In this practice, teacher Shalini Bahl reminds us that, in its simplest form, mindfulness is about stopping—stopping to notice, to breathe, to gently interrupt our ingrained habits of thought with your quiet presence.
We often think of mindfulness and meditation as long, sustained practices, when really it’s just a collection of micro-moments when we stop, breathe, really notice our body and our own life, pull away, and then come back again. Again and again.
As this week’s teacher Shalini Bahl says, today’s Guided Practice is the art of stopping: letting go of our usual habits of mind—pushing, pulling, running in circles—and instead just creature for a moment.
This is an advanced practice, but as a bonus, we’re also sharing a micro-practice version below that you can use on busy days.
And don’t miss Shalini’s article on Mindful.org it’s all about the power of micro-practices to influence our daily choices.
Thinking about art will stop
Read the guided meditation script below, pausing after each paragraph. Or listen to the audio practice.
- Begin by assuming a comfortable position in which you feel supported. If you need extra pillows or something to support your back so that you can feel the extension of the spine and the rotation of the shoulders up, back and down. Place your hands, palms up or down. When you feel ready, lower or close your eyes.
- Accept the sound of the bells as an invitation to the mind to be fully present. To this body, to this breath. Pay attention to your breathing. No need to change your breathing. If shallow – let it be shallow, if deep – let it be deep. Just rest your awareness in that breath, going into your body, following it as far as it will go. Notice the slight pause as the inhalation changes to an exhalation. Then rest with awareness of this exhalation until the exhalation has completely left your body. And then a pause, resting in that pause before the breath enters the body.
- Follow this breathing cycle at your own paceresting in consciousness. You are not thinking about your breathing, you really start meaning the breath, the coolness, the touch of the breath as it enters your nostrils. Feel it moving through your body, expanding as you inhale, in your lungs, in your chest, in your belly, wherever you feel it. As you breathe in, breathe in, and then breathe out, really feeling that contraction, the release.
- Whenever your mind wanders, which it will, just notice it with kindness. Let go of that thought for now, knowing that after practice you can always go back to your plans, to your thoughts. For now, just let those thoughts go and come back to the awareness of your breath.
- Just for these few moments, give up any rush, any judgments, any expectations. Allow yourself to breathe as you are. Give your full attention to each breath. Before each exhalation. And the spaces between them.
- When you are ready, find one place in your body where you can really feel the direct breath. This can be the touch of the breath in the nostrils or the upper lip area where you feel the coolness of the new breath entering the nose, the tingling in the nostrils or the warmth as you exhale touching the upper lip.
- If this feels more natural to you, you can pay attention to the sensation of breathing in your chest or abdomen. Find one place where you can have a direct experience of breathing. For the next few minutes, stay there with the direct sensations of the breath. Again, keep it effortless, just resting very gently in this awareness of the breath.
- If you feel numb, you can open your eyes a little. Make the breath more conscious. If your mind is really active, pay more attention to the exhalation, to the slowing of the exhalation.
- What we practice here is the art of stopping and letting go– give up distractions, our usual habits of mind: pushing, pulling, running in circles. We are simply here, fully present on your breath, allowing ourselves to feel your breath directly.
- Notice your expectations of what’s next, how things should be, even what this practice should be. Notice how your attachments can get in the way of feeling inner peace in this moment. Loosen the grip of these attachments and simply return to the direct sensation of the breath. Just this one breath.
- Now expand your awareness of this breath, the sensation of this breath throughout your body. You can either focus on that spot or expand your awareness of that breath moving through your body. Feel your whole body breathing in, breathing out. Notice those micro-moments when you let go of distractions and stay present.
- Before you finish this practice, take a few minutes to listen to what is happening. Just listen, taking a few minutes to listen to your mind and body being a little calmer. Perhaps there is clarity on how you can bring more of this inner peace practice into your life, whether it be in your relationshipwith himself, in his work. Just listen to where this practice of inner peace can be most skillful, most helpful for you and your loved ones. Let us continue these qualities of inner and outer peace in all our actions and interactions.
Micro practice here:
