Journal

Our meditation practice is a simple ritual. It is the intention-in-action to do less and experience more. But within the practice itself, there are small rituals that help us create safety, arrive in our bodies, and remind ourselves of this present experience. In this style of meditation, mindfulness, we keep the rituals simple (in terms of form); but the power of ritual is in the contemplation of these questions, to start: where am I? what am I doing (or not doing)? what does this feel like?

In this meditation, we will practice techniques to work with the thinking mind, in a friendly way. "Think" is a funny word. It rhymes with "blink"... which is a good reminder because thinking is even more involuntary than blinking; thinking is an inseparable part of the mind's function. The thinking mind serves consciousness with opinions, ideas, imaginings, concerns, narratives, associations... it's endless. But in meditation, the hard-working mind can feel like it's obscuring the act of meditating, producing feelings of frustration and discouragement. But herein lies the heart of mindfulness practice itself: observing the workings of the thinking mind, and getting intimate with the way the mind naturally is, allows us to step back from the minutia of thought and into more expansive wisdom.

Sleepiness can be one of the most difficult obstacles to encounter in meditation, but there are ways to work with it beneficially. In this meditation, you will learn how to help balance the force of sleepiness, and also to work with it mindfully if you encounter it. We will practice a breathing exercise to help prepare the grounds, then learn tools to support awaked-ness.

The field of sound is ever-changing, unpredictable, and diverse, rather like our conscious experience at large. In learning to meditate on sound, we practice equanimity (keeping an even and open mind) through the stages of sensation, perception, and association with sound. We learn to direct our attention back to the sonic field, strengthening the muscles of mindfulness, and clarifying our focus towards the unfiltered experience of the present moment.

In this practice we bring together three mindfulness techniques with which we have worked so far, to lengthen the transformative space of meditation. Karen will review the practices for 3 minutes, then lead into a 13 minute guided meditation.

Meditating with breath awareness is an effective and accessible technique, but it is difficult to learn! In this meditation, you will practice a simple counting technique to help coalesce your attention with the experience of breathing. This will draw your energy away from preoccupations and distractions, and help centre you in a state of greater peace and presence.

Your breath is of your body, it is comforting with no unwanted side effects (!), and is the ideal refuge for your heart and mind to find peace. But when the breath is so easily taken for granted, how do you foster a mindful relationship with it? In this guided meditation, we begin to explore the basics of breath awareness meditation.