A Guided Introduction To Mindfulness Meditation

In this session, we practice 'The Basics Of Mindfulness.

Focus your attention on the sensations of the breath at the nose if you notice your mind wandering or lost in thought, gently and lovingly return it back to the breath.

Mindfulness is the awareness that arises from purposefully paying non-judgmental attention to the present moment.

Our goal is not to empty the mind but rather to notice where it is. We do this by focusing on an anchor (the breath) and then noticing when it has wandered.

Transcript

Hello and welcome to the session, I invite you to take a seat or lie down and get yourself comfortable, You can close down the eyes if you wish and just begin by slowing down the breath, Taking some slow breaths in through the nose and deep into the belly, Just taking a moment to check into the body and to the mind, Noting if there are any surface level tensions to release, Any things floating on the surface, Thoughts, Moods, Memories, Sensations, Emotions, Just acknowledge them and when they're ready to let go, Let go, Taking one more slow deep breath and allowing your breathing to return to its normal rate, Today we're going to be returning to the basics of mindfulness, The most basic, Most introductory practice of mindfulness is to use the sensations of the breath entering and leaving the nose as an anchor, Your mind wanders and you bring it back to the sensations of the breath at the nose, So let's try that now, Find where the sensations of the breath are the strongest and just anchor your mind into that space, If at any time you find yourself distracted, Lost in thought or memory, Past or future, Just lovingly, Gently return your focus back to the sensations of the breath at the nose, Really paying attention to the sensations of the breath entering and leaving the nose, Tempting to capture all of the sensation, You may notice the breath being slightly cooler on the way in and slightly warmer on the way out, You may notice the breath using one nostril more than the other, Trying to capture the entirety of the breath within your awareness, If at any time, Perhaps at the sound of my voice, You realise your mind has wandered away from the breath, It's ok, Gently, Lovingly return it back to the breath, Back to our anchor of choice, Mindfulness is the awareness that arises from purposely paying non-judgmental attention to the present moment, Mindfulness is the awareness that arises from purposely paying non-judgmental attention to the present moment, So our goal is not to empty the mind, Our goal is to become aware of where the mind is at any one time, So we anchor our mind to the breath, And when it wanders and we discover it wandering, That's actually the goal, To become aware of where our mind is, And then we bring it back to focus, So we're training two things at once, Awareness of where our mind is, And then the ability to focus that mind on one point, Awareness, Focus, So when you discover yourself wandering, That's you doing the meditation, And when you bring it back to focus, That's you helping to continue that process, So let's try this for a minute, Turning all your attention to the sensations of the breath at the nose, And if during that minute you find your mind wandering, Gently, Lovingly bring it back again and again and again, Let's give it a try, Okay, So how'd you go? In this session we introduced the concept of mindfulness, The basic practice is that you set an anchor, Traditionally the breath, Because the breath is always there, Always available and is forever changing, You pick a point at the nose and focus upon it, And when your mind wanders you gently bring it back, The goal is not to empty your mind, And although we're trying to focus our mind on the point of the nose, That's not really the point of meditation either, It is to become aware of what is arising in the mind, Where the mind is, That's mindfulness, And then you just bring that attention back, So every time you discover that your mind has wandered, You bring it back, That's it, So if you're having a meditation session and your mind is focused, Or your mind is not focused, Either way you're having a good meditation session, And if you find yourself in judgment of your meditation ability, Or of the practice, That too is another distraction, Another thing that you found yourself caught in, You acknowledge the judgment, Good, Bad or otherwise, And you bring the focus back to the breath, Again and again and again, So thank you for joining me, And I'll see you in the next session.