WEEK 1
Meditation Practice
We’re starting small because small is beautiful too. This week’s meditation practise is simply one minute a day — everyone can do one minute a day (even if you have to do it on the loo!).
Monday — 1 minute Breath Awareness
Tuesday — 1 minute Breath Awareness
Wednesday — 1 minute Breath Awareness
Thursday — 1 minute Breath Awareness
Friday — 1 minute Breath Awareness
Saturday — 1 minute Breath Awareness
Sunday — 1 minute Breath Awareness
If you can't remember how to practise Breath Awareness meditation, I've popped the instructions at the bottom of the page (or you can remind yourself by reading the main Don't Scratch The Itch page).
Monday — 1 minute Breath Awareness
Tuesday — 1 minute Breath Awareness
Wednesday — 1 minute Breath Awareness
Thursday — 1 minute Breath Awareness
Friday — 1 minute Breath Awareness
Saturday — 1 minute Breath Awareness
Sunday — 1 minute Breath Awareness
If you can't remember how to practise Breath Awareness meditation, I've popped the instructions at the bottom of the page (or you can remind yourself by reading the main Don't Scratch The Itch page).
Mindful Living Practice — Don't Scratch the Itch
One of the most powerful things I have learnt through meditation is that you can feel an itch and not scratch it. And, when you don’t scratch the itch, when you simply pay attention to it with loving awareness, when you simply watch and wait, very soon the itching will disappear.
And the really beautiful thing is that once you realise you can be with the discomfort of an itch without doing anything about it and it will pass all by itself, you realise you can be with lots of other uncomfortable things too — grief, sorrow, anger, the urge to eat that family-sized bar of chocolate, the desire to buy the bag you can’t really afford, the thoughts that tell you you’re not good enough and need to lose weight in order to feel worthy, the craving for alcohol or coffee or sugar, the impulse to check your phone again…
To begin with, practise not scratching the itch during meditation and then see if you can expand it to the rest of your life too. You might find it helpful to say to yourself, “An itch is passing through me” or something similar as a reminder that the itch will come and go, arise and pass away — just like every thought, emotion, craving, fear, good day, grey day, relationship, pet, life on earth. Nothing lasts forever — sometimes that feels beautiful and, at other times, brutal.
Not scratching the itch will gently teach you how to BE instead of DO. How to be aware. How to be with. How to be. As simple as it seems, experiencing the way an itch dissolves all by itself when you pay attention to it will teach you that you don’t have to constantly struggle and force and fight life and act on cravings and run from anything uncomfortable. Instead, you can be with it, you can let it pass through you, you can choose whether it’s an itch you really need to scratch, an urge you really need to act on, something you really need to worry about — or if it would be kinder and more loving to simply move on with your life, trusting that the itch will pass if you leave it unscratched.
And the really beautiful thing is that once you realise you can be with the discomfort of an itch without doing anything about it and it will pass all by itself, you realise you can be with lots of other uncomfortable things too — grief, sorrow, anger, the urge to eat that family-sized bar of chocolate, the desire to buy the bag you can’t really afford, the thoughts that tell you you’re not good enough and need to lose weight in order to feel worthy, the craving for alcohol or coffee or sugar, the impulse to check your phone again…
To begin with, practise not scratching the itch during meditation and then see if you can expand it to the rest of your life too. You might find it helpful to say to yourself, “An itch is passing through me” or something similar as a reminder that the itch will come and go, arise and pass away — just like every thought, emotion, craving, fear, good day, grey day, relationship, pet, life on earth. Nothing lasts forever — sometimes that feels beautiful and, at other times, brutal.
Not scratching the itch will gently teach you how to BE instead of DO. How to be aware. How to be with. How to be. As simple as it seems, experiencing the way an itch dissolves all by itself when you pay attention to it will teach you that you don’t have to constantly struggle and force and fight life and act on cravings and run from anything uncomfortable. Instead, you can be with it, you can let it pass through you, you can choose whether it’s an itch you really need to scratch, an urge you really need to act on, something you really need to worry about — or if it would be kinder and more loving to simply move on with your life, trusting that the itch will pass if you leave it unscratched.
Breath Awareness Meditation
This is the practice of concentration and is the first step in taming the mind. By fixing and maintaining your attention on the breath, you train the mind to become steady and focussed instead of being distracted by every thought, craving or aversion that pops into your head.
Breath awareness trains our ability to concentrate so we can use the mind to examine and remove conditioning and habits that are causing us to suffer. By practising awareness of our breath we are practising awareness of the present moment — and when we are fully focused on the present moment, we are free from craving, aversion, and suffering.
When you first begin this practice, you’ll probably notice that as soon as you try and fix your mind on the breath, a thousand thoughts will jump into your mind — hopes, memories, worries, pains, fears… Often your mind will drift away from your breath without you noticing so, when it does (which it will — lots and lots and lots!), your work is to bring it back to the present moment over and over again by focusing on your breath.
Most of us have a deeply ingrained mental habit of wanting to run away from the present moment (to plans and memories and worries) which will take time to change but, with patience and practice, it becomes easier to maintain unbroken awareness of the breath.
Breath awareness trains our ability to concentrate so we can use the mind to examine and remove conditioning and habits that are causing us to suffer. By practising awareness of our breath we are practising awareness of the present moment — and when we are fully focused on the present moment, we are free from craving, aversion, and suffering.
When you first begin this practice, you’ll probably notice that as soon as you try and fix your mind on the breath, a thousand thoughts will jump into your mind — hopes, memories, worries, pains, fears… Often your mind will drift away from your breath without you noticing so, when it does (which it will — lots and lots and lots!), your work is to bring it back to the present moment over and over again by focusing on your breath.
Most of us have a deeply ingrained mental habit of wanting to run away from the present moment (to plans and memories and worries) which will take time to change but, with patience and practice, it becomes easier to maintain unbroken awareness of the breath.
- Simply begin by finding a comfortable seated position, where you can sit with your spine upright, and close your eyes.
- Bring your awareness to the sensation of your breath around your nostrils — maybe you can feel your breath tickle your upper lip, or you might feel it around the outside of your nose or you may notice a coolness or warmth on the inside of the nostrils as the air passes through.
- Fix your focus to these sensations, making sure not to control your breath but simply observe your natural breathing rhythm — if the breath is deep, let it be deep, if it is shallow, let it be shallow, if it is soft, let it be soft. Simply watch the breath as it moves in and out of your nostrils.
- Each time your mind wanders, gently, and without judgement or frustration, bring your awareness back to the sensation of the breath.