Working with Boredom. This guided meditation invites you to turn towards impatience, boredom, and restlessness, exploring each with curiosity and letting it be heard, seen, and felt.
A note from Sean
When I was a monk, I found out I didn’t need nearly as much entertainment as I thought. I used to think the present moment was boring, or I was afraid of it, or I didn’t think it was good enough. The more I practiced, the more I saw through that.
Try this today. The next time you feel bored, in a waiting room or on a call, say silently, “bored.” Then find where it lives in your body. Is it heaviness, a fidget, a pull toward your phone? Stay with that one spot for five breaths, curious about it, and let the breath be your anchor. Keep the phone in your pocket until you are done.
Keep going: Working with Boredom – Mindfulness Worksheet and Boredom, Grief, and the Light of Presence.
This suits anyone who reaches for a screen the moment things get quiet. If the restlessness feels like anxiety, or the quiet brings up grief, go gently. Stop when you need to.
Here’s a Sample of the “Working with Boredom” Guided Meditation Script:
Sitting comfortably in a quiet place where you can be free from distractions
As you settle in to your seat, aligning the back of your head with the back of your heart
Shifting your shoulders back slightly, so your whole spine remains neutral
Shoulders balanced equally above your hips
Softening into your belly and your thighs,
Feeling the weight of your body against the structure below you
At the same time, feeling the support of that structure, rising up to meet you,
Providing you with energy that travels up the length of your spine
Out through the crown of your head
With your eyes closed, breathing in and out through your nose
Letting the breath help accentuate this movement of energy
Every breath out grounding, releasing
Every breath in awakening, lengthening
Making a commitment to continue noticing your breath
With a deep curiosity
Breath as it’s felt in the body
Breath as movement, breath as change
Breath as it’s connected to the energy of your body, the energy of your mind
Infusing your awareness of breath with a deep sense of gratitude, a deep sense of awe
Allowing the breath and all its smallest details to inspire you
Letting it inspire you to hold your attention on the breath
