Five Minute Breather

Last weekend I went along to the Shrewsbury Buddhist Centre open day to catch up with a few friends and help out with leading some beginners meditation. I always enjoy leading meditation, especially for beginners; it's amazing how focused I can actually become when I'm leading, even when I'm keeping an eye on the clock! Having the opportunity to do things for others can be so much more motivating than doing things in isolation. As you might expect, beginners meditations tend to be a bit shorter than those aimed at more experienced practitioners but they can be just as effective and still very transformational.

When I was first learning how to weave meditation and other aspects of Buddhist practice in to my daily life, I encountered the concept of taking mini meditative breaks, which can be very helpful if you're struggling to work out how to make time in your day for longer meditation practices. I've been falling back on these quite a bit through my recent move away from the structured routine of Buddhist community life (you can read more about how my practice has changed in recent months here) and as meditation is one of the things we're planning to use the Earth Heart space for, it seemed appropriate to share one here.

It is literally five minutes. you can listen to it to bring a little mindfulness to the start of your day, as a focusing or re-calibrating tool in your lunch break (I used to do them in the loo when I was working in a busy seaside pub!) or help you wind down in the evening. Find yourself a comfy spot where you're unlikely to be disturbed and join me in taking a five minute breather! I hope you find it helpful! xx