Mind Matters

Breath, Body, Sounds, and Thoughts are the four stages of mindful attention within this meditation. This sitting practice is ideal for people who have already gained some practice with meditations on the breath and body; on a Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy course, this meditation is introduced in session four, halfway through the course. It’s a meditation ideally suited to deepening your practice at any time, or keeping you connected with your practice, for example, if you tend to sit for short periods during the week and do longer practices such as this one at the weekends.

This short meditation practice can be helpful at times when the mind is really active, agitated or restless. By engaging the mind in both following the breath in & out, and also counting each breath up to twenty-one, the mind is encouraged to become calmer and more focussed. However, our intention is merely to encourage the mind, not to force it, and so we are approaching the practice with a sense of non-striving, of allowing the mind to be as it is; if it is willing to settle, that’s fine, if not, that’s fine too – we simply notice it’s activity. If you become distracted and lose track of counting at any point, or if you reach twenty-one, simply begin again at one, and any time you wish to, simply let go of counting and observe the breath.

During this meditation for Day Twelve, we acknowledge that practice can be challenging, check in with our expectations, and explore bringing qualities of patience, trust and non-striving to the meditation practice. This is the twelfth recording in a series intended for anyone who is new to mindfulness meditations, but is also useful to people who might have struggled to engage with meditation practices in the past. Day by day you will become more familiar with different aspects of mindfulness meditations and exercises, and soon you’ll be comfortable to guide yourself in meditation, rather than just listening to recordings. Even though these meditations are presented as a sequence, you may like to repeat or return to some of the recordings, I would simply recommend that you don’t jump ahead, as you may miss some useful content.

Beginning day seven by looking more closely at posture, and why it is significant in sitting meditations. Also exploring how counting or noting the breath can help to keep the mind connected to the sensations of the breath. The recording contains plenty of guidance for beginners. This is the seventh recording in a series intended for anyone who is new to mindfulness meditations, but also useful to people who might have struggled to engage with meditation practices in the past. Day by day you will become more familiar with different aspects of mindfulness meditations and exercises, and soon you’ll be comfortable to guide yourself in meditation, rather than just listening to recordings. Even though these meditations are presented as a sequence, you may like to repeat or return to some of the recordings, I would simply recommend that you don’t jump ahead, as you may miss some useful content.

In moments of difficulty, this brief practice can make a difference: We acknowledge the difficulty, we recognize how this connects us to others, and we turn towards our experience with kindness. As a result, we no longer feel alone and isolated and can begin to turn towards our experience with kindness and acceptance.

The 3-Stage Breathing Space meditation is ideal for bringing your meditation practice into your daily life, and this ‘responsive’ version is intended for those challenging moments. As this is a mindfulness practice, the intention is not to avoid the difficult thoughts, feelings or sensations, but to bring your mindfulness skills into this moment; shifting out of autopilot and really being present. Once you have become familiar with the structure of this meditation (and the standard 3-Stage breathing space, which has the same basic structure), try to practice it by guiding yourself through it several times a day. You can spend as long as you wish on each stage, from a few breaths to a few minutes or more. Then you’ll be able to use this mini meditation at anytime you find it helpful to bring a mindful moment into your day. This practice is taught on the Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy course, and I’ve found many participants find this version particularly helpful.

A short meditation that is intended to help you to connect up with the wisdom contained in your whole body. We often use phrases such as ‘my mind is telling me one thing, but my heart is telling me something else’, or talk about having ‘gut feelings’. Now neuroscience has shown that neurons exist not only in the brain but also in the heart and gut, naming the latter two as the cardiac brain and the enteric brain. This practice can help you to connect up with the thoughts in your mind, your heartfelt values and your gut intuitions, to create an expanded awareness of the wisdom in your body, whatever situation you find yourself in. Follow this practice a few times and you will soon find that you can quickly guide yourself through it when faced with a rapid decision, or choose to spend more time with it, exploring the wisdom and intelligence of your whole body.

Introducing the Body Scan meditation in this, the eighth recording in a series intended for anyone who is new to mindfulness meditations, but also useful to people who might have struggled to engage with meditation practices in the past. Day by day you will become more familiar with different aspects of mindfulness meditations and exercises, and soon you’ll be comfortable to guide yourself in meditation, rather than just listening to recordings. Even though these meditations are presented as a sequence, you may like to repeat or return to some of the recordings, I would simply recommend that you don’t jump ahead, as you may miss some useful content.

The first in a series of meditation recordings intended for anyone who is new to mindfulness meditations, but also useful to people who might have struggled to engage with meditation practices in the past. Day by day you will become more familiar with different aspects of mindfulness meditations and exercises, and soon you’ll be comfortable to guide yourself in meditation, rather than just listening to recordings. The first three days are presented as 3 or 7-minute recordings, and after that they are mostly 10 to 15 minutes long, as that extra space is really helpful in developing your practice. Ideally, listen to each day in turn, but with some of the latter recordings, you may wish to keep returning to them in any order you choose.

On Day Thirteen, we bring our attention to pleasant aspects of our experience, including the subtlest of pleasant sensations. Not only is this a good practice to train us to notice pleasant qualities that we so often miss, and fail to treasure, but also it enables us to see the way our minds tend to grasp at pleasant experiences. This can cause us to hold on so tightly we then fail to ‘be there’ for the experience, and begin to struggle as we try to hold on to things that naturally will pass. So we can practice being present, enjoying, and letting go. This is the thirteenth recording in a series intended for anyone who is new to mindfulness meditations, but is also useful to people who might have struggled to engage with meditation practices in the past. Day by day you will become more familiar with different aspects of mindfulness meditations and exercises, and soon you’ll be comfortable to guide yourself in meditation, rather than just listening to recordings. Even though these meditations are presented as a sequence, you may like to repeat or return to some of the recordings, I would simply recommend that you don’t jump ahead, as you may miss some useful content.

Intended to help us to embody mindfulness and deepen our practice, this Lake meditation differs from the majority of Mindfulness Meditations by using guided imagery: Rather than paying attention to our experience in the present moment, we imagine a scene that in some way expresses the nature of mindfulness, and then nurture these qualities within ourselves. Photo by Mark Harpur on Unsplash This meditation can be deeply calming and relaxing, so keep in mind the intention is to embody mindfulness and to deepen our meditation practice, and so if relaxation and calmness occur, let them be a pleasant bonus, rather than a state we’re striving to achieve.

Starting with some gentle stretches, this meditation encourages us to open up to sensations in the body in a non-judgemental way, whilst also noticing any tendency of our mind to strive or push ourselves in ways that are unhelpful. The second part of the practice consists of a sitting meditation with attention on the breath and body. The recording closely follows the format for the practice as it’s taught on Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy courses, and it can be considered as a foundational mindfulness practice, suitable for beginners or experienced meditators alike.

The shorter length of this recording is intended to help you to fit this important practice into even the busiest days of your life. Making space for this practice may just help you to create more space in your whole day, and, importantly, create more space for you to be present in your life. Breath meditations can help to develop greater regulation of attention, and insight into the ways our minds work. Remember, the intention here is to pay attention to the breath (Although you may indeed find it relaxing), and expect your mind to wander away for the breath; all minds do this. It is the process of noticing this distraction, remembering your intention, and coming back to the breath that helps to develop the psychological skill of attention

Gently encouraging the mind to become settled in the third recording in a series intended for anyone who is new to mindfulness meditations, but also useful to people who might have struggled to engage with meditation practices in the past. Day by day you will become more familiar with different aspects of mindfulness meditations and exercises, and soon you’ll be comfortable to guide yourself in meditation. The first three days are presented as 3 or 7-minute recordings, and after that they are mostly 10 to 15 minutes long, as that extra space is really helpful in developing your practice. Ideally, listen to each day in turn, but with some of the latter recordings, you may wish to keep returning to them in any order you choose.

Paying attention to the breath, sensations in the body, sounds and, for the first time in this series, thoughts. Until now, thinking has simply been a distraction, but now it too becomes an object of attention. What happens when we do this? The recording contains plenty of guidance for beginners. This is the sixth recording in a series intended for anyone who is new to mindfulness meditations, but also useful to people who might have struggled to engage with meditation practices in the past. Day by day you will become more familiar with different aspects of mindfulness meditations and exercises, and soon you’ll be comfortable to guide yourself in meditation, rather than just listening to recordings. Even though these meditations are presented as a sequence, you may like to repeat or return to some of the recordings, I would simply recommend that you don’t jump ahead, as you may miss some useful content.

Taking a closer look at distraction in the second recording in a series intended for anyone who is new to mindfulness meditations, but also useful to people who might have struggled to engage with meditation practices in the past. Day by day you will become more familiar with different aspects of mindfulness meditations and exercises, and soon you’ll be comfortable to guide yourself in meditation. The first three days are presented as 3 or 7-minute recordings, and after that they are mostly 10 to 15 minutes long, as that extra space is really helpful in developing your practice. Ideally, listen to each day in turn, but with some of the latter recordings, you may wish to keep returning to them in any order you choose.

Exploring ‘Beginner’s Mind’ with a guided exercise. Over the next few days we’ll begin to consider the ‘attitudinal foundations of mindfulness’. Until now, they’ve been implicit in the guidance on the recordings, but now we’ll begin to reveal them in more detail. Beginner’s Mind involves that child-like quality of being able to see things as if for the first time; letting go of preconceptions and assumptions and seeing things afresh. This can be brought to any aspect of our experience, and is really at the heart of experiencing things ‘as they are’ without judgement, and in an even-handed way. We will also consider how to bring mindfulness into our daily life, and there’s an invitation to follow this exercise by guiding yourself in a short sitting meditation, such as Mindfulness of the Breath, or Mindfulness of Sound. (Note: If you use reading glasses, you might like to have them ready for this exercise).

On Day Eleven we continue to explore the attitudinal foundations of mindfulness, with a light focus on the attitudes of non-judging, non-reactivity, and non-elaboration within a sitting meditation. This is the eleventh recording in a series intended for anyone who is new to mindfulness meditations, but is also useful to people who might have struggled to engage with meditation practices in the past. Day by day you will become more familiar with different aspects of mindfulness meditations and exercises, and soon you’ll be comfortable to guide yourself in meditation, rather than just listening to recordings. Even though these meditations are presented as a sequence, you may wish to repeat or return to some of the recordings, I would simply recommend that you don’t jump ahead, as you may miss some useful content.

Practicing Mindfulness of the Body in this, the fourth recording in a series intended for anyone who is new to mindfulness meditations, but also useful to people who might have struggled to engage with meditation practices in the past. Day by day you will become more familiar with different aspects of mindfulness meditations and exercises, and soon you’ll be comfortable to guide yourself in meditation, rather than just listening to recordings. Even though these meditations are presented as a sequence, you may like to repeat or return to some of the recordings, I would simply recommend that you don’t jump ahead, as you may miss some useful content.

This practice is a truly a foundational mindfulness meditation, and a great way to get out of your head and into your body. It’s the first meditation participants on 8-week courses such as Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction encounter, with a 45 minute Body Scan in the first session, after which they are invited to practice this each day between sessions, so please don’t be put off by the length of this recording, which also includes plenty of guidance for beginners. The Body Scan has certain characteristics that set it slightly apart from many other mindfulness meditations; notably the way attention is repeatedly moved through the body, rather than remaining fixed or open, and it’s also typically practiced in a lying down posture (although, it can be done seated too). Ideally, make the Body Scan a central part of your regular practice routine, it’s likely to help you to develop greater regulation of your attention, and be more able to open up to body sensations with a compassionate, non-judging and accepting attitude. (Note the distinction between this mediation and practices such as ‘Breath & Body’ where there is no element of moving attention around the body, i.e. scanning).

Exploring what it’s like to use sound as an object for our attention: Mindfulness of Sound can teach us a great deal about how our minds work, and it’s something you can learn to practice no matter where you are, and whatever sounds are present. The recording contains plenty of guidance for beginners. This is the fifth recording in a series intended for anyone who is new to mindfulness meditations, but also useful to people who might have struggled to engage with meditation practices in the past. Day by day you will become more familiar with different aspects of mindfulness meditations and exercises, and soon you’ll be comfortable to guide yourself in meditation, rather than just listening to recordings. Even though these meditations are presented as a sequence, you may like to repeat or return to some of the recordings, I would simply recommend that you don’t jump ahead, as you may miss some useful content.

Intended for people who have already experienced the ‘Four-Stage’ Breath, Body, Sounds and Thoughts meditation, and would like to practice with a version that contains less guidance during the stages. (If you haven’t tried this yet, it’s listed on my channel as ‘Four Stage Meditation’). As your meditation experience begins to build, you will likely find that too much guidance can become distracting in itself, and so you’ll benefit from more ‘space’ in the recording. I will also be offering an unguided version, with bells marking the spaces for each stage, intended for people who already have plenty of meditation experience.

For experienced meditators: following a brief introduction, this recording has bells sounding at ten-minute intervals, creating for meditation spaces and ending with three bells in succession. You can use this to guide yourself through a four-stage meditation on the Breath, Whole Body, Sounds then Thoughts, or simply use it to time any self-guided meditation practices of 10, 20, 30, or 40 minutes. Photo by Rob King on Unsplash

These attitudes are the foundations of Mindfulness, they both reflect the way that practice is approached, and also what attitudes are cultivated by it. Qualified mindfulness teachers are assessed on their embodiment of the attitudinal foundations, and there’s a good reason for this; this quality of embodiment has been shown to make a significant difference to the success of courses such as Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy. This important ingredient is difficult to incorporate into situations without any face-to-face interaction, so this recording is being offered as a way of helping Aura subscribers to consider the significance of attitudes such as acceptance, non-striving, non-judging, letting be, beginner’s mind, patience, trust, kindness and compassion, and how they relate to mindfulness.

This exercise provides a way to experientially engage with mindfulness outside of formal meditation practices, and helps us to cultivate a new way of relating to our experience, by bringing ‘beginner’s mind’ to the way we’re paying attention: Seeing things as if for the first time. This is an alternative to the well-known ‘Raisin Exercise’, and shows how we can bring a mindful attitude towards any object or experience. At the end of the exercise there’s an invitation to bring mindfulness to a routine daily activity. This is a wonderful way to begin extending mindfulness right into your day-to-day life; switching off the autopilot and really being present, moment-by-moment, throughout the routine activity, whilst bringing that quality of ‘beginner’s mind’ to the way you’re paying attention.

A really valuable practice that can reveal a great deal about how our minds work: Labelling, making judgments, creating stories, clinging to pleasant things and turning away from whatever it judges to be unpleasant. This may be why, in some traditions, Mindfulness of Sound is given almost the same prominence as Mindfulness of Breath. Note that the intention here is to be open to whatever sounds are present in the moment, rather than choosing a sound we like, such as music. Sounds of nature, sounds of a busy city, industrial noise, children playing, or even an air conditioning unit, all are perfect backdrops for this practice, none better than the other. Once you have some experience with the practice, perhaps you might choose to deliberately bring it to more challenging sounds, such as a neighbour’s car alarm, this can often be when the greatest transformations occur.

In this meditation for Day Fourteen we explore ways of approaching a difficulty within the practice, in particular, working with the attitudes of acceptance and letting be. It’s really important to treat this as an experiment, with no expectations, and also as a learning exercise, and therefore not to take too big a step. Please don’t attempt to approach a major difficulty in your life, as this could be overwhelming without first establishing the skill and ability to contain the feelings generated. During the practice we explore how this difficulty is reflected in the body, and use the breath to help us with this process. This is the fourteenth recording in a series intended for anyone who is new to mindfulness meditations, but is also useful to people who might have struggled to engage with meditation practices in the past. Even though these meditations are presented as a sequence, you may like to repeat or return to some of the recordings, I would simply recommend that you don’t jump ahead, as you may miss some useful content.

In this practice, we explore one way to bring mindfulness to movement with a Walking Meditation, where we rest our attention on the sensations of walking. To help us to do this, we slow the process of walking right down, so it’s no longer as automatic as it normally is, and the sensations are not evolving as rapidly. This practice came become just as significant a part of your personal practice as any sitting meditation.

For Day Ten we explore one way to bring mindfulness to movement with a Walking Meditation, where we rest our attention on the sensations of walking. To help us to do this, we slow the process of walking right down, so it’s no longer as automatic as it normally is, and the sensations are not evolving as rapidly. This practice came become as significant a part of your personal practice as any sitting meditation.

For Day Fifteen we have a light focus on the qualities of kindness and curiosity; attitudes that also infuse all of the other attitudes we bring to mindful attention. We also recognise the difference between listening and meditating. Just as meditating is not the process of ‘sitting and thinking’, it’s also not ‘sitting and listening’. This is the fifteenth recording in a series intended for anyone who is new to mindfulness meditations, but is also useful to people who might have struggled to engage with meditation practices in the past. Day by day you will become more familiar with different aspects of mindfulness meditations and exercises, and soon you’ll be comfortable to guide yourself in meditation.

A really valuable practice that can reveal a great deal about how our minds work: Labelling, making judgments, creating stories, clinging to pleasant things and turning away from whatever it judges to be unpleasant. This may be why, in some traditions, Mindfulness of Sound is given almost the same prominence as Mindfulness of Breath. Note that the intention here is to be open to whatever sounds are present in the moment, rather than choosing a sound we like, such as music. Sounds of nature, sounds of a busy city, industrial noise, children playing, or even an air conditioning unit, all are perfect backdrops for this practice, none better than the other. Once you have some experience with the practice, perhaps you might choose to deliberately bring it to more challenging sounds, such as a neighbour’s car alarm, this can often be when the greatest transformations occur.