Four Simple Meditations

1.Breath Awareness Meditation
Observing the breath is the basis of many meditations. It is an easy way to relax and become more present. This meditation can be done sitting or lying down. Begin by getting into a comfortable position. Close your eyes. Now bring your attention to your breath. Simply notice the breath as it moves in and out. Notice how the body breathes automatically, effortlessly. Don’t try to manipulate the breath in any way. Notice all the details of the experience of breathing — the feeling of the air moving in and out of the nose, the way the body moves as it breathes, etc.

Continue with your attention on the experience of breathing throughout the meditation. The mind will wander away from the breath — that’s fine, it doesn’t matter. That’s a part of the meditation! When you notice that you are no longer observing the breath, easily bring your attention back to it.

2.Body Awareness Meditation
This meditation will help you to be more in the present moment, more in tune with your body and more grounded. It is very helpful when you are feeling “scattered”. This meditation is like the breath meditation, except that your attention is on the body. It can be done sitting or lying down. Begin by getting into a comfortable position, and close your eyes.

Now bring your attention to your body. Feel the physicality and density of the body. Feel the weight of the body on the chair or the bed. Let yourself relax into the pull of gravity. Notice all the myriad of sensations going on in the body. What are you experiencing in your body? What is it like to be in the body?

As you continue meditating, you can allow yourself to experience whatever physical sensations naturally attract your attention, or you can purposefully scan your body. If you scan, you can start with the soles of the feet and move up, go from the head down, or simply randomly scan the body. See what it feels like in the various parts of the body. Notice the details of your experience. Allow your awareness to be fully with whatever is being experienced in the body, pleasant or unpleasant.

Continue meditating as long as you’d like, allowing yourself to fully feel whatever is being experienced in your body. When you notice that your mind has gotten caught up in thoughts, easily bring it back to awareness of the body.

3.Walking Meditation
This is a way of meditating while walking. Done properly, it can be every bit as powerful as sitting meditations, and it is easier and more natural for many people to do moving meditations. During the meditation, you focus on the sensations in your body, as you do in the Body Awareness Meditation.

In some ways it is easier to do this while walking, as it is easy to be aware of the physical experience of walking. As always, let thoughts come and go, easily favoring the sensations in the body. Notice the way the body feels as you walk — the feelings in your feet and legs, the swinging of your arms, etc. When the mind has wandered, simply bring it back to the experience of walking.

4.Knitting Meditation
Believe it or not, knitting can be used as a powerful meditation. There is a reason that knitting has become so popular! The simultaneous use of the right and left hands, the back and forth between the needles, the feel of the yarn gliding over your fingers, tricks the mind into a relaxed state.

If you don’t already knit, get some needles and yarn and have someone show you how to do a simple knit stitch. Get comfortable and start

knitting. Thoughts will go through your mind, but the focus on the knitting will keep you from becoming overly involved with a train of thought. Just easily favor the experience of knitting, not minding the flow of thoughts. Knitting in this way naturally produces a meditative state. Thoughts and emotions which might have been distressing can easily flow through and resolve on their own as you knit.

Note for knitters: If you already knit, you can make your knitting a meditation by dedicating some time to knitting purely for the sake of knitting — not to create a finished product. Use the garter stitch only. Forget about the gauge, the number of stitches, etc. Just knit away!

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