Vipassana, Anapana/Shamatha Practice (With Some Compassion)

This meditation track was recorded live and put together to give you a full cycle of Anapana and compassion practice very similar to what you are taught in Vipassana. Ultimately, this practice is about creating equanimity and compassion. Beginning to be with the movement of thoughts and our aversion to them, so we can bring it into those more difficult moments we find in living.

Transcript

An opportunity for practice,

An opportunity for reflection,

An opportunity for us just to begin to ease the busyness or explore,

Understand,

Gain a little bit of insight into the busyness of our mind and how we can begin to soften it,

To calm it,

To work with it rather than work against it.

And remember it doesn't need to be perfect.

We can make mistakes.

In fact the most important part of this practice for me is the failure at it,

Is not being good at it,

Is actually being distracted.

It's not always about trying to find some sort of blissful state.

Actually an integral part of in particular shamatha practice or breathing practice is failing at it.

Failing as often as we can,

Getting really good at failing.

So let's just bring some attention into the body and we're just getting a sense of us just sat here or lay there wherever you are.

Getting a sense of the posture and shuffling around a bit.

This practice is about bringing some equanimity and by that I mean just seeing thoughts as being thoughts.

That sounds are sounds,

Sensations,

Sensations.

We don't need to rate them,

No good or bad,

More important,

Less important.

We're just noting the movement and then allowing our attention to rest simply on the movement of our breath.

And from that I'll just invite you to bring some attention to our breath if you haven't already.

I want you to try and see if you can bring some of the tension just around the nose and upper lip area,

Just at the nostrils.

Maybe you can feel the air as it passes through,

Just at the end of the nose on the upper lip.

You don't need to worry if you can't feel something straight away.

What we can do is just start holding our attention in this area.

You may feel movement down in the stomach,

Back of your throat.

Just doing your best to hold some of that wonderful attention just at the nose.

You're not trying to force it.

Remember no expectation,

Doesn't matter how well you did the last time you did one of these practices.

And remember distraction is important,

Thoughts and sounds,

Incredibly important part of this practice.

Let the mind wander,

That's your opportunity to gently guide it back to the breath and rest that attention there again onto that movement of breath.

Have you noticing you're focusing particularly on the sound.

Again with equanimity,

Gently guide your attention back onto the breath again.

And it doesn't matter how many times you get distracted,

Doesn't matter how many times you lose that attention.

Every single time there's just one distraction closer to equanimity.

And now before I just let you go and practice in silence,

I'm just going to bring a little bit of intention into this practice now that we just begin to soften our mind a little.

Maybe through this spiritual journey of ours,

This journey of understanding,

Journey of observation,

Regulation,

Journey of compassion.

Whatever it is for you,

Through your own practice,

Through your own time,

Through your own dedication,

It may help shine a light,

Help guide,

Point others.

Helping them better understand themselves too,

Maybe.

Help them find some peace,

Some stillness,

Some kindness,

Compassion.

Just letting that intention rest like a pebble thrown into a pond as it feathers all the way down to the bottom.

And just letting that intention rest for the rest of this practice.

And just coming back to our breath again.

And as I go a little silent,

Just practicing distraction,

Gently returning.

All right.

Cool.

Remembering it's not about how well you're doing.

And if my voice is a reminder as you're thinking about work or family,

Finances.

But as we begin to find ourselves distracted by happenings,

We get a choice.

We can continue to think.

Not that distractions are bad,

Not that thinking is bad.

Good luck trying to stop thinking.

We just notice that we're thinking.

And we just choose consciously to guide our attention back to our breath again.

And just seeing how long we can hold our attention at the nose.

Nothing more or less important than thoughts,

Just for this practice,

Are just thoughts.

That the belief of being tangled up in them,

Again is just a thought.

The feeling of overthinking,

Again is just a thought that each time we just return our attention back to the breath without criticism,

Without judgment.

And feeling into those sensations.

It doesn't matter whether you're feeling more relaxed or less relaxed.

Whether your mind is busier or less busy.

All we're doing right now is just some practice of finding some equanimity in both busy,

Not busy,

Relaxed,

Not relaxed,

Distracted,

Less distracted.

When I find some space to be with all of that movement,

Seeing it as just a thought and using my breath or using our breath,

In particular the nose,

The lip,

As somewhere I can just hold my attention,

Not to distract myself from the thoughts.

It is a conscious decision,

Conscious choice.

A way of watching the happenings,

Observing the happenings and consciously bringing our attention.

We can choose to keep thinking,

But it's that choice that we're after,

That I'm no longer unconsciously or subconsciously living my life,

That I'm getting insight into the movements of my mind and self-regulating.

Even if you find yourself in your mind just saying,

Thought,

Just thought,

Meaning whatever you're distracted by with that gentle statement that this is just a thought,

Then that's okay.

As you're finding yourself thinking about work or family,

Distracted by whatever's happening,

You're just noticing this distraction,

Reminding yourself,

Thought,

Just thought,

And consciously bringing your attention back to the movement of your breath.

Always remembering this is just practice.

It doesn't matter how well you're doing.

It's just practice.

It's just practice.

It's just practice.

It's just practice.

It's just practice.

It's just practice.

It's just practice.

It's just practice.

It's just practice.

It's just practice.

It's just practice.

So I'd invite you to do just in your thoughts as you're breathing in,

I just want you to say in your mind what you feel you need right now,

Like you could breathe whatever it is that you need into the body.

Maybe right now you need a little bit of strength.

Maybe you've been a little hard on yourself and you're realizing that just at the moment,

Needing a little bit of forgiveness.

Maybe it's compassion,

Warmth,

Joy,

Faith,

Hope,

Whatever it is.

Remember the word you can change as often as you like.

Sometimes it's nice to have a new one on each breath.

Maybe right now all you need is just a bit of strength.

So as you breathe in,

You're just going to say the word strength as you breathe in.

Just imagine you could breathe that strength down into your heart.

Imagine that forgiveness,

Warmth,

Compassion,

Whatever it is.

You don't need to change your breath,

All you're doing is just adding an extra word,

Maybe it's a short phrase.

Maybe you want to use meta,

Like may I be happy,

Healthy,

May I be free from suffering,

May I be at peace.

But you're just breathing in what you feel you need right now,

Letting that touch your heart if you can.

That should really blend quite well with the exercise you were taking that- And from that I'll just invite you just to bring some attention to our breath,

If you haven't already.

I want you to try and see if you can bring some of the tension just around the nose and upper lip area,

Just at the nostrils.

Maybe you can feel the air as it passes through,

Just at the end of the nose on the upper lip.

You don't need to worry if you can't feel something straight away.

That's okay!

Oh What we're going to do is just start holding our attention in this area And you may feel movement down in the stomach back of your throat Just doing your best just to hold some of that wonderful attention just Just at the nose.

You're not trying to force it Remember no expectation,

Doesn't matter how well you did the last time you did one of these practices And remember distraction is important,

Thoughts and sounds,

Incredibly important part of this practice Let the mind wander,

That's your opportunity to change the world And remember that distraction is important,

Thoughts and sounds,

Incredibly important part of this practice Let the mind wander,

That's your opportunity To gently guide it back to the breath and rest that attention there again onto that movement of breath Have you noticing you're focusing particularly on the sound Again with equanimity,

Gently guide your attention back onto the breath again And it doesn't matter how many times you get distracted,

Doesn't matter how many times you lose that attention Every single time is just one distraction closer to equanimity And it doesn't matter how many times you get distracted,

Doesn't matter how many times you lose that attention And it doesn't matter how many times you lose that attention And it doesn't matter how many times you lose that attention And it doesn't matter how many times you lose that attention And it doesn't matter how many times you lose that attention And it doesn't matter how many times you lose that attention And it doesn't matter how many times you lose that attention And it doesn't matter how many times you lose that attention And it doesn't matter how many times you lose that attention And it doesn't matter how many times you lose that attention And it doesn't matter how many times you lose that attention And it doesn't matter how many times you lose that attention And it doesn't matter how many times you lose that attention And it doesn't matter how many times you lose that attention And it doesn't matter how well you're doing,

Even if my voice is a reminder as you're thinking about work or family,

Finances If we begin to find ourselves distracted by happenings,

We get a choice We can continue to think,

Not that distractions are bad,

Not that thinking is bad Good luck trying to stop thinking We just notice that we're thinking And we just choose consciously to guide our attention back to our breath again And just seeing how long we can hold our attention at the nose Nothing more or less important than thoughts,

Just for this practice,

Are just thoughts That the belief of being tangled up in them,

Again,

Is just a thought And the feeling of overthinking,

Again,

Is just a thought Each time we just return our attention back to the breath,

Without criticism,

Without judgement And feeling into those sensations And just seeing how long we can hold our attention back to the breath,

Without criticism,

Without judgment And just seeing how long we can hold our attention back to the breath,

Without judgment And just seeing how long we can hold our attention back to the breath,

Without judgment And just seeing how long we can hold our attention back to the breath,

Without judgment And just seeing how long we can hold our attention back to the breath,

Without judgment And just seeing how long we can hold our attention back to the breath,

Without judgment It doesn't matter whether you're feeling more relaxed or less relaxed,

Whether your mind is busier or less busy What we're doing right now is just some practice of finding some equanimity in both busy,

Not busy,

Relaxed,

Not relaxed,

Distracted,

Less distracted That can I find some space to be with all of that movement,

Seeing it as just a thought And using my breath,

Or using our breath,

In particular the nose,

The lip Somewhere I can just hold my attention,

Not to distract myself from the thoughts,

It is a conscious decision,

Conscious choice A way of watching the happenings,

Observing the happenings and consciously bringing our attention We can choose to keep thinking,

But it's that choice that we're after That I'm no longer unconsciously or subconsciously living my life,

That I'm getting insight into the movements of our mind,

Self-regulating.

.

.

And even if you find yourself in your mind just saying,

Thought,

Just thought,

Meeting whatever you're distracted by with that gentle statement that this is just a thought,

Then that's OK.

And as you're finding yourself thinking about work,

Family,

Distracted by whatever's happening,

You're just noticing this distraction,

Reminding yourself,

Thought,

Just thought,

And consciously bringing your attention back to the movement of your breath.

Always remembering this is just practice.

It doesn't matter how well you're doing.

And just being aware of this is just practice.

It doesn't matter how well you're doing.

Just practice.

Just practice.

Just practice.

Just practice.

Just practice.

Just practice.

Just practice.

Just practice.

Just practice.

And for the last couple of minutes,

If you'd like to,

You can disregard my comments and just continue to watch the movement of your breath,

Work with the distraction.

But I'd like to add in a little bit of extra compassion,

A little bit of extra compassion practice.

Just keep going.

Just keep going.

So I'd invite you to do just in your thoughts as you're breathing in,

I just want you to say in your mind what you feel you need right now,

Like you could breathe whatever it is that you need into the body.

And maybe right now you need a little bit of strength.

Maybe you've been a little hard on yourself and you're realizing that just at the moment,

You're needing a little bit of forgiveness.

Maybe it's compassion,

Warmth,

Joy,

Faith,

Hope,

Whatever it is.

And the word you can change as often as you like.

Sometimes it's nice to have a new one on each breath.

Or maybe right now all you need is just a bit of strength.

And so as you breathe in,

You're just going to say the word strength as you breathe in.

And just imagine you could breathe that strength down into your heart.

Or breathe that forgiveness,

Warmth,

Compassion,

Whatever it is.

And then you can say,

You know,

I'm not going to breathe.

You don't need to change your breath.

All you're doing is just adding an extra word.

Maybe it's a short phrase.

Maybe you want to use meta,

Like,

May I be happy,

Healthy.

May I be free from suffering.

May I be at peace.

But you're just breathing in what you feel you need right now,

Letting that touch your heart if you can.

And finally,

If you could imagine,

You know,

You're just breathing in and out.

You're just transforming that self compassion into selflessness of compassion.

As you breathe out,

You're going to let go of the word of breathing in.

Breathe out and breathe out what you feel the world needs right now.

Maybe it's connection,

Compassion,

Understanding,

Forgiveness.

And you're going to breathe out and just say that word as you're breathing out.

Your thoughts,

Well,

You can do it aloud.

Whatever you'd like,

You breathe out and just say in your thoughts what you feel the world needs right now.

And breathe that into the world.

Thought can change if you want to.

Breathe out and say the word compassion if you're struggling with a particular word.

And as you're doing this,

I just,

I also invite you just beginning to open your eyes if you haven't already.

You're breathing out,

Breathing out the warmth that this world needs,

Connection,

Togetherness,

Whatever it is.

As you open your eyes,

You're still breathing in that way,

Breathing out.

I just invite you just to keep going just for another five or six more breaths,

Breathing out what you feel the world needs right now.

Transforming what we often feel as selfish practices and self kindness and self compassion into that selfless gift of compassion.

Reviews

Loved it thank you!! Audio dipped in and out near the start but other than that loved the practise thank you x

Very peaceful, got me to sit for a full 60 mins

Amazing practice. Lots of nice pauses between instructions. Oh but those birds! Wonderful sounds. I feel at peace and centered. I sent the World tolerance and compassion. Thank you Dan. Most excellent. ☮💖🙏