by Hugh Byrne
A 30-minute mindfulness meditation to help cultivate mindfulness in daily life.
Meet your Teacher
Silver Spring, MD, USA
Transcript
So find a posture that's relaxed and comfortable. Making sure your back is straight, Nice straight back, Relaxing the shoulders as much as possible. You might let your chest be slightly open so you can breathe easily. Your chin slightly tucked. Hands can rest comfortably in your lap or on your knees or on your thighs to see what feels most comfortable to you. And if you'd like to you can let your eyes gently close and allow your attention to come inward. We spend so much of our time kind of outwardly gazing, Focusing, Concentrating with our eyes. So it can be a real gift to ourselves just to let go somewhat of the visual field and come into our other senses. So if you feel comfortable doing that, Just relaxing, Closing the eyes, Letting your attention come inward, Come into the body. If you prefer to keep your eyes open, It can be helpful just to keep a soft, Unfocused gaze looking ahead of you a few feet. So either way, Whatever works best for you. Feel your body here. You might consciously drop down out of the thinking mode. Unhook from thinking. Just come down into your body. Feel the sensations in your shoulders and your upper back, Back of your body. And in your torso and the chest and the belly. Down into the seat, The buttocks, The thighs. Down to the legs and to your feet. Perhaps feeling the point of contact with the surface beneath you, Feeling your seat on the chair, Feet in contact with the floor, Your hands in contact with your lap or your knees or one hand with the other. See if you can feel those sensations from the inside out. So feeling your hands, Not so much as objects, But as sensations, As feelings, As energy, Tingling, Pressure, Pulsing, Warmth, Whatever is present. Feel the weight of your body on your buttocks, On your thighs, On your feet. And you might find it helpful to take a few deeper breaths. This can help us shift out of the more busy, Active, Stressful mode that we can be in. And just to help ourselves arrive, Nice deep in-breath, Filling the body with the breath, Filling the lungs, Filling the chest, And then slowly releasing on the out-breath. Nice deep full in-breath. And then letting go, Releasing. Imagine you're breathing out the cares and the busyness of the day. Breathing in, Just invite in a quality of calm. Calm as you breathe in, Calm as you breathe out. Breathing in, Calming the body, And breathing out, Calming the mind. The deeper breaths can invite us into a more relaxed way of being here, So we're not so tensed up or defended or vigilant. When you're ready, Just letting the breath settle into its natural rhythm. Let it be as it is, In-breath and out-breath. And in a similar way to help relax and come into the more at ease mode of the nervous system, You might invite a smile to your face, Or a half smile. If it's helpful, Think of a loved one or somebody who easily makes you feel happy. Child, A good friend, Pet. And the smile also sends a message to our nervous system that we can be at ease, That we don't have to be defended or vigilant. Now you might bring awareness to the whole field of your body. See if there's any area that could relax a little bit more, Shoulders, Belly, Hands, Feet. Just shifting out of doing into being, Just being here. You might put aside plans for the future and thoughts about the past. Just let yourself be as fully here as you can be, With whatever feelings in the body, Whatever emotions or mood, Whatever thoughts are present, Just meeting it all with acceptance and with kindness. Just notice whatever's coming up for you right now in the body and in the heart and in the mind. See if you can meet it with a receptive attitude. As the Sufi poet Rumi speaks about welcoming the guests, He says, Welcome the guests. Even if they're a crowd of sorrows who sweep your house empty of its furniture, Still treat each guest honorably. He may be clearing you out for some new delight. See how it is to meet whatever is arising for you in this moment and moment to moment with this welcoming attitude. Saying yes to this moment as it is. How is it to meet this moment, This experience right now with an attitude of acceptance? Accepting what's arising, What's present for you right now. Looking into whatever is here. How is it to meet this moment, This experience with kindness, With an attitude of kindness? Particularly if you're experiencing anything that's difficult or challenging. Imagine meeting your experience as you would a dear friend or a child who's having a hard time maybe experiencing some pain or hurt. Think of how you would want to comfort them and console them. In the same way, Can you meet your own experience with kindness and compassion? And can you meet this moment, This experience with interest, With curiosity? Just putting the spotlight of your attention on whatever is here right now. Giving kind, Curious attention to this moment as it is. And if it's helpful to ground your attention in this moment, You might use the focus of your breathing. Just bring awareness to breathing in and breathing out and let that be a focus for your attention in breath, Out breath, Just as it is. Helping you to ground your attention in the here and now in this moment as it is. Hey, I hope this connection shortens for a little while. And when you become aware that your attention has moved from the breath into thinking, Maybe planning the future or remembering something in the past or trying to solve a problem or just images, Words, Daydreams, Just gently and kindly bring your attention back, Invite your attention back to the breath, In breath and out breath. Not to make thinking a problem, Just simply something to be observed, Oh the mind has moved into thought, Let me come back again. We come back and we train the mind by coming back again and again. Brothers, I want to say just a little thing about my experience coming back again. Just resting in this moment as it is. And when your attention drifts, Just to come back again, Beginning again in any moment. In the words of the poet Dorothy Hunt, Peace is this moment without judgment. Peace is this moment without judgment. This moment in the heart space where everything that is is welcome. This moment in the heart space where everything that is is welcome. Peace is this moment without judgment. Now, With this same kind, Receptive attitude to your experience, Shift into kind of an invitation to reflection. So this is a reflection on what matters most to us, What we really care about most deeply. And also an invitation to look at, Perhaps see what might be an obstacle or what might get in the way of living as fully and as joyfully and as freely as we wish to live. So just ask the question, What matters most to you? What do you care about most deeply for yourself and your life? What's your deepest intention, Your deepest aspiration for yourself? If you imagined living as fully and as happily as you could live, What would that look like? What would that feel like? There might be a word or a few words come up for you or some images. Some that may be living with peace or ease, Free of stress and worry, Or perhaps to know joy or happiness in your life. Perhaps to be in loving relationships with those who are dear to you. To see whatever comes up for you, Whatever that deepest wish for yourself, For your life is. Perhaps two for the world if that comes up. Now imagine you've achieved this peace or well-being or joy or whatever other deep aspiration may come to you. And let yourself take in how it feels. How does it feel now in your body? How does it feel in your emotions and in your mind? Allow yourself to take in, Feel, Rest in these feelings, Whatever comes up for you. Meeting whatever arises with kindness and acceptance. It's not that there's supposed to be anything coming up, But just whatever arises for you as you reflect. Allow yourself to take in the feelings that come up. And now you might ask yourself, Is there anything that gets in the way of living out this intention in your life or prevents you from really living this right now in your life, Not just as a future aspiration, But as a kind of a manifestation of your life here and now, Here in your daily life as well? Is there something that feels like it's an obstacle, Gets in the way? Is there a behavior or a pattern of thinking that leaves you feeling stressed or unhappy, Unfulfilled, Anxious, Angry? Something that really feels like it's an obstacle to living the way you really want to live your life? Is there a pattern of wanting? It could be wanting anything. We get caught up in wanting at times food or drink, Drugs, Sexual experiences, Possessions, Role. Just many different ways we can get hooked on wanting. And that wanting can be an obstacle to living really freely. Or it might be the other side of the coin. It might be a feeling of resistance, Perhaps wanting something in your life to be different. Maybe somebody in your life, Some family member or a work colleague that seems to push your buttons. Or some situation of your life not going the way you want it to. I don't like this. I want it to change. Or I could be happy if only this wasn't here, If this wasn't in my life. So if you can connect with something, Anything that feels like it's an obstacle, That you could be happy if this wasn't the case. This person, This situation, This experience, This job, This health condition. Just notice that, See that as another way in which our minds and our likes and our dislikes get in the way of feeling peaceful, Happy, Joyful, Free. Or is there a way that you escape from yourself or your experience? We do it by spending lots of time online or watching TV and spacing out in one way or another. Or maybe just caught up in daydreams where we're not present for ourselves but we're in our thoughts and in our stories. Or is there a pattern of busyness, Of stress, Of doing where we feel like we've got to do one more thing that we're always crossing things off our to-do list. So there's a sense of stress and strain, Busyness, Contraction. These are all ways in which we leave ourselves, We move away from our lives, From ourselves, From what we care about most deeply. Now it can manifest as wanting or of resisting or distraction or doing, Leaning into the future. So notice what, If anything, Comes up for you. And if there is some pattern of behaviour or thinking that comes up, Notice how you feel. How does it feel in your body? How does it feel in your emotions? How does it feel in your mind, In your thoughts? Let yourself take in whatever feelings are present. Even if something clear does come up for you or has come up for you, You might ask yourself, Is this something that I want to change? Is this something that I might consciously commit to changing? And how important would it be to make some change in this pattern of action or thought? And we'll sit quietly for a few minutes to finish up. Just sit with anything that comes up for you. There may be some sense of intention or commitment to looking more closely at a particular area or making a change. Just reflecting on these three questions or three areas, What do I care about most deeply? What's my deepest aspiration? And then what is it that is an obstacle, What gets in the way of really being at peace in this moment and at this time in my life? And what kind of a commitment do I feel that would be important or helpful to make? Do I need to change any ractor that I could see here or not? I like to finish off with a poem that was written some decades ago that nonetheless feels very very topical and timely in this period we're living in and through right now. It's Wendell Berry's Piece of Wild Things. It says, When despair for the world grows in me and I wake in the night at the least sound in fear of what my life and my children's lives may be. I go and lie down where the wood rake rests in his beauty on the water and the great heron feeds. I come into the piece of wild things who do not tax their lives with forethought of grief. I come into the presence of still water and feel above me the day blind stars waiting with their light. For a time I rest in the grace of the world and am free. For a time I rest in the grace of the world and am free.
4.7 (1 451)
Helen
December 29, 2024
A wonderful reflective meditation. JuT what I needed. Thank you!
Ebony
August 26, 2024
This was the best guided mediation I've ever practiced with. So well rounded and the poem at the end touched my heart. Thank you so much.
Michelle
December 14, 2023
Brought me from feeling stressed to feeling blessed. Amazing, thank you Hugh 💖
Rebecca
December 7, 2023
Beautiful. A gorgeous resetter after a hard days work, worry and adrenaline about unimportant stuff.
Charlotte
November 1, 2023
This meditation was perfect for me today- helped me to reflect on patterns of thought that can hinder me in experiencing peace and ease in my daily life- whatever may be happening in my own life or the wider world thank you 😊
Jody
September 11, 2023
Wow. That just landed in a profound way. Thank you so very much.
Mouse
April 28, 2023
Wow. Thank you so much. I have never experienced such a profound realisation as I did during the reflection period. I also love the poems. Wonderful.
Dan@cottage11
February 24, 2023
Good meditation to explore our deepest intentions thank you
Naomi
July 2, 2022
On my personal quest for mindfulness and listening to this everyday is helping me train my mind. Highly recommend. Thank you
Lucinda
June 12, 2022
Keep coming back to this meditation, it's always useful and relevant
Vickie
March 23, 2022
I really like this meditation, especially reflection on values and what's most important in my life. Will come back again
Jamie
March 16, 2022
Excellent experience to just practice being with all that arises. Thank you!
Raz
January 30, 2022
Thank you. Your guidance helped me understand my intentions a bit deeper 🙏🏾🌷
Jeffrey
December 19, 2021
Excellent commentary, great settle down sequence at the beginning, really brought me back home.
Wendy
October 31, 2021
Very helpful to me in finding some calm amid a time of stress, worry, and chaos in my life. Thank you!
Cristo
June 22, 2021
From my heart to your heart, Námaste! Thanks! Cristo Serrano.
Ann
January 31, 2021
I love your calm voice and manner. There was more thinking and reflection involved in this teaching than I expected. Good to know for future listening.
humbledaisy
January 4, 2021
Marvelous calm teaching.
Fernando
December 30, 2020
Lovely... great pacing. Great questions. Thank you Hugh!
Dominique
August 25, 2020
Real mindfulness practice combined with wise contemplation 🙏
