Sitting Meditation;

 

 

 

 First, establish a stable posture. You may sit on a cushion on the floor or in a chair. Your legs may be crossed or in a kneeling position with your feet behind you. However you sit, the most important part is to keep your back vertical and straight, but relaxed, not rigid. Think of your back as a stack of coins with your head balanced on top. Think of the crown of your head being suspended by a string from the ceiling, your chin slightly tucked. Your shoulders relaxed. Your arms drop down from your shoulders in line with your ears.
 
 Your hands may rest on your thighs or they may be cupped in your lap, left inside right. With the tips of your thumbs gently touching. Your eyes may be closed or slightly open with your gaze directed about three feet in front of you on the floor. Your mouth is closed, the tip of your tongue rest against the palate just behind your front teeth.
 
 When you are comfortable with your posture, take three slow deep breaths. You are breathing from your diaphragm. You abdomen rises and falls with your breathing. Your chest doesn’t move much. After the first three deep breaths, breathe naturally, in and out, through your nose. Your breath should be quiet, very little or no sound. Feel the sensation of the breath as it passes the opening of your nostrils and across your upper lip. You may notice the coolness of the air coming in and the warmth the air leaving your body. Focus on the sensation of the breath at your nostrils, or you may find it easier to focus on the rise and fall of your lower abdomen with each breath.
 
 When you get distracted, notice that you have been distracted, and return your attention to the sensation of the breath. This may happen again and again. That's OK. Just keep gently returning your attention to the sensation of the breath. Thoughts or emotions may distract you from your breath. Just notice them and return to the breath. It may help to think of thoughts as clouds passing across a clear blue sky. Let them pass. Don't follow them. Don't get carried away by them. Just let them pass. It may help to think of the sensation of your breath as the pool of light on the road from your headlamps when driving at night. Thoughts, sounds, emotions that come at you are just oncoming traffic. Let them pass while you focus on the pool of light in front of you, the sensation of your breath. Don't follow oncoming traffic. Don't steer into it. Don't steer away from it. Just let it pass.
 
 At some point you may want to try letting go of the breath too. Thoughts, sensations, emotions, and the breath all pass across an empty sky--- the scenery of your mind. You don't have to do anything. Just observe.
 
 As you continue sitting you may need to adjust your posture from time to time. Do so with the least movement possible to once again achieve an alert, but relaxed posture. Try to stay as still as you can. Stillness of the body stills the mind. You may notice fewer and fewer distractions and more stillness as time goes on. You may not. Either way, try to sit for the amount of time you intended, whether two minutes or 40 minutes.
 
 Whatever happens during your sitting period is OK. There is no specific objective - effort without a goal. As with learning any skill, meditation practice is more beneficial if done daily. Try to pick a set time to practice each day, even if only for a few minutes.

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  Meditation is not to escape from society, but to come back to ourselves and see what is going on. Once there is seeing, there must be acting. With mindfulness, we know what to do and what not to do to help.

 

                                   - Thich Nhat Hanh -