Mindful Meditation

S.O.L.A.R.

Stop

• Find a quiet place where you will not be interrupted for the next several minutes.
• Set your cell phone alarm to vibrate in 5 or more minutes, and then forget about time altogether. You can adjust the length of your meditation time as you feel is appropriate.
• Sit comfortably in an alert position with a straight and relaxed back. With eyes open or closed. Position your hands as you like.
• Allow an intention for this time, such as, “May I allow myself to be present to the simplicity of movements in the body as breathing, feeling, and sensing. May I enjoy the benefits of silence and stillness.”

Observe

• Direct your attention into noticing sensations in the body and notice posture, feet on the floor, hips on the chair, or feeling a sense of being balanced and grounded.
• Allow the breath to flow in and out of the nose at a natural and unforced rate and depth. Avoid manipulating either a slower or faster rate. Just let the body breathe. In your own bodily experience, notice the sensations of simply breathing.
• Moment by moment, allow yourself to take pause, breathe, and feel just what arises in your experience.

Let It Be

• For this time now, let everything be as it is without reacting to or trying to change any of it. Like a watchful bystander, just witness your experience moment by moment as it happens right now, however it may be, pleasant or unpleasant.
• If you become caught up in any particular storyline, fantasy, daydream, rumination, compulsive thought, or distraction gently stop, drop into your body, and allow all experiences to roll on past the screen of your awareness like moving frames in a film.

And Return

• Let the breath be your anchor in the present moment. If you become distracted or caught up in any particular thought, image, emotion or sensation (TIES acronym), just bring your attention back to the breath, and return again and again to the experience of breathing in a nonjudgmental and self-forgiving way.
• At the end of your meditation period, remain still for a few more moments. Notice how you feel. Invite the intention to be mindfully present by taking a moment to pause, breathe, and feel whatever is happening in any experience throughout your day.