If you're new to our podcast or perhaps feel like you need a little refresher on the basics of meditation This audio podcast is for you The number one misunderstanding about meditation is that Your goal is to stop your thoughts You may be relieved to know that it would be Impossible to stop your thoughts because your brain is designed to generate them Even the most experienced meditator will have thoughts during meditation The difference between a beginner and someone with experience is That the experienced meditator will see their thoughts as an opportunity not a hindrance Keep listening Choose not to go into your meditation session with the pressure of having to stop your thoughts Instead you can choose to observe what is arising Let me restate that again in a different way Meditation is merely observing what is arising over and over again As You sit quietly You'll start to see your thoughts But you can imagine that you're looking at them from a distance almost like you're inspecting them Don't be discouraged when your thoughts consume you You know when you're consumed by your thoughts when you lose track of time and you don't even know you're meditating anymore When this happens,
It's not only okay.
It's a great opportunity to become an expert at meditation Expert meditators see the opportunity and choose to bring themselves out of the trance by shifting their thoughts back to Observing what is arising?
Every time the shift is made the meditation skills are strengthened So you see a meditation practice isn't one of ridding yourself of thoughts Meditation practice is gently backing out of the trance of thoughts and observing what is there in the moment Breathing is often used as a focal point during meditation Just like observing thoughts we can watch our breath In fact observing the way you are breathing in a non-judgmental way Can be a great way to gently move out of the trance of thought and to a place of presence You can think of the breath as one tool in your meditation toolkit It's always there to help you along in your meditation Other tools you can keep in your toolkit Observing the flow of your emotions or your body sensations.
I often use body sensations as my tool Because your body is always in the present moment unlike your thoughts which travel into the future and back to the past You can ground yourself by noticing inner feelings like your heartbeat or Something simple like feeling the pressure of the seat that supports you It's best to choose one thing one tool from your toolkit and use it to observe.
What is arising?
In just a moment,
We'll get started with a short meditation so you can test drive your meditation toolkit But before we get started I want to mention that it's a good idea to keep a consistent time for your meditation each day also Consistency in meditation is better than trying to do a long meditation once in a while so for instance your life may not be impacted by a 30-minute meditation once in a while But it will be effective to do a five-minute meditation practice four times a week upon awakening and You can build from there Let's go ahead and find a comfortable seated position You could sit on the floor With your back against the wall you could sit in a chair With your feet on the floor and your hands folded gently in your lap You Can even start observing now Notice the way your body gently begins to settle into a place that's comfortable When you feel like you can be still Perhaps you choose a tool from your toolkit You might be dedicated to just watching the inhale and the exhale today Or maybe you want to stay with the internal world just feeling your body relax from head to toe And in some instances It's a great idea to observe the outer world just feeling temperature on your skin Letting sound come and go as it does You might smell something have a scent in the room But just pick one breath inner sensation or outer sensation Allow yourself to settle just a few degrees more feeling relaxed With every passing moment you feel your body releasing from its resistance its strain And your observation becomes more natural more clear We're going to sit for a few moments And when you hear the sound of the bell think about it as an opportunity when the bell rings You might notice that you're in a trance of thought And you can come back using your chosen tool To the presence here in the moment As we come towards the end of our meditation take a moment to relax and just let your mind coast You may like to start wiggling your toes and your fingers Become aware of the room around you And just let your mind wander You may like to start wiggling your toes and your fingers Become aware of the room around you you could refresh yourself with a deep breath and even stretch your arms up And sigh it out Now that you've experienced a meditation session today you can reflect back If you felt like you spent a lot of time in the trance of your thoughts You just know a little bit more about the quality of your mind today Tomorrow you might find that it's a little easier to be grounded in the present moment Just by spending a few minutes a day in meditation You can become a more skillful person navigating your days and knowing yourself Just that much more Thank you for practicing with me today
