MBSR Seated Meditation

This is a seated meditation practice for the MBSR program. In this practice, we shift from awareness of the breath or a different anchor point to body sensations, sounds, thoughts, emotions and expanding to an open awareness.

Transcript

Welcome to a seated meditation practice for the MBSR program.

In your formal practice of sitting meditation,

You are taking a seat right in the middle of your life,

Intentionally bringing yourself into relationship with the present moment and what is arising in it for you,

As much as possible without judging.

Setting aside this time when you won't be interrupted in a quiet,

Comfortable place that can help nurture your practice,

And sitting either on a chair or on a cushion,

Bringing an attitude of confidence and stability,

Being present with and open to whatever is happening now.

And in this recording you will have the opportunity to expand your attention,

Moving from your usual anchor point to explore body sensations,

Sounds,

Thoughts,

Emotions.

And when you're ready to open to all of these,

To the full range of experiences within and without,

As they move,

As they change,

They come into awareness and disappear from awareness.

You're taking time to become more familiar in each moment with who you are beyond wanting and having and doing.

So beginning this practice by sitting in an upright position with your back straight but not rigid,

Maybe softening through the shoulders a bit if you're finding that there's tension there.

Sitting with a dignified posture,

Maybe feeling the floor under your feet or the chair or cushion beneath you,

Supporting you,

Maybe getting a sense of gravity holding you,

Being received by the earth,

And allowing the body to become still.

And now bringing your attention to the sense of the body breathing.

Bringing some curiosity to this moment and noticing where you feel the sensation of the breath most vividly.

And allowing your attention to rest there.

Simply breathing in and out,

Noticing that there's a beginning,

A middle,

And an end of an in breath,

And a beginning,

Middle,

And end of an out breath.

Bringing awareness to the entirety of an in breath from the beginning to the end.

Noticing the moment,

The pause when it shifts and becomes an out breath.

And then noticing the out breath from its beginning to its shift as it becomes an in breath.

And knowing that no matter how often your attention leaves this focus on the breath,

That you can always bring that attention back to this breath.

Allowing the breath to be the center of your attention.

And allowing any thoughts to come and go like clouds in the sky.

And when your attention wanders,

Gently escorting it back and redirecting your focus to your breath.

And if you find that focusing on the breath is particularly challenging for you,

That's completely okay too.

You can choose a different anchor point.

You can choose maybe something neutral like your hands,

Your knees,

Your feet,

And explore the sensations there.

And use those different anchor points as a place to return your attention to when your mind has carried your attention away.

And when you are ready,

Expanding your attention beyond the breath to include the entire body sitting.

Becoming aware of sensation in the body.

Perhaps sensation of contact with the cushion or chair you're sitting on.

Maybe the touch of clothes on the body or how your hands feel in the moment.

Sensations of temperature.

Being present with any sensations as they come into your awareness.

Noticing how sensations sometimes stay for just a short while.

And other times they hang around,

Staying a little longer.

Noticing how they change in intensity.

They move a little bit and go away as new sensations arise.

Sometimes these sensations have a beginning,

A middle,

And an end just like the breath.

Allowing these sensations to become your anchor point.

And as your attention wanders,

Making the choice to bring it back with kindness and care to awareness of the body.

If sensations arise in the body that are intense and it becomes difficult to focus on the body,

You have some options here.

You can choose to shift or change your posture mindfully.

Paying attention to the sensations of movement as you move.

Or you might choose to direct attention right to the intense part of the sensation.

Bringing a gentle curiosity.

Noticing the nuances of the sensation.

Perhaps noticing thoughts and judgment about the sensation.

Or resistance.

And as much as possible,

Stepping back to observe the sensation.

Maybe allowing for some softening here.

Noticing how the sensations change.

Another option is especially for if these sensations become far too intense for you.

Feel free to bring your attention to your original anchor point,

The breath,

Or some other neutral part of your body.

Returning to sensations whenever it feels appropriate for you.

And now I invite you to shift your attention again.

From sensations in the body to the sense of hearing.

Not trying to find any sounds in particular.

But receiving whatever is here.

They might be internal sounds in your body.

A gurgle.

A rumble.

It might be outside in the room that you're sitting in.

Or maybe further away on the street.

Noticing how awareness can receive sound without effort.

Noticing how sounds have a beginning,

A middle,

And an end as well.

Some are very short.

A bird chirping as they go by.

And some are long.

Noticing the variation and texture of the sounds.

The space between sounds.

Noticing an opinion that might come up about sounds.

Something pleasant or unpleasant.

Noticing any desire to move away from some sounds or even toward others.

Seeing if it's possible to make space for sounds just as they are.

And the next shift that I invite you to experience is shifting from hearing to hearing.

And expanding into thinking.

The realm of thought.

So having the possibility of seeing thoughts not as distractions but bringing your awareness to the thinking process itself.

And thoughts themselves become the object of focus,

The anchor point.

Not getting lost in the content of the thoughts.

But bringing thoughts to the foreground of the awareness.

Sound and body sensations and breath and the other anchor points can be in the background a bit more.

Noticing how thoughts arise,

Stay for a little while.

Sometimes stay for a little bit longer.

And then dissolve away.

Having a beginning,

A middle,

And an end.

Noticing that thoughts might be about anything.

The past,

The future,

Things we should have done,

Things we need to do.

And if you find that you're getting carried away in the current of thoughts,

Coming back to observing thoughts as separate elements that come and go.

Thoughts moving through an open and spacious mind like clouds in the sky.

And every time you find yourself following a thought,

Going along with it,

Bring your attention back as an observer of thoughts.

And notice how sometimes when you are thinking about something that emotions can arise with that thought.

Maybe frustration,

Restlessness,

Or even peacefulness,

Joy,

Fear.

We can shift our attention yet again to emotion itself,

Felt sense.

What emotions are here for you right now?

And maybe noticing where in the body certain emotions are.

Just exploring these different emotions that can come and go.

And also noticing how what is here may be wanted or unwanted.

There might be a tendency to cling to emotions that are pleasant.

And to struggle with unpleasant and not want them wanting to push them away.

Also noticing that whatever emotions might be here in this moment,

That they too have a beginning,

A middle,

And an end.

Seeing if it's possible to observe these in the body.

You can let go of any stories or thoughts about them that you have.

Just feeling them.

And if at any time emotions or sensations become too challenging,

Too uncomfortable,

Know that you can always return to the breath or another anchor point.

Until you're ready to dip your toe back in.

And just noticing what is here for you.

And moving now,

If you'd like,

Into an open awareness.

If you're not choosing to bring your attention to anything in particular,

Simply sitting here.

Fully aware of whatever is presenting itself to you in this moment.

So if you hear a sound,

Allowing sound to be the center of attention.

And if a body sensation comes up next,

Just letting that be the center of your attention.

Until the next thing comes up.

So you're simply dwelling here with an open awareness to whatever arises.

Maybe bringing a sense of spaciousness.

Being present to it all.

Sitting in stillness with whatever comes and goes.

And each moment is a brand new moment,

Never having been experienced before.

Being fully human.

And returning your attention to the body as you sit here.

Feeling the breath coming and going.

And finding your anchor point,

Whatever that might be for you.

And as this meditation comes to a close,

Knowing that by practicing mindfulness,

You are intentionally deepening your ability to be fully present in your life.

And if it feels right,

Congratulating yourselves for having taken this time and energy to nourish and care for yourself.

And whenever you're ready,

Opening your eyes if they're closed.

And thank you for joining me.

Reviews

Thank you for taking the time to grant us a practice that helps us ground in the present moment, allowing and welcoming anything that arises, to simply exist for a brief moment before it naturally disappears again and, to let us experience that ‘this moment’ feels like time moving through our physical body and awareness.

It are these basic practices that keep us grounded but not stuck - and that unburden us from the stories we sometimes tend to get lost in - that make us wander off our path or keep us bogged down and heavy hearted by imagined weight.

It reminds me of one of the practices of Adyashanthi, called “resting in the presence of I”. Like this guided meditation, it is one that you can return to every day - perhaps deceptively simple but not easy, yet imperative to the foundation of our practice.