meditation

Meditation is to be aware of what’s going on: in your body, in your feelings, in your mind, and in the world. (Thich Nhat Hanh, Being Peace)

And

Eventually we began following the six points of good posture as a way to really settle down. The six points are: (1) seat, (2) legs, (3) torso, (4) hands, (5) eyes, and (6) mouth, and the instruction is as follows. 1. Whether sitting on a cushion on the floor or in a chair, the seat should be flat, not tilting to the right or left or to the back or front. 2. The legs are crossed comfortably in front of you—or, if you’re sitting in a chair, the feet are flat on the floor, and the knees are a few inches apart. 3. The torso (from the head to the seat) is upright, with a strong back and an open front. If sitting in a chair, it’s best not to lean back. If you start to slouch, simply sit upright again. 4. The hands are open, with palms down, resting on the thighs. 5. The eyes are open, indicating the attitude of remaining awake and relaxed with all that occurs. The eye gaze is slightly downward and directed about four to six feet in front. 6. The mouth is very slightly open so that the jaw is relaxed and air can move easily through both mouth and nose. The tip of the tongue can be placed on the roof of the mouth.

Working with Thoughts

The towns and countryside that the traveler sees through a train window do not slow down the train, nor does the train affect them. Neither disturbs the other. This is how you should see the thoughts that pass through your mind when you meditate. (Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche)

Pema Chödrön in When Things Fall Apart:

At the point when we realized we’d gone off, we were instructed to say to ourselves “thinking” and, without making it a big deal, to simply return again to the out-breath.

Working with Emotions

When strong emotions arise in meditation practice:

• Just like with thoughts, don’t resist them or try to push them away. That will only strengthen and sustain them.
• Focus on how the emotion feels in the body. A tightness in the chest? A queasy feeling in the stomach? Tension in the shoulders? Often, the feeling of a strong emotion isn’t half as bad as the thoughts, fears, and anxieties it brings with it, so focusing on the body can help us separate those.
• Notice our tendency toward storytelling. Emotions sustain themselves by giving rise to thoughts. We feel a little tense and suddenly we’re once again rehashing all our grievances with the stressful people in our lives, how our tension is their fault, how we’re justified in feeling this way. If we can practice noticing how strong emotions recruit thoughts in the service of justifying and sustaining themselves, we can opt out of another Anxiety Story Hour™ (or whatever), especially if we also focus on just the somatic experience of an emotion until it subsides.

Resources

• Guided meditations on Spotify
• A 10-minute guided meditation by Jessamyn Stanley
• Visualization techniques for meditation
• Loving Kindness (maitrī) meditation: what it is and an example (13 min)