This is a meditation to help work with and change habits of distraction.
These kinds of habits can manifest in constantly checking our phone for messages or social media posts or mindlessly watching TV or spending a lot of time lost in thought,
Daydreaming or feeling spaced out.
To begin this meditation,
Sit in a way that's relaxed and at ease,
With your eyes gently closed or half open with a soft,
Unfocused gaze.
Allow yourself to arrive and settle,
Taking a few deep,
Relaxing breaths.
Sit in a way that is relaxed and alert.
Now bring to mind a situation where you typically check out from your direct experience.
It might be when you spend long periods of time on social media without a particular objective or focus,
Or constantly checking your phone to see if any new texts or emails have arrived,
Or spending time channel surfing on TV or daydreaming,
Lost in thoughts much of the time.
If you can,
Put yourself in a situation where you typically check out and bring to mind the situation.
Who's there?
How are you feeling?
What's the context?
Try to bring to mind what you are feeling before you check out,
Before you move into spending time online or just watching a lot of TV or daydreaming.
Is it tension?
Loneliness?
Worry?
Boredom?
Kind of numbness?
Allow yourself to experience whatever feelings or emotions come up,
Open to how they feel in your body,
And meet the feelings with kindness,
Acceptance,
And curiosity.
A helpful question to ask yourself is,
What would I have to feel if I were not to check out from my experience?
What would I have to feel if I were not to check out from my experience by going online or checking social media or my phone?
Let yourself feel whatever is present.
Be aware of any thoughts or urges that come up.
For example,
I need to do X.
And let yourself feel the urge as it expresses itself in your body and your mind without acting on it.
Let any thought that comes up be seen as just a thought and let it come and go.
Become as familiar as you can with the feelings that spur the urge or the desire to move away from your experience and open fully to them.
Keep coming back to what is calling for attention.
And if there are no strong feelings or urges,
Rest in a focused awareness of your breathing and come back to the breath when your mind wanders.
So you could sit for a few quiet minutes and just be aware of what takes you away from your direct experience.
What are your patterns or habits of escaping?
Where you might feel the urge to check your phone or go look at something online,
Just to zone out,
Just to space out.
And notice what's underneath that.
See if you can stay with the direct feelings without acting them out.
Just the feeling of urges from your Instinct.
