Meditation

Meditation is self.

Meditation could be said to be the returning of awareness to awareness. Not as in awareness goes somewhere and returns, but as in awareness is believing interpretation, and this isn’t noticed. Meditation could also rightfully be said to be the non-overlooking, and therein the non-believing of arising interpretations.

(see The Ten Ox-Herding Pictures for a path overview)

Begin at the beginning,
explore each meditation.

Allowing awareness & mindfulness throughout the day:


Eating

Basic Relaxation

Walking

Mindfulness of Sound

beyond fundamentals & foundation

Do Nothing

Self Inquiry

Mantra


(see The Immutable Laws)

These meditations and more available at Google.sites

Basic Meditation: Posture, Balance, Relaxation, & Body Scan

Sit with spine straight, body equally balanced, head tilted slightly forward. Maintain attention on the feeling of breathing from your stomach. Allow the body to naturally breathe and relax into the sinking feeling of gravity, while maintaining a straight spine.

If attention wanders to thoughts,
gently return attention to the feeling of breathing from the stomach.

Bring awareness to the entire body and ‘scan’ for any tension, and allow the entire body to relax. If you notice any leaning forward, backward, left or right, readjust your seated position until the body is centered & balanced.

When you feel relaxed, begin to bring attention to the crown of your head, and with your inner voice, say ‘relax’, or ‘let go’, to the muscles of the crown of your head. When you feel the crown relax, then do the same for each muscle area from the crown through the entire body, ending with your toes.

Stay with each muscle until you feel it release: feel the crown of the head muscles release, feel the temples release, feel the eye sockets release, feel the cheek muscles release, feel the cheekbone area release, feel the nose & sinus area release, feel the mouth area release, feel the jaw relax & release, feel the neck muscles release, the shoulders, the upper back, the chest, the lower back, the arms, the hands, the fingers, the stomach, the hips, the thighs, the knees, the calves, the ankles, the feet, the toes.

The muscle areas of the body will respond by letting go,
and ‘sinking’ into gravity & relaxation.
Stay with each muscle until you feel it release, then move to the next.

Repeat from crown to toes, over and over, feeling each “pass” more deeply relaxing each targeted muscle than the pass before. Notice the entire body unifying in relaxation. Notice the ‘edges’ of the body, in terms of feeling, are ‘fuzzy’. That is, notice there are no distinct discernible ‘edges’ when feeling the body.

Eating Meditation

Eating is a daily activity which is a great opportunity to exercise mindfulness. It is common to eat while doing something else, like watching television, using your phone, talking, or even driving. Yet, eating is one of the most nourishing & important interactions in life. It sustains the physical body, brings pleasurable sensations, can fill us with joy and satisfaction, and can be a powerful source of spiritual insight. 

Making eating a practice of undisturbed mindfulness reinforces the core skills of concentration, sensory awareness & clarity, and emotional equanimity. Mindfulness brings flavors & the sensations of eating to a heightened level, making for a more relaxed body & mind, and a more satisfying experience.

Eating meditation increases your physical health, by removing the most common cause of weight gain. Eating too fast & unfocused often equates to eating more than you otherwise would. The feeling of the stomach being full takes a little while to come to attention, and eating slowly allows the ‘full signal’ to be recognized, before over eating. Many people experience foundational life changes in awareness from the simple act of eating mindfully, awareness & mindfulness which branches out to other facets of life.

Pay close attention to the physical activity of eating slowly, while contemplating the food itself.

1. During a meal, take a single piece of food and hold it in front of you. 

2. Pay close attention to the sensual quality of the food. If it is between your fingers, how does it feel? What is it’s texture? Feel it’s weight, shape, and physicality. Be mindfully aware of the perception of how it looks. What color(s) is it? What aromas does it give off? In every way possible, deeply encounter the food on the level of your senses (without putting it in your mouth yet). 

3. Tune in to your emotions around this bite of food. Are you attracted to it? Do you feel in a hurry to get it into your mouth? Are you annoyed at having to slow down and consider the food? Or are you perhaps unattracted to this food, and filled with a sense of disgust and not wanting to eat it? What are you hoping to get out of eating this food? 

3. Now consider where this food came from. Think of the farms where it was grown, the farmers who worked to grow it. Think of the sun and the rain it required to grow, the air and the soil which supported it, and so on. Then consider what it took for this food to get to you. It may have been picked, sorted, transported many miles, sorted, packaged, and so forth. It may have then been shipped to a grocery store, where people unpacked it, displayed it, sold it, and bagged it. Once in your kitchen, the food then had to be cooked or prepared in some way, even if only by washing. An enormous, complex web of interactions, elements, people, and perhaps animals and machines had to come together, all to bring you this single bite of food. It may have even originally come from the other side of the planet, all so that you could eat it, now. 

4. Now slowly and mindfully put the food in your mouth, but do no chew it yet. Simply feel the food on your tongue. Taste how it tastes before being chewed. Take in its smell, and its texture on your tongue. Notice how your whole body reacts and changes to the food in your mouth. Notice when salivation begins. The stomach may become active. Pay close attention to the entire process. It can be helpful to close your eyes, and fully dial into the sensations.

5. Next, slowly and mindfully chew the food. Attempt to chew in an attentive, active manner. As much as possible, remove the robotic, mechanical, habitual aspect of chewing. Instead, make each chew a conscious act, done with awareness, care and consideration. Notice how chewing the food changes it in many ways. New flavors and aromas are released. The texture and size of the food undergoes a remarkable change. As much as possible, keep your attention on the food and the act of chewing it. Let go of all other thoughts. Again, closing your eyes can enhance awareness of the experience.

6. Feel the food going down as you swallow. Feel it entering the stomach, and feel the sensations of the stomach receiving the food and working to digest it. 

7. Let go and relax, noticing all the sensations that arise from having eaten this bite of food. 

8. Repeat this process until the meal is ended. 

Basic Relaxation Meditation

Stress is an inherently unhealthy condition. It causes the body to release the chemical cortisol, which has been shown to reduce brain and organ function, among many other dangerous effects. Modern society inadvertently encourages a state of almost continuous stress in people. This is a meditation that encourages physical and mental relaxation, which can greatly reduce the effects of stress on the body and mind, increasing overall health, well being, and quality of life.

Concentrate on one small area of the body and relax it. Do this with each area of the body. Once you have covered the entire body, repeat the process. 

Take a reposed, seated posture. Your back should be straight and your body as relaxed as possible.

Now bring your attention to one small area of your body; for example, your left foot. Feel with your body any tension there may be in the foot. Say (in your mind) the word, "relax," and allow the foot to relax. Don't force it, simply allow it to let go. 

Next move on to another body part, for example, the right foot. Repeat the process of saying the word, "relax", and allowing the body part to relax. 

Work with each part of the body in turn. Do this very slowly, gently, and with great openness. Do not force yourself to relax, or induce any strain. Do not get upset if a certain area will not relax all the way. Simply accept that it has relaxed as best it can, and move on.

Also, do not attempt to move around, adjusting or massaging the body parts in an attempt to relax them. This is a motionless meditation, in which the stress in the body is just let go of, rather than manipulated.

Remember to really feel into each body part, noticing how it actually feels, and paying particular attention to any bit of it that feels like it "wants" to let go of tension. 

Once you have covered the entire body, you can either repeat the process as many times as you wish, or consider yourself done for now. 

This meditation can also be done lying down or before going to bed. It is a very good way to fall asleep.

Walking Meditation

Walking meditation is a great way to begin integrating the power of meditation into your daily life. It is the first stage of meditation in action, that is, learning to be meditative while "out and about" in the world. It is great to do while, for example, taking a walk in the park, at the beach, or in another natural setting. 

Walking meditation is often recommended for people who are doing a lot of sitting meditation. If you are getting to sleepy, or your awareness is getting to "muddy," walking meditation can perk you up. Alternately, if you are getting too concentrated and mentally "stiff," walking meditation is a perfect way to loosen up. . 

Pay close attention to the physical activity of walking slowly.

1. Before walking, stand still in an open, balanced posture. Bring your awareness to the feeling of your feet touching the ground. 

2. Now begin walking. Keep your gaze fixed on the ground about six feet in front of you. This will help you to avoid distraction. 

3. Note and mentally label three parts of each step you take. The labels are "lifting," "pushing," and "dropping." Lifting - when you are picking your foot up. Pushing - as you are moving it forward. Dropping - as you are lowering it to the ground. As you make each label, pay very close attention to the actual physical sensations associated with each of these actions. 

4. After these three components become clear, you can add three more, so that the entire sequence is: "raising," "lifting," "pushing," "dropping," "touching," and "pressing."

5. Your mind will probably also engage in thinking extraneous thoughts, but just allow these to go on in the background. Your foreground attention should stay on the physical sensations of walking.

6. If you find that you have been completely lost in thought, stop walking for a moment and label the thinking as "thinking, thinking, thinking." 

7. Then re-establish your awareness on the feeling in your feet, and begin the walking meditation again. 

8. A typical session of walking meditation lasts a half an hour. 

Mindfulness of Sounds Meditation

One of the simplest, most direct ways to connect with the present moment & further ‘cultivate’ awareness is to become aware of the breadth, depth & dynamics of sounds. Intentionally paying attention to the sounds filling our ears can not only help us to come back to the present but can also stabilize the mind & further refine our sense of hearing & deep listening.  

Sit and pay close attention to the sounds arising around you.

Settle into a comfortable position and become aware of your breath flowing in and out.

When you are ready, shift your awareness to the sounds that are present in this moment.

Without searching for sounds, let them come to you and fill your ears while simply hearing sounds near and far away.

Notice any judgments or thoughts about the sounds and let them pass away.

Notice if you find yourself trying to identify or label the sounds and instead focus on hearing the bare sounds themselves.

Be aware that sounds arise and fade away, and notice if there are any spaces between sounds.

When your mind wanders or fixates on a particular sound, gently return your attention to the flow of sounds occurring in the present moment.

When you are finished, shift your attention back to your breathing and gradually open your eyes.

Posture Meditation

This body-based meditation is a very effective way to get grounded and centered. It encourages an embodied, calm, and open awareness, and discourages disassociation. If you have a tendency to "leave your body," feel ungrounded, or disassociated, this is a good practice for you. 

Sit with your spine straight and aligned, and the rest of your body relaxed. Keep bringing yourself back to this condition. 

1. Take a reposed, seated posture. 

2. For this meditation, it is very important that your spine is straight. Your neck and back should be in perfect alignment. Your chin should be down very slightly. 

3. If you are sitting in a chair, do not rest your spine against the chair. Sit forward so that your spine is supporting its own weight. Let the muscles of the spine be engaged. 

4. All the other muscles of your body can be completely relaxed. Allow your face muscles to let go, and your jaw to drop slightly, such that your teeth are not touching. 

5. Let your shoulders hang freely, and let your belly be soft and open, and waistline relaxed.

6. This is the posture you are aiming for, with your spine erect and your body completely relaxed. 

7. As you sit, keep bringing your awareness back to the fine details of your posture. Notice any time your spine slumps even slightly, your head leans to either side, or any other deviation. Correct these gently and repeatedly. 

8. Also notice if any other areas of your body tense up even slightly. If anything is tensing, relax it in a gently and soft manner. 

9. Keep checking in with the body, using your body (somatic) awareness; the feeling in your body. Concentrate your awareness in the sensation, or, feeling, of your body. The sensitivity in your muscles, tissues, viscera, skin, and so forth. 

10. The more detailed and minute you get with this awareness, the better. Each tiny area of the body has its own sensitivity to contribute. 

11. Every once in a while you can zoom out to cover the entire somatosensory field - the awareness of your entire body - to bring the overall body back into alignment. 

12. Keep relaxing every muscle everywhere. Use just enough tension to keep your spine erect, but no more. 

13. Continue this meditation for at least 10 minutes, continuously contacting your body awareness. 

Body Scan Meditation

The Body Scan is designed to help you feel and bring awareness to the myriad of sensations that occur throughout your body.  By practicing this meditation regularly, you can improve your body awareness and also better work with pain and difficult emotions in the body.  Additionally, people report feelings of relaxation and renewal after this practice.  

Sit or lie on your back and systematically bring your attention to each region of your body, beginning with your feet and moving upwards.  

As you begin:

Sit or lie down on your back in a comfortable position with your eyes open or gently closed.

Take a moment to check-in with yourself, observing how you are feeling in your body and mind.

Begin to focus on your breath wherever the sensations are most vivid for you.

During the body scan:

Try to bring an attitude of curiosity to the practice, as if you are investigating your body for the first time.  

Notice and feel any and all sensations that are present, such as tingling, tightness, heat, cold, pressure, dullness, etc. If you do not feel any sensations in a particular region, simply note that and move on.  

See if you can be aware of any thoughts or emotions that arise as you move through the regions of your body. Note these thoughts and emotions, and then return to the bare physical sensations that you are experiencing.  

Whenever you come across an area that is tense, mindfully allow it to soften.  If the area does not soften, simply notice how it feels and allow it to be as it is.

Feel as deeply and precisely as you can into each region of the body, noting if the sensations change in any way. Also notice where they are located.

If you notice any pain or discomfort in a region of the body, see if you can practice allowing and exploring it for even a few seconds, feeling the various aspects of the sensation(s).  

Suggested sequence of body parts:

Begin with your left foot and toes, then move awareness up the left leg until you reach the left hip.

Right foot and toes up the right leg until you reach the right hip.  

Pelvic region and buttocks, stomach, low back to upper back, chest and breasts, heart and lungs/

Hands (both at the same time) then move up the arms until you finish with the shoulders.

Neck, throat, jaw, mouth (teeth, tongue, lips), nose, eyes, forehead, ears, skull and scalp.  

Finally, become aware of the whole body and rest for a few minutes in this expansive awareness.  

Body Meditation

This meditation raises one’s life force (prana, chi) and thereby betters all areas of one’s life. It connects the body with awareness, resulting in accessing & receiving life’s wisdom.

Set aside an hour or so in a place away from distractions. Get comfortable and place your attention on your most predominant physical sensation. Continue attending as long as it is most predominant. At some point there will be a shift, and some other sensation will become predominant. Attend to this sensation as long as it is predominant, and so on. Be aware of what you may feel, see, and hear. Their content is not as important as is the fact that you are being present and attending.

Predominant physical sensations may range from easily discernible sensations such as pain, to more ambient sensations such as itching in one’s nose. In the latter case, rather than scratch the itch, one is asked to attend to the itching with only mindfulness as long as it is predominant. Feelings may also be predominant; for example, sadness, anger, or joy. Often such feelings are associated with thoughts. If so, maintain attention on the feeling, rather than on the thoughts.

Body meditation is usually done singly, but there are benefits to doing it in dyads (pairs). Meditators may be physically present with one another, or communicating via phone or online. In dyads, one person vocalizes what his/her predominant physical sensations are, where they are, what they are feeling, seeing and hearing, and how they are shifting. The other simply attends, and may contribute comments as they come to him/her; for example, is there anything you are feeling/hearing/seeing?

As body meditation progresses, one builds life force and is more robust in living one’s life. One is increasingly connected to life and capable of receiving guidance that is beneficial not only to oneself, but to all of life. One is contributing to human evolution and helping bring heaven to earth.

Breath Awareness Meditation

Stress is an intrinsically unhealthy condition. It causes the body to release the chemical cortisol, which has been shown to reduce brain and organ function, among many other dangerous effects. Modern society inadvertently encourages a state of almost continuous stress in people. This is a meditation that encourages physical and mental relaxation, which can greatly reduce the effects of stress on the body and mind. 

Sit still and pay close attention to your breathing process.

Take a reposed, seated posture. Your back should be straight and your body as relaxed as possible.

Close your eyes, and bring your attention to your breathing process. Simply notice you are breathing. Do not attempt to change your breath in any way. Breath simply and normally. 

Try to notice both the in breath and the out breath; the inhale and the exhale. "Notice" means to actually feel the breathing in your body with your body. It is not necessary to visualize your breathing or to think about it in any way except to notice it with your somatic, or, body, awareness. 

Each time your attention wanders from breathing, return it to noticing the breath. Do this gently and without judgment. 

Be mindful to really feel into the act of breathing.

If you want to go more deeply into this, concentrate on each area of breathing in turn. Here is an example sequence:

1. Notice how the air feels moving through your nostrils on both the in breath and the out breath. 

2. Notice how the air feels moving through your mouth and throat. You may feel a sort of slightly raspy or ragged feeling as the air moves through your throat. This is normal and also something to feel into.

3. Notice how the air feels as it fills and empties your chest cavity. Feel how your rib cage rises slowly with each in breath, and gently deflates with each out breath.

4. Notice how your back expands and contracts with each breath. Actually feel it shifting and changing as you breath. 

5. Notice how the belly expands outward with each in breath and pulls inward with each in breath. Allow your attention to fully enter the body sensation of the belly moving with each breath.

6. Now allow your attention to cover your entire body at once as you breath in and out. Closely notice all the sensations of the body as it breathes. 

Repeat this sequence over and over, giving each step your full attention as you do it. 
Suggested time is at least 10 minutes. Thirty minutes is better, if you are capable.

If you find yourself distracted by a lot of mental chatter, you can use verbal labeling as an aid to concentration. For example, on the in breath, mentally say to yourself, "Breathing in." On the out breath, say, "Breathing out." Another possibility is to mentally count each breath. 

Grounding

Modern life is so complex and busy that it is common for people to feel overly mental, caught up in too much thinking, "revved up," worried, spacey, or even "disembodied." Under such conditions, the world begins to seem flat, two dimensional, lifeless, adversarial, and even painful. 

Grounding is allowing awareness to be present throughout the body & senses. Allowing awareness is naturally, presence. The presence of, awareness.

The body, the senses, and the present - are the keys to calmness and equanimity, as well as reigniting creativity, passion, love, connection, peace, and wellbeing. Grounding is also effortless.

1. Sit comfortably & still, and connect with your body and your senses. Ideally, your back should be straight and your body relaxed. 

- Sit still, and ‘sink’ into gravity, feeling the subtle relaxing ‘pull’.

- Allow all muscles throughout the body to fully relax & un-contract, from the crown of your head to the bottoms of your feet.

- Allow any inward clenching or tensions to relax naturally into the comforting of gravity.

2. Close your eyes, and take ten slow, deep, full breaths.

- With each inhale, imagine that you are breathing in peacefulness.

- With each exhale, imagine that you are breathing out all your worries and cares. 

3. Continuing to breathe deeply, and concentrate on feeling your feet. Feel the sensation present in the bottoms of your feet.

4. Now feel the sensation present in your hands. Feel the ‘tingling’ nature of the presence of sensation.

5. Keep breathing deeply. Continue to feel the sensation in your hands and feet. Do this for ten slow breaths. 

6. Now feel the presence of sensation throughout your whole body. Allow the presence of awareness through your entire body. Feel yourself breathing. Feel your back & bottom touching the chair. Do this for ten more breaths.

7. Continue this for as long as you like, or at least 5 minutes. 

This grounding exercise is a combination of many similar exercises. It is a quick, basic mindfulness practice that will get you in touch with your sensory experience of the present moment.

Awareness of Thoughts Meditation

Awareness of thoughts meditation is about recognizing the transience of thoughts, that thoughts come & go… while the awareness of thoughts is not transient, and does not come & go.

This can bring about preventative relief & relaxation in regard to ‘being triggered’ by, ‘being reactive’ to, or ‘getting sucked into’, thoughts.

The greater implication is mental & emotional equanimity, and insight into the actuality of thoughts, emotions, the presence of sensation and arising desires.

This practice helps with experiencing thoughts less personally, and therein not automatically believing and or reacting to arising thoughts.

Additionally, this meditation allows insight into any habitual patterns of thinking and related behaviors and actions.

This is a practice which you can sit comfortably for, and or, bring to mind and employ anytime throughout the day. As a more formal seated practice, if it is preferred, close your eyes.

  • Allow awareness of the feeling sensation of breathing in the stomach, and allow the body to relax. After a few minutes of feeling the breath, shift attention to the various thoughts that are arising, perhaps even persisting, and then passing.

  • Observe the arising & passing thoughts, and if ‘triggering’ or any bodily tension occurs, shift focus back to feeling the breath & relaxing the body.

  • Notice the distinction between awareness of thoughts arising, vs the implications, or ‘content’ of thoughts. Mindfully be aware, without adding any resistance.

  • Notice the content of thoughts, any emotions accompanying them, and any habitual reactions, and again, breathe & relax the body.

  • Allow natural curiously about the thoughts. For example, are the thoughts images, words, in color or black & white, how do thoughts feel, etc. Be sure to notice any gaps or pauses between thoughts.

  • When ‘lost’ into the content of thoughts, or the emotional response to thoughts; simply note this, and again observe the appearing & disappearing nature of thoughts. Notice any ‘grasping’, as in ‘clinging to’, thoughts.

Optional:

There are various metaphors and images you can use to help observe the transience of thoughts:

  • Imagining you are as vast and open as the sky, and thoughts are simply clouds, birds, or planes passing through the open space.  

  • Imagining you are sitting on the side of a river watching thoughts float by like leaves or ripples in the stream.  

  • Imagine thoughts are like cars, buses, or trains passing by.  Every time it is realized so to speak, you are thinking, notice - you can “get off the bus/train” and return to observing. Begin to notice you never actually come & go, but the believing of thoughts makes this seem so.


Please be gentle with yourself if you notice that you are constantly caught up in your thoughts instead of observing them. This is both common and normal. When you realize that ‘you are thinking’, gently and compassionately return to observing the thoughts.  

If the content of any thoughts is too disturbing or distressing, gently shift your attention to breathing, feeling, relaxing the body and hearing sounds around you.

Remember that you are not trying to stop thoughts, or only allow certain thoughts to arise, or figure anything out. Try to treat all thoughts equally and let them pass away without engaging in their content. 

This practice can initially be more challenging than other meditations. If you are just beginning, practice this meditation for only a few minutes at a time if that is more comfortable. Never force or push through. Relax & breathe.  

It can be helpful to treat thoughts the same way that you treat sounds or bodily sensations, and view them as impersonal events that arise and pass.  

Some people like to assign numbers or nicknames to reoccurring thoughts in order to reduce their pull and effect.

 Equanimity Meditation

The cause of much of our upset and emotional instability is clinging and neediness around people we like, and aversion towards people we don't like. We also have an unhealthy indifference to strangers, who may need our help, or at least our good will. 

This equanimity meditation helps us to examine our emotions towards people, and bring awareness to them. This leads to a more balanced, wholesome, and helpful viewpoint. It also cuts a lot of emotional turmoil & suffering at its root. 

Meditate on three people (a loved one, an enemy, and a neutral person), examining your feelings toward them. 

1. Sit in a comfortable meditation posture. Follow your breath until you feel centered and grounded.

2. Bring to mind the images of three people: someone you like, someone you dislike, and someone towards whom you feel indifferent. Keep these three people in mind throughout the meditation.

3. Focus on the friend, and look into all the reasons you like this person. Try to see if any of the reasons are about things this person does for you, or ways they uplift you. Ask yourself if these are really the correct reasons to like someone. Then do the same thing with the person you dislike, instead asking about the reasons you dislike them. Finally, do this for the person you are indifferent towards, asking about the reasons for your indifference. In all cases, notice judgment of the other person's worth. 

4. Next, ask yourself whether you consider each of these relationships as permanent. Would you still like your friend if they did something terrible to you? What if the person you dislike really did something nice for you? What if the stranger became close to you? Think about all the relationships in the past in which your feelings about the person have dramatically changed. 

5. Now, visualize the person you like doing something you dislike or that is unacceptable to you. Would you still be their friend? Remember there are people who you used to like, toward whom you now feel enmity.

6. Next, visualize your enemy doing something very kind for you. They might visit you in the hospital, or help you to fix your home. When you imagine this, can you feel positive emotions toward this person? Can you remember times in the past when an enemy became a friend? Is it necessary to feel that your strong dislike for this person will last forever? Isn't it possible that they could someday become your friend? 

7. Now visualize the stranger. How would you feel about them if they did something very kind for you? Isn't it the case that all your current friends were at one point total strangers? Isn't it possible that a stranger could become your best friend? It has happened before. 

8. Think carefully about how everyone deserves equal regard as human beings. You must discriminate and make decisions based on your knowledge of a person's character, but you do not have to hold strong feelings or judgments towards them. It is very likely that your emotions around a person will change many times, so why hold onto these emotions so rigidly? 

It can be upsetting to bring an "enemy" to mind. When working with the mental image of an enemy, be careful not to get lost in negative thoughts and feelings. If you find that you can't handle working with a specific person without getting very worked up, switch to someone less upsetting.

 Emotional Awareness Meditation 

This meditation brings about a great deal of equanimity with emotions. They will not seem to affect us as deeply or adversely. 

Many people have trouble contacting their emotions directly. Even if we feel that we know what emotion we are having, that does not necessarily mean that we are contacting it directly. 

To contact an emotion directly means to feel it in the body. This is the opposite of most people's experience, which is too related to ideas about or conceptualizations of, the emotion.

Here is an example. A person asks you how you are feeling. You respond by saying, "I am angry, because..." You then go on to tell the person all the reasons you are angry.

In this example, only the first three words, "I am angry" have anything to do with contacting emotion. All the rest of the explanation is conceptual.

A fuller example of contacting emotions directly, somatically, would be to say, "I am angry. I can feel a sort of gripping tension in my belly that is uncomfortable. The tense area feels kind of twisted and sharp. Parts of it are throbbing. It also feels like it is radiating heat outwards." 

Notice that the cause of the anger is irrelevant. The practice here is to feel the physical expression of the anger as completely as possible. 

Extended practice of this meditation will bring about "skill at feeling," that is, a tremendous amount of clarity in the emotional world. Emotional intelligence. 

It will also help emotions to process and release much more quickly and completely, because we are not holding on to ideas about the emotions, or people or concepts associated with the emotions. In the absence of such ‘clinging’, the body processes emotion quickly, naturally, and fully. 

Feel the physical expression of an emotion as completely as possible. 

1. Settle into a comfortable meditation posture. 

2. Breathing normally, bring your attention to your emotions. Notice if you are feeling any emotions, no matter how faintly. It is not necessary to know precisely which emotion you are having, or why you are having it. Just knowing that you are feeling something emotional is enough. Guessing is ok.

3. Once you detect an emotion, see if you can find its expression in your body. Maybe there is a sensation of tension, gripping, tightening, burning, twisting, throbbing, pressure, lightness, openness, etc. These are just some examples, describe the sensation in whatever way arises and is natural for you.

4. If you like, you can mentally make the label "feel" when you detect a body sensation of emotion. Other labels are possible ("emotion" for example). This helps to allow ideas and concepts to ‘be set aside’, or to be out of the way, that you might feel directly.

5. Each time you detect an emotional body sensation, try to actually feel the sensation in your body, as completely as possible. Feel it through and through.

6. Completely let go of any ideas you have about the emotion, or any ‘self talk’ you might have about why the emotion is arising. Return to the body sensation of the emotion.

7. Continue contacting these emotional body sensations for as long as you wish.

At first, practicing this meditation may make it seem as if the emotions are getting bigger. If they are held to be, or regarded mentally as ‘negative’ emotions, this may seem overwhelming for a while. This is natural. It is occuring not because the emotions are actually getting bigger, but for two interesting reasons. The first is because we are no longer suppressing them. We are allowing them to actually express themselves fully. The second is because we are observing them (actually feeling them) very closely. Just as a microscope makes small things look bigger, the "microscope" of attention makes the emotional body sensations seem larger than they really are. 

The good news here is that as the emotions express themselves freely in the body, they are being processed, and not disregarded or suppressed. Usually this means that they will pass much more Freely, naturally & quickly. 

If we are feeling a ‘positive’ emotion in this way, it may pass quickly, but we will also derive much more satisfaction from it, because our experience of it is far more connective, satisfying, rich and complete.

If we are feeling a ‘negative’ emotion in this way, we will experience much less suffering from it, because we are not adding resistance and suppressing it. 

Forgiveness Meditation

Forgiveness of others, forgiveness of yourself.

To practice forgiveness meditation, let yourself sit comfortably, allowing your eyes to close and your breath to be natural and easy. Let your body and mind relax. Breathing gently into the area of your heart, let yourself feel all the barriers you have erected and the emotions that you have carried because you have not forgiven – not forgiven yourself, not forgiven others. Let yourself feel the pain of keeping your heart closed. Then, breathing softly, begin asking and extending forgiveness, reciting the following words, letting the images and feelings that come up grow deeper as you repeat them.

Forgiveness of others:

‘There are many ways that I have hurt and harmed others, have betrayed or abandoned them, cause them suffering, knowingly or unknowingly, out of my pain, fear, anger and confusion.’

Let yourself remember and visualize the ways you have hurt others. See and feel the pain you have caused out of your own fear and confusion. Feel your own sorrow and regret. Sense that finally you can release this burden and ask for forgiveness. Picture each memory that still burdens your heart. And then to each person in your mind repeat: 

‘I ask for your forgiveness, I ask for your forgiveness’.

Forgiveness for yourself:

‘There are many ways that I have hurt and harmed myself. I have betrayed or abandoned myself many times through thought, word, or deed, knowingly or unknowingly.’

Feel your own precious body and life. Let yourself see the ways you have hurt or harmed yourself. Picture them, remember them. Feel the sorrow you have carried from this and sense that you can release these burdens. Extend forgiveness for each of them, one by one. Repeat to yourself: 

‘For the ways I have hurt myself through action or inaction, out of fear, pain and confusion, I now extend a full and heartfelt forgiveness. I forgive myself, I forgive myself.

Forgiveness for those who have hurt or harmed you:

‘There are many ways that I have been harmed by others, abused or abandoned, knowingly or unknowingly, in thought, word or deed.’ 

Let yourself picture and remember these many ways. Feel the sorrow you have carried from this past and sense that you can release this burden of pain by extending forgiveness when your heart is ready. Now say to yourself: 

‘I now remember the many ways others have hurt or harmed me, wounded me, out of fear, pain, confusion and anger. I have carried this pain in my heart too long.To the extent that I am ready, I offer them forgiveness.To those who have caused me harm, I offer my forgiveness, I forgive you.

Let yourself gently repeat these three directions for forgiveness until you feel a release in your heart. For some great pains you may not feel a release but only the burden and the anguish or anger you have held. Touch this softly. Be forgiving of yourself for not being ready to let go and move on. Forgiveness cannot be forced; it cannot be artificial. Simply continue the practice and let the words and images work gradually in their own way. In time you can make the forgiveness meditation a regular part of your life, letting go of the past and opening your heart to each new moment with a wise loving kindness.

By Jack Kornfield

Having an Inner Smile

Sometimes we can get in our own way by striving too hard or taking life too seriously. Smiling and lightening up can be beneficial for both physical and mental health. Having an inner smile means we’re greeting our experience with more kindness and openness. As Thich Nhat Hahn says, “You need to smile to your sorrow because you are more than your sorrow.” Holding an inner smile also reminds us to keep a sense of humor and avoid being too hard on ourselves. 

You can maintain an inner smile in everyday life as well as during formal practices such as yoga, prayer, or meditation; gently smile to yourself, with kindness, appreciation, and a sense of perspective.

Gently smile to yourself.  

The smile is not so much a physical gesture, but is more of a gentle, internal smile.

Let this smile remind you not to strive too hard or criticize yourself.  Also, let it make your thoughts, words, and deeds more gentle and accepting. 

Be mindful of what it’s like to maintain this gentle smile, and notice if any reactions arise.

If you notice that you have become caught up in striving or struggling, remember to smile.  See if you can find any humor in your thoughts or experience.

 Also, if you notice strong thoughts, emotions, or sensations arise that are particularly challenging, see if you can meet them with a smile.  You are not denying them or resisting them. You are just opening to the possibility that these experiences are not your true identify, and you are much more than them. 

Practice “smiling” at difficult situations or relationships to honor and acknowledge them with friendliness.  Notice what happens when you do this.  

Please note that by smiling at your experience you are not trying to deny or diminish it, you are simply meeting what is present with friendliness. 

Lovingkindness

This meditation technique is oriented to allowing unconditional love within you and towards other people as well. It reduces the discord of judgment and condemnation, and increases the sense of compassion, connection, and open-heartedness. You will radiate a sense of peace, love, happiness, and comfort to all around you. If you are upset or angry, this technique is calming. 

Wish good things for yourself and other people (and animals, the planet, etc). 

1. Sit in any comfortable meditation posture. 

2. Allow your mind and body to settle. 

3. Now begin to do the recitations.

Loveingkindness for yourself.

1.  May I be safe and protected.

2.  May I be peaceful and happy.

3.  May I be healthy and strong.

4.  May I experience well being.

Continue reciting this for as long as you wish, bringing up feelings of really wishing these things for yourself. 

If you wish, you can end the technique here; or you can continue by offering lovingkindness to a friend. 

Lovingkindness for a friend.

1.  May he or she be safe and protected.

2.  May he or she be peaceful and happy.

3.  May he or she be healthy and strong.

4.  May he or she experience well being. 

Continue reciting this for as long as you wish. Feel into the warmth & compassion within, in wishing your friend well.

If you wish, you can end the technique here; or you can continue by by offering lovingkindness to a loved one.

Lovingkindness for a loved one.

1.  May he or she be safe and protected.

2.  May he or she be peaceful and happy.

3.  May he or she be healthy and strong.

4.  May he or she experience well being. 

Continue reciting this for as long as you wish.

When you are finished, offer to all that is the love, compassion, friendliness, and openness within.

This technique can also be done when going about any other activity. 

The intention is simply to radiate love, joy, and happiness. 

As your practice of lovingkindness becomes strong, you can also bring to mind those which may be experienced as more difficult or challenging, and offer them the boundlessness within as well. This is considered to be an advanced version of the practice, only to be done once your momentum of lovingkindness is so strong that the offerings for difficult persons will not fill you with negative thoughts and emotions. 

Seeing Yourself With Love

Practicing Seeing Yourself with Love can help shift your perspective to see the good qualities within you that others see every day. Through this practice, you can begin to reclaim and embrace the good that you have overlooked, and see how lovable you really are.  

Imagine seeing yourself and good qualities through the eyes of someone who loves you. Then, come back to your own perspective and notice how it feels to possess these qualities. 

Choose someone in your life who truly loves you.

If you have trouble thinking of someone, try choosing a person that you knew previously or briefly who made you feel “seen” and accepted.  Or, try choosing a pet.

Now, imagine you and this person sitting across from each other beholding one another.  

Begin to see yourself through this person’s eyes, focusing on the good qualities he or she sees in you, and this person’s love for you.  

Ask yourself, “Why does this person love me? What does he/she see?”

Go slowly with this exercise until you can really see and feel what this person sees and feels for you.  

When you are ready, come back to yourself and notice how it feels to possess these good qualities.

Really take in the good of this experience, savoring the love, worthiness, and good that exist within you.  

If you wish, write down these good qualities and read them daily to remind yourself of them.  

By James Baraz

Concentration (Single-Pointedness) Meditation

One of the hallmarks of modern life is the proliferation of distractions. As media becomes more pervasive, and media connections more ubiquitous, time away from distraction becomes ever harder to find. Previously, people were content to sit in restaurants or stand in line, without a television screen to stare at. Now these have become standard. The result of all this, and many other causes, is that people find it increasingly difficult to focus their minds. 

Concentration makes proper though possible, by allowing intelligence, which allows a mind to calm down and focus enjoyable & effectively. A concentrated mind is like a laser beam, able to use all its powers in a single direction with greater ease and to greater effect. 

Concentration is critical to many human endeavors. Being able to listen to another person for example, in a compassionate and connected manner, requires being without mental distraction.

Concentration allows a mind to stop being a "reaction machine" or "robot," simply responding to stimulii, and instead to become more insightful, self-directed, and therein - confident. 

Concentration in one area is concentrate in ALL areas. Akin to lifting weights, single pointed concentration doesn't just make you strong for lifting weights, but strong for anything else you want to do!


Think about one thing. Every time you get distracted, return to that one thing. 

1. Find an object on which to concentrate. This can be a physical object, like a pebble or a feather. Or it can be a mental object like a particular idea. It could even be, say, your homework.

2. Cut off any sources of distraction. These include, but are not limited to, telephones, emails, computers, music, television, and so forth. Turn all of these off during your concentration practice. 

3. Begin your period by mentally reminding yourself what you are concentrating on. 

4. Now begin to concentrate. If your concentration object is an external object, this may mean looking at it. If it is a mental object, then think about it.

5. Each time your mind (or eyes) wander from your concentration object, bring it back to the object. It is important to do this very gently and without judgment. 

6. Repeat this process of coming back to the concentration object for as long as you wish, or until your homework is done. 

Concentration can at first seem to trigger a lot of undesirable feeling. This is, however, not the fault of the concentration practice. Rather, it happens because many people use distraction to avoid feeling emotions. Then when the distractions are removed, a tremendous amount of ambient, unprocessed emotions (i.e. emotions you are feeling but were unaware of feeling) are present. So it is not the practice of concentration that is causing this, but instead it is the habit of distracting ourselves from our emotions. This may be the root cause of much inability to focus and concentrate. If that is the case, try meditating on emotions.

Concentration and meditation are not the same thing, although they are related. Meditation (usually) requires concentration, but also requires relaxation or equanimity.

 Do Nothing Meditation

The highest ‘state’ of spiritual communion is actually presence, and thus is not a state at all. Yet, many meditation techniques focus on creating a ‘special state’ that wasn't there before the meditation, and which goes away at some point after the meditation.

As the present is actual, ‘it’ is ‘higher’ than any mental abstractions of ‘states’. The present, or, presence, is always actual, or, actually present ‘all the time’. Therefore, shouldn't it be possible to simply notice without inducing, chasing, obtaining or making attempts to produce a ‘special… state’? 

That is exactly what Do Nothing Meditation is… the non-cognitive recognition of, presence.

This technique (which is really a non-technique) is the allowing of the recognition that the present is presence, and is what would otherwise be believed to be other than presence, and via rumination, sought after.

If you have skipped over previous meditations on this list, consider returning to the beginning and experiencing the meditations suggest in order, as not to experience any unnecessary frustration.

Sit comfortably, relax, and breathe.

Each time the intention to control or direct attention is noticed, simply relax and allow. You might say, simply ‘give up or surrender’ the intention.

1. There is no need to get into any particular posture.
2. There is no need to position attention in any particular way.
3. Allow whatever happens, to happen, or, to simply be what is happening.
4. Any time the intention to do anything is noticed, surrender that intention.


Some examples of activities of thought that can be surrendered:
* Intentionally, or, voluntarily ‘thinking’.
* Trying to focus on something specific.
* Trying to have equanimity.
* Trying to keep track of what's going on.
* Trying to meditate, or ‘achieve a state’.
Let go of the thought activity of ‘doing’, or, ‘the doer’, or, ‘doer-ship’.

5. A 10 minute increment, or whatever duration is preferred, is recommended.


It may be difficult for those new to the practice to notice any difference between the Do Nothing meditation and incessant "monkey mind," that is, the ceaseless, driven and fixated ‘thinking’ (activity of thought) of the everyday mind. If this seems to be the case, it may be helpful to do a more structured technique. 

Self Inquiry

This is an enlightening meditation technique of self-realization. By realizing the truth, or true nature, the bonds of suffering are broken. Besides realization, self-inquiry delivers many of the same benefits as other meditation techniques, such as relaxation, natural enhancement of experiencing life, greater openness to change, greater creativity, and a sense of joy and fulfillment.

Focus on the feeling of being "me," to the exclusion of all arising thoughts. 

1. Sit in any comfortable meditation posture. 
2. Allow the mind (the activity of thought) and body to settle (relax). 
3. Let go of any thinking whatsoever. 
4. Place your attention on the inner feeling of being "me."
5. If a thought does arise, ask yourself to whom this thought is occurring, as this returns your attention to the feeling of being "me."
Continue this for as long as you like. 

This technique can also be done when going about any other activity. 

The self-inquiry technique is often misunderstood to mean that one should sit and repropose the question, "Who am I?" over and over. This is an incorrect understanding of the technique. The questions "Who am I" or "To whom is this thought occurring?" are only used when a thought arises, in order to ease attention back to the natural feeling of being me. At other times the mind is simply silent.

This practice of turning awareness back upon itself, prior to the ‘I’-thought, is a gentle technique, which is not a means of per se, controlling the mind. It is not an exercise in concentration, nor does it aim at suppressing thoughts; it merely invokes awareness of the source from which the mind springs. The method and aim of self-inquiry is to abide in the source of the mind and to be aware of what one really is by withdrawing attention and interest from what one is not.

In the early stages effort in the form of redirecting attention from the thoughts to the source of thoughts is essential, but once awareness, or, the ‘I’-feeling has been firmly established, further effort is counter-productive. From then on it is a being and not a doing, an effortless being rather than an effort to be.

Mantra Meditation

Do you feel like you think too much, or that your thoughts are driving you crazy? Mantra meditation may be one way to help. Mantra meditation tends to slow down the mind, and cool out the thinking process. Many people report it to leave them feeling centered, refreshed, and relaxed. 

Mentally repeat a sacred word or phrase. 

The first step is to choose a mantra. A mantra is a word or phrase that is believed to have a sacred meaning and power. Mantras are typically quite short, in order to make repetition easy. Choose whatever short word or phrase works for you. 

If you cannot decide on a mantra, here are some favorites, categorized by the tradition from which they come:
Hindu:
      - OM 
      - RAM
      - OM NAMAH SHIVAYA           

     Buddhist:
       - OM MANE PADME HUM
       - NAM MYOHO RENGE KYO

Sikh: - WAHE GURU
     Christian: - KYRIE ELEISON
     Jewish: - SHEMA YISRAEL ADONAI ELOHEINU ADONAI ECHAD
     Muslim: - ALLAH HU           

Picking a mantra may be the hardest part! Once you have made your choice, the actual practice is simple:            

Take a reposed, seated posture. Your back should be straight and your body as relaxed as possible.

Close your eyes, and relax again. 

Now, with your eyes closed, begin to repeat your mantra mentally. 

Repeat it in a gentle, soft, open (mental) voice. Don't say it in a special or emphatic tone. Don't repeat it in a fast or anxious manner. Smooth, relaxed, and even. 

As you repeat the mantra, bring your attention to the sound of it in your mind. Listen closely to the sound of the mantra, as if you were listening to it on the radio. Pay careful attention to each and every repetition.

If your attention begins to wander, bring it back to the sound of the mantra. If it wanders again, bring it back again. 

Notice your mind becoming calm and centered. 

Continue to do this for at least 10 minutes, or for as long as you like.