WEEK 2
Meditation Practice
This week, we’ll keep the style of meditation the same as last week and increase the time spent in meditation to two minutes. On Sunday we’ll meditate for a full five minutes, introducing Loving-Kindness to our practice.
Monday — 2 minutes Breath Awareness
Tuesday — 2 minutes Breath Awareness
Wednesday — 2 minutes Breath Awareness
Thursday — 2 minutes Breath Awareness
Friday — 2 minutes Breath Awareness
Saturday — 2 minutes Breath Awareness
Sunday — 5 minutes Loving-Kindness
If you can't remember how to practise Loving-Kindness 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 — 2 minutes Breath Awareness
Tuesday — 2 minutes Breath Awareness
Wednesday — 2 minutes Breath Awareness
Thursday — 2 minutes Breath Awareness
Friday — 2 minutes Breath Awareness
Saturday — 2 minutes Breath Awareness
Sunday — 5 minutes Loving-Kindness
If you can't remember how to practise Loving-Kindness 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 — Non-Harm
As we meditate, we are working towards inner peace — and our actions need to be aligned with this too. We do this by living in a way that brings peace and harmony to ourselves, to others and to the earth.
Alongside meditation, most spiritual systems have a set of moral practices or ethical codes of conduct to follow — for example, in yoga, these are known as the ‘Yamas’ and in Buddhism as the ‘Five Precepts’.
We don’t commit to these moral practices to make life super serious or as a form of self-restriction and self-punishment, but because you cannot free yourself from psychological suffering in meditation whilst taking action that contributes to suffering in your day to day life. For example, it’s very difficult to find inner peace whilst causing suffering to yourself by drinking too much alcohol, causing suffering to your partner by lying to them, or causing suffering to your friend by gossiping about them.
Non-killing, or non-harm is the first moral practice in many traditions. So, this week, consciously commit to the virtues of non-killing and non-harm — to respect all life, to bring no harm in thought, word or action to any living creature.
Non-killing isn't only about abstaining from physically murdering someone. We kill in subtler ways too — we can kill years or trust by lying to someone, we can kill another's inspiration by criticising their work unnecessarily, and we can kill a marriage or relationship by taking our partner for granted. This week, pay special attention to those moments when you have the power to kill a dream — your's or someone else's, or give life to it.
Likewise, non-harm can look like lots of things depending on what needs attention in your own life. It may be that you get angry at your kids a lot, so for you, non-harm could mean not raising your voice or swearing at them. It may be that you are constantly beating yourself up for not being good enough and so non-harm looks like being kind to yourself and making a conscious effort to stop any thoughts of unworthiness as soon as they arise — if you notice yourself thinking mean thoughts, you can say something like, “Nope. Not today. I am being gentle with myself from now on.” Or it might be that you want to practise non-harm to the planet — go meat-free for a week, shop at the little farmer’s market instead of the superstore, or get outside and plant your own veg!
Whatever you commit to, keep it up for the week and notice how by practicing non-harm you are awakening compassion within yourself.
Alongside meditation, most spiritual systems have a set of moral practices or ethical codes of conduct to follow — for example, in yoga, these are known as the ‘Yamas’ and in Buddhism as the ‘Five Precepts’.
We don’t commit to these moral practices to make life super serious or as a form of self-restriction and self-punishment, but because you cannot free yourself from psychological suffering in meditation whilst taking action that contributes to suffering in your day to day life. For example, it’s very difficult to find inner peace whilst causing suffering to yourself by drinking too much alcohol, causing suffering to your partner by lying to them, or causing suffering to your friend by gossiping about them.
Non-killing, or non-harm is the first moral practice in many traditions. So, this week, consciously commit to the virtues of non-killing and non-harm — to respect all life, to bring no harm in thought, word or action to any living creature.
Non-killing isn't only about abstaining from physically murdering someone. We kill in subtler ways too — we can kill years or trust by lying to someone, we can kill another's inspiration by criticising their work unnecessarily, and we can kill a marriage or relationship by taking our partner for granted. This week, pay special attention to those moments when you have the power to kill a dream — your's or someone else's, or give life to it.
Likewise, non-harm can look like lots of things depending on what needs attention in your own life. It may be that you get angry at your kids a lot, so for you, non-harm could mean not raising your voice or swearing at them. It may be that you are constantly beating yourself up for not being good enough and so non-harm looks like being kind to yourself and making a conscious effort to stop any thoughts of unworthiness as soon as they arise — if you notice yourself thinking mean thoughts, you can say something like, “Nope. Not today. I am being gentle with myself from now on.” Or it might be that you want to practise non-harm to the planet — go meat-free for a week, shop at the little farmer’s market instead of the superstore, or get outside and plant your own veg!
Whatever you commit to, keep it up for the week and notice how by practicing non-harm you are awakening compassion within yourself.
Loving-Kindness Meditation
The meditation begins with cultivating a feeling of love and compassion for yourself. If you struggle with self-love, you can always start with cultivating love for someone you care about and then expanding the circle of love to include yourself too — remember that unconditional love is incomplete unless it includes yourself.
- Simply begin by finding a comfortable seated position, where you can sit with your spine upright, and close your eyes. If you have already practised Breath Awareness Meditation or Body Awareness Meditation then stay seated with your eyes closed and move onto Loving-Kindness Meditation naturally.
- Cultivate a feelings of loving-kindness towards yourself. You might find it helpful to imagine yourself as a new born baby — vulnerable, fragile, and beautiful. Silently, say to yourself, “May I be happy and free”, or choose a phrase that feels right for you. For example, “May I be filled with loving-kindness”, or “May I be free from suffering”. Spend a couple of minutes repeating this phrase and cultivating loving-kindness for yourself.
- Expand your circle of loving-kindness to include someone you care about — a friend or family member, maybe. Repeat the same phrase you used for yourself, this time focusing on the person you care deeply about. For example, “May my sister be happy and free”.
- After a couple of moments, expand your circle of loving-kindness to focus on a stranger or someone you don’t know very well — maybe a neighbour or a barista in your local coffeeshop. Again, repeat the phrase and cultivate loving-kindness towards them.
- Expand your circle of loving-kindness to include someone you find difficult or are harbouring resentment or anger towards — maybe a co-worker who frustrates you, an ex who betrayed on you, or an old friend you have fallen out with. Use your phrase to cultivate loving-kindness towards them.
- Repeat your phrase again, this time cultivating loving-kindness towards everyone together for a minute or so — you, someone you care about, a stranger, and someone you find difficult.
- Finally, expand your circle of loving-kindness to include all beings and the earth itself — “May all beings be happy and free. May Mother Earth be happy and free”.
If you can, see if you can keep up last week’s mindful living practise too. If you need a reminder, I’ve popped it below.
Week 1 -- Don’t Scratch the Itch
Week 1 -- Don’t Scratch the Itch