Week 1 of a 6 week introductory course to Mindfulness Meditation. Starts with a 15 minute guided meditation followed by a 30 minute Dharma Talk followed by another 30 minutes of guided meditation and finally 15 minutes of discussion/Q&A led by Mark Nunberg
Following the talk on the 5 jhana factors and the 5 hindrances from the night before...
We welcome a sense of contentment in our starting conditions, take interest in our breath and remind ourselves it is all we need while meditating. From here, we aim and sustain our attention.
We begin this meditation with awakening to the aliveness in our body, using the imagery of a smile, and a body scan. Then we are guided to sense the vastness of awareness and to rest in that open wakefulness, allowing the changing thoughts, sounds, sensations and feelings to come and go. When we let life be just as it is, we become a sea of awareness that includes all the waves.
This guided meditation awakens an embodied presence through a body scan, and invites us to rest in the breath, while allowing the different waves of sensations, feelings and sounds to come and go. When difficult experiences arise, we breathe with them, feeling them fully and mentally whispering, “this belongs,” or “this too.” By not resisting, we discover the sea of awareness that has room for all the waves.
In meditation we bring energy to receptivity of the mind. Generally, mind is in active mode. But through listening, sensitizing, and not moving onto the next thing, heart awareness opens more fully.
Working together in pairs, taking turns to describe a time of feeling ease, calm, confidence, courage, and noticing the effect this has on the body, heart, and mind
A short guided meditation attuning to the body and the heart-mind, noticing how we're relating to experience, and inclining in the direction of appreciation and gratitude
