[Music] [Music] Welcome. My name is Derek and I'm the certified meditation teacher and lead mindfulness facilitator here at
Middleway Meditation Center. Now, there may be multiple reasons why someone may decide they want to get into meditation. You may be feeling stressed, anxious, overwhelmed, or simply need a moment of peacefulness. Whatever brought you here,
the invitation is to simply sit and meet this moment together while we explore the study and practice of mindfulness meditation. Often our minds are pulled in many different directions.
rewriting or rehashing the past, rehearsing for the future. This constant chatter can leave us feeling drained and disconnected from the present moment. The guidance for today's session is
simple but not easy. Our plan is to anchor our awareness in the present moment using our body as an anchor to come back to over and over again as the mind drifts away.
We'll begin with a short grounding meditation, transition into a mindful eating exercise, and then we'll finish up with a guided body scan meditation, which is a great practice for beginners as it changes the focus of attention
frequently and helps to deepen the mindbody connection. All you need today is a chair, two raisins, and a glass of water. So, let's get right to it with this short five minute grounding meditation.
I invite you to take a comfortable seated position. Chances are, if you're watching this video, you're already in the perfect position to begin a meditation. Feet flat on the floor.
Maybe a somewhat open and upright posture. Letting the arms hang loosely or resting in the lap. And bringing a soft gaze toward the floor or closing the eyes if you're comfortable
with it. and bringing an awareness to the sensations in the feet. So feeling into the heel, the toes. Maybe there's a sense of
pressure or tension. moving up the body best you can to the back of the thighs and the sitbones. Wherever you're making contact with the chair at this moment. Perhaps noticing where
the back makes contact with the chair or where it does not. And just noticing for a moment how you're fully supported. Fully supported by this chair. Nothing you need to do. Noticing the hands resting in the lap
and any sensations there. And now transitioning a little bit to notice this body breathing. Noticing the sensations as the chest rises and falls. And as we rest here
with our breath, I'd like to offer this definition of mindfulness. I like to use John Katzen's definition and it goes something like this. Mindfulness is an awareness
that arises through paying attention on purpose in the present moment non-judgmentally. And he goes on to sometimes add in the service of self understanding and
wisdom. Now in a moment I will strike the bowl to signify the end of the formal meditation. So we can begin to bring some movement back into the body. Maybe wiggling the
fingers and toes, opening the eyes if they were closed. And there's a parable I'd like to share that goes along with what we're doing here and it's called the upstream downstream
parable. And as I read this, I'd like you to a little bit think how it relates to what we're doing here, to this mindfulness practice. Imagine you're with a friend by the
river and suddenly you see a person crying for help, struggling in the current. You both jump in and save the person who is struggling. But then another person comes floating
by and another and another. Soon you and your friend are working day and night tirelessly pulling people out of the water. You're completely drained,
just reacting to the endless crisis. Then you notice your friend is leaving. She starts walking away from the riverbank. You ask, "Where are you going?" And she says, "I'm going upstream to
deal with the reason why all of these people are falling into the river in the first place." So you might ask yourself, how does this relate to what we're doing here? Now, I'd like to offer a mindful eating
exercise. So, grab your raisins and a glass of water. For this raisin meditation, you'll need two raisins. One at a time, just one for now. And
what I'm asking you to do is for a moment, just imagining that you don't really know what this object is. All you know that is at some point you'll eat it. So placing the raisin in
your hand and simply noticing what does the raisin look like? Well, I can begin with the size. It's small.
It fits in my hand. If I roll it around with the finger a little bit, it's kind of like a little football, right? It's not very heavy. It's got some, you know, if I pick it up and put it in my fingers, I can feel the texture. It's got some wrinkles,
crevices. It's dark in color, shades of brown, maybe purple. And now I want you to pick up that raisin and just hold it a little bit
to the nose. Right. Does it smell? Not very much. Can you hear it at all? Not really. So give it a good pinch and roll.
next to the ear. And you might hear some crackling and such as it as the the contents inside kind of readjust and reposition themselves. And before we just pop it in our mouth and eat it, just
bringing it up, touching it to the lip, kind of holding it gently, and allowing yourself to kind of roll it around the mouth a little bit, maybe from cheek to cheek, under and over the tongue,
maybe pressing it up against the pallet. Just noticing what it feels like, if there's any flavor. And now just piercing the raisin. You might notice an initial pop of
flavor. and beginning to chew it slowly. Small bites. You might hear crunching. You might notice that it's practically dissolving into nothing.
You might notice how the tongue and the teeth work together to perfectly place the raisin between the teeth. And if you're disciplined now, swallowing
and noticing that the raisin's pretty much been blinked from existence. And so now taking a sip of water, swirl it around in the mouth a little bit, maybe noticing the temperature of
the water. And now taking the second raisin. Now we know what this is. Let's explore where it came from. So, this wasn't always a raisin,
right? It used to be a grape. And if you look carefully or closely, you may even notice where the stem once was, right? While it was still attached to the vine, where it still gathered its
nutrients from the soil, where it gathered the water from the rain or irrigation. After the raisins are dried, they're transported. So now maybe moved in a big truck relying on petrol.
arrives at the store or gets packaged in another container, arrives at the store, put on the shelf, and you're able to bring it home. There's a lot that goes into such a small food that
any other time we may just take a handful of and pop them in our mouth and not really think about it. There's uh an interesting
poem I guess I would call it from Tiknadhan that I would like to read to you and this is called the cosmos in a piece of bread. When I hold a piece of bread, I look at
it and sometimes I smile at it. The piece of bread is an ambassador of the cosmos, offering nourishment and support. Looking deeply into the piece of bread, I see the sunshine, the clouds,
the great earth. Without the sunshine, no wheat can grow. Without the clouds, there's no rain for the wheat to grow. Without the great earth, nothing can grow. That is why the piece of bread that I
hold in my hand is a wonder of life. It is there for all of us. So, one last look now at the raisin. And maybe you can see the earth and the sun and the wind and the rain.
There's a writing by Norman Fischer and perhaps if you're interested in this mindful eating exercise, this may be something you could read before a meal. Um, and it goes like this. It's called
One Heart Grace. As we make ready to eat this food, we remember with gratitude the many people, tools, animals and plants, air and water, sky
and earth turned in the wheel of living and dying whose joyful exertion provide our sustenance this day. May we with the blessing of this food join our hearts to the one heart of the world in
awareness and love. And may we together with everyone realize the path of awakening and never stop making effort for the benefit of others. This next meditation is called a body
scan meditation. In this 15minute practice, we'll pay attention to all the different areas of the body one by one. Starting with the feet, moving up the legs, through the torso, to the shoulders,
then to the hands and up the arms to the neck and the head and finishing by opening the awareness to the entire body. So again, I invite you to take a
comfortable seated posture. This could be on a chair, cushion, it could be lying down, feet flat on the floor if you're in a chair. A somewhat open, upright posture.
Bringing a soft, gentle gaze toward the floor or closing the eyes. Allowing the arms and hands to rest comfortably in the lap and beginning once again by bringing an awareness to
the feet. So bringing the awareness to both feet and maybe starting by noticing the points of contact
where the feet meet the ground. Or perhaps noticing the gentle touch of shoes or clothing. Noticing sensations in the heel, in the toes, the tops of the feet.
Now bringing a kind attention to the ankles and the lower legs and noticing any sensations. ations there. Sensations of touch, temperature, tension.
And important to note, we're not trying to create any sensation. Just simply noticing what's already there to be noticed. Moving the attention to the knees and
the lower legs and the upper legs. the thighs. Noticing the tops of the knees, the bottoms of the knees. Maybe noticing the thigh where the hand is resting.
Becoming aware of the sitbones in the hip And now for a moment imagining as if you're taking a breath and breathing into the entire legs itself. Breathing down into the legs all the way
down to the toes. With each breath and now releasing any manipulation. of the breath and bringing the awareness now to the lower abdomen or
just underneath the belly button in the lower back. Moving on to the torso above the belly button, the area that contains
maybe the stomach and the ribs. And noticing the sensations there. Maybe here noticing the rising and falling of the chest with the breath. And now bringing the awareness all the way down to the hands.
So both hands now noticing the palm, the thumb and the fingers. So noticing the sensations there but also the lack of sensation because that counts too,
right? Not everybody can feel every part of the body. Maybe you notice here the difference in temperature between the palm of the hand or the top of the hand. Moving to the wrists and the lower arms.
Moving to the elbows and the upper arms. the armpits and the shoulders. The throat and the neck And moving up to the head. Noticing the jaw. The mouth with the tongue and the teeth. the cheeks and the nose.
The eyes and the forehead. Noticing now the side of the head and the ears, the back of the head and the top. And now bringing a kind awareness to the entire body
from head to toe. Perhaps now even imagining as if you're breathing in through the top or the crown of the head all the way down to the arms to the
hands down the body to the legs and the feet and then all the way back out through the top of Ahead. These words by Martha Elliott. Your history is here inside your body.
Your body is your storehouse of learnings, feelings, thoughts, and experiences. Only waiting to be invited to reveal your treasures to yourself. Help yourself.
As you let the learning emerge and take shape, you can appreciate the wisdom of the body. Each cell alive with spirit, emotion, and intelligence,
ready to help you at any moment. Always with you and for you. I invite you to take one more gentle breath here together. Taking a moment to acknowledge yourself and your dedication to your own
well-being. You navigated distractions. You followed your breath. You noticed body sensations. You showed up for yourself and that is a profound success. [Music]
Welcome back. I'd like to read The Journey by Mary Oliver. One day you finally knew what you had to do and began. Though the voices around you kept shouting their bad advice, though the whole house
began to tremble and you felt the old tug at your ankles. Mend my life," each voice cried. But you didn't stop. You knew what you had to do. Though the wind pried with its stiff
fingers at the very foundations, though their melancholy was terrible, it was already late enough and a wild night and a road full of fallen branches and stones. But little by little, as you
left their voices behind, the stars began to burn through the sheets of clouds. And there was a new voice which you slowly recognized as your own that kept you company as you strove
deeper and deeper into the world, determined to do the only thing you could do. Determined to save the only life you could save. And maybe noticing now how you feel now compared to maybe an hour ago.
Perhaps a little more grounded, a little more spacious and present. Some of the benefits of meditation may be felt right away. However, meditation is not a quick fix. It requires regular practice.
Just as with exercise, as you meditate more regularly, you may begin to see positive benefits that generalize to other parts of your life. This can help motivate a more regular
practice. If you'd like to explore mindfulness more at home, it can be as easy as having a dedicated space free of distraction and setting aside just 5 to 15 minutes a
day to practice a grounding meditation or body scan. If you'd like to explore mindfulness meditation together with a community of meditators, I invite you to join us in person at
Middleway Meditation Center. Our classes currently run every Saturday at 9:00 a.m. and our full schedule can be found at mindfulself.org. Thank you for your presence and your practice.
[Music] [Music] Hey. Hey.