Pedro Netto

Intro

I see meditation as an instrument that you can use whenever you need to increase focus, sharpness and presence. It’s totally fine if it is a temporary habit to help you go about your life at the moment. Just welcome it back to your daily life whenever you need it. You might notice every time you come back to the practice, you feel more confident and can “play the instrument” better than before.

Starting

Have a sit in a comfortable place and close your eyes. There’s no need to sit on the floor with crossed legs like a monk. I often meditate on the metro chair 🤷‍♀️ It will be easier and often more pleasant if it’s a silent place with few distractions, but being in a busy environment can also work.

If you have never tried meditation, you might find it hard to do it for a long period of time. In this case, try it for shorter times. If 10 minutes feels too long, do it for 5. And if 5 feels too much do it for 1 min. If you keep consistency, you’ll naturally see yourself using a bit more time, which also means you'll take more out of your meditation practice.

Moments

Here are some moments I go through in my meditation sessions. You can make any of them as long or as short as you wish. You can also skip them, change the order, and add your own moments. Actually, you can do whatever you want, it’s your meditation! 🫶

Breathe

I always start with deeeeep breaths. Try to breathe 4 seconds in and 6 seconds out. By the time you have done that around 10 times your body will likely have noticed something different is going on and you'll be more relaxed, preparing your mind for the next moments. Also, try to enjoy the act of breathing. We don’t really think much about it, but it feels so good! Pay attention to the sensation you feel inside your nose as you breathe in and out.

It’s totally fine if during this moment (or at any other moment) you find your thoughts going wild. It’s just how our brain works, it wants to go everywhere because there are so many important things to think about! But, during the meditation, every time you realize your mind is wandering, try to gently bring your attention back to your breathing. No need to feel guilty or like you can’t do this. This is really just a habit. With time, you’ll see yourself having an easier time focusing. Some days are definitely harder than others. Just be kind to yourself and instead of being mad, smile. Smile a bit (maybe just in your mind), acknowledge your brain did it again, and then just re-start your breathing focus.

I feel like this very simple exercise has an incredible impact on how much I’m able to focus on daily life things. Maybe it has to do with training your brain to be able to focus on demand? After all, there’s nothing more “boring” than focusing on your own breathing. If you can do that, you can focus on anything else!

After your initial deep breaths change it to a normal breathing pattern, but still paying attention to your breathing. You can always come back to this specific activity whenever you find yourself distracted or you want to switch between moments. Do it for a little while (or a long while, as you wish), then be on your way.

Environment

Now that you’re present and relaxed, it’s time to sense your environment. Ask yourself things like: Where am I? What’s happening around me? If there are windows, what’s the weather like outside? Then go on to listen: What are the sounds I can hear? Try to spot both nearby and faraway sounds. When you hear them, try to not make sense of what made that sound (a car, people chatting, steps). Instead just listen to the sound and take it in as is. This is super hard, but it’s fun to try.

I feel like this moment helps with being able to focus in a place that is not completely still. If you take some time to sense what’s your environment like, you’ll be less distracted later. Although, if later you do get distracted by – say – a sound that you can’t ignore, then just let go and listen to it. Give it a little time, quench your brain’s thirst for that information, then gently come back to your meditation. No guilt, no shame, just smile 😬

Body scan

In this moment, you can take some time to feel your own body. How many times a day do we really pay attention to how it feels?

Remember to keep breathing normally. Start with your feet and slowly work your way up, to the legs, back, belly, chest, arms, neck, face and even the body as a whole. At each step of the way, ask yourself how does that part of your body feel. Does it hurt? Does it feel tense? Relaxed? Does it feel good?

It seems to me that how our body feels plays a huge role in how we feel, emotionally. For example, if your back hurts, maybe you are not thinking too much about it, but it’s annoying. And that in turn can make you a little less patient that day. Knowing how your body feels empowers you by giving you the chance to take that into account when you are dealing with your feelings.

Feelings

This is my favorite moment. It’s about creating a space for you to reflect on how you are feeling in that moment, that day. Are you happy? Sad? Excited? Confused? Anxious? Why?

In this moment I try to be brutally honest with myself. Many times I’ll be surprised at how many different feelings I’m experiencing, and in turn that will shed some light on my overall mood.

To me, it’s often useful to understand I’m feeling something, even if I don’t have a “solution” for it, in case it’s a problematic feeling. Our feelings can be experienced as a chaotic cloud going around our bodies and if we don’t stop for a second and try to make sense of what it is made of, then it is really hard or impossible to tackle the problems we’re going through by being mindful and kind to ourselves – or even to fully enjoy our good spirits by being appreciative.

While this is definitely not a final solution for dealing with feelings, specially the bad ones, I think it is a great way of gaining clarity over what’s going on inside your world on a daily basis, and increasing knowledge about yourself.

Intention

I like to use this moment to finalize my meditation sessions. Ask yourself: What is my intention for today? This might sound a little weird and pointless, which it will be if you want it to be. But you can also use it as a way to create a sort of general direction for that day.

I will often come up with things like: today I want to be an attentive listener when I meet my friend. Or today I want to be appreciative of the nature I will see during my walk. Or today I want to engage fully during my work group. You can also set multiple intentions, for different parts of the day, and so on.

Now, it doesn’t mean your intention is actually going to materialize, but I feel like it’s a nice thing to have on the back of your mind, in case you need a little direction during your day.

Closing

During my entire meditation session, I try to switch between the moments in a soft way, often by just breathing and focusing on my breath, then moving on. For the closing, I like to do that for a longer time, for as long as it feels good or sufficient.

I can also, for the very last moment, let go of any control and allow my mind to do whatever it wants to do. Think about pizza, about that weird feeling which came up earlier, or maybe that I’ll need to pick up a package after work. Whatever it is, just let it be. This release is so good and fun to feel.

Finally, I like to move my fingers, toes and torso gently, however it feels good. Then I finally open my eyes, probably looking down so I can come back in a soft way, and move on to observe people and things around me.

When you are back to the external world, take a second to appreciate how you feel. Do you feel relaxed? At ease? Good? The answer is often yes, but not necessarily.

Take a second to thank yourself for dedicating some time, even a few minutes, to taking care of your body and your mind. Then off you go!

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I hope this guide found a good place in your heart and that you can take whatever bits you found interesting and include them in your life. Have a nice day!