12-Minute Daily Meditation With Introductory Instructions

Welcome to this introduction to a 12-minute daily guided meditation.

Brief meditation,

Done daily,

Can improve mood,

Attention,

Memory,

And emotional regulation,

So this is a worthwhile practice.

Listening to this introduction before actually starting the recording is important.

You can listen to it again and again,

And eventually you may feel fine simply starting in the guided practice.

Some parts of the introduction may be confusing at first.

Don't worry about that.

Some will become clear when you listen to the guided meditation,

And others will make sense as you return to this introduction after having practiced the guided meditation.

Eyes can be closed or open with a soft downward gaze.

You can be seated,

Standing,

Or lying down,

Any position that allows you to be both comfortable and awake.

Choosing a more upright position is advised if you're feeling particularly drowsy.

The practice begins with some gentle stretching and shoulder rolls.

You're invited to let your body be the teacher and follow the wisdom of your own body,

Letting my voice simply make suggestions.

So,

Bringing an attitude of friendliness and non-striving to the stretches is advised.

Adapt these stretches based on the position that you're in and the condition of your own body.

If you can't do a particular stretch,

Then modifying it,

Including simply envisioning the body going through the practice,

These are skillful approaches to mindfulness practice.

Most commonly,

Breathing through the nose is advised,

But if the nose is blocked,

Then mouth breathing is just fine.

And you may find it helpful for the stretching portion and for the few deep breaths at the beginning of the practice to exhale through the mouth.

Setting an intention of stillness for the portion after the movement practice is advised.

That's simply an intention of stillness.

It's not a rule that you can't move.

Again,

Bringing a friendly attitude towards the body is important.

Speaking of attitude,

An overall attitude throughout the whole practice of non-judgmental friendliness to the body,

To the wandering mind,

These will serve you well.

You'll be guided in focusing on different anchors or objects of attention during the practice,

And you can either stay with any one of the anchors or come back to an anchor that you used previously in the practice.

Knowing that the wandering mind is not a failure in practice.

In fact,

A wise meditation teacher once said that all you need to be successful is a wandering mind,

A restless body,

And out-of-control emotions.

So if you've got those,

You're going to be a great success.

There are ways to work mindfully with unpleasant or painful sensations that show up during the practice.

First of all,

Acknowledging them,

Not trying to push them away.

You might make a mental note of their characteristics.

So if a sensation is aching,

Burning,

Or throbbing,

Just notice this and then come back to your anchor.

If that unpleasant or painful sensation continues to pull your attention away,

Then you could actually begin to use that sensation as the anchor itself,

Noting its qualities like I just mentioned.

Those could include whether it's getting stronger,

Whether it's getting weaker,

Exactly what its location is and does that location change.

So you'd really start to just focus on the unpleasant sensation itself as the anchor.

Another approach to working with an unpleasant sensation is to pendulate.

So anchoring with the sensation for a bit and then coming back to a friendly anchor and going back and forth.

Just about every physical sensation has a beginning,

A middle,

And an end,

All of its own accord.

So as you stay with these unpleasant physical sensations,

You very likely will notice them pass away and then you can resume the practice where I'm guiding you.

And finally,

If it seems called for,

Repositioning the body is a very acceptable way of working with an unpleasant sensation as long as you do it mindfully.

So that means not letting it just be a knee-jerk response to scratch an itch or move an aching knee or other body part,

But rather to work with it for a bit and then when you decide,

Let me try repositioning,

To move mindfully,

Aware of the movements that you're making,

And then settle back in with that intention of stillness.

It's also possible for unpleasant thoughts and emotions to arise in addition to unpleasant physical sensations.

Here too,

Acknowledging them,

Not trying to push them away,

You might make a soft mental note of simply thinking,

Or if it's an emotion,

Feeling.

You might be more specific,

Labeling it as worrying,

Ruminating,

Planning,

Or noting emotions by noting to yourself,

Sadness is here,

Excitement has shown up,

Boredom is here,

Or doubt is arising.

Emotions don't need to be fixed in any way.

They will come and go just like the weather.

So not having a sense of needing to make yourself feel better,

But rather this acknowledging of how you're feeling and letting things be as they are.

Knowing that you can start again and again and again,

Coming back to your friendly anchor as many times as is called for.

If you're finding that some really persistent or strong emotions or thoughts keep coming up,

You might change the position then too,

Or opening the eyes,

If they've been closed,

Can be stabilizing during these times.

If these approaches aren't sufficient and thoughts or emotions become overwhelming,

Then pausing or stopping that particular practice session is advised.

If these kinds of really overwhelming emotions or thoughts keep arising,

Then getting help from an experienced meditation teacher is skillful.

And again,

Setting this intention that you'll be practicing daily or daily-ish,

So you don't have to be perfect at it.

All right,

So finding your comfortable position,

Choosing whether to close your eyes or keep them open,

And the 12-minute guided practice will begin shortly.

Beginning this 12-minute guided meditation by taking an intentionally deep breath and stretching the arms up over the head,

With an exhale,

Stretching arms out to the sides and down,

And just pausing into stillness.

Now,

Rolling the shoulders.

If it serves you,

Linking the shoulder rolls with the breath by allowing the inhales to guide the movements,

The exhales to guide the downward movements.

Reversing direction with these shoulder rolls,

And coming to stillness,

Sensing into any other areas of the body that are calling for some stretching or repositioning before beginning the stillness portion of the practice.

As these movements feel complete,

We'll begin three intentionally deep breaths.

Upon coming to the exhale,

In particular,

Having a sense of just putting things down.

So,

Beginning now,

Deep inhale,

Exhaling,

Just putting things down.

Taking another deep inhale,

With the exhale,

Allowing things to settle.

Taking the third deep breath on your own,

Again with that sense of putting things down,

Or perhaps relaxing on the exhale.

Now,

Allowing the breath to just return to its own natural rate and rhythm,

And being invited to anchor your attention at your feet.

Noticing whatever sensations are arising as the attention is anchored at the feet.

Not so much thinking about the feet,

But rather being aware of whatever can be felt,

Including a complete absence of sensation.

And when the mind wanders from this anchoring at the feet,

Acknowledging it,

And beginning again.

Now,

You might stay with the anchor at the feet,

Or accept the invitation to explore sensations at the seat region.

Bringing some curiosity,

What can be felt as the attention is anchored at the seat?

When the mind wanders,

Acknowledging it,

And beginning again.

If it serves you,

Now focusing the attention at the hands.

What shows up when the attention is anchored at the hands?

Now,

You might stay with one of these anchors we've already practiced with,

Feet,

Seat,

Hands,

Or you may accept the invitation to open to sounds.

Simply allowing sounds to arrive at the ears.

Not so much noting what's causing the sound,

But rather exploring the qualities.

Loud or soft,

Low or high pitched,

Constant or intermittent,

Regular or irregular.

No sound is an interruption in practice,

It's simply another phenomenon to be noticed.

Now,

If it serves you,

Noticing where in the body the breath is most easily perceived.

Perhaps in the nostrils,

Back of the throat,

Or movements of the chest or belly.

Having identified where the sensations of breath are most vividly perceived,

Anchoring the attention with the breath.

Breathing in,

Knowing that you are breathing in.

Breathing out,

Knowing that you are breathing out.

Knowing the pauses between the breaths.

When the mind wanders,

Acknowledging it,

Perhaps making a soft mental note of thinking,

Feeling,

Hearing,

Whatever it was that the mind wandered to,

And beginning again.

Continuing this practice with whichever anchor has been friendliest for you,

And knowing that there'll be a bit more silence allowing you to practice.

Where is the mind in this moment?

As we draw to the close of this practice,

Taking a moment to have some gratitude.

Beginning with gratitude for yourself,

For having taken the time to do this self-care practice.

And bringing to mind someone who has shown you kindness at some point in your life,

And having a sense of gratitude for that being also.

And now,

Setting the intention to practice again tomorrow.

Thank you for your practice today.

May you be safe,

Well,

Happy,

And peaceful.