Welcome to meditation.
Tonight's the first of our series and we're going to start off by just reflecting why we meditate.
So we reflect on the limitations of material success and physical pleasures.
Whilst there's nothing wrong with those things,
They're limited in their ability to bring us lasting happiness and peace.
No matter how much material success that we may have or enjoy in life,
If we have a disturbed mind,
We often can't enjoy the pleasures in life.
Physical pleasures are extremely fleeting.
Sensuality is fleeting.
They come and go.
And often if we chase after just material and physical pleasures,
Similar to being a drug addict,
Constantly wanting more,
Not wanting it to end when it inevitably does.
And the limitations become obvious.
So we practice meditation to train our minds in stability,
To be able to find an inner sense of contentment.
And with this we can even enjoy the pleasures in life more.
Be present with our families.
Be present and mindful with our friends.
So we practice meditation to train our minds to find a lasting type of peace and contentment that comes unconditionally,
Regardless of external circumstances.
We can still find peace and an inner sense of joy.
Along with helping ourselves to find an inner sense of contentment,
We can also reflect how by becoming calmer and more stable within ourselves,
We help those around us.
We become less frustrated,
Less angry,
Less reactive.
And we can offer that type of peace to our family and our friends,
Our work colleagues.
So meditation is both a way to find our own peace and happiness from within,
An unconditional type of peace and contentment.
It can also be seen as a way to offer something to others by disarming our own anger and greed and selfishness.
We become more pleasant to be around.
So with that understanding that we're training our minds and finding an inner contentment,
We'll start the meditation by just checking our postures.
The best posture is sitting on the floor with a straight back,
Crossed leg or kneeling down on a chair.
Lying down is fine.
We try to have a straight back as possible.
You can meditate with your eyes open or with your eyes closed.
If you have your eyes open,
It's good to stare at the ground just a meter or so in front of you.
So with a straight back,
Start to bring your attention to your body.
Just become aware of where you're sitting and start to take a few deep,
Long,
Slow breaths.
As you breathe in,
Bring your attention just to your body.
Breathing in,
Bring the mind home.
Reclaiming your scattered energy,
Feeling yourself come to the here and now.
We're going to start with some relaxation exercises to help relax the body using a process of tension and release.
So we're going to start by taking three deep breaths and as we breathe in,
We're going to scrunch our shoulders up,
Tighten our shoulders and our neck as best we can and then breathing out sounding ah and release the tension out of our shoulders.
We're going to do that three times.
So everybody together,
Release the air out of your lungs,
Blowing out.
Take a deep breath in,
Hold it,
Scrunch your shoulders,
Feel the tension and release that tension.
On the next breath,
Breathing in,
Hold the shoulders,
Feel the tension and relax.
One more deep breath in,
Hold and release.
Just take a few deep,
Long,
Slow breaths.
Just feel the difference that made around the shoulder area.
Now we're going to do the same,
But this time,
Screw up your face when we breathe in.
So we're going to do exactly the same thing,
But screw up your face and tighten it,
Squeeze your eyes together,
Clench your jaw and then we're going to release that tension all out of our face.
So breathing out,
Deep breath in,
Hold the breath,
Screw up your face,
Clench your teeth and relax.
Once again,
Deep breath in,
Hold,
Screw up your face,
Feel the tension,
Feel your brow.
One more deep breath in,
Screw up the face,
Clench the jaw,
Squeeze the eyes.
Ah.
Once again,
Deep,
Long breath and just feel the difference in your face.
We hold a lot of tension in our face.
So just let all the muscles relax now.
Feel the jaw relax,
Feel the forehead relax.
One final one,
We'll do three breaths.
We're going to curl up our toes and make a fist with our hands.
So letting the air out of your lungs,
Breathing out,
Deep breath in,
Hold,
Make a fist,
Curl your toes tight,
Ah and relax.
Deep breath in,
Curl the toes,
Make a fist,
Ah.
Final one,
Deep breath in,
Clench,
Hold,
Feel the tension,
Ah and release.
Continue to breathe long,
Deep,
Slow breaths and as you breathe in,
Just straighten up a little bit,
Just tension your whole body,
Not in a forced way as before,
But just straighten up,
Stiffen up and then as you breathe out,
A long,
Slow breath,
Let all the tension go in your body.
So every breath now,
Breathing in,
Becoming alert,
Straight and stiff.
Then as you breathe out,
Let your muscles simply melt away.
Sometimes it helps to feel like you're being pulled up by the center of your head as you straighten up.
And every out-breath melting away,
Relaxation.
So now just come home to your body again,
Start to breathe normally,
Just see if you notice the difference in your whole body.
Start to sense your body's presence,
The energy of your body.
Every in-breath bringing your mind home to your body.
Every out-breath letting go of any tension,
Letting go of the past,
Give yourself permission to experience relaxation.
Now with a relaxed body and a mind that's beginning to settle,
We're going to practice mindful breathing.
There's three things that we're training that is vital to all meditation.
That is attention,
Concentration and introspection.
So we're going to train our attention to watch our breath.
As you're listening to me,
Place most of your mind on your breath.
Start to notice your breath.
So placing your attention on the object of breath is training your attention.
Concentration is how long your mind will stay on your breath without being distracted by thoughts or sleepiness.
Being over excited and not being able to drop thoughts and becoming too dull or sleepy are the two main obstacles to mindful breathing.
And that's why we need also introspection,
A part of our mind that is checking up to see if our attention is on the object.
And as soon as our introspection noticed that we've wandered off or that we've become a bit sleepy,
We bring the mind back to where we want it to be.
So we're developing stability of mind,
A sense of evenness.
We're learning to control our own minds rather than be the victims or slaves of wherever our mind wants to go.
So we begin by using the Zen practice of counting the breath.
Every in-breath,
Will the first in-breath count one,
Then as you breathe out count two,
Just in your mind.
The next in-breath is three,
The next out-breath is four.
Let's count our breaths up to six and then start back at one.
Using part of your mind for introspection to see if you're still on the breath,
Still counting.
Once you've breathed out,
Number six,
The next in-breath is one.
If you're having trouble getting too sleepy and you feel yourself becoming dull,
Breathe in and straighten up,
Enlivening your mind,
Tensing a little bit.
If your main obstacle is not being able to drop thoughts and you follow trains of thought,
You need to relax a little bit.
Using the muscle relaxation exercise we did before,
To come back to your breath and relax.
So in a way you have to be your own guide,
Knowing if you're becoming too sleepy or whether you're following your thoughts.
It may help to simply label your thoughts.
That's just a thought.
No thought is more or less important than any other.
They're all just thoughts.
As they come up,
Label it just a thought,
Briefly recall why we practice meditation,
Come back to counting the breath.
So in a way you have to be your own guide,
Knowing if you're becoming too sleepy or whether you're following your thoughts.
Periodically we can also check in with our bodies to make sure there's no breathing anywhere,
Make sure we're not screwing our face up,
Holding our shoulders too high or gripping our hands.
With a relaxed body,
Your attention to counting your breath.
We practice the art of meditation.
If you would like to experiment watching your breath without counting,
Simply train your attention on your breath and start to observe it like a scientist.
Objectively and neutrally watching your breath without controlling it,
Letting go of the counting,
Dropping thoughts as soon as they come.
Thoughts are not so much of a problem,
It's following your thoughts that become an obstacle.
So it's the second and third thoughts.
This is where we have to check up in our own minds to see if we followed any trains of thought.
Remember they're just thoughts,
Come back to the breath.
This is where we have to check up in our own minds to see if we followed any trains of thought.
All our lives we can be victims of constant thinking,
Worrying,
Stressing,
Planning.
Just for now,
Give yourself permission to experience a contentment simply watching your breath,
Simply sitting and relaxing.
Constantly coming back,
Coming back to the breath.
Simplicity,
Contentment,
Mindfulness of breathing.
This is where we have to check up in our own minds to see if we followed any trains of thought.
This is where we have to check up in our own minds to see if we followed any trains of thought.
You may have noticed that your attention can be split.
You can be listening to me,
The sound of the bowls and watching your breath.
So using that ability to split your attention,
We're going to split our attention into thirds.
A third of it is going to remain on the breath,
Watching the breath as we've been doing.
The next third,
Allow yourself to notice the space of your mind,
The space where the thoughts actually arise and fall.
Before the next thought has come and as the thought stops,
There's a gap,
A very open and spacious part of your mind.
Place a third of your mind on that feeling expansive,
Open and spacious.
The last third is for introspection,
To make sure that you're watching your breath and noticing the spaciousness of your mind without being distracted by thoughts and without becoming too dull and sleepy.
So watching your breath whilst noticing the spaciousness of your mind with constant vigilance of introspection,
Checking up.
Breathing in,
I'm aware of my breath.
Breathing out,
I'm aware of the spaciousness of my mind.
Breathing in,
I'm aware of the spaciousness of my mind.
Breathing out,
I'm aware of the spaciousness of my mind.
Breathing in,
I'm aware of the spaciousness of my mind.
Breathing out,
I'm aware of the spaciousness of my mind.
We need the effort to place our attention on our breath and on our open,
Expansive awareness.
But just like when I strike the bell only once,
It rings out for a long time.
Just like that,
Small amount of effort in focusing your mind.
Then relax,
Just allow your mind to be placed on your breath and noticing your expansive awareness.
And then just apply effort as it's needed.
When you notice that you're drifting off,
Forcibly bring your mind back.
But if you're not drifting off,
If you're not following your thoughts,
Just relax,
Simply watching your breath,
Being aware of your mind,
Not giving any thought a second thought.
And relax,
Just let your mind be placed on your breath.
And let your mind be placed on your breath.
See if we can begin to open our minds.
And paying attention to whatever is happening.
Pay attention to whatever you can hear.
Pay attention to your body and your breathing.
Pay attention to thoughts,
But let them go as soon as they come up.
The sound of the bowls.
We open our mindfulness and experience the present moment fully.
Without grasping or thinking about anything.
Just simply noticing everything.
Being in the here and now.
Being in this room.
Aware.
Mindful.
Without clinging to anything.
Notice how everything arises within the spaciousness of your own awareness.
And relax.
Without clinging to anything.
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