Living Mindfully with Peace and Contentment

In this week's Mindful Living class which is held every Thursday at 7 pm at Sohum Yoga and Meditation Studio, we introduced Buddha's discourse on the four foundations of mindfulness (Satipatthana Sutta). Of these teachings, the Buddha said:

"This is the direct path, O bhikkhus (practitioners), for the purification of beings, for the overcoming of sorrow and lamentation, for the disappearance of dukkha (suffering) and discontent, for the attainment of the true way, for the realization of Nibbana (enlightenment), namely, the Four Satipatthanas (Foundations of Mindfulness)."

In this discourse the Buddha provides four gateways through which to investigate our experience: 1) mindfulness of the body; 2) mindfulness of feelings; 3) mindfulness of the mind; and 4) mindfulness of our experience through the lens or framework of key Buddhist teachings. Investigating our experience just as it is through these gateways can take us from this moment’s experience to complete freedom from suffering.

The benefit of following these practices is to attain mastery over what we see, hear, think, speak and act. It gives us the ability to choose our reactions to stimuli, rather than act out of habit. To act mindfully and purposefully for the best interest of ourselves and others.

In this weeks class, we started with mindfulness of the breath. We practiced four techniques of breath meditation as discussed in this discourse: (1) noting inbreath and outbreath (2) noting the quality of our breathing (deep, shallow, smooth, rough) (3) We followed the breath from point of inhalation to completion of exhalation, noting the pauses between inhalation and exhalation, and (4) We observed the calming effects of the breath on our body.

As usual, we started the class with some mindful stretching and progressive muscle relaxation.

Next week, we will continue with meditation on the body. In particular, we will focus on body postures and movements.