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Hello and welcome to

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12-minute meditation, a weekly

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podcast from Mindful and mindful.org

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that offers mindfulness meditations

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backed by neuroscience. If

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you've been practicing, you know that 12

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minutes of meditation a day can yield

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benefits like increased attention,

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focus, creativity, calm,

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resilience, and compassion.

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The latest scientific research supports

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this knowledge. So on

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this podcast, we invite you to

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do your 12-minute practice with

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guided meditations from today's leading

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mindfulness experts. There's

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a new practice each week and

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a new way to experience some of those

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benefits day to day. I'm

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Chelsea Arsenal, director of

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advertising at Mindful and

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mindful.org. And today, Barry

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Boyce guides you to focus the mind

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using the breath as an anchor. Mindfulness

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involves noticing thoughts without judgment,

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fostering a natural awareness beyond

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the constant stream of mental

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chatter. In this

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particular practice, Barry introduces you to

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the power of meta-awareness, the

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moment you notice the thought, and

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how you can gently return your focus to

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the breath. Remember

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in meditation, failure is

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part of the journey and each

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session is a learning experience. Take

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a moment to ground yourself, tune

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into your natural awareness, and

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explore the depths of mindfulness

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with Barry's guidance. Barry

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Boyce is founding editor of

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Mindful and mindful.org, a

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longtime meditation practitioner and teacher,

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as well as a professional writer and editor.

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Barry serves on the board of the

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directors of the Foundation for a Mindful

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Society and the Center for Mindfulness Studies

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in Toronto, as well as

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on the advisory board of Peace in

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Schools in Portland. organ. You

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can subscribe to 12-minute meditation while you're

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on mindful.org or

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wherever you find your favorite podcast

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and if you're moved to leave us

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review we'd be grateful and

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so will other listeners. See

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your review helps them decide whether 12-minute meditation

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is for them but for

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now for you here's Barry

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Boyce you

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The first place to start is with

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spending a bit of time in a

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relaxed way on the posture. So

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we begin with our seat. We're

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seated on the cushion or a chair

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and our legs are either crossed in front

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of us or if we're seated in a

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chair they're touching the ground. The bottoms of

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our feet are touching the ground. On a

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cushion our legs

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can be simply crossed in front of

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us or they could be in a

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lotus posture or a half lotus posture.

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The point about our seat and our

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legs is just to have

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a base to be supported. Nothing

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special about it. So

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then what's happening with our torso or upper

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body? The upper

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body is upright but

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not stiff. Our

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hands can rest on our thighs

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in front of us with our

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upper arms parallel to our upper

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body. So

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they're just resting there. Our

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eyes can be open or closed

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and our gaze is

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slightly down. Just a slight

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feeling of humbleness about

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that. And

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with the gaze down we're

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slightly focused inward.

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Our mouth can be just

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slightly open or closed. So

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that's a practice in itself, just taking

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the time, taking the luxury

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to establish our posture. Now,

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if you have various bodily issues, you just

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need to make adjustments for those. So

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now we pay attention to the breath as it

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comes in and goes out. The

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nice thing about the breath is

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that it's reliable. It's always

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going to be there for alive. Aaron

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Salzberg talks about the importance of faith.

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Many people talk about trust. It's

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a very simple type of faith

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or trust that something

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is going to continue to be

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there. As

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you find yourself lost in thought and

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you notice that, because you have trust

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in the breath, you know that it

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will be there when you bounce off

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that thought and come back to the

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breath. Now

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we'll just practice in silence for

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two minutes. Thank

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you. you

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As we come back to and

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notice our breath, we're also noticing

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our body, so it's a kind

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of a whole body experience resting

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our attention on the breath. We

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can also feel the temperature

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in the room and appreciate

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our ability to sense the

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world, that we are

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a sensory mechanism. The

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world touches us. We

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have an interplay going on with

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the world. That's something we can

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appreciate. Pleasure

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and pain come from that sensing

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of the world. Now

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we'll just practice in silence for

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one minute. Thank

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you. Thank

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you. So

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we're taking time to be

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present and to develop

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presence. Presence meaning

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able to be present for whatever

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comes up, up

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or down. Could

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be very intense thoughts, complicated

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cognitive thoughts. How

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did the world begin? Why are

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we still driving so many cars? Who

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invented the car anyway? How

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do cars work? Can

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be cognitive, random thoughts

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like that. Or could be

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intense emotional thoughts. Emotional

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thoughts carry with them a lot of color

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and a lot of energy, feeling

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a movement in the body. I

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hate that. I love that. Lots of feeling

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tone to those thoughts. It

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can be persistent. They keep

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coming up no matter how many times we

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go back to the breath. Or

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it could be just about simple sensations,

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an itch in your toe. Now

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we'll just practice in silence

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for three minutes. you

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you you

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you you

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mindfulness is an equal

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opportunity process. whatever

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comes up, we just notice it

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and come back. if

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it comes up again in another shape or form,

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we notice it and come back. there's

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a certain amount of simplicity and dullness about

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that. but over time that

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dullness becomes natural relaxation.

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there's a feeling of strength that

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comes. and being

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able to be present with whatever arises

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and not being so inclined to run

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from it. Some

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people like to use the slogan,

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the present is pleasant. That's not

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really true necessarily. The

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present can contain whatever

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is present in

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that moment. If a family member

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has just died, it's not going

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to be particularly pleasant. And taking

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a moment to meditate will be

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about being with that, not

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trying to create a pleasant

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experience for yourself. Usually

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we're trying to get something

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out of an experience. In

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this case, paradoxically, we're

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just trying to be with

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rather than trying to get something out of

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it. Now, we'll

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just practice in silence for four

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minutes. Thank

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you. Thank

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you. Thank

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you. Thank

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you. you

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you As

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we notice thoughts again and again in

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meditation practice the thoughts begin

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to have less solid substance

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to them. They

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can feel less like something we have to

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fight with. We

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can have an appreciation that they're not

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facts. They're just formulations

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that emerge in the mind and

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that beneath them is some kind

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of presence and awareness that continues.

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Whatever thoughts may arise

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and dwell for a while and then go. you

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you Thank

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you for listening to this episode

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of 12-minute meditation from Mindful and

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mindful.org. I hope you

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enjoyed practicing with us. We'll

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be back in seven days with another meditation

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for you.