Meditation: before the break
Posture
When explaining the posture, you want to get three main points across:
Sit on the first third of your chair.
Have a straight back.
Have the rest of your body relaxed.
Example(s)
“We start our meditation session with the posture. Sit on the first third of your chair. Have a straight back and try to relax the rest of your body around the spine.”
Intention
When explaining the intention, you want them to some time on the following things:
Motivation for meditating: This can be a little abstract, so do give some accessible examples.
Permission to let go of all thoughts that come up.
Commitment to stay with the breath and if you wander off, return your attention with kindness.
After every point—motivation, permission and commitment—give them enough time to think about it themselves. You can make sure of this in the following manner:
First you give them a few seconds after you have stopped talking, which they can use to understand your words.
Then you take the time to set your own intention, nice and slowly.
Example(s)
“Now we set the intention. First, you can think of your motivation for meditating. Just take a moment to think why you spend this time meditating? Do you want to be more relaxed? Or are you simply curious about meditation? Any reason is fine.”
“Take a moment to give yourself permission to let go of any thought that comes up. No matter how important they are, this is the time for meditation.”
“We use our motivation to really commit ourselves to give this meditation our best. We are going to try to be alert, and every time we wander off, we return our attention with kindness.”
Four-step transition:
Before the break, you move through the first three steps of the four-step transition. Do this in a way that is very general and accessible to everybody. When you say stuff like “restrict your attention to the body, while keeping awareness everywhere else,” then this can be confusing. Instead, do it more in the following manner:
Start by arriving in the room: “We start by simply arriving in the room. And the only thing you have to do is notice your attention moving around.” [+/- 20-second break] “You might notice that you’re hearing something.” [+/- 20-second break] “If you have your eyes open, you might see something.” [+/- 20-second break] “Maybe there are some sensations in the body.”
Bring the attention to the body: “We then bring our attention to the body. How does it feel to sit here right now?” [+/- 20-second break] “You might notice your feet on the ground.” [+/- 20-second break] “You might feel some tension in your back.”
Find all the sensations that come with breathing: “We then try to find all physical sensations that come with breathing. This could be some sensations in the stomach or in the chest. Sometimes we feel the whole body moving up and down.
Go to sentences: Four-Step Transition
Guiding can be surprisingly stressful in the beginning (it will get better with experience). Stress can make it challenging to find the right thing to say. Don’t worry, there are three go-to topics whenever you are in trouble. You can use these at any stage during the four-step transition, whenever you have to fill some space.
Returning the attention: “If you notice you’re lost in thought, don’t worry, simply bring your attention back to the breath.” or “If you find your attention outside the body, then gently bring it back inside the body. (Stage 2)”
Be curious: “Really try to be curious about the sensations of breathing. Where can you find them in the body? (Stage 3)”
You don’t have to change anything: “When we sit here, we don’t have to judge what is going on, we don’t have to change anything, you only have to notice your attention moving around. (Stage 1)” or “You don’t have to change the breath. We don’t have to make it calmer or longer. Just try to be with however it feels. (Stage 3 and 4)”
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