This is a guided meditation on Vipassana or insight meditation,
A traditional Buddhist form of meditation practice.
Before I begin the guided meditation,
I'll explain a little bit about the practice itself and particularly its relationship to the 12-step process.
This form of meditation uses the tool of mindfulness to focus the mind in our present moment experience.
As we watch what appears and disappears in our body and mind over time,
Insights arise psychological,
Intellectual,
And spiritual.
The traditional Theravada Buddhist teachings describe these insights as a progressive and systematic unfolding.
Whether we use this model or not,
Vipassana practice potentially opens us to a wide range of opportunities for growth.
This practice can help us to work the steps,
And the 12 steps can help us to understand the practice.
Our initial experience with meditation is often one of being overwhelmed by the stream of thoughts,
Seeing that we are powerless over this flow as in the first step.
As we commit to the practice,
We turn our will and lives over to it,
Learning to trust in our own innate awareness and wisdom,
As we do in step three.
When we begin to examine the nature of thoughts as they arise,
We take a kind of meditative inventory or step four.
Once we see these mental objects,
We let go,
As in steps six and seven.
Once we start to let go,
Our heart starts to open in love and compassion.
An open heart is often inspired to get up off the cushion and find ways to be of service to others,
As in the 12th step.
The following is an exercise for developing the Vipassana practice.
You might want to begin by just doing the first part of the practice,
Relaxing and following the breath,
For a few days or weeks even,
And then adding the other parts of the practice as you become more comfortable.
With meditation,
What may be most important is our consistency,
So showing up for yourself and for your practice each day or as often as you can is vital to practice.
I'll ring a bell to indicate the beginning of the sitting,
And at the end I'll ring the bell three times to indicate the end.
Begin by finding a comfortable place to sit.
If you choose a chair,
Sit with both feet on the floor.
If you're sitting on the floor,
On a cushion,
Or on a bed,
Be careful that you don't cross your legs in a way that cuts off your circulation.
Sit with your back straight,
But not rigid.
Make sure that you're able to breathe easily.
It's important to be still when meditating,
To not fidget.
If you need to shift posture while meditating,
Do so slowly and mindfully,
Then return to stillness.
First part of this meditation will be a conscious relaxation.
Begin by bringing your attention to the muscles in your face,
Relaxing your jaw,
Relaxing the small muscles around your eyes,
Relaxing your forehead.
Let the whole expression drop away from your face.
Now move your attention down to your shoulders,
Making sure they're not hunched,
That they're relaxed.
Relax your arms and hands.
Let your chest and belly be very soft and open,
So that the breath can move easily in and out of the body.
Now put your attention on the large muscles in your back,
Feeling the back expand and contract with the breath,
Releasing any tension in your back muscles.
Take the attention down through the hips,
The genitals,
Into the thighs,
Relaxing the legs and feet.
Feel the weight of your body sitting on the chair or cushion.
Notice if there are any sounds.
Don't concern yourself with sound or try to push it away.
Just allow it to be there.
And notice if there are any strong emotional or physical energies present right now.
If so,
Try to feel those sensations in the body.
This is the context of your meditation,
Body,
Emotions,
Sounds.
Now we begin to focus our attention in on the breath,
Not pushing away the context,
But letting the awareness of the sensations of the breath come into the foreground,
Letting the rest of our experience move to the background.
Feel your breath either at the nostrils,
Where the air enters and leaves the body,
Or at the chest or belly,
As it rises and falls with each breath.
Just feel the breath as it is,
Not trying to breathe in any special way or create any special experience.
Feel the physical sensations of breathing.
You can feel the breath at the nostrils as the air first touches the nostrils as you breathe in,
Feeling the inward flow of air in the end of the inhalation and the beginning of the outward flow as the breath leaves the body.
The end of the breath,
Sometimes there is a space between breaths,
Just feeling the sensations there at the nostrils,
And then feeling the next breath.
Each breath is a flow of experience,
Not a static experience,
But a dynamic one of movement,
Of sensation.
Do your best to keep your attention with that dynamic flow of sensation.
You might choose to follow the breath at the belly.
There you can feel the expansion,
Contraction,
The touch sensation of the clothing,
The heaviness or lightness of the body.
Again,
The movement and dynamic flow of sensation.
Letting the body be relaxed,
Letting the breath be natural.
This isn't a breathing exercise,
But an awareness exercise.
Trying to keep the attention very simple.
Just feeling your moment to moment experience of breathing.
If you find that your attention has strayed into thinking,
As soon as you are aware of that thought,
Just let it go,
Come back to the sensations of breath.
You don't have to do anything about your thoughts.
You don't have to follow them,
Judge them,
Fight with them,
Just notice them.
And in the very noticing,
Very often the thought will dissipate.
And you can quite easily and naturally return your attention to the sensations of breath.
If a sound pulls your attention away,
Try to just hear the sound without thinking about what it is,
Naming it,
Just allowing the sound to pass through you,
To come and go.
And gently bring the attention back to the sensations of breath.
Whenever the mind wanders or the attention moves from the breath,
As soon as you notice that,
Just drop the thought or sound and come back to breathing.
You can't control the habits of mind,
Of wandering thoughts.
You can only come back when you are able to notice.
Each time you notice that the mind has wandered is a moment of waking up,
Of waking up to the truth of what is of this moment.
So rather than judging the mind for thinking,
We can appreciate this moment of waking up and be grateful that we are here to experience this moment as we come back to the physical sensations of breath.
You might find it helpful to make a soft mental note as you breathe of in,
Out,
Or in breath,
Just in the back of the mind as a way of guiding and anchoring the attention.
This noting should be very soft in the mind,
While the awareness of the sensations of breath should stay in the foreground.
As the mind becomes more calm,
It may be possible to start to examine the breath in more detail,
Noticing the beginning,
The middle,
And end,
Feeling the temperature of the inhalation and exhalation,
Noticing how the breath changes,
A long breath,
A short breath,
A smooth breath,
A jagged breath.
Just noticing whatever the breath is showing you in this moment,
Whatever sensations are appearing,
Sometimes pleasant,
Sometimes unpleasant,
Sometimes very subtle,
Hard to feel.
And just doing your best to stay with those sensations.
When the mind wanders,
You might make a soft mental note just in the moment when you notice that you're thinking.
Just note,
Thinking,
Thinking,
Just as a way to make conscious what it is that you are experiencing in this moment.
And then come back to the breath.
When you return to the breath after noticing a thought,
You might notice some accumulation of tension in the body.
At that moment you can consciously relax,
Perhaps taking a deep breath,
Letting go of any holding or tension,
Settling the tension back into the body.
Keep the attention soft,
Alert,
Steady,
Without straining or struggling,
And without becoming sluggish or dull in our attention.
Keep coming back.
Noticing thinking,
Noticing sound,
Noticing other sensations that pull the attention.
You can also note hearing,
Hearing when you hear a sound.
Or if some sensation in the body is pulling your attention,
Note sensation,
Sensation,
Or feeling,
Feeling.
And then simply bringing the attention back to breathing,
Back to the actual experience of breath.
Therefore,
Maybe more done things into the deep breath and into the deeper pleasant As you become more accustomed to this noting practice,
You can become more subtle with the noting of thought.
You might start to notice thoughts that are thoughts of wanting,
Or thoughts of aversion,
And simply note wanting,
Wanting,
Or aversion,
Aversion.
You can note any kind of thought,
Planning,
Judging,
Remembering,
Or emotions,
Anger,
Sadness,
Joy.
You might hear music in your mind noting music,
Music,
Or images,
Seeing,
Seeing,
Or image,
Image.
Whatever the contents of the mind,
You can try putting a soft mental note on it,
Just as a way of clarifying what it is that we are being aware of in this moment.
And again,
Coming back to the breath,
Back to the simplicity of the sensations of breath,
Letting the body relax,
Letting the mind be clear,
Letting the attention be precise.
If you notice you're struggling in any way,
Just try to be aware of that struggle,
Being gentle and forgiving of yourself,
Of your mind's habits,
Of your body's sensations.
Your experience will change naturally of its own accord.
With this practice,
We don't try to change our experience,
But simply be with it with as much openness and acceptance as we can.
This openness and awareness strengthens the mind and heart,
Gives us the courage to be with the full range of experience in our lives,
Trains us in patience,
In compassion.
Let your practice be simple,
Consistent.
Trust that it will unfold if you only put in the effort,
Energy and time,
Time to be with your own mind,
With your own heart,
With your own body.
When the bell rings,
Take a few minutes to come out of the meditation,
Slowly opening the eyes,
Stretching the body,
And let yourself feel the effects of the stillness,
And calm,
Enjoying that.
When the bell rings,
Take a few minutes to come out of the meditation,
Slowly opening the eyes,
Stretching the body,
And let yourself feel the effects of the stillness,
And calm,
