Meditations for Mindfulness
Meditation is the umbrella under which mindfulness falls. Forgiveness is a practice that is strengthened by mindfulness. May these meditations serve you.
Grounding meditation: This meditation redirects you to the present moment wherever you are.
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How long do I practice?: This meditation can be practiced anywhere and for any amount of time as the goal is to consistently remind to join the present.
Begin by taking a deep and conscious breath. Then bring your awareness to the present.
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Redirect your attention away from thoughts that drift into the past or future and back to the here and now.
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Then check in with your senses.
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What do you see?
What do you hear?
What do you smell?
What are you touching?
What are can you taste?
Where are you?
When are you?
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Breathwork Meditation: This meditation is great for calming and focusing the mind.
How long do I practice? 10-20 minutes (or as long as you can)
Begin by finding a comfortable seated position and deepen your breath.
Breath in and out slowly and fully.
You can then either continue awareness of your breath or you can begin to count your breath by counting how long you can inhale and then exhale for. You can start with the numbers 7 and 11 to keep it simple. The goal is to lengthen both numbers without excessive effort and then settle into a comfortable rhythm of breath that feels easy and continue to count your breath.
Be mindful not to get competitive during this practice. It is about non- judgmental awareness and counting is merely a way to keep you focused on your task of breathing deeply.
If you get distracted during the practice gently, remind the mind of what you are doing and redirect it to the task.
Breathwork (a step further): This meditation is great for connecting to your body through your breath.
How long do I practice? 10-20 minutes (or as long as you can)
Become aware of your breath. Breathe deeply and slowly and become aware of any tension you have in your body. As you become aware of the tension direct your breath to it.
On an inhale deepen your awareness of your tension. You can even lightly ask yourself a question like, are there emotions associated with this tension? Is it warm or cold?
On the exhale release as much of the tension as you can, then repeat for the duration of your meditation.
Body Scanning: This meditation can be very restful and relaxing. I practice this as I am falling asleep or taking a power nap.
How long do I practice? As long as it takes to scan your whole body.
Begin by either finding a comfortable seated position or lying flat on your back on the ground with your arms at your side and your legs straight.
Start at your toes and bring awareness to them assessing whether there is any tension there (for at least one breath).
On the exhale release the tension and then bring your awareness up to the foot.
You continue with the same practice of assessing whether there is any tension in your body there, and then releasing it on an exhale, on each of your body parts until you have reached the very top of your head.
You can be as specific or as general as you want when it comes to choosing to parts of your body you are progressively bringing awareness to.
For example, I know someone that practices this bone by bone.
If you get distracted during the practice gently remind your mind of what you are doing and redirect it to the task.
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Maitri Meditation: This meditation is also known as Metta which roughly translates to loving-kindness from Sanskrit and Pali respectively. This specific loving-kindness meditation was passed on to me from a mindfulness teacher via repetition in the classroom. I have written it out for you to practice at home.
How long do I practice? 10-20 minutes (or as long as you can come up with new people and things to bring loving-kindness to)
This meditation involves starting with yourself and repeating the following in your mind.
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May I be safe
May I be happy
May I be peaceful
May I live life with ease
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Then you choose someone in the world (personal/impersonal regardless of like/dislike) and then you repeat this for them
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May you be safe
May you be happy
May you be peaceful
May you live life with ease
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The final step before moving to the next person that comes to mind is imagining that person wishing the same thing back to you
so you repeat
May you be safe
May you be happy
May you be peaceful
May you live life with ease
Do this one more time with the thought of it coming back to you from the person you just wished well for before moving on to the next person
If you get distracted during the practice gently remind your mind of what you are doing and redirect it to the task.
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Sierra Johnson last edited November 1, 2019