Why Practice Mindfulness Meditation?

Yes, there is an ever-growing body of research identifying the benefits of meditation. And these can also become a trap, feeding our striving and judging if we cannot check the boxes of what should be happening. This meditation invites us to run a personal research study. We leverage the mindfulness qualities of suspending striving and judgment. We engage curiosity - how is our practice impacting our lives. Enjoy the exploration!

Transcript

Let's begin. First, Just taking a moment to shift out of any type of thinking or doing that we may have just been up to, And settling into body in stillness, Feeling feet resting upon the floor, Thighs and bottom resting upon the chair, Inviting a rising up of spine towards sky, Maybe a shoulder roll or two as a way of loosening and lowering shoulders upon torso, Finding a comfortable place for hands to rest, Maybe hands upon thighs or resting or cupped within lap, Loosening jaw, Lips either gently touching or slightly parted, And choosing eyes either opened or closed. And one way to help make that decision, If you're feeling a little sleepiness, Then eyes open without looking around, Simply receiving light can provide some wakefulness. If you're feeling maybe a little mental scatteredness, Then allowing lids to lower and eyes to close, Lessening that visual information that mind is receiving can sometimes help to increase focus. So whichever serves you better in this moment, Eyes opened or eyes closed, Now further arriving into body by bringing your attention to the crown, The top of head, And allowing your attention to slowly shower downwards across face and around back of head, Noticing any tension or tightness and inviting a letting go as best as you can. Inviting your attention to continue to shower downwards spreading into neck and across shoulders, Down into arms, Forearms, And hands, Just noticing presence of any tension or tightness and inviting a letting go as best as you can. Now inviting your attention to move down your torso, So across chest, Upper back, Down into belly and lower back, Just noticing what sensations are found, Inviting a letting go as best as you can. Moving your attention now into hips and thighs, Down into calves and feet, Noticing tension, Inviting a letting go as best as you can. Now bringing your attention to the sensations of body breathing, Could be the rise and fall of chest and belly, Or the movement of air through nose, Letting your attention come to rest upon these physical sensations. And I do want to honor for some folks, Breathing may not be the best choice. You can always choose another sensory anchor for your attention, Maybe your feet resting on the floor, Hands resting on thighs. We choose a sensory-based anchor because that brings us into this moment, You can't feel something from last week or five minutes from now. Sensations are new and fresh arriving in this moment, So they invite our presence, Our attention into this moment. So choosing body breathing or some other sensory focus as your attentional anchor in this moment. And being the humans that we are with these minds that are really wondrous in all that our minds do, Our minds will also drift away, Typically seeking novelty of some sort. And so if your focus does drift, First of all, It's okay, That's just being human. And recognizing our capacity to notice when we have drifted away. And choosing to bring our focus back to body breathing or whatever our sensory anchor is. And you may wonder, Why do we even do this? This is hard, This focusing, This coming back, Why am I even doing this right now? My first answer is finding your own answer to that question when you're practicing. What do you notice in the moment and after you practice mindfulness meditation? I'm always a big fan of our own experience being our best teacher. And there is an ever-growing body of research indicating a whole list of benefits to practicing mindfulness meditation. And that wonderful list can set us up for striving and judgment. So that's why I come back to what are you experiencing with this? As we practice the two qualities of a suspending judgment and suspending striving. What am I finding in this moment as I practice this ancient way of being? Yes, There is a wonderful growing body of evidence for practicing mindfulness. And people have been doing this for over 2, 000 years. And so inviting ourselves to answer the question, Why am I doing this? What am I noticing in my relationship with body in this moment? As I settle in and become present. What am I noticing in relationship to my mind as I settle in and become present? What am I noticing in relationship with emotions as I practice presence? In this way. What capacities am I reclaiming with this simple act? Noticing body breathing. Noticing drifting away. Coming back once again to body breathing. Leaving behind judging and impatience. And striving. What do I find within myself as I show up in this way? And realizing whatever I'm finding has nothing to do with anything from the outside. Not even my voice. People always say, Oh, I like the sound of your voice. That's not what this is about. What you're finding inside has always been there and will never be left behind. We find our gifts within the silence and stillness. From the silence and the stillness, Then we show up differently, Engaging with the world once again. So now opening of your eyes, Reclosed, Inviting in the light, Visually reconnecting with your surroundings. Maybe a little gentle movement or stretch. It's the beginning of taking your gifts back into the activity of the day. So may you enjoy taking out your gifts and playing with them today in all that you do. Thank you so much for joining me. It's always a pleasure to hang out with you. And may you be well the remainder of today and tomorrow.