Sitting Meditation for MBSR

This is a sitting meditation practice for the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction program from Present Moment Mindfulness. This practice continues exercising your natural capacity to notice as you’ve done with the body scan, lying down, and standing mindful movement. It also introduces the practice of Choiceless or Open Awareness meditation.

This recording is best used as part of an MBSR program, and is intended for beginning meditators. There is several minutes of introductory material, and a significant amount of verbal guidance.

Transcript

This is a guided sitting meditation practice for the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction program from Present Moment Mindfulness.

You may also use this guidance as part of your own exploration of mindfulness and what it's like to receive a wider range of experiences,

Perhaps more deeply,

In the environment of each moment.

A regular,

Formal contemplative practice can help to exercise your natural capacity to notice,

Attend to,

And develop a friendly relationship with simply being here.

This attending to experience,

Setting aside preconceived notions or value judgments as they normally arise,

Fosters the creative engagement of being present with intention and awareness,

Widening the field of possibilities which might otherwise not be noticed.

Sitting meditation can be quite active mentally and emotionally,

As the mind is trained and stretched in ways that may be unfamiliar or even sometimes uncomfortable.

You're exercising the capacity to respond during the challenges of daily living,

Rather than reacting out of habit patterns,

Likes,

Aversions,

Emotions,

Or trains of thought.

Take care of yourself during this guided meditation.

Choose a location where you can be undisturbed during your time with sitting meditation,

And if you get the support of others,

To let you focus on this practice.

It should be a place you feel as safe as you can be,

And able to devote yourself to the meditation.

It can be helpful to wear comfortable clothing that enables and supports unrestricted movement and breathing,

With enough space to invite a sense of openness to the practice.

This recording has a combination of verbal guidance and stretches of silence.

Use that quiet time to lean in closely to what the guidance has suggested,

Experiencing what's happening for you moment by moment,

And during the guidance,

Do your best to simply receive what's being said as just another dimension of your experience,

Not having to intellectually analyze the words and allow them to be softly listened to.

As various small,

Unwanted sensations arise,

Like itches or soreness,

Experiment with simply receiving them,

Maybe even taking a closer sensory look at them with curiosity.

Rather than mindlessly scratching the itch or moving when some stiffness begins,

What would it be like to sit with the feeling,

Even for just a little bit?

This may be an opportunity for learning what reactivity is like,

And allowing yourself to choose what you do.

A light touch may be helpful.

You are the only person who can discern whether a sensation is too much,

And is best tended to with some mindful movement.

Give yourself permission and accept that permission to do just the practice,

With nowhere else to go,

And for this little bit of time,

Nothing else you need to do.

Thoughts and other enticements may catch the attention,

And when you notice the mind has wandered,

There's no need to give yourself a hard time about it.

This noticing is a moment of wakeful presence.

It's part of what's being practiced.

Just gently and firmly escort attention back to the here and now,

And re-establish presence as best you can.

You're welcome to sit in a chair or on the floor on a cushion if you like.

Rather than having to match an ideal of what the perfect meditation posture should be,

What may be more helpful is to find a position that suits your body as it is right now.

Whether on a chair or cushion on the floor,

Your position should be one that finds a balanced blend of comfort and wakefulness.

Not so comfortable that sleep becomes intrusive,

And not so astringent that discomfort or pain becomes a hindrance.

If you're in a chair,

You may want to sit a bit closer to the front,

Relying less on the backrest to hold you up and more on your own attentiveness.

It may help to imagine a string coming out of the top of your head and encouraging you to be upright,

Awake,

And dignified.

The feet can be placed flat on the floor before you,

Legs uncrossed,

And hands settled on the legs or lap,

Whatever seems right for you.

Eyes may be closed or open with a soft gaze a few feet in front of you.

Likewise,

If you're on a cushion on the floor,

You can sit on a cushion between the feet with the knees folded together in front,

Perhaps with the cushion on its edge for a little more support.

Or sit on the flat cushion with the legs crossed in whatever way suits your body's needs,

Perhaps with the hips slightly higher than the knees on either side,

Supportively connected to the floor.

Experiment with what works best for you,

And adjust as you need to.

If particularly strong or difficult thoughts and emotions come up,

You can put attention to a helpful home base.

Lean into the sensation of breathing where you feel at most on the body,

Or another physical location you can settle the attentional spotlight until you're comfortable enough to bring attention back to what's happening right now.

This recording is just a guide,

And your experiences that come alive from this framework are entirely unique to you.

Connect to what that may be by inviting a playful curiosity and kindness.

Take a few moments now to get your physical space arranged for practice,

And give yourself the gift of attending to experience.

You can pause the recording now if you need a few moments of preparation and adjustment of your surroundings.

Begin with establishing a gentle intention to allow yourself to be here with the practice,

Even if incentives arise to mind-wander or stop.

Or perhaps you have another intention that you can take this opportunity to revisit and connect to once more.

Take a few moments to warm up attention by turning awareness to the overall position of the body,

Noticing how the feet and legs are held,

The hands and arms,

The posture,

The angle of the head.

Receive awareness of the body as one continuous form,

Just sitting,

Not doing anything,

And simply being.

Invite curiosity by silently asking,

What's the body like right now?

Perhaps noticing the subtle movements of breathing,

A gentle awareness of breathing in,

And then continuing that awareness as breath is released.

As best you can,

Experience the sensations of this process,

Allowing thinking about breathing to fade,

Open to a felt sense of taking in air,

Reaching fullness,

And letting go.

Notice that breathing doesn't need to be shaped or controlled.

It happens all on its own as you let go and become more awake to the experience.

As that becomes more familiar,

You can turn up alertness,

Your receptivity to the breath,

By inviting curiosity once more.

What's it like to follow from the very beginning of the in-breath,

The duration,

As it reaches fullness,

To the pause,

Initial release,

Exhaling,

And emptying before that pause and the cycle starts again?

Refining awareness a little bit more,

Narrowing it to an attentional spotlight.

Bring that close attention to a place on the body where you feel the breath the most vividly.

It may be the belly,

The chest,

The back,

Or perhaps the coolness and then warmth by the nostrils with each in- and out-breath.

Wherever it may be for you,

Let that clarity of sensation draw the attention,

Bringing it to bear on that spot,

Lighting it up with your awareness.

And if it's a bit difficult to feel the breath,

You can place a hand on the belly to make that movement more obvious and connect with it more directly.

It may be helpful to experiment with a mental noting of each breath with a silent word or two,

Just to help establish a close connection with the experience.

You may silently say to yourself,

Breathing out,

As air is released,

And then attend to the sensation of the in-breath,

And mentally note,

Breathing out once more as you exhale.

Attention should stay with the process of breathing with the silent words,

Just a light touch in the background of awareness,

Perhaps only used for a few breaths to warm up attention.

Becoming acquainted with what breathing is like right now,

And then the mental noting may be set aside.

The intention is to attend to experience,

Rather than practice an internal dialogue,

So allow the words to drop away when some stability of awareness is established.

You may notice that attention is sometimes drawn away from experiencing breathing.

Maybe an itch,

An ache,

Or a more pleasant sensation catches the mind.

It may be another sense input like a sound,

Or perhaps a thought arises to pull the mind into rumination about past and future,

And away from experiencing right now.

Getting sidetracked like this is normal.

The environment around you and within you doesn't go away during practice,

And can often provide objects that pull attention away.

When you recognize this has happened,

It's a moment of mindful awareness.

This is the practice,

Waking up to what's happening.

No need to give yourself a hard time about it,

Adding more distance from experience.

Just bring attention back to the guidance or the silence.

That is the exercising of your natural capacity to be mindfully present as you check into breathing,

Follow it all the way in,

All the way out,

Knowing the breath as intimately as you can.

As you have moments of noticing mind has wandered,

Just bring attention back to breathing in and breathing out,

Each time receiving the opportunity to refresh awareness.

Breathing as a way to connect with present moment experience.

Turning attention to the breath and keeping it there,

A process of aiming and sustaining as best you can.

Noticing the pause between taking in air and letting it out,

And before starting the next in-breath.

Breath is a constant companion in life,

Present with us even if we're not being present with it.

What's it like to inhabit the process of breathing with care and gentle attention?

Now,

Expanding the attentional spotlight from being focused on one narrow place on the body,

Grow the shape of awareness to include the entire body,

Filling it from the inside out so the full length of the sitting body is held with gentle attention.

What is here to be noticed as the whole body breathes in and breathes out?

Is there a sense of ebb and flow,

Expansion and release,

Of tension or softness?

Simply receiving whatever the experience is as openly as you can.

You may encounter the arising of different experiences,

Both those that might be pleasant or wanted,

As well as those that are unpleasant or unwanted.

Whether expected or surprising,

These offer a rich opportunity for closer engagement.

Just noticing whatever it is,

Whether a physical sensation,

An emotional feeling,

Or recurring thoughts,

Is mindfulness in action.

Know that whatever comes up,

You have choices.

You're in charge of what happens next.

Taking a mindful pause fosters that space between stimulus and response,

Creating more options that might otherwise be available to you.

Whether the experiences coming up are physical,

Emotional,

Or based in the mind,

Invite some curiosity along with silent questions,

Perhaps not even verbalized,

To yourself.

What is this?

What's it feel like in the body,

In the heart,

In the head?

If there's discomfort,

Might it be something you can explore a little,

Even just at the edges?

What is it really like as you look,

Feel,

And listen more closely?

Not having to punish yourself if the discomfort is particularly strong,

Still take care to return attention to a neutral or even pleasant home base like the breath or other sensory experience if a sense of overwhelm arises.

And once you've established a bit of stability,

Some inner balance,

Return to the guidance and notice if the experience comes up again,

And what it might be like in this different and unique moment.

Allow yourself a little exploration of the experience,

Again with care,

Noticing if it changes over a few moments.

Are there other experiences happening right now too,

Like the breath?

What's happening in other parts of the body?

You can shift attention,

Exercising your innate ability to direct it back and forth if difficulties arise.

Checking in again,

Sensing into the shape of this body,

Breathing in,

Breathing out.

It may be that if aches join your meditation practice,

Notice what they're like,

Their texture,

Their strength.

If they change over the course of a few breaths,

Notice if desires to power through them or flee from them arise,

And explore that too.

There's no need to cause yourself excessive discomfort,

And you're welcome to shift position if the sensation becomes too much.

Notice what it feels like just before you move,

During the movement,

And after.

What comes out of that process too?

And then returning,

Just now,

Sitting with the full length of the body,

Heart,

And mind,

Bathed in soft awareness.

Shifting attention to inhabit the experience of hearing,

Knowing that there may be no sounds present in between the spoken words of guidance,

Inviting the attentiveness of listening closely,

Even in silence,

Becoming familiar with what that leaning into hearing is like,

While continuing to breathe.

It may be that sounds are present during your practice,

And like other phenomenon,

May be those you want to hear,

And some you don't.

When you hear something,

Does the mind cling to it,

Perhaps starting a cascade of analysis and thinking?

Perhaps there is a physical reaction,

A sudden leap in the chest if the sound is perceived as startling.

Or maybe it's just a sound being judged as a distraction,

As its presence continues to draw attention away from the silence,

From the breath,

From just being aware of the body moment by moment.

Just receive these sounds as just sounds,

Merely part of the environment right now,

Arising and fading.

Or if persistent sounds occur,

Allowing yourself to take them in with some lightness,

Releasing judgment of them as distracting or annoying,

And focus on listening closely to what they're like,

Their qualities and contours,

Asking where does distraction live within this sound?

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Mind-wandering,

Discomfort,

Having sounds or sensations draw attention away and perhaps prompt irritation,

Impatience,

Or other reactions is part of the experience of practice.

It's normal to have these feelings come up.

But even when they do,

That's the opportunity in that moment to release,

Not having to get caught up in inner criticism or aversion to experience,

And just inhabit as fully as you can the body,

The breath,

Or whatever the attention might find as a home base.

Invite curiosity.

Investigate what these challenges are like,

Knowing that you can do the heavy lifting of thinking about them later,

And return to simply experiencing.

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Shifting once more from hearing,

Or if you've settled into the fullness of the body or process of breathing,

And allow attention to include the arising of emotions and thoughts,

Perhaps energizing curiosity with a silent question or just an internal sense of listening.

How am I feeling?

Or what's thinking like right now?

Not having to reach for an answer or get caught up in thinking,

But just allowing whatever might echo back,

Receiving what comes to you when you offer the silent internal question,

Still here,

Still breathing,

Open in each moment to what comes back,

Attracted to your light curiosity.

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As emotions or thoughts become known,

As you've done with sounds or aches or other feelings,

Notice them.

What are they like?

Are they fast,

Energetic,

Strong,

Heavy,

Mild,

Gentle?

Perhaps noticing them when they first touch awareness as you sit,

Stable and dignified in the body,

Breathing,

Receiving the thoughts and emotions just as they are,

Neither having to push them away nor avoid them.

What happens after a few moments?

Does the feeling shift?

Does the thought remain unchanged?

Or might it move on,

Only to be replaced by a new,

Slightly different thought?

Notice the size,

The shape,

The richness of each emotion and thought,

And how you respond to them.

Are they wanted or unwanted?

Might there be some analysis or judgment that could be loosened or even released,

Even for a few moments?

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What would it be like to have those measures and scales and markers of performance fade as the intention to not do anything but just be here is reestablished?

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Reviews

Lovely exploration of what is happening right here, right now.

A classic MBSR meditation practice! Enjoyed the time and pace. Thanks