Day 11: Responding With Stillness

Welcome to Day 11 of the Mindful Mornings Challenge. Today's practice focuses on stillness; 10 minutes devoid of any analyzing or planning. Simply sit, take note of how you're feeling and respond to whatever arises with stillness. Remember, you are your own place of refuge.

Transcript

Hi,

And welcome to day 11 of the Mindful Mornings Challenge here on Insight Timer.

My name is Heather Lilliston,

And it's a pleasure to be here starting the day together.

Today I will be sharing a little about my morning routine before guiding you through a meditation practice.

Mornings have always been one of my favorite times of day.

I've always been a morning person.

Usually I like to get up at 6.

15 a.

M.

That's when I have the alarm set.

And I'll put on a prayer to the Divine Mother called the Davey Prayer by Craig Pruess.

It's a nice 20-minute chant and prayer to the Goddess.

That's a good morning transition.

While I listen to that,

I will make coffee and light some sage or Palo Santo to clear the space.

I always make my bed.

It's super important to me to have a made bed to get going on the day.

I will take a seat on my meditation cushion with my coffee and take a moment to transition into the rest of the day.

Sometimes that involves deleting a bunch of emails and just checking out what's on my phone and then setting the timer.

So I usually do a 15 to 20 minute practice depending on how much time I have.

But today I'll be leading you through a 10 minute practice.

The most important thing with a meditation practice is your seat.

So to have a slightly anteriorly tilted pelvis,

Which means that for most of us we need a little cushion under the seat,

Some kind of prop so that the pelvis can be slightly tilted forward and release the legs and the hip flexors,

Which helps to align the spine in its natural curvature,

Which helps to support the optimal functioning of the nervous system and the digestive system and the respiratory and circulatory system as well,

Which helps support an easy practice.

So please join me in choosing a supported seat,

Sitting up on something,

Even if that's not your usual practice,

Let's try it for today.

Making sure your knees are supported and your,

I like to put my palms facing down and knowing that as my hands rest on my legs and my arms prop my chest up,

That there is a little,

There's a little lift in the upper chest.

And then I can lean back into my supportive back body,

Into the supportive shoulder blades and the back of my skull.

And so I just take that time and maybe I've had a sip or two of coffee at this point and then I close my eyes.

And so go with me on this journey,

Letting your eyes close,

Letting the eyelids get really smooth,

Relaxing the inner and outer corners of your eyes.

And there's no rush.

It's simply a practice of sitting with yourself just as you are groggy,

Excited,

Bored,

Stressed,

Any state that you are in.

Real freedom requires being able to meet all situations with some kind of fearlessness.

So we're practicing that in a meditation practice.

So with soft eyelids,

Let the eyeballs fall back into the back of the skull and let the mask of personality,

The face,

Let it lean back and into the back body and feel the support of the back body like you're leaning into a rocking chair.

Draw your attention down now into the belly and pelvis and observe a couple of breaths.

So no need to breathe in any particular way.

Instead,

Watch the breath as it breathes your body.

Simply sitting with yourself as you are in this moment,

Getting familiar with the human experience that is passing through you.

Observing the breath in the belly,

Letting it perform for you at first and then letting it settle.

Observing the side ribs.

Observing how the breath enters into the mid torso,

How it moves the side ribs horizontally.

No need to fix it or change it.

Just take note of it.

Give it a little bit of your attention.

Observing now the way the breath enters into the upper chest.

Then as we continue to sit,

Noticing the breath and feeling whatever human experience is passing through,

The practice is to be there and sit there and respond to whatever arises with stillness.

So to respond to whatever arises with stillness.

So as you sit,

The body,

The physical body might speak to you.

The emotional body,

The body of memories,

Fantasy,

Even the part of you that wants to figure out how to make a certain situation unfold in the way you'd like.

The analyzing and the planning part.

All of that is going to most likely pass through your consciousness and your job is to sit,

Be physically still,

Let the breath breathe your body and watch,

Responding to whatever arises with stillness,

Not suppressing anything,

Not grasping onto anything,

Not delving too far into the bliss of quietude and stillness.

Really allowing the human experience to arise,

Express itself and pass through you.

Watching,

Welcoming,

Watching and welcoming.

Receiving and releasing.

Practicing receiving and practicing releasing.

Receiving the breath,

Receiving the thought and releasing the thought,

Releasing the feeling.

Sitting with yourself.

You are your place of refuge,

Right here.

You are your refuge.

Noticing the breath,

Letting your head drop down towards your chest,

Gradually blinking the eyes open,

Just taking in color and light and shape,

Staying connected to the breathing physical body,

Your animated form alive.

Thank you so much for joining me and showing up for yourself,

Being part of this meditation challenge and making the commitment to prioritize your mental health and to prioritize making your own mind and heart your place of refuge.

Best wishes for day 12 for you and thank you again for sitting with me and sitting with you.

Reviews

Very nice meditation 🧘🏻 i needed this this morning ❣️

Heather this was a great way to start my day. Thanks for sharing this practice with our wonderful community. Blessings 🙏🏻

Really Beautiful ❣️

Thank you. This is one of the guided meditations I find myself coming back to in the mornings. Easy to connect to. I can feel myself finding the stillness.

I am my own refuge— my heart and my third-eye chakra

So relaxing !!!!! I am a person who would tend to get a little bored during meditations, but with this one I was engaged. It also encouraged me to try something new- sitting during a meditation. This was excellent ❤️

As a beginner I'm discovering meditation and the many different ways to do it. Right now I'm focusing on guided meditations, but I think this track is a great intro to meditating on my own with the timer.

Thank you.

Really helpful. A new perspective to peace and freedom for me.

So soothing to start the day.Thank you so much!🧘‍♀️🙏❤

Nice and relaxing. Although I did the meditation lying in my bed instead of sitting 😊

I don’t remember a time that I’ve ever felt so peaceful - and not expecting anything of myself. Thank you for the calm!

This was so special. Stillness is a personal challenge, and this was such a great practice / guidance to being with stillness. Thank you 🙏

Thankyou, I love this session. Your voice is just so calming and this is one of the best meditation session I had.

Today I continued meditating after your teaching- was it because I attended to my posture? Was it because I welcomed each thought and attended? I feel deeply nourished learning I am my refuge. 🙏

Just wonderful. Saves my day before it gets started, every time. And I remind myself to watch and welcome, receive and release throughout the day. Thank you. I would love a longer version - is there one available? X

Interesting, regarding the way to sit and your posture. Really enjoyed the meditation as well. A wee change not to have any music, but I found myself relaxing nevertheless. Thank you

Very nice meditation. I felt very relax and connected with my body

Really like that. Nice short and effective.

Thank you for this calm meditation🧘‍♀️ Receiving and releasing the breath is so relaxing🙏🏾❤️

Great meditation, thank you 🙏🏼