Beginners Choice Meditation

We will start,

If you're new to meditation,

Just listen to the guiding.

In the guiding will be instructions and also it will help you calm and help you relax a little bit.

And then we'll be sitting in silence.

It's important to really take advantage of the silence.

This is the opportunity to go a little bit deeper in our meditation.

The silence is there for a reason,

It's for us to get a chance to really,

Really watch and look and see what's going on within our minds and the body.

With the body comfortable,

Please close the eyes.

Bring your attention to the body and notice how it feels.

When you notice the body,

You might notice the temperature,

Temperature of the body or temperature of the air surrounding the body.

You might notice any kind of movement of the air.

Might notice how the body feels inside.

You might notice any kind of body tension in the area of the muscles or tendons.

And if you're new to meditation,

I will remind you now that it's very common to be very subconscious about the body and whether you're sitting right,

Whether you're doing it correctly.

And if your body is comfortable and sometimes even marginally comfortable,

You're doing it right.

Kind of the posture you're in is a new posture for you,

The way you're sitting.

It's something that can be made very familiar with.

The posture of the body,

The more we do it,

The more consistent we are as a meditator,

The more familiar we are with the position.

And it becomes a part of the meditation practice.

So the body plays a very important part of the meditation as well as the mind.

But when we bring our attention to a meditation object,

Which as I mentioned is the breath,

That is another aspect of the body.

Notice the breathing.

Don't try to change it or anything.

Don't try to manipulate it in any way.

Just notice the breathing as it comes into the body and as it leaves the body.

So the breathing is what the body is doing to bring in the air and to release the air.

And it happens all naturally.

We don't have to be thinking about it in order for it to work.

If we ever stop breathing,

We would want to be concerned about it,

But that very seldom happens.

The subconscious mind allows us to breathe.

And so if we observe the breathing,

We somehow begin observing the breath.

We notice the air as it moves and it touches the body.

So the breathing is happening and the breathing is pushing the breath and the air back and forth in and out.

This is something that we very seldom think about during the day,

If ever.

But notice what the mind is doing while I'm pointing this out to you.

The mind should be very,

Very present.

This is what we're calling presence.

You're focusing on something that is bringing you into the present moment.

You're not worried about the past or the future.

You're focusing on the breath or the breathing and you're very present.

And this is where we find our freedom and where we can be free from any kind of suffering,

Any kind of pain that we have in our life.

It's not that we're running away from anything or trying to change anything.

We're just pointing out to ourselves that we can be free and we can be happy and fulfilled in this moment when we focus on the right thing,

Which is our intention to stay in this presence.

So continue focusing on the breath.

Notice the movement of the breath or how it goes in and out of the body.

Let's make the breath interesting.

Notice the top of the inhalation right before you exhale.

Again notice the top of the inhalation before you exhale and how that comes up again and again and again.

Now notice the bottom of the exhalation when you breathe out right before you breathe in for your next air.

Breathing in then you're breathing out and right before you breathe in again,

That's good.

Now we can notice that the top of the inhalation has a little bit more energy to it because there's energy coming into the body when we breathe in.

See if you can notice that.

When we focus on the top of the inhalation there's more energy.

Breathing in we're breathing in prana or energy.

Breathing in air,

Oxygen.

And so if we get a little drowsy we can bring our attention to the top of the inhalation and that can even wake us up a little bit because there's energy behind it.

And now when we breathe out that's the more relaxing part of the breath,

The bottom of the exhalation before we breathe in again.

And if we have any kind of tension or if we're not relaxed mentally or physically we can bring our attention to the bottom of the exhalation.

Again this is the most relaxing part of the breath and when we focus on it we can become relaxed just by focusing on that area of the breathing.

Notice while we're doing this we're still remaining present.

We're focusing and concentrating on the breath.

We're not worried about the past or the future.

We're experiencing our true nature and we should be very,

Very content with doing this practice.

Now using the bottom of the exhalation we can use this as a tool to kind of relax the body.

Notice if there's any tension or stress in the neck or the shoulders.

And imagine that you're able to breathe through that tension with the bottom of the exhalation.

See if this relaxes your shoulders or neck.

If there's any kind of discomfort anywhere in the body we can use the breath to really soften and relax these areas by using the bottom of the exhalation.

Just imagine breathing through or breathing into these areas.

Using relaxation to any discomfort.

And now again remember if you're getting drowsy you can change your focus to the top of the inhalation right before you exhale.

Notice that this has more energy behind it.

This is all a type of anapanasadi or what is called mindfulness of breathing.

Different ways to use the breath.

And knowing and intending while we're doing this that we are remaining present.

We're resting in the present moment where there are no problems related to the past or the future.

We're able to let go of any problems that we have or anything that we're hanging onto.

We can temporarily just let go of it.

Just like opening our hands and letting it all rest.

Any kind of thoughts or any kind of feelings or ideas that we have we can just notice them and let them go by.

Just let them go and come back to the breath and use the breath as our meditation object.

And so we will sit in silence for the next 10 or 12 minutes.

And I suggest you use the breath in the way that you have been using it or focus on it in some way that it feels very connected with you and feels very soothing.

If this practice seems boring,

Just remember it's supposed to be boring.

And whatever comes up for you is some aspect of your mind and it has a lesson behind it.

And it's our job as meditators to learn these lessons.

Nothing really comes up like that.

If the mind starts wandering,

Bring your attention back to the breath.

Focus on some aspect of the breath,

The top of the inhalation or the bottom of the inhalation.

Try to make it a little interesting.

Focus on the breath.

Focus on the breath.

Focus on the breath.

Focus on the breath.

Focus on the breath.

Focus on the breath.

Focus on the breath.

Focus on the breath.

Focus on the breath.

Focus on the breath.

Focus on the breath.

Focus on the breath.

Focus on the breath.

Focus on the breath.

Focus on the breath.

Focus on the breath.

Let's bring our poems together in front of us if you like.

The life of happiness.