For the next few weeks, we will follow Sharon Salzberg’s book Real Happiness. So starting off with the classic meditation practice of deepening concentration by using the focus on the in and out breath. Whatever experiences that may arise, such as unpleasantness that may cause us to want to avoid, pleasantness that cause us to crave more, or neutral that we tend to ignore, we just let it be and return to the breath. The mind will wander to our to-do lists and storylines, we simply return to the breath.
Breathing (extract), by Thich Naht Hanh
Breathing in, I see myself as a flower.
I am the freshness
of a dewdrop.
Breathing out,
my eyes have become flowers.
Please look at me.
I am looking
with the eyes of love.
Breathing in, I have become space
without boundaries.
I have no plans left.
I have no luggage.
Breathing out, I am the moon
that is sailing through the sky of utmost emptiness.
I am freedom.
Guide: Noelle Lim
Image credit: Raoul Droog, Unsplash
Kindermind Center 