Set your timer.
Close your eyes and once again check your sitting posture: can you make yourself 5 – 10 % more comfortable?
Circulate your attention throughout your body, and then bring your attention to your foundation – feel the surface you are sitting on (mat, blanket, chair) and the weight of your sitting bones on that surface.
Bring your focus to your breathing, and notice the way your body is breathing itself for the next several breaths.
Now, to refine the focus, shift your attention to the sensations of breath as it enters and leaves your nostrils. Again, stay for several breaths.
Now add your mantra: we usually use SO-HUM mantra for our group meditations. Remember to repeat the mantra silently to yourself in an easy and relaxed manner.
Continue with the mantra until your timer goes off. Once it does, reverse the above instructions: shift your attention to breath sensations at your nostrils; then observe breath flow throughout your entire body; from there notice your foundation for a few moments, and then, finally, open your eyes.
Most beginner meditators grapple with having thoughts, fleeting attention, lack of focus, and many, many, many preconceived notions about what meditation practice should look like. We will discuss these further in the future. For now, please continue your daily practice, and rest assured that it is progressing exactly the way it is supposed to.
Keep meditating!
