🔼: [[🧘 Mindfulness Meditation]], [[Process Work]] # 🧘 Vipassana (Insight) Mediation Vipassana is a [[🧘 Mindfulness Meditation]] practice more advanced than [[🧘 Samatha Meditation|🧘 Shamatha]] in that it is a [[💡 Focus & Concentration|Concentration]] practice with a much more dynamic [[💡 Meditation Anchor|meditation anchor]]: the whole of our inner experience. We simply remain open and notice whatever is going on inside with [[☀️ Equanimity]], without judging anything, [[💡 Blending|identifying with anything]], clinging to them, or pushing them away. Vipassana is often compared to watching clouds float across the sky, watching cars drive past on a road, or watching logs float down a river while we sit somewhere nearby. While [[🧘 Samatha Meditation]] requires us to focus and re-focus on a single point, Vipassana requires a bit of a softer, more flexible kind of [[💡 Focus & Concentration|Concentration]] as we are open to an entire field of experience rather than having a singular fixation. It's like watching the entire sky as opposed to a single cloud. Because of this, moving from [[🧘 Samatha Meditation]] to Vipassana can be a bit tricky and we may find ourselves more easily distracted for a time. We're able to be with [[💡 Parts|Parts]] and [[Process Work|Process]] from an [[🕯️ Unblending|unblended]] place. With practice we start to notice when we’re [[💡 Blending|blended]] with relative ease. Beginners often have a [[💡 Parts|Part]] who gets frustrated when they notice they’ve been lost in thought for large chunks of time, but that’s another opportunity to unblend — notice this frustrated [[💡 Parts|Part]] and [[🔑 All Parts are welcome exactly as they are|🔑 welcome them exactly as they are]]. It can be fun to recognize that as we observe our thoughts we're listening to [[💡 Parts|Parts]] talk to each other and to us. That awareness alone can be life-changing with time. - [[🔑 Mindfulness is an unblending exercise]] ###### The Practice ![[Before trying mindfulness]] 1. Take a [[💡 Meditation Posture|Mediation Posture]]. 2. Begin with [[🧘 Samatha Meditation]] to resource concentration. 3. When we feel somewhat concentrated, we open our awareness to the flow of inner experience and allow it to come and go without grasping onto anything or pushing anything away, without judgment. We notice our natural breath and be mindful of each inhale and exhale. We notice our thoughts, feelings, and [[⭐️ Body|⭐️ Body]] sensations without reacting to or judging them. If we notice [[🛡️ Criticizing]], that’s okay. 4. When we realize we’ve been lost in thought or distracted, we just observe the thoughts without clinging to them or pushing them away. Thoughts will arise, and that's no problem. Kindly welcome them in, allowing them to freely come and go. 5. If we start to notice ourselves getting scrambled or emotionally [[💡 Overwhelm|overwhelmed]], we can move back to [[🧘 Samatha Meditation]] until we’re [[💡 Focus & Concentration|concentrated]] again. This is a form of [[🕯️ Pendulation]], and with practice we become better able to [[🦮 How to feel your feelings|🦮 metabolize emotions]] and be with whatever is arising in the present moment. 6. Finishing the practice with 5+ minutes of a [[🧘 Body Scan]] can help cultivate our [[Proprioception]]. > [!note] Alternatives > - [[🧘 See, Hear, Feel In]] > - [[🧘 See, Hear, Feel Flow]] > - [[🧘 Do Nothing]] [[Open Awareness]] Awake Awareness Shikanataza Silent Illumination Just Sitting Concentration without an object [[🧘 Yoga Nidra]] [[🧘 Sitting in the Middle of Everything]] [[🕯️ Being With|🕯️ Storm-Sitting]] [^1]: