MEDITATION INSTRUCTIONS
PREPARATION
Sit in a firm supportive chair with good posture. Do not strain to sit up straight, yet do not slouch.
Place your hands in your lap and close your eyes.
Focus on each of the muscle groups from your head to your toes in turn. Consciously let each muscle group relax before moving on to the next. If you do not feel relaxed once you finish, start from your head again and repeat the process.
Set a timer for the desired time of meditation. 30 minutes is best. If you find this difficult, start at 15 minutes and lengthen the time as you progress.
Once you feel settled and relaxed, begin the meditation.
MEDITATION SESSION
Breathe naturally through your nose with your usual rhythm and depth of respiration.
Focus 100% of your attention on feeling the air pass over the tip of your nose.
If you are having trouble feeling the tip of your nose, give it a gentle touch with your finger.
Remember, this is a full 100% of your concentration. Therefore, there is no room left in your conscious mind to be thinking about what happened in your day, or what you are about to do after the meditation session. Your concentration will naturally stray from the tip of your nose. Acknowledge this as soon as it happens, and return your consciousness back.
What am I trying to achieve from meditation?
Once the mind is trained to focus, peripheral “noise” or secondary thoughts in the mind are either reduced or gone. The meditation will allow you to acquire the skill of thinking of one thing at a time. Therefore, when you carry out your daily activities, you will focus 100% of your concentration on the task you are performing at that time. This is what the Buddhists mean when they talk of “mindfulness”.
What are the benefits of meditation?
You will feel more relaxed. You will be less pensive, and less distracted from the thoughts and worries that used to gather in your head.
