Everyday Jhāna Meditation Practice For Relaxed Focus

A technique for daily practice. Experience deep states of meditative bliss with this 20-minute guided Jhāna meditation practice. Following clear, simple steps, you'll learn how to access the first stage of Jhāna, a profound state of focus and tranquility, using an ancient Buddhist technique adapted for modern practitioners.

Whether you're new to meditation or looking to deepen your practice, this session offers a natural and enjoyable approach to experiencing meditation as it was meant to be.

Transcript

Today I just really invite you to join me on a very simple but really powerful meditation technique.

This is a jhana meditation and jhana is very simply a state of really deep focused relaxation.

It feels good and it gets you into this meditative state from where we can go deeper and deeper and deeper.

And so to be able to enter this initial stage is a very useful first step in this skill of meditation.

And it's a very simple thing you can do every day.

You don't need any setup for it.

You don't need a bell.

You don't need even a timer that I have here.

You can do this just for as long as it feels good.

I'm going to use a timer today because we're gonna do a 20-minute session.

But you can just continue doing this in your own time as long as you want.

It can be 20 minutes,

30 minutes,

60 minutes,

Whatever feels good.

And hopefully this will feel good for you.

So just a couple of pointers before we get into it.

It doesn't matter how you sit.

So I'm sitting on a bench right now and I have a cushion under my knees.

That's just for comfort.

You can also choose to sit in a lotus position or cross-legged.

I would recommend that you put something under your bum just so that your hips are elevated a little bit.

This is just so that you can sit comfortably for the duration of the meditation.

It doesn't matter where you put your hands.

You can put your hands flat on your legs.

You can put your hands with your palms facing up.

I like to keep my hands,

Sort of one hand resting over the other and the thumbs just very lightly touching.

I find that a very comfortable position where I can pay attention to what's happening in this part of my body.

And this will become quite important as you'll see.

So just somewhere where you think you can keep this position for the next 20 minutes.

Now what is really important is that for the next 20 minutes you do not move unmindfully.

So whatever position you're finding,

Make sure that you are comfortable,

Upright,

Attentive,

You don't easily fall asleep and that you can maintain this position without any discomfort or pain.

If you do have to move during the meditation,

It's very important that you do so mindfully.

If you have an itch or you have a pain or you have a niggle somewhere,

We pay attention to every muscle that moves and we make the smallest move possible to ease that tension that we are experiencing.

It's ideal not to move at all.

But if the pain and the discomfort is distracting you so much that you can't focus on what you're supposed to be focusing on,

Then by all means move mindfully.

A good rule of thumb for changing your position or moving during the meditation is,

Imagine if you had someone meditating next to you.

You don't want that person to notice that you're moving.

And so that's not for the benefit of the person next to you.

It is really for the benefit of the stability of your own mind.

And you will notice as you get more and more into this type of meditation that if you move unmindfully it is such a disturbance in the mind that you find it hard to come back into that balance that we're looking for.

All this will make sense with more practice,

So don't worry about it too much.

For now just find a comfortable position that you can remain in for the next 20 minutes and know that you can move.

But if you do move,

Move mindfully.

I'm going to set myself up with a straight spine,

Sitting on my on my bench.

My hands are resting in my lap with the thumbs just lightly touching.

And we will pay focused attention to our breath.

It will be the breath at the tip of our nose,

So around the nostrils,

And just underneath the nostrils.

And we focus there because it is difficult.

It's a very subtle sensation.

And the more subtle a sensation is,

The more concentrated we need to be.

So we focus there because it is practice to concentrate on something really subtle.

And over time we pay attention to any pleasant sensations that arise.

There might be pleasant sensations that arise from a gentle smile that you have in your face,

Or perhaps from your hands.

For me it's often in the hands.

And what's important is that we don't want to seek it.

We're not trying to grasp it,

Or look for it,

Or try to attain it.

We just wait for it.

And when it arises,

We'll know.

It feels pleasant,

And we just acknowledge it.

Oh,

There's a pleasant sensation.

And what we do then is we let our attention rest on the pleasant sensation,

Without wanting to change it,

Or intensify it,

Or wanting more of it.

It's really just focusing and paying attention to it.

So it's as simple as that.

What we are trying to do here is just focusing on a very subtle sensation of our breath,

And waiting for any pleasant sensations to arise.

And when pleasant sensations arise,

We just gently shift our focus onto the pleasant sensation,

And let it rest there.

No matter how experienced you are in this technique,

If there are no pleasant sensations arising,

You just keep your focus on the breath.

And we just wait.

And so I encourage you to just be open and curious,

And just stay open for whatever arises.

Don't go look for it,

We're not hunting for it,

We're not trying to attain anything.

We just pay attention.

Okay,

So with all of this said,

I invite you now to get comfortable.

And close your eyes,

And then just let the bell lead you into silence.

Just notice how it feels to be here right now.

How does it feel to sit on the floor on the cushion?

Notice the different points of contact between your body and the environment.

Notice where your seat touches the cushion,

Or the bench,

Or whatever you're sitting on.

Notice where your feet and your legs touch the ground,

And what that point of contact feels like.

And notice your hands resting in your lap.

And begin to notice the breath.

Just natural.

The natural rising and falling of the breath.

Just notice where your breath touches your nostrils,

The tip of your nose.

What does it feel like?

Notice where your breath touches the area under your nostrils.

Maybe you feel some temperature changes.

Maybe you feel that the air is slightly warmer on the out-breath compared to the in-breath.

Maybe you notice that one nostril is easier to breathe through than the other.

Just notice the quality of that breath.

Is it fast?

Is it slow?

Is it deep?

Is it shallow?

Is it heavy?

Is it light?

Where precisely do you feel it the most?

Notice if there are any other sensations present that may want your attention.

Perhaps some tingling,

Some itching,

Perhaps some sounds in the room.

Just acknowledge those and return back to the breath at your nostrils,

Underneath your nose.

It's normal to get distracted.

Returning back to our object of meditation,

The breath at the nostrils and underneath the nose.

That is the practice.

So be gentle with yourself and just gently acknowledge any other sensations,

Any distractions,

Any sounds with a smile in the mind and return back to the breath at the nostrils.

Maybe you notice some pleasant sensations arising.

Maybe in your hands it may feel like you've lost track of your position,

Of your hands in space and it just dissolved into a cloud of sensations,

Almost shapeless.

Notice how that feels and try to figure anything out.

Just notice it being present and just notice the pleasantness of any feeling that arises.

And if there is no pleasant sensation,

No pleasant feeling,

Just stay with the breath.

And if there is a pleasant feeling,

However small it may be,

Just allow your attention to rest there without clinging,

Without craving.

Just gently acknowledge it and allow it to grow naturally or to just stay as it is.

Do all of this gently and mindfully and if at any point you notice a thought that distracts you,

That's completely normal.

Thoughts come and go all the time.

Just notice it.

Notice how you feel and watch the thought unravel and disappear as you return back to the object of your focus.

The breath at the nostrils underneath your nose or the pleasant sensation in your hands or anywhere in your body.

Just allow your attention to return to that and gently rest there.

And just gently allow yourself to come back to the room and to your body.

Take a deep breath.

And whenever you're ready,

Just open your eyes again.

Yeah,

That's the simple technique.

So I really hope that that made sense and it felt good for you.

As you continue to practice this,

It will get easier to notice the pleasant sensation arising.

Sometimes it takes longer,

Sometimes it's quicker.

For me this happens within 5 to 10 minutes and I normally sit for 30 minutes.

As you go deeper and deeper into this,

Ultimately I find that the boundaries of my body start to dissolve and everything is just a sensation.

It's kind of hard to explain.

There are obviously the sounds in the room and there is the light that I can see and perceive with my eyes behind my closed eyelids.

And then there is the physical sensations on my skin.

But all of it becomes kind of boundless and shapeless and it's like a pleasant vibration almost.

Another thing that might help to start with is to actually put a gentle smile on your face because then you only have a very short distance to travel from your breath to the happiness and it can spread from there.

So yeah,

Try this for a few days.

If it works,

Let me know.

Yeah,

I'd love to hear if you had difficulties with it or you've discovered something new.

I'd love to hear it genuinely.

So thank you so much for letting me guide you today.

It's been a pleasure and an honor.

Hopefully see you in another session.

Be well.

Reviews

That was lovely! Just enough instructions, lots of quiet pauses. Gentle and quite calming. Thank you. ☮️💖🙏🖖🪷🕉