What’s uncomfortable or challenging in our lives tends to become the focus of our attention. This negativity bias can even arise within our mindfulness practice. Framing mindfulness as caring curiosity can make our attention less judgmental and bring in more compassion and acceptance.
In this guided meditation, Sean Fargo invites us to sense into the body with caring curiosity, a gentle awareness in which whatever arises is not labeled as good or bad, but accepted, just as it is. If we can stay open with each new experience as it unfolds, we may meet it with more presence, both within and beyond our formal meditation practice.
Listen in a safe, quiet place where you are relatively free from distraction. Find a posture that balances comfort with alertness, whether standing, seated, or lying down. May this meditation be of benefit to you in your practice.
Sponsored by the Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Certification MindfulnessExercises.com/Certification
Mindfulness meditation is paying attention to our present moment experience. But how we pay attention is just as important. With mindfulness, we do our best to observe with an attitude of kind, caring curiosity. Instead of merely passive or judgmental awareness, we imbue our mindfulness practice with compassion.
By doing so, we minimize judgment and make space for new perspectives. To meet this moment with caring curiosity, is to allow for this moment to be just as it is. And when we explore this moment with a deeper, more subtle awareness, it may even surprise us.
Jon Kabat-Zinn’s Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction program refers to the 9 attitudes of mindfulness, Tara Brach speaks of the attitudes that nourish a liberating practice, while Buddhists practice cultivating sublime attitudes such as loving-kindness and compassion. A variety of mindfulness teachings invite us to experience this present moment with an attitude of openness, allowance, and acceptance.
By doing so, we may become more able to meet our experiences outside of meditation with these same attitudes, and to notice more gratitude and wonder.
To further explore the foundational attitudes of mindfulness, and what it means to meet this moment with caring curiosity, download the following worksheets, guided talks and meditations:
- Video: Mindfulness Attitudes with Jon Kabat-Zinn
- Audio: The Attitude In Awareness
- eBook: The Sublime Attitudes: A Study on Love
- Guided Meditation: Breathing With Curiosity Meditation by Sean Fargo
- Worksheet: Replacing Judgment with Curiosity
About Sean Fargo:
Sean Fargo is a former Buddhist monk who founded Mindfulness Exercises and leads the Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Certification.
