Mindfulness Meditations

MINDFULNESS OF BREATHING

Focusing on the breath is a great place to start if you are new to meditation. The instruction is simple: pay attention to the breath.

Experiment with tuning in to the breath at odd times during the day when you remember (no one else will know you are doing it.) If you would like to start practicing more formally, set aside five minutes to sit quietly somewhere and pay attention to the breath. Gradually extend the length of time, but remember the quality of attention is more important than the length of time you sit.

There are more breath-focused meditations on pages 103-7.

TRY THIS

It can be helpful to choose an area of the body in which you feel the breath most strongly-for example in the belly, the chest, around the nostrils or the lips, and always take your attention to this place when doing a breathing practice. If you find it difficult to locate a place, perhaps place a hand on your belly or on your chest, so you can feel the act of breathing.

Then, just notice the sensations of breathing-this is different from thinking about the breath. What we are doing here is feeling the expansion as the chest and the belly rise on the in-breath. and noticing the contraction as the chest and the belly fall on the out-breath.

REMEMBER

We are staying with the length of each in-breath, then the length of each out-breath. Whenever our mind wanders (which it will), gently escort it back to the breath and continue.

CLEANSING THE BODY WITH BREATH

This simple practice is a form of body scan. The easiest way to do it is lying down, but you could also do it sitting or reclining. Here you are learning to focus on and direct the breath into and around the body, as well as deliberately tuning in to a wider awareness of your body.

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Take your attention to the breath and focus on the part of your body where you feel it most strongly-perhaps the belly, or the chest or around the lips and nostrils. and stay with your experience of the breath. breathing in. and breathing out. feeling the sensations of breathing. allowing the breath to breathe itself. letting go of any need to direct or manipulate the breath in any way. breathing in. and breathing out. supported and held by the surface you are lying on. resting with the breath. breathing in . and breathing out.

Now, taking your attention to the breath, imagine it is sweeping through the body. breathing in through the crown of the head. filling the body with breath. and breathing out through the soles of the feet.

Then, breathing in through the soles of the feet. allowing the body to fill with breath. with life. with energy. and breathing out through the crown of the head.

Continue in this way, sweeping the body with breath, breathing in and breathing out from top to bottom.

THE HAND

In this practice we are paying attention to the hand-the part of the body that caresses, touches, grabs, and so on-and reflecting on what it does for us moment by moment, day after day, year after year.

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Take your attention to one of your hands. In your mind's eye, just become aware of the hand. the palm. the back of the hand. the fingers. the index finger. the middle finger. the ring finger. the little finger. the thumb. Becoming aware of the length of each finger. notice the spaces in between. in your mind's eye becoming aware of the thumb nail. and then the other nails.

We are not looking for any particular sensations and you may have none at all-if so, that is your experience now.

Slowly move one of your fingers. Experiment with slowly stretching and bending the finger, feeling the stretch. noticing the contraction.

What is it like if you bring a finger and thumb together? What sensations are you noticing? Gently rub the finger and thumb back and forth together. moving them apart and bringing them together. becoming aware of any sensations of touch. Play with moving. adjusting, bending, stretching the different fingers on the hand. Moving them singly, moving them together.

Next, expand your awareness to the whole hand. Begin rotating your hand at the wrist. first one way and then the other. turning. noticing the limit of the turn. and then coming back. repeating the movement.

What you do today may be different from what you did yesterday or what you may do tomorrow. We are simply interested in the hand in this moment-what it can do, what it feels like.

THE FACE

It is best to do this practice at home or somewhere private where you won't be disturbed. You can do it sitting up or lying down. The purpose is to practice tuning in to the body, moving your attention and breath around a particular area.

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Closing your eyes (if that feels okay to you), taking your attention to your face. just become aware of the face. perhaps exploring its boundaries. where it begins and ends.

Then begin focusing your attention on specific parts of the face. the jaw. the lips. the mouth. inside the mouth. the tongue. the teeth. the nose. Notice the eyes. the eyeballs resting in the sockets of the skull. protected by the eyelids. feeling the weight of the eyes resting here.

Now focus on the forehead and the temples. the ears. the left ear. the right ear. the scalp. in your mind's eye, massaging the scalp with awareness.

All the time keep an active interest and curiosity about this face and these features. this face exactly as it is right now. letting go of any need or wish to assume a particular expression or pose. just allowing the face to be here as it is. Notice if any judgments arise and if they do, perhaps just noting "judging is here," before bringing your attention back to the face with kindness and gentleness.

Simply be with your experience, whatever it may be.

SETTLING IN TO THE BODY

I came across this practice in a book called Emotional Healing through Mindfulness Meditation by psychotherapist Barbara Miller Fishman, but it is also part of a Yoga Nidra (a body scan that helps to achieve a deep-sleep state in yoga.) It is a short practice that is best done lying down.

I find it a particularly quick way to get into the body if I am lying awake with a racing mind. In this body scan we move around the body in sections.

I find it is helpful to have a visual picture in my head of an outstretched body and to imagine it being segmented into the different parts (I always picture a magician cutting his assistant in half!) I usually do this practice lying down because it is harder for me to visualize when I am in a sitting position, but experiment for yourself and see. The order does not matter and you can always leave out sections if you wish to shorten the exercise or repeat it a couple of times if you prefer a longer practice.

TRY THIS

Lying down with your feet stretched out and falling away from each other, and your arms down by your sides. your eyes closed if that feels comfortable for you. become aware of the right side of the body. from the right side of the top of the head to the tip of the right foot. including the right arm. Just become aware of the right side of the body, staying with this for a few moments.

Now, leaving the right side of the body, become aware of the left side of the body. the whole of the left side of the body from the top of the head right down to the tip of the left foot. holding the left side of the body in awareness. staying with this for a few moments.

Next, become aware of the top half of the body. noticing the torso from the waist upward and through to the top of the head. including both the left and right arms. holding the top half of the body in awareness. staying with this for a few moments.

Then, leaving the top half of the body, take your attention to the lower half of the body. becoming aware of the area below the waist. including both the left and right legs. just holding the lower half of the body in awareness. staying with this for a few moments.

Now, become aware of the front of the body-so in your mind's eye you are picturing the front of the body. the face. the chest. the front of the arms. the belly. the front of the thighs. the knees. the shins. the front of the feet. holding the entire front of the body in awareness. staying with this for a few moments.

Then, leaving the front of the body, shift your awareness to the back of the body. the back of the head. the neck. the shoulders. the upper back. the mid-back. the lower back. the buttocks. the back of the thighs. the calves. the heels of the feet. holding the whole of the back of the body in awareness. staying with this for a few moments.

Now, shifting your attention, become aware of the whole body lying here. the whole body. the sum of all its parts. however...