The express route to mindfulness
Day 6 of the New Year's Meditation Challenge: A meditation from the maestro
In one of his most famous and influential speeches, the Buddha spelled out four ways to be mindful.
The first entry on the list? Getting out of your head and into your body.
(If you want to learn more about the full list, check out an excellent book by today’s meditation teacher, Joseph Goldstein. It’s called Mindfulness.)
Anyway, back to the body: most of us spend the majority of our lives stuck in our heads. The body, however, is always in the present moment. Tuning into what’s happening south of the neckline is a great way to short circuit your spinning stories, ancient resentments, and noxious mental habits.
Today, on day six of the New Year’s meditation challenge, we’ve got a guided practice from the aforementioned Joseph Goldstein. (Heads up, the audio may be different from some of our previous guided meditations, because this one was recorded live in front of an audience.)
One more day to go! You’re doing great, even if you missed a few days (though if you want to catch up, you can do so here).
I’ll do one last live check-in tomorrow evening at 7:00 PM EST, for paid subscribers. I’ll spend some time focusing specifically on how to keep your meditation practice going. If you have any other questions you want me to see ahead of time, drop a note in the chat.
Morning Dan! I’m pretty psyched: there were relatively long moments (for me) where my mind was truly clear during this meditation. Of course, I had to begin again more than once. I am grateful for your example and the access you give us to teachers, especially Joseph and Sharon, but everyone you bring to the fore in your work. You are on the path of benefiting all beings everywhere. Onward!
Beautiful meditation from Joseph. He is a profound teacher and such an elegant weaver of the Dharma.