by Adam O'Neill
1.Find a comfortable seated position. You can sit cross-legged on a cushion on the floor or in a chair. Sit up straight, but don’t force perfect posture.
2.Soften your gaze or gently close your eyes.
3.Take 5 deep breaths. Inhale slowly through your nose, and let out all the air through your mouth with an “ahhh” sound.
4.Allow your breath to return to its natural rhythm and stay with it for each inhale and exhale. Find and focus on a spot in your body where you feel your breath the most.
5.Bring your attention to the simplicity, purity, and peace of each breath. Your breath—your diaphragm contracting and relaxing, pulling air in and letting it out—is always there for you.
6.Bring your attention to your heart, beating softly and persistently in your chest, moving blood through your entire body to deliver nutrients and oxygen and remove toxins from every cell.
7.Bring your attention to your other internal organs, each dutifully doing its job to support the systems in your body.
8.Envision your endocrine and lymphatic systems creating hormones and fighting off invaders.
9.Bring your attention to your brain, connecting and processing signals from your entire body and the external world and providing the necessary information for you to move, act, and think.
10.Bring your attention to your muscles and your skin wrapping your body in protection. Consider your skeletal system, which provides the sturdy frame on which your entire body is assembled.
11.Consider your hair, the pigment of your skin, your eyes, your lips and mouth, your nose, the shape of your ears. This is you, 30 trillion to 40 trillion cells, perfectly arranged to make you you.
12.Take a moment to appreciate yourself for being who you are. You are the only version of you that there ever has been or ever will be. You are perfectly, completely alive. You are experiencing life right now.
13.When the meditation feels complete, bring your attention back to your breath for several cycles. Notice whether your awareness is heightened. Notice how each moment is brimming with novel experiences, some subtle, some bold. Remember that this ability to pay attention is always available to you. It will serve you well in daily life, and it can bring solace and peace if you’re having trouble falling asleep.
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BELLY FULL 5 TO 10 MINUTES
The fact that our gut is lined with nearly 100 million neurons lends credibility to the old maxim “Go with your gut.” You have likely experienced “butterflies in your stomach” or “a sinking feeling” or lack of hunger due to stress. You may have even experienced digestive issues related to stress, anxiety, or depression. Our digestive system is inextricably connected to every other system in our body and is deeply important to our overall health and sense of well-being. In this meditation, you will focus on the sensations in your belly and abdomen, bringing total awareness and relaxation to your digestive system, an area in which we often store stress. You might want to do this meditation after your evening meal to get the full effect.
1.Lie down on your back on a comfortable surface on the floor, such as a yoga mat or carpet, or on a bed or couch.
2.Soften your gaze or gently close your eyes.
3.Become aware of your breath. Take 5 deep breaths, focusing on the inhale and exhale. Let your breath return to its natural rhythm.
4.Identify a place in the cycle where you feel the sensation the most. It might be the tip of your nose, the bottom of your rib cage, or your belly. Focus on that sensation for the next several breaths. You can return to this sensation at any point in the meditation if you find you’re becoming distracted by thoughts or external sounds or sensations.
5.Place your hands on your belly just below your rib cage. Feel the rise and fall of each breath for several breaths. Move your hands down to your lower abdomen and repeat for several breaths.
6.Remove your hands and let them relax at your sides.
7.Keeping your awareness on your belly, scan all the layers starting with your skin. Is it relaxed? Scan your abdominal muscles, the muscles on your sides, and your back. Are they completely relaxed? Try to relax them even more.
8.Bring your awareness to your stomach and your intestines. Are you storing stress or tension deep inside? Can you let it go?
9.Bring calm and total relaxation to this entire area until you feel total comfort and peace.
10.Connect to the gratitude you have for the food you’ve eaten and your body’s system for processing it and delivering nutrition to your entire body.
11.You are full, warm, comfortable, and completely relaxed. You are in a state of rest.
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CORPSE POSE 10 TO 15 MINUTES
To someone who’s new to yoga, the pose known as Savasana, or Corpse Pose, can look like little more than lying on your back, but it’s all about what you bring to it. Usually offered at the end of a yoga session, Corpse Pose is restorative and optimal for a presleep meditation. In this meditation, you will use it to achieve deep relaxation of your full body and mind.
1.Begin by lying down on a comfortable surface, such as a yoga mat, carpet, or bed.
2.Soften your gaze or gently close your eyes. Take a long, slow inhale through your nose, and let all the air out through your mouth with an “ahhh” sound. Repeat 5 times.
3.Allow your breath to return to its natural rhythm. Don’t try to change or control it. Just let it flow.
4.Become aware of the length of your body. Gently extend through your heels and through the top of your head, seeing if you can stretch yourself a little bit longer. Become aware of the length of your neck and of your whole spine. Become aware of the length of your upper arms and lower arms, each finger, and your entire hand. Become aware of the length and space between your shoulders and the top of your femurs. Move down through your legs and into your feet.
5.Feel the width of your body, the opposite sides of your head, and the distance from the outside of your left shoulder to the outside of your right shoulder. Feel the distance between your elbows, between your thumbs on each hand, and the space across your rib cage. Continue to move down through your body, considering the space and distance within the outermost edges of you.
6.Feel the depth of your body, from your forehead to the back of your head, from the tip of your chin to the back of your neck, from your sternum to your spine, from your abdomen to the sway in your lower back. Feel the depth from the top of your hip to the back of your glutes.
7.Feel the weight of your body and the pull of gravity on every cell.
8.Now let go of all thoughts. Focus on nothing, not even your breath. Just be completely relaxed and present for the rest of the meditation.
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SUPINE COBBLER’S POSE 15 MINUTES
Supine Cobbler’s Pose is a restorative yoga posture that most people find to be extremely relaxing. Although we tend to notice the tension we carry in our head, neck, back, and shoulders, we often don’t notice some other areas of the body that carry stress. Sitting as much as we do, usually with our legs together, means that we may have much more stress in our hips and pelvic area than we realize. Supine Cobbler’s Pose opens up the area of the body where the lower back, pelvis, and hips come together, gently stretching and relieving tension there. This meditation is great to do just before getting in bed.
NOTE: A gentle stretching or “opening” feeling is desirable in the Supine Cobbler’s Pose. You should feel no pain or pinching. If you do, make any adjustments necessary to arrive at a position that is entirely relaxing.
1.Lie down on your back on a comfortable surface, such as a yoga mat, carpet, or bed. Place your hands by your hips, palms up.
2.Bring the soles of your feet together, letting your knees open apart as wide as possible. Your heels should be a comfortable distance from your pelvis. Find the place that works.
3.Most people will feel a nice stretch through the groin and deep into the hips.
4.Place a pillow, blanket, or yoga block under the outside of each knee so
that you can completely relax your legs but still feel the slight stretch.
5.Once you have your knees supported, your heels together, and the rest of your body completely relaxed, take a few minutes to tune into your breath.
6.Notice whether you’ve developed any tension anywhere in the body, and give each area a full exhale to release it.
7.For the next several minutes, allow your breath to flow naturally, returning to it whenever you find your mind wandering.
8.Try to completely relax into the pose. Notice whether you feel occasional waves of release through your lower abdomen, groin muscles, hips, and lower back.
9.To come out of this pose, gently pull your knees toward your centerline. Bring your knees together and gently pull them toward your chest. Then place your feet on the bed or floor and stretch your legs out straight. Notice whether you feel a release in your hips, pelvis, and lower back.
10.Take a deep breath in through your nose, and exhale completely through your mouth. Repeat.
11.Gently move into a comfortable position and allow the feeling of relaxation to help carry you to sleep.
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EVERYTHING IN PLACE 20 MINUTES
Much of our anxiety is associated with our desire to have control, for everything to be where and how we want it, for events to unfold in a manner consistent with our preferences, for people to behave how we’d like them to. In this meditation, as a way to wind down from the thinking and activities of the day, you’re going to take some time to let go of your desire for order and control by reminding yourself that everything, in this very moment, is exactly where it is supposed to be—even if your house is messy.
1.After completing your nighttime routine, climb in bed for the night.
2.Reach your hands up toward the ceiling and very gently pull your head away from your body while dropping your shoulders down and away from your ears. Lower your hands back to your sides.
3.Soften your gaze or gently close your eyes.
4.Take in a deep breath, drawing air slowly through your nose. Hold your breath for a moment, then before exhaling, take one more sip of air through your nose. Completely fill your lungs. Pause for a moment.
5.Release all the air through your mouth with an “ahhh” sound, feeling all your stress and worry fall away as you do. Clear any remaining thoughts from your mind. Repeat 5 times.
6.Allow your breath to return to its natural rhythm. Find a place in your breath where the sensation is greatest and perhaps most pleasant. Focus on that place.
7.With your eyes closed and without moving, picture your body lying where it is. Notice how still and relaxed it appears. Scan your body to confirm that you actually are as relaxed as you appear.
8.Picture the room around you: the floor, the furniture, the walls, the windows. Moving systematically in one direction, scan all the items in the room. Look through drawers and through the clothes in your closet. Take care to not hurry. Spend as much time with each item as you’d like.
9.Continue moving through each room in your home, looking at the shelves, inside the cabinets, inside the fridge. Notice how everything is placed where you or a loved one put it, how each item tells a story of where it came from and how it got to where it is. Be conscious of not judging any item or wishing it to be different. You’re merely observing where it is in your mind’s eye, making note of its presence, location, shape, and form.
10.Everything is simply where it is, in its place, and its place is neither good nor bad. You are neutral, a passive observer. As you look at each item, avoid assigning any meaning, value, or judgment.
11.Consider how this practice is transferable to all aspects of life, how your interactions with people and sounds and sensations simply occur. These interactions are neither good nor bad on their own.
12.Slowly make your way back to your room. See yourself lying there, perfectly still and relaxed, alive and breathing.
13.You are, like everything else, in the only place you ever need to be: right where you are.
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40 BREATHS 5 MINUTES
As you know by now, the breath is always an entry point into and an anchor throughout your meditation. It can also be the focus of the entire meditation, as this book has shown. In this meditation, you’re going to take that concept further by focusing on 40 consecutive breaths, incrementally increasing their depth. This meditation is perfect before bedtime or naps because it quickly helps calm the nervous system and relax the body and mind.
1.Lie down on a comfortable surface, such as a yoga mat, carpet, or bed.
2.Take a moment to scan your body. Note areas of stress or tension and relax them.
3.Soften your gaze or gently close your eyes.
4.Feel the weight of your entire body sinking into the surface beneath you.
5.Take a slow, deep inhale through your nose. When you feel like your lungs are full, pause for moment, then take in a small extra sip of air.
6.As slowly as possible, exhale the air completely through your mouth. When you feel like you don’t have any air left, pause for a moment, then gently push out the last remaining bit.
7.With each inhale, imagine you’re breathing in peace, tranquility, calm, and relaxation.
8.With each exhale, imagine you’re breathing out worry, tension, stress, anxiety, or pain.
9.Repeat this cycle for 40 breaths, counting at the end of each exhale.
10.Try to extend the length of the breath and the pauses at the end of each inhale and exhale. Avoid holding your breath or going so slowly that you feel you need to gasp for air.
11.Each breath should be completely managed in each moment. Remain present and focused on it.
12.If your mind wanders or an external sensation or sound pulls you away, return to your breath and resume the practice.
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HEART OF GOLD 10 MINUTES
Whether or not you think of yourself as a “good person,” I would bet that you have some amazing qualities that you tend to overlook. Cultural conditioning from a young age and other factors have given most of us a complicated view of ourselves. Our minds are very good at reminding us of our flaws, our shortcomings, and our failures, and they are also very adept at presenting these thoughts as “truth.” This tendency gives a false credibility to our thoughts and perpetuates our negative self-analysis. We can address this problem in two ways. One is to simply recognize that our thoughts are not automatically true. The other is to intentionally counteract negativity by proactively appreciating, celebrating, and loving ourselves for all of the good qualities that we possess. In this simple practice, you’re going to remind yourself that you are alive, you are human, and you are good.
1.Find a comfortable seated position. You can sit cross-legged on a cushion on the floor or in a chair. Sit up straight, but don’t force perfect posture.
2.Soften your gaze or gently close your eyes.
3.Take a deep breath. Repeat 3 times.
4.Return your breath to its natural rhythm and bring your focus to a particular sensation in the cycle of your breathing.
5.Allow any remaining thoughts, worries, or preoccupations to drift away. You have nowhere else to be and nothing else to do. You are here, in this moment, alive, aware, breathing.
6.Either in your mind or speaking softly out loud, repeat the following: I am alive. I am aware. I am good. Let the weight and meaning of each word resonate. Say each word with focus and intention.
7.Continue to repeat the words at a slow, consistent rhythm.
8.Return your focus to your breath should you find your mind has wandered or become distracted.
The repeated words in this meditation are available to you anytime. You may find them especially comforting when you’re lying in bed preparing for sleep.
TIP: Be nice to yourself. Treat yourself with love and compassion. Let go of thought patterns that aren’t serving you. Appreciate the amazing richness of this moment. You are alive. You are aware. You are good.
Resources<
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For a list of audio tracks, videos, and other helpful resources, please visit yfm.tv/bookresources.
BOOKS
Awareness: Conversations with the Masters by Anthony De Mello
Lovingkindness: The Revolutionary Art of Happiness by Sharon Salzberg
Radical Acceptance: Embracing Your Life with the Heart of a Buddha by Tara Brach
The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment by Eckhart Tolle Waking Up: A Guide to Spirituality Without Religion by Sam Harris
Wherever You Go, There You Are: Mindfulness Meditation in Everyday Life by Jon Kabat-Zinn
APPS
Headspace
Simple, straightforward meditation instruction from Andy Puddicombe, a former Buddhist monk turned meditation teacher and tech entrepreneur. The app offers 10 free meditations before you pay for a subscription.
Waking Up
Insightful meditation practices from neuroscientist, philosopher, and meditation teacher Sam Harris. The practices are deep and powerful. The app offers five free meditations before you pay for a subscription.
References
THE MEDITATIVE STATE
ScienceDaily (blog). “Inadequate Sleep Could Cost Countries Billions.” June 4, 2018. Accessed February 27, 2019. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/06/180604093111.htm.