Welcome to the Simple Truth Project.
I'm Jeff Cannon,
And this is Modern Meditation.
Forget about everything you've ever known about meditation or thought you knew.
Get rid of any preconceived notions that you may have of what meditation should or should not be.
Get rid of the image that you have of somebody sitting in perfect lotus.
Get rid of the idea that you have to sit for an hour or two hours for it to work.
Instead,
Just sit right where you are and gently close your eyes.
Just get comfortable.
Move yourself to the front of your seat.
Allow your back to stand straight and unsupported.
Pull your shoulders back and raise your head up as if a string were tied to it to the top of the ceiling or the sky above.
Tuck your sit bones forward to further straighten your spine.
And just feel yourself strong and solid where you're sitting.
Rest your hands on your lap or on your thighs.
And take a big,
Deep breath in through your mouth.
Feel your stomach expand as you pull the air down deep into your lungs.
Give the air a minute to settle before pushing it out.
Feel your lungs one more time with a big,
Deep breath.
And on your next breath in,
Just breathe in slowly through your nose.
Draw the air deep down into your lungs.
Feel your stomach expand.
Feel your stomach push out against your shirt as you just hold that breath and let it settle for a second or two before breathing it back out.
Just find your own pace and allow your breath to come naturally.
Don't try to control it.
Don't try to force it.
Don't even try to count it.
Just let it flow on its own as if you're not even taking a breath.
But just letting the air into your lungs.
Let it circulate around your lungs for a moment before allowing it to leave your lungs.
Just allow your breath to find its own pattern and drop in gently on that breath,
Almost as if you were swimming on that breath.
Feel it flowing gently through your nostrils and down your windpipe.
Feeling it flowing gently into your lungs,
Filling them and creating their own currents.
Just drop in on that breath gently and follow it.
And just breathe in and settle.
Breathe out and settle.
And just feel your breath getting deeper and slower and longer.
Feel yourself settling into your seat.
Feel the calm that's descending over your shoulders and down your back.
Feel the noise starting to go away.
Feel the cocoon that is developing around you.
As you just swim on the flow of air like water,
Coming in and settling,
Going out and settling.
As a thought comes into your mind,
Just acknowledge it.
You can label it thinking and let it go.
You can imagine that thought on a cloud of smoke and watch as it dissipates around you and you let it go.
If there's noise in the background,
Just treat it like a thought.
Acknowledge it and let it go.
Let it all just blend into that gray sound.
Just continue your breath slow and easy and comfortable and flowing.
And just follow that stream of air as it enters your lungs,
Creates its own currents and flows out from your lungs.
Just feel yourself getting calmer.
Feel yourself sinking deeper.
Feel yourself finding that balance,
That cocoon.
For the next seven minutes,
Simply allow yourself to acknowledge your thoughts and let them go.
Breathe in and settle.
Breathe out and settle.
Breathe in,
Settle.
Breathe out,
Settle.
Welcome back.
Don't hurry to get up.
Just take your time.
Allow your awareness to come back to your center.
Allow your consciousness to come back to you.
You can wiggle your toes and your fingers.
You can stretch your legs and your shoulders.
Just take your time before you re-enter the day.
And most important,
Be well.
