Sitting Meditation (20 min)

Before doing this meditation for the first time, please read the description of the Sitting Meditation. A 32-minute version of this meditation is also available.

If you like, after doing this for a week or so, you might choose to do it without guidance at all. This is totally a matter of preference - some people choose to "go solo" after a time, and others always use the recorded guidance. If you do decide to do this meditation on your own, you can use the 20-minute silent meditation which is totally silent except for the three chimes that end the meditation.

In addition to accessing this meditation through this web page on a smartphone or iPad, it can also be accessed by the Insight Timer app. Once you have the Insight Timer app installed on your phone or tablet, search for "Palouse" to find this and the other MBSR meditations.

Common Concerns

I CANNOT stop my mind from wandering!
I can't physically hold the required position comfortably.
I have trouble with using breath as the object of awareness. Is there an alternative?
How do you pay attention to breath without trying to control it?
I have strong emotional (or physical) reactions. Is this normal?
I keep nodding off or falling asleep...
I don't fall asleep, but I keep drifting off, missing whole parts of the meditation...