WEEK 16
Meditation Practice
This week’s meditations are exactly the same as last week’s except from on Sunday where we will practice our first Sitting of Strong Determination — a practice in stillness. This means we do not move at all during our meditation practice — so don’t scratch the itch, don’t change your posture, don’t cough or yawn… Sitting still is an important skill to develop in order to move deeper into your practice because, when the body is still, the mind becomes still too.
We are actually doing a slightly shorter practice on Sunday than we did last week — there is no Loving-Kindness Meditation like usual. This is because you might find yourself feeling a little frustrated after your first couple of Sittings of Strong Determination and we only want to practice Loving-Kindness Meditation when we feel calm and full of love.
Monday — 5 minutes Breath Awareness + 15 minutes Body Awareness
Tuesday — 5 minutes Breath Awareness + 15 minutes Body Awareness
Wednesday — 5 minutes Breath Awareness + 15 minutes Body Awareness
Thursday — 5 minutes Breath Awareness + 15 minutes Body Awareness
Friday — 5 minutes Breath Awareness + 15 minutes Body Awareness
Saturday — 5 minutes Breath Awareness + 15 minutes Body Awareness
Sunday — 5 minutes Breath Awareness + 15 minutes Body Awareness — Sitting of Strong Determination
We are actually doing a slightly shorter practice on Sunday than we did last week — there is no Loving-Kindness Meditation like usual. This is because you might find yourself feeling a little frustrated after your first couple of Sittings of Strong Determination and we only want to practice Loving-Kindness Meditation when we feel calm and full of love.
Monday — 5 minutes Breath Awareness + 15 minutes Body Awareness
Tuesday — 5 minutes Breath Awareness + 15 minutes Body Awareness
Wednesday — 5 minutes Breath Awareness + 15 minutes Body Awareness
Thursday — 5 minutes Breath Awareness + 15 minutes Body Awareness
Friday — 5 minutes Breath Awareness + 15 minutes Body Awareness
Saturday — 5 minutes Breath Awareness + 15 minutes Body Awareness
Sunday — 5 minutes Breath Awareness + 15 minutes Body Awareness — Sitting of Strong Determination
Mindful Living Practice — Practise C.O.A.L.
Mindful living is not just about paying attention to the present moment, it is about paying attention with love, kindness and compassion. The minute we begin judging the present moment, or comparing our present to someone else’s, or berating ourselves for what we ‘should’ be doing right now, we create suffering. Whatever we bring our awareness to in this moment — whether the moment is messy or magnificent or mundane, it needs to be with loving awareness or we will continue to suffer.
Say, for example, you spill your coffee and you are fully aware that you spilt your coffee because it is down your blouse and all over the new rug (so you have awareness). Then, a little voice in your head starts saying how clumsy you are and how you always make a mess of things — this is not loving awareness. Without loving awareness, the spilt coffee will become suffering because of the way you belittle yourself. With loving awareness, the spilt coffee will just be spilt coffee.
A helpful way of making sure the attention you are paying to yourself and your life is loving, is the acronym C.O.A.L.
This means paying attention to the present moment with:
This week, whenever you find yourself in a challenging situation — maybe you have spilt your coffee, or your kids are playing up, or you’ve put on a pair of jeans and they no longer do up, or life just doesn’t feel like it’s going to plan, cultivate a mindset of curiosity, openness, acceptance and love.
Instead of beating yourself up and calling yourself names for outgrowing your jeans, use C.O.A.L. to approach the situation with kindness and respect for yourself — maybe your jeans won’t do up because it’s that time of the month? Or maybe your body wasn’t designed to fit in those size jeans anyway? Maybe it’s about time you bought a new pair? Maybe your body is changing as you get older? And maybe that’s OK? Maybe you can love your body exactly the way it is?
Say, for example, you spill your coffee and you are fully aware that you spilt your coffee because it is down your blouse and all over the new rug (so you have awareness). Then, a little voice in your head starts saying how clumsy you are and how you always make a mess of things — this is not loving awareness. Without loving awareness, the spilt coffee will become suffering because of the way you belittle yourself. With loving awareness, the spilt coffee will just be spilt coffee.
A helpful way of making sure the attention you are paying to yourself and your life is loving, is the acronym C.O.A.L.
This means paying attention to the present moment with:
- C — curiosity
- O — openness
- A — acceptance
- L — love
This week, whenever you find yourself in a challenging situation — maybe you have spilt your coffee, or your kids are playing up, or you’ve put on a pair of jeans and they no longer do up, or life just doesn’t feel like it’s going to plan, cultivate a mindset of curiosity, openness, acceptance and love.
Instead of beating yourself up and calling yourself names for outgrowing your jeans, use C.O.A.L. to approach the situation with kindness and respect for yourself — maybe your jeans won’t do up because it’s that time of the month? Or maybe your body wasn’t designed to fit in those size jeans anyway? Maybe it’s about time you bought a new pair? Maybe your body is changing as you get older? And maybe that’s OK? Maybe you can love your body exactly the way it is?
If you can, see if you can keep up the mindful living practices from the last few weeks too. If you need a reminder, I’ve popped them below.
Week 1 -- Don’t Scratch the Itch
Week 2 — Non-Harm
Week 3 — Non-Stealing
Week 4 — Speak Only Kindness
Week 5 — Take a Break From Intoxicants
Week 6 — Conscious Relationships
Week 7 — R.A.I.N
Week 8 — Send Happiness
Week 9 — Let Someone Else Be Right
Week 10 — Wash Up
Week 11 — Play
Week 12 -- Practise the Pause
Week 13 — Practise Intentional Meandering
Week 14 — Take a Break From Social Media
Week 15 — Practise Urge Surfing
Week 1 -- Don’t Scratch the Itch
Week 2 — Non-Harm
Week 3 — Non-Stealing
Week 4 — Speak Only Kindness
Week 5 — Take a Break From Intoxicants
Week 6 — Conscious Relationships
Week 7 — R.A.I.N
Week 8 — Send Happiness
Week 9 — Let Someone Else Be Right
Week 10 — Wash Up
Week 11 — Play
Week 12 -- Practise the Pause
Week 13 — Practise Intentional Meandering
Week 14 — Take a Break From Social Media
Week 15 — Practise Urge Surfing