6 Cornerstones Of Daily Practice

A tutorial for beginners, which includes a guided meditation. 6 Simple steps how to structure your daily meditation practice.

Transcript

Hello,

This is Tomek from Synergy Lab,

Sydney.

Thank you very much for tuning in and joining me for this tutorial.

If you need to do something more than once,

Have a system for it.

This quote comes from the corporate world but applies very well to any daily meditation practice.

Meditation may seem as a mysterious activity,

But the reality of it resembles very much a gym workout.

It's a commitment,

It includes repetition,

And although may be hard at times,

There's no doubt it's good for you.

Meditation is an equivalent of gym for your brain.

It improves your cognitive fitness.

Utilizing the gym metaphor,

It's important to have a daily routine.

Choose time and place convenient for you and stick to it.

Frequent changes,

Particularly at the beginning,

Are not recommended.

How often should I meditate,

You may ask?

20 minutes,

Twice a day,

It's a solid start.

But if you have time for only one session per day,

It's better to do it in the morning.

Choose place that is quiet and with no distractions.

Your mind is full of them and adding more may be counterproductive.

Meditation practice also resembles a scientific experiment.

You start with a protocol.

The more detailed,

The better.

Then you take it to the lab and test it.

There are many successful experiments to learn from.

Books,

Scientific journals,

Teachers.

According to their experience,

We know what works,

What doesn't and how to avoid common pitfalls on the way.

Even with the best protocol,

There will be challenges,

But the ride is always smoother if you got a good map.

Besides,

Problems are opportunities in disguise.

You can learn from them.

Having a protocol for your meditation practice will save you a lot of time.

Rather than trying to remember what the next step is,

You may consider writing it down or printing out the procedure.

This way,

Every time you sit down to it,

You feel less anxious because you know exactly what the next step is.

It will also allow you to better focus your attention,

Knowing that everything is ready for your journey.

If you have chosen a suitable place and assigned the time for your practice,

Let us talk a bit about the preparation itself.

When I started facilitating meditation classes,

I thought about an easy way to help a new person to get started without getting lost in the details of the process.

As a scientist,

I've read and written many protocols,

Manuals and procedures,

And I know how important it is to choose a right one before starting an experiment.

Here's one I call Six Cornerstones of Daily Meditation.

Number one,

Affirmation.

Number two,

Intention.

Number three,

Position.

Number four,

Relaxation.

Number five,

Practice.

And number six,

Gratitude.

Let me take you through each of those cornerstones.

Affirmation is a simple verbal statement of how long you are planning to practice for.

Although it may seem trivial,

It's an important first step to establish a connection between your body and mind,

A verbal contract if you will.

The affirmation may be very simple.

I meditate now for 20 minutes.

It is important that you say it out loud in the present tense.

On the subconscious level,

This is a signal to your brain to start the preparation right away.

Intention A clear intention makes a huge difference to your practice.

If you embark upon a journey,

First you must choose a destination.

The road may take you to the places you didn't expect,

But without direction and purpose,

You will end up nowhere.

Intention can be simple.

I want to unwind,

I want peace of mind.

Or more profound,

I want to find purpose in my life.

There are no good or bad intentions.

There are only those that are meaningful to you,

Which you feel strong resonance with,

And those that means nothing.

Doesn't matter how profound they sound.

I suggest to choose the former.

Number 3 Position Comfortable position is an important aspect of the meditation session.

In an uncomfortable position,

You will get tired quickly and won't be able to focus on the mental process.

Remember,

Meditation is the training of your mind.

Find a position that you will be able to maintain during the entire meditation period.

Although some may argue,

I don't believe that the purpose of meditation is to fight physical discomfort.

Even in a perfectly comfortable position,

There are many challenges that we'll have to face.

If you are not sure how to start,

Begin sitting down in a comfortable chair.

Choose a position in which your feet are resting on the floor,

With hands on your laps,

Open,

Facing up or down.

Your back straight,

But not rigid.

To achieve that,

You may want to roll your shoulders back,

And then drop them.

In this position,

Your breathing should be easy,

Unrestricted.

Allow your eyes closed.

Number 3 Relaxation In a way,

Relaxation should be always one of the initial intentions of the practice.

Meditation is a mental activity and as such should take the body out of the picture.

I'm not saying that body is not important.

Mental body is manifestation of the consciousness.

Focusing on the mental process will benefit the body as well.

To relax your body,

You may take three deep breaths.

Inhale deeply through your nose,

As if you smell flowers.

Hold your breath for a moment,

And exhale through your mouth as if you're trying to blow a candle.

As you exhale,

You may release any tension and discomfort that may get in the way of the practice.

Let go of expectations,

And get ready for the unknown.

Number 5 Practice After all the hard work,

It's time to dive in and enjoy the benefits of the calm and quiet.

As you saw,

So shall you reap.

The more attention you pay to the preparation,

The more likely you will enjoy the experience.

Some may say that meditation is not always about enjoying yourself,

But I say misery is optional.

Set up the timer and dive in.

After you finish,

And the timer goes off,

Don't get up just yet.

Now it's time for a short reflection.

Number 6 Gratitude Gratitude is a step often forgotten after you just descended from the heavenly stillness.

There's a chance that you didn't enjoy the session.

Regardless of your perception,

Every session is beneficial.

The only bad meditation is the one you didn't do.

You may express your gratitude in many ways.

As an example,

Put one hand on your heart and say,

Thank you for the time I was given and the wisdom I received.

Now it's time to put into practice everything that you have learned so far.

I will guide you through all the six steps.

The only thing that you need to do is to simply follow my guidance.

Are you ready?

Let us begin.

Affirmation I meditate now for 10 minutes.

The stronger the affirmation,

The better the outcome.

Now to the intention.

Remember intention is the seed of the whole meditation process.

It doesn't matter how profound the intention sounds.

It is important what you feel right now.

So choose your intention now.

With your intention in mind,

You will not need to return to it during the meditation period.

You will simply store it in your subconscious.

Number three,

Position.

Start by taking a very comfortable position in your chair.

Resting your feet on the floor with your hands on your laps.

Open facing up or down.

The position should be upright with your back straight,

But not rigid,

Allowing unrestricted breathing.

If you're not sure if your back is straight,

Simply roll your shoulders back and then allow them to drop.

You may need to adjust your position during the practice.

However,

Doing it has to be gentle and slow.

Now to the relaxation.

Take a deep breath through your nose,

Hold it for just a moment and exhale through your mouth,

Allowing all the tension and all the stress to go away.

Take another deep breath through your nose,

Hold it again and release through your mouth,

Allowing everything that may get in the way of this practice to go.

And one more time,

In through your nose,

Hold it and out through your mouth.

Now you are ready to begin your practice.

If your eyes are still open,

Allow them to gently close.

Start paying attention to the room around you.

All the sounds,

The air movement,

Anything that you consciously detect around you.

Simply allow the sensations to come to you.

Your awareness is expanded.

Now narrow it down to only sensations within your physical body.

Perhaps you can detect tension in your shoulders.

Perhaps you can feel warmth of your hands.

Feel how your sit bones are touching the chair.

Using simple and gentle attention,

Scan your body for any remaining discomfort and simply acknowledge it and let it be this way.

Now narrow your attention even more to your breathing.

Observe how your breath enters your body through your nose,

Travels to your chest and belly and on the way out through your belly,

Chest and out through your nose or mouth.

You may notice the quality of your breath.

Perhaps your breath is shallow or deep,

Long or short.

You may also notice that not two breaths are the same.

There is no need to control your breathing.

Simply let it.

And now you may narrow your focus even more.

Observe your breath on your nostrils.

Observe the simple action of breathing through the sensation on your nostrils.

There are many nervous connections that being activated every time you breathe in or you breathe out.

As you breathe in and breathe out,

Simply observe the sensation at this small part of your body with curiosity.

It may take some time before you get used to observing your breath this way.

Remember,

It's time well spent and even during this first practice you will develop your skill of attention.

It's not important how long you can keep the attention on the object or on your breathing.

It's important how gently you can return to it.

How gently you can return to the simple sensation of your breath on your nostril.

So if you get lost in your thoughts or are distracted by a sound or a sensation in your body,

Simply collect your attention and bring it back to your breath observed as a sensation on your nostrils.

The longer you pay attention to your breathing,

You may notice how your breath slows down.

Now,

To conclude this meditation period,

You may start bringing attention again to your whole body.

The same as the last time,

You may start paying attention to all the sensations.

Observe how your sitting bones are touching the chair.

Observe how your feet are touching the floor.

Notice how your hands are resting on your laps.

And now again,

Expand your awareness even more.

Put the whole room where there are sounds,

Any air movement.

And now,

When you're ready,

You may slowly open your eyes.

Don't get up just yet.

There is the last point of the meditation practice,

Which is reflection.

Reflection in a form of gratitude.

You may put your right hand on your heart and give yourself thanks for this time you spend meditating and everything that you have received consciously and subconsciously.

You did very well.

This is the end of this meditation period.

Thank you very much for listening to this guided meditation.

I wish you a great day.

Reviews

Tomek, this was so very helpful. Knowing the steps and you guiding me through them was exactly what I needed in order to know how to meditate most effectively.

With gratitude and love,
S

Wonderful! Thank you so much for taking the time to go through this foundation in such a well explained way 🙏🏼❤️…this should be pinned as a “start here” step on insight timer platform 😍

Wonderful. I practice meditation a lot and I still find this guidance helpful. Thanks, Tomek 🙏🏻💞

Thank you 🙏 Tomek 💖
Your words are so valuable, I’ve been practicing for a long while, and didn’t remember I could be boosting my sessions to a higher (and more productive) level.
I have a bit of revamping to do which will enhance my meditation experience tremendously.
Thank you again! 💕🤗

Sometimes returning to the foundation of our practice reminds us of how far we have wandered from home.
Thank you, Tomek.

Always just what I need. Such calm and peace . Much gratitude. 🙏

Excellent cornerstones, even if you're not brand new, but maybe floundering or bouncing around a bit in various Insight Timer tracks. This sets a simple path

Very nice explanation and some good reminders of creating a daily practice to honor your self

Namaste 🙏🏼

Tomek’s calm and soothing voice is a wonder. This is a fantastic tutorial to help create a lovely, reliable structure for developing a meditation practice. Thank you, Tomek. 🙏🏼

Very nice! It’s always great to get a refresher and this was perfect. I recommend it for all new meditators. Thanks 🙏

You are my favorite person to meditate with! I was so happy to see you back. You always give me so much joy and I feel so much better after one of your meditations. Thank you so very much. I appreciate you. 🙏🏻💕

Love the clear and simple instructions that make accessing meditation available. Thanks

I always find your meditations refreshing and informative.Thank you.

Thankyiu so much, the simplicity and wisdom of this practice is a great refresher and helps ground the practice and my thoughts towards it.

Although I’m not new to meditation, it still gave me a lot of insight. Thank you Tomek

Easy to understand basics of meditation. I really enjoy Tomek.

You don't have to be a beginner to find this guidance helpful. It is a good reminder. Thank you 🙏

Thank you. This was a helpful reminder particularly the gentle return and gratitude at end of practice. Blessings to you.

You are amazing! I have neglected my practice throughout this year. I realize now how much I need and miss it Thank you, Tomek, for your wise words and soothing voice. I am Always grateful to you. 🙏🏼

What a wonderful training. I deeply enjoyed this guided meditation. Thank you! <3