Meditation exercise

A simple meditation

Go to a quiet place and take a few minutes or a little longer. Sit, stand or lie in a relaxed position. You can also walk slowly, for example back and forth in a room. Focus your attention on something that helps you stay in the moment, such as a sensation, word, image, or feeling. Here I will use breathing, but if you yourself have a suitable object of attention; you can take this too.

Be aware of your breathing, how does your face, chest, stomach or body as a whole feel? Focus your attention on the beginning of the inhalation, continuing to follow the breath with your full attention all the way to the exhalation. You do this with every single breath. If it helps, you can mentally count each complete inhale and exhale until you have done four or ten, and then you can start again. If you lose count, just start at one again. You can also quietly say certain words to yourself, for example 'in... out' or 'rising... falling'. It's not strange if your thoughts wander. When you notice this, simply return to your object of attention.

Relax as you breathe. Sounds and thoughts, memories and feelings will arise and disappear in awareness. You don't try to quiet your mind, but you don't connect with the distractions; you do not resist things that you find unpleasant and you do not respond to things that you do like. You are simply present in the present, you let go of the past, you have no fear of the future and do not try to plan for it. You don't have to do anything, go anywhere and be nobody. Rest and relax as one breathing body.

 

See if you can let go of tension and stress and relax and open yourself up to a growing peaceful feeling. Then explore at your own pace to see if you can discover a sense of satisfaction. If you want, you can open yourself to a feeling of love. There may also be other things present in your awareness, for example sadness or worry. This is not bad. Just let them be while you remain aware of your breathing, possibly accompanied by a growing sense of overall well-being.

During meditation, feel yourself relaxing more and more and also how other beneficial experiences penetrate deeper into you and become part of you. Now that you have come to the end of the exercise, try to actually receive everything that is beneficial for you.

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(Hanson, 2018)