Quiet Mind, Open Heart Shamatha Meditation

Ten Minute Guided Shamatha Meditation using the breath as the object of meditation and emphasizing the importance of body alignment and environmental awareness.

Transcript

Welcome to your meditation practice. This will be a 10 minute guided meditation practice and as we settle in here I'll invite you to take a good seat for meditation either sitting in a chair with your feet resting firmly on the floor or sitting on the floor supported by a cushion cross-legged or kneeling. So please take a moment to get comfortable. Take a few deep breaths as you settle in and find your seat. And let the sound of the singing bowl help you to arrive in this quieter space and prepare yourself for the practice. As you arrive into your meditation posture and your practice I invite you to let your senses be open to the environment around you. The eyes are open with a soft spacious gaze downcast to the space in front of you. The eyes aren't looking for anything. The eyes aren't looking for anything in particular. You're just allowing the eyes to see. Similarly the ears receive the sounds that are in the environment around you without listening for anything specifically. Take just another moment to notice everything else that is here for you to feel in the environment that you find yourself in right now. As we practice you'll continue to be aware of things arising in the environment around you and just know that's perfectly okay. Whatever is here arising in the present moment is simply a reminder to be present. And now turn your attention to your body and take a little time to fine-tune the alignment of your posture feeling your body from the inside out. Feeling all the points of contact between your body and the ground. The support of the cushion or the chair. Allowing your hips and your pelvis to relax and be supported fully. From that ground of support feel your spine. Gently lengthening through the spine feeling a kind of luminous uplifted energy rising up through the core of you. Bringing your shoulders into balance right over your hips and bringing your hands to rest palms down on your thighs in a way that supports this upright quality of posture and at the same time allows you to relax deeply. Feel your head resting buoyantly atop the spine. Feeling as though the crown of your head is lifting skyward. Your forehead, Your jaw, Your throat are all relaxed and the breath flows naturally in and out through your nostrils. The eyes remain open throughout this practice with a soft downcast gaze not looking just seeing. See if there's any little subtle shifts that you can make to the alignment of your body to bring just a little bit more of a feeling of ease so that you can settle into stillness and really commit your physical body to stillness for the duration of our meditation. Having arrived fully into stillness feel for the movement of your breath. Attention to breathing is the heart of our practice. So notice what happens all by itself when you place your attention wholeheartedly and single-pointedly on the feeling of the breath in your body. When we meditate we're not thinking about the breath but really relating very directly and intimately with the feeling experience of the breath as it comes in and goes out. As you sit here and breathe you'll continue to be aware of sounds in the environment around you, Sensations within the landscape of your own body, And you'll also become aware of thoughts and emotions arising in the space of your mind. Let everything be exactly as it is. When you notice that your attention has been drawn away from the breath by a sound, A sensation, A thought, Or a feeling, Simply acknowledge what's called you away and very gently but very precisely bring your attention back and reconnect with the feeling of breath in your body. It really doesn't matter how many times your attention is called away and please don't judge yourself or give yourself a hard time for becoming distracted. This is why we practice and the whole practice and the only thing that really matters is that we notice when we're distracted and that we bring our attention back and relax with this next breath in this next moment and be right here right now. Please take a moment to really rejoice. In this opportunity to practice meditation and recognize that the practice of meditation has the ability to benefit you by bringing greater well-being and happiness and peace, But it also has the ability to bring those qualities of well-being and happiness and peace to everyone that we come into contact with throughout our days and to the whole world. So as a reminder of that I'll offer you this little song that I like to sing at the end of my meditation practice every day and as I offer you this song I'll ask you to just offer your own silent personal dedication of the goodness of your practice. May all beings be well, May all beings be happy. Peace, Peace, Peace. Thank you for practicing with me.

Reviews

Wonderful! I loved the long pauses to sit in quiet and the open awareness framing. I was able to practice outside with bird calls all around me and a gentle breeze. Bookmarking.

Amazing meditation experience!

Thank you for this practice, very helpful guidance.

A great starting meditation in 2019 with a true feeling of well being, happiness and peace. Namastê. ♥

Thank you for sharing this very helpful meditation exercise.