Hi,
I'm Bodhipaksha and I'd like to welcome you to the Daily Insight.
In today's meditation I'm going to introduce you to a very simple technique,
One of a number that I've developed,
That can help you to calm your mind quite quickly and easily.
So,
As is often the case,
We're going to be paying attention to our breathing,
But we're going to be doing so in a way that may be new to you.
So first of all,
With the eyes either closed or open,
I invite you just to let the eyes be soft,
Letting the muscles around the eyes relax,
And letting your focus be soft so that you're open to your entire visual field.
And with this soft focus externally,
We can often find that we have a similarly open,
Soft,
Receptive field of awareness internally.
So just let that awareness connect now with the sensations of the breathing in the belly.
Noticing the way the belly rises and falls,
And perhaps the way that the skin on the belly moves against your clothing.
Just letting the eyes be soft,
And just enjoying the sensuality of this experience.
Now,
With the eyes still soft,
I invite you to notice a second sensation of the breathing,
A separate sensation.
So I suggest the movements in the upper back,
The way the upper back broadens,
Expands on in-breath,
And then shrinks back down and relaxes on the out-breath.
So noticing with soft eyes,
These two sensations at the same time,
And now adding a third sensation,
The movements of air up and down the nostrils,
And any thoughts that arise,
Just see if you can let them pass,
They just don't matter.
So these three sensations form a kind of triangle of experience,
Can be very different from each other,
So that as you're inhaling,
For example,
And the upper back are moving in opposite directions,
And even the sensations in the nostrils as you're inhaling may seem to be moving away from those other two sets of sensations as the spine lengthens,
And of course,
As you breathe out,
The belly's moving back inward,
The upper back is sinking and moving toward the center of your body,
And so you may experience this whole triangle as becoming a bit smaller,
And just see if you can experience these coordinated movements as a kind of beautiful display of coordination,
Like a dance,
Maybe you can have a sense that you're smiling inwardly as you're observing this beauty,
And if the mind is a bit calmer than usual,
If there's less thinking going on,
Then smiling at that too.
So part of our problem,
Often with mindfulness of breathing,
Is that we're not paying attention to enough,
The mind is under-occupied,
And it gets bored,
It wants input,
So it creates input in the form of thinking,
Fantasies,
But when the mind is fed with this rich variety of sensations,
And can observe how they're interrelated with each other,
How they work in perfect synchronization,
Then the mind is fed,
It's nourished,
It has no need for anything,
And this three-pointed observation of the breathing can be even richer,
Because every sensation in the breathing is connected with every other,
So see if you can experience this triangle of related sensations,
Almost rippling out into the rest of the body,
Continuing to allow the eyes to be soft,
Appreciating the interrelatedness and the harmony of all these sensations,
As if they were a dance,
Or musical instruments being played together,
And just accepting the presence of any remaining thinking,
Paying it no mind,
But appreciating any calmness which is present,
And appreciating any change in the quality of the way you feel,
Qualities around the heart,
Perhaps a sense of relief,
Or contentment,
Maybe even joy,
And just continuing to sit in this way for the next few minutes,
Until you hear the bell.
