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Meditation Is Not About the Breath

Cory Muscara

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00:00

Meditation

4.1

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Meditation Is Not About the Breath

In this meditation, we practice working with the wandering mind, as well as all the many distractions that arise in meditation.

Let's start by finding

a comfortable posture.

This could be sitting,

standing or lying down.

If it feels okay to do so,

you can close your eyes.

And we'll start by taking

a deep breath together.

In through the nose.

And slowly out through the mouth.

Inviting the jaw to relax.

Letting the shoulders be at ease.

And the hands and the belly.

As the body settles in,the breath

can settle into its natural rhythm.

So in today's meditation, we're exploring

how the practice is not so much about

what you're focusing on, but more how

you work with all the things that pull

you away from what you're focusing on.

And there are a lot of different

experiences that can arise,

different emotions, attitudes,

thoughts, beliefs, sensations.

So let's keep it simple.

We'll place one hand on our belly.

Just start to feel the

movement of the breath.

And you may notice in the beginning,

it feels relatively easy to focus

on one thing, like the breath.

And as time goes on, the mind

may like to wander, or you

may get restless or agitated.

So today we're going to pay particular

attention to how we work with these

competing experiences for our attention.

And our one objective is to see if we can

bring the awareness back, bring our focus

back to the breath with a little more

grace than we might usually do, a little

more acceptance, a little more letting go.

And just see what it would be

like to practice in that way.

Can there be as much ease and peace

with the mind wandering as there is

with the mind steady on the breath?

I'll give you some time

in silence to practice.

So as we come to the closing

of our meditation, let's take

one more deep breath together.

In through the nose.

And slowly out through the mouth.

You can start to reorient

yourself back into the space.

And when you're ready,

letting your eyes open again.

Good job.

So as you go about your day today, and

you're find yourself trying to focus and

be present, notice your relationship to

the mind wandering into other things.

And instead of it being this terrible

thing that happens or something that's

antithetical to mindfulness, instead,

just see it as part of the process

and bring as much grace to the mind

wandering and coming back, as you do to

when you're actually deeply present with

the thing you're trying to focus on.

Thank you for your practice.

I'll talk to you soon and

until next time, take care.

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