Thought Bubble - Guided Breathing Meditation - Good for Beginners

Thank you for choosing to learn to meditate in the correct way and thank you for wanting to make spiritual progress. The reason we want to meditate is to discipline our mind and gain better control over it, so that we may explore it fully. It is the only way we can truly make spiritual progress.

The way to tell if your meditation is successful is whenever you catch your mind wandering. The fact that you suddenly realize your mind has wandered shows that you are gaining control and succeeding.

I will guide you through all the steps to have a successful meditation from how to sit right through to how to return gently to most benefit your mind. This photo shows how to put place your hands during the meditation.

 

Hand position or mudra for meditating

For this breathing meditation we will not be following the breath on it's journey into and out of our bodies, but we will be concentrating on the rim of our nostrils or our upper lip if you are unable to breath through your nose. We will be focusing on the feelings we get at those places when we inhale and again as we exhale. It is those feelings that will arise that we will be focusing on, not the breath itself.

This meditation will include a relaxation technique, a healing technique, the virtuous motivation or intention, the meditation itself, the virtuous dedication to keep our good karma safe and then the return process.

So, let's get started.

We need to get into our meditation posture. Sitting in a chair, we place our feet flat on the ground and sit with our backs as straight as possible, without being uncomfortable. We want to place our left hand palm up in our lap and then put our right hand palm up on top of the left hand. We gently place our thumbs together and point them towards our navel or belly button. We tuck your chin down slightly and once you have learned this meditation you will want to close your eyes to reduce distractions.

(Pause where needed.)

Starting with our relaxation we can think to ourselves, my forehead is relaxed and feel the muscles of our forehead becoming relaxed. Now we can think my eyes are relaxed and feel the tension float away. And my face is relaxed. Allow yourself to become relaxed. My jaw is relaxed. My entire head is completely relaxed. My throat is warm and comfortable. My neck is relaxed. My shoulders are relaxed and free of all tension and stress. Just let it go. My upper arms are relaxed. My lower arms and hands are relaxed. My chest is open, warm and relaxed. My stomach is relaxed and free of all stress and worry, just release it. My abdomen is relaxed and feel yourself becoming more deeply relaxed. My pelvis is relaxed. My upper back is relaxed and free of all tension and stress. My lower back is relaxed and free of all stress and worry. My entire spine is completely relaxed. Feel yourself becoming even more tranquil. My hips are relaxed. My upper legs are relaxed. My lower legs and feet are relaxed. My entire body is completely relaxed.

Now we can scan through our bodies to see if we find any illness, pain or discomfort. When we find any we turn it into thick black smoke and exhale it on our breath so it leaves our body. As we exhale the smoke disintegrates and disappears. Go ahead and do this. When you are finished you can move on.

Now we can think to ourselves, I am doing this meditation so that I may improve my concentration to not only benefit myself but everyone that I come into contact with either direct or indirectly.

Breathing normally, we want to focus our mind at the rim of our nostril or upper lip. As we inhale we can feel a coolness or tingling sensation and as we exhale we can feel warmth or pressure. Concentrate on those feelings as you breath in and again when you breathe out. Go ahead. Do this for as long as possible.

If you find your mind is wandering just simply and gently bring your focus back to your breath and the cool or tingling sensation as you inhale and the warmth or pressure as you exhale. Try to keep your mind focused on these feelings as long as possible.

And now, before we come out of our meditation we can dedicate, so we can think to ourselves, I wish to dedicate this virtuous act of meditating to reduce the suffering of everyone I know, including myself, so that we can all be happier.

And now, slowly and gently open your eyes, taking as much time as you need to return.

Thank you so much for taking the time to do this meditation.

You can find the podcast for this meditation here: https://youtu.be/X_kud1wRCaE