Mindfulness Practice To Build Nonjudgmental Awareness

The more we practice sitting with our whole selves nonjudgmentally (the good, bad, beautiful, and painful), the better we get at opening ourselves up to every kind of moment with discernment and acceptance, rather than judgment, reactivity and remorse. Meditation gives us the opportunity to sit with discomfort—bored, achy, restless, and distracted, we choose to stay with it, anyway. We can find ourselves caught up in fear, disappointment, and self-criticism in any part of our day. That’s all common and normal. In this mindfulness practice, we give ourselves the chance to recieve permission to feel exactly what we feel, even when we’re not as okay as we’d like to be.

Transcript

Music Sit for a few minutes,

Focusing on the sensation of breathing.

Your mind will almost certainly stay busy.

Assist it in settling by noting thoughts as thoughts,

And then patiently returning to the breath.

Music Music Breathing in and breathing out.

Music Music Now bring to mind something you don't like so much about yourself,

Or that you wish you didn't have.

Choose something uncomfortable,

But not overwhelming.

Notice what arises.

It might be a sense of physical discomfort,

Or emotion,

Or anxious thought.

Give attention to all of it,

The facts,

Your reactions,

Emotions like disappointment or frustration,

And anything else that comes up.

Music If the practice ever becomes too uncomfortable,

Please as always take care of yourself.

Allow yourself a break,

Seek out support,

And let go of the practice for now.

Come back to whatever feels most appropriate in this moment.

As we continue a longer period of silence,

Sustaining awareness,

This is how things are.

Each time you get distracted,

Coming back to your practice.

Staying with discomfort while you're able,

And coming back to focusing on breathing if you become overwhelmed.

Music Acknowledge this aspect of your experience right now as best as you're able without any need to fix or change anything for this moment.

Silence Silence Silence Silence Silence For the last few minutes,

Take time for self-compassion.

On each in-breath,

Be aware that this is a challenge for you right now,

And all people have challenges.

On each out-breath,

Wish yourself whatever you'd wish your best friend in the same situation.

May I find strength and happiness in the face of adversity today.

Silence Silence Silence Silence Silence Silence Silence Silence On ending,

Come back to several breaths.

Set an intention for yourself to move forward with both self-acceptance and resolve.

Silence Silence

Reviews

This practice helped me immensely this morning. I was seeking a meditation to confront challenging feelings of remorse. Thank you 🙏

Thank you, breaks of silence helped awaken mindfulness bringing calmness restful awareness and purifying thinking into a joy of peacefulness. Blessings 🙏🏽📿

Letting it all just be okay, as Mary Maddux says, really soothes me and my sad gut. This meditation is really helpful for practicing this.

This is great. My MBCT therapist is often asking me to sit with my uncomfortable feelings, as my bad feelings about my bad feelings keeps me stuck. It’s painful but I 100% see the value in it. Unfortunately I don’t see my therapist every day. :)

This exercise is super helpful.

At first I didn’t like being with uncomfortable feelings but it was good to just be with and accept the feelings. I like the minimalist approach and time to meditate in silence.

A really useful space for reflexion ... and a great demonstration of less is more. Such a feeling of generosity in the contrast between the simple, but carefully chosen, words that lead us through, and the time for silent structured self reflection. Thank you 🙏

Beautiful silence, thoughtful reminder, wonderful chime

This was exactly what I’ve been needing lately, not too much guidance but enough to guide me through the practice. This was very beautiful. Thank you.🙏💚😌

This was a very powerful meditation for me. Initially I thought the silence meant the app or the meditation wasn’t working. Once I realized the silent times were intentional, it gave me very intense moments of silence to focus on each suggestion. I will definitely use this meditation again to work through unresolved or uncomfortable aspects of my life that I need to address to free myself. Thank you 🙏🏼

I’m giving it 5 stars but I got a different feeling from this meditation which is the whole point. I guess I feel at peace and not anxious about my short comings. My goal is to be kinder to myself so I can continue to be kinder to others.

Loved this meditation! I will come back to it again an again!!!

Thank for the silence I didn’t know I needed. It was a good way to start my morning.

Love his voice and the deep space in between guidance to be with my practice. Will definitely do again.

Very peaceful, thank you

Just what I needed to support my journey. Thank you. Namaste.