Anytime meditation sequence one minute to one hour 8-15-2018

Place attention on your breath going in and out.

1. As you breathe in count in one and as you breathe out count one, continue counting breaths up to 5 or 10.
2. As you breathe in think “calm” and as you breathe out think “now” ( 5-10 breaths)
3. As you breathe in and out visualize waves moving up and down along a pole (at a seaside dock) as you think rising and falling. (5-10)
4. As you breathe in and out feel cool air coming in your nose and throat and warm air flowing out. (5-10)
5. As you breathe notice the beginning , middle and end of each breath. (5-10)
6. Continue awareness of breathing and as thoughts come up try naming the group that contains that thought. Groups might be, thinking, planning, itchy, sounds etc. Once named return to awareness of the in and out flow of the breath.

The intention for this meditation is to train and calm the mind. Since your mind can have only one thought at a time while you are thinking about the flow of the breath in and out other thoughts are blocked.  Part of your mind has the role of producing thoughts.  These thoughts are usually a reaction to other thoughts or circumstances that arise.  They may be about the past or future and are usually scattered and become disruptive to the task or activity that you are engaged in.

When your mind is calm you can more easily concentrate on what you choose to be doing without distracting thoughts popping in and out.  This meditation can be used in one minute while standing on-line at the grocery or take out drive-up window.  Also, it can be used as a formal sitting meditation to go more deeply into the workings of your body-mind-spirit.  With practice this meditation becomes effortless as Spiritual Gravity nudges you deeper and deeper.