how to practice simple mindfulness meditation

I live in a beautiful rainforest

Hi Beautiful,

Where do you find equanimity and balance in your life?

I have a very, very simple daily meditation practice.  When I do my practice, I have less anxiety, a greater sense of spaciousness throughout the day, and a deeper well of energy and resilience from which to draw when things get difficult.

When I don't do my practice, my mind gets more cluttered, and I have more anger and anxiety.  And then there's this: regular mindfulness practice has been clinically proven to be as effective as medication in treating mild to moderate depression. 

So I have a regular daily mindfulness practice.

As I said, it's very simple. It looks like this:

• I set the kitchen timer for 10 minutes. Or sometimes 15.
• I sit. I sit cross legged on my bed, because that is comfortable for me, private and quiet. But you can sit in a chair, or on the floor, in a busy place or a quiet place. That part isn't important.
• I breathe. Not in a special way; I just breathe, and notice my breath. 
• I keep my eyes open, but relaxed.
• I observe my thoughts. It's not like they go away, or get special or peaceful in honor of meditation-time. They just continue their regular chatter, and I watch. I watch the chatter, I gently cultivate the ability to let all the chatter float by, without doing anything about it, like holding on, following it, or trying to shut it off.
• That's the practice. I keep doing it until the timer rings, and sometimes for a little while after. 

It's a very ordinary practice. Sometimes it feels so ordinary that it's hard to believe it can make any difference in your life or day at all, much less the profound differences it can actually make. My commitment to this ordinary practice is a really important, really beautiful part of my life. I encourage you to try it.