Day 19 - 21 Day Meditation

Day 19 of 21-day Meditation Challenge - Practitioners are encouraged to be comfortable during the entire meditation. Each day focuses on a different practice, breath awareness, or imagery in mindfulness. Please feel free to jump around - days do not have to be done in order. Restart at any time!

Transcript

Welcome to day 19. Today's mindfulness practice is your breathing anchor practice, Where you root your awareness into the present moment, Like an anchor that roots a ship to one place. This will help you to dissolve anxiety, Decrease stress, And allow the body to heal in a relaxed, Peaceful state. So to begin, Please find as comfortable of a position as possible. This is best done sitting, But you can do it in any posture, Standing, Lying, Sitting, Or even walking. For the purpose of this recording, My guidance will assume you are sitting, But please adapt the instructions to whatever posture you have chosen while listening. Sitting with your back upright, Allow the body to relax. Notice the natural curvatures of your spine. See if you can establish a position that feels dignified, Alert, And yet relaxed. Allow your body to settle, To rest down into gravity, Letting the body be supported by the floor beneath you. And if it's comfortable, Gently closing your eyes. By lessening external distractions, We allow our awareness to settle even more. Gradually allow your awareness to gather around the sensations of the breath in your body. Where do you feel the breath most strongly? Be curious about this experience, Noticing what is actually happening, And letting go of what you think should be happening. Sitting with your experience without judgment. Now gently rest your awareness within the whole torso. Can you feel your belly swelling on the in-breath and subsiding on the out-breath? Can you feel any movement and sensations with the breath in the sides and the back of the body? Let your body, With a sense of curiosity, Towards whatever you're experiencing as you breathe. Remember to be accepting of whatever is happening. See if you can cultivate a precise awareness of the sensations and movement of the breath in the body as they happen, Moment by moment. Being careful not to strain. Allow your awareness to be receptive as it rests upon the natural movement of the breath in the body. Allow the breath to be saturated with kindness as it rocks and cradles the body, Soothing any stress and pain or discomfort you may feel. Become aware of any thoughts and emotions. Remembering that mindfulness isn't about having a blank mind. It's perfectly normal to think. Mindfulness is training where we cultivate awareness of what is actually happening physically and mentally and emotionally. So you can gradually change your perspective and feel you have more choice in how you relate to life. Can you look at your thoughts and emotions rather than look away from them? Can you be aware of what you're thinking and feeling without either blocking experience or getting overwhelmed by it? Your thoughts are not facts, Even though we often feel that they are. As you develop perspective on your thoughts and emotions, Including undermining ones, Can you let go of being so caught up in them? Notice how they're continually changing one moment to the next, Exactly the same way your breath is always changing. Your thoughts and emotions are not fixed. They are not as solid as you perhaps thought. Using awareness of the moment and sensations of the breath in your body as an anchor for the mind over and over again. Follow the breath all the way in and all the way out. Each time your awareness wanders as it will, Simply note this and return to the breathing anchor time after time, Moment by moment, Ensuring that you are kind and patient with yourself. Even if you have to start again a hundred times, It is okay. This is what the training is all about. Remember that each time you notice you've wandered, You've come upon a magic moment of awareness, A moment where you have woken up from the distraction, A moment of choice. When you catch yourself having wandered off, You're succeeding in the practice, Just as you're succeeding when you manage to stay with the breath. So what's happening now? What are you thinking? Just note this and guide your awareness back to the sensation of the breath in the body over and over again. And now gently begin to bring the breathing anchor practice to a close. Take a moment here to become aware of the sounds around you, Inside and outside of the room. Feel your whole body and gradually, Gently begin to move. Taking as much time as you need here to transition from this breathing anchor practice back into the waking world. I thank you for taking this time to sit with me today. I look forward to seeing you on day 20. Just easy, My friends.