Relax Into The Foundations Of Mindfulness

From choosing an anchor to relaxing your effort, this loose exploration of the four foundations of mindfulness sets the stage for your practice to become organic and remixed, moving between breath, sensation, sound, emotions, and thoughts. Over the course of the 30-minute practice, there may be enough settling for mindfulness itself become the anchor. Try it and see what’s possible for you.

(This meditation was guided during my 4-month Mindfulness Facilitation Certification Program.)

Transcript

As I invited you to do last night, You might practice really slowing things down. Slowing down, Settling into your posture. Slowing down, Placing your attention on whatever anchor. Maybe looking around if the eyes are still open, Eventually turning the gaze down or closing the eyes, Planting the seed for kindness and curiosity to arise in this practice or to arise at some point in the future. And then beginning this subtle practice of observing, Kind of like if you were a snow globe that was all shaken up and that since the start of the practice it's like you've put the snow globe down and you're observing the snowflakes begin to slow down. Might notice the spaces between the snowflakes. Some settle, Some don't. Maybe noticing the amount of settling that's here, That's available. And in the settling, Let there be this choice for stillness versus this imposition of stillness. And connect with your body, Noticing your body just resting here in whatever posture it's in. You might notice hardness or softness, Heaviness or lightness, Or perhaps it's the breath you notice more predominantly, Or even the water element, If the eyes feel dry or the mouth has a lot of saliva, Or it could be noticing that you feel hot or cold. Getting really curious, What do you notice about your body? And from there, Choosing a point of focus or an anchor for your practice. Perhaps you're choosing to follow the breath, The in and out, The rise and fall, The expansion or contraction. Perhaps it's staying in the realm of sensation, Noticing hardness or softness, Heaviness or lightness. Tingling, Vibrating, Pulsating. Whatever you're practicing with, Bring attention to also how you're practicing. Can you bring in some ease, Some tenderness, Some relaxation? Not needing to get it right or perfect. Just bringing a willingness to start over again and again and again and again and again. Relax your effort, If possible, A little bit more. What might happen is your practice might become a little bit more remixed or organic. You might be focusing, Say, On the breath, But then suddenly your foot is falling asleep, So you bring attention to sensation. You spend time there, And when it's not so compelling anymore, You might return to the breath, Or it might be the sound of someone walking down the hallway, And you can be noticing of sound, But then maybe contraction. Who is that? Are they coming in? And then when that's no longer compelling, You return to your original anchor, Kind of relaxing your practice in a way where you're letting more in, Not shutting anything out. As you get more settled, Even if it's any amount or a small amount, You might begin to also noticing liking, Disliking. A sensation arises, And you want less of it or more of it. It's pleasant or it's unpleasant. Or maybe you're noticing the same thing, Like your breath this whole time, But, I don't know, Something's changed. It was engaging, It was pleasant for the beginning, And then now it's kind of like, Meh, Neutral, Unpleasant even. You want the breath to be different, Or this moment to be different. And so as best you can, Noticing when or if that happens, And then just settling back seeing that it's happening, Nothing to do with it. And then returning to your anchor, The breath, The body. And of course, Thoughts have probably arisen. Maybe you've noticed emotions when or if those arise and become compelling enough to take your attention away from your anchor. Allow them to be here, Noticing them as an embodied experience. Yes, There could be sadness or embarrassment or joy or excitement or grief. And how is that emotion coming up in your body in this moment? Or if there's a thought, Instead of playing out a scenario, Whether remembering or rehashing something from the past, Planning something for the future, Or imagining, Or even planning, Worrying, Whatever it might be. How is that thought coming up as an embodied experience? What are the sensations arising thanks to that thought in this moment? Invite the body to relax, The mind, The effort to relax. You might relax your effort even more, Where you're not placing your attention on a particular anchor anymore, But instead you're trusting mindfulness to be your companion. And that, At a given moment, You might notice sound, And you might quietly say to yourself, Hearing, Hearing, Hearing. Then after that, You notice a sensation, Or back to your breath, Then a thought, Then another sound. You don't have to catch all of the things that cross your attention. But instead of placing your attention on one anchor, Mindfulness itself becomes the anchor, In a way. Noting to yourself, Feeling, Feeling, Feeling, Thinking, Thinking, Thinking, Whatever you're noticing. In the last couple minutes left here, You might relax even more by putting it all down, Not practicing, But instead just being, Resting here. Nowhere to go, Nothing to do, No one to be. Www. Mooji. Org

Reviews

I have listened to this many times and each time something different, a different layer, becomes apparent. Thank you.