Day 14: Focus On Rest - Unified Mindfulness 30-Day Challenge

This short meditation with lots of guidance is part of a 30-day Unified Mindfulness challenge I offered at CarMax, and am now happy to share it with the Insight Timer community. The 30 sessions are designed to be done in order, however you can jump around if you wish, just keep in mind I may refer to a previous recording. There's a short introduction followed by a 5 minute practice.
This session focuses on restful experience in what you can see, hear, and feel.

Transcript

Today, We'll expand our awareness of rest to all three channels of experience. See, Hear, And feel. We've explored feeling rest as relaxation and neutrality. Now, We'll keep that as an option to focus on, And we'll add rest in what we can see and hear as well. Seeing rest can mean if your eyes are opened but defocused, Not looking at anything in particular. Or it could be when you close your eyes but have no mental imagery present. You'd focus on a blank mental screen or stage where mental images might otherwise arise. For auditory rest, We'll focus on silence, Either complete silence or relative silence. This can be silence of physical sound or mental quiet when you don't have any mental talk going on. So you'll allow your attention to float between see, Hear, And feel spaces, Looking for restful experiences there. When you find one, Acknowledge it and label it. You have choices with your labels. You could use rest as your only label. You could label see, Hear, And feel, While only focusing on the restful see, Hear, Feel sensations. Or you could use the longer labels see rest, Hear rest, And feel rest, To be more descriptive in your labeling. It's up to you. Let's get started. Stretch up your spine and relax the shoulders and jaw. Your eyes could be open or closed for this practice. Rest your hands comfortably. Allow your attention to float between what you can see, Hear, And feel, Looking out for restful experiences wherever you find them. Note and label each restful sensation. Bring concentration, Clarity, And equanimity to each experience, Focusing deeply on it, Exploring it, And allowing without resisting. Keep a comfortable pace, Noting every few seconds or so. Not too fast, Not too slow. Focus on the restful side of sensory experience. Relaxation, Silence, Blank visual space, Whatever type of rest that's available to you in this moment. Active sensations may call to you. They may be strong. Even if rest is subtle, By doing your best to stay with it, You're really strengthening your ability to focus. Bring a curious and open attitude to this experience. What can you identify about the details of what you're seeing, Hearing, And feeling? Great work. As we wrap up our five minutes, Gradually transition out of practice and try to carry forward the concentration, Clarity, And equanimity generated by this session. As always, Feel free to continue on if you wish. Thank you for your practice.