I always tell people that I can't teach anyone to meditate,
But I can teach you to practice meditation.
My name is Lori Wald and for the next 10 minutes you have nothing to do.
Pretty much every time I sit down to practice meditation I immediately remember something that I was supposed to do.
Something important.
And most of the time I don't jump up to attend to whatever that task is,
But I sit with that feeling of feeling kind of bad,
Kind of inadequate.
Once again telling myself that I'm forgetful and I don't pay attention enough and I will criticize myself for a moment or two.
And then I try to get back to the task at hand which is sitting in stillness.
If you've ever been in the room with a toddler trying to learn to walk,
You don't say to that kid,
Just get up and do it.
Come on kid,
Everyone does it.
It's no big deal.
You say,
Come on honey get up,
Try again.
You're gonna get it.
I believe in you.
So too you can tell this to yourself as you are practicing sitting in stillness and being aware of what is happening inside of you and outside of you.
So sit down in your comfortable yet dignified position and begin to notice how it feels to sit.
Where are your thoughts at?
And notice your breath,
That reliable anchor that is always always with you.
The one part of your nervous system you can intentionally control if you prefer to.
Take in a few long deep breaths,
Let them out slowly.
Just notice what that is like.
The rise of your belly as you inhale,
The fall as you exhale,
The way your chest expands and contracts.
See if you can notice the air in and out of your nostrils and notice the temperature as it comes in cool and goes out warm.
We're just focusing on this one tiny aspect of ourselves,
Our breathing.
We can bring ourselves back to this focus again and again even as we get distracted like the toddler who falls down and gets up again.
And we can encourage ourselves.
Imagine talking to your best friend and she's telling you how she failed at something and she's embarrassed and she said the wrong thing,
Whatever it was and you say come on you're a good person,
You're human,
Everyone makes mistakes,
It's okay.
Encourage yourself like you would encourage your best friend.
You have plenty of time after you get up to criticize yourself again,
To give yourself difficult goals but for this time our only job is to sit and notice.
Are you feeling restless,
Anxious,
Tranquil,
Hungry?
Notice as the feeling arises and dissipates.
A feeling only lasts about 90 seconds.
We are practice becoming comfortable with what is uncomfortable.
We can tolerate the discomfort and come back to your breath.
This is simple as long as you don't try to be good at it.
Simple to start again and try once more to notice your breath.
If you've gotten distracted,
Simply start again.
You can do it.
I believe in you.
You're going to get it.
You have the courage to be where you are right now,
Accepting,
Not trying to change,
Just noticing.
Now for the last minute,
Just stop trying.
I'm Lori Wald.
Thanks for meditating with me.
