Hello again and welcome to Day 15 of this 22 day guided meditation series.
So far throughout this meditation experience we have learned that meditation is one of the most powerful tools we have to free ourselves from our negative patterns and addictive behaviors.
Because of that today we would like to share with you some of the practical aspects of meditation so you can fine tune this powerful practice.
There are many general meditation tips but today we will focus on four of them.
The first is the idea of having no expectations and surrendering to whatever happened during our meditation practice.
This idea of having no expectations means we avoid seeking a particular experience or outcome during our meditation.
Ultimately you can trust that each meditation is giving you exactly what you need at that moment and you can rest assured that as long as you are showing up for your daily meditation practice you are doing it right.
This is even true when it comes to sleep.
If you are tired when you sit to do your meditation practice you might fall asleep.
It's actually all okay.
Approach each of your meditations with non-judgment and any time you have a choice choose the mantra over thoughts and if you fall asleep during your meditation just make sure when you awake you take a couple of extra minutes to end your practice with meditation instead of sleep.
Along the same lines another helpful hint is that the key to meditation is to be easy and effortless.
This means that when we are repeating the mantra silently we should do so easily and effortlessly.
The silent repetition of the mantra is not a clear pronunciation it's just a faint idea.
As long as you still have a vague sense of the mantra just continue repeating it.
This principle of effortlessness also applies to when you notice you have drifted away from your mantra to thoughts,
Noises in your environment or a sensation in your body.
Here we want to also encourage you to be effortless.
When returning your attention to your mantra instead of forcing your attention away from thoughts,
Just return your attention to easily and effortlessly repeating the mantra.
The next tip we would like to give you to fine tune your practice is to suggest that you always allow for proper time to come out of your meditation.
At the end of our meditation we always want to sit for a few minutes with our eyes closed before resuming activity even if that means we have to end our meditation a couple of minutes early.
This is because just like sleep resuming activity right afterwards can actually shock our nervous system and make us more susceptible to irritability.
The last practical aspect we would like to share with you today is the idea that you can meditate anywhere.
Ideally meditation is best practice wherever we can minimize distractions but the most important point we would like to make today is the only bad meditation is the one you don't do.
With that said always try and find a comfortable seat to minimize distractions but if you cannot do this do not allow this to keep you from meditating daily.
Once again you can meditate anywhere so ultimately just make sure you are making time for this incredibly valuable tool so you too can benefit from the power of silence.
In the end our hope today is that these tips will help aid you in making this practice that can play a role in providing freedom from our negative patterns and addictive behaviors a part of your daily routine.
Now let's prepare to meditate.
Begin by finding a comfortable seat and closing your eyes.
Now begin to become aware of your breath not focusing or concentrating just simply watch the breath as it effortlessly flows in and out.
Now easily and effortlessly begin repeating today's mantra so hum so hum so hum continue to repeat this mantra so hum and whenever you notice yourself distracted by thoughts noises or physical sensations simply return your attention to silently repeating the mantra so hum so hum so hum.
Please continue with your meditation I will watch the time and when it's time to end our meditation you will hear me ring a soft chime.
When you hear the chime stop repeating the mantra and continue sitting quietly with your eyes closed.
Enjoy your meditation.
It is time to release silently repeating the mantra so hum and continue sitting easily with your eyes closed.
Now begin to bring some slight movement into your body wiggling your fingers and toes.
Whenever it feels comfortable slowly open your eyes.
I hope you enjoy the rest of your day and I look forward to meditating with you again tomorrow for day 16 of navigating recovery and overcoming adversity.
Namaste.
