Basic Mindfulness Meditation

In this session we practice 'Mindfulness'.

Choose an anchor for attention. Traditionally the breath at the nose. But this can be anything you see, feel, hear, taste, smell (or interoceptive feelings and even the mind space)

Focus your attention there.

When you notice your mind wandering, or find yourself lost in thought, gently and lovingly return it back to the breath.

Remember that the of mindfulness goal isn't to empty the mind or alter the contents of consciousness, just to notice where attention is.

Discovering your attention has left the anchor is the entire point. You haven't failed at meditation, by noticing your mind, you can bring it back to the breath.

Transcript

Hello and welcome to the session. I invite you to lie down or take a seat and get yourself comfortable. You can close down the eyes if you wish and just begin by slowing down the breath. Breathing in through the nose, Slow and slow. Taking a moment to scan the body. Noticing any points of tension. Pressure or movement. Just allowing anything that can release to release. And taking a moment to scan the mind. Noticing any thoughts or moods or memories. Any feelings present. Once again allowing what can release to release. Today we're going to be exploring mindfulness. The awareness that arises from purposely paying non-judgmental attention to the present moment. Being here now. The base practice of mindfulness is that you choose an anchor, An object for attention. And then when your mind wanders you bring your mind back to that object. The most common object for mindfulness is the sensations of the breath at the nose. So you can choose to use that today. But for some people breath work is focusing on the breath can be a bit overstimulating, Overwhelming or triggering. Some instructors would suggest to push through it. Feel those feelings that are arising. Your mind wanders you bring it back. That's one option you can take. But the good thing about mindfulness is that you can choose to focus on any object. Something that you're hearing, Something that you're seeing, Something that you're feeling, Something that you're smelling, Tasting, Internal sensations or even the contents of consciousness. Although that's a bit of an advanced practice. So for today's session, I'm going to choose to use the sensations in my belly as a meditation object, As an anchor. I encourage you to choose whatever meditation object serves for you in this moment. Any of the five senses, Any of internal feelings, Perhaps even your thoughts. Your mind wanders, You bring it back. Your mind wanders, You bring it back. The goal being isn't to empty your mind of thoughts, Isn't to only have positive thoughts. It's to bring it back to focus lovingly. Let's give it a try. Choose an object. Begin. If at any time you find yourself lost in thought, Or distracted, Notice that. Lovingly, Gently, Return your focus back to your anchor. Really focus deeply, Fully, Intently on the object of meditation. Witness everything that is arising. Notice any judgments popping up. Notice any memories being triggered. Noticing the pull into distraction or thought. Noticing it all and returning your focus back to the object. If when I start talking you notice you're lost in thought, Don't berate yourself. Don't get frustrated. This is the practice. The practice is becoming aware of where your mind is, What it's focused on. Catching your mind lost in thought, Lost in distraction, Is the point. So when you do, Either through your own internal awareness, Or through an external prompting, Like me talking, It's okay. You gently, Lovingly, Return your focus back to the breath. The act of discovering where your mind is, Is the meditation. That is the point. So begin again. So how did you go? Today we practice mindfulness meditation. It's one of the core pillars of all practice, Of, I think, All forms of self-improvement, Healing, And goal attainment. It's the way through. We become aware of what is arising in the moment. We accept what is arising in the moment. Without running from it, Or towards it. It is what it is. We don't have to like it, But it's truth. And then we take actions aligned with our goals. Now the good thing about mindfulness meditation is it gives us all three. It helps us foster awareness. This is reality. This is what's happening. This is the state of my mind. I become aware. It helps us with acceptance. My mind is wandered. These are the feelings that are arising. And it itself is action to improve our mind, And thus our ability to act in the world, To see our values and our goals, What we actually believe, What we actually want, And take further steps towards it. Awareness, Acceptance, Action becomes a loop. And we can practice a little bit of that loop every day by practicing mindfulness. When you're meditating, If you find your mind wandering, That is the goal, To see where your mind is. It's not to be blank. It's not to go, Oh, I've emptied my mind of thought. Because there is always something popping up. Neurons are always firing. There's always sense information coming in. It's to focus the mind on an object, But more importantly to realize when that focus is gone. So you're effectively training a couple of things. The ability to focus the mind. You will get better at focus. But also, And more importantly, To be aware where the mind is. And it begins to wander. You bring it back. You're aware of where it is. You bring it back. Right? The benefits come off the meditation mat, Not just here in this session, But into everyday life. Something is happening. Your mind wanders. You bring it back. You feel an emotion taking over. You go, Oh, That's interesting, Because you're aware of it. You're not just lost in it. You bring it back. You can make better, More aligned choices. That's the whole point. Mind wanders, Bring it back. And we also talked about the idea that anything can be a meditation object. Traditionally, It's the breath. Always there, Ever-changing. Great point of focus. But for some people, They find it a little bit confronting, A little bit triggering, A little bit anxiety-inducing. Fair enough. Work with anything else. Something you can hear. Something you can see. Something you can feel, Taste or smell. Internal feelings or even thoughts. A picture of a guru or a religious icon. A tree. Feel it all. See it all. Witness it all. Everything that is coming in. You choose the meditation object. Set it for the session. Your mind wanders. You bring it back. Try it. Try different objects. You might find one that resonates with you more. The way you know you resonate with it more when you want to keep meditating or keep going or doing it more every day. If the breath feels hard, You're like, Oof, I'm aversion. I don't like this. Don't start there. Start with something else. Maybe explore it later. Does that make sense? Either way, Thank you for joining in. And I'll see you in the next session.