Welcome to session five,
Stop trying so hard.
In this session,
We're again gonna build on the technique we learned in the previous sessions.
However,
This time,
There's gonna be a focus on not trying too hard.
We have a tendency in life to try hard at most things that we do.
Meditation is one where,
Perversely,
Less effort can often yield superior results.
So beginning with your eyes open,
Get comfortable,
Sitting with a relaxed but alert posture,
Keeping the spine straight.
Take a moment to check in with yourself.
See how your mind feels,
See how your body feels.
And then taking three deep in breaths through the nose and out through the mouth.
In and out,
In and out,
In and out,
In and out,
In and out.
And then just gently closing your eyes on the out breath.
Start by feeling the sensations related to sitting,
The heaviness of your legs,
Your arms,
Your torso,
And your head.
Feeling gravity pulling you down towards the ground.
Then start to notice any sounds that might be present at the moment.
Again here,
Not really putting any effort into hearing at all.
You might notice that if you try and hear nothing,
Hearing still happens.
It's something that happens all by itself.
And then when you're ready,
Gently start to focus your attention on the breath,
Either at the nose,
The chest,
Or at the belly.
Again,
If it helps your concentration,
You can count the breaths or repeat the words calm.
When we are trying to meditate,
Often you can feel as if you're straining to follow the breath or that you're forcing the breath to happen.
And instead ask you to try and reduce your effort levels by 25%.
Again,
Reduce your effort levels by 25%.
Just relaxing into the session,
Allowing a breath to rise and to fall all by itself.
Again,
Don't be frustrated if the mind has wandered.
Just remembering to put a smile on your mouth and in your mind,
Celebrating the successful moment and just gently returning your attention back to the breath.
Again,
Just lowering your effort levels by a further 25%.
In meditation,
We're not really doing anything at all.
Breathing happens all by itself.
We don't need to force the breath or try and make the breath behave in a particular way.
We just need to observe the breath happening all by itself and so it pays to remain relaxed,
Not to strain yourself and to not put in too much effort.
A good way of remaining relaxed is to check in with the muscles in the face.
If you're trying too hard,
You'll probably realize that your frowning or your forehead is slightly scrunched up.
If this is the case,
Just completely relax all of the muscles in your face and then smilingly and with a relaxed attitude,
Return your attention to the breath.
And now just give up all effort entirely,
Allowing your mind to be free to do whatever it wants.
And gently notice any sounds,
Any smells that might be present.
Notice the sensations relating to sitting.
And before you open your eyes,
Check in with yourself again.
How do you feel?
Do you feel the same as you felt at the start of the session or do you feel slightly different?
And then when you're ready,
Just gently opening your eyes,
Resisting the temptation to rush off straight away.
Just take a second to congratulate yourself for taking the time to meditate today.
And have a great day.
