Ten years of teaching and this is still the one I would keep. Sit, be aware, do nothing with any of it.
About 15 minutes, with music underneath.
There are long stretches in here where I say nothing at all. Your mind will try to convince you that the thinking is the awareness. It is not. Watch for the gaps between the thoughts, the little moments of nothing. That witness is the part of you that is always calm.
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Thank you for sitting with me.
Steven
Who this is for
Anybody who suspects they have added too many layers to this.
Ten years of teaching and this is still the one I would keep. Sit, be aware, do nothing with any of it. Out of everything I have tried, this is the one.
What happens in this meditation
You sit properly. Cushion or chair, feet flat or legs crossed, hands in your lap with the palms up and one over the other. If that posture is not available to you, any position that keeps you alert and relaxed will do.
Breathe through the nose and do nothing to it. You are the witness.
Then long stretches where I say almost nothing at all.
Sounds arrive, sensations arrive, thoughts arrive. You favour none of it and push none of it away. If you get an itch, scratch it, mindfully, and come back.
Watch for the trick where the mind tries to convince you that the thinking is the awareness. It is not. Watch instead for the gaps between thoughts, the small moments of nothing.
Two lines for when they come thick and fast. I have thoughts, but I am not those thoughts. I have thoughts, and I am watching those thoughts.
How to get the most from it
Fifteen minutes with music underneath, and the silences are the substance rather than gaps in the instruction.
Alert matters more than comfortable. This is the one where lying down loses it.
The witness watching all of it come and go is the part that is always calm. If you want to know yourself, that is where to look.
Questions people ask
Why so little talking?
Because the talking is not the meditation. Once you are sitting, more instruction only gives the mind something else to hold.
What is zazen?
Sitting meditation from Zen. Nothing to believe and nothing to achieve. You sit, you are aware, and you do not act on what arrives.
Is this a good one to start with?
It is a good one to grow into. If long silences feel like too much today, start with one of the shorter guided ones and come back to this.
Read along
The transcript
It follows the audio. Press any line to jump there.
mindfulness · music · present-moment · zen
Read the transcript
This meditation is 15 minutes long, and it's about as simple as we can make it. I think
over my 10 years as been a meditation teacher, we add so many layers to life
that we just don't simplify things enough. And I think sometimes we just gotta take a
step back and just... What's the simplest and most efficient way of getting some enlightenment, some wisdom
and some inner peace and quiet? And out of everything I've tried, I think this is the number
one.
So we're just going to sit and do a sazen meditation
And you do that simply by just finding a cushion or a chair to sit on. You can always pause
this while you do that.
And just allow your body to relax but stay alert in this moment.
Now and if you are on a cushion you can and you can cross your legs into the lotus position
if possible or simply sit with your feet flat on the floor and
place your hands on your lap with your palms up and one hand over the top of the other just
so your thumbs are near each other or gently touching.
And again if you cannot get into this position just whatever position you can stay alert and relaxed in
And just breathe naturally through your nose.
And as you're becoming aware of your breath, you don't have to do anything with it.
All you are is just a witness watching your breath.
Whether that witness is in your mind or somewhere in your body.
And at this point, you can either gently close your eyes or just soften your gaze just a few feet
in front of you. I
sometimes find it a bit easier just to find something to look at and then soften my gaze on that
one thing.
While I'm looking at that object, I just... Be aware of my chest rising and falling.
And just allow your body to relax. Allow
your mind to relax. I
know that seems a strange thing to do, but when you allow things to be what they are.
Allow your muscles just to relax into this moment. They know how to relax. Just as your
body knows how to breathe.
And you notice the whole world suddenly becomes quieter.
And you might suddenly notice sounds around you.
Just be aware that they're sounds.
You may notice sensations coming up in your body.
They're just feelings and emotions
you don't have to do anything with them.
We have one job here right now, and that's just to be aware.
Aware of everything that's happening.
And if a thought or story comes into your mind, and you find your mind wandering, just give a gentle
smile. Thank you for the thought. I'm
just here I've been aware
For the next few minutes I'm going to give very few instructions.
Just simply be aware
And be okay with whatever comes up.
Don't favour it or don't try to push anything away.
Everything is just what it is.
And you may notice the mind is just taking notice of what's happening and it might try fooling you into
thinking that the thinking has been aware
And it might try to coach you into a story or something about this moment. Just smile and thank you.
And
bring yourself back to your breath.
The mind is doing exactly what it's evolved to do.
Think stuff up
heart and the body is doing exactly what it's involved to do.
Make you aware.
To try to get your attention.
And you give it your attention just by acknowledging
And then doing nothing with it.
If you notice somewhere in your body you've got a little itch or just mindfully scratch it.
It's all okay.
And then return to the state of awareness.
And you may notice in this state of awareness, it
has no pull or it has no feeling, it has no thoughts. It's
just a little gap between each one of them.
Every now and again there's a little moment of just nothing.
And there's a couple of thoughts and phrases that I use in this moment.
Especially if they are been a little stubborn and they're coming thick and fast.
It's, I have thoughts, but I am not those thoughts.
I have thoughts, but I'm not those thoughts.
I have thoughts, and
I am watching those thoughts.
There are feelings, there
are sounds,
there are sensations,
And they all come and go.
And in this moment you have the ultimate control of what you do with them.
And this peace and
solitude of the awareness, just watching them come and go.
Like a beautiful dance of thoughts and emotions and sensations as well as sounds. Just
like the taste in your mouth come and go.
The awareness of the sounds come and go.
Just like the awareness of your breath comes and goes.
And you may be able to just allow your body to relax just a little deeper.
And this moment you don't have to do anything with it.
Nothing's actually happening until it arises. And then we become aware.
And in a moment I'm going to come back from five and we're going to bring the awareness back to
the room and back to this present moment. But just before we do that, it's really quite profound
and quite enlightening when we realise that we have thoughts we have feelings and we have emotions
we hear sounds and we have tastes and they all just come and go and we have an opportunity in
that moment just to... Ah, there they are. But I don't have to do anything with them.
And that's the ultimate enlightenment. That's the ultimate peace and the wisdom.
If you really want to know yourself, know that witness that's witnessing all these things coming and going.
That's the true self.
It's always at peace. It's
always wise.
So five, just become aware of the sounds around you or just gently open your eyes if they're closed look
around. Three, just move your arms and gently shake out your hands. Wiggle your toes to just
stretch your body a little bit. One, just look around and be perfectly aware and
What's really important whenever I do this meditation, it's so simple. Just what's
arising I don't have to do anything with it. And I think that's where most of our frustration, most of
our stress and anxiety comes from. We feel the need to do something with it. If we have a thought,
what do I need to do with it? If we feel something, what do I need to do with it?
And sometimes it's just acknowledging it. Ah, here you are again. Ah, here's that message again.
And just by stepping in and going, ah, I hear you. I see you. I feel
you. You can then take control of virtually your whole life,
and that's what it means to be in control. That's what it means to know yourself. I hope that helps.
Thank you. I'm Steven Webb, and I'm also the podcast host of Stillness in the Storms that helps you through
difficult times in life. And it's people like you that support this podcast that keeps these Inner Peace Meditations
free to help everybody. So if you can donate by helping, the links in the description, StevenWebb.uk.
And if you can, just share or rate the podcast. That'd be amazing and deeply grateful to you. Take
