Introduction to Mindfulness_349810_bookemon_ebook.pdf Coaching and Practising Mindfulness | Page 54

Sitting on a cushion, cross your legs comfortably in front of you.
There's no need to contort yourself into an uncomfortable posture.
Just simply cross your legs as you might have done as a child. Notice
again that you want your hips higher than your knees. If necessary,
add more height to your seat by folding up a blanket or towel.
Hands rest on the thighs, facing down. The eyes are somewhat open
and the gaze rests gently on the floor in front of you about four to six
feet away. If you are closer to the wall than that, let your gaze rest on
the wall wherever it lands as if you were looking that distance in
front. The gaze is not tightly focused. The idea is that whatever is in
front of you is what's in front of you. Don't stare or do anything
special with your gaze; just let it rest where you've set it.
Let your front be open and your back be strong.
Begin by just sitting in this posture for a few minutes in this
environment. If your attention wanders away, just gently bring it back
to your body and the environment. The key word here is "gently."
Your mind will wander. That's part of what you will notice with your
mindfulness: minds wander. When you notice that yours has
wandered, come back again to body and environment.
The second part of the practice is working with the breath.
In this practice rest your attention lightly (yes, lightly) on the breath.
We then use the breath as an anchor for our attention. A repeated
phrase called a mantra can be used for the same purpose. However,
the breath has the advantages of immediately bringing the attention
into the body. Moreover, awareness of the breath immediately
focuses our attention on a function that is under both conscious and
unconscious control. This is a very appropriate place for
psychological work to occur. So we focus our attention on the breath
without trying to control it. We let the breath breathe itself.

53