Everyday Meditation #1: 7 Minutes

Once you've completed my 7-day series for beginners, this is a great track to use as a standard, everyday meditation. There's a mix of some guidance as well as more empty space than in the 7-day series so that you can begin to practice more with silence.

Although I meditate longer now, for many years 7 minutes served me well. I feel it offers a great ROI (return on investment) in terms of what you get for the amount of time put in.

Transcript

So begin to make yourself comfortable, And when you feel ready, You can close your eyes, And already just begin to notice what changes when you close your eyes. Anything at all, Just notice. And you're coming from somewhere else, You've just been doing something, And here we are in a new moment, Right here, Right now. So just bring your attention to what's happening right in this moment. You can feel your breath moving in and out. Just notice where you feel that, How you know that you're breathing right now. Maybe you feel your belly rising and falling, Or your chest. Maybe you feel it in your nostrils, The air moving in and out. Notice your breath however it is. No need to change it, No need to slow it down, Just be with it as it is. And as you do that, You'll probably notice yourself distracted, Maybe a thought will come in about something that happened earlier today, Or something that you need to do later. And just notice that thought, Hmm, There's a thought. And then gently bring your attention back to the breath, Hmm, There's another thought. Great, Just notice it. You might label it, Thought, And then back to the breath. And just do this with gentleness. You didn't do anything wrong by being distracted, That's just how the mind works. Thought, Back to the breath. Maybe there's a sound, There's a car going by, A dog barking. Great, Just label that, Sound, Sound, Thought, And back to the breath. And just notice this experience of being right here, Right now. What happens in you when you hear that car go by? What happens when that thought comes in? Just notice, Is there judgment, Is there acceptance, Resistance? Maybe there's an emotion, Some anger comes up, Or anything else, Just notice. Emotion, Back to the breath. And you can feel the rest of your body too, You can feel your back resting on the chair or the couch, You can feel your spine holding you up, Feel the temperature of air on your skin. Again, Noticing a thought, And back to the present. And that's all this is, Meditation. Just noticing, Being with, Not resisting. Just being with your reality, Exactly as it is, Right here, Right now.