11-Minute Respiratory Observe for Consciousness

Susan Kaiser-Greenland guides us via one of many oldest meditation practices known as “Sit and Know You are Sitting.”

One of many oldest meditation practices can also be one of many easiest: Sit, and know you’re sitting. Let’s give this straightforward respiratory follow for consciousness a strive:

1. Get comfy, together with your again straight. Shut your eyes and calm down. Gently transfer your consideration away from what you’re considering to the sensations in your brow and round your eyes. Soften and let go of any pressure. Smile somewhat and soften your jaw. Let your shoulders really feel heavy and drop away out of your neck. Calm down your higher arms, your decrease arms, your palms, your fingers.

2. Calm down into your breath. Place one hand over your coronary heart. Let your shoulders drop much more. Really feel your breath transfer your hand up, then down, up down, up down. Now transfer your hand to your stomach, soften, let go and calm down. Inhaling, know you’re inhaling. Respiratory out, know you’re respiratory out. Let your palms relaxation simple in your lap and let go of any pressure in your higher legs. Soften your knees, soften your decrease legs, let your ft really feel heavy and sink into the bottom.

3. Discover the sensation of respiratory. Discover how your physique feels as you calm down and drop. The a part of your thoughts that’s noticing—that’s consciousness. It’s nothing particular. You don’t have to search for it. You don’t have to do something in any respect. Consciousness is at all times right here. Settle in and keep together with your respiratory for a number of moments. Belief that your breath will discover a pure rhythm. Belief that consciousness is at all times right here. Inhaling, know you’re inhaling. Respiratory out, know you’re respiratory out.

The a part of your thoughts that’s noticing—that’s consciousness.

4. In case your thoughts will get busy, don’t fear, that’s what it’s designed to do. To regular your consideration silently, say “in” while you breathe in, silently say “out” while you breathe out. Ideas, photographs, and sensations, they’ll come and go. The aim is to note them with out fascinated by them. Don’t attempt to cease them. Don’t attempt to make them go away. Don’t attempt to change them, they’ll change on their very own. No have to replicate on them now. There’s loads of time to do this later. No want so as to add something to your expertise on this respiratory follow for consciousness. Simply stick with it, when sounds seem, hear them, when sensations seem, really feel them, when ideas and pictures come to thoughts, discover them. That’s how we sit and know we’re sitting.

5. Watch what’s taking place in your thoughts and physique the way in which you’d watch a film or a TV present. The storyline will twist and switch, threads of the plot will go by, one thing new will emerge. You don’t have to search for this present, simply settle in, calm down, and it’ll come to you. Discover how these ideas and sensations and pictures, they don’t have a lot heft, just like the plot in a film there’s no actual substance to them. Nothing substantial to dig into or to hook onto, nothing to close down, to push away, or to alter.

6. You don’t have to do something in any respect. Let go and settle again, calm down your thoughts, smile somewhat bit, sit and know you’re sitting. Earlier than we shut, take a second to note the ever-changing, at all times linked internet of causes and situations that result in this and each single second. If somebody involves thoughts who has been useful, silently say thanks.

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