16. Meditation 8

Experiment with mental noting while connecting your attention to the breath.

Once again find your seat however is comfortable. Could be in a chair or sitting cross-legged on a cushion. And just take a few deep breaths. Be aware of the sensation of sitting. Feel the heaviness of your body. Feel your hands resting on your legs or on the arms of the chair. Feel your back against the chair or against your cushion.

And then notice the breath wherever you feel it most clearly. And just letting it come and go naturally. See if you can follow the next inhalation from the first moment it arises through the pause between breaths. And then continue with the exhalation. And as you continue this way just noticing each breath as it comes. You might experiment with making a very soft mental note in your mind. This could be in on the inhalation and out on the exhalation. Or you can count your breaths. You can say one as the first breath comes in and one again as it comes out. And then continue on there.

Each time you lose the thread you can begin at one again. Either of these techniques making a again very subtle mental note with the voice of your mind can connect your attention more clearly to the breath. So you might play with that either in and out or counting. And the moment you notice your thinking and forgotten entirely that you were trying to meditate. Just notice the thought itself whether it’s language or images in the mind. Notice what happens to it. See how it dissipates. Where does it go? Where do thoughts and images go when you notice them? And then come back to the sensation of breathing. Or to feelings in your body. Or to the sounds in the room where you’re sitting. Or to the sounds in the room where you’re sitting. Or to the sounds in the room where you’re sitting. Or to the sounds in the room where you’re sitting. Or to the sounds in the room where you’re sitting.

As you pay attention to the breath and to sounds and sensations. Notice the quality of your attention. See if you can remain totally relaxed but precise. There’s no reason to struggle here. Just notice what in fact you notice in each moment. Sensations and sounds and thoughts and feelings are continually arising. Simply observe the next one clearly. In the last minute of this session, just begin again. It doesn’t matter if you’ve been restless or distracted or sleepy. Take this as the first moment of the session. And then come back to the next session. And then come back to the next session.