MBSR Guided Meditation

This is a guided body scan practice that Bridgeen has been offering to her MBSR students since 2011. It's a 33-minute track to help you develop your meditation practice. You can use this track even if you haven't completed an 8-week course.

Transcript

Welcome to the sitting meditation CD.

To begin the meditation it is important to find a space to sit where you feel comfortable and secure and where you will not be disturbed.

If you can,

Use this time to set aside the normal activities of the day,

To let go of the tendency to be busy and constantly doing.

Allow yourself to relax into the moment,

The here and the now.

Mindfulness meditation is really the art of staying with what is in this moment and if not being swept away by the usual habits of the mind where we lose ourselves and thoughts of the past or plans for the future.

As best you can,

Relax into the moment,

Being fully present with what is.

Touching deeply and fully whatever arises within you and being touched by it.

Staying with what is in the simplest and most direct way.

Familiarizing yourself with your own capacity for quietness and stillness from which you can then draw on your own internal resources.

This of course will require a regular warm and gentle discipline of regular meditation practice.

Meditation is best accomplished by sitting in a comfortable position either on a straight back chair with your two feet firmly planted on the floor or on a meditation cushion with your legs crossed or on a meditation stool or in whatever posture is most suitable for you.

It is important that your back is erect,

Allowing for the natural curvature of the spine with your head balanced at the top of the spine with a gentle stretch on the back of your neck so that your chin is very slightly tucked in.

So you can just take a few moments to adjust your posture if you need to.

Your arms can be a few inches from your torso with your hands either resting on your lap or on your knees.

And gradually become aware of your breathing.

The in-breath and the out-breath.

There's no need to manipulate the breath in any way.

Just being with it as it is in this moment as it comes into and leaves your body.

Notice the movements in your body as you breathe perhaps in the chest region,

The abdomen or the lower belly.

Observing the very subtle effortless movements in your spine and head as your body very gently adjusts itself to the effects of gravity and the act of breathing.

If you can bring in your awareness to the beginning of the in-breath and the end of the out-breath and the pause between the end of the exhalation and the start of the next inhalation.

Not putting any effort into this.

Simply resting for a moment in the pause between breaths.

Now bring your attention to the sensations at the tip of your nose.

Perhaps of heat or cold or tingling.

Allow your awareness to rest there for a few breaths.

Noticing and observing.

Become aware of the breath as it enters the nostrils.

The substance of the breath.

Perhaps experiencing the nostrils expanding with the in-breath.

Noticing the difference in temperature as the breath enters and leaves the nostrils.

Now following the breath down to the chest.

Maybe a sensation of inflation as the lungs fill with air and deflation as they empty.

And down into the abdomen.

Aware of the rising and falling of the abdomen as you inhale and exhale.

I am breathing in.

I am breathing out.

Being alive and alert in your own body at this moment.

The ever-changing movement as the breath moves in and out of your body in an effortless rhythmic cycle.

Sensing the movement within the stillness.

Sensing the movement within the stillness.

Sensing the movement within the stillness.

You may find your attention wondering.

That you have been lost in thoughts,

Fantasies,

Daydreaming or planning.

Maybe a little while since you have given full attention to your breath.

That's okay.

That's what the mind does best.

Wander off.

It is important that you notice when this happens.

To be very gentle and without judging yourself.

Escort your attention back to your breathing and the sensation of the breath in the abdomen.

If your mind is particularly distracted at this time.

You can internally use the words in when you inhale and out when you exhale.

I am breathing in.

I am breathing out.

In.

Out.

Out,

As I feel the Rain.

Rain,

When you come into my lifeTrust that you have done good.

You may find as you are connecting and moving up closer to your breathing and your body that sensations or feelings of discomfort come into your awareness,

Perhaps of tension or agitation,

And this may feel a little tense from time to time.

These times it can be helpful if you can expand the awareness of your breathing to include the whole body from the crown of your head to the tips of your toes right out to the limits of the space your body occupies.

Being aware of the sensation of touch as you make contact with what you are sitting on,

Perhaps feeling the weight of your buttocks on the chair or the cushion or the still,

Sensing the weight of your legs on the floor,

Experiencing your sense of groundedness.

Being here alive and alert in a gentle and dignified manner with full awareness of your breath and the sensations in your body.

And as we drum our chest into breathing,

Falling back and forth in the sensation of If you find that the sensations or the discomfort are overwhelming,

You have a choice.

You can either move your body to a more comfortable posture and if you do this be aware of the intention to move and do it very gently or you can choose to embrace the discomfort,

Gently bringing your attention to where the discomfort is and breathing right into it and breathing out from it.

Allowing yourself to move up close and familiarise yourself with the sensations can also move up to the edges of discomfort and the space around the edges,

Staying for a few breaths Moving from the space back into the core of the sensations of discomfort in an open,

Accepting and curious way,

Totally experiencing what your body is communicating to you in this open space.

Getting a sense of the body in its entirety from the crown of your head to the tips of your toes.

Imagining you can breathe into all of the pores in your body and out from all of the pores in your body.

Just sitting here in a gentle,

Dignified posture.

Just sitting here in a gentle,

Dignified posture.

Now gradually move your attention to hearing.

You may hear internal sounds or external sounds or even a particular quality of silence.

You don't have to make any effort to listen.

Just let the sound come to you.

Noticing if you can how the quality of sound changes.

Staying with the quality of sound without putting any label on it.

Simply opening up to it,

Connecting to it,

Letting it come and go in its own rhythm.

Just letting the sound come and go in its own rhythm.

Just letting the sound come and go in its own rhythm.

Aware of the sounds and the space between the sounds.

And if you find your mind has wandered off,

Gently bringing it back to the breath and the experience of silence or of silence.

Just letting the sound come and go in its own rhythm.

Just letting the sound come and go in its own rhythm.

And if you find your mind has wandered off,

Gently bringing it back to the breath and the experience of silence or of silence.

And if you find your mind has wandered off,

Gently bringing it back to the breath and the experience of silence or of silence.

Without identifying with any thought in particular,

Develop a quality of awareness that recognises thoughts as they come into our consciousness.

Lengthen for a few moments and then pass on,

Giving way to another thought.

And rather than being seduced by our own thoughts,

Just allowing them to come and go without being distracted by them.

Just being aware of the thinking process itself.

Thoughts coming and going in the same manner that sounds arise and pass away.

Simple shape shifting events and rather than tightening and restricting,

Allowing a sense of space and release.

Perhaps sometimes noticing the space between thoughts.

Thoughts can be about anything.

The past,

The future,

Thoughts of planning,

Frightening thoughts,

Thoughts of being bored or even thoughts about thoughts.

It doesn't matter.

Just let them all come and go.

Everything needs to be sorted out as you sit here.

There's nowhere to go,

Nothing today.

Just breathing in and breathing out.

Simply being with the moment as it unfolds is enough.

Letting go.

.

.

If you find that you get caught up and lost in thoughts,

As soon as you notice this,

Come back to the breathing.

Anchor yourself again with the breath.

Align awareness of the flow of thoughts as they come and go.

For the final few minutes of this CD,

We will echo a focusing on any particular object like the breath,

The body,

Sensations,

Hearing,

Thoughts.

And simply just sit here,

Allowing whatever comes into consciousness to come without identifying with it or pushing it away.

Letting whatever arises be.

Settling into our own awareness and touch with the moment.

Being alive and alert to this present moment.

Familiarizing yourself with the grind of your being.

Knowing deep in your bones that this is in fact the only moment you have to be alive.

Reviews

Gentle voice and soft invitation throughout the practice. Thank you! 🌺

That was very nice. I appreciate the quiet pauses. Be well.

Helped me dissolve palpable anxiety I was feeling. Thank you so much!!

Likes it

Thank you for this! It’s beautiful🙏♥️🙏

Just what I needed!

Thanks Bridgeen, a great guided meditation. Very enjoyable practice to listen too. Enjoyed the guidance it was very calming and relaxing. Namaste 🙏

Beautifully enriching

Lovely voice, lovely timing. 33 minutes is quite a stretch for me, but this guided meditation made it possible. Thank you 🙏

Really enjoyed this guided meditation. Allowed ample time for silence and the guidance had a lovely flow! Thank you Bridgeen🙏

Good timing of verbalizing and silence to help remain engaged in the moment