Hello, and welcome to the first practice session of the course. In this video we’re going to be going over just a foundation of how to get prepared for a meditation session.
So, I’ll invite you to go ahead and find a comfortable place to sit. Again, this can be sitting in a chair, or on a couch, or on a cushion on the ground, anywhere that feels comfortable.
And again, aligning the spine, so lengthening the spine, and then relaxing the shoulders. And then, when you found your place to sit, I’ll invite you to close your eyes if you feel comfortable doing so.
And if you prefer to keep your eyes open, you can have just a soft gaze towards the ground.
And we can begin this meditation session just by taking a few deep breaths.
So, breathing in deeply, and breathing out slowly.
Let's do that one more time; breathing in deeply, and breathing out slowly.
And then, just taking a few moments to rest in this present moment.
Just giving yourself permission to be here without having to go anywhere or do anything.
Putting down your to do lists, your agendas, and just allowing yourself to rest.
And so, setting up a good foundation for meditation, we can just do some body relaxation.
The more relaxed we can get our body when we begin, it helps to relax the mind as well.
And so, we'll do this just by checking in with the body and, if we notice any spots of tension or tightness, we can soften around those areas.
Bringing your awareness to your face, and particularly the muscles around your eyes.
Seeing if you can soften any tension in those muscles around the eyes.
Bringing your awareness to the muscles in your jaw and the muscles around your cheeks.
Again, just letting go of any unnecessary tension.
Softening where you can.
And again, just resting.
Slowly moving your attention down the neck and the shoulders, feeling the weight of gravity pulling down on the shoulders gently.
In mindfulness meditation there’s really nothing to achieve, nothing to accomplish.
So, we can just give ourselves that permission each time we sit down.
Reminding ourselves that there’s nowhere we need to get to. Just learning to rest in the present moment.
To end this meditation we can take a deep breath in together;
breathing in, and breathing out.
And then slowly you can allow your eyes to open.
And take a moment to take in the room around you, just noticing anything you see or hear.
Take a moment to also notice how you feel. You might notice some calm or relaxation.
So, this is how we set a good foundation for meditation practice. Learning how to rest in the present moment without needing to get anywhere, or experience anything.
So, that's it for today.
I'll see you tomorrow where we'll be going over the basics of mindfulness and learning how to practice mindful breathing.
I'll see you then.
What is the name of the instrument used at the beginning and end of the meditation?
Thank you for the wonderful introduction and 3 Breath practices. I want to take with me the idea of resting in the present moment without expectation. Presence with neutral awareness.. Thanks again for sharing your wealth of knowledge.