.
You may also notice painful emotions come up.
Notice how the emotion changes over time.
Emotions last about seven minutes unless they are propelled by our disturbing thoughts.
Watch the emotion as it rises,
Crests,
And recedes.
Let's practice together now.
Begin by noticing your breath.
Notice and let go of each thought that comes along.
Thank you,
Mind,
And come back to the breath.
Notice where the breath lives in the body.
Simply notice the thought and let it go,
Coming back to the breath.
Feel it.
Continue focusing on the breath.
Notice any thought.
Let go and come back to the breath.
Keep doing this.
I will let you know when to stop.
Come back to the breath if your mind is on a thought.
There we go.
Ah.
Take a deep breath.
Let's pause ourselves there.
It's so important not to demand too much of yourself.
At the beginning,
Do at least two minutes of resting mind meditation.
But don't do more than five minutes.
Don't make this a big hill to climb.
Doing a little bit regularly can change your life.
Later,
After your routine is established,
You can meditate longer if you wish.
We'll stop there for today.
What a beautiful way to take care of yourself today.
Till next time,
My dears.
