Try This Reading Mindfulness Meditation
By: Smillew Rahcuef
Tags: Meditation, Self Improvement, Self-awareness, Awareness, Mindfulness

Try This Reading Mindfulness Meditation

Photo by tabitha turner on Unsplash

Believe it or not, I started meditating four years ago thanks to a Tinder date. After four years, I believe that the best practice is the one we can find at the intersection of formal meditation and our daily lives.

Many articles out there enthusiastically recommend the practice of meditation. This one doesn’t insist much on the theory. It’s rather an opportunity to experience meditation first-hand.

The following text combines the reading experience with basics mindfulness and body-scan techniques.

Just before we start, take a comfortable position. Shift your body a bit so that your posture is pleasant.

Your Breath

That’s the usual and almost mandatory start to any meditation.

Take a deep breath in through your nose (read the following numbers for rhythm as you do):

One, two, three, four, five, six, seven

Hold for:

One, two, three

And breathe out:

One, two, three, four, five, six, seven

Repeat two more times.

Your Eyes

Cover your left eye with your left hand and count to four: one, two, three, four.

Open the left eye again, and cover your right eye with your right hand: one, two, three, four.

Now, close both of your eyes and count to five in your head.

This can be a space you might want to explore more. Close your eyes again and count to 10 in your head if you feel like it.

Body-scan for the eyes

We’ll now follow with some body scan type of exercises. I find them very relaxing and useful to anchor myself in reality.

The principle is to move your awareness to the part of the body that we’re scanning. To do so, I find it helpful to think of my brain sending a sort of wave through the body towards the part being scanned.

Starting with the left eye, send a wave from your brain to the left eye. Bring the signal back to your brain and send it to the right eye.

You might, as I sometimes do, experience unbalance. It seems easier to send the wave to one side than to the other. To avoid this sensation, I imagine that the wave to the left starts from the right side of my brain (and conversely).

Try it with your eyes.

Start from the right side of your brain and send the wave to the left eye.

Bring the wave back to the right side and send it to the left side.

Send the wave from the left side of your brain to your right eye and back.

How does it feel so far? Do you still have a comfortable position? Take your time to adjust if necessary.

Your Hands

Where are your hands? Are they holding your phone? Resting? One on your lap, the other on the computer mouse or trackpad?

Take the time to look at your hands for ten counts each. I often use my breath as a timer. Inspiration makes one, expiration makes two, and next inspiration is three, etc. …

Should you get lost in the counts, don’t worry. Just start over from the beginning or stop and go on with the next exercise.

Now, let’s scan your hands, send waves back and forth from your brain. Picture the brain wave going through your arms. We’ll go from right to left.

Right little finger

Right ring finger

Right middle finger

Right index finger

Right thumb

All fingers from the right hand

And now switch to the left

Left thumb

Left index finger

Left middle finger

Left ring finger

Left little finger

Your Body

Focus on the point of contact: feet resting on the floor, your bottom on the chair maybe, a surface in contact with your back…

Take the time to identify all the points of contact and let your mind spend a few seconds with each of them. Send a mind wave, for example.

Your Close Environment

Take your gaze off the screen. What do you see around you?

Scan from right to left. Don’t just let your eyes go over objects and people around you, but rather consciously look at each of them in turn.

The Sky

Are you outside? Look up! In a room with a window, go to the window and have a look outside, try to catch a glimpse of the sky at least.

Look at the sky for 10 counts.

The End

You might want to end with a few deep breaths as in the beginning, hence closing our reading meditating circle.

As one of my teachers would say: