Your Goal: Develop relaxation, calm and a daily meditation practice.
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The title of this insight meditation course is 7 Weeks of Calm. The meaning of this title will become clearer as you begin to experience the calm of this meditation method.
From my own experience, I can share with you that stress and anxiety do more to lower the quality of our lives than anything else.
It affects our physical health, mood, relationships, work and recreation.
When allowed to continue, the experience of stress and anxiety contaminates all parts of our lives.
On the other hand, the experience of relaxation and calm increases our physical well-being and mental health.
It calms our mood, allows intimacy in relationships, and increases our joy in work and recreation. Everything in life is so much better when we feel calm and relaxed.
With this understanding, we can align with what is possible for you.
In this insight meditation program, you will learn three things:
All this begins by committing to 5 minutes of meditation each day for 1-week to train your mind and body in a new behaviour of relaxation and calm rather than stress.
After finishing this seven-week course, you can continue to deepen your meditation by following the complete insight meditation course on this website.
You will also have the opportunity to become part of the world-wide MIDL Meditation Community by joining weekly online classes.
In this way, you will completely change the way that your mind reacts to stresses in your daily life.
Enjoy your meditation,
Stephen Procter
Begin Your Meditation: Meditation Course: 7 Weeks of Calm.
You can develop deep relaxation and calm during meditation while sitting on a supportive chair, cross-legged on the floor, or laying on a yoga mat.
When sitting on a chair to meditate, it is ok in the beginning to lean against the backrest.
Make sure that your buttock is all the way back in the chair or else you may slump in your lower spine causing you to feel discomfort and sleepiness.
Once seated, un-round your shoulders by bringing them forward, raising them up, bringing them back, and then dropping them down.
Also tuck your chin under slightly, extending the crown of your head towards the ceiling to balance your head on your neck.
Once your meditation practice develops it is helpful to start introducing more discipline within your meditation posture.
This can be done by sitting towards the front of the chair and slightly rotating the top of your hips forward.
Your forearms and hands can then sit gently on your legs, creating a triangle-shaped balance point.
This makes a very stable meditation posture that will keep you alert and balanced as you develop relaxation during your meditation session.
When sitting on the floor, it is important to keep your back straight and sit in a way that you can maintain for some time without moving.
Sitting flat on the floor requires a lot of flexibility in your hips.
You can test this now by sitting flat on the floor.
If your knees have trouble touching the ground while your back is straight, you can use different props to help with your posture.
Props such as a firm cushion under your buttocks help to raise your hips off the ground, changing the angle of your legs. This lowers the amount of flexibility needed in your hips for the posture.
When sitting on the floor, I recommend trying the Burmese meditation posture.
Explanation:
Sit down on a cushion, and fold one leg into your body so that the sole of your foot faces the inside thigh of the other leg. Next, fold the other leg in front of it.
In this way, you will prevent the pain and numbness that comes from one limb pressing against the other.
If this is still difficult, you can kneel on the floor with a rolled blanket or cushion between your legs and legs tucked under you.
If this still isn't comfortable, then go easy on yourself. Get to know your body and what it can and can't do. Accept it, and then work with what you have.
Other postures are just as good. You can meditate on a chair or lay on a mat on the floor.
When laying down on the floor for meditation, use a yoga mat or blanket to support your body. Bend your knees and place a bolster or rolled blanket under them to protect your lower back.
An advantage of your whole body supported by this hard surface is that you can fully allow your muscles to relax.
Slightly bend your knees and place a bolster or rolled blanket under them to protect your back.
To keep alert (so you don't fall asleep), place your arms by your sides with palms facing upwards. If you have back or neck issues, try laying on your side in the CPR recovery position for meditation.
If there is no other option, you can lie on a bed for meditation, but there is a higher risk of falling asleep.
To prevent this, prop your body upright by placing pillows behind your back and head. A rolled blanket under your knees will protect your lower back.
This introductory meditation course has been designed to help you lower stress and develop a routine of daily meditation with mindful calming breaths.
Stress, calm & how you breathe.
Have you noticed that how you breathe changes when you feel stressed or anxious?
Over the next seven weeks, we will use slow, relaxing breaths to develop a feeling of relaxation and calm.
Taking slow, relaxing breaths in the belly changes stress breathing patterns and triggers a relaxation response within our body and mind.
As you continue this meditation course and spend more time resting in this relaxed/calm state, it will become your natural way of being throughout the day.
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Make a commitment to change.
The first step to making meditation part of your life is to take some time out from your routine to develop skills in letting go.
At first, change will take some determination, but with practice, you will see the benefits and look forward to your daily meditation.
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Find enjoyment in your meditation.
For meditation to become regular, focus on two things:
In this way, you will develop a feeling of success plus trust in yourself that will gain momentum. This momentum leads to significant changes in our mind's relationship to things within our life.
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Structure your meditation.
On your first week of meditation, guarantee success by committing yourself to sit in meditation for 5 minutes each day. Gradually increase your time by 5 minutes the following week.
In this way, you will look forward to your daily meditation and experience the benefits in your life.
Let's begin your first meditation: Meditation Week 1.
Find a place for meditation where you can be with yourself for a short period of time without any distractions.
This may be a corner of your room, outside in the sunshine, or even in the front seat of your car.
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Guided Meditation:
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Commit to spending this time each day to improve peace of mind.
Set a countdown timer on your phone (set to DND), committing to meditating for 5 min.
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How to Relax with Breathing
During this meditation, we are using gentle diaphragmatic breaths to develop calm.
To learn to breathe with your diaphragm, it is helpful to think of the movement of your lower belly as being like a pump for breathing.
As you move the lower part of your belly outwards away from your body, air will naturally come in through your nose.
As you slowly lower your belly back again, air will naturally go back out through your nose.
Using your belly as a pump in this way will allow you to gradually lower your breathing rate and develop an experience of calm.
*Note: If counting to 3 is strained, count to 2 with each in and out-breath to create a more relaxed experience, this is most important. If you are experiencing anxiety and it is affecting your ability to relax, I recommend my meditation for Retraining Stress Breathing Patterns.
During Week 2, your meditation remains the same, except you commit to 10 minutes and have a longer time to enjoy the relaxation that comes from this gentle breathing.
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Guided Meditation:
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Set a timer on your phone and start by committing to meditating for 10 min.
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During Week 3, your meditation remains the same, except you now lengthen your out-breath to increase the calm that comes from this gentle breathing.
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Guided Meditation:
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Set a timer on your phone and start by committing to meditating for 10 min.
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These steps remain the same:
Insert this extra step:
**Note: As in week 1, if slowing down your breathing to 5 seconds on each out-breath causes strain, lower this to a count of 4 or 3. There is no magic number here. The important part is that it feels comfortable and has a calming effect.
During Week 4, your meditation remains the same, except this time, you commit to 15 minutes, giving you time to experience the mental calm that comes from this gentle breathing.
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Guided Meditation:
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Set a timer on your phone, committing to meditating for 15 min.
During Week 5, your meditation remains the same, except this time, you commit to 20 minutes, and when you notice that your mind has wandered, you come back with some gentle breaths.
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Guided Meditation:
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Set a timer on your phone, committing to meditating for 20 min.
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After calming with your gentle breathing:
Whenever you notice your mind has wandered:
Take three slow breaths in your belly, just as you did in your previous meditations, to help you relax and become more present in your body.
Just here, now.
Making you feel more present, calming mind wandering, and strengthening your mindfulness.
During Week 6, your meditation remains the same, except this time, you commit to 25 minutes and enjoy the mental relaxation that comes from this gentle breathing and periods of calm that last longer.
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Guided Meditation:
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Set a timer on your phone, committing to meditating for 25 min.
During Week 7, your meditation remains the same. You now have a daily meditation practice that will make you feel calmer and increase your mindfulness in your daily life.
Well done.
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Guided Meditation:
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Set a timer on your phone, committing to meditating for 30 min.
I encourage you to continue your daily meditation beyond these introductory meditations.
If you miss a day of meditation, it does not matter. Simply brush the dust off your meditation mat and start again.
And experience the benefits.
After practicing this simple but effective meditation, you may like to look deeper into meditation by following the complete insight meditation course on this website.
You are now a more experienced meditator and can start meditating and can begin the complete Insight Meditation Course on this website to refine your skills.
Questions can be submitted at: MIDL Community Reddit Forums.
Question: I'm currently in week 3 of the 7 Weeks of Calm course and I find myself having to force my breaths to last the recommended 3 seconds. I suspect this might be counterproductive.
Stephen: Yes, you are correct, forcing your breathing to match 3 seconds is not helpful. You can count to 2 on each in and out-breath if you like or let go of the counting altogether.
The important part is that breathing originates in your belly and that it feels nice and relaxing to do. With these two together you will begin to experience the calming effect of belly breathing.
Approached in this way you will find that your diaphragm and abdominal muscles will gradually learn to move more slowly and counting to 3 or even higher with each breath will become easier.
There is a laying down version of this for learning to slowly breathe using the diaphragm muscle to turn off the stress response in the Meditation for Anxiety section.
Question: Should I instead focus on deepening my breaths, relaxing, and trying to find enjoyment in the process throughout the entire meditation?
Stephen: Yes, this is a wonderful plan.
Question: Regarding mindfulness in daily life, is there anything someone at this level can do outside the cushion to progress more quickly?
Stephen: The key to mindfulness in daily life is finding the pleasure in physical relaxation, and then learning to bring that relaxation into your mind. This is what this 7-week introductory course is keyed towards.
With physical relaxation comes pleasure and ease. With pleasure and ease in your body come mental relaxation and letting go within your mind. These combined create what I call a mindful-presence, which is a felt-sense of awareness of your body that will become strong while sitting in meditation, and naturally begin to appear within your daily life.
This mindful presence naturally occurs through relaxing/letting go. It gradually becomes a natural experience in daily life when we reward our mind for this presence by finding the pleasure in its relaxation and ease.
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