For an introvert, I've racked up a lot of hours talking, with over 50 talks and guided meditations on iTunes, Dharmaseed and elsewhere.
This week we went with questions about practice. We explored three short meditations that focus on ways to pay attention. I've found these to be very helpful.
One is pure concentration, to narrow your attention down to one specific focal point, in this case the sense of the pads of the index fingers on the top of your thighs. The second is foreground / background. With attention on one spot, you notice everything in the background. A third strategy is 'open awareness,' the effortless perception of the space in which all things arise and pass away.
We explored other questions as well, ranging from how to work with sluggishness to how we can bear the suffering of the world and cultivate compassion in the midst of it all.
The blurb:
An impromptu evening with questions and short guided experiencees.1) How to work with sluggishness and sleepiness,2) mindfulness strategies for paying attention, from narrow to open focus, 3) the art of really letting go, 4) three basic fears, 5) bearing the suffering of the world.
iTunes podcast here, online streaming here and stitcher here.