I've been asked this week by three students now and they're asking for longer,
Deeper meditation recordings.
And in many ways I have waited for this.
Despite what many may tell you,
The length of a meditation session is supremely important.
Sitting for 15 minutes three times a day holds nowhere near the power of sitting once a day for 45 minutes.
The longer we sit,
The deeper we go.
Consider meditation as a journey into yourself.
If we walk down a path in real life,
In 15 minutes we will only manage to walk around a mile.
But if we walk for 45 minutes,
We can travel three miles.
And that's two miles into brand new unexplored territory.
So there's a greater discovery that happens.
Those two extra miles are over brand new terrain with new challenges.
Similarly in meditation,
Pushing past our comfort zone reveals new challenges in the mind that will present themselves.
Sleepiness,
Pain and restlessness may plague us for the first ever time.
Along with this,
New boundaries that held untapped joy and insight will begin to open up and our lives will really start to change quite dramatically.
It takes much more self-discipline to practice longer meditation sits,
So it's good to reflect on our intentions.
So we'll do that now and we'll meditate for around 35 minutes and I'll be holding your hand along this new terrain much less.
It's sacred ground for you to explore in silence.
So expect long periods,
Many minutes,
In which there will be no guidance at all.
It will just be you and the breath.
In this practice also I will introduce a new way to deepen meditation,
Something for you to try to see if it works for you.
So come into a seated posture now,
Upright,
Upright to keep the mind bright but relaxed and allow the eyes to close and settle into stillness.
Repeat to yourself three times,
I will remain still,
I will remain still,
I will remain still,
Making this commitment to be as still as possible,
To not give in to the body's whims and urges and in your own time,
Scan through the body,
From the top of your head to the soles of the feet and back again,
Slowly,
Feeling whatever is present and releasing tension if you find it and if you can,
And allowing whatever wishes to remain to stay.
Allow,
And wherever you are in the body scan,
Just let that go now and come to physical stillness and from this vantage point of stillness,
Move your attention to the nostrils and just holding your attention there,
Around the rims of the nostrils,
Until you begin to feel the sensations of air coming in and out.
You might feel this near the tip of the nose or you might feel it where the nose meets the upper lip,
Root your attention here and feel the air as it moves back and forth over this point,
Trying to experience the whole of an in-breath from here,
From this tiny point and the whole of an out-breath,
It's quite difficult to feel the breath here,
So you have to really focus and you should feel a gentle reverberation of air meeting skin and you can add counting to help to keep the mind with the breath,
Counting 1 to 10,
Count the out-breath,
So breathe in,
Experiencing the breath and then as you breathe out,
Count 1 in your mind,
Then there's a pause and the next in-breath and then 2 on the out-breath and so on,
From 1 all the way up to 10 and if you manage to reach 10,
Then count back down on the out-breath from 10 to 1 and repeat,
If you forget the number you're on,
This is an indication that the mind has wandered from the breath,
So just begin again,
Back at 1,
Remember that we're feeling,
Experiencing the breath,
The counting is only an aid,
If the counting isn't helping or it's making you feel frustrated,
Just let it go,
Your mind will wander away into thinking and this happens,
Notice it and say in your mind,
Thinking,
Thinking twice and then return back to the breath and you practice this over and over and now slow the breath down,
Just as much as you're comfortable with,
No straining,
Just slowing it down and when you get to the pauses,
At the end of the breath,
Rest there and when you get to the pause,
In between the in and the out-breath,
Rest there,
So we're not making the breath start,
We're waiting until it's ready,
Notice what happens in the mind,
Now the breath has been slowed down a little and you can now allow the breath to return to its natural pace,
Allowing the breath,
No forcing,
No pushing,
Just letting it be natural and through all of this,
Staying relaxed,
Not beating yourself up for wandering away from the breath,
Because that's very natural,
Accepting it and returning to the breath over and over,
If you encounter restlessness,
The desire to move,
The desire to end the meditation,
Just notice it and name it like you would,
Thinking,
Restlessness,
Restlessness and then return to the breath and now really focusing in on the breath,
Really feeling the sensations,
Seeing that an in-breath isn't just one thing,
It's many sensations strung together and feel that at the same point in the nostrils where you have been doing and the same for the out-breath,
Really focusing in,
Experiencing as much of the sensation as you can and now letting the breath go altogether,
Allowing it to recede into the background,
It's no longer special,
It's still there,
You still experience it,
But allow all things,
Whatever arises to now be your meditation,
To just feel it,
Experiencing it,
Rising and passing away,
Feeling any stillness that you might have cultivated,
Allowing that to permeate the body and mind and now beginning to end the meditation,
Slowly,
You can move a little,
But remain mindful while you do so,
You can stretch and observe the mind and body as you do,
Then in your own time,
Allow the eyes to gently open.
