A Brief & Complete Guide to Meditation

We begin by understanding the proper posture, and then briefly discuss what meditation is. From there, we dive into practice, and do a short, guided meditation session.

Transcript

Let us begin by sitting in a comfortable sitting position.

Whether on the floor or on the chair,

It doesn't matter as long as you have or satisfy three criteria.

Your position must be comfortable,

It must lead to stability,

And it must create alertness within your body.

Keep your back and your spine straight and your head on one level with the spine.

Do not look up and do not look down.

Just rest your head comfortably and naturally.

If you're sitting down on the floor,

You can keep your legs crossed or you can sit in a lotus,

Whatever feels comfortable for you.

And if you're in a chair,

Then simply let your legs fall down and rest on the floor naturally.

As for your arms and your palms,

They can be in your lap or they can be with the corresponding leg,

Palms down.

Over time,

You're going to figure out what works for you,

Which position works best for you.

Just remember,

The position must lead to stability,

Comfort,

And alertness.

Once you have the position,

Go ahead and close your eyes.

For the first part of this meditation,

Just listen to my voice.

If you find your mind wandering,

Simply return to my voice.

If you find that you're having certain sensations or you're having thoughts be whether they're judgmental or thoughts of restlessness,

Just observe them without judgment and return to my voice.

Meditation is the practice by which we cultivate sustained mindfulness.

What does that mean?

Mindfulness is simply a non-judgmental awareness of the present moment.

It's being here in this moment,

In this present moment,

And observing this moment in a non-judgmental way.

So whatever arises,

Be it something external such as noises,

Or something internal such as emotions or sensations or thoughts,

We observe it with a curiosity and we restrain our judgment from it.

Now at times,

We might feel that we are judgmental to this moment.

We will feel that we are reacting to this moment.

And that's fine.

Those are simply thoughts.

The other part is sustained.

If meditation is to cultivate sustained mindfulness,

Now we must go over what sustained means.

Sustained simply means prolonged.

Not in bit by bit,

Part by part,

But a prolonged wave that continues on and on,

Uninterrupted,

Flowing.

So through our practice,

We want to cultivate this sustained mindfulness.

A sustained and prolonged non-judgmental awareness of this moment.

Just allowing life to flow,

However it is,

In whatever shape or form it is.

And over time,

As we cultivate this sustained mindfulness,

We'll find that we have less resistance in our daily lives,

Less friction.

Our moments and our days simply flow by smoother,

More peacefully,

More joyfully.

With that intellectual explanation,

Now we begin the interesting part.

And the true heart of meditation.

The practice.

While there are many different ways to practice meditation,

One of the most popular and one of my favorites is the one we will practice today.

It involves our breath.

We use the breath because it is always there.

And in order to not be distracted,

We must have a point where we can return to.

And so our breath is always there for us.

It's free.

We can bring it wherever.

It is the perfect thing to cultivate this sustained awareness.

So now,

In your comfortable sitting position,

Eyes closed,

Start to focus on your breath.

Focus as it goes in and out,

Feel the inhalation and exhalation.

Perhaps you will feel the air coming in and out on the rims of your nostrils.

Perhaps it will be somewhere inside the nostrils or perhaps on your upper lip area.

All of these are fine.

Just allow the breath to come in and go out.

You don't have to manipulate it.

You don't have to force it.

Just observe it for a couple minutes.

In and out.

And if you find your mind wandering,

If you find thoughts or emotions or sensations coming in between you in this mindful observation of the breath,

Then just allow them to be.

Do not force them out.

Allow them to come in and come out.

As Rumi once wrote,

They are guests.

Allow them to come in to our house.

Do not let them pack and unpack their suitcases.

Just allow them to come in and when their time is due,

Show them the door out.

Do not be sucked in to buy them.

Do not be sucked in to buy them.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

When you find yourself wandering,

When you find your mind wandering,

Return to the breath,

The sensations that the breath creates around your nose area.

Do not feel angry or frustrated that you cannot sustain this attention on your breath.

And if you do feel frustrated,

Then observe that.

Allow it to come and go.

Whatever arises,

You observe it mindfully in a non-judgmental way and it will go away of its own accord eventually.

Do not attach.

Just in and out.

Just a breath.

If you find that you are having a difficult time with your breath and feeling it on your nostrils,

Then take a bit of a deeper breath,

A more controlled breath.

Manipulate the breath for just these couple breaths.

In and out,

Stronger.

And feel with this greater strength where the breath is coming in and out,

Where the sensations are.

And when you find that spot,

Stick with it.

Do not wander.

Just stick with that one spot.

And if you find that there are multiple spots,

Choose one,

Perhaps the one that is strongest,

And stay with it.

Tapping with organize.

And if you find your mind wandering,

Come back to the breath,

Yet again.

It'll happen over and over and over.

Just keep coming back,

Without feeling angry or frustrated.

Just allow the process to play its part.

Do your part,

And the results will come.

Do not attach to the results.

Do not attach to the results.

And if you find your mind wandering,

Return again to the breath,

To the respiration and the sensations around it.

And if you're finding it very difficult to keep your attention on your breath,

Take a couple controlled breaths,

Stronger breaths.

Manipulate the breath a little bit.

And after a couple breaths,

Return yet again,

To observing the breath without controlling it.

Just allowing it to flow naturally,

As it does.

Just allow it to flow naturally,

As it does,

With your breath.

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Over time,

As you practice,

You will find that it gets easier to stay on the breath.

But give it time,

Just practice with patience and persistence.

The key to growing in your practice is through two factors,

Awareness and equanimity.

Awareness is simply mindfulness being here in this moment.

And equanimity is approaching whatever comes here,

Whatever comprises this moment,

Approaching it with a complete level-headedness,

Allowing it to be.

Not attaching to it,

Not tugging at it,

Just observing with the curiosity.

Awareness and equanimity,

Equanimity and awareness.

Like two wings on a bird,

They must both be in balance.

They must both be in balance for the bird to soar.

So continue to remind yourself of this as you practice.

Awareness and equanimity,

Equanimity and awareness.

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One factor is crucial to be remembered.

Meditation is the practice,

But it is imperative,

It is necessary that we bring what we learn from the mat and from the chair into our real world,

Into the real world.

Whenever you have bits of time,

Be it whether you're waiting in line at Starbucks or in the car driving to work or maybe on the bathroom,

In the shower,

Whenever you have a brief moment,

Take some time to practice this mindfulness,

To stay with it,

Sustained mindfulness.

Just go as you always do,

Do what you always do,

But just be mindful.

Be mindful as you're doing it.

You will notice that over time,

These bits of mindfulness,

These islands of mindfulness throughout the day,

Just grow larger and larger.

And perhaps one day,

With necessary practice and persistence,

With awareness and equanimity,

You can achieve this state of enlightenment where from the moment you open your eyes to the moment you close your eyes,

You are mindful,

Not consumed by the mind's projection of the future or its consistent remembrance of the past of what has already happened,

But just embracing this moment of life.

The only real thing,

This moment,

Cherishing it,

Being fully absorbed in it,

Being mindful of it.

So remember,

Just as athletes practice and have training sessions and then go on to play games,

So meditation is like our training session.

It is necessary to be sure,

But it is also very important and very,

Very imperative that we bring this into real life.

Do not get attached to the results.

Even myself,

Who have practiced for over five years,

I still have sessions where I feel restless or angry.

The important thing is not to attach to these.

These are natural human emotions that come and go,

That ebb and flow like the tide.

Do not attach to this.

Just allow whatever is to be mindfully,

Mindfully.

We've now reached the end of this meditation's audio.

You can continue to meditate on your own,

Feeling the sensation of your inhalation and exhalation.

Or you can go on,

Open your eyes if you're ready,

And continue with your day.

I wish you all the best.

Lots of love,

Joy,

Compassion,

And fulfillment.

Have a blessed day.

Namaste.

Reviews

That was lovely! I was looking up fellow teachers in miami and came across your meditation. Thank u for that restful journey !

Great for beginners! Really made me focus on my breath more than any other meditation. Thank you.

Excellent tutorial from a compassionate and soothing voice. I learned much from this. Thank you.

Good basic, supportive instructions for beginners and beginners mind. Thanks

Really helpful.
Thank you.
Nalaste