Pointing Our Minds Where We Choose

In many Buddhist traditions, meditation is very much a skill of concentration and focus: Can I point my mind where I choose to point it? Relatedly, can I build the capacity to know when my mind is somewhere that I did not choose? This meditation is all about simple targets for our minds to rest upon (sound around us, the feeling of our own posture, and the feeling of our breath), and creating the space to be able to watch what arises, and come back to a place in our minds of our own choosing.

Transcript

Hi, I'm Mike Tarvisano, And this simple meditation is all about pointing our minds where we choose. To start, Find a posture that feels natural and supportive and comfortable. If you'd like, You're welcome to sit. If you'd prefer to lie down, Feel free to lie down. If you're seated, Maybe rest your hands on your knees or in your lap. If you're lying down, Maybe hold your arms at your side or allow them to rest on your stomach or your chest. Whatever feels most natural for you is the way to go. I'd like to start with some nice deep breaths to the extent that it feels okay to do. Inhale through your nose and fill your lungs up as fully as you can, And then exhale through your mouth and let all of that wonderful air back out. Let's do two more of those. Inhale through your nose as fully as you can, And then exhale through your mouth, Letting it all out. One more time, Inhale fully through your nose, And then exhale completely out of your mouth. Now just breathe naturally. The meditation I'm going to guide today is just an experiment in attention. We're not going to try to quiet our mind or not have any thoughts or cultivate some way of feeling. Other meditations can do that. It's all good. But today, We're just going to see if we can point our brains where we choose to point them. Relatedly, We're going to start to build the capacity to notice when our minds are not somewhere that we chose. So, As best as you can, Just listen. What do you hear? What sounds exist right in your environment around you? Maybe it's nothing spectacular, Maybe just house noise or traffic or depending on where you are, Maybe birds or somebody else. What's there? What if you were to listen as though you've never listened before? Like you just received this incredible magical ability to hear things, And even little things like house noise are like little fantastic miracles. What if you were to greet any sound that shows up just like that? If your mind naturally goes somewhere else, A thought, A worry, A memory, A song, Who knows what. That is just a brain doing what brains do, Gently. Just listen. Let's point our attention somewhere else. As best as you can, To the extent that it feels okay to do, What does it feel like to inhabit your body exactly as you are? What do your arms feel like? What do your legs feel like? What's the temperature? Where are you feeling that temperature? On your face, Your hands, Your feet? Is it pleasant or unpleasant? Without trying to think about it, What does feeling feel like? Again, If your brain brains on you as they do, And you find yourself in the middle of a worry, Or a memory, Or a song, Who knows? As gently as you can, Just feel. Let's experiment with one more place to point our attention. To the extent that it feels okay to do, What does it feel like to breathe? What does feeling breathing feel like? If feeling breathing does not feel good to you, Doesn't feel supportive, You are in a boat with a lot of wonderful people. Just go back to listening or feeling your own posture. Do the one that feels okay. But if it feels okay to feel breathing, What does it feel like? Where do you feel it most? In your stomach, Or your chest, Or your throat, Or your nose? If you wanted to, Could you stay with every tiny moment of the entire breath? What does it feel like as you rise in an inhale? What does it feel like at the top, And at the turn? What does the out-breath feel like every tiny moment of it? What does it feel like at the bottom, And at the turn back to an inhale? We've all been breathing nearly every moment of our entire lives since we were born. Maybe only stopping when we're underwater or on purpose. What does it feel like to hang out with it? And again, If your brain goes somewhere else, That just means that you have one. Simply go back to feeling breathing. The magic of this meditation is in the noticing that I'm no longer on my target, And then gently bringing it back to whatever I choose. In a moment, I'll sound our bell to end the guided portion of this meditation, But you are welcome to continue on for as long as you like. Maybe experiment a little bit. Bounce from listening to feeling to feeling breathing back to listening. Is there one that you like best, Or gravitate towards? It's all good. Just remember, When you notice your mind is no longer on your target, Just gently bring yourself back to whatever target you choose. I hope very much that this has been useful or helpful. May you be well.