No-Resistance Meditation

To understand reactivity you must first see how you resist the way things are. This practice brings that resistance into focus so you can let go effortlessly.

Transcript

Hello and welcome back to your daily meds.

Today we are going to do a no resistance meditation.

So make yourself comfortable,

Take a deep breath and exhale.

As you breathe,

Learn to breathe without resistance.

Let it come naturally.

Let it go naturally.

Just pay attention to those moments of pause as the in-breath and out-breath are exchanged.

It's a moment of stillness,

Of absolutely no give or take,

No resistance.

And then let the breath come back in.

Let it go back out,

All of its own accord.

No need to interfere.

You can let it happen and you can watch.

And that watching binds your attention to the breath and gives you an anchor.

And the purpose of that anchor is to have a place to come back to when your mind wanders off,

When you're distracted by a physical sensation or an emotion or a thought,

A memory,

A dream,

A noise.

Any distraction at all.

Sooner or later you'll realize that you've been distracted and your immediate thought is to go back to the breath.

That's your anchor.

As you let go of the tension,

Let the in-breath bring your attention into the body,

Inward pointing.

You're going to look around in your body and in your mind to see what's there.

And this can be a tricky thing to do because both the body and the mind have a way of distracting us.

So the key to meditation is to have a point of reference and stick to it.

And that's what the breath is for.

It's ideal.

It's always there.

It will always bring you inwards,

Now,

In the present moment.

So just make it a habit of going inwards with the breath.

Breathing,

Feeling the breath fill your body.

And feel your body expanding and contracting,

Enjoying it or maybe resisting it.

Be honest about how you feel in your body,

If you're comfortable or not.

In fact,

Scan through your body,

Starting with the toes,

And identify any little areas or big areas of stress,

Tension.

Holding yourself rigidly or taking on an unnatural posture.

You'd be surprised what you find when you look for it.

And these little physical signs mirror some sort of signs of stress in the rest of our life,

Or memories of stress,

Fears,

Anxieties.

Some of them are reactions to things which are actually going on in your life right now.

Some of them are just habits.

So the first thing is to see which is which.

And you do that not by analyzing or trying to work it out or come up with any solution.

Do it by watching your breath,

Identifying those tensions in your body,

And gradually letting them go.

Don't get complicated about it.

You will understand where they come from.

In time,

There's no hurry.

The important thing is to cultivate the habit of being watchful.

Looking at your body and feeling it from the inside.

It can be a pleasure.

It can be very relaxing.

It can be a little stressful.

If you're not in the mood,

Sometimes your body resists.

Even more complicated is when your mind resists because it's so clever at pulling you away.

But now we let those resistances go.

So we let those feelings and thoughts do what they want.

And we stay focused on the breath.

Stay with the breath.

Some of those stresses you can let go of and some of them seem to be more persistent,

Harder to relax.

You don't know quite how to relax out of them.

So don't struggle with that.

Let it go.

And if that's how you feel,

That's how you feel.

Keep going.

Keep scanning.

What else is there in your body for you to find out?

And what else in your mind?

How are you feeling right now?

Good,

Bad,

Indifferent,

Happy,

Sad,

Joyful,

Depressed,

Excited,

Relaxed?

How are you feeling?

Don't resist any feeling,

Whether it's positive or negative.

Meditation is not some way that you're supposed to be.

Meditation is sitting and accepting everything that passes in front of your eyes,

Your mind,

All your senses,

All your body,

All your consciousness.

No resistance.

You remain wide open.

Your attention is wide open.

So you're not passive.

You're watching closely.

But you're not resisting.

You're not getting caught up in that tempting little habit of resisting pain or of following a thread of thought or coming up with some entertaining imagination.

Something which makes you look really good or feel very special or that you might be loved or appreciated or needed or perhaps reviled and hated.

Whatever you feel.

Frustrated,

Anxious,

Depressed,

Embarrassed.

Whatever you feel,

Name it,

Say it to yourself.

So that the next time you feel it,

You'll see it again and you'll recognize the patterns of your mind.

Your mind,

Nobody else's.

This is the real thing.

It's not a theory.

By learning to understand your mind and how it works,

You have a much greater say in your life.

You can't control it,

But you can certainly stop resisting and you can stop putting up blockages to your own happiness or exaggerating your pain by complicating it with questions about whether it was deserved or not.

Whatever appears in your body and your feelings and your thoughts,

There's no need to resist.

You can see it clearly.

In fact,

To see it most clearly of all is to have no resistance,

No defensiveness,

No embarrassment or shame,

No expectation or entitlement.

Simply watching.

Here you are,

A human being,

Sitting still,

Breathing,

Watching,

Being alive.

These breaths that you take are yours and nobody else's.

There are only a certain number in your life.

You are using them up like currency.

To spend these few minutes each day is one of the best investments you can make in your life.

Because when you understand yourself,

You understand everything.

Silence.

And remember,

The art of no resistance is not resisting the facts of life.

It means accepting what is,

So that you'll recognize what's worth sticking up for.

As a result,

Your mind becomes deep and clear.

And that's all for today.

We'll see you next time.

Reviews

Thanks for sharing I now see clearly,feeling sad and watching me feeling sad and being the observer made something move! I had a huge smile on my face, it finally clicked. Reactionary no more, I feel in awe that I can truely be in control and just breath and observe whatever obstacle comes my way. For the first time in my life I can actually say I’ve finally learnt to make the changes necessary to live a peaceful life!! I feel wonderful 😊🤩🙏

Clearly explained, warmly encouraging. 💖 Thank you!

You make it so simple and clear - it is a pleasure to follow you. Thank you!

To the point, thank you

My favorite. I get something new every time l listen. 🥰

Very helpful. Thank you.

This talk/meditation gives me a deeper understanding of everything over and over. I love it, thank you.

Exactly to the point! thank you Stephen!😊🙏

Very grounding, thank you so much.

Experiencing all kinds of emotions as I sit with this meditation and letting them pass through me. Emotions do not define who I am but are just passing through and I am able to let go with my breath! And for that I am grateful this morning! Namaste❤️

Again, Stephen's clips are more discussion and analysis than meditation. Insightful. Thanks.

Your meditations have a unique flow and feel to them. Keep up the fine work Stephen

Just what I needed today. Great reminders. Would like silence at the end though... going to add own quiet meditation for a few minutes.

Good ideas. Tank you.

A clear mind...the ultimate goal...thank you.

Bookmarked. Love it ❤

Excellent, I really enjoyed this. Nice pace, great message

Very helpful guidance into a deeper awareness. Thank you.

Exactly what I needed today. Thank you.

"When you understand yourself, you understand everything." --so simple, so true.