Mindful Meditation For Beginners

New to meditation? This simple, 20-minute present moment awareness practice is the perfect starting point. Designed for beginners, it gently guides you back to the here and now - calming the mind, easing stress, and building a foundation for lasting inner peace.

Transcript

Welcome, Welcome to this 20-minute mindful meditation. I assure you right from the beginning that there is no way to do this incorrectly. We're simply going to be here now together. So I'd invite you to take a deep breath, Follow the breath in fully to the pause at the top and then follow it fully to the pause at the bottom. Just arrive and if you haven't already, Maybe lower your gaze or close your eyes completely and just be aware that you have a body and your body is here. So really ground yourself into your seat, Letting gravity take over, Noticing the weight, Really just allowing yourself to be pulled down and held, Safe and supported in this body anchored here with the breath. Notice any sounds you might be hearing or smells and even notice the sense of the air touching your face or your hands. Is it cool or warm? Just noticing, Trying not to judge any of the sounds or smells or temperature sensations, Just simply letting them be but noting them. I hear the birds, I hear a dog, I hear a siren. Trying hard to remain neutral, No judgment, Simply arriving to all that is now. As your mind wanders into regrets of yesterday or worries about later today or tomorrow or next year, See if you can just notice that your mind took you away from here and now. There's no need to panic or get mad or think you're doing it wrong. Just going to notice and the minute you notice, You're coming back to now. And this is where we want to be for this meditation. We just simply want to be here now. Mind and body in the same place anchored by the breath. Breathing in, I know I'm breathing in. Breathing out, I know I'm breathing out. That is our anchor. Notice what arrives with you when you simply just sit. We can learn so much about ourselves and our internal system simply by sitting and noticing. Whether it's the to-do list for the rest of the day that arises or ruminating over something you said yesterday or last month. These are all lessons for us to get to know ourselves just a little better. And when these things arise, I find it so helpful to simply say, Ah, There's the past. Oh, There's the future. That's planning. That's worrying. Just note it mentally and return to the breath. And if I have a particularly busy mind on any given day, I can use the breath. If my mind is wandering and clamoring for my attention, Sometimes just taking a really deep inhale and holding it at the top for a few seconds more than I would and really slowly following the exhale and letting it ground me into my seat. Doing that just a few times will bring me back here to body, To breath. Gently and intentionally letting go. Sometimes in our meditation, We'll notice bodily sensations that are painful or uncomfortable. Perhaps we haven't chosen a good position or perhaps we're dealing with some sort of pain. It's okay to note that too. Oh, Yes. My foot is falling asleep or my hip is feeling painful today. And if there's an adjustment to be made, Do it slowly and mindfully. But if it's a pain that we need to just be with, There's no getting away from it. Simply be with it. Oh, The hip hurts. But try to relax instead of tensing up to any pain or discomfort. Breathe through it. Maybe a deeper breath. And then return to the breath as the anchor to the here and now. And simply let the hip be the hip. Whether your mind is busy and active or whether you're simply completely present to the breath floating in and out, This meditation for you is perfect. This is how it is right now. Busy mind, Quiet mind, Aches and pains, Freedom from aches and pains. This is just how it is now. But trust it will not stay this way. So if you're having a deliciously joyful present moment awareness meditation, Just be with that because it will pass. And if your mind is incredibly busy yanking you all over the universe, Just be with that because that will pass too. If you can gently bring your mind here to the body, That's beautiful. But some days all we can do is continue catching the mind taking us away and returning again and again to the breath. And that's meditating. It's sometimes helpful to remember what interrupted you at the beginning of the meditation and to smile thinking of how far away that is now. The thing that popped up five minutes ago is no longer in your orbit. There's something else popping up. So we don't need to get attached to any of it. A thought, A feeling, A to-do list item pops up. We just smile and return to the breath knowing it's the nature of the mind to think. It's the nature of the mind to think. And this is a practice of being. And as we're coming to the last few minutes, Perhaps you can work with something that kept coming up during this meditation, A worry, A pain, A regret, A fear of something that may or may not ever happen. Maybe you can just offer yourself some compassion for how your system works. For some of us it drags us into the past and others into the future. Maybe you could offer yourself just 2% more self-compassion for whatever happened in this 20 minutes. Maybe it's compassion for showing up and staying present the whole time. Maybe it's compassion for showing up and not being here for more than a few seconds. But what would it take to just embody 1% more compassion for yourself? Would it take a deeper breath? Would it take a smile? Maybe your hands over your heart? But how can you be more compassionate with yourself in this moment? Remember, You can return to the breath, To the body, Anytime your mind starts yanking you around. It is a gift. Thank you for being here.