45 Minute Insight Meditation Practice

This practice, although longer in length, is for all levels of practitioners. This is a basic breath (insight) meditation practice. This practice concentrates the mind while also letting one see in on the nature of the mind. The practice is long enough that you will face yourself, and you are beautifully guided the whole way!

Transcript

Hi,

Kimberly Johnson here.

I am so honored you will be sitting with me today.

I have been meditating since 2007.

I am currently under the mentorship of Jack Kornfield and Tara Brach.

My hope is leading you through meditations that give you access on the cushion and off the cushion to true peace,

To true joy,

To true presence.

Okay,

Let's sit.

This meditation is a insight meditation.

It's going to be about 45 minutes long.

It is literally to help you build mindfulness,

Sati,

Self-awareness,

Sampajana,

And just all around wisdom,

Pana.

We can do this via watching the nature of the mind.

If we sit still and quiet enough,

We can begin to watch the mind,

See how it operates naturally.

And this practice is to help develop that.

So go ahead and take a few breaths coming in to the body coming in to your seated posture.

And I really want you to just focus on being both alert in posture,

Yet relaxed in posture.

You'll notice throughout the meditation that your body will tense back up.

When you notice this,

Allow yourself to relax the body once again.

If at any time during this meditation you get sleepy or restless,

Know that that is normal.

You can open your eyes or you can deepen your breath for a few breaths to reawaken the body.

You can also hold your breath until you can't hold it any longer.

This will also send energy and concentration to the breath and the body.

So go ahead and find your posture.

Alert,

Long spine,

Relaxed,

Muscles not engaged.

And from this posture,

Maybe letting the eyes shut down if that feels best.

If not,

You can keep a gaze half open on the floor or the wall in front of you.

From this posture,

Go ahead and locate the breath right at the tip of the nostrils.

Maybe slowing the breath down for three to four breaths.

Paying attention to the breath right here at the nostril like you would pay attention to a loved one or to a young child.

Paying loving,

Close,

Curious attention.

A really good way to keep concentrated on the breath is to label the breath.

So as you inhale,

Label in the mind gently and quietly inhale.

As you exhale,

Label it the same.

Inhale,

Exhale.

Doing this throughout the meditation if you're finding it hard to concentrate.

If you haven't already,

Let the breath go natural.

And notice the subtleties of the breath right here at the tip of the nostril.

Letting the breath be natural,

Not forcing it to be any way.

Just allowing it to be as it is and observing it as it is.

As you focus in on the breath,

Your mind will begin to wander.

This is completely natural.

Natural and normal.

Our job is to simply notice we've wandered.

Notice the attention is not on the breath.

And not making a big deal,

Noticing the wandering like you might notice a stranger passing on the street.

Notice it.

And then with deep compassion for the practice and deep patience for the practice,

Redirect the attention back to the next breath at the nostril.

Repeating this over and over again.

If you've wandered from the breath,

No problem.

This is completely natural.

Notice you've wandered.

And with patience and persistence,

Redirecting the attention back to the breath.

As you come back to the breath,

Notice if you have an agenda for the sit and see if you can let it go.

Making the main purpose of just being present with the breath and then the wandering and then bringing it back to the breath.

Doing it playfully and joyfully.

The No More Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

If the mind has wandered from the breath,

No problem.

Gently notice like a stranger passing in the street.

And slowly,

Gently redirecting the attention right back to the next breath at the nostrils.

And slowly,

Gently redirecting the attention right back to the nostrils.

And slowly,

Gently redirecting the attention right back to the nostrils.

And slowly,

Gently redirecting the attention right back to the nostrils.

And slowly,

Gently redirecting the attention right back to the nostrils.

And slowly,

Gently redirecting the attention right back to the nostrils.

And slowly,

Gently redirecting the attention right back to the nostrils.

And slowly,

Gently redirecting the attention right back to the nostrils.

And slowly,

Gently redirecting the attention right back to the nostrils.

And slowly,

Gently redirecting the attention right back to the nostrils.

And slowly,

Gently redirecting the attention right back to the nostrils.

And slowly,

Gently redirecting the attention right back to the nostrils.

And slowly,

Gently redirecting the attention right back to the nostrils.

And slowly,

Gently redirecting the attention right back to the nostrils.

And slowly,

Gently redirecting the attention right back to the nostrils.

And slowly,

Gently redirecting the attention right back to the nostrils.

And slowly,

Gently redirecting the attention right back to the nostrils.

And slowly,

Gently redirecting the attention right back to the nostrils.

And slowly,

Gently redirecting the attention right back to the nostrils.

And slowly,

Gently redirecting the attention right back to the nostrils.

And slowly,

Gently redirecting the attention right back to the nostrils.

And slowly,

Gently redirecting the attention right back to the nostrils.

And slowly,

Gently redirecting the attention right back to the nostrils.

And slowly,

Gently redirecting the attention right back to the nostrils.

And slowly,

Gently redirecting the attention right back to the nostrils.

And slowly,

Gently redirecting the attention right back to the nostrils.

And slowly,

Gently redirecting the attention right back to the nostrils.

And slowly,

Gently redirecting the attention right back to the nostrils.

And slowly,

Gently redirecting the attention right back to the nostrils.

And slowly,

Gently redirecting the attention right back to the nostrils.

And slowly,

Gently redirecting the attention right back to the nostrils.

And slowly,

Gently redirecting the attention right back to the nostrils.

And slowly,

Gently redirecting the attention right back to the nostrils.

If the attention has strayed from the breathing,

Know this is normal.

Know this is normal.

Kindly just notice,

Oh,

I've strayed,

No problem.

And with patience for the practice and persistence,

Redirecting the attention right back to the next inhale and exhale at the tip of the nostril,

Not making a big deal.

It's no problem continuing to practice.

Okay.

Okay.

Okay.

Okay.

Okay.

Okay.

Okay.

Okay.

Okay.

Okay.

For the last bit of the sit,

I'm going to suggest strong determination,

Not fidgeting,

Noticing when you want to move,

Maybe because of restlessness or body pain,

Whatever it might be,

Make note of it like you've been making note of when the mind wanders,

Not making a big deal,

Being gentle and kind,

And then returning back to the next breath.

Notice if you're taking the practice serious,

And maybe if so,

Adding a smile to your lips as an act of saying,

This deeply matters,

And it's not so serious.

This deeply matters,

And it's not so serious as you continue to practice with strong determination.

Okay.

Okay.

Okay.

Okay.

Okay.

Okay.

Okay.

Okay.

Okay.

Okay.

Okay.

Okay.

Okay.

Okay.

Okay.

Okay.

As we begin to think about completion,

Maybe we just gently lower the chin just even maybe a centimeter bowing to the practice,

Bowing for this life,

The ability to sit,

The ability of awareness,

What a gift it is.

And maybe it feels good to place a hand over the heart,

Connecting with yourself,

Giving yourself some affection for the courage to sit,

The courage to get still and silent,

And maybe whisper something kind to yourself,

Acknowledging yourself,

Nurturing yourself.

I'm going to end with metta,

Loving kindness,

And then I'll ring the bell three times.

May each one of you know happiness,

True happiness.

May each one of you know peace and well-being.

May each one of you know freedom,

Freedom from internal and external suffering so that all beings that walk this planet with us hand in hand may know happiness,

True happiness,

May know peace and joy,

And may walk this earth free.

May each one of you know happiness,

True happiness.

Simply moving maybe your legs,

Your arms taking some deep,

Slow,

Slow breath,

Coming back into the body,

Back into this moment,

And maybe blinking the eyes open,

Looking around,

Mindfully reentering into your space,

Seeing the textures and the colors and the time of day.

I am deeply grateful that you sat with me.

Thank you so much.

Until next time.

Reviews

A spacious, gentle breath focus with carefully extended silences enabling us to sheppard our attention lovingly. Thank you.

Peaceful, clear, simple and beautiful.

Wow nice surprise. I was just searching for a meditation and this sounded good. It is! Lots of quiet pauses to focus on the breath. Perfectly timed gentle reminders to come back to the breath. Gratitude! ☮️💖🙏🖖

I’ve been searching for a long time for a guided meditation that’s rooted in a benevolent lineage, in which the guidance is soft, helpful and unobtrusive, in which sufficient silence is offered for practice, with timely reminders to catch us wandering, and I’ve found it. This is it. I’ve been sitting with it daily for about a week now. What’s remarkable is that every day I hear anew a sentence in the guidance, or two or three, as if I’ve never heard it before. It makes me wonder, why didn’t I hear this yesterday? Was my mind wandering?? But I think it shows how rich the teaching is: in such an economy of language, so much wisdom.

Lovely meditation, calm voice, no music, and ample silent periods.

This guidance is exactly what I’m looking for. 45 min is perfect and I love your voice ❤️