Hello and welcome to the first day of the Fundamentals of Meditation.
Thank you so much for coming to sit with me and I can't wait to meditate with you.
And I want to start with my definition of meditation.
Meditation is the cultivation of awareness.
And I'll say it again,
It is the cultivation of awareness.
And throughout these seven days,
We're going to be learning different techniques to cultivate our awareness.
But before we get into that,
I want to take a moment to discuss what keeps us from cultivating awareness.
Many of us suffer from stress and anxiety.
We find ourselves being constantly pulled into the future and back into the past.
We ruminate in thought around a topic,
Around a problem,
Over and over,
Thinking that if we think about it enough,
That we'll solve it.
We get lost in the storms of emotion.
And we feel sometimes though we can't release the invalidation or the pain that we've accumulated through life.
It doesn't sound so fun now,
Does it?
But as we start to meditate,
We start to almost allow those layers to peel off of us.
We allow the stress and the anxiety and the noise and the excess emotion that we no longer need to hold on to,
To dissipate,
To melt off of us.
And then we find beautiful moments of clarity,
Of stillness,
Of inner peace.
We find out more about who we are and we start to recognize that there's a depth inside of us that's always present,
That gets covered up by the rest of the world.
So if meditation is anything,
It is the recognition of who you are underneath all of the energy that you've accumulated from the world that doesn't represent who you truly are.
So as we step into our first meditation,
I know that's a tall order to start to remove all of that or let it go or recognize it.
But all I'm asking from you today is to sit calmly,
Cultivate awareness,
And actually enjoy being in this moment here with me.
So let's go ahead and get started.
And I would prefer if you had your back up straight sitting in a chair or on a cushion.
If you absolutely have to lay down,
It's okay.
But find your position and if you are sitting up,
Allow your waist,
Allow your hips to be just a bit higher than your knees so that you're comfortable.
And if you need a back rest of some kind,
That's totally acceptable too.
And many of us get very intimidated because we see these statues of the Buddha or of someone in lotus position and we think,
Oh,
I can't sit that way.
But you're not a statue.
You're a person.
So just be comfortable and don't worry about it too much.
And as you sit,
I want you to just roll your shoulders up to your ears and then back and down.
And then let's sit in that spine a little bit more.
And take a nice big deep breath all the way down into your belly.
Just let it expand.
Loosen up those nerve endings and release.
Allow yourself to slow your breath down and draw your attention in.
Almost surf your breath into your body.
And as you start to bring yourself more and more into this moment with me,
Just by being aware of your breath,
Just by having your spine straight,
I want you to come back to that definition of meditation,
Which is the cultivation of awareness.
Everything you experience while you sit here is the cultivation of awareness as long as you pay attention.
So notice your thoughts as they pass on the screen of your mind.
Notice the sounds in the room.
Notice the sensations in your body.
Allow yourself to feel the gravity of the planet.
And just allow yourself to generally be aware of all of these sensations that come with being awake in the world without any judgment.
There's not a good sound or a bad sound,
A right thought or a wrong thought,
A good sensation in the body or a bad one.
Allow yourself to remove the labels and just notice whatever you experience.
Release any tension in the body and recognize that you can truly relax into your own awareness.
You may start to find that it actually feels good just to be present.
And there's nothing here that you need to accomplish.
Take a nice big deep breath into your body,
A nice sigh out.
And we're already coming to the end of our meditation.
You've done great work.
You became aware of your sensations.
You became aware of the moment you brought your attention in.
And now as you open your eyes,
You're going to bring your attention back out.
I hope you stand up,
Go into the rest of your day or evening with some relaxation,
Some awareness.
And I will see you in the next meditation.
Thank you for sitting with me.
