“With gentleness and precision, meditation practice will bring us joy.”
~Sakyong Mipham
~Sakyong Mipham
SEATED PRACTICE
This week we ask you to really focus and steady your seated practice on the body. Learning to work with body sensations not only offers us a direct window into our basic moment to moment human experience, it is an invaluable skill as we negotiate the many difficult physical experiences that can show up on the cushion (or chair). Often when we begin to sit for longer periods of time, unpleasant sensations can arise in the shoulders, knees, hips, etc. Sometimes the discomfort is sharp, sometimes broad or pulsing, sometimes deep or numb. Our practice here is to notice with curiosity and kindness WHATEVER is arising. Moreover, learning to compassionately observe physical sensations serves us greatly when we encounter strong emotional states (which we will explore inweek 4 of the meditation series).
Please incorporate the following practices into your seated meditations:
BODY SCAN: Slowly scan the body (head, neck, shoulders, etc), staying alert to whatever sensations are present. Feel yourself as a physical body. If you are lost or not sure where to place your attention, direct your focus to the physical sensations of breath and then return to the body scan.
BODY EXPLORATION: Begin with your attention resting on the breath but notice whatever physical sensations arise in your field of awareness. Allow your attention to go to that area and explore. What are the basic elements (size, temperature, intensity, etc.) of the sensation? How does the sensation move, change, intensify or dissipate? How does the act of observation affect the sensation? When your attention wanes, gently return to the anchor of the breath.
STONG SENSATION: Explore strong physical sensations and/or the desire to move with kindness. We are looking to cultivate stillness but if you need to move, do so with interest and curiosity, paying attention to the changing sensations before, during and after.
For those of you who are new to meditation, we ask you to up your daily practice by 5 minutes a day (so if you’ve been sitting 10 minutes a day, now practice sitting 15 minutes a day). Notice what the extra 5 minutes feel like. Are you aware of the extra time? Does it make you more anxious or more relaxed? Does it allow you to go deeper in or do you notice more resistance arising? Remember, whatever you notice is an integral part of the practice, not an obstacle to the practice.
Carving out 15 minutes of stillness can seem daunting in a busy life, but what most people find is
that the stillness actually creates time in the day by generating a greater sense of spaciousness and perspective.
For those of you with an established practice, continue to augment your practice in a specific way—a longer sit, sitting more frequently during the week or adding an additional short sit during the day.
Please incorporate the following practices into your seated meditations:
BODY SCAN: Slowly scan the body (head, neck, shoulders, etc), staying alert to whatever sensations are present. Feel yourself as a physical body. If you are lost or not sure where to place your attention, direct your focus to the physical sensations of breath and then return to the body scan.
BODY EXPLORATION: Begin with your attention resting on the breath but notice whatever physical sensations arise in your field of awareness. Allow your attention to go to that area and explore. What are the basic elements (size, temperature, intensity, etc.) of the sensation? How does the sensation move, change, intensify or dissipate? How does the act of observation affect the sensation? When your attention wanes, gently return to the anchor of the breath.
STONG SENSATION: Explore strong physical sensations and/or the desire to move with kindness. We are looking to cultivate stillness but if you need to move, do so with interest and curiosity, paying attention to the changing sensations before, during and after.
For those of you who are new to meditation, we ask you to up your daily practice by 5 minutes a day (so if you’ve been sitting 10 minutes a day, now practice sitting 15 minutes a day). Notice what the extra 5 minutes feel like. Are you aware of the extra time? Does it make you more anxious or more relaxed? Does it allow you to go deeper in or do you notice more resistance arising? Remember, whatever you notice is an integral part of the practice, not an obstacle to the practice.
Carving out 15 minutes of stillness can seem daunting in a busy life, but what most people find is
that the stillness actually creates time in the day by generating a greater sense of spaciousness and perspective.
For those of you with an established practice, continue to augment your practice in a specific way—a longer sit, sitting more frequently during the week or adding an additional short sit during the day.
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