Welcome to session four,
Celebrating forgetting.
In this session,
We're gonna build on the technique that we learnt in the last three sessions.
This time we're gonna have a particular focus on celebrating the moment that you remember to meditate having forgotten the meditation object completely.
Forgetting to meditate and having your mind wander is a completely natural part of meditation.
It happens to all of us.
If we get frustrated and angry when this happens,
This is really gonna slow down our progress and make the practice much less enjoyable.
So this session we're really gonna try to enjoy and celebrate the moment that you've realised the mind has wandered.
And if you continue to do this,
It will vastly speed up your progress in meditation.
So with your eyes open,
Take a moment to get comfortable.
Sit with a relaxed but alert posture,
Keeping your back straight if possible.
Take a moment to check in with yourself,
See how your mind and your body both feel.
And then when you're ready,
Taking three deep in breaths through the nose and out through the mouth.
In and out.
In and out.
In and then gently closing your eyes on the out breath.
Start by feeling the weight of your body,
The feeling of heaviness in your legs,
In your chest,
In your arms,
Torso and head.
Just feeling the sensation of gravity pulling you down towards the ground.
Notice any sounds that might be present.
Allow the sounds to come to you rather than straining to hear anything in particular.
And then when you're ready,
Gently starting to focus your attention on the breath.
Again,
It doesn't matter where you focus your attention,
It could be your nose,
Your chest or your belly,
All are fine.
Like last week,
If it helps,
You can count the breaths or repeat the word calm to help to focus your attention on the breath more clearly.
If you're like most people,
Your mind has probably wandered at this stage.
And again,
The key here is to enjoy this moment.
Put a smile on your lips,
An imaginary smile in your mind.
Mentally congratulate yourself and pat yourself on the back for realizing that your mind has wandered.
And with a smiling and positive attitude of success,
Just gently return your attention back to the breath.
Again,
Really try not to be frustrated if your mind has wandered.
Really for most people,
The mind is incredibly busy and this is why it's important to learn to meditate.
So again,
Just forcing yourself into a smile on your mouth and in your mind.
Congratulate yourself mentally,
Pat yourself on the back.
Develop a positive feeling of success.
This is a successful moment,
Something that should be celebrated.
And then gently return your attention back to the breath.
It might be useful to think of every time that you forget to meditate and then remember to start meditating again as being similar to a mental pushup.
Every time that you forget and then remember to meditate,
You're building up your muscles of awareness in the mind.
The more and more that you do this whilst meditating,
The more and more you'll be able to do this in the outside world in your day-to-day lives.
And again,
The key really is to develop a positive,
Happy attitude whenever you forget and remember to start meditating again.
If you did the opposite,
If you get cross at yourself,
If you schooled yourself,
If you criticize yourself,
I can guarantee it will really slow down your progress and it will also make meditation a much less enjoyable experience.
So the more that you can ferment a positive,
Happy attitude in these moments,
The more success you're guaranteed to have in meditation.
And then just gently letting go of all effort entirely,
Allowing your mind to be free to do whatever it wants to do.
Notice any sounds or smells that might be present in the room.
Before you open your eyes,
Just take a moment to see how you feel,
Check in with yourself.
Do you feel the same or do you feel different to how you felt at the start of the session?
And then when you're ready,
Just gently opening your eyes.
And again,
Before you rush off,
Just take a moment to be satisfied and to congratulate yourself for taking the time to practice today.
Have a great day.
