Pretty Good Meditation

In this meditation, you are invited to experiment with the effort you bring to concentration. You are invited to try attending more closely to the breath, then easing back, with room to notice the difference between effort and strain. You can adjust your attention according to what supports your practice right now.

You are invited to notice what is present in your body and breath, even if something remains unfinished. The practice considers whether this moment can be whole without pretending everything is fine.

In this meditation, you are invited to follow a single breath out, all the way to the small pause after it. You might notice that your body has been clearing itself all day without any help from you. The meditation explores cleanliness as something your body is already doing, not something you need to make happen.

In this short body scan, you are invited to move your attention through the body one named part at a time, down the right side and then the left side. The invitation is to notice. There is nothing to relax or fix. You might find that some places are easy to find and others are harder to feel.

In this meditation, you are invited to notice what happens after you have sent a message and the result is no longer in your hands. You might see the mind reaching for control through checking, rereading, or trying to secure a response. The practice offers a way to do your part and leave the rest alone.

A meeting ends early, you have a few minutes before the next thing, and you feel the pull to check one more thing. In this meditation, you are invited to look at that pull to fill a small gap with more input, and at what the gap actually holds. You might notice how quickly that desire arises, and that you can leave it unanswered.

In this meditation, you are invited to think about a meeting that kept going after the scheduled end time, and about the minutes it took from people who never offered them. Asteya, non-stealing, usually is understood as leaving other people's physical property alone, though time and attention are easier to take and harder to notice taking. You might catch one moment today where you are about to spend a few minutes that were not given to you, and decide right then whether you need them.

In this meditation, you are invited to consider something you already know about yourself and usually look past. It might be a habit, or the way you sit when you are tired, or something you have noticed more than once and set aside. Satya, truthfulness, begins before speech, with a willingness to see what is actually happening. You might find that looking straight at one small thing is enough for today.

In this meditation, you are invited to look at the thoughts that arrive right after you make a mistake. They are not the thoughts that would fix the problem, but the ones with an opinion about you. You might notice how quickly they come, and how differently you would talk to a friend in the same situation. This is a short practice of ahimsa, non-harming, turned toward yourself.

Breathe, relax, feel, watch, allow. This meditation moves through the five steps in order, from a couple of long breaths to a closing thought of goodwill. When the mind wanders, bring it back. However many times it takes. Nothing here has to be fixed today. The job is watching this breath, and then the one after it. Breathe, relax, feel, watch, allow.