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Āio | Meditation
Āio translates as "to be at peace, to be calm," which is essentially where you arrive when you accept all the thoughts in your mind as just thoughts and not facts. But it takes practice to get there. The first part of this page contains guided meditations. These are excellent if you've never meditated before and don't know what style you like. Try them all, and discover how each method feels in your body.
How to Meditate
Why Meditate?
A few thoughts on the what and why of meditation. Then a mini practice. Each of these videos have different techniques to introduce. Try as many as you can, find one that helps, and do it consistently at the same time each day. See what happens.
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Meditation for Bedtime
Body scans are perfect for helping you shift gears and settle. Just what we need at bedtime. Try this in bed, on the floor, on your sofa, and see what works for you. It’s a lovely practice. Once you’ve gotten used to it, you can cue your body and mind to settle by training through the familiar steps. A wonderful bedtime ritual (or middle of the night get back to sleep aid).
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Meditation to Relax
We jump right in with a simple breath-counting technique to ease into things. This is the technique that helped me get more settled with meditation. I still use it on a regular basis.
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Guided Sessions
On Patience
A meditation in which we reflect upon the nature of patience and cultivate it too.
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Guided Meditation
A guided meditation from the MBSR tradition of Dr. Kabat-Zinn. These are great to help train your meditation so you can sit for longer periods and have a voice guide you back as invariably your mind wanders.
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Guided Savasana
Add to any class or take as a restful reset at any point in your day. One pillow and one blanket are optional but recommended.
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Yoga Nidra for Full Relaxation
Deepen your relaxation response with this guided body scan. Progressive practice in this style will help you drop deeper into a relaxed state with time. Perfect anytime you wish to unwind and relax.
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Loving-Kindness Meditation
In times of anxiety (or anytime) it can be helpful to focus one's attention on things that are going well. The brain can't do both "anxious" and "joyful" simultaneously, so with a little awareness, you can nudge your thoughts toward the latter. Loving-kindness is a traditional and very soothing practice. It's a smart way to shift gears when you feel stuck.
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Tea Ritual
Take your beverage of choice and join me for a mindful meditation session. You can sit in a chair, on the sofa, in a hammock....
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Meditation for Visual Thinkers
If you’re more visually inclined, triangle breath may be for you. Try this technique and see. Keep in mind it can take a little persistence to get the hang of, so try it for several different days to get used to it.
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Tea Ceremony
Turn your morning cup of tea (or coffee) into a meditation practice with me. Together we'll brew and drink tea, exploring the mindfulness practices that you can incorporate into something you do everyday. It's one of my favourite meditation styles. Let's start.
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Overcoming Obstacles
If you find obstacles, the good news is you're doing it correctly. It's absolutely part of the path. This section walks through common obstacles and how to work with them. The sessions have minimal instruction so you can spend more time noticing the interruptions of the mind and working with them.
Day 1 - 1 Minute Meditation
For day one we'll explore one of the most popular mediation styles there is: noticing what's going well. While it sounds innocent enough, the style coaxes you into a more relaxed state by engaging your parasympathetic nervous system. Give this practice a try, and see how it works for you. The meditation component is 1 minute today. You can start here.
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Day 2 - 2 Minute Meditation
There's a mini dharma talk at the start. If you want to jump to the meditation go to 2:28 in the video. We start exploring things that block meditation practice so that you'll be better equipped to notice them if they arise for you. Today's topic is the juicy one of aversion.
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Day 3 - 3 Minute Meditation
There's a mini dharma talk at the start. If you want to jump to the meditation go to 3:14 in the video. We continue exploring things that block meditation practice. Today's topic: worldly desire.
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Day 4 - 4 Minute Meditation
We cover the third hindrance today: procrastination. You might know this one outside of meditation. We'll talk a bit about it and then dive into the 3 minute meditation at 2:29. There's a midpoint bell in this meditation session. See if that helps you.
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Day 5 - 5 Minute Meditation
Today we're reaffirming our commitment to sit and to practice being with whatever comes up.
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Day 6 - 6 Minute Meditation
Day 6, and we're building some great habits. Well done on your consistency. Today's dharma talk is about the hindrance of agitation. Learn a bit about how it shows up in meditation (and off the mat). Again, if you'd like to jump to the meditation itself, scan to 2:45.
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Day 7 - 7 Minute Meditation
We cover the 5th and final hindrance of doubt as well as discuss ways to address it both in your meditation practice and off the mat, in your life. And then we meditate.
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Day 8 - 8 Minute Meditation
Today you have a slightly longer sit, where you're able to spend more time between verbal cues. The challenge and the practice is just observing when your attention has wandered. That's to be expected; The act of noticing is the goal.
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Day 9 - 9 Minute Meditation
A short and sweet meditation with a mid-point bell and minimal talking. Let's do this. You can refer back to the earlier videos for reminders of the 5 hindrances and their remedies at any time. All these videos contribute to your growing experience as a meditator.
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Day 10 - 10 Minute Meditation
Wrapping up our intro series with a small chat and a 10 minute meditation. Hopefully in this series you've become more familiar with where you find challenges and what tools are available to help you push through the obstacles.
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Breathing & Sound Tools
Breathing Circle
A visual tool for relaxation and breath work. Choose from different breath patterns and match the movement of your breath with the circle.
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Meditation sounds
An ambient sound mixer. Combine any and all for the perfect mix.
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