Everything Changes - Mindfulness Meditation

By experiencing and acknowledging the truth of change, we are less likely to be swept away. Intro and meditation from 10% Happier.

Transcript

An important aspect of our experience is opening to the understanding of change.

We can see change happening on every level of experience.

We can see it in the birth and death of stars,

Of whole galaxies.

We can see it in the rise and fall of civilizations.

We can see the change in our environment,

The change of the seasons,

The change of the daily weather patterns.

As we come in closer to our own personal experience,

We see change on every level of our bodies and minds.

Body ages and grows older.

Thoughts arise and pass away.

Emotions come and go.

Different sounds appear and disappear.

Change is so pervasive and so commonplace that we've mostly stopped paying attention to it.

And yet this insight into change,

The direct perception of change in our lives,

Is the doorway,

Is the gateway to greater ease and freedom.

We see that emotions come and go and we're less likely to be swept away by them.

We see that certain sensations in the body,

Even if they're uncomfortable,

Will arise,

Be there for some time,

And change in some way.

We see the fleeting nature of thoughts.

We have a greater ability to discern which ones we want to follow,

Which ones to let go of.

We'll begin the meditation by settling into a comfortable sitting posture,

Gently closing the eyes,

Softening the eyes,

Relaxing the shoulders,

Relax the belly,

And simply feel yourself sitting.

Sit and know you're sitting.

As we're aware of the body posture,

As we've settled into the body,

You will become aware of the sensations of the body breathing.

You can use a soft mental note of in,

Out,

In,

Out.

And even within one in-breath or one out-breath,

Notice the flow of changing sensations.

The breath is not one thing.

There's a flow of pressure,

Of warmth,

Of coolness.

And different sensations in the body become predominant.

Perhaps places of tightness or tension or pressure,

Or warmth or coolness.

Perhaps it's an itching sensation or a tingling sensation.

As you open to feeling them,

Notice what happens to them as you become aware.

Do they get stronger?

Do they get weaker?

Do they disappear?

In the direct awareness of sensation,

We're seeing very clearly their changing nature.

When the sensations are no longer predominant,

You can again return to the awareness of the body and the feeling of the breath.

As you're feeling the sensations of the breath or different sensations in the body,

Become aware of thoughts or images as they arise in the mind.

Notice what happens to the thought or image in the moments of being aware.

Do they continue?

Do they disappear?

And again,

Coming back to the experience of the felt sensations of the body breathing,

The body sitting.

Loneliness is not necessarily ari gina have theterrorism or anxiety or the reaction from When the mind wanders,

As it will,

As it gets lost in a thought,

Or carried off in a day dream,

Simply notice that,

Reconnect with the breath,

And begin again.

Reconnecting again with the flow of sensations of each breath.

Sensations arising and passing.

Thoughts in images appearing and disappearing.

Whatever arises will also pass away.

The mind wanders,

As it will,

As it gets lost in a thought,

Or carried off in a day dream.

Reconnecting again with the flow of sensations of each breath.

And when you're ready,

You can slowly open your eyes and reconnect with the world around you.

As you engage in the various activities of your day,

Begin to notice the changing nature of your experience.

The awareness of change,

Of impermanence,

Leads to a greater ease,

Opens up many new possibilities of discernment and choice in our lives.

Looking forward to continuing with you tomorrow.

Reviews

Right content, right rithm, right tone of voice = a good meditation experience 😊 Thank you.

So grateful that Joseph shares his journey and the wisdom he has gathered along the way. I walk each day guided by his encouragement and teachings.

I love this teacher.
thank you Joseph, so clear and helpful.
🙏🏼
as an aspiring writer, one of my monkeys is always working on the latest story I’m developing. This morning‘s time on the cushion was like that, couldn’t stop the storytelling.
With the guidance of this meditation, Joseph steered me right back on track.

Quick and easy meditation to reset during or at the end of a long day

classic, simple , supportive practice for waking up to change

What I really liked about this guided meditation is he left lots of room for silence. Lovely experience. 🙏

Needed the reminder that change is constant. Nice long silences to sit with cues.

Joseph's meditations are masterful. He is a grey eminence amongst meditation teachers in the US that follow the Vipassana tradition.
.

Thank you for this meditation. I appreciate and love you.

A short, but very supportive practice! Thank you! 🙏💛

Sending gratitude to you Joseph, I always enjoy your practices! 💚

We see ourselves as the only constant in our lives, but even our physical beings are replaced at the cellular level. The patterns of change are the things that can bring us feelings of stability. Thank you for helping me reflect on these things.

i think this dude is excellent. a little intellectual flair and philosophy in the practices. helps the practitioner grow

Thank you. Easy to follow, gentle and helpful guidance, both for practice and for life.

Sincere gratitude for your guidance and many years of service 🙏🏼

A concise practice and reminder of the path of Reality. 🙏

I love Joseph’s avuncular style. It’s calming and soothing.

This was perfect for a refresher after a few days of not managing to meditate well. Thank you

Change is what never changes... even if the change is subtle easy to handle or drastic & hard to deal with...those different levels are what I'm working to balance. A death in the family rocks the ship.