QUICK MEDITATION:
KAY ALWAYS BEGINS CLASS WITH A CENTERING AND FOCUS EXERCISE.
“Going Between the Thoughts”, Getting into the Present Moment
Close your eyes.
Focus on the breath.
Let the mouth be slightly open, notice cool air in, warm air out.
Notice: Is the breath in the chest, or in the diaphragm?
Without judgment, always with a sense of humor, let thoughts come to you and pass through.
Let what you have already done pass through, and what you are going to do after this moment pass through.
Then, see if you can find a moment where you are neither behind nor ahead of your thoughts.
Go to the breath: Cool air in, warm air out.
Go “in between” the thoughts to the present moment.
Listen to the room.
Drop into the breath. Cool air in, warm air out.
As the thoughts come to you, breathe into them, let them pass, rather than blocking them—it takes less effort to breathe them through, than to block.
If the mind wanders, guide it back gently to the present moment, as you would a child who has strayed away. Take it by the hand, lead it back.
Keep going “in between” the thoughts to a place of rest and well-being.
Open your eyes.
New research from the UCLA Laboratory of Neuro Imaging suggests that people who meditate show more gray matter in certain regions of the brain, show stronger connections between brain regions and show less age-related brain atrophy. In other words, meditation might make your brain bigger, faster and “younger”.
Here is the article. http://newsroom.ucla.edu/