1.18.11 part 14 Actual steps in starting mindfulness meditation using breathing.
There are a few reasons why we aren’t as happy as we could be 1. we don’t stay in the present to really understand reality, 2. we pulled and pushed by past conditioning and future expectations, and 3. we react to emotions, positive , negative or neutral that help us deny reality, distort reality and distract us from being in the flow of reality which is the true source of happiness, health and knowledge. Meditative practice can help these. Basically you will allow the wave like nature of reality to come, be, and go.
This is a mental exercise in Present moment Awareness and Letting Go!, the goal is to be relaxed yet alert, and to have no pre-judgments or expectations.
This can be done in any posture, standing , walking, lying, though sitting is the best to insure optimal relaxation and yet alertness, eyes may be open or closed , whatever helps relaxation and alertness
It is better to practice a short & multiple times then gradually increase the duration.
There is no right or wrong way, of doing this, the goal is to stay aware of the present moment and learning from the process with no expectation of good or bad.
You will be gradually rewarded with increasing levels of alertness, concentration and calmness, that will lead to a stability of mind that will allow you to feel better and gain new knowledge so you can solve problems in a new way.
Do have this you must first be able to stay in the present, stay focused and calm, as you accept and allow reality, without reacting based on the past conditioning or future expectation, as driven by emotional reactions.
What you learn from applying mindfulness to the breathing can be applied to all things, problems will be solved with new insights, and the positives will have more pleasure, the negatives with less suffering, and the neutral will never be boring or un interesting.
1. become aware only of your body breathing in the present moment and let go of the past and the future
2. become aware of any muscular tension and let it go
3. become aware of the feeling the physical sensations of the breathing and let go any thinking, that uses controlling, comparing, changing, or expecting something, again anything from the past or future
4. become aware of any emotional reactions, positive, negative or neutral you may have about feeling the breathing sensations, and let them go , to instead accept each breath for what it is, and allowing it to naturally unfold.
5. sooner rather than later you will be pulled off your exclusive focus on the breathing, by some distraction, a feeling a thought a body or outer sensation, from the past, present or future, when this occurs become aware of it, allowing it to come, be for awhile and then let it go, to return back to the breathing,
6. repeat the above steps over and over, and again and again, feel the breathing, accept it, allow it to come, be and go, until distracted, the do the same with the distraction, allowing it to come, be and then let it go