CalmingBreath Meditation: Deconstructing Stress show

CalmingBreath Meditation: Deconstructing Stress

Summary: Learn to work with your subjective experience in this complete guided meditation course from CalmingBreath.com - Work with your "mental chatter", images and your emotions as the objects of your meditation and gain deep, lasting insights that will reduce stress, and increase happiness. The classes are ideal for beginners but can be developed to advanced levels of insight with continued practice.

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Podcasts:

 Start Here | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 14:01

In this lesson you will be given an idea of what to expect from the course. I talk about stress and it's causes, and how we use meditation to break stress up into it's component parts. I also talk about the benefits of such practice and the reasons we do it. Find a comfortable place to sit where there are no distractions. Turn your phone off, close your email and keep your hands away from the keyboard :)

 Basic Instructions | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 14:02

In this lesson I give the instructions for our first guided meditation. These instructions apply to all of meditations we will do in this course. You will want to play this lesson again and again. It's short and concise, but packed full of everything you need to know about the meditation technique of "noting".

 Working with Mental Talk | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 20:18

In this guided meditation you will learn how to use your mental talk as your object of meditation. Most of us feel that our "mental chatter" is a pretty permanent aspect of our waking lives. We believe that we are our thoughts. And many of us live almost entirely in our own heads! By developing this practice you can learn, at a deep subconscious level, to recognise the impermanence of your thoughts. The impersonal nature of the mental gibberish that swirls around in your head. The net benefit of such gradual realisation can be a significant quieting of the mind and a dis-identification with mindless chatter that leads to a reduction in stress and a sense of freedom and happiness. You can make this practice your sole meditation. But, most people will benefit from practicing it for a week or two and then learning to work with mental images and emotions as well. (Also covered in this course). Practice Note: You should practice this technique for 20mins each day for at least *one week* before moving on. Drop the recording and work on your own as soon as you feel confident that you have the technique internalised. We will be using the noting technique. If you have not listened to the instructions for noting then please do so before starting this meditation.

 5 Tips for Successful Practice | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 20:01

In this episode Nick talks about some essential factors to consider when starting a meditation practice: How to find the right space for your meditation. Choosing the right time of day. How to sit correctly. How to use distractions skillfully How to get help when you're stuck.

 Working with Mental Images | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 20:33

In this guided meditation you will learn how to use your mental images as your object of meditation. Many us of believe we do not really see much in the say of mental images but by doing this practice you will find that that is very rarely true. In fact, you may find that you are astonished at just how many fleeting visual impressions whizz through your mind (and at the speed of them!). For some, mental images are abundant and vivid, and this practice serves well as an aid to working with difficult emotions that are accompanied by images. Most of us see our mental images in black and white. They tend to be quite fleeting and not particularly animate. They can manifest in front of us, or around us and can be ever so subtle. The key to this technique is to really delve deep into the subtlest stirrings of visual impression you can perceive. Like mental talk, the net benefit of such practice is a dis-identification with these images and a dawning realisation that they are impermanent and that they are not "you". This leads to less stress and suffering and when combined (later in this series) with mental talk and emotional body sensations, creates a powerful practice indeed. You can work with this technique on it's own, as your sole practice. It's amazing just how subtle mental images can be and for some this practice will provde enough material to work with for some considerable time. For most though it will be beneficial to combine this technique with the others in the series. Practice Note: You should practice this technique for 20mins each day for at least *one week* before moving on. Drop the recording and work on your own as soon as you feel confident that you have the technique internalised. We will using the noting technique. If you have not listened to the instructions for noting then please do so before starting this meditation.

 Working with Emotions | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 20:45

In this guided meditation you will learn how to use your emotional body sensations as your object of meditation. Most people are unaware that their "emotions" are largely comprised of sensations in the body. They are often accompanied by mental talk and mental images. The combination of body and mind creates the solid seeming emotions of anger, fear, confusion, and of love, joy and curiosity (to give but a few examples). By working with the physical sensation component of our emotions we learn to dis-identify with them. To be less "pulled" by them and to recognise that they are fleeting, impermanent things. The net benefit of such realisation, which can take some time to gradually occur, is a decrease in suffering and an increase in happiness. This practice will work particularly well for those who feel their lives are ruled by their emotions. Or those suffering through difficult emotions. You can make this your sole practice, and for some that will be plenty to get on with! Most however will benefit from learning this technique alongside mental talk and mental images and then eventually combining all three aspects of subjective experience to form a complete meditation practice. Practice Note: You should practice this technique for 20mins each day for at least *one week* before moving on. Drop the recording and work on your own as soon as you feel confident that you have the technique internalised. We will using the noting technique. If you have not listened to the instructions for noting then please do so before starting this meditation.

 Working with Everything | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 20:22

In this guided meditation you will learn how to use the moment by moment experience of your mind as the object of meditation. This practice brings together the previous three phenomena of mental talk, mental images and emotional body sensations. We allow the attention to broadly float between these three objects, noting their arising and passing away. When developed, this broad attention to mental objects can provide deep, penetrating insight into the impermenance of all mental phenomena. The net benefit of which is a reduction in stress, and an increase in happiness. Practice Note You should practice this technique for 20mins each day for at least *one week*. After that, you may choose to continue or to go back to a single focus option. You may choose to change about from time to time depending on what is going on in your life and what you need at the time. You may even use these techniques together with others such as awareness of the body sensations or breath. Drop the recording and work on your own as soon as you feel confident that you have the technique internalised. We will using the noting technique. If you have not listened to the instructions for noting then please do so before starting this meditation.

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