Give Yourself The Gift Of Meditation

We owe ourselves the gift of meditation. Here is an encouragement to take up the practice in a way that allows it to become part of your day rather than an add-on that sits in a compartment of its own. Allow 5 or 10 minutes a day to change your life. Background music is “Release Your Mind - Relaxing Meditational and Spiritual Music” by Jordan Jessop via Pond 5

Transcript

Dear friends,

Welcome to this reflection entitled Give Yourself the Gift of Meditation.

I hope you get benefit from it.

I invite you to spend the next few minutes in quiet calm.

Let's begin by making sure you are in a comfortable position.

Find a corner that you can make your own.

Set yourself down there,

Maybe close your eyes,

Relax,

Let go and come into this never to be repeated present moment.

In this never to be repeated day,

In a never to be repeated week.

Allow yourself off the treadmill,

Finally deciding to pause and relax.

Let's be grateful for our amazing existence in the here and the now.

Let's be thankful for the air that we breathe as we notice our breath,

Our breathing in,

Our breathing out and for these few moments allow ourselves to just be,

To simply be here and now.

Let's pause for one minute of stillness.

Let's be grateful for our amazing existence in the here and the now.

Welcome back.

Your invitation today is to give yourself the gift of meditation,

To which your first response might be,

But I don't have time to meditate and of course you don't and I don't.

That is if you look upon meditation as separate from everyday life,

Sitting for an hour in the morning and an hour in the evening.

That would be wonderful but how many of us could do it?

So instead what I'm going to suggest to you is so easy that you simply cannot afford not to do this.

It takes just five or ten minutes in the morning,

That's it,

Just the same time as it takes you to have a double quick shower or the time it takes for the brushing of your teeth.

I was introduced to mindfulness through reading a book by John Kabat-Zinn,

Mindfulness Meditations for Everyday Life,

That was about 25 years ago.

John defined mindfulness in this way.

He said,

Mindfulness is awareness that arises through paying attention on purpose in the present moment non-judgmentally.

Now we need to take that one slowly.

Mindfulness is awareness that arises through paying attention on purpose in the present moment non-judgmentally,

To which we need to add the words so that we can respond with kindness.

I mean being mindful is one thing but to be any use to humanity we have to direct it to a purpose,

To a good purpose.

So what I'm suggesting to you is that each morning you stop just for five or ten minutes.

To do what?

Well first of all to do nothing,

That is very important.

It's so important to take time to stop and just be.

When did any of us last do that?

When do we ever stop and just be?

So first of all we stop.

Next we need to generate a feeling of gratitude for the fact that we have woken up to the gift of a new day.

Chesterton says something about going to bed at night and getting up in the morning.

He says this,

Here dies another day during which I have had eyes,

Ears,

Hands and the great world around me.

And with tomorrow begins another day.

Why am I allowed to?

Why am I allowed to?

This is a reminder that in the morning we really should first of all express gratitude for the fact that we have woken up to this brand new day.

A unique day full of possibility.

And secondly we set our purpose for the day.

Not so much a to do list,

We have enough of those,

Too many.

More a to be list.

For instance,

Maybe today I can try to be more patient,

More positive.

Or for today I will aim to be more kind to the people I meet.

Or today I will watch out for an opportunity to do something good.

Today I will look out for the chance to perform some act of unexpected generosity.

A generous act for no reason and with no expectation of a reward.

This five or ten minutes in the morning is an opportunity to set our motivation for the day.

Now you might ask will this help and how will it help?

It will help and the reason is very simple.

If we fly into the day unprepared we will be like a boxer jumping into a ring without knowing whether he or she will confront a boxer or a wrestler or a full on martial arts opponent.

At the very first encounter we will find ourselves taken by surprise,

Unsteady on our feet and knocked down.

A bad start,

We don't want that.

Another example would be from the game of football.

Imagine soccer players running out onto the pitch and only then realising that the game they are expected to play is not soccer at all but rugby or Gaelic or American football and they believing that the rules of soccer applied,

In other words taken by surprise and unprepared onto a loser from the start.

We don't want that.

None of us ever know for certain what challenges any particular new day will bring but we can be sure of one thing,

That each day will bring challenges of its own.

But by stopping and reflecting at the start of the day we can focus our minds so that at least the very first problem we encounter will not leave us flattened on the floor.

Now this morning practice is not a magic bullet or a vaccination jab although we can hope that it might be effective maybe 75% of the time.

It doesn't guarantee that a series of surprises in quick succession will not knock us out but at least we'll begin with a better chance and we are more likely to be able to bounce up again if we can remember to recover our equilibrium by becoming aware of our breath.

Practice of the breath always brings us into the present moment without fail.

There is much wisdom in the old saying take a deep breath and count to ten and these tips apply to a domestic situation as well as our work.

Let's pause for one minute to think about how we might better manage tomorrow in the light of today's meditation.

What approach will we bring to tomorrow now that we have been reminded to prepare for it more mindfully?

What is the basic attitude that we will bring with us as we start our new day tomorrow?

Just 60 seconds for reflection.

Welcome back.

I hope this meditation will encourage you to see mindfulness as something that is easily incorporated into your day.

Meditation is not an add-on any more than our breathing is an add-on.

It's not something extra that has to be squeezed into an already full schedule.

Yes it does require a few minutes settling down at the start of each day but that is just like setting the GPS before you go for a drive.

A basic necessity.

Having set your GPS you then make the journey through the day with the direction fixed.

The route is not fixed in stone but at least the direction is set.

We can mindfully brush our teeth.

Notice the immediate comfort resulting when you brush your teeth.

Notice how fresh your mouth feels.

You can mindfully take a shower noticing the gift of the water on tap heated to your desired temperature.

Mindfully make a phone call,

Talk to and even see a loved one across the world.

Pure magic.

We enjoy benefits that wouldn't have been enjoyed by royalty in years gone by.

We have all so much to be grateful for.

I hope you have seen from this meditation that you can live a mindful life without having to find an hour in the morning and an hour at night.

Now that's not denying the benefits and the enjoyment experienced by people who can manage those settings.

The point is mindfulness is not an add-on.

Mindfulness is an approach that can be the framework for all our day-to-day activities.

Mindfulness is not sitting all alone in a separate compartment and in support of that idea I will leave you now with a quote from the book and the man who introduced me to the wonderful gift of mindfulness.

This is from Jon Kabat-Zinn in his book Wherever You Go There You Are Mindfulness Meditation in Everyday Life.

Jon says you might be tempted to avoid the messiness of daily living for the tranquility of stillness and peacefulness.

This of course will be an attachment to stillness and like any strong attachment it leads to delusion.

It arrests development and short circuits the cultivation of wisdom.

Words from Jon Kabat-Zinn.

So the message of this meditation,

Please give yourself the gift of meditation through sitting for five or ten minutes each morning.

May this simple morning practice encourage you to bring mindfulness into your daily life.

May it bring you happiness and enable you to radiate boundless love towards the entire world.

Namaste.

Reviews

I’m great blessed humble using my platform for greatness 🙏

Thank you for your kindness and compassion with gratitude

Following your work for years but unaware that your introduction to mindfulness was similar to mine: through Dr. Kabat-Zinn! When I got to know his work I was immediately drawn to a mindfull lifestyle because it was recommended by spiritual leaders AND scientists-physicians. This was so rare that I had to try it. Is always great to review the benefits of our choice to seek awareness. I congratulate you and all those who continue to make daily efforts to live in the present moment. By being mindfull you all are living instead of surviving.

Boundless love and appreciation sent to you for your always inspirational thoughts and meditations. Namaste 🤓🙏🏻

Beautiful words of wisdom. I can’t start my day without meditating. I am thankful for IT and amazing teachers like Tony. Thank you. 🙏🙏

Such a beautiful start to my morning. Thank you so much

Your words and voice emit such purity. Thank you for grounding us with your wisdom and love.

Thank You Tony, that was beautiful. Your voice calms me so. 💞

Meditation and Mindfulness do work. Go raibh maith agat Tony for this meditation and gentle music that helped so much this morning.
Being a New Zealand All Blacks fan, I enjoyed the reference to Rugby.
A blessed and safe day to you. ✨🏈✨🙏🏽✨

As always inspiring ! Loved the metaphor of the GPS to set our course for the day with purpose

Good information ✌️

Beautiful. Thank you ♥️

Meditation is an act of self-love for me; allowing me to show love to others. It grounds me in the morning and relaxes me at night. Haven’t missed a day in 3 plus years and grateful for your guidance over this time, Tony 🙏🏻

Thanks Tony, i love your voice and Meditation Guiding

So grateful for these words of wisdom beautifully and calmly spoken . . Thank you Tony 🕊🙏💜🌻🌈

A lovely gentle reminder of how daily meditation helps us be prepared and be present in our daily lives.
Thank you Tony🙏

Another great one, Tony!

Hi Tony, I’m new to your meditations. You always put a smile of contentment on my face, and leave me with important reminders, insights, encouragement, and relevant quotes. I’m attending your next Live Event. I’m so grateful for that. Thank you. 🙏🏼

Beautiful gift isn’t it Tony.
I’m so grateful I have this precious gift.
🙏🏽🐾🦋🪶🌸💐🌷🪴🪷

I’m glad you shared Jon Kabat-Zinn’s definition of mindfulness at the beginning. Namaste. 🌸🌺