Notes on the Netflix Headspace Guide to Mediation Series ======================================== Wed Jun 30 09:58:43 EDT 2021 Headspace is a company that monitizes meditation by selling a app and service. They produced a series of meditation instruction for Netflix that actually contains some helpful advice. The mind will wander. That doesn't mean we've done anything wrong. It doesn't mean we need to change anything. Just let the mind come back. Meditation gets better with practice. It may take several weeks daily practice to really feel the benefits. Episode 1: How to Get Started ---------------------------------------- Meditation trains the mind to be more present, less distracted. But it's not designed to get rid of thoughts. Imagine, for example, your sitting on the side of a road. Just sit, and watch the cars. The cars are your thoughts. Meditation helps us just sit and watch the cars, rather than running after the cars or whatever. (I've heard basically the same analogy with watching clouds move across the sky.) Various techniques (visualizations, mantras, breathing, etc.) teach "focuses attention". Some days meditation with feel easy, other days difficult. Stick with it either way. 1. Find a way to sit or lay comfortably. 2. Soft focus through partially-closed eyes. 3. Breath in and breath out. In through the nose, out through the mouth. Notice how it feels. Notice how having nothing else to do feels good. Notice the comfortable weight of the body. Notice sounds in the environment. Notice how the body feels — restless or serene or whatever. 4. Close your eyes, if desired 5. Let the mind settle. Thoughts will come up, the mind will wander. That's OK. Just notice the wandering thoughts, let them go, and gently return to focus. 6. Count breaths if you want — count to ten, then return to one. 7. When finished, take note of how you feel, how your mind and body feels. Episode 2: How to Let Go ---------------------------------------- Dealing with letting go of things that weighing us down, bothering us. The mind is like a busy monkey, always jumping around. The busy monkey can tire us out. We want to help our mind relax by creating an environment where we can naturally relax and let go. The tranquil mind is like the blue sky — always present, but sometimes obscured by clouds for days at a time. Visualization exercise. Imagine a warm flow of light coming into the head and filling the body. Don't fret about the specifics or clarity of the image, but more on the feeling. 1. Get comfortable, sitting of lying down. Eyes open or closed — whatever's comfortable. 2. Warm up with a few deep breaths, breathing in through the nose and out through the mouth. Notice the feeling of breathing. Feel the ease as the body relaxes. Take a moment to feel relaxed, unrushed, the weight of your body. 3. Imagine a steady stream of warm sunlight above your head, flowing down from your head to your feet. As light fills the body, it melts any tension, starting with the feet and moving slowly up. 4. When finished, take note of how you feel, how your mind and body feels. Episode 3: How to Fall in Love with Life ---------------------------------------- Who or what is one thing you really appreciate in your life right now. Family? A daily cup of coffee? What's going well in your life? Create a space for appreciation in your day. What you wake up, at meals, take a few seconds to appreciate it. "Reflective meditation" creates a space in the mind to focus our attention on a selected topic or question. Create a space into which to place the question — not to analyze or resolve the question, but to observe what thoughts and feelings gather round it. Observe those thoughts and feelings; learn to listen to the mind. Don't try to reach a conclusion, just reflect. Exercise: touch the emotion of being grateful for life. Practice, until we really _feel_ that gratitude. 1. Sit or lie comfortably, just trying to keep the back relatively straight. 2. Allow thoughts to come and go. Just relax. Begin with eyes open, softly focused. Breath in through the nose, and out through the mouth several times. Feel the body relax, feel its weight. 3. Close you eyes, if desired. Take a moment to appreciate the feeling of having stopped — of having nowhere to go and nothing to do. 4. Ask "who or what do you appreciate in your life right now?" Notice what thoughts and feelings come to the surface. Don't judge or analyze, just observe what comes up. 5. If no clear feeling comes, gently ask again. Create a space for it. 6. If thoughts and feelings come, stay with that feeling of appreciation. 7. Gently come back to your surroundings. Note sounds, open your eyes. Note how you feel. This exercise can take several tries, before we really connect with the feeling of appreciation. Meditation is a practice, a process. Episode 4: How to Deal with Stress ---------------------------------------- We tend to run away from stress and anxiety. Learning how to see anxious thoughts in a different way is central to meditation. We can't eliminate stress, but we can change our relationship to it. Noting. During meditation, when distracting thoughts intrude, just note them. "Oh, yeah." Note the distraction, then gently return to focus. We don't need to note every thought — just when we realize the mind has wandered. Gently note the thought, let it go, then return to our object of focus. We are not our thoughts. Don't fight unpleasant feelings during stressful moment — note and acknowledge them. Noting anxious thoughts creates space for us. 1. Sit or lie comfortably, just trying to keep the back relatively straight. 2. Allow thoughts to come and go. Just relax. Begin with eyes open, softly focused. Breath in through the nose, and out through the mouth several times. Feel the body relax, feel its weight. 3. Close you eyes, if desired. Take a moment to appreciate the feeling of having stopped — of having nowhere to go and nothing to do. 4. Focus on breathing. If the mind wanders, note it, and come back to your breath. 5. When finished, take note of how you feel, how your mind and body feels. Note the feeling; carry it into your everyday life. (Isn't this exactly the same as the "getting started" meditation? Yeah.) In everyday life, when anxious thoughts happen, pause, note them, then return to whatever you were doing. Episode 5: How to be Kind ---------------------------------------- The judging mind. Let go of judging thoughts for us and those around us. Because we're constantly judging ourselves and others, we get caught up in the tension between how things actually are and how we think things should be. When we meditate, we should cultivate not only an awareness of our though — being present — but also a sense of love, of kindness. **Loving kindness** — a type of self-compassion meditation. Visualize different people in different scenarios — people we know or people we don't know, people we like or people we dislike — and focus on that person being happy. Focusing on the happiness of others helps us let go of tensions that cause unhappiness in our own mind. Imagine a relaxing, refreshing place. Imagine a speck of sunlight in the middle of our body; imagine the speck begin to grow and spread. We feel more relaxed as the sunlight grows. Imagine our smile, our smile growing. Tension fades. Visualize ourself becoming very happy and relaxed. Imagine a person we like. Imagine them sitting somewhere they would enjoy and find relaxing. Imagine a spec of sunlight in the middle of their body, expanding and filling their body. The expanding sunlight brings ease and happiness to the person. They visibly relax and smile. Imagine them becoming very happy. Let the vision go. Imagine a person we dislike or are having problems with. Imagine them sitting somewhere they would enjoy and find relaxing. Imagine a spec of sunlight in the middle of their body, expanding and filling their body. The expanding sunlight brings ease and happiness to the person. They visibly relax and smile. Imagine them becoming very happy. Let the vision go. In summary: 1. Imagine yourself growing relaxed and happy. 2. Imagine someone you feel positive about growing relaxed and happy. 3. Imagine someone you feel negative about growing relaxed and happy. Episode 6: How to Deal with Pain ---------------------------------------- Episode 7: How to Deal with Anger ---------------------------------------- Episode 8: How to Achieve Your Limitless… ----------------------------------------