This guided meditation,
Reframing Distraction,
Is from a Buddhist Recovery Circle workshop titled Deepening Meditation in Recovery.
The meditation asks us to consider distractions as sensory inputs from what the Buddha noted as our six senses,
Including the mind.
The question explored is this,
Are these sensory inputs outside of our mindful awareness intruding upon it,
Or are they a natural part of our experience in mindful awareness?
So take a moment to re-establish that meditation posture.
Feel yourself begin to root into your posture.
Sitting stably,
Find your breath.
Welcome your attention to your breath.
Greet it as an old friend.
Pay attention to the diaphragm.
Feel how that allows your breathing to deepen.
Gradually let a sense of mindfulness begin to develop.
Just simple awareness.
Be aware of any sounds that you hear.
Breathing of others.
Sounds when people may shift.
Consider what your body may be presenting to you.
Stiffness,
Soreness.
Maybe your knees hurt.
Have an itch.
Let your field of awareness,
Let your mindfulness encompass these.
They're not separate.
Who you are,
Where you are.
What you're trying to do.
Just part of it.
The sound of my voice.
Should mindfulness simply encompass that as part of your experience?
Consider the thoughts that come.
And remember they're just a sensory input.
You don't need to follow them.
You don't need to push them away.
Just like a sound you might hear.
Shift to the light that you might see.
Read it with mindfulness.
Not as something different,
Not as something to be accepted or welcomed in,
But something that just is part of your experience.
Mindfulness is a gentle thing.
Don't work too hard at it.
It's not so much something you need to create,
It's something that you can find.
I invite you to bring your mindfulness to your breath.
Remember the Buddha's instructions from meditation were so simple.
Breathing in,
I know that I'm breathing in.
Breathing out,
I know that I'm breathing out.
Breathing out,
I know that I'm breathing out.
And while awareness of the breath may be the structure,
The support,
The base of our meditation,
And our mindful awareness,
Everything else that is presented through your senses,
Including the mind,
Is not separate from that.
And if your mind wanders,
When your mind wanders,
And you know it,
Just return to the breath.
Without blame,
Without concern,
Just come back to the breath.
Open,
Inclusive awareness.
You can feel the sound of the air.
Sound of the airplane.
Distraction.
Or just part of our experience.
You can feel the sound of the air.
You can feel the sound of the air.
You can feel the sound of the air.
Breathing in.
Breathing out.
Open,
Accepting awareness.
You can feel the sound of the air.
