Sitting Meditation MBSR

This 40-minute sitting meditation MBSR practice is to support the cultivation of the focus points of awareness to breath, body, sounds, mind, emotions and open/choiceless awareness. Through these 40 minutes, you learn to cultivate your awareness to experience each of these various foci to support steading your attention into these inner experiences with mindful loving awareness.

Transcript

Welcome to this guided seated meditation practice.

As we move into this period of practice,

Taking the time to set yourself up for this practice.

So allowing your environment to support you in moving into this practice and just moving any distractions,

Anything that might interfere with your practice during this time out of the way.

And so coming into a seated position,

Taking the time and the care to attend to the body as you take your seat.

So choosing if it feels right for you to sit either in a chair or maybe on a cushion or a pillow on the floor and just taking whatever care is needed to choose a particular place to sit and allow the body to settle into that.

And becoming aware of the points of contact that the body is making as you sit.

Noticing contact and placement of the feet,

Of the legs,

Connection of the buttocks to the floor,

Cushion,

Chair.

Allowing the torso to be held upright in a dignified,

Alert,

Awake manner.

If you need the support of a chair to allow the back to rest on that,

That's fine.

But if there's no consideration that needs to be given to that,

Seeing if you can just hold the upper body under its own strength.

Not needing to have any additional support that's not necessary or called for.

Just feeling the full experience of taking this active stance of sitting.

Checking in with the shoulders and the neck,

Just letting them go.

Noticing their placement.

The shoulders,

Maybe allowing them to line up over the hips.

Noticing the length in the neck,

Maybe a subtle tuck of the chin so that the spine really moves into an extended and lengthened position.

And reaching towards the ceiling.

Scanning through the body just to ensure that the body is in a posture that allows sitting to happen in a comfortable yet alert present way.

Noticing maybe the placement of the knees and the hips.

Just allowing yourself to notice that it can be helpful to adjust the knees just slightly below the hips so that it takes any pressure off the low back that might be undue or not necessary.

So just really giving yourself permission right now to make any subtle adjustments,

To check in with the body.

Fully feeling yourself taking your seat.

Taking your seat and connecting to your stance,

To the support of the ground,

To the support of the body being engaged in sitting.

And now allowing your attention to shift and bring into awareness an intention you may want to set for practice.

This might be an intention to cultivate calm,

Clarity,

Openness,

Curiosity.

Noticing whatever comes up for you in the moment about an intention you may want to set for practice.

Fully aware of that intention.

And now shifting and allowing it to be let go.

Moving it into the background of awareness,

Not holding onto it.

Just knowing that the choice to set and hold an intention is there.

Just allowing it to be in the background now.

Bringing now into your foreground of awareness,

The breath.

So becoming aware of the breath as it moves into the body and as it moves out of the body.

So letting your attention be fully aware of the inhale as it expands the body.

Fully aware of the exhale as it moves out and lets go,

Relaxes,

Slightly contracts the body.

Sometimes it's helpful to find a particular place in which you can rest the attention on the breath,

Either at the nostrils or at the chest or at the abdomen.

Or you might choose to observe the entirety of the breath moving through all of these regions.

But just choosing one particular point in which you can rest your attention.

Fully aware of the quality of the breath as it comes in.

Fully aware of the quality of the breath as it moves out.

The mind is likely to wander,

To move towards thinking,

Planning,

Reminiscing.

And as you notice that experience happening,

Just simply allowing yourself as you notice that movement away to come back to the breath.

Letting the breath be the point of return,

The point of coming home.

Coming back into the moment with the breath.

Not needing to control or force the breath in any particular way,

Just simply observing the experience of breathing.

Simply being present to each breath just as it is,

Meeting it in each moment.

Allowing yourself to return again and again.

Each time a wandering,

A movement away,

Maybe to thought or sensation in the body,

Just come back resting the attention on the breath.

Now,

Allowing the focus of attention to shift,

Moving the awareness of breath into the background and bringing now into the foreground of awareness,

The body.

So becoming aware of the entire body as a whole,

From the top of the head to the tips of the toes and aware of any sensations that are present in the body right now.

So becoming a curious observer of sensation,

Maybe noticing temperature,

Warmth,

Coolness,

Maybe noticing sensations of tingling,

Pulsating,

Tightness,

Relaxation.

Just observing the sensations in the body,

Letting your attention tune in to what's present in the body right now.

Noticing that sometimes as we begin to attend to the body and sensation,

We may notice tendency to want to judge or interpret a particular sensation and seeing if that happens,

If you can let go of that tendency and just allow yourself to be present to just the experience of the sensation as it is.

Seeing the quality or the depth or the subtle changes in the experience of the sensation as it's happening.

Very much in the same way we can observe the breath,

Observing just the quality,

The experience,

The moment to moment letting go of just being present.

Letting go of that need to do anything in particular to sensation,

Just being fully present to it as it's happening.

Seeing each experience of sensation as you tune into it with openness,

Kindness,

Curiosity.

Sometimes we might be pulled by particular sensations in the body as we attend to the body in this way.

These sensations that pull for our attention may feel difficult or challenging.

And if that begins to happen for you,

Seeing if you can still stay with the experience of the sensation,

It might be helpful to bring in the breath as you notice those sensations.

Seeing if you can just see and experience the direct unfolding of the sensation without the layer of judgment or letting go of the urge to want to do anything with it.

Seeing if you can just stay present knowing that you have choice in any moment,

Choosing with mindfulness,

With skill to do what's called for in each moment as you meet it.

Now shifting the focus of attention from sensations in the body,

Letting that fade into the background and bringing now into the foreground of awareness,

Sound.

So beginning to rest your attention in hearing.

So beginning to just take notice of sound.

Noticing sound as being close or far,

Above or below.

Maybe noticing that in beginning to attend to sound we have tendency to label,

To judge,

To interpret.

And in this practice,

Seeing if we can drop underneath that.

Just allow sound to come and go over the ears.

And in the same way we allow the breath to just come and go,

We can allow sound to come and go,

Noticing the quality experiences of sound as it increases in intensity or decreases,

As it changes in fluctuation or tempo.

Not letting go of the need to react,

Judge.

Just dropping in and hearing,

Allowing hearing to be the focus of attention moment to moment.

Maybe even allowing yourself to just let go of needing to interpret or understand my directions for the next few moments and just hearing even my voice as just sound coming and going.

Noticing sound ebb and flow.

If the mind wanders,

Attention drifts,

Just simply coming back,

Resting and hearing.

And now shifting the focus of attention,

Allowing sound now to fade into the background and bringing now into the foreground of awareness,

Thought or thinking.

So allowing the attention to rest in observing thought.

So noticing as you place your attention into the mind and into the thinking experience,

Particular thoughts may begin to arise about planning,

About future experiences or maybe even about past experiences or experiences of reminiscing.

And in this particular moment in practice,

Seeing if you can just observe thoughts,

Thinking as just thoughts and thinking,

Not needing to do anything with them,

Just simply observing the experience of thinking.

Sometimes it's helpful to invite in a bit of imagery to work with noticing thought as thought.

And so you might want to utilize the image of viewing thoughts as clouds in the sky.

That each cloud has a quality and intensity,

A depth to it.

But in this practice,

Our experience is to just notice the cloud,

Notice the thought just as it is and then let it pass.

Seeing the observer,

The watcher of thought.

You might notice that you get caught up in observing the thoughts,

That story has begun to take place and our practice is to just notice when that happens and let go,

Come back to just being aware,

It's just a thought.

Can I just stay present to observing my thinking as it's happening?

Seeing in the awareness of thought as just thought,

Very much in the same way we rest in the awareness of the breath,

Letting thinking come and go just as it is,

Fully aware,

Fully willing to be curious,

Non-judgmental in this moment of thinking.

Sometimes we might even notice that in observing thinking we begin to be pulled away by other experiences such as sensations or emotions and in this moment seeing if you can observe that if it happens and then let go,

Return the awareness to just resting on thought,

Observing thought.

Fully aware,

Returning to just thinking.

Sometimes in observing thinking we might have a bit of stillness that begins to happen and we notice no thought,

But noticing in no thought that's a thought and just being present to it,

Observing the activity,

The comings and goings of the mind.

And now shifting the focus of attention from thinking,

Allowing awareness of thinking to fade into the background and to bring now into the foreground of awareness,

The experience of emotion.

And so allowing yourself to just take notice when that word comes up,

What you begin to experience,

What you can tune into in the body.

Just tuning back into the body,

Scanning the body for any observation of an emotion that might be present,

Might be an experience of calm,

Ease,

Might be the possibility to notice concern or worry,

Frustration,

Anger,

Sadness,

Grief,

Might be joy,

Happiness,

Love.

And in this practice to attend to our experience of emotion in this moment,

Just noticing whatever may be making itself known to you.

If nothing is making itself known,

That's okay too.

Tuning into what that feels like,

What that experience is like in the moment.

And seeing if you can just become the observer of your emotions.

Again letting the emotion just come and go.

We tend to have judgments and interpretations about our experience of emotion and in this practice just seeing if you can observe the sensations,

The place in the body in which you experience emotion and just simply letting it be that for this moment.

Letting go of the interpretation or the meaning,

The judgment of the emotion.

Just drop in to the physical sensation experience,

Place in the body in which that feeling is being known right now.

And if as you attend to these feelings in this way becomes particularly difficult or intense,

You can choose to return to the breath or choose to invite the breath in as you attend to this feeling,

To this emotion.

Again our practice is not needing to do anything with it,

Just simply giving ourselves permission to be curious,

Open,

Aware,

Letting go of the judgment of needing to do anything with it but other than know it intimately in this moment just as it is.

Letting the experience of the emotion just come and go just as you would as you observe the breath.

Noticing the quality,

Intensity differences that occur as you just allow your attention to rest.

Just on the awareness of feelings.

And now letting go of the pointed awareness to feelings and emotions and letting that just fade into the background.

And bringing now into the foreground of awareness any point of focus you choose to so moving into choiceless awareness.

Just letting the attention fluidly and flexively explore tending to whatever arises.

So the breath makes itself known allowing yourself to experience that in the moment.

Sensation in the body becomes part of the awareness.

Staying with that and allowing yourself to just experience it as it is.

Sounds,

Thoughts come in,

Holding your attention with curiosity to whatever that experience is and if emotions come in.

Letting them come and go aware of their presence as well.

Letting now it is what's called for for you in this moment to move into choiceless awareness.

And if choiceless awareness isn't what's called for right now you can choose to just allow the attention to rest back on the breath.

Allowing yourself to see the comings and the goings of each moment.

Realizing when you become pulled towards or want to move away from an experience and seeing if you can let go of that.

Just be present to the experience as it is.

Hearing kindness,

Openness,

Welcoming to each experience as it's happening as you meet it.

And now moving from choiceless awareness.

Going back now to just allowing the breath to be the point of attention,

To be the point of focus.

And resting your full moment to moment experience in the breath.

Feeling the breath as it moves into the body and moves out.

Seeing if you can touch and know and experience each subtle movement of the inhale and of the exhale.

Feeling present to just this breath,

Just this moment.

Now allowing yourself to bring back into awareness the intention for practice.

Noticing and feeling right now what it's like to hold that intention in your awareness with the experience of the mind and the body and the heart right now.

Noticing what it's like to bring that into awareness as you are able to see your mind,

Able to feel the body and feel any emotions and what the effect or relationship to that intention is now.

Seeing if by attending to this intention right now you can feel an integrated awareness to the body,

To the mind,

To the heart.

And from that place offering yourself in this moment thanks,

Gratitude for being willing to practice,

For being willing to meet each moment,

Being willing to develop and enhance your curiosity,

Your openness to knowing yourself and knowing each moment.

Reviews

Amazing so calming ..... simple meditation at its best. Couldn’t believe it was 37 minutes, normally I find 20 minutes is the maximum I can accomplish but this meditation just took over. One of my favourites...... thank you so much x

Very very nice! Such a basic gentle meditation. Nothing rushed, calming instructions, nice quiet pauses...very centering for me. Saving this one! Thank you. ☮️💖🙏