A Wise Choice

This practice begins with a brief reminder of a choice we make each day: to live with mindful attention, or become caught in the busyness of habitual thought patterns. It then leads the listener through a breath-focused meditation, followed by the experience of allowing the mind to become distracted and lost in thought. The listener is encouraged to contrast the two experiences and to make a wise choice through meditative practices.

Image by Caleb Jones on Unsplash. Music by John Bartmann (Interstellar Space), and Shady Dave (Under The Stars, Feelings of Twilight).

Transcript

Meditations for Deep Living Today,

A wise choice.

Each moment of every day,

We have a choice to make that we're usually unaware of,

Yet it's perhaps the most important,

Moment-to-moment decision we make in our lifetimes.

This is the choice between being mindfully aware or becoming lost in thought and the busyness of our lives.

It's a choice between directing our attention with conscious purpose or allowing our mind to wander in habitual repetitive patterns.

Though these habitual patterns can be entertaining,

Even addictive,

They're the greatest source of distress in our lives and are usually at the heart of anxieties and depressive thinking.

At minimum,

They remove us from experiencing life fully and authentically by way of distracting us into a virtual world of thought.

Meditation is a powerful tool to help us become aware of the tendency of a part of our mind,

Sometimes referred to as the doing mind,

To hijack our awareness into these mindless patterns.

It's also the best means known to gain control over this.

By learning to direct our awareness in a conscious manner,

We're able to sidestep much of the stress of modern life and live more effectively.

This meditation will help you become more familiar with the nature of your busy doing mind and its compulsion to hijack your awareness through countless and often compelling distractions.

It might also help you to better appreciate the consequences of allowing this to happen and to explore the alternative choice of mindful attention.

So if you please,

Sit or lie in a comfortable position,

Close your eyes,

And relax.

Allow yourself to be aware of how your body feels.

Attend to the sensations in your legs,

Your hips,

Your abdomen,

Your chest,

Your shoulders and arms,

Your face.

Now direct your attention to your breathing.

When we breathe,

There are numerous body sensations that accompany each inhalation and exhalation.

Take a few breaths and identify those sensations that your awareness favors.

It might be a sensation in your nose,

Your throat,

Chest,

Or belly.

Choose one that you'll focus on today.

Now for your next breath,

Take a long and slow inhalation to the silent count of five.

Pause momentarily,

Then release the breath to the count of five.

Continue this,

Breathing in to five and out to five,

Directing your attention to your chosen breath sensation.

Now release control of your breathing and allow it to take on its natural rhythm while remaining aware of your chosen breath sensations.

How have they changed with natural breathing?

If you find your mind has wandered,

As it will inevitably do,

Simply bring your attention back to your breath.

Each time your mind wanders,

Gently redirect your attention back to the breath without judgment.

After a short while,

You may notice that your awareness has been hijacked by endless distractions,

Many of which can seem important to attend to.

Each time this happens,

Recognize it,

Accept it without judgment,

And gently redirect your attention back to the breath.

If in this brief period of attending to your breath,

You've experienced a few moments of quiet presence,

Make a note of how that feels,

Without analyzing it in any way.

Just notice what it's like to have your mind calm and focused,

If even for a few brief moments.

Now continuing to focus on your breath,

The next time your awareness is hijacked by your busy-doing mind,

Try something different.

This time,

Let it happen.

Allow your attention to be drawn away into whatever mental distraction has lured you.

You may find yourself planning or worrying,

Analyzing or judging the process,

Or you may find that your mind has simply started to wander aimlessly.

Whatever story or task your mind has become busy with,

Follow it for now.

Now reflect for a moment on what you've just experienced.

When you were following the distraction,

Did it seem like familiar territory,

A typical few moments of a typical day?

Was your mind focused on a single train of thought that proved to be productive,

Or did it wander about from thought to thought without any apparent destination?

Either is possible in this brief exercise.

Busy mental activity can be stimulating,

Distressing,

Or anything in between.

How did the experience of being pulled into the virtual world of thinking compare to those few moments of focused,

Mindful attention you experienced earlier?

Although our busy-doing mind has an important function in our lives,

If left in charge it can,

And usually does,

Direct our awareness to a never-ending series of plans,

Reactions,

And impulses that lead to nowhere but other plans,

Reactions,

And impulses.

Make no mistake,

Our thoughts are useful tools to help navigate this life,

But they're most helpful when tempered with mindful awareness.

This is a choice that we have every moment of every day,

To allow our minds to wander about on countless and never-ending mental journeys,

Or to find ground and bring it under our conscious control.

Take in one or more deep breaths,

And refocus your attention on your breath sensations.

If you find your mind has become agitated by your mental journeying,

Breathe in to the count of five,

And out to the count of five,

To recenter yourself,

And then gently redirect your attention back to your chosen sensations.

If you've been able to re-experience a few moments of mindful awareness,

Make a note again of how this contrasts with your typical state of mind.

Imagine what it might be like if you could bring some of this calm,

Focused presence into your everyday activities.

This is the choice that we have each day,

And your meditative practice will,

In time,

Empower you to make it seamlessly and effortlessly.

Thank you for taking the time to meditate with me today.

May you be warm and safe,

And may you live in peace and happiness.

Reviews

Thank you for the excellent meditaiton that gives us the opportunity to focus our attention and practice choosing

This is not only an excellent introduction to meditation, but also teaches a wonderful strategy for intermediate meditators. I intend to share this with my clients. Thank you.

A great beginner tool to mindfulness. Thank you.

This was lovely and simple. Thank you!

For someone relatively new to insight timer I have found it a wonderful source of music, meditation practices and like minded people. Thank you for your guided, calm inducing advice. (One of my oldest friends of 30yrs is arriving next month from Toronto and I have always found the Canadian accent soft and easy to listen to🌏)

Absolutely wonderful very helpful, I will bookmark & be back time and time again, from my heart to yours thank you 🙏

This is great for beginners. I have been meditati g a while now nut wl share tgis with my partner who is just beginning his journey. Very clear and clever. Namaste🕉🐒🐒🐒

It could be better with just a bit more time, but I think it makes its case. And we can do this experiment any time. Essentially it is great in explaining meditation and pretty good at demonstrating it.

Simple but powerful

Wonderful. Thank you!

I really found this one a pleasant eye opener.

I’ve been meditating for about 5 years and it’s a daily moment to moment journey. I’ve listened to an enormous amount of mediations by hundreds of people. Abraham Hicks, Paul santis, Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche , Jason Stephenson just to name a few of my favorites. I’ve even meet and mediated with deepok chopra. When I talk with people about meditation who don’t know much about it, it’s always hard to put it into words as it’s a personal journey. I’d like to thank you for this meditation as it’s one of the most concise descriptions of what it’s all about in it’s simplicity, and that’s really cool.
I will pass this along to my children who have recently but slowly started their own journey into mindfulness with meditation.
Thank you again, jacy 💙

Very good experiential meditation. It proved to me again that meditation works.

Love this meditation!! Practicing mindfulness Is so important,I’m trying daily,Thank you for giving me the tools to help.So grateful many blessings Namaste 🙏

Thank you for the awareness to the breath🙏❤️ Nice peaceful ending 👍.

The contrast of noting where your awareness is when focused, versus when it’s unmonitored, is a powerful tool I plan to use in all areas of my life!

Thank you. I wish you warmth and safety also. M X

Excellent insights and suggested action, thank you!!