by Adam O'Neill
13.Come back to your breath. Feel your body in space. Open your eyes. As you return to your day, notice whether you are more sensitive to the thoughts that rise up in your mind and whether you can view them as impermanent objects that come and go.
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TWO INCHES TALLER 10 TO 20 MINUTES
We all spend too much time hunched over our computers and phones. This poor posture can have serious consequences, diminishing blood flow to our brains, putting unnatural tension on our necks, and reducing our lung capacity. Research shows that good posture positively affects our self-confidence and how other people perceive us. Plus, it simply feels good to sit or stand up straight and tall. In this meditation, you’ll turn your awareness to maintaining an optimal posture for the amount of time you’ve allocated. This meditation is great to do while walking, but you can be seated if you prefer. If anything about this meditation produces sharp pain, do not do it, and make an appointment to speak with your physician.
1.Begin by checking your lower back. There should be a nice, comfortable curve in your lower spine. To find the position, play with tilting your pelvis forward, then backward. Seek the position where you feel a slight engagement of your abdominal muscles and equally slight engagement of your lower back muscles. Neither muscle group should be gripping tightly, but both should be activated.
2.Lengthen your spine up through the top of your head, reaching the crown of your head toward the sky. Lengthen your neck.
3.Pull your shoulder blades together, then relax them and let them set naturally into a comfortable position down your back.
4.Lift your shoulders up toward your ears, then let them drop to a comfortable position. Make sure that your ears are positioned over your shoulders.
5.Without changing anything in your lower back or neck, gently lift your chest.
6.Relax your jaw and all of the muscles in your face.
7.Take a big inhale and let out all the air with a big sigh through your mouth. Repeat.
8.Check that all the muscles in your body are completely relaxed except those enabling you to maintain your posture. Those should be gently engaged, not tense.
9.For the next 10 to 20 minutes, maintain your posture. Keep your awareness on your body. Do certain areas begin to fatigue more than others? Is this posture comfortable for you? Where does your body feel open, and where does it feel tight?
10.Pay attention to the openness in your lungs and abdomen. Gently relax any areas of the body that feel tense.
11.Return to your breath frequently and maintain a passive awareness. Your body will be sending you a lot of signals. Acknowledge them as they arise, and then let them go.
12.After completing this meditation, notice whether you’ve become more aware of your posture and whether you carry that awareness throughout the day. You may find that you walk, stand, and sit taller.
TIP: Simply maintaining a strong upright posture can be more work than we realize. As fatigue sets in, your mind will look for ways to make you more comfortable by distracting you with other thoughts. You may also have negative thoughts that accompany fatigue or tension. Remember that a strong upright posture is a positive and natural position for your body. Discomfort is a sign that your body is simply not accustomed to sustaining a good posture.
TRY THIS: Try to avoid “locking” into a rigid perfect posture. Keep your body loose, fluid, and malleable. Play with making tiny adjustments and notice how even the slightest shifts can affect how the posture feels.
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ALTERNATE REALITY 10 TO 15 MINUTES
“You are what you are and where you are because of what has gone into your mind. You can change what you are and where you are by changing what goes into your mind.”
—Zig Ziglar
If I were to ask you to name one or two things about your life that you wish were different, I bet you could name them quickly. In fact, you could probably name 100 things. Seeking, yearning, wishing, and wanting are fundamental aspects of our human nature. The truth is that there’s an alternate reality available to you now, free of wanting, wishing, or striving. It is universally applicable to everything in your life. It is real, it is profound, and it holds a more fulfilling life for you within it. When we talk or think about our reality, and especially the things we wish were different, we tend to overlook the degree to which our perceptions of reality are constructed by our minds. If we change our minds, we can literally change our reality. In this practice, you will pick one thing about your life that you wish were different. Then, rather than thinking about how you want it to be different, you’re going to identify and focus on what you appreciate about it in its current form. You’ll stay in the appreciation mind-set throughout this meditation.
1.Find a comfortable seated position. You can sit cross-legged on a cushion on the floor or in a chair. Sit up straight, but don’t force perfect posture.
2.Gently close your eyes.
3.Without changing or controlling your breath, bring your attention to it. Find a place where you feel a pleasant sensation associated with the breath. It might be the tip of your nose or the top of your lungs, or it might arise in the rise and fall of your abdomen. Focus your attention there for 5 inhales and exhales.
4.Bring to mind an aspect of your life that you wish were different. (For example, I wish I had more money.) Don’t overthink it. The first thing that comes to mind is often the best thing to work with here.
5.Consider the reasons that you have this wish. If this wish were to come true, what would change? How do you think your relationship with yourself or with others would be better? Drilling down, what is the core driver of this desire? Pause there.
6.Now, look at your current situation and focus on a positive aspect of it. If, for example, you wish you had more money, you might now say, I like how my current situation forces me to not be wasteful.
7.For the next several minutes, keep your focus on this area of appreciation.
8.Notice how simply changing the focal point to an area of appreciation begins to shift your perception of your situation. Rather than a problem to fix, it becomes a gift of the here and now. As your perception shifts, you begin to occupy a different mind-set, an alternate reality.
9.Notice the images and emotions that accompany this new reality. Maintain focus on your appreciation for this circumstance.
10.When the meditation feels complete, bring your attention back to your breath. As you go about your day, see if you carry a different perspective on this thing you wished to change. Consider other areas of your life in which you may be wishing for change. Why carry a desire for things to be different when you can feel deep appreciation for how they are?
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CHILD’S POSE 5 MINUTES
For this meditation, you will rest in the yoga position called Child’s Pose. This pose is restorative, but it involves some active elements and alignment of the body. Be sure to carefully assume the pose before beginning your meditation. Child’s Pose offers a great stretch through the back, glutes, and shins. It also places your forehead on the floor, which is a grounding, humbling, and restful position. In this exercise, you will stay with the breath while maintaining an awareness of the sensations created by the pose. If you’re unfamiliar with this pose, see the resources section for a link to a demonstration. Make any adjustments that you need throughout this meditation to stay comfortable.
1.On a yoga mat or comfortable rug on the floor, enter into Child’s Pose. Find a version of the pose in which you are completely comfortable and relaxed, one in which nothing feels pinched or uncomfortable.
2.Inhale deeply and let out all the air with a big sigh through the mouth. Repeat 5 times.
3.Soften your gaze or gently close your eyes.
4.Begin inhaling on a count of 5 and exhaling on a count of 10.Keeping the exhale twice as long as the inhale, find the rhythm that is best for you. It may be an inhale of 3 and exhale of 6, or an inhale of 8 and an exhale of 18.Try to exhale completely with each breath.
Keep the breath cycle consistent and controlled.
5.Reach your hands out in front of you and then off to one side and then the other. Spend a few breaths in each position, feeling the stretch in your back.
6.Return your hands to a comfortable resting position and stay there for another few minutes.
7.With the coming and going of each breath, become aware of the sensations in your body. Without judgment, without any goal or intended outcome, simply observe the signals your body is sending.
8.As any thoughts arise, acknowledge them and let them go.
9.When your practice is complete, press yourself up gently with your hands, then roll around to a seated position or lie on your back for 1 to 2 minutes. Stand up slowly.
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FOUND SOUND 5 TO 10 MINUTES
The renowned yoga and mindfulness teacher Leslie Kaminoff tells the story of a recycling truck emptying a dumpster full of glass bottles outside his window during his morning meditation. The noise was so loud, so disruptive, that his immediate reaction was to be angry. But after many days of hearing the dumpster emptying, he had an epiphany: “Sound” is what is happening outside of us; “noise” is our own interpretation based on our perspective, beliefs, and personal context. We tend to forget that we can choose to react differently. In this practice, you’ll identify a sound in your environment. It can be any sound, but it should be something that you don’t usually pay attention to or something that you find mildly annoying. The intention here is to give your full awareness to the sound, identifying your internal reaction to that sound, and trying to find some space between the sound and the way in which its “noise” impacts you.
1.Find a comfortable seated position. You can sit cross-legged on a cushion on the floor or in a chair. Sit up straight, but don’t force perfect posture.
2.Close your eyes.
3.Take several deep breaths.
4.Allowing your breath to return to its natural rhythm, bring your full awareness to the flow and feeling of each inhale and exhale.
5.Turn your attention to the sounds coming into your ears. What do you hear? Is there a low-level background sound of some machine—perhaps a fan or a furnace? Identify a sound that, if you had a choice, you would change or turn off. What is it about that sound you don’t like? Is it the volume? Is it the tone, the texture, or the pitch?
6.Over the next few minutes, stay focused on this particular sound. Consider what is making the sound. Imagine the actual pieces, parts, or anatomical features that, through friction, are creating the sound waves that are traveling to your ears. Consider the path that the sound waves are traveling to get to you.
7.Realize that this sound, like all other sounds you hear, is simply a pattern of energy, disrupting the air in precise vibrations to be created exactly as you hear it. Consider that your brain is designed to identify sounds and give them meaning and that the meaning is subjective. What sounds lovely to some people will grate on others.
8.Try to shift your perspective on this sound. For example, if the sound of the heater fan is bothersome, imagine that you are hearing the fan after days of it being broken.
9.Once you make this shift, try to recognize a distinct space between the “sound” and your perception of “noise.” Realize that because you can change your perception, being annoyed by a sound is a choice.
10.When the meditation feels complete, come back to your breath. Try to carry this practice of “space” throughout your day. You may notice that you aren’t as easily affected by things outside of your control: They are simply happening. There is nothing you can do about them except adjust your perspective and accept the moment for what it is.
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SMILE LIKE YOUR LIFE DEPENDS ON IT 5 MINUTES
“The muscles used to make a smile actually send a biochemical message to our nervous system that it is safe to relax the flight, fight or freeze response.”
—Tara Brach
We normally smile because of how something makes us feel. A smile is an external expression of an internal emotion. But is it possible to create happiness or a sense of relaxation just by smiling? In my experience, it is absolutely possible. This meditation is great for turning around the heavy feeling of having a bad day, shedding hard-to-shake stress, or preparing for an important meeting, moment, or interaction.
1.Find a comfortable seated position, ideally somewhere where you won’t feel self-conscious about anyone seeing you.
2.Soften your gaze or gently close your eyes.
3.Bring your attention to your breath, following each exhale and inhale for several complete cycles.
4.Pay attention to the sensation of the breath, identifying a particular place in your body—in your nostrils, at the back of your ribs, under your sternum—where the sensation feels pleasant. Focus on that sensation.
5.Gently begin to smile. Smile broadly, but without force. Do not create tension in your facial muscles. Smile as you would naturally, without even trying.
6.As thoughts arise, notice them, accept them, and let them go. Your brain might try to distract you by saying things like This is weird. What am I doing? Or your brain might match your smile by offering a funny or happy thought, or it might protest by saying something like This is fake, I’m actually not happy. I’m upset about . . . . Whatever your brain does, notice it and then let it pass.
7.Maintain a steady, comfortable rhythm with your breath and maintain a steady, gentle smile for the next few minutes.
8.As you conclude this practice and reenter your daily routine, notice whether you smile more quickly or more broadly. Notice whether you feel a little happier, a little lighter, or more confident.
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A TINY WALK 15 MINUTES
When I was a kid growing up in the country, I used to sit and watch ants building their nests. As I watched them carrying materials and food, walking in perfect lines, I was fascinated by how such a complex society could exist in such a tiny physical space. I could stand up, take a few steps, and be in what would seem like a different world to those ants. Like the ants, our day-to-day experience in the world is closely aligned with our human-size houses and cars and roads and toys. Almost everything we interact with and think about is a creation or by-product of our engineered world. Taking time to focus on something that is much smaller than us, to occupy that space and immerse ourselves in that level of scale, affords us an opportunity to totally shift our perspective. In this practice, you’ll use a visual focal point to cultivate awareness of the present moment and retune your sensitivity to the world around you.
1.Find a comfortable place to sit or lie down outside, preferably near a tree or a large rock. Be close enough to see the details and textures of the surface, but far enough away to be able to see most of the object.
2.Become aware of your breath. Without changing or controlling your breath cycle, follow it several times. Find a sensation in your breathing on which to focus. This sensation might be in your nostrils, at the back of your throat, or in the rising and falling of your abdomen or chest. Bring your attention there.
3.Imagine that you’re watching a tiny insect, as small as the smallest ant you’ve ever seen, walking up or across the object. It is not particularly fast, but it isn’t the slowest insect either. It moves steadily but cautiously, stopping periodically to check the air and wiggle its antennae.
4.Keep your eyes trained on this imaginary creature as it slowly climbs. Notice how it needs to carefully navigate the textured surface on which it’s walking. Its little feet need to find purchase with each step.
5.Don’t rush and don’t skip ahead. The creature you’re envisioning can only climb as fast as it climbs: slowly, steadily.
6.For the next several minutes, keep your eyes focused on the path of this insect.
7.As thoughts interrupt, acknowledge them, perhaps make note of them, but let them go.
8.Return to your breath whenever this happens. Close your eyes for a moment if you need to reset your visual focus.
/> 9.Focus on this creature for the next 5 to 10 minutes, paying close attention to each tiny step it must make.
10.When the practice feels complete, close your eyes and take several deep breaths. Move your body and gently stretch your neck from side to side.
11.As you transition back into your day, notice whether your eyes are steadier. Notice whether this sense of calm focus carries into your thinking and how you speak.
TIP: This meditation may initially feel tedious or tiring. Typically, as our eyes scan our visual world, our minds are accustomed to making quick associations and judgments. It is unusual to tell your eyes where to look and what to see for a prolonged period of time. As a result, this meditation can be challenging, but keep trying it.
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FRENEMY 5 MINUTES
Much of the stress and anxiety we experience is related to our interactions with other people. As human beings, we crave love, appreciation, and respect. When interactions leave us feeling unloved, unappreciated, or disrespected, we point to the shortcomings of others or seek to diminish the value of their opinions as a way to make ourselves feel better. Though it can be challenging, I can usually identify at least one thing I truly respect about everyone. In this meditation, you’re going to identify a person with whom you have frustrations or disagreements or who doesn’t seem to like or appreciate you, and you’re going to focus on one thing about that person that you admire. This practice will help you reduce, even eliminate, stress or anxiety that you feel as a result of challenging relationships with others.
1.Find a comfortable seated position on a cushion on the floor or in a chair. You can also do this meditation while walking.
2.Establish a straight spine, being mindful of good posture, but don’t create any rigid tension in your body.
3.Take a gentle inhale, then exhale completely, letting go of all thoughts and releasing any tension. Repeat.
