A Basic Guide to Meditation
These instructions are for a silent meditation.
Silent meditation can be more difficult to master than a guided meditation. You are alone with yourself and you will begin to understand the way your mind is working as you open yourself up to the vastness of your internal world.
You are not your brain, that is a physical entity within your head, your proverbial gray matter. It takes in input from your fives senses, it gathers what you see, what you hear, etc. This input is then interpreted by your mind, which is separate from your brain. The mind processes the information gathered by the brain and creates your reality and your understanding of the world around you.
You are not your mind. You are capable of observing the mind as it makes associations between old information and new information and prioritizes what information is important. As you observe the mind, you will realize that you are a conscious entity separate from your mind.
To begin you will need a quiet place, as free from interruptions and distractions as possible.
Find a comfortable place to sit. You can sit cross legged on the floor (put a cushion or folded blanket under your bottom for additional support if you need to), upright in a chair, or whatever way your body relaxes best.
Relax or close your eyes, whatever is the most comfortable for you.
Use a timer such as the *Insight Timer" meditation app set for 15 to 20 minutes.
Breath in slowly, calmly and deeply through your nose and out gently through your mouth. Count your breaths (each full in/out cycle counts as one) to 10 and then start the count over again.
Thoughts might cross your mind and a few of them might get stuck there but that is okay. Acknowledge your thoughts and gently refocus on your breath. You are compassionate with yourself, your thoughts are not good or bad, your mind is not good or bad. As your mind wanders off, gently bring it back to the present and refocus on your breath.
You notice your thoughts gently drifting, like clouds across the expansive blue sky of the mind. Like the clouds in the sky, your thoughts are not good or bad, they simply are, existing temporarily in the moment and then passing by. Do not hold onto any of them, do not judge them. Simply observe them and let them pass by. Continue to focus on your breath.
When the timer chimes and your meditation is over, it can be helpful to write down any impressions that you have in your journal.
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