Meditation Monday - Seven Steps to Noting Body Sensations Meditation and Quieting the "What If?" Voice

I’m in week three of 8 Minute Meditation - Quiet Your Mind. Change Your Life, by Victor Davich.   (Amazon associates link) The past two weeks, focused on Watching Your Breath and Naked Sound Meditation, went really well.  A crowning moment was when the phone rang in the middle of one of my sessions.  I have a bad habit of dropping everything when the phone rings.  Instead, I just kept breathing and let the sound be, without jumping up to respond to it.  I was rewarded by an amazingly peaceful feeling and, when I listened to the voicemail later, validated by the unimportance of the call. 

That one little phone call got me thinking about the other “sounds” in my life that I respond to much too quickly. How many times has someone said something to me that I immediately responded to, only to regret it later?   I wish I had been able to go into a meditative calm the many times I laid in a machine and its sounds scared me to death.  And more importantly, how about the sounds of my own thoughts? Is there any good that comes from the constant drum beat of the voice in your head who asks “what if?”

One of the gifts posted in my Gifts and Losses List was the opportunity to read Eckhart Tolle's A New Earth Awakening to Your Life's Purpose. (Amazon associates link)  Reading that book made me aware of the voice in my head and how it is not representative of my true self.  I can’t always control that voice, but just being aware of it, has made it easier to find stillness and combat worry.  With awareness of the voice and the practice of daily meditation, I am definitely getting better at finding that stillness.

This week I’ll be working on “Noting Body Sensations" meditation.  Because I can’t reproduce all of the instructions here (it’s copyright infringement and just plain wrong), please be sure to get the book for a more in-depth discussion of the technique.  This is a quick outline of the process: 

1. Find a comfortable position, upright, but not tense.
2. Set your timer to eight minutes.
3. Close your eyes.
4. Allow your body to relax and notice the different body sensations that arise.
5. When you feel a particular part of your body with more intensity, bring your attention to it.
6. When you feel a different part of your body, move your attention to that point.
7. Do not judge or label your feelings, just be aware of what you are feeling.

It’s Monday, so I’m starting "Noting Body Sensations" meditation today.  I’m finding significant benefits to meditating on a daily basis and I hope you are too.  Let me know how it’s going!