Choiceless Attention

27:13

27:13

Choiceless Attention

by Melina Bondy

Rated

4.8

Type

guided

Activity

Meditation

Suitable for

Everyone

Plays

578

Many forms of meditation rely upon a particular focus of attention - the breath, a mantra, an image, etc... But it is also possible to meditate without a fixed anchor. Choiceless Attention, or Open Awareness, allows the mind to find stability even in the midst of changing conditions. This practice is suitable for those who have already established a meditation practice and can be done while lying down, sitting, standing or walking.

Meditation Attention Open Awareness Mind Stability Noting Present Moment Body Awareness Gentle Attention Emotional Awareness Mental Noting Present Moment Awareness Non Judgmental Observation Attentional Biases Breathing Breath Anchors Non Judgment Sensory Experiences

Meet your Teacher

Toronto, ON, Canada

Meet your Teacher

Toronto, ON, Canada

Transcript

You you you Starting with eyes open or closed whatever is supportive for you Start by opening to a global awareness of the body Just noticing if there's any particular sensations or experiences that are drawing themselves to your attention sort of standing out Don't need to look for anything in particular but in allowing for experience to present itself if it does and We're going to be working with a noting practice Or at least I'm going to be guiding a noting practice Or at least I'm going to be guiding and noting practice that you're welcome to use if you wish And so with just maybe 10% of our energy with a mental inner whisper so it's very gentle very mild But when we notice any sort of sensations in the body You can just mentally note with note with pressure tingling pulsing Cool So use very very simple words You don't even need to name body parts. We're trying to get to the raw experience of sensation as much as possible And this isn't orthodox, But I find when I'm not sure what to say I just say something That's my note If I don't have a word that comes up so we don't need to get lost in thoughts about how to note the experience oh something Heat, Breathing If that's the sensation that shows up in attention I'm going to start with physical sensations, And I'll build up the other sense realms, And then we'll open to all of them It's almost like Awareness is sitting in the center of the body or maybe even in the ground Not reaching out to find anything But just present and if any sensations blip on the radar screen Then the presence of attention notices it awareness being the broader field attention being the specific focus of awareness And there might be very few things Presenting so if you're not noticing very much that's fine you stay with whatever is showing itself without controlling where it lands And if there are a lot of sensations you don't have to catch them all every three four or five seconds just oh What's happening now? What's showing itself now? And now And now and now If the breath is an anchor that you have used for a while you might find attention automatically Magnetically drawing back to the sensation of breathing and there's nothing wrong with that But if at any point you notice a holding on to the breath or pushing out anything else see what happens if there's a relaxing And allowing attention to go wherever sensation arises And Noticing that as a moment to moment changing anchor and yet in the act of noticing of meeting The changing focus the process becomes the anchor rather than the object And That's open to the field of sound there is my voice and perhaps other sounds the sound of breathing Maybe people walking upstairs pipes rattling traffic outside Hum of a fridge who knows and when sounds Draw attention to it or if attention lunges to a sound Lunges to a sound it could have a simple noting of hearing hearing. That's all really simple If there's a taste in the mouth we can simply note tasting tasting Hearing Touch Breathing and so on You You You If there are any scents that pass by odors aromas smelling Smelling If there's any visual contact even with the eyes closed sometimes passing clouds will Change the visual field sense input or if your eyes are open and downcast Sometimes the visual field becomes the focus of attention simply note seeing Doesn't need to be any more complicated than that If thoughts Stories memories plans Anything in the mental sense realm Can simply note thinking Then tasting thinking thinking And if any emotions arise they can be named in their barest form Fear Calm Tension Something Something So we'll continue the next little while mostly in silence and every few minutes I will Join and pose the question what's happening now? Because that's the shorthand of this practice is just keep checking in what's happening now What is showing up what is catching attention now? Whether that changes or stays the same just keep checking in every few moments You You You You You You what's happening now You You You You You And what's happening now Now And now You You You You You You you And what's happening now You You You You You You You And what's happening now Thank you. . . . . . .