Beginner's Meditation For Dudes [High Level Of Guidance]
This is a simple intro practice designed for guys (people who identify as men) that have not meditated before and can be consumed by anyone, at any level. We do some basic box breathing and I offer a gentle and straightforward reminder that meditation is simple and is not something foreign.
Transcript
Dude,
All you gotta do right now is just sit still.
Just sit.
There's nowhere to be.
There's nothing to do.
There's nothing to think about or fix.
There's no problem here to solve.
It's just you.
Sitting and listening to the thoughts,
To the sounds around you.
Listening to the feelings in your body.
Listening to the emotions your body wants to make.
The fidgets.
The shortness of breath.
The scattered thoughts.
Just listen to those thoughts.
Take yourself out to 30,
000 foot.
And look at this in the big picture.
Look at how you're thinking.
The quality of your thoughts.
The quality of your breath.
The quality of your rest and recovery.
How does your body really feel?
Sometimes we gotta push through things.
There's times for that.
There's a lot of times for that.
We've been through a lot of times like that.
But right now,
Like I said,
There's nothing to do.
There's nowhere to be.
This is your time.
And we're just gonna sit here.
We're just gonna be present.
And we're gonna start to notice and listen to some of the things that we cover up with busyness,
With racing thoughts,
With movement.
Because naturally we want to do that.
So what you're doing right now is unnatural.
It's uncomfortable.
Let's do it some more.
I want you to really pay attention to your breath.
This is gonna be our focal point for today.
The breath.
Just your breath.
Nothing more.
Nothing woo woo.
Just your breath.
Just focus on your breath.
It's yours.
Your mind is connected to your breath.
Your physiology is connected to your breath.
How you're feeling.
What you're thinking.
How you're doing is all connected to your breath.
So let's just focus on that today.
Where is the breath?
Where is your breath naturally right now?
Is it in your belly?
Are you breathing in your chest?
Are you breathing somewhere in between?
You really feel your breath somewhere in particular,
Maybe even your throat.
Where do you feel your breath the most?
And what's it feel like there?
Is it long and deep?
Is it short and choppy?
Is there texture?
Is there heat?
Is there coolness?
What's the quality of this breath?
It really does not mean good or bad.
It just means quality.
What are the qualities of it?
What are the facets of it?
How would you describe it?
Listen to your breath and describe it to yourself.
Now that you've gotten this bit of information,
This bit of knowledge about your current state,
Your breath,
How it's currently attached to and connected to your thoughts,
Your mind,
Your actions,
Your movements,
And your breath.
Let's do some work to smooth this out,
To lengthen this out.
This is a simple trick to calm you,
To rest you,
To recover you.
So if that's not what you want right now,
Full permission to pause this recording and just sit or go do something that will energize you as you see fit.
But if you want to calm down right now,
If you want to slow down,
If you want to smooth things out,
Stick with me.
Coming back to that breath,
Wherever you are in your breath,
Just release out all the air from your belly all the way out through your mouth and seal off your lips and breathe in now through your nose,
Breathe in for a five count.
In two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Hold the breath at the top for five count,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Exhale through the nose,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Hold the breath at the bottom.
And inhale,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Hold the breath at the top.
Notice this pause,
This impatience,
Exhale,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Hold the breath at the bottom.
Notice any hunger,
Any scarcity,
You feel this bottom point,
This hold.
Take a deep breath in,
One,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Hold the breath.
It's in these pauses that a lot of us get antsy,
Exhale,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Hold the breath at the bottom.
This is not rocket science,
This is simple.
This is just paying attention to your breath as it's attached to your physiology and your body.
Inhale,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Hold the breath at the top.
Notice how uncomfortable this is,
Notice how easy this might be,
Notice how simple this is.
And exhale,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Hold the breath at the bottom.
This bottom part can feel like hunger,
It can feel like anxiety.
How can you push into that,
Lean into that?
Inhale,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Hold the breath at the top.
These pauses are a gift to your awareness and your presence right now,
To your life.
Exhale,
These smooth exhales and smooth inhales are a way to smooth out your life,
Smooth out your physiology and simplify.
Hold the breath at the bottom.
Big inhale.
Expand to the belly,
The ribs and the chest.
Build that breath,
Hold the breath at the top.
And exhale,
All the way out,
Nice and smooth,
Nice and slow.
You can even constrict your throat a little bit,
Like you're humming all the way out.
And hold.
Deep breath in,
Smooth and easy into the breath,
Chest,
Shoulders,
Hold the breath at the top.
And exhale nice and smooth.
That hum,
That controlled breath all the way out.
Hold the breath at the bottom.
And inhale,
Nice and smooth,
Nice and easy.
Get all the way to the top,
Fill up,
Hold the breath at the top.
This is called box breathing.
It's one of the simplest and most powerful breaths you can do.
Exhale all the way out,
Nice and smooth,
Nice and slow.
How controlled can you be?
How disciplined can you be in your breath?
As a tool for your mind,
Hold the breath at the bottom.
Our body will give out way before our mind does.
Actually the opposite.
Take a big deep breath in.
Our mind will give up way before our body will.
We're capable of way much more.
Hold the breath at the top.
And exhale all the way out.
So the trait in our mind is to access bigger possibilities within our body.
Hold the breath at the bottom.
Tapping into that simplicity,
Listening,
Deep breath in.
Just a few more.
Hold the breath at the top.
Really focus in here,
Really do the work.
You're probably getting bored,
Probably getting annoyed.
Exhale all the way out.
See if you can dance to that feeling.
Hold the breath.
Dance with it,
Laugh with it,
Play with it.
Okay,
Lean back into it,
Deep breath in.
And hold the breath at the top.
One more round after this.
Push it,
Hold the breath and exhale through the nose all the way out.
Nice and smooth.
Last round,
Hold the breath at the bottom.
One more circulation.
Deep breath all the way in.
Biggest breath today,
Nice and smooth.
Cleanest breath.
Hold the breath at the top.
Squeeze the abdomen.
Challenge yourself to slowly exhale all the way out.
Release the abdomen.
Hold the breath at the bottom.
Release out all the air.
Take a swallow.
And you still have that built up and slowly come back to your natural pace of breath,
Just your natural pace.
You'll start to breathe naturally and normally.
You'll start to bring some movement in your body.
You can start to rock forward and backwards.
You can rock your shoulders side to side.
You start to wiggle those toes,
Start to move your hands and wrists.
Squeeze your hands into fists.
Get ready to fight.
And then release your fists.
Surrender.
Squeeze again.
Those fists nice and tight.
Get ready to fight.
Hold on.
Hold on tight.
And then let it go.
Surrender.
Release the hands.
One more time.
Squeeze.
Squeeze.
Put all your frustration,
All your leftover energy right into the air.
And then release.
Surrender.
Let go.
Bring your body back to stillness.
Take a big deep breath in.
And exhale,
Side out with a big sigh.
One more like that.
This time get a little bit louder.
Let it go.
Deep breath in.
To the belly,
Chest,
And shoulders.
Hold the breath at the top.
Hold it.
Hold it.
Challenge this.
And get ready to sigh,
Make a noise,
All the way out.
Exhale.
Bring your breath back to its natural pace.
Take note of this physiology of the feelings,
Of the thoughts,
Of the presence you have.
Just notice,
Just listen,
Keep listening for the next few moments.
Resist the urge to get up.
Resist the urge to move.
Resist the urge to think.
It makes sense.
Just be,
Just be right here.
Just listen.
Awesome work.
Really awesome work.
Give yourself a celebration today,
A pat on the back.
I'm here with you and for you.
And have an awesome day.
