Relaxed, Not Casual | Bonus Meditation with Joseph Goldstein

Relaxed vs Casual

Joseph Goldstein emphasizes the importance of distinguishing between being relaxed and being casual in meditation practice. He explains that relaxation is crucial for meditation, allowing practitioners to be more accepting and easeful with arising experiences. This relaxed yet attentive state helps in noticing the transient nature of experiences, particularly their endings or passings away 1.

Seeing impermanence and knowing more deeply how all experience arises and passes away helps to weaken the various obsessive cravings that play out both in our meditation and in our lives.

--- Joseph Goldstein

This understanding aids in weakening obsessive cravings, both in meditation and in daily life.

   

Breath & Body Awareness

Goldstein provides guidance on settling into body awareness and breathing as foundational steps in meditation. He suggests focusing on the breath at the nostrils or the movement of the chest or abdomen, while also being open to other sensations or emotions that may arise 1. This practice of awareness helps highlight the changing nature of experiences, encouraging mindfulness of how sensations evolve over time.

When we hold the question in mind, what happens to this moment's experience? We're highlighting or focusing on its changing nature, and we're explicitly noticing how each experience changes into something else.

--- Joseph Goldstein

By observing these changes, practitioners can better understand the impermanence of experiences.