Effortless Meditation

Allowing meditation to be completely effortless. The less you try, the easier meditation becomes. The key is allowing the mind to settle down of its accord.

Transcript

So,

Just let yourself settle down comfortably into your chair or on your cushion,

Wherever you're sitting.

And then just gently close your eyes.

Nothing else,

Just closing your eyes.

And when we just close our eyes,

We notice the body more,

We notice various sensations in our body.

We may become more aware of sounds that are going on around us.

You might notice thoughts coming into your mind,

Feelings that are there.

These are all part of what's going on in the present moment.

In this practice we'll just be bringing our attention back to the experience of the body in the present moment.

And to begin with,

Just notice the various ways in which your body is in touch with the world around you.

Take your feet for example.

You can feel the pressure of the ground or whatever they're resting on.

There's various sensations there which you probably haven't noticed.

Just notice how it feels,

What the sensations are like.

Or there may be sensations in your legs,

Whatever they're touching.

Just notice that experience of touch.

Notice the pressure of your weight against the seat.

Notice how that feels.

There may be sensations in your back,

Particularly if you're leaning against the back of a seat.

Maybe a sense of pressure or warmth.

Just open to that experience.

Or your hands and fingers.

Whatever they're touching.

Just notice the sensations which are there.

Or you may feel the touch of your clothes against the skin.

Let your attention come to your face.

You may notice the touch of your lips.

Or you may notice sensations in your eyes or forehead.

Or sometimes in the jaw.

All we're doing is just noticing sensations which are already there which we probably haven't noticed before.

And now just let your attention be drawn to any other sensations in your body.

Just noticing them,

Just noticing what they're like.

Then notice the sensation of breathing,

Again another experience that's always there.

Although we may go for hours or even days without actually noticing it,

But there's always that gentle flowing in,

Flowing out of the breath.

You may notice it as the flow of air in the nostrils.

Or it may be the rising falling of the chest.

Or the movement of the belly.

However it appears to you,

Just notice that experience.

It's an experience that's always there in some form or other.

Because it's changing,

It's flowing in,

It's flowing out,

We can be interested in it.

So we can just let our attention rest there on the breath.

But not trying to concentrate on it,

Not trying to hold the attention there.

We're just very very relaxed.

Almost like just being interested in the breath.

What's it like?

Just being interested in it.

And from time to time you'll probably notice thoughts coming in.

Sometimes you may wander off for a long while on a thought.

If that happens,

Don't feel you've gone wrong.

It happens to all of us all the time.

It's the nature of the mind to think.

But when you realise you've been thinking,

Then without any judgement or blame or anything,

Just gently bring your attention back to the present moment.

To the experience of just sitting here in your body,

Gently breathing.

We're not trying to get anywhere to any particular state of consciousness.

We're not trying to make anything happen or stop anything happening.

All we're doing is just letting our attention rest easily with our experience in the present moment.

And the actual experience in the body is always in the present moment.

And the actual experience in the body is always in the present moment.

Just coming back to the breath.

Very easily,

Very effortlessly.

No effort.

Not concentrating on the breath so much as just noticing the experience.

And again,

When you notice another thought come in,

That's fine.

Just gently let your attention come back to the breath.

And the actual experience in the body is always in the present moment.

And the actual experience in the body is always in the present moment.

We're just letting the mind relax.

Relax into the experience as it is in the moment.

No effort,

No trying.

Not wanting anything particular to happen,

But just being with whatever is happening in the moment.

And the actual experience in the body is always in the present moment.

Just coming back to sitting here quietly,

Noticing the gentle sensations of the breath.

And the actual experience in the body is always in the present moment.

Just allowing the mind to relax.

And I'll let you continue like this on your own for a little while.

And then when you hear the sound of a faint bell,

Just know that I will be returning to complete the meditation with you.

Nice.

Begin to come out of the meditation.

You may find you want to start by just gently flexing the fingers or toes a little bit,

Allowing a little movement to come back into your body.

You may notice the breathing deepening a little.

And when you feel ready but no need to rush,

Just gently open your eyes,

Maybe just a little at first,

Just allowing the light to come in.

And as you begin to become more aware of your surroundings,

Just notice that feeling of quietness is still there inside.

We don't have to leave that in order to come back into activity.

And no need to rush to get back into activity.

You may want to just sit here for a minute or two,

Just quietly enjoying the benefits of this meditation.

And as with any technique,

Regular practice really helps.

And what I'd suggest is,

Doing this at least once a day,

Maybe twice a day if you have time,

But once a day will be fine.

And begin with for the first few days just listening to this tape again,

Just reminding you of the basic practice.

And then as you become more familiar with it,

You may find you don't need to listen to the recording.

And remember that the important thing is just being completely effortless,

Not trying,

Just letting the mind relax and coming back to the experience in the moment without any effort.

Reviews

Simply wonderful. Thankyou for helping me to relax my mind.

Thank you Peter. 💚🙏 A lovely basic and quiet practice. Perfect for today's busy mind. I wish you a beautiful day.

Terrific. The meditation is basic, but it gave me a stillness inside. Thanks

Nice. Sometimes a few gentle reminders can go a looooong way! Appreciate this. 🙏

A really helpful reminder of the basics. Thank you!

Thank you! I will return to this many times. Namaste 🙏

Simple and yet powerful. Thank you so much for sharing your wisdom with us. Namaste 🙏🏽

thank you, I really appreciate your help. Will do it again.

I thoroughly enjoyed this meditation. It is unique because there is silence during and at the end. I found that very peaceful.

This was really wonderful this morning. I was most attracted to the word “effortless” and felt curious as to whether I could sit for about 20 minutes and come away with kind of experience—of focus , presence, consciousness and effortlessness. And yes I did. 🙏

Great guidance without a lot of unnecessary talking - my idea of a perfect guided meditation

Loved it. Gentle and soothing. Just sufficient guidance. Thank you.

Lovely, gentle guidance into experiencing the present moment. Thank you Peter!

Really great meditation. Simplicity at its best

That really was effortless! Delicious!!

Jusy lovely, peaceful and easy

Loved the gentleness! Thank you! :)

Lovely way to start the day

Was delighted to come across this medn especially bc Peter’s book, The Awakening Earth brought about a pivotal & much needed awakening for me in my early 20s introducing concepts that helped me to sustain a sense of vision & purpose that balanced out my earlier ‘logical’ sense of doom & gloom re our planet.
I love that he gets right into the medn - feel that this has all the necessary ingredients to bring about a sense of beingness

Relaxing and peaceful and helpful suggestions for consistency. Background white noise a bit distracting at first. 🙏🏻 🦋