The Art Of Mindfulness

Welcome to another stress-fit meditation.

Welcome to the final practice of the Relax Your Mind series.

In this session,

You will practice a mindful meditation,

Staying open and spacious to whatever rises in your field of awareness.

Meditation is the art of awareness and observation.

By simply shifting your experience into a state of observation,

You bring the activity of the mind into alignment,

Helping reduce mental and physical stress.

When you are awake and conscious,

Your mind is constantly flowing with activity.

The thoughts that occupy your mind are like a stream of energy that moves in frequencies of slow and fast.

We can call this process the thinking mind.

In open monitoring meditation,

You are open to anything that is taking place in your thinking mind,

And that enters your awareness at any given time,

Including bodily sensations.

This level of witnessing can also be exercised throughout your daily life and is referred to as being mindful.

The philosopher and spiritual teacher Jiddu Krishnamurti once said that,

Observation without judgment is the highest form of intelligence.

By observing through open monitoring meditation,

We begin to understand the mechanisms of the mind,

Becoming familiar with its nature.

There is a distinctive difference between observing and analyzing.

When we analyze,

We label and judge what we observe.

When we purely observe,

Judgment is suspended and we accept what we perceive to simply be in its natural course of expression.

We neither resist or identify,

And we are simply accepting what is.

The ancient masters have been teaching this for eons.

It is no spiritual mystery,

Rather a simple shift in experience that allows you to be in alignment with the natural order of life,

The present moment.

In many ways,

You will become your own psychologist,

Observing the inner workings of the mind,

And this will slowly decrease the built-up energy in your mind.

These built-up energies are responsible for excessive thinking,

Resulting in a more relaxed mind.

All you have to do is practice this form of meditation to be aware of your thoughts and feelings and simply observe them without attachment or judgment.

There is no need to analyze this concept,

Rather feel it within your being and just allow yourself to be open to whatever rises within your field of awareness.

In this meditation,

You will simply be observing and monitoring your thoughts and sensations,

Letting go of the need to establish any attachment.

Let's begin by getting comfortable in our position,

Head,

Neck,

And shoulders in one straight line,

Maintaining a nice straight back throughout this practice.

Dance on your knees and then gently close your eyes and mouth now.

It's now time to signal to your body that it's time to relax by taking in some nice,

Deep breaths.

Breathe in deeply through the nose and gently release through the nose.

Bend your belly with each inhalation and allow your belly to relax with every exhalation,

Breathing in through the nose and breathing out through the nose.

Be aware of the rise and fall of your abdominal region.

If you are not using your diaphragm to breathe,

Just simply take a few moments to push and pull your belly to activate your diaphragm.

Each time you exhale,

Let go a little bit more of the outside world.

Redirect and channel your attention into the sense of hearing.

Be mindful of all external sounds.

What sounds can you hear?

What sounds can you hear?

Allow all sounds to move through your body.

There is no need to interpret or identify with any of these external sounds.

Just simply be open and allow all sounds to move through you.

Moving from sound to sound without establishing any attachment.

Sounds will naturally manifest into your experience,

But you don't have to do anything.

You don't have to create or manipulate or change anything.

The sounds will come and the sounds will go.

What's important right now is to remain open and allow the moment to simply be.

Try to do this for an extended period of time.

I'll give you a few moments to practice this.

But if you need to,

Feel free to do any.

The object of sound appears and we are present.

We are alert.

We are aware.

In this space,

The mind can be relaxed,

Spacious and open to all sounds.

And all you have to do is to simply listen.

Now bring the same quality of relaxed,

Spacious hearing to all the internal sounds,

Starting with your breath.

Internalize your spacious awareness.

What does your breath sound like?

Listen carefully to the sound of your breath.

And listen carefully to the sound of your breath.

Listen carefully to the sound of your breath.

Use your diaphragm to take in some long,

Deep,

Conscious breaths and gently release it.

Now,

Feel your breath.

What does your breath feel like?

Notice effortlessly noticing your breath.

It's the effect of27 minutes of Your�무�,

And you can come close to it.

Yu- raining sounds in slight You may find your attention wandering or thoughts pulling your attention into the thinking mind.

It's perfectly normal to be distracted.

Just simply be aware of the distraction and then reconnect with your breath.

Just allow your breath to be.

There is no need to interrupt or disturb the natural flow of your breath.

All you must do is simply notice your breath and be open to any other sensations that manifest in your field of awareness.

Remain open and spacious.

Just be with your natural breath.

Be mindful of any physical sensations that may rise.

Just observing,

Witnessing,

And watching all sensations.

Just be aware of any physical sensations that may rise.

Just be aware of any physical sensations that may rise.

You may feel thoughts starting to pull your attention into thinking.

This is fine.

Be aware of this process and simply shift your state of mind into observation,

Into your breath.

Allow it to naturally pass.

This is a cleansing process.

It is promoting mindfulness,

Sharpening your mind,

Enhancing your focus.

Now I want you to be aware of the space between your breaths.

Pay attention to the gap between your inhale and exhale.

Find this gap more and more with each breath.

Allow it to introduceHariti Yama.

Hariti Yama!

Now pay attention to the gap between your thoughts.

You may hear a certain quality of silence.

Pay attention to this silence.

There is nothing you need to do other than just effortlessly noticing,

One breath at a time.

And now just completely surrender to this moment.

Allow all sensations to move through you.

Simply just be,

Stay open,

Relaxed,

Maintaining a spacious level of awareness.

Many distractions will arise,

But all you have to do is simply come back to the breath.

Your breath is the anchor point to the present moment.

Whenever your mind drifts off,

Simply notice that it has done so and return to the breath.

Let go of all your expectations.

Let go of all your thoughts.

Let go of all your ideas.

And let go of the external world.

Internalize your attention into the body,

Becoming mindful of the sensation of your body.

Aim your attention back to the breath.

And see if you can sustain your attention into your breath for the next few moments.

Just becoming aware of the breath entering the body and being mindful of the breath leaving the body.

And let go of all your expectations.

And let go of all your thoughts.

For the rest of this practice,

Just openly monitor all sensations that manifest into the breath.

All the sensations that manifest into the field of awareness.

Sounds.

Thoughts.

Feelings.

Just watch.

Observe.

Witness.

Do not resist or identify.

Just simply be open.

You may want to use your breath or the sensation of your body as an anchor point for your attention.

Notice now whatever comes to the surface of your mind.

And do not resist or identify with it.

Simply recognize it as a thought or sensation.

Let it go and return to the breath.

And let go of all your expectations.

Coming to the end of our practice,

Gently open your eyes.

Once again,

Listen to the sounds.

Feel your body.

And see if you can bring some of this quality of presence and connection to the next activity that you perform.

Namaste.