Hello,
I'm Mike.
Thank you for joining me.
I'm with a non-profit called Karuna Community Minnesota where we offer mindfulness tools such as meditation and yoga to people impacted by the legal system.
So today for this meditation I'm going to offer up A and C.
It's short for awareness,
Non-judgment,
And compassion.
So that will be the theme as thoughts and emotions surface.
We'll one,
Bring awareness to those thoughts,
That sense of mindfulness,
And then we'll greet those thoughts with that sense of non-judgment and compassion.
So we'll go ahead and get started.
Thank you for joining me.
So go ahead and find a comfortable position,
Settling into this practice,
Giving yourself permission to be here.
Nowhere to go,
Nowhere to be,
Giving yourself this space.
And if you want to close your eyes,
You can close your eyes or take a soft gaze.
Picking a practice that's working for you today.
Next,
Bring awareness to your breath.
If it's comfortable for you,
You can seal your lips and just breathe in through the nose.
Just allowing yourself to notice the breath.
Noticing the air coming in through the nose,
Filling up the lungs,
Then noticing your body naturally releasing the air and feeling the breath exit back out through the nose.
And in this breath awareness practice,
Allowing yourself to notice the breath,
But recognizing when thoughts,
Emotions surface.
A lot of times we'll feel inclined to really try to push away that thought and have more of a rigid practice of coming back to the breath.
But for this practice,
And maybe even in your other practices and in the life practice,
The human experience practice,
Try out the ANC approach.
So when a thought,
Emotion,
Feeling arises,
Allow yourself to notice the thought.
Bring awareness to it so that it's not that immediate pushing away or shoving down or maybe even numbing.
And as you notice that thought,
That emotion,
That feeling,
Give it a sense of non-judgment.
Knowing that whatever is popping up is just part of this human experience.
Perhaps seeing if you can create it with a sense of,
Or with an idea that you're an observer of it.
And then that thought,
That emotion,
That feeling,
Embrace it with a sense of compassion.
I find that this can be done really only after there's that healthy sense of awareness of it,
The greeting it as if it's neutral,
Knowing that we're never fully neutral.
But with that sense of neutrality,
That sense of non-judgment,
The understanding and the grace,
Once we can do that,
We can bring that sense of compassion.
So allowing yourself to be with this practice,
Noticing the breath,
And when whatever surfaces those thoughts,
Those emotions,
Instead of rushing back to that anchor point of the breath,
Allow yourself to go through the process.
What is surfacing?
Agree with whatever is surfacing with that same sense of grace that you would hold out for friends and family.
The sense of neutrality,
Sense of non-judgment.
And then bringing in compassion.
So allowing yourself to notice the breath.
Acknowledging thoughts with a sense of non-judgment and compassion.
And then I'll take the next few moments to allow for there to be space for the practice.
Or maybe this is a good spot where you want to pause.
For the next two or three minutes,
Allowing yourself to notice the breath,
But giving yourself that space for healthy awareness,
Non-judgment and compassion.
And knowing it's perfectly okay if during this practice the mind just completely wanders and goes off in its own direction.
Give that experience a sense of non-judgment and compassion,
Because it's all just a practice.
And if your practice is calling for you,
This may be a good space for you to pause and allow yourself a little bit more time.
But if you're ready to wrap up together,
We'll do so.
I want you to bring your hands into heart center.
Just checking in for a few moments.
Recognizing whatever is surfacing with that sense of awareness,
That sense of non-judgment and compassion.
And then we'll add on to it with the gratitude practice.
Inviting in a place,
A person,
A thing that feels like gratitude.
And whatever you're grateful for,
Let it be in your awareness,
In your attention.
And then whenever you are ready you can release your hands down.
Bring in some movement.
You can open your eyes at your own time and space.
And then seeing if in your day you can invite in the same practice.
Seeing how and when in moments of this life you can greet whatever is happening.
Giving yourself that healthy pause before the reactivity sets in.
Giving yourself that sense of,
Alright,
What's actually happening?
Am I aware of what's actually happening?
And then as you bring in that awareness,
Pause.
Agree with the sense of non-judgment.
And then when you do that hopefully you'll react with a sense of compassion and not a sense of anger or hostility or whatever the impulse may be.
And this can all happen within a second or two.
Or sometimes it may be a process of minutes,
Hours,
Days.
But in your meditation practice and in your life practice,
This human experience practice,
Just see where you can grab those moments of awareness,
Non-judgment,
And compassion.
Thank you for sharing your practice with me.
I know we're in a virtual setting but it is an honor to practice with each and every one of you.
