I really appreciate how simple and ordinary a mindful experience can be.
No frills, nothing fancy. We are just being with each moment as it is. And we can derive a sense of freedom and contentment from this.
When it comes to practicing mindfulness, there is nothing more simple and ordinary than the breath, and being aware of it.
Now, ordinary doesn’t have to mean boring.
When we are mindful of our breath, we take an interest in this object of attention, and with alertness and curiosity we investigate every moment of the breathing experience. It is usually through this kind of ordinariness that wisdom develops.
In this Take A Pause live session recorded on 7 July 2024, the TAP community practices to a simple guidance on awareness of breath, and mindfully listened to a reading about “ordinariness” from Jack Kornfield’s book Bringing Home the Dharma.
When the session ended, we concurred that our collective practice that day was a really ordinary one.
Meditation begins: 05:46
Reading begins: 25:02
Meditation duration: 19 minutes
A few more ordinary guided meditations for you:
Erin’s Wake Up Week series on Insight Timer
Take A Pause Ep 2: What It Means to Be Mindful of Emotions
Take A Pause Ep 4: Letting Go of Striving
And a few simple reads…
Ep 13: Mindfulness is Simple & Ordinary