Open awareness meditation is very simple: We rest our attention with the simple experience of being alive in the moment just as it is. We rest quietly and attentively, noticing the shifting sensations within us as life passes by. We draw the mind out of its endless parade of thoughts and judgments and fears and grudges, and we return ourselves to the direct experience of being fully present, right here and right now.

This 7-minute practice - recorded outside at Kingwood Center in Mansfield, Ohio - is a short and sweet introduction to the practice. The instructions are simple: rest your mind in the experience of the present moment with a welcoming and curious spirit. Settle your mind on the raw ingredients of life, practicing what the Buddhists call “bare attention.”

This practice can be a good friend to call upon whenever the mind feels tangled up or overwhelmed. Resting in pure awareness brings us back to life, waking us up again to simple joy of being fully present, energized and alive - at home in the body, in this breath, in this moment, in this world.

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