Mindfulness Resources
The mindfulness “space” is pretty huge right now. There was a time you could look up meditation resources and struggle to find a teacher or style that fit your own. Now, it’s all over the place and perhaps even more hard find the right resources for you.
The following are some guided meditations that I use in my mindfulness workshops and classes. My suggestion: alternate between listening to a guided meditation and guiding yourself. The basic structure is often pretty simple. Focus on your breath. Scan your body sensations. Open your awareness to whatever is present in your experience.
The key is often your attitude: be patient, come back when your mind drifts, know that you are cultivating awareness and space, not a silenced, quieted mind. The end goal is to increase tolerance and embrace your present-moment experience, whatever that may be.
Loving Kindness,15 minutes
Loving kindness, also known as “metta”, is a perfect entry point into the practice of mindfulness and one I always find myself going back to even though at first, I was not a fan. But do not under-estimate the value of kindness and compassion and its relevance to mindfulness. Mindfulness is about perceiving one’s present moment experience without grasping or pushing away. Out biggest obstacle can be how we feel about ourselves and others. Kindness helps cut that away. We can be more generous with ourselves and stop attributing characteristics to others in a reactive, automatic fashion, attributions that get in the way of perceiving reality. It is no harm to us to wish others to be safe, happy, and well, even a person so toxic that they may need to be contained. Wishing others well can help one navigate tough relationships and appreciate others.
Open Awareness + Mindfulness Attitudes, 15 minutes
Open awareness goes by many names and it is what it seems - just sitting in open awareness without a focus on any particular sensation. Paying attention as your mind takes in thoughts, sounds, physical sensations, and emotions. In doing so, we train ourselves in equanimity - being with our experience as it arises without the push and pull that often characterizes the way we engage with lives. In this meditation, we stress the “seven attitudes” of mindfulness: beginner’s mind, trust, patience, non-judging, curiousity, kindness, and acceptance. These are all interwoven and overlapping and help nurture the ability to be mindful in everyday life.
Awareness of Breathing, 15 mins
If you’ve done any mindfulness meditation, you may be familiar with an awareness of breathing practice. Awareness of the breath teaches one patience, concentration, clarity and equanimity - in the same way that running or swimming can train the entire body. At first, your mind may wander almost the whole time, and that’s ok. Being aware of the mind wandering is part of what is being cultivated. Coming back to the present moment tracks these shifts in attention and will strengthen your attention. The breath is also a gateway to the present moment and can be a nice perch from which you can observe it as it unfolds.
Body scan, 15 mins
A body scan is a classic mindfulness meditation that gets one used to the different kinds of awareness that comes with being human. Getting used to scanning your body in an informal way cultivates present-moment, non-judgmental awareness. Our bodies are always present. They are a platform for our awareness. They offer up a different kind of awareness than thinking and emotions. They can also be like a wild horse, dictating the agenda unbeknownst to our thinking minds and directing us into confrontation, anxiety, or away from an appreciation of what is right in front of us. The more we are aware of, accept, and acknowledge what is going on in that terrain, the more choice we can have.
Written Resources
Dan offers a four-week workshop on meditation and mindfulness. The bedrock of the course includes the four, 15-minute meditations that are linked to above as well as four weekly readings, which are below.
(1) Week one Reading; (2) Week two Reading; (3) Week three Reading; (4) Week four Reading
Books, apps, and other resources
Here are some of my favourite books, websites, and other online resources.
Books:
Relax and Be Aware, by Sayadaw U Tejaniya
When Things Fall Apart, by Pema Chödrön
Wherever You Go, There You Are, by Jon Kabat-Zinn
Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind, by Shuryu Suzuki
Also Consider Checking Out:
Why Zebras Don’t Get Ulcers; Robert Sapolsky
Thinking, Fast and Slow; Daniel Kahneman
Online:
https://jeffwarren.org/explore/meditations/ - Jeff Warren, Canadian teacher – a source for lots of fun and interesting offerings
https://www.mindfulnessstudies.com/ - Established school located in Toronto offering courses and one-day retreats
http://cecmeditate.com/ - A fun, exploratory group that explores many methods and traditions
https://www.dharma.org/ - Insight Meditation Society, established centre in Massachusetts, founded by Sharon Salzberg and Joseph Goldstein
Apps