How to Meditate

Resources

• Mindfulness Home Study
• Centering Prayer Practice
• Article on Centering Prayer

Tips on How to Meditate

• Find a quiet place where you will not be interrupted for the next several minutes.
• A good intention to have before starting is: I have nowhere to go and nothing to do. For this time now, I am nobody going nowhere.
• Set your vibrating cell phone alarm for 5 or more minutes, and then forget about time altogether.
• Sit comfortably in a chair with a straight back & close your eyes. Position your hands as you like.
• Allow the breath to flow in and out of the nose at its own rate and depth. Avoid forcing either a slower or faster rate. Just let the body breathe. Notice the sensations of simply breathing.
• When the mind wanders into mental talk, mental images, emotionalfeelings, and/or physical sensations, gently notice it andacknowledge whatever it is and then pay no further attention to it.
• Let your breath be your anchor. If you get distracted or caught up in any particular sensation, thought, emotion, or image, just bring your awareness to your breathing again and again.
• Let everything be as it is without reacting to or trying to change anything. Like a bystander, just witness your experience as it is right now, however it may be, pleasant or unpleasant, in each moment.
• If you get caught up in any particular storyline, fantasy, daydream, rumination, compulsive thought, or distraction, then just gently stop, drop into your body, and roll on with your breath.
• Do not judge or analyze any arising experience. Just feel it and let it pass by, like standing at an assembly line of moving thoughts, images, emotions, and sensations.
• Return your focus to the present-moment anchor of your natural breathing (which is your doorway into the present moment) wherever you notice it most (nostrils, belly, temperature, flow, back, legs, feet, shoulders, the sound of it, etc.). Just feel what you feel as it is right now.
• This simple repeating process of gently bringing your attention to the awareness of your present moment experience is meditation, or unmanipulated experience.
• At the end of your meditation period, remain still for a few more moments. Notice how you feel. When ready, rise up and be fully present with whatever experience you encounter throughout the day.
• You can adjust the length of your meditation time as you feel is appropriate.

Summary: Meditation in a Nutshell

The ingredients (TIES mnemonic)
mental Talk/Thoughts
mental Images
Emotional feelings
physical Sensations

The recipe (SOLR mnemonic)
See it (notice it)
Observe it (acknowledge it)
Let it be (release it)
Return to your anchor (just breathe)