Open Awareness Meditation This is a traditional mindfulness meditation,
Similar to what most people think of when they hear the word meditation.
Using mindfulness of the senses,
Feeling tones,
And your overall experience in the present moment,
This is a practice in true open awareness.
It is the cornerstone of mindfulness practice for many meditators across the world.
Start with a brief body scan.
Moving from head to toe,
Rest your attention on each part of the body with mindfulness.
Rest Dance Open your awareness to the sensations in the body.
Tension,
Pain,
Softness,
The desire to fidget,
Or maybe an emotion or feeling.
What arises and grabs your attention?
Slowly observe the body.
Calmly or calmly.
Open your practice to the experience of hearing.
Is to the experience of hearing.
When a sound comes into your awareness,
Acknowledge that you are hearing.
Notice any bodily sensations or sounds present.
Continue to open,
This time including the thinking mind.
You may see thoughts,
Emotional experiences or general mental states.
Whatever is present,
Note that you are having an experience of the mind.
Open mindfulness practice can sometimes feel too open.
By allowing space for anything to arise,
You may start to feel lazy or overly relaxed.
As the mind relaxes,
It may start to spin out on random trains of thought.
If you find this happening,
Try tightening your awareness a bit by focusing on one of your five senses.
Remember that every time you bring your mind back,
You are strengthening the mental muscles of mindfulness and concentration.
So so add the practice of noting a feeling tone.
Cultivate an intention to receive and remain open.
Recognize whatever is present in your awareness and how it feels.
If your mind is reacting to any part of your experience,
Make that reaction part of your practice.
So so now as you complete this meditation and move into your day,
Try to sustain some of this awareness.
