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Guided meditation

By Your Headspace Mindfulness & Meditation Experts

When starting a meditation practice, the first question to ask is if you want it to be guided or unguided. The preference is going to differ from person to person, but before deciding what best suits you, it's worth exploring what each option involves.

In this article

Where to experience guided meditation, what is unguided meditation, guided vs unguided meditation, why people choose to meditate, mini guided meditation video.

Just want to meditate? Click the play button below for a mini-guided meditation, or keep scrolling to try your first full Headspace meditation.

What is guided meditation?

Guided meditation describes a type of meditation led by a teacher, in person or via audio or video.

When starting out, having an expert lead you through the basic steps of your meditation practice is recommended. Whatever skill we are learning in life, having an experienced teacher we can trust and relate to is important. But when it comes to exploring the intricacies and subtleties of the mind, it is not just important but essential.

It’s always a good idea to first understand what we’re trying to achieve through meditation before we embark on what is a journey of a lifetime. In a traditional meditation , meditation students are first taught how to view the contents of the mind and how best to approach the different exercises, to know how to get the best from their practice. Next, they are taught how to practice meditation, to become more proficient. Then comes the integration — learning how to fold the calm and clarity developed during meditation into everyday life.

In a guided meditation, a narrator or teacher explains the dynamics of the mind and how it’s likely to behave during meditation. (This is the approach.) The teacher may also explain meditation techniques. (This is the practice.) Finally, the teacher may explain how to take these techniques into everyday life. (This is the integration.)

Instructional apps

Digital apps offer the opportunity to meditate with an expert via audio or video. In the Headspace app , most meditations are guided by co-founder and former Buddhist monk Andy Puddicombe . Andy offers exercises that incorporate elements of both an ‘insight' meditation (a clear awareness of what’s unfolding as it unfolds) and a ‘calming’ meditation (cultivating clarity and calm by using an object of focus, such as the breath or a visualization). These techniques ensure that both awareness (of the present moment) and compassion (for yourself and others) are being trained at the same time.

Local meditation classes

Unguided meditation (or silent meditation) allows the practitioner to customize the ways in which they’d like to meditate on their own, including duration, space, and degree of silence. During unguided meditation, you typically meditate without any external tools. Our Meditation 101 page offers basic tips for setting up an unguided meditation practice: Find a quiet space with minimal interruptions; look for a comfortable place to sit, usually in a chair or on the floor; choose a posture that feels okay in your body; and begin to breathe deeply, in through the nose and out through the mouth.

In an unguided meditation practice, the practitioner meditates alone without someone else explaining the process. A solo practitioner might choose to use some of the techniques they’ve learned in guided meditations, like visualizations, mantras or body scans. For this reason, it can be useful to start with guided meditation if you have no background in the practice. Alternatively, some people might choose to simply sitting in quiet, paying attention to their body and thoughts for a set period of time.

Choosing between guided and unguided meditation is entirely based on personal preference. Some people will prefer guidance for a long time while others might not want guidance at all. We can think of guided meditation as having an experienced instructor alongside you when learning to drive: They aren’t just there to give guidance — they also provide encouragement and support!

Most Headspace users say they feel more comfortable with guided meditation when first learning the practice. As your confidence and skills progress, you may well dispense with the guided lessons and go it alone. Or you may alternate between guided and non-guided meditation. Ultimately, it’s subjective. Whilst some people like the idea of driving off into the distance alone, others simply prefer traveling the journey with someone accompanying them.

DISCLAIMER: This page features general research on meditation, and any study using the Headspace app is noted as such. The Headspace science team is committed to conducting research on our product to ensure it delivers benefits to our users. While our research is in progress, it's important to note that Headspace is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease or medical condition.

The benefits of guided and unguided meditation

Research (conducted in third-party studies) shows that guided digital meditations can be just as effective as in-person meditation classes for some people. People who meditated with apps like Headspace showed significant improvements in well-being and job strain . For some people, building a consistent meditation habit becomes easier when the tools for meditating exist in an easy-to-grab app; with an app, you can fit meditation into any schedule or space.

Is unguided meditation more effective than guided meditation?

It’s important to remember that there is no such thing as “good” or “bad” meditation. Both roads to a meditation practice — guided and unguided — will get you to the same destination. If you’re trying to bring more awareness to the current moment by finding a quiet moment, you’re off to a good start.

Guided and unguided meditation with Headspace

For many people, meditation has become a tool for managing stress . For some, it helps to promote improved health ), including a better quality of sleep . For others, it helps them get some ‘headspace’ — that underlying sense of peace, and that feeling of contentment, no matter what they’re dealing with in life. When we’re in a healthier place mentally, then we’re bound to interact with others in a more positive way, meaning meditation can benefit our relationships, too.

Meditation carries with it several inaccurate myths, including the belief that the practice involves “emptying your mind,” or finding an escape from thoughts or problems. The reality is that there is no escape from thinking—that is the mind’s nature. The skill is to step back and see our thoughts more clearly, without getting caught up in all the mental commentary. We may never change our thoughts, but we can change our experience of those thoughts.

When we meditate, we’re cultivating an awareness of the present moment. We’re training the mind to better understand how and why we think and feel the way we do, with the aim of fundamentally transforming our experience, and perspective, of everyday life.

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Tonight’s space meditation will help you relax your body as you float into space.

Come on a journey tonight as you rest your head, relax your body, and float into space.

So Let’s Begin…

FLOAT INTO SPACE MEDITATION SCRIPT

So close your eyes and settle your body into comfort,

Moving it around a bit so you can snuggle into that position you know so well.

When you’ve found it, take a deep breath in, feeling cool, refreshing air all the way down to your toes,

And then exhale,

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Fall back into your weightlessness,

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To the soft, comforting blankets of your bed.

Sweet Dreams, Beautiful

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Video and Audio

Relax into Infinite Space — A Guided Meditation

A powerful guided visualization to relax and feel space in each body part, to help you meditate deeply and experience peace. This practice, accompanied by soothing music and imagery can help you release tension, feel calmness and expand your consciousness. The visualization is by Swami Kriyananda. Guided by Nayaswami Diksha .

Guidance on How to Prepare for Visualizations

Nayaswami Diksha:

We'll begin with two breathing techniques and then a visualization to fill space in the body. Then we'll practice a short meditation . Filling space in the body and then expanding that feeling outward into infinite space helps the soul to forget its attachment to the low body. And remember, its vast body is God.

So, sit upright and place your palms facing upward at the junction of thighs and abdomen.

Close your eyes. Lift your gaze slightly above the horizon line without strain

Let's tense and relax the body with the double breath .

Double inhale and tense. Double exhale and relax again

Relaxing the Mind with Equal-Count Breathing

Now we'll practice three rounds of equal-count breathing. I will count to eight. If this is too long, choose a count that works for you. Let's begin.

Inhale through your nose.

Hold the breath.

Exhale through your nose.

[Repeat 2 more times.]

And relax completely. [Pause]

Experiencing Infinite Space Surrounding You

[Soft music plays throughout the visualization]

Visualize yourself surrounded by infinite space. [Pause] Feel the space stretching out in all directions to infinity, [Pause] and front of you and behind, [Pause] to the left, [Pause] and to the right, [Pause] above you and below you. [Pause] Feel the space expanding in all directions to infinity. [Pause]

Now concentrate on your body. Release into vast space like thin wisps of vapor any lingering tension from the muscles. [Pause]

Let go of the awareness of the body. It has become the vast emptiness all around you. [Pause]

Now, bring the feeling of space upwards in the body, [Pause] into the feet, [Pause] into the calves and thighs, [Pause] into the hips and buttocks, [Pause] into the abdomen and into the back, [Pause] into the hands, [Pause] the forearms and upper arms, [Pause] into the chest, [Pause] into the neck and the throat, [Pause] into the tongue and lips, [Pause] into all the facial muscles, into the nose, [Pause] eyes, [Pause] into the brain, [Pause] and the very top of the head. [Pause]

This body is no longer yours. You have become the essence of this subtle consciousness of absolute peace that permeates all things but untouched and unaffected by anything.

Practicing Hong Sau

Now bring your awareness to your breath . [Pause] Notice the sensation of air as it flows in and out through your nostrils. [Pause] Notice the point in the nose where you can feel the breath most clearly. [Pause] Concentrate on the flow of the breath as it flows through that point. [Pause]

  And now let's include the mantra. As the breath flows in naturally , mentally chant Hong throughout the inhalation. [Pause] As the breath flows out naturally , mentally chant Sau throughout the exhalation. [Pause]

Now, let's add the movement of the right index finger. As a breath flows in naturally, mentally chant Hong and curl the right index finger slightly towards your palm. [Pause] As the breath flows out naturally , mentally chant Sau and relaxed the finger away from the palm. [Pause]

If the mind wanders gently bring it back, watching the breath, repeating the mantra and moving the right index finger. [Pause] A s the breath slows down naturally, as you watch it without control, enjoy the point of stillness between breaths. [Pause]

Expanding Peace

And now we'll release the technique. Gently inhale through your nose and exhale three times in quick succession. Sit quietly, gaze lifted focused on the divine quality of peace. [Pause] Feel the consciousness of peace expanding within you and radiating outward to infinity. [Pause] Feel the consciousness of peace embracing Infinity. [Long Pause]

And now, to end the practice, take a deep breath . Feel the consciousness back in your body and gently open your eyes.

AUM, Peace, Amen.

Next in Guided Meditations

I am the divine light — guided visualization, i am timeless — guided visualization, expanding your consciousness, inner freedom, guided meditation on the chakras, offer your love to the divine, guided healing meditation, guided meditation for calming the mind and nervous system, guided meditation on calmness, guided meditation with the ananda monks, more videos from nayaswami diksha, guided meditation by paramhansa yogananda: going beyond thinking, calm the mind – a guided meditation, fill yourself with light, how to cultivate even-mindedness, the vow of superconscious living by swami kriyananda, a simple prayer by st. francis of assisi, i am the divine light – guided visualization and affirmation, by swami kriyananda, 4th of july meal, wehani rice, maple-sesame tofu, and sautéed root vegetables, french lentil soup & corn muffins, free introduction to the path of kriya yoga.

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"Meditation provides a deeper appreciation of the interrelatedness of all things and the part each person plays. The simple rules of this game are honesty with yourself about where you are in your life and learning to listen to hear how it is. Meditation is a way of listening more deeply, so you hear from a deeper space, exactly how it is. Meditation will help you quiet your mind, enhance your ability to be insightful and understanding and give you a sense of inner peace.

If you meditate regularly, even when you don’t feel like it, you will make great gains, for it will allow you to see how your thoughts impose limits on you. Your resistances to meditation are your mental prisons in miniature.

A fellow satsang member asked Maharajji how to meditate, he said, “Meditate like Christ.” I said, “Maharajji, how did Christ meditate?” He became very quiet and closed his eyes. After a few minutes, he had a blissful expression on his face and a tear trickled down his cheek. He opened his eyes and said, “He lost himself in love.” - Ram Dass

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Ram Dass Guided Meditations

Guided meditation.

Ram Dass leads a guided meditation centered on noticing what you are directly experiencing in the moment, and simply letting it all just be as it is.

"There’s nowhere to go, there’s nothing to accomplish, there’s no merit. It’s just this, just this." - Ram Dass

Read "Just Be" full transcript

What I would like to invite you to do is to sit as straight as you can. We're going to meditate for about 10 minutes. For some of you, that will be a new experience. For some of you, even the term meditation is an alien term. It's part of the balancing we're trying to do between getting out in the market place and cultivating the inner quiet space.

So first, just get here. Just breathe gently and sit with what you're experiencing at this moment. If you're experience tiredness, let yourself be tired. If you're feeling hot or cold, if you're feeling the seat under you, the sounds outside -- don't push anything away, just be with what is.

But keep coming back to what you are directly experiencing in this moment. If your mind takes you on a train of thought, when you notice that, just come back and experience the floor under your feet, or the air on your cheek, or the presence of the person next to you. Letting your mind not hold onto things, but just be. Thoughts arising and passing away.

Noticing which sensations present themselves to you -- the horn, the feeling in your leg, maybe an agitation. Perhaps it's a memory, or it's a judgment about yourself or something else. Just notice it, and be with it. And let it stay or go, as it chooses.

Noticing if the siren comes into your consciousness, let it be there. Don't resist it, don't grab hold of it. It comes and it goes. Notice that what you were noticing as much as two minutes ago is already gone. Thoughts, feelings, sensations, memories, plans -- crossing your awareness like clouds cross the heavens.

Clinging to nothing, just being at rest with what is.

If there is agitation, just notice agitation. Whatever state of mind, whatever feeling, or thought, or sensation, neither clinging to it nor pushing it away. Just coexist with all of it. Just be with it, just as it is. There's nowhere to go, there's nothing to accomplish, there's no merit. It's just this, just this.

Feel the awareness as a vast ground like the sky. And all of the thoughts and sensations and memories and plans and qualities of mind and judging, is clouds that come from who knows where and go who knows where. Identify for a moment with the vast sky. This vast presence. It hears everything, and yet there is no effort. It's not doing anything, it's just being. How little time we acknowledge that in us which is just being.

Ram Dass leads a guided meditation straight to the center, where you can rest in the quietness of your heart. When you look at the universe from that center point, you can begin to see the true nature of existence.

"Let each breath you take bring you deeper into that center. Just into the quiet place, the timeless place, the spaceless space." - Ram Dass

Read "The Center" full transcript

There is this moment. The sounds, the sensations, feelings. Just this moment.

CS Lewis said you don't see the center because it's all center. So experience the center, starting from your heart, and in concentric circles, including the entire city, all coming out from your heart. All coming into your heart.

Feel the energy of the city at the circumference of the circle, and feel the quietness of the middle of your heart at the center.

Riding close to the center, feel all of the qualities of your personality. Your history and your timeline of coming to this moment, all of it as the little circle around the center. And that all has movement and activity and identity. And yet right in the center of that is the quiet point.

The bus, the sounds in the room, the feelings in the body, they're all part of the circles that go around the center. But in the center there's no coming, no going.

If you still feel caught in thought or agitation, just sigh your way into the center. Just, ahhhhhh. And let each sigh take you closer to that quiet center.

Now move one of your hands in any way you want, but notice the relationship of the moving hand to the quiet center. Feel the stillness of the center at the same as the movement of the hand. And see that the movement of the hand is led by the intention of the mind, but all of that is in the circle around the center, and the center just is. Ahhhhhhhhhh. Sighing your way into the center, to the still, quiet space within.

The universe looked at from the center, from the quietness, is seen as flow, as movement, as energy, as patterns, as comings and goings, as emotions and thoughts, from the eye of the center, the eye of the circle, where thine eye be single.

Now pick one moment in your memory of today. Project yourself into some other moment. It might be at the subway, or the office, or at home. Any one, it doesn't matter which one. And ask yourself, go look there, and see whether or not that person at that moment recognized the center.

Imagine all the moments of today, one after another -- the getting, bathroom, eating, traveling, meetings, all of the moment-to-moment experiences. And then imagine the thread wove through that entire string of experiences, just the flow of conscious presence in the center of the universe, where everything is still.

Thoughts think themselves. Sensations occur. Movement occurs. Relationships happen. And in the middle of it, always, just this.

Let each breath you take bring you deeper into that center. Just into the quiet place, the timeless place, the spaceless space.

And then if you want to, make the leap, appreciate that the center point in the middle of the heart that we talk about as the center of the circle is everywhere. So in the middle of that siren you hear, that is the silent center.

Everywhere you look in the universe, everything's happening, and nothing's happening. It's all changing, and it's all still.

When they say quietness is master of the deed, it is the relationship of that quiet center to the forms around it. It is when you stand at the center of the universe in the silent spaceless space, timeless time, it is with that eye that you are truth. For in the center there is no longing, no hopes, no desires, no fears, nowhere to go, nothing to do. Right in that center.

We listen from that center to hear what part is played. We see from that center, seeing the design and the play and the dance. And every time we get lost in the periphery of the circle, the minute we remember, we are on our way back to the center. The center of the flower. The center of the mandala. The center where past and future fold in on themselves. The center where here and there fold in on themselves.

There's a sound, the sound of Om, that represents all of the sounds folded in on themselves. It is that sound of silence. It is spoken, yet unspoken. Om. Om.

Ram Dass guides a meditation meant to help you process the events of daily life that reflect your attractions and aversions. It is a process of digesting life experiences and bringing them back into the center.

"The drama of life is wonderful, it’s intense, you know you’re alive in it. And yet, without that equanimity to balance it, it always has in it fear." - Ram Dass

Read "Back Into the Center" full transcript

A quality of relaxed alertness. No tension, just being present. Allowing all of the sensations, the noise from the street, the noise from your body, all the sensations, the thoughts, to just come and go.

Be aware of your breath. Let it stay in a very natural way, don't intentionally change its rate or it's depth. Be aware of the full breath.

If you'd like to focus somewhere, you can focus in the abdomen, just where the muscle rises and falls with each breath. Let that be the center of your attention, and every time your awareness strays to the sounds on the street or to other thoughts or sensation, the minute you notice your mind has strayed, just notice it, and then very gently come back to the breath.

Now coming to the center of your chest, feel a warmth in the center of your chest as if you were breathing in and out through a set of nostrils in the middle of your chest. And when you breathe in, you breathe in something that is very light and warm. And when you breathe out, you breathe out all of the tensions that gather in the course of a day.

And realize that right in the center of the chest is a place of rest. It's a place of quietness, it's a place that witnesses, that is just present. It's a retreat. It's a place you can go into to be quiet.

And learning how to serve others. We need first to learn how to work with the things that catch, the things to which we have attraction or aversion. So sitting in the middle of your chest, remaining there, just resting there. Bring to mind some significant event that happened to you today. Let yourself go back and remember the event. Maybe that event has some residual excitement or aversion or guilt or sadness or agitation or anger or frustration. Notice the event, and now come back into the center of the chest, breathing in and out. Let the event go.

Now once again, go back to that event, watching the way in which you change from your equanimous, quiet self, as you start to bring that event back into reality. See the way in which that event pulls you out of that present center, how you lose your center to the dance of life. We all do it all the time.

And just keep going back and forth until you have worked with that event enough so that you can think about it without leaving that quiet place in the middle of your being. So you can say about that event, whether it was attractive or aversive, you can say, yes, and that one too. Ah, so.

Try one more event. Let your mind just float over your day, from when you woke up until this moment, and see which events grab you. One will grab you, either it will excite you or you will feel aversion or some deadness, whatever you feel. Or you'll start to think about it very intensely. The minute you find one of those, stop. The fact that it is sitting there with all that valence, or power, is because you haven't digested it back into your center. So when you find such an event, then come back into the middle of your chest, just breathing in and out, find your center. And then from there, look at the event again. And keep floating back and forth, out into the event, back into the center.

Until you can stay in the center and that event can be present, just as part of the fabric of life, without the pull or the push. This is the process of digesting life experiences and bringing them back into the center. This is the value of moments of meditative quiet at the end of the day, when you gather together the strands of the day and bring them back into the center. So that there is continuity in life from that place in the center. From the place in the center you see your own comings and goings, you see your own elations and depressions, you see your own hopes and despair. You see it all, and yet you remain quiet in the midst of it.

And those events which are particularly dramatic or trying or continue over a long time or involve pain in the body or fear about death, those are the ones you work with a little more to keep them connected to your center. But as that center gets stronger and you trust that you have a home inside yourself, a home you can always go to just by sitting down and taking some breaths, working with the breath until you quiet down, coming into the center, and then digesting the days events. Once you're able to do that, then you can begin to digest other people's sufferings and joys, and offer them equanimity when they are lost on the rollercoaster of life.

The drama of life is wonderful, it's intense, you know you're alive in it. And yet, without that equanimity to balance it, it always has in it fear. Only when you have cultivated the equanimity, the space where you are always present quietly, clearly, only then are you able to be with life with love, with openness, with safety, with invulnerability.

A few more breaths into the center. Right to the center of the chest. It is said that God, guru, and self are one in the same thing. For some of you, you have a relationship to God, for others, you have a relationship to a teacher or a guru. For others, you find that place within your own heart, in the middle of your chest. It's all the same.

Just from this place, let a sound emerge. It may be a very quiet sound, or a load sound, just a sound. It might be Om, it might be any sound. Om.

Ram Dass guides you to a place of pure light in the middle of your chest and reminds you that you are this light – your body is just the container. But it is not enough to just see our own light, we need to see that everyone has this light within.

"Anytime of the day, you always can come back to the breath. Bring the breath as if you are breathing out of the middle of the chest, and with each breath brighten the light that sits in the middle." - Ram Dass

Read "The Light" full transcript

Just bringing your awareness to being here this moment -- the sounds, the sensations in the body, the thoughts arising and passing away.

Being aware of the breath, in its natural rhythms.

Coming to the middle of your chest. Start to focus right in the middle of the chest, as if you were breathing in and out of the point in the middle of the chest.

Let the breath make the place in the middle of the chest soft and warm and liquid and light. Soft, soft. If you feel hardness or coldness in the chest, soften it, warm it with the breath. Just allowing the sweetness of the heart.

Soft. Sweet. Flowing. Light. A quality of radiance coming from your own heart.

Softening. Lightening. And now, using your imagination, just imagine that everybody in this room has exactly that same place in the middle of the heart. A place of light. A place that is liquid, that is soft, that is radiant, that is warm.

All of us the same in that way, and yet so different in all that surrounds that heart. If you knew that in every human being there was that quality of spirit and truth, and that's what you focused on when you met another person, how different it would be.

Now expand to all of the people that you came upon today in the subways, on the streets, in meetings, in offices, in bed, at the dinner table, at newsstands, wherever you went today, and think of each of those people as another point of light, as a container containing an essence, a quality of softness, of caring, of warmth, of light.

Think of the people you've interacted with today and think of how often, how frequently or infrequently, you remembered the light that is in the center of the container. It's as if the body is the holder of the light, and often the holder or the container is so opaque that you can't see the light. And people keep saying to you, I am the container. When you remember, you say to them, "No, you're the light." And they say, "No, I'm the container."

But now look at yourself through today. How often did you remember today that light that is the center of your being? How often were you quiet enough, or was there a pause long enough, for you to remember? Because unless you can see your own light, how can you truly see another's? For it takes a light to know a light.

Who did you meet today? Did you meet partners or children or parents or business people or people asking for money or social workers or kids or troublemakers or politicians or newspaper vendors? Is that who you met? Or did you meet the light in all its various ways of being contained?

Anytime of the day, you always can come back to the breath. Bring the breath as if you are breathing out of the middle of the chest, and with each breath brighten the light that sits in the middle. Soften. Warm. Brighten. Let the light shine.

Om. Om. Let a sound rise from that point of light. Om. Om.

Ram Dass invites you to breathe the ambrosia of the living spirit into your heart, and become a transmitter of that living spirit in order to touch those who are suffering.

"At each stage of the journey up the mountain, you must accept your responsibility for being an instrument for the transmission of what you receive." - Ram Dass

Read "Nectar of the Living Spirit" full transcript

Breathing very gently now, in and out of the chest, just as if you had nostrils right in the middle of your chest.

Imagine that you and I are immersed here in the subtlest mist, soma, ambrosia, nectar. The eye that is the sun that is the captive that is the lover, is that which you breathe into your heart; the living spirit. Slow, deep breath. Draw that mist into your being. Breath the oxygen through your nose, and in through the hole in the middle of your chest draw that nectar. Let it pour through your body. And let it's light, and it's sweetness, and it's softness, loosen all of the tension, all of the fear, all of the separateness, all of the confusion, all of the doubt, anger, self pity. And on the out-breath, each time, just let go of all that stuff. Just breathe it out through your heart and fill again with more of the nectar of presence of the living spirit.

With each breath, let your own being, your body, your personality, your mind, your heart, become more light, and more seemingly made of the same stuff as that which you have been breathing in through your heart. And every part that is heavy or tight, just breathe it out. Some things will be so tight in there that you'll see you're really not ready to let them go yet, you still want to have them hang around for a while. Don't blame yourself, just notice it. And breathe out what's ready to be let go of; don't make believe your karma is that of another, honor your own.

Now let's imagine that you and I are as light as we're going to get for this evening, we're close to being transmitters of living spirit. And now, as you breathe in, draw that mist which comes into you because of your acknowledgement of its existence. And then send mist out with the out-breath, but attach to it a thought-form, and direct it towards those beings who suffer. So that the mist goes out from you directed like a beam of light that surrounds a suffering being with light, with presence, with peace.

Perhaps the being that comes into your mind is suffering physically; malnutrition, illness, physical danger. Perhaps that being is suffering psychologically; depression, self pity, loneliness, torture, imprisonment unfairly. Perhaps that being is suffering spiritually, experience the pain of the separation from God. Let your breath be directed with your thought towards those beings you bring to mind who suffer. They may be embodied or not. They may be people you know directly, or not. At each stage of the journey up the mountain, you must accept your responsibility for being an instrument for the transmission of what you receive. If the beacon does not become brighter, why the lessons? I am your life, but if you will not name me, seal up your souls with tears and never blame me.

I can only wish you through this meditation, and wish for myself, that we can remember more and more often so that our every breath becomes a transmission of light, of love, of peace, of presence. That our soul is open, not sealed with tears. And that everybody who we touch is enlightened by that touch.

Ram Dass leads a meditation where you are breathing out through the top of your head, bouncing back and forth between form and formless, the one and the many. From this place, you can open your heart to all beings and experience just how much you do love this universe.

"There is no form, it’s God manifest. It’s the unspoken, it’s the void. It’s the one." - Ram Dass

Read "Soma Meditation" full transcript

At this moment, just focus in the middle of your chest.

Imagine there's an opening in the middle of your chest. And that even though you're breathing in and out of your nose or your mouth necessary oxygen, etcetera, with each in breath in through this hole in your chest, you are drawing something very subtle, not even on the physical plane. It's been called soma, it's been called elixir, it's been called ambrosia, it's been called Pran, it's been called living spirit. Think of it as a very fine mist. With each breath, draw it into the middle of your chest, and let it pour through your body, to the extremities, to the tips of your fingers, to the tips of your toes, through your torso, your head.

And then in the out-breath, when you're breathing out through the center of your chest, any stuff in you that is keeping you from being with the universe -- the tensions, the fears, the negativity, the doubt, the grudges, the anger, the loneliness, the self pity -- breathe it out, just breathe out, let it go on the out-breath. And then fill once again with this healing, very fine mist, and let it pour through your body. As it pours through your body, let it dislodge the tensions that may have settled in your back, or in your stomach. The heavy thoughts, thoughts of paranoia, feelings of inadequacy, of doubt, the judging mind, just let it all be loosened, dislodged. And on the out breath, breathe it out. Make the breath slow and deep. And keep that imagery very strongly in mind, that you're drawing in a very fine mist, filling your being, and then releasing all of the stuff you don't need to be in the spirit.

If there's a great sadness in you, just let it go. Breathe it out, you don't need it. If there's anger, hurt. If you've been hurt, if you have pain. Don't demand that it go away, you might breathe it out and you'll still feel sadness, it may be such a deep reservoir of sadness. But what you can let go of, let go of. And then fill with this very fine healing mist.

Now rest quietly with your eyes closed and just listen to me for a moment. Imagine now that out before you is all of the universe of form, all of the world as you see it, hear it, smell it, taste it, and know it, including yourself. And now imagine that at the top of the head, you also have a hole, an opening, and that above your head is the formless out of which form comes. There is no form, it's God manifest. It's the unspoken, it's the void. It's the one.

Now, you will breathe in through your chest when I tell you, suggest you do. Just listen now, drawing the universe into your heart, the middle of your chest, and you will breathe out through the top of your head, going out with your breath, go up with your breath and go back into the formless. And then on the next in breath, draw the formless down into your heart, and then with the out-breath, breathe it out through your heart and recreate the forms which are spirit made manifest. Then with the in-breath, draw it back into your heart, breathe out through the top of your head going up until you're resting above your head, then draw the breath in, come back down into your heart, and then manifest out into the world. So it's in, up, out, down, in, out. Do that for a few minutes now. Start very slow, deep breathing, so you keep going between form and formless, between the one and the many.

Keeping your eyes closed, remain resting in the middle of your chest and listen to me for one moment longer. Now that you have released what you can of those things which keep you from being a pure instrument for the transmission of spirit, and that you have learned to draw the spirit through you, you will find yourself in situation after situation where, when you look out at the world, you see suffering. Maybe it's somebody you love that's suffering. The suffering might physical, it might be psychological, it might be spiritual. It might be somebody that's a political prisoner, somebody that's starving or dying of cancer, or just lost in depression, or caught with drugs, or caught in a painful violence.

Whoever comes to mind, bring their image before you, standing or sitting or being out in front. With your breath, go up above your head, letting yourself go out through the top of your head. Again, bring that fine mist, that spirit, down through the top of your head, the formless, down into your heart. And then on the out breath, send it out, keeping that being in mind. And with your mind, imaging surrounding that being with light that is peace, that is healing, that is love, that is spacious. Then go back up into the formless until that is just pouring through your heart and out and surrounding that being or those beings.

If there is anybody towards whom you feel anger, that you would like to find the deeper space, bring that person before you. And through this light, or this love, see that being in a deeper way. Let your heart open in this process.

Keep going back up into the formless where you are the one, and then come back and allow the spirit to come through you to manifest as a healing force.

And the thought is not that I demand this person be healed of their suffering, but rather, if it be in the way of things, let there be healing. Not my, but thy will.

And if it is you that is suffering and in pain, imagine yourself standing or sitting before yourself, and surround that being with that same golden light of love, of peace, of space, of compassion.

Open your heart a little wider. What more can you do for the world than become a conduit for the living spirit to be manifest?

Experience just how much you actually do love the universe. All the forms coming before your eye. As you go back into the one and come back into the many, see how precious all the forms are.

Okay, now just come back and rest in your heart. Open your eyes and relax, stretch. Mmmm.

Ram Dass guides a meditation around softening the sharp edges of life and resting in love. You can learn to live life with a heart that is wide open.

"Open your heart just a bit more. Come on out and play. I’m right here in love." - Ram Dass

Read "Resting in Love" full transcript

Just resting in your own being. Aware of all the body sensations, sounds. No trying, no trying. Just being, just being.

Take in a deep breath, and as you let it out, just let go of all that kind of agitated, confused, worried feeling that you're separate from something. Just let it go, and just come into a deeper sense of being. An appreciation from within of all of the qualities of your being, just the way they are.

Imagine, at this moment, that you are just the way you are, and you are totally loved. Feel what that feels like. Not for how you wish you were or might become, but just the way it is. You are loved, you are allowed, you are acknowledged.

As if the music were saying, I love you. And every protest you put up saying, that if you really knew who I was, how could you love me? And the music is saying, I know who you are, and I love you.

Now bring to mind other beings with whom you are close, or interact in relationship. And see them with that same single eye that looks through the veils and sees another being of love manifesting. For it is the heart of God that touches your heart, and that it is your heart that touches another's heart.

Work with the breath, in and out, right in the middle of your chest. Let it soften and form the sweetest, most gentle flow. Each breath opening your heart just a little bit more. If there's sadness, let the sadness come out. If there's joy, let the joy bubble over. If there's a quiet, deep space of love, let it rest in its deep silence.

Resting in love. Resting in love. Softer. Just a bit softer. Open your heart just a bit more. Come on out and play. I'm right here in love. A little bit more. Let's be together in love. Not later, right now. Each breath. Soft, so sweet. Nothing to do about it.

All the sharp edges have become soft.

Finally, even as the heart is this open, yet becomes more and more open, you learn that you can live life, right in the middle of the marketplace, with your heart this open. Buffeted and pushed and shoved and treated violently, the compassion in your heart allows the beloved all the forms of action. Maharajji said a mother is so much like God because she's so forgiving, her love doesn't waver. And finally, you are the mother of the universe, and everybody you look upon is your child.

Ram Dass guides you straight into your heart cave – it is a place beyond all forms and limits, a place for letting go. He then leads a Metta, or LovingKindness, meditation, and closes the session with a mantra.

"See meditation as a way of coming home to the quietness of the deepest part of your heart. The cave of silence, in which everything is heard, sensed. Thoughts arise and pass away. But none of it tarnishes the pure silence of the inner heart cave." - Ram Dass

Read "The Heart Cave" full transcript

Maharajji said bring your mind to one point and you will know God. This morning we will continue with the samadhi, or concentration on the breath.

In Mahamudra practice it is said that when the mind gazes into the mind itself, the train of discursive and conceptual thought ends and supreme enlightenment is gained.

The first step to the mind looking into itself can be bringing the mind to one point and keeping it there. This process must be done very gently with the mind. The mind must remain soft, subtle, buoyant, light. So with firm seat, with head, neck, and back straight, bring the awareness to the breath. The two points of focus are either the breath at the tip of the nose -- right inside the tip of the nose, you'll notice that on the in-breath you feel the air touching the inside of the nostril, the out-breath similarly. One is cool, one is warm. If you are focusing on the breath at the tip of the nose you do not follow the breath into the body or out into the air. Just be like a gatekeeper, noticing the comings and goings of the breath. When you are following the breath at the tip of the nose it may help to mentally note at the early stages, breathing in, breathing out, breathing in, breathing out.

The other option is to notice the rising and falling in the abdomen. You can feel the place right in the middle of the abdomen that with each rising, each inhalation rises, with each exhalation falls. With each inhalation you can mentally note, rising, with each exhalation you can mentally note, falling.

After you have explored each of them for a moment or two, choose one for the remainder of this meditation session and stay with it.

The awareness, or mind, will be carried off many times to sensations, hearing, smelling, touching, tasting, seeing, or to thoughts. Develop an easy yet vigilant manner, and each time the mind wanders, as soon as you notice it wander, as soon as you notice it begin to wander, note it, and then very gently but firmly return home to the breathing in, breathing out, or to the rising and falling.

As your mind begins to concentrations, many old Samskaras will rise to the surface. Perhaps it will be greed or lust or anger or agitation or laziness or doubt. Just notice them. Don't feed them, just notice them. Don't judge them, just notice them. And once again, gently return to the breath with firm resolve.

Note each breath precisely, noting the spaces between the inhalation and the exhalation, the space between the exhalation and the inhalation.

If you experience pain or discomfort in your body, note it and return to the breath. If it persists after several notings and returns, make the pain your primary object. Keep your awareness with the pain, noting it precisely. If after some time it does not dissolve in the presence of your awareness, move the body gently, but note the process, don't break the continuity of awareness. Note the intention to move the body, note the moving of the body, note the settling of the body. And then once again, return the awareness to the breathing in, breathing out, or to the rising and falling.

Just as from a distance a row of ants in seen as a solid line, but up close you see that it is one ant following another, so as you become more precise in the observation of your breath. You will see that the in-breath is made up of thousands of tiny moments of awareness, following one upon the other, and so with the out-breath.

Keep the awareness gently riding on the breath, like riding on a wind, on a breeze.

Thoughts and sensations, arising one after another, and passing away like leaves floating down a stream. You sit by the stream and focus on a brightly colored pebble right below this water. Into your vision come leaves, pass across your vision, and continue on out of your vision. The brightly colored pebble is like your breath, a place for your awareness to rest tranquilly.

Within the subtlest whisper of the breath, passing at the tip of the nostrils, or rising and falling in the abdomen, is contained the mystery.

See meditation as a way of coming home to the quietness of the deepest part of your heart. The cave of silence, in which everything is heard, sensed. Thoughts arise and pass away. But none of it tarnishes the pure silence of the inner heart cave.

As each sensation arises, note it. Each moment noting just where your awareness moves, not trying to bring it back to any place. Letting it float from sense door to sense door, from thought to thought, but adding the awareness of the process of the movement, all done as you sit quietly. Tranquilly. Cultivating equanimity in the middle of the heart cave.

A bird. A movement. A sensation in the body. A thought. All same. Just images written on the walls of the cave that appear and a moment later disappear, like paintings in the sand the ocean washes away a moment later.

Each sensation, each thought, note it, one after the other, but always remaining quiet. This quiet being, your most ancient self. This quiet being has watched a succession of moments, has watched a succession of days and years and lifetimes, has watched bodies come and bodies go. The joys and tribulations come and go, pleasures and pains come and go.

Who dwells in that heart cave has no form, no limit. Who dwells in that heart cave is beyond time, beyond space.

Note there is just a series of sensations and thoughts, one after the other, arising and passing away. Other than that, where are you?

Each time you experience yourself as something or somebody, just notice that it's another thought or sensation drifting across the walls of the cave, and return to the spacious, formless, timeless essence.

Nothing to cling to. Keep loosening your hold, letting the familiar float by, seeing that just behind all of the forms, images, memories, plans, sounds, sights, tastes, touches, smells, just behind all of those, permeating, yet not being colored by them… you are.

Are all these sensations and thoughts inside of you or outside of you? If there is no form or limit to who you are, they are both inside of you and outside of you. I am in everything, everything is in me.

Now we will do the first steps of what is called Metta meditation, or LovingKindness meditation. You will bring before your mind's eye the image of someone towards whom you feel love. And then repeat silently each of these phrases. May you be free from danger. May you be free from all mental suffering. May you be free from all physical suffering. May you know ease of wellbeing, that is may you have it easy to stay alive and keep your life together. May you have ease of wellbeing.

Now bring before your mind's eye, a being towards whom you feel neutral. Maybe someone you just remember having passed on the street, or someone in the group towards who you have no strong feelings one way or the other. Keep them focused before you and repeat. May you be free from danger. May you be free from all mental suffering. May you be free from all physical suffering. May you know ease of wellbeing.

Now bring before your mind's eye someone whom you may have some difficulty in opening your heart to or keeping your heart open about. Perhaps someone who's hurt you or hurt people you love. May you be free from danger. May you be free from all mental suffering. May you be free from all physical suffering. May you know ease of wellbeing.

And finally imagine all beings, all beings spreading out around you as far as the eye can see. Myriads of beings. Beings on earth now. Beings on other planes, the Deva Lokis, hungry spirits. All the beings of present, past, and future. All being everywhere. The vast myriad of beings. May you all be free of danger. May you all be free from mental suffering. May you all be free from physical suffering. May you all know ease of wellbeing.

For a few minutes now we are going to do a mantra together. You can move and be comfortable. The mantra is Gate, Gate, Paragate, Parasamgate, Bodhi Svaha. It's a Tibetan mantra. It means, in once loose translation, gone, gone, gone beyond, gone beyond even the concept of beyond, to the enlightened one who has done this feat, honor. You can imagine that the inner part of yourself, your true and highest self, is beyond all concepts, all ideas. You can imagine that being as yourself, or the Buddha, or the Christ, or Ram, any form that is comfortable for you. Or just your mind going beyond concept. Gate, gone. Gate, gone. Paragate, gone beyond. Parasamgate, gone beyond even beyond. Bodhi, that one that is enlightened. Svaha, honor. Listen to the intonation, and as you feel comfortable with it, join in. It's done on one breath.

Gate, Gate, Paragate, Parasamgate, Bodhi Svaha. Gate, Gate, Paragate, Parasamgate, Bodhi Svaha. Gate, Gate, Paragate, Parasamgate, Bodhi Svaha. Gate, Gate, Paragate, Parasamgate, Bodhi Svaha. Gate, Gate, Paragate, Parasamgate, Bodhi Svaha. Gate, Gate, Paragate, Parasamgate, Bodhi Svaha. Gate, Gate, Paragate, Parasamgate, Bodhi Svaha. Gate, Gate, Paragate, Parasamgate, Bodhi Svaha. Gate, Gate, Paragate, Parasamgate, Bodhi Svaha. Gate, Gate, Paragate, Parasamgate, Bodhi Svaha.

Ram Dass guides a meditation where you are interpenetrated with the guru – a being of total light, love, and compassion. From this place, you can start to experience more and more of the universe as within you.

"Wherever you think you go, whoever you think you are, whatever you think you think, guru is. Guru is." - Ram Dass

Read "Guru Meditation" full transcript

Let us use this time together and this incredible spiritual energy that this sharing we're doing at this moment is tuning us into. To allow us all to get a little closer to the guru that is within all beings. Try to find a comfortable place where you can be with your head, neck, and chest in a straight line. You could be lying flat down, or you could be sitting up.

Imagine a Buddha like being now. A being sitting cross-legged on a lotus. A being made of pure light. A being of absolute calm, compassion, peace. Imagine that being in front of you. Imagine that being at about eye level in the distance.

Now imagine a broad highway of blue light, that stretches from that being to your heart. And then experience that being very, very gently, floating in the lotus position on the lotus. Floating closer and closer. So much light. So much love. So much compassion.

Let that being come inside until it resides in your very heart. Feel that being sitting inside.

Now let that guru increase in size until its body just conforms with your body. So where your leg is, the guru's leg; your shoulder, the guru's shoulder; your head, the guru's head.

Now feel what it feels like to be interpenetrated with a being of total compassion. The compassion to see the entire universe. Fully, with all its polarities. Without attachment, no attachment. Allowing it to be, not demanding it be anything other than it is. Seeing it all in its utter perfection.

Now feel what it feels like what it feels like to be interpenetrated with a being of pure light. Experience yourself as pure light. Feel the light emanating from deep within, and coming out through all of your of your pores. Pouring out through your eyes and all of your orifices, and from the ends of your toes and from your fingertips.

Now, feel what it feels like to be interpenetrated with a being of pure love. Be love. Be love. Feel that love emanating from every part of your being.

Now feel what it feels like to be interpenetrated with a being of total consciousness. Pure consciousness. Let every part of your being be conscious.

Now with your eyes closed, start to experience this body of light, of compassion, of love, of consciousness, growing in size. Start to experience more and more of the universe as within you. Everything you can think of, say, Tat Tvam Asi, I am that too.

And when you've moved out in space, in all directions, until there is no space you can conceive of that you aren't, now move in time. Backwards. Everything you can think about in history. Tat Tvam Asi, I am that too.

Now, future. All possibilities you could imagine, bring them all within yourself. Bathe all of the future, and all of the past, and all of the present, and all of there, and all of here, with self-illuminating radiance. With compassion. See within yourself all the polarities, all the goods and all the evils. All the beauties and all the uglinesses. All the yin and all the yang.

And now, of course, you include me, and I include you. So in this place there is only one of us. And this voice, and this air, is part of what we are. And within us, all of the laws of the universe are reflected in all of the forms.

And if I am it all, then the word "I" has no more meaning, because there is no not I. And so there is no I. Here and now, there is only is-ness. Just being.

The planets move. The heart beats. All of the laws are manifested in all of the forms of the universe.

Now we can look within ourself. We can see the separate entities, who we thought we were before we started this meditation. Find that entity, who you thought you were. Examine it, with some curiosity, as you would any other phenomenon in nature. Examine its dance in life. Look at all the problems it thinks it has. And the plans it has. Look at its desires. Desires it has because it doesn't realize, Tat Tvam Asi, that it is already everything. Look at all its fears. Look at all of this with the absolute compassion that you are now.

Now look into that being, who you thought you were, look inside that being, way, way inside it of it, and see who you now know yourself to be. The entire universe.

Now ever so gently start to re-experience your body, your physical body. The body in which you are dwelling at this moment. You're now re-entering this incarnation. Starting from your toes, let your consciousness move up the body until it reaches the crown of your head.

Now ever so gently, come back into the personality you have incarnated into in this birth. But at the same moment you're re-entering into your separateness, keep in mind, keep in pure mind, keep in the identity with the guru. Back into your senses, thoughts, all part of the incarnation.

And now, as we proceed on through the pages of the book of our lives, let's remember that in our heart sits our guru. Guru, god, and self are one. Wherever you think you go, whoever you think you are, whatever you think you think, guru is. Guru is.

Whoever you meet, in her, in him, resides guru. Wherever you look, whatever you see, all guru. Now, and always. Om.

Ram Dass leads you through a series of reflections on suffering – suffering in this world, suffering others have caused us, suffering we have caused others. How do you find balance in the horrible beauty of the natural world?

"What grace that we can even touch the possibility of seeing through the vale, what incredible grace." - Ram Dass

Read "Reflections on Suffering" full transcript

Just developing that part of you that is very quiet, that is just witnessing the phenomena that arise at each sense door, and the phenomena of thoughts that come and go. Just let your awareness wander. If you hear the river, note the hearing of the river. Then you might some sensation in your foot; notice that. And then a thought may come up about the future or the past; notice that.

Keep cultivating that which notices the sensations and the thoughts. You're cultivating the witness that witnesses phenomena as they arise, exist, and pass away.

Now let arise into your awareness thoughts that concern some way in which you personally have experienced suffering. Just let the thought arise in your mind. Keep your witness strong. How do I suffer? What suffering has there been in my life? Let yourself into it just a little, it will awaken a lot of thoughts that are feeling like emotions.

Perhaps your suffering is around illness. Perhaps it's around loneliness and separateness. Perhaps it's around addictions, obsessions. Perhaps it's around shame or loathing towards your acts or your fantasies or qualities of your body or personality. Perhaps your suffering has been around the suffering of loved ones, or the death of loved ones. Perhaps the suffering is rooted in doubt and confusion. Perhaps the suffering is connected with anger, grudges, vindictiveness, unforgivingness, the tightness that that creates. Perhaps your suffering arises out of your seeing the unfairness in the world, to yourself and to others -- the unfairness in prisons, the unfairness of political systems, the unfairness that the Native Americans suffer, or the have-nots of the world. Perhaps your suffering is because the threat of destruction that is inherent within the bomb, the nuclear bomb, or the destruction that is going on to the earth, to the forests, to the oceans. Perhaps your sadness is because of the illnesses that others are suffering, such as AIDS, cancer. Perhaps your sadness is because of things unfulfilled in your life, dreams that never came to fruition. We all have them. We all have a lot of these.

Notice the relation between the witness of that sadness and that suffering inside yourself, and the sadness and suffering itself. Notice that as you get closer into the suffering how bad you feel. And at the same moment, retain the witness that sees the suffering as part of the human condition.

Stay right at the line between where your sufferings take you over on one end, and where you become the impersonal witness on the other. Stay right on the cusp between those two points. Can you see the way in which this suffering is contributing to your growth and your awakening? Just stay with it a little bit.

Get a little deeper into the suffering. Just feel the longings and the frustrations, the pain, the tightness of the body, the closed-ness, the self consciousness. You're working towards the point where you can be fully in the suffering and fully in the witness at the same moment. Pushing away nothing, clinging to nothing.

Is there a way you can see the deepest sufferings in your life as vehicles for growth? Look back over some of the sufferings of your life. Can you see the relationship between them and you now?

If your sufferings are sufferings because of what has been done to you by others, wittingly or unwittingly, by the universe, by God, are you clinging to the resentment and the anger? Is it making you tight and separate? Or is there a quality of forgiveness, of understanding about how it all is? Can you bring to mind anybody who has cut you off, who has done injustice? Can you feel how painful it is to keep them out of your heart? Can you touch them with an appreciation of the fact that we are fellow beings, often lost and often creating suffering? Can you touch another person with the warmth of forgiveness? I forgive you. Ahhh. I forgive you.

Can't you see that holding on to resentment and anger and unforgivingness, how it starves you? Can you bring that person into your mind's eye and see that being as a soul who was caught, and who's actions create suffering in others? When you say, "I forgive you," it's just acknowledging the other being's soul instead of identifying them with their actions. Your actions are good or bad, but you are just like me, another being seeking light.

Maybe your suffering is because you have acted in a way that has hurt others, and others feel resentment towards you. And you have increased someone else's separateness, isolation, and paranoia, and it hurts deeply. Imagine that person before you, and witness the part of you that acted in that way, and how you got caught in the unfolding of your karma. "I ask your forgiveness if I have made your journey more difficult. However I have hurt or injured you, whatever confusion or fear of mind I may have caused you, I ask your forgiveness." And then, allow yourself to feel forgiven. Allow yourself to let go. Receive it, draw it into your heart.

"However I have caused you pain in the heart in the past, through my anger, through my lust, through my fear, through my ignorance, my blindness, my confusion, however I have caused you pain, I ask that you let me back into your heart. I ask your forgiveness." And allow yourself to be forgiven.

Now gently turn and face yourself. How often we put ourselves out of our own hearts. Calling to yourself by your first name inside your own mind, "I forgive you. I invite you back into my heart."

Feel all the ways you have closed yourself off from yourself, the way in which you have been angry or judging, felt yourself to be insufficient, ugly, evil, inadequate, the ways in which you have isolated and push yourself away, denigrated yourself. Can you let yourself back into the wholeness of the universe? Can you allow yourself to be just the way you are, and appreciate how delicate, how difficult, subtle, how profound is the journey of the experiences of life?

"I forgive you. I let you back into my heart. I forgive you, you fear. I forgive you, your addictions. I forgive you, your weakness. I forgive you, your anger. I forgive you, your separateness. I forgive you, your pettiness and your petulance. I forgive you, your judgments."

Can you acknowledge your humanity just as it is? We all have it. We all have it. I am. I am just as I am. I exist. This is the stuff to work with. It's the holdings that cause the suffering. It's the judging that makes it, "I'm not enough the way I am, if only I were different it would be alright." You allow a tree to be a tree, a rock to be a rock, but you can't allow yourself to be yourself, just as you are.

"I forgive you, I bring you back into my heart. I allow myself to exist. I allow myself to be one of the faces of the beloved. I am beloved. I am the beloved."

Can you see the beauty in all of it? Just as it is? Can you see the way in which your clinging to judgements about yourself cuts you off from others? How you're afraid that the truth of your being will not be acceptable to other human beings? And so we suffer alone, rather than risk the truth, the truth that would show us that all of have these seeds of suffering, all of us.

If you cannot accept yourself and your own beauty, how will you see another's? Such mercy we must have towards ourselves, such a difficult journey it is. How much we have been closed off and frightened. We've tried so hard to come out of it, and we've felt so trapped, many of us. We've got to be gentle with ourselves, so gentle.

It is in the patterns of dark and light, in the shadows and the brightness, it's in the blending and the balancing that the beauty lies. The horrible beauty of nature. And our minds and our senses and our histories are all part of nature. Can you not allow nature to manifest? Can you not appreciate yourself as an evolving, awakening awareness, just beginning to sense the sunlight, to taste of the possibility?

Gently rest in the breath. So soft. The breath, a cave. The softness of the in-breath and the out-breath. The place of equanimity.

May I, through the work on myself, become an instrument for the relief of suffering in all beings. May I, through the work on myself, become an instrument for the relief of suffering of all beings.

Breathing in, breathing out.

What grace that we can even touch the possibility of seeing through the vale, what incredible grace.

In the middle of your heart space is the point that is loving awareness. Ram Dass guides you to this point, helping you rest in what you truly are – loving awareness.

"In each of us is a finger of the hand of loving awareness. Loving awareness is in everybody. Everybody is in loving awareness." - Ram Dass

Read "Loving Awareness" full transcript

Concentrate on your breath. In, out. In, out. Maybe the tip of the nose will be the place where you'll do that.

Now, keep that concentration. Bring it to the middle of your heart space. And that point is loving awareness.

And that loving awareness is you. It's the real you. For you are awareness.

Now, you can be aware of your eyes and what they see. You can be aware of your ears and what they hear; your skin feels. You can be aware of your mind and the river of thoughts that come out of your mind. Thoughts, thoughts, thoughts.

Some of those thoughts are positive, some are negative. Some are about you, and about others. Some of them are judging thoughts. But you will stay identified with loving awareness in your heart, in the heart center.

I am loving awareness. I am loving awareness. I am loving awareness. I am loving awareness.

Awareness is not a thing. We can label it, but it is not the words.

You are loving awareness. So is Christ. So is Krishna. So is Buddha. So is Maharajji. They are loving awareness, and so are you. One loving awareness. One loving awareness.

In each of us is a finger of the hand of loving awareness. Loving awareness is in everybody. Everybody is in loving awareness.

War and disagreement and states and… that's the games. That's the games we play. Yet we are loving awareness.

We are individuals, but we're not. We are the whole thing. We are all god. You are an individual, and you are part of the whole.

Loving awareness. When you finally get to be, be loving awareness, be loving awareness.

Be. Be. We're all beings together. One consciousness.

We are Satsang. We are those who seek the truth. Seek the truth.

Namaste, namaste.

Beyond Space and Time

Ram Dass leads a meditation experience called visualization, where you imagine the guru that is within expands in size until you are beyond space, time, and thought. Experience the truth that this being is your true self.

"It’s as if light were pouring forth from this being, from every cell. Just looking at this being, you experience the peace that emanates from it." - Ram Dass

Read "Beyond Space and Time" full transcript

My name is Ram Dass, and I'd like to share with you a meditation experience. And there are many forms of meditation, one of which is what is called visualization, a set of visual images that one imagines. Before starting this visualization meditation, find a comfortable seat. You could lie flat. What would be useful is if your head, neck, and chest were in a straight line.

First, relax a little bit. Let's focus on the various parts of your body. And when you do, bring your attention to that part of the body, and then intentionally relax. First, your feet. Relax your feet. Your ankles. Calves of your legs. Knees. Relax your thighs. Your buttox. Your pelvic area and your hips, relax them. Just loosen. Your stomach, relax. The small of your back. The upper part of your back. Deep relaxation. Starting with your fingers. Your hands. Your wrists. Your forearm. Elbow. Upper arm. Relax. Shoulders. Relax. Neck. Move it gently. Relax your neck. Your face. Your mouth. Move it a little and relax it. Your nose. Your eyes. Your cheek bones. Forehead. The rest of your head. Three slow, deep breaths, and with the out-breath, relax more deeply.

Now imagine, right in the middle of your chest, in the right hand corner of where your heart is, a tiny figure, about the size of your thumb, a being who is sitting on top of a lotus flower, sitting cross-legged. As you look at this tiny being, sitting within your chest, you are aware of its radiance. It's as if light were pouring forth from this being, from every cell. Just looking at this being, you experience the peace that emanates from it. Its equanimity. And you experience it as a being of compassion, of love, of wisdom.

Now let this being begin to expand. Growing large until its head just fills your head. It moves its arm 'til they just fill your arms; it's torso just fills your torso; its legs fill your legs. It's as if your skin contained within it this other being, this being of radiance, of peace, of love, of compassion, great wisdom. Now you and this being begin to expand in size. Larger and larger. Until the room in which you have been sitting or lying is now just barely big enough to contain you. Your head is to the ceiling. You sit on the floor, but continue to grow in size until your head is to the top of the building in which the room is, and you sit at the foundations of the building.

Once again you expand. Now your head rises up to the heavens. Until the entire community in which the building is located is within you, and you are sitting deeper in the earth. Feel your hugeness. Feel your identity with this being of perfect equanimity, of the deepest love, of the most profound wisdom, of such total compassion, a being that is vibrating with energy.

Again you begin to expand and grow. Now your head is up among the planets and you are sitting in space. The earth is within your belly. All of the surface phenomena of the earth, the winds and the storms, the tides, the life processes, the birth, the growth, the decay, the tensions, the violence, the tenderness, all of it is all within you. The mountains, the rivers, the trees, the oceans -- all within you. You sit out in space.

Now continue to grow until this universe, and all universes, are within you. This galaxy and all galaxies. All possibilities of form. Everything you can think of or imagine is with you. You have become so vast there is only one. Any you are it. And in your vastness comes wisdom, for everything that is knowable within the universe is already within you. There is a compassion inherent in this oneness, for everything is as it must be. And it is all understood, for it is all within you. You allow it all to be. Space. You are the ancient one. You are the eternal one. Here there is only one.

Now let us go one step further. Let the boundaries of this one become permeable. Start to break up until the form, even of this one, disappears. And that which is beyond all form, even of one, and you, merge. Beyond space. Beyond time. Beyond thought. Now out of this vast space, recreate the ancient one out of yourself containing the universe, with boundary. Feel the boundaries of your vast body, your arms and legs and torso and head, within it the entire universe of everything you can see or hear or smell or taste or feel or think or imagine.

Very gently, start to reduce in size. Come down until your head is among the planets and you sit in space and the earth is within your belly. Peaceful. Compassionate. Loving. Wise. Perfect equanimity. Reduce in size until the building you're in is contained with your body. And once again, until your head is at the top of the room. Stop for a moment, in your still huge size. Look within yourself and see the tiny being that sits or lies within this room that is who you thought you were. See this person's life, the fears, the hopes, the memories, the plans, see its story. Look up this tiny being with compassion, with love, with an appreciated of its predicament. In your mind's eye, imagine touching this being on the head and giving it your blessing. The blessing that this being may come to know who it really is.

Now, once again, reduce in size from your head being at the top of the room back into the body that you're identified with when we started the meditation. Still your skin contains this perfect being, radiant, luminous, so peaceful, so compassionate, so loving. And now let this being reduce in size until it is once again the size of a thumb, sitting upon a lotus flower in the middle of your chest, light pouring from its every cell, perfect. This being dwells within your heart always. You need only acknowledge it in order to meet it again.

And as you quiet your mind and open your heart, you will come to realize that in truth, this being is none other than your true self. Beyond external teachers and methods and exercises, what you need sits on the lotus flower in the middle of your heart, knowing everything, being everything. The entire universe, the ancient one, is within you. And when you have ceased to be who you think you are, you allow yourself to become what you in truth are. None other than this being of total light, total compassion, absolute love, the deepest wisdom.

Now, when you feel like it, you can open your eyes and return to your life, to your storyline, to your dance, refreshed, awakened, a new awareness, a new sense of the depth of your own being. May you be in peace in all ways.

Ram Dass shares a meditation of the heart. He guides you through the process of bathing yourself in liquid love, dislodging all of the sadness and loneliness from your heart, and ultimately becoming an instrument for the transmission of light, love, and peace.

"Your every breath has become a remembrance of your part in the divine song of life." - Ram Dass

Read "Alchemy of the Heart" full transcript

My name is Ram Dass, and I would like to share with you a meditation of the heart. Before we begin to work with the heart, let's relax. Find a comfortable position, either lying flat or sitting. It would be good if your head, neck, and chest were in a straight line. Move your body until it's comfortable.

Now starting with the feet, bring your awareness to each part of your body and relax that part. First your feet, your toes, your ankles. The calves of your legs, your thighs, your buttocks. Pelvis, relax. Relax your stomach, the small of your back, the upper part of your back. Chest. Hands. Arms. The lower part, relax. The upper part. Shoulders. Relax your neck, move it around a little bit. Now the face. Bring your awareness to your face. Relax your mouth, your nose, cheeks, eyes, forehead, the rest of your head. Survey your body. If there is any part of your body that is not relaxed, bring your awareness to it and proceed to relax it.

Now let's begin. Bring your awareness to the middle of your chest. Imagine that there is a hole in the middle of your chest through which you were breathing, as if there were nostrils or a nostril there. So you're breathing in and out through the center of your chest. Close your eyes.

Now imagine that standing before you is a being. Perhaps it's some being whom you have always identified with perfection. Perfection of wisdom, of compassion, and of love. Imagine that between this being's heart and your heart there is a connection, a pipeline, and it enters right at the hole in the middle of your chest. And with each in-breath, you draw from that being, from that reservoir of love, into yourself. And as the love pours into your chest, it is like a liquid. It fills you. It pours through your entire body, up through the top of your head.

Inside of you are the residues of so many experiences. Some of these resides are beautiful, loving, harmonious. They are harmonious with the love that is pouring into you. But others of these residual bits leftover from the experiences of your life are harsh, are negative. They're things like frustration, anger, inadequacy, loneliness, unworthiness, self pity. Let this liquid love that is pouring into you with the in-breath wash through you and dislodge these little tensions that hold on, all of the sadness and the loneliness. We all have it. Let it be dislodged. And as you breath out, let those things pour out of you and offer them. Give them up. Let them go. And this being who stands before you is capable of taking them and not being hurt by them. Taking them and converting, transforming them into more love and more light.

Let your breath be slow and deep. In the in-breath, filled with this liquid love. Let it pour through you, cleaning, scraping, dislodging, loosening. On the out-breath, let all of the impurities, all of the past failures, the fears, the anger, the frustration, all of it, let it pour out, just give it up. Let it go. And then in the space, once again, breathe in deeply and fill with pure, clear, light love.

Go deeper. Look for all the things that you've been holding on to that keep you from becoming a being of love, a being of light, a being of compassion. Let them go, wash them out.

Now that you have let go of those things which keep you from knowing your own true beauty and light and love, let us move to the second part of this meditation in which you begin to acknowledge that you are an instrument for the transmission of love, of light, and of peace to others who suffer. In the same way, draw in, fill from the source, from this being who is before you. Fill with this moist liquid love. Let it pour through you. Now, with the out-breath, send a similar love out of your chest and direct it with your thought to beings who suffer, whether their suffering is physical suffering, psychological suffering, or spiritual suffering.

With your mind, take that liquid flow that is pouring out of your chest on the out-breath, and attach to it thoughts of peace and love, and surround those beings with those thought forms. If there are particular beings who you know, who are in pain of one sort or another, bring them into your mind and surround them with a golden light, the out-breath of love. Bathe them in the love that pours out of your hard. If there are beings towards whom you feel ill will, bring them to mind and see the separateness of their actions from their soul. Focus on their soul and touch it with your love. Realize if that other person has done things that have been harmful, how difficult it is for that soul to live within a personality and a body that creates suffering for others, and bless that soul that it may find its way to light.

So now, with every breath, you fill with love from the source and you pour it out to all beings who suffer. Gentle. Relaxed. Moist. Flowing. Your every breath has become a remembrance of your part in the divine song of life.

When you feel that you are clear and that the flow is unimpeded as it pours into, out of you, you can begin to experiment with yet another stage of this process. As you meet people who are suffering, but who are eager to give up their suffering, you will be able to draw that suffering into yourself with an in-breath. And as it comes into you it will be transformed into love, light, pure liquid energy. And you'll send it out to that person or to the world as pure love. You will not take from people suffering that they are not ready to give up, just that which they are eager to offer in truth.

There is yet one more way in which we can work with this exercise of meditating upon the breath and the heart. Once you are strong in this process, the flow that goes in and out of your heart can begin to absorb everything in the universe into yourself. Before you is all of it. The beauty and the suffering, all the forms of the universe, all the patternings of energy. With the in-breath, it's as if they were all rushing back into you. And as they enter into your chest, they turn back into the pure liquid energy out of which they were created. And in the out-breath, you breath out that living, liquid love back into all forms in the universe, so your very existence becomes a vehicle for metamorphosis, for changing that which is dark into that which is light, for changing that which is lost in suffering into that which is filled with the spirit.

With the in-breath, drink the world. With the out-breath, you bring the living spirit to earth. Then you have taken your true place in the universe as an agent of transformation, a representative of transformation, a representative of god. You have become the breath of god, transforming matter into spirit. Then, everywhere you look, no matter how filled with sadness, suffering, the pain of life, you will see the beauty of the living spirit, for it will pour forth from you and you will create the universe anew each time. This meditation is the true alchemy of the heart.

When you're ready, open your eyes and proceed with your daily life, activities. But at any time, whether working or playing or resting, sitting on a subway or bus, whenever, for one moment, focus on the middle of your chest and let the heart alchemy work once again through you.

Ram Dass leads a Southern Buddhist meditation called Anapana, which is designed to bring you into the here and now through the breath.

"All the sounds, everything that comes into your ears, just notice it as another thought and come back to your breath. There is nothing you need to think about now other than breathing in, breathing out, or rising and falling." - Ram Dass

Read "Theravada Meditation" full transcript

This meditation is drawn from Theravada, or southern Buddhism. It's called Anapana and it is just bringing you to right here and it is done through the breath. So it is common to everyone in this room at this moment. Of all of our individual differences, we are all breathing in, breathing out. This process is one that is like, if you can imagine a flower and the center of the flower and then the petals coming out of the flower. And the center is called your primary object in meditation and the petals are all the thoughts that keep coming out from that center.

In this case our primary object of meditation is our breath. We will focus on our breath going in and our breath coming out. You can do this two ways. One is by focusing on a muscle that is in the solar plexus that every time you breathe in it moves in one direction and every time you breathe out it moves in another direction. Rising, falling, rising, falling. Or you could focus at the tip of the inside of your nose. And as the air goes by you will feel a slight whisper of air on the in breath and as the air goes out you will feel a slight whisper of air on the out breath and you are like a gate keeper at the gate. The cars go in and the cars go out. You don't follow them to see where they go you just notice the breath going in, breathing in, the breath going out, breathing out. So whichever one is easiest for you, pick one now and stay with it for this period of 15 minutes, either the muscle in your solar plexus, that is rising and falling or the air going by the tip of your nose breathing in, breathing out.

Your job in the most gentle possible way is to merely keep your awareness focused on your primary object. Now it is going to wander. Your awareness is going to be grabbed by many thoughts. You'll sit down and you'll say, breathing in, breathing out. And then the thought will come, "this will never work." Now you can either take the thought that this will never work and immediately go off on another train of thought, even though I am giving you instructions you just ignore them, and then the meditation is over. That's okay. Or at some point you'll say "gee, all I was going to do for these 15 minutes was watch my breath and this is another thought, I'll just let it go and I'll go back to my breath." The art is not to get violent with your other thoughts. Don't get guilty because you are thinking them. Don't even try to push them away. Merely very gently again and again bring your awareness back to the primary object of meditation. Let each thought be another petal in the flower. Keep coming back to the center, back to the center, back to the center. So with eyes closed and body straight as is comfortable for you to sit, it's good to keep straight if you can -- your head and neck and chest -- bring your awareness either to the muscle in your abdomen or to the breath passing the tip of your nostrils and notice the breath either rising and falling or breathing in and breathing out.

If your breath gets fast or slow it doesn't matter, just notice it. Don't change it but just notice it. You are merely remaining aware. Any sounds, smells, sensations just let them come and let them go and bring your awareness back to either rising and falling or breathing in and breathing out.

If your mind wanders just notice it and bring it very gently back to breathing in breathing out or rising and falling.

Wherever your mind is now, just notice where it is and very gently bring it back to rising and falling, breathing in, breathing out. If it helps to say those words inside yourself with each breath it is perfectly okay.

All the sounds, everything that comes into your ears, just notice it as another thought and come back to your breath. There is nothing you need to think about now other than breathing in, breathing out or rising and falling.

Notice the shape and form as the breath goes by -- beginning, middle, and end of the in breath, the space, the beginning, middle, and end of the out breath, the space.

If you experience agitation or confusion or boredom or bliss or anything just see it as more thoughts. Notice it and bring your awareness back to rising and falling or breathing in and breathing out.

If you begin to doze take a few deep intentional breaths. Rising and falling or breathing in and breathing out.

All the feelings in your body, the sounds, the sensations, the tastes, the smells, the sights, just notice them coming and going bring your awareness back to the primary object of meditation.

Firm your seat, head straight, rising and falling or breathing in and breathing out.

There are three more minutes left. Use these three minutes consciously. Gently but firmly each time your mind wanders bring it back to rising and falling or breathing in and breathing out.

Be vigilant but gentle. Bring the awareness back to the basic primary object of meditation. Basic attention to the breath.

YouTube Meditations

Presence prayer and meditation.

Ram Dass leads you into loving awareness. Everything you experience, you love. When doing this practice you will find presence and inner peace.

Love Meditation

Ram Dass leads a meditation concentrating on unconditional love and Maharajji's eternal presence.

Kali Meditation

Ram Dass urges you to offer your insecurities and frustrations to Kali, who lives off of your impurities, to release them into her welcoming hands, so we can allow ourselves to embody beauty in the Divine Spirit.

Awareness Meditation

Ram Dass leads a spacious meditation focused on awareness. Like leaves floating on a river, allow your thoughts and sensations to arise, exist, and move on.

Ram Dass Mantras

Ram Dass leads a meditation using the Heart of Aditya (the sun god) mantra: Aditya Hridayam Punyam Sarva Shatru Vinashanam

"Loosely translated, it means, ‘As for the being who keeps the sun in the heart, all evil vanishes for life.’ That is, when you remember the Atman, the Buddha, the place in your heart, the being, the inner guru, the light that comes from your own heart, then you no longer live with that which takes people from God, because all you see is God and that which brings you to it. When you do this mantra sometimes, you sit in front of the sun, and you let the sun come into your heart until the warmth in your heart becomes like a thousand suns and the light pours out from you." - Ram Dass

Ram Dass leads a meditation using the Gate, Gate mantra: Gate, Gate, Paragate, Parasamgate, Bodhi Svaha

"It’s the mantra designed to move one’s consciousness beyond form into just awareness… It has a lot of subtle translations, there are entire books written about the translation of this, but for our purposes we can think of it as: ‘gone, gone, gone beyond, gone beyond even the concept of beyond, just going out, to that which realizes, to that which knows, has gone beyond.’ Svaha, I offer, I give obeisance, I make an offering. So, to your pure awareness self you offer, you offer yourself into yourself. You can do this with one breath, or two breaths. Just keep having that feeling of going out into the formless, and honoring. Out into the formless and honoring, out into the formless and honoring." - Ram Dass

Ram Dass leads a six-part round chant using the mantra: Jubilate Deo Hallelujah

Ram Dass leads a meditation using the mantra: Om Namah Shivaya

"One of Shiva’s consorts is Kali. She is that aspect of the mother that dances over death, and she consumes impurities into herself. Tonight, we are going to consecrate a fire to Kali and offer her our impurities. And we’re going to chant to Shiva. The whole process is one of incredible purification. It deepens, quiets, straightens all of our beings. It takes the emotional qualities of the devotion that we have touched here and turns it into the strength of steel. So that our love, which is Shiva’s love, is quiet, clear, and strong. So that we go into the marketplace with the strength of Shiva, and the tenderness of Krishna. That is what the balance is about." - Ram Dass

Ram Dass leads a chant of the Praise God mantra: Praise God for the light within us. Praise God, let love abide

"Let’s shift gears now and just work with the heart. The soft, very soft quality of the heart. And for those of you that have a hard time with the term ‘God,’ just think of it as your pussycat or your inner heart or whatever. It’s just a word describing that which is beyond words… God is the divine mother, God is all of the forms of the formless." - Ram Dass

Ram Dass leads a meditation using the Sri Ram mantra: Praise God, let love abide

"This is the mantra of Maharajji, of Hanuman. ‘Sri’ could be translated as honorable or radiant. ‘Ram’ is not Rama, the man, the being; Ram is the absolute, it’s God, it’s a name of God. The game of mantra is most usually the names of God, it’s reciting the names of God. And it’s a way of tuning yourself to the absolute through love, and through honor. This is a devotional practice, this particular mantra. So it’s radiant Ram, radiant absolute, which is beyond radiance but it’s leading you there, radiant absolute. Jai means hail or I acknowledge. Hail, hail, hail. Hail Ram, hail, hail Ram. That’s all it means. The concepts behind it aren’t what it’s about, it’s a feeling quality of an emotional opening and offering and bringing God into your heart, bringing the absolute into your heart." - Ram Dass

Ram Dass leads a meditation using the Power of God mantra: The power of God is within me, the grace of God surrounds me

"This is a mantra that you can use whenever you’re frightened about forces affecting you, it’s a mantra that creates like a body of steel going down through your middle, and it creates a shield around you. It’s like a shield, an impenetrable egg around you, if you will. And the mantra is: The power of God is within me, the grace of God surrounds me. You’ve got to feel it as you say it. Just let yourself feel it, as if the power of God pours down into you, as a strong force, like a steel core, and then you’re surrounded by a shield." - Ram Dass

Ram Dass on Meditation

Ram Dass provides some helpful techniques for helping to not get caught up in the never-ending drama of our lives. He talks about cultivating the Witness as a way to come back to the center, while using the stuff of life as a practice.

"I have the intention to become free and I’m using everything in my life to do it. At first you just have practices like meditation or prayer. And then you go to work, or you do your stuff, or whatever. And after a while all of it becomes your practice, every bit of it." - Ram Dass

Read "Approaching Pure Mind" full transcript

I spend a lot of time transmuting forms. I spend a lot of time getting caught in things and then extricating myself. It's a process, it's what my life is about really. Aurabindo, a great Indian saint, said, "The spiritual path is like somebody standing up, taking one step, falling on their face. You get up, you brush yourself off, you look sheepishly at God, you take another step, you fall flat on your face." It's like prostrations all the way to the end.

There are different ways I've worked with getting caught. I mean, in some ways I've made it into a career. Because by being honest about the way I get caught, everybody says, "Yeah right, that's human." It makes everybody reassured. But I also watch the way in which my mind grabs, or when I wake up to the fact that it has grabbed, a process goes into effect. And I've been thinking about that a little bit, I've been thinking about that a little bit and it has to do with intention. That once you have tasted, once you have acknowledged that you have tasted the possibility of freedom, of the heart, of the mind, of awareness, of your soul, of your spirit, it becomes, I mean the negative way of saying it is an obsession. The positive way of saying it is it starts to draw you to itself.

And the more you move towards it, more towards unity, towards being in peace, in joy, in presence, the more you are haunted by your imperfections. Not imperfections in the bad sense, they're just stuff that keeps you from getting on with it. There's another side of this which is interesting, which is that you work and you work and you work to become free of somebody experiencing things, to merge into it all, and then as you get near to it you start to push against it. It's like extending foreplay. It's just pushing against it and against it. Because you don't quite want to merge because the experiences become so blissful.

In the story of the Ramayana, Hanuman is a form of God that comes to Earth in order to serve. And Hanuman serves Ram, which is the name of the formless in that story. Hanuman, because of his devotion to Ram, he can do anything -- he has infinite power. And he does remarkable things. Finally, Ram, who is formless, but is in form as this king, prince -- Hanuman is kneeling before Ram and Ram reaches over to lift him, to merge him into himself. And Hanuman, who is devoted only to doing the work of Ram, at that moment takes everything to push against Ram in order to stay in form, in order to be devoted, in order to keep serving.

So there are these two kinds of emotional forces I experience. One is an impatience to be free in order to free everybody else, or to be free together or however you want to say it. That's the bodhisattva part of it. And the other part of it is the pushing away of freedom because of the exquisiteness of the taste of approaching freedom. Most people say, "Gee I wish I could be in that position." I'm busy wanting freedom.

But we can work a lot on that journey to freedom just by that intention to become free. And as I've been trying to understand that path, that path is the path in which all of your actions bring you closer to liberation. Not just what you do Sunday morning or when you're sitting on your zafu, or when you're praying to God. But everything. Going to the toilet, and striving and serving and shopping and eating and being neurotic - all of it. But yet, all people doing all things aren't doing karma yoga. But what's the difference? And then I realized it had to do with intention.

Once you see that your life is a set of experiences which you can either experience or witness yourself experiencing it, or ultimately being the experiencer. Now, most people are experiencing their lives. They look at a sunset, they look at a mountain, they do their taxes, whatever. It's a series of experiences, one after another, and there's somebody going, it's like a train going through a tunnel. It's going through a series of experiences.

But it's interesting that when you start to notice your predicament, you will see that in addition to the experiencer and that which is experienced there is a part of your mind that is just noticing the whole thing. Call it a meta game if you will. Call it the part that says, "Ahhhhh! Experiencing!" It's called 'the Witness' by Gurdjieff. It's the part of the mind that is not lost in the drama.

Now just to allay some of the anxiety when I say, "Caught in the drama..." There are stages in the spiritual path. There is a stage where you realize how stuck you are. Gurdjieff says, "If you would be free, the first thing you must realize is you're in prison. If you think you're free no escape is possible." You've got to realize you're trapped. So there's the first experience of how trapped you are. At that point you just want to get out. There's a tendency to push away the stuff that traps you. It's called the Path of Renunciation at times. By pushing it away you get very established in that part of you which is not trapped. But then you see that the final place you are stuck is in your aversion to that which would trap you.

Because what the Buddha said was, "The cause of suffering is attraction and aversion." So your aversion to physical reality, to the human plane, to being on earth, becomes a final trap for you. To become free of it, you've got to turn around and face your aversion. That is you have to embrace your humanity. That is you have to accept life. That is you have to embrace suffering. In that process you rise above the experiencer, and at the same moment you are in the experience.

So you start by being the experiencer, you push it away until you're standing back witnessing it all but separate. And then finally you see that aversion is keeping you stuck and you come back into life and you embrace it into yourself so that you're in it but yet not of it. It's such an interesting sequence. So that when I talk about drama, or the melodrama, it's to help us get free of it the first time. Not that we won't come back into it. Because you can't live life, I mean people say to me, "When you get enlightened, what happens to passion?" And that seems strange to me because it turns out that it's all passion. I mean, where isn't passion?

So I have a few little helpful techniques that I use, I've been reflecting about a couple of them. One of them is the story that I've told many times that somebody told me, that I've read somewhere. The story of the girl who gets pregnant by the fisherman in the village and she doesn't want to admit that it's the fisherman, so she said it was the old monk up on the hill. So when the baby is born the villagers all take the baby and their torches and they go up to the monastery and they beat on the gate. And the monk comes. And they say, "This is your baby, you raise it." And he says, "Ah, so." And he closes the gates and he goes back to his life, with the baby.

Nine years later the woman is dying and she doesn't want to die without confessing that it was the fisherman and not the monk. So she does. And the townspeople all take their torches and they go up to the monastery and they knock at the door. And the monk opens the gate and he's got a nine-year-old child. They say, "There's been a terrible mistake. It's not your child. You don't have to raise it anymore." And he said, "Ah, so." Now that's the witness. "Ah, so." The company you invested in just went into Chapter 11. Ah, so. Your car ran out of oil and you didn't stop in time and you need a whole engine job. Ah, so. Now, see I can keep creating them, but just think how good you are at it.

It's so interesting. I mean I get so caught in my drama. And then in creeps, I've got these few lines I work with like, "Ah, so." Isn't that a delicious one? It really, it really, it's like a nice person to hang out by on a rainy day, you know? Ah, so. It really hurts my back. Ah, so. And then my father had a great one. I really, it's interesting, I've been thinking about where it came from and it came from different places. He had one. As he got older and got more frail, you know, sitting down would be quite an operation. Because he'd let go of the walker and he'd sort of fall into the chair, and he'd sit there. And then he'd say, "There we are."

And you've got to feel the full flavor of it. "There we are, there we are." Get out of the car and close the door. "There we are." Get him into bed. "There we are." Put the food in front of him, and he's talking to himself, "There we are. There we are." At first, that sounded like a need for control, you know. "Well, there we are." You know? "I know where WE are." Because his mind was floating all over the place you know? "Well, I know where I am, I'm in front of a bowl of cereal. There we are." But sometimes he and I would be holding hands, and he was like 89 at that point, we'd just be floating in space together. It was just so sweet. And then out of him would come, "There we are." I thought, "That's from a different place than I thought it was! He's been waiting for me."

That's the experience I have. That people are waiting for me all the time. They're all so far out. I really love it when beings cut through my mind. What I do is I take those parts of my life where I get stuck, I don't take them, they take me. It's gotten to the point now where I so enjoy the lightness of being, the lightness of just delighting in the moment fully. No matter what it's got in it, no matter what it's got in it. That every time I start to get stuck, it's just like I go from air into water, it's like going into a thicker medium. It's like pushing aside something thick. And I think, uh, ah, that awakens me. I think I'm busy thinking I'm somebody doing something. And then I immediately, "Ram Ram Ram," or "Ah, so," or "There we are."

Just something that keeps bringing me back to the center again. The Witness. And it has to do with intention. I have the intention to become free and I'm using everything in my life to do it. At first you just have practices like meditation or prayer. And then you go to work, or you do your stuff, or whatever. And after a while all of it becomes your practice, every bit of it. You tell me something that can't be practiced. Tell me something that you can't convert into becoming one with spirit.

So you keep working on yourself to cultivate the Witness, which becomes, in your way, a gift to everybody around you. Because they come in thinking they're somebody, just like you do most of the time. And you're creating an environment where they can if they want to, but they don't have to.

So intention to awaken, finding the part of your mind that is not caught. Even though immediately after you've noticed it gets caught and then you come back again. The predicament is the clinging of mind. The predicament is that awareness clings to thought. I'll just read you the first paragraph of "Extracting the Quintessence of Accomplishment." And it comes from Dudjom Rinpoche who was an extraordinarily beautiful Tibetan Lama who passed on a few years ago I guess.

"The nature of our mind. The nature of our mind is the nature of absolute reality." Try to think of it now as the sky as opposed to the clouds. "Divested of all conditional and artificial characteristics fabricated by the intellect. This nature, this mind, is established with certainty in awareness. Awareness arises, naked, as the self-originated primordial wisdom. It just is. This awareness cannot be expressed in words, nor shown by examples. It is neither corrupted in samsara nor improved in nirvana. It is neither born nor ceases to be. It is neither liberated nor confused. It is neither existent nor nonexistent. It is neither delimited nor falling to either side. In brief, from the beginning, awareness has never existed as a substantial entity with elaborated characteristics. Its nature is primarily pure, void, vast, and all pervasive."

Now take the stages. You're caught in experience. Then you cultivate the Witness, which is that little part of your mind that sees the rest of it. After a while the witness gets stronger and stronger and stronger until most of the time you are "Ah, so." And even though the dramas of desires, fears, aging, life, crisis, are all coming and going, coming and going, they're all undulating within you, there's a part of you that is strong, that is clear, that is saying, "Ah, so." And then, in this particular technique, you become aware of that in you which is saying, "Ah, so."

And you go through, into pure mind. Which is neither the witness, nor not the witness. It is neither the experience, nor not the experience. It's not looking, but it knows everything because it is everything. I am describing to you a very disciplined technique of using the mind to beat the mind. Stand back from experience into the witness, not denying the experience, this isn't dissociation, this isn't a defense mechanism. Stand back so that you're feeling the pain of it all and at the same moment, seeing it. And when you're resting in the awareness, the seeing of it broadly, then you start to note the seer. The witness.

And there's a flick that occurs. And no longer are you experiencing the universe, the universe just is. It includes you but it's nothing special. It's really the process of dying as a separate entity into pure mind. And the moment you do that, a moment later you're fully there as a separate entity but you're also not there as a separate entity. It's all there all at once. You're a star and you're also the heavens.

Ram Dass reflects on the very precise stages of awareness that occur in the practice of following the breath. As your focus and precision increase, the deeper and deeper you’ll go.

"Pretty soon the awareness is riding the breath so closely that finally you’ll go to points where there’s just the breath breathing itself." - Ram Dass

Read "Awareness in Meditation" full transcript

There are a set of very precisely enunciated stages that one goes through in the specific practice of following the breath, either at the abdomen or at the end of the nose. At the beginning, one is witnessing the breath as if one were up here witnessing the breath down here. As the awareness focuses more and more precisely into the breath, that awareness that is looking at the breath starts to shift. It's no longer necessarily here.

You arrive at a stage where, first of all, you notice what's happening to you is that when you start to focus on the breath, the mind, the awareness, keeps wandering to this or that. After you persist for some period of time, you arrive at what's called neighborhood concentration. Where the awareness settles in on the breath and it can't get away. Every time it starts to think about anything else, it gets pulled back to the breath, and then it stays right on the breath. Then it starts to penetrate more and more deeply into the actual phenomena of the breath itself.

From a distance, a row of ants looks like a rope. When you get up close, you see it's a row of ants. It's the same with following the breath. You begin to see that it's made up of a thousand discrete phenomena. It's as if your awareness starts to pull back from the usual time-space parameters by which you're defining reality, and you get into a much more precise way of appreciating the phenomena around you.

certain point, which is where you begin to see what's called the nama and the rupa separating. That is, you see the breath and then you see the mind come out and organize it. It's like I hold up this hand and you see the hand. But if you could separate the nama and the rupa, you would see that momentary thing that occurs when I go like this. You see a phenomenon; your mind does something, then goes out, grabs that, and turns it into a hand. Do you understand that? And that starts to separate. You begin to see the way in which the mind is constantly imposing structural forms on the universe of perceptual stimuli.

As you're focusing and the precision increases, the phenomena, like a simple in-breath, goes from being a little tiny thing to getting bigger and bigger and bigger and bigger. What's happening is your awareness is getting more and more precise. It's going in and in and in and in. To tell you how far and how precise it gets, this is just a mind-boggling image. The rate at which you think is estimated at ten to the twenty-third, which is one trillion thoughts per blink of an eye. It's so fast. And that's the way you keep all this reality together. The way in which you keep sitting up, you're orienting, you're aware of the fact that you're a somebody. You're hearing my voice, you're interpreting it, your hands are somewhere. All that's going on at once. Millions of things, trillions, happening continually. And you're organizing them all and keeping it together. I mean, the brain is quite an extraordinary computer. Were you to make a facsimile of the brain, it would cover the face of the earth, even with microchips. That's how extraordinary it is.

Buddha, in his meditation, got so precise that as he got in deeper and deeper, he began to see the separate thought mind moments, the separate moments, the trillion per blink of an eye, arising, existing, falling away. Arising, existing, falling away. Arising, existing, falling away. As he went in more and more precisely than that, now you realize what that means. You've got that one. He began to see that between the falling away of one and the rising of the next one, there was a space. So it was rising, existing, falling away, space. Rising, existing, falling away, space. As he went in and in, the spaces got bigger and bigger.

For example, your body is made up of some 98% or so of space. There's very little stuff in it; it's all space. It just gives you the illusion of solidity because of the way the whole thing is put together. So Buddha went in and these spaces started to grow and grow and grow, until his awareness, instead of being grabbed by his thoughts, went into the space between two thoughts. At that moment, the thread of consciousness ceased to exist, and Buddha entered into nirvana, the state of cessation of the mind; it's called chitta vritti nirodha in the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali--the cessation of the turning of the wheel of the mind, silencing of the modifications of the mind. You go behind the thought and then at that point you aren't. It's called the void, yet it's not empty. It is the un-manifest universe; it hasn't yet manifested. It's the imminent universe. You come back from that, and a moment later you come back into thought, and you feel a sense of completeness and fullness. At that moment you weren't, but it was alright, wasn't it? That's the part of enlightenment that is so mind-boggling. That's why who you think you are never gets enlightened. You understand? As Trungpa Rinpoche said, "Enlightenment is the ego's ultimate disappointment."

So you start out by meditating on the breath. At some point you realize that the holding of the awareness here is just one experiential thing that shifts. Pretty soon the awareness is riding the breath so closely that finally you'll go to points where there's just the breath breathing itself. In other words, the Witness is only a stage. This is a really hard one to talk about. The Witness is one part of the mind observing another part of the mind. There is a certain stage where you are quiet enough, where the Witness turns in on itself and you witness the Witness witnessing the phenomena. You see the Witness is but another phenomenon.

And when you complete that twist, you end up in the void place, where there is nobody looking and yet everything is. But there's no see-er anymore. So there's no experience. In other words, you have transcended dualism, but yet it's all there, including you. And then you're like a tree or a river; you're not self-conscious. You're not saying, "Hey, I'm a tree. I'm an oak." You're just oak-ness. You're just human-ness. And then you're just a phenomena happening. Do you hear that distinction?

When do you know if you're making a mistake? The thought that I'm making a mistake is just another thought; go back to your breath. See that constant thought when you're meditating, you're saying, "Am I doing it right? I'm not doing it right, the breath isn't natural. I don't know, everybody else seems like they're meditating and I'm here screwing around. I wonder when breakfast is going to be? My knee hurts." There are a thousand phenomena coming to the mind. What you need is that training of consciousness and the teacher that constantly says, "Bring your awareness back to the rising and the falling of the breath; just note the rising and the falling." The ego is so clever. It's constantly judging. "Am I doing this right" is just another ego foil. So just do the practice. It's like in Zen they say, "Just sit. Cut the stuff, just sit."

What happens is that you begin to see the thoughts arising, existing, falling away, arising, existing, falling away. Now, at one point, your awareness focuses on just the arising. You're not yet seeing the existing and passing away. You're still seeing the universe as solid, but it looks like it's all being created. It's like Christ saying, "Look, I am making all things new." It's as if everywhere you look, it just came into existence right then. I mean, where were you when I was looking over there? Did you exist? Are you over there or not? My god, you're here, and you just came into existence. But are you there? You could tell me they're there, but I don't know that. Ah, there they are.

In a way, if I could get fresh enough I would see you as being created at that moment. Then there's a stage where you look and you see everything as existing as if it's always existed and nothing's changing ever because you're at the point where you're seeing the existing, not the rising or the falling away. Then there's a stage where you're noticing the falling away. Everything looks like it's decaying and dying and falling away. That's where it gets really scary; a lot of people can't handle that one. There's a lot of despair in that one. People say, "I can't stand the horror of it, I see the decay." Like there are people here who see the decay of earth and the decay of the universe, that is a certain perceptual vantage point. Others see it's all changing. Others see it's all being new. Others see nothing exists at all. It's where they're looking at the points of the sequence.

But that is the sequence. Not to be stuck in any of them. To just keep seeing the flow. They're all there, nothing is there. You don't want to stand anywhere. Yeah, awareness is not aware of itself. Exactly. Not self-conscious, just awareness. In that sense, the entire universe is awareness. It's not self-consciously aware, it's just awareness

Ram Dass explores dealing with the mechanics of thoughts rather than the actual content of the thoughts themselves. He talks about how it can be helpful to combine a meditation practice with working with a therapist.

"I’d rather have you sit down and follow your breath.The breath has no content to it at all. It’s just the breath." - Ram Dass

Read "Mechanics of the Mind" full transcript

What I hear in what you're saying is that the darkness, which I assume is the nature of the constellation of mind, that's what's creating the darkness, is familiar, and even though it's not pleasant, it's safe in the sense that it doesn't threaten who you are. It's a low-risk situation. When you come out, there's risk; there's risk to a deep place of your own sense of safety, and you feel very vulnerable, if you come out. Sometimes, it's better to stay with the shadow. I think you arrive at a deep enough understanding of the nature of your predicament to realize that protecting yourself from that vulnerability is no longer worth it. There's a shift in balance that occurs. I watch people that say, "I'm not gonna come out. I'm not gonna come out. I'm gonna stay in."

"Fine, stay in." I even say, "Go in deeper. Go in. Really nurture it. Go into your room, close your door, get under your blankets." I'm not talking literally, but I'm talking within their shadow work. And then at some point, it just isn't worth it anymore. I mean, I watch people over the years, I'm talking ten years,and I say, "Instead of trying to get out of the shadow, the dark, which I think reinforces the shadow actually, reinforces the reality of it, is better to just do your practices."

See, if somebody says, "I'm having these terrible thoughts, and I don't know why. Would you help me understand why?"

I'd say, "I'd rather have you sit down and follow your breath.The breath has no content to it at all. It's just the breath." Better they strengthen the centering, the quieting, the presence, and then rather than keep strengthening the problem, which keeps being reinforced when you work on it, and that's a very delicate question, because I don't want to undercut times when it's really appropriate to work on problems as content, but for the most part, the focusing on the content of thoughts is, to me, a last strategy. It is a much better strategy to focus on the mechanics of thought, rather than the content of thought. Do you hear that distinction? Because that's a very, very critical distinction. Like if I'm caught in a lot of thoughts about a relationship, about this, and about that; now I can go to a therapist, and the therapist will say, "Let's talk about your childhood and where did it come from?" That's content, we're dealing with the content of the thoughts.

Or I can just see these as more thoughts, "They're just thoughts!" Put them in the category of thoughts, not what they're about -- they're just thoughts. And what is my major game in meditation is to extricate awareness from identification with thought or with clinging to thought. So in order to do that, you go into a meditation practice, which in some cases might be taking one thought, like following the breath, and using it to free me from the clingings of other thoughts. So I'll start to follow the breath, and up will come, "What am I gonna do about that relationship?" See, thought appears, and I hear the teacher say, "Return to your breath". I go back to breathing in, breathing out. Then another one comes and says, "God, my life is a mess!" Now at that point, you can leave, call a therapist, go and say, "Let's deal with why my life is a mess" or you say, "Okay, go back to the breath. Sure your life's a mess. Go back to the breath." Rising, falling. Rising, falling. Rising, falling.

In other words, you can use the meditative practice to extricate yourself from identification with thoughts, whatever they are, shadowy or not. There are some thoughts that you won't get rid of that way, because they're sort of in a nest or a web of stuff, and then you will approach them in terms of content. But my strategy is to go for the mechanics first, and then go to the content later on, when some content seems ripe to pick off.

Like, I was meditating for 15 years, I think, and then years back, I had been in psychoanalysis and all, and after 15 years of meditation, certain psychological things were clearly not getting…they just hung in there. But my awareness had developed great strength, and at that point, I went into therapy with a Junginian therapist, and for about three months, it was just great stuff. I was just ready to pick off a lot of stuff, and that was about as much as I needed of that round. The more practices you've done, the quicker the working through will be.

See, and the predicament of working through with a therapist is that if the therapist is not awakened to these other realms of reality, the therapist thinks that the content is real. While a spiritual perspective sees the content as relatively real. Do you see the difference? Relatively real has the leverage to free you from it. Real means all you can do is substitute something else for it that's within that domain of that reality. Do you hear that issue? So, it's really important that you look for therapists or that you work with therapists or that you become a therapist who's rooted in these deeper parts of your being.

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How Meditation Can Improve Your Travels

Meditation has been proven to reduce stress and anxiety, making it a useful tool for those who find traveling taxing. Here are a few ways it can make your trips more enjoyable.

By Justin Sablich

When it comes to mindfulness and meditation, you may think it takes years of training — or a spiritual journey — to derive any benefits. But the essence of the practice is actually quite simple, and its techniques can bring a little relief to many stressful situations, including travel.

“We’re talking about a sort of a slightly more sophisticated version of the advice that your mom gave you, when you were a kid, of ‘take a deep breath,’ ” said Dan Harris, the co-anchor of ABC’s “Nightline” and the weekend edition of “Good Morning America” who has authored two books about mindfulness and meditation .

“You don’t have to believe in anything. It’s a really simple, secular exercise for your brain,” continued Mr. Harris, whose “10% Happier” smartphone app and podcast feature guided meditations.

According to the most recent National Health Interview Survey , more American adults are meditating than ever, with more than 14 percent saying they have practiced in the past year, up from 4.1 percent in 2012.

Given that one known effect of practicing mindfulness is the reduction of stress and anxiety, travelers could stand to benefit.

“There is strong research that show s that meditation can improve mental health,” said Dr. Megan Jones Bell , the chief science officer for the meditation app Headspace . “Meditation can help us learn to be more present, see ourselves and others from a new perspective, and approach life in a more engaged and peaceful way. This can all be really helpful during any part of our lives and especially during travel.”

Here are a few ways that practicing mindfulness can make your travels less stressful and more enjoyable.

What to do when stress and anxiety strike

Whether it’s the fear of flying or worrying about missing your next connection, many people feel anxiety when traveling.

“We can’t control if the plane is delayed, or if our luggage gets lost, or the traffic on the road, and meditation and mindfulness allows us to learn to accept the unknowns, and even embrace them,” said Dr. Bell.

First, focusing on your breathing can go a long way. If flying is a particularly stressful experience for you, Mr. Harris suggests putting aside a few minutes fo r this before takeoff , whether you’re waiting to board or buckled in your seat.

“Just tuning into your breathing or even taking a few deep breaths has physiological benefits, sending messages to your parasympathetic nervous system like, ‘O.K., relax, everything’s O.K.,” he said.

The idea is to consider your nervous thinking from a different perspective. “You realize that, ‘oh yeah, this is just the mental state of worry, and I can unhook from it, even if it’s just for a second, so that it doesn’t own me completely,’ ” Mr. Harris said.

Consider meditating regularly, even for a few minutes

To gain a better understanding of how mindful breathing and other meditative techniques can help, it’s best to practice them before your trip. If you can manage to develop something resembling a daily or regular habit, the effects tend to be greater.

“Any type of mindfulness exercise, whether one minute or 10 minutes, can help your mind and body,” said Dr. Bell, who recommends starting with a short exercise and then building from there.

For those who already meditate regularly, try not to judge yourself too harshly if you’re not able to maintain your usual schedule while traveling.

“You’re on vacation, do what you can,” Mr. Harris said. “Sneak it in here and there, but not in a way that’s going to make you or your partner or children miserable or uptight, because that’s just counterproductive.”

Reduce distractions and enjoy the moment

Mindfulness and meditation can also help you appreciate the destinations you’re exploring.

“Traveling is this discovery and exploration process, and meditation helps you tune out or resist the siren call of projection into the future or rumination about the past, all of which pulls you away from what is happening right now, which you paid all this money to experience,” Mr. Harris said.

The distractions that come from your smartphone, like social media feeds and the temptation to photograph every moment, can also take away from genuinely enjoying the moment, Mr. Harris explained.

“I’m not saying that it’s wrong to take a selfie or to tell your friends about it. What I’m saying is you probably want to up the enjoyment in the moment quotient and reduce the social status quotient,” he said.

If you’re struggling to be in the moment, Mr. Harris has a simple suggestion. Asking yourself “‘is this useful?’ can help unhook you from all of that,” he said.

“It’s not so much fighting this urge to do this stuff. It’s about seeing the urge and just letting it go and then that allows you to kind of seamlessly merge back into the moment you’re trying to enjoy.”

We have a new 52 Places traveler! Follow Sebastian Modak on Instagram as he travels the world, and discover more Travel coverage by following us on Twitter and Facebook . And if you sign up for our Travel Dispatch newsletter, each week you’ll receive tips on traveling smarter, stories on hot destinations and access to photos from all over the world.

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Meditation is a simple practice available to all that can reduce stress, increase calmness and clarity, and promote happiness. Here is how to get started .

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This weeklong plan of five-minute meditations  won’t solve all your problems, but it can help you through life’s challenges.

Closing your eyes and focusing on breathing can be hard for those who are easily distracted. But it is possible .

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A Super Simple Travel Meditation: How to Transform Your Travel Experience

Dear reader: This article contains links to products and services that I may be compensated for, at no extra cost to you.

Meditation is an often-misunderstood word.

For many it conjures up images of cave-dwelling ascetics or posh retreats in Bali. But meditation for travelers can come in many forms, and doesn’t necessarily require isolation, silence, or sitting in a lotus pose for set period of time. It can even be as simple as staying present while traveling .

The travel meditation I’m going to introduce totally transformed the way I travel, allowing me to experience destinations and environments on a substantially deeper level, and with such profoundness that even 5, 10, 15 years later, I can still vividly recall exactly how I felt when I was in those place, forever etching those life-transforming travel experiences on my psyche.

This meditation can be done anywhere and at anytime, but there are specific locations that are more conducive than others, and travelers will generally find more opportunities to make use of this meditation due to the nature of their daily experience of visiting spiritually significant or aesthetically inspiring places on their journeys.

This meditation is incredibly simple and it is nothing new; I didn’t invent it, and it draws on an underlying component of all forms of meditation. You don’t need to join a retreat or seek guidance from an instructor, nor do you need to find quiet time and a place where no one will bother you.

Related article: Tips for Doing Yoga while Traveling

Table of Contents

Meditation for Travelers

By meditating on the places we travel to, our journey becomes a kind of pilgrimage. You don’t even have to be a religious or spiritual person to agree that as travelers, we are all pilgrims of sorts, expending great resources, energy, and time to seek out beauty and inspiration in the world.

So why not make the best of your travel experience by giving it your full attention? Go ahead and take some pictures, but at some point put your camera away and take the time to fully experience your surroundings, and here is how you can do that:

My Simple Travel Meditation

This meditation for travelers can be summarized in a single word, and this word is the underlying essence of all forms of meditation: breathing.

We are all breathing all the time, but seldom do we pay real attention to this life-sustaining act. To focus on the breath is to meditate, to dwell in the present, to be awake, to be fully alive.

In the context of travel, focusing on one’s breath while visiting a sacred, inspiring, or aesthetically beautiful environment can amplify the depth of one’s experience a hundredfold.

Colors may appear brighter, sounds more resonant, and synchronicity with ones surroundings can more easily be achieved. You can actually physically feel the connection between yourself and your environment, a state that you are always in but your mind makes you believe otherwise by convincing you that you are somehow independent of the world around you.

Different people may have different ways to practice breathing meditation, but here’s what I usually do. When I find myself in a suitable location (see below), I first correct my posture, whether I am sitting or standing (though I usually do this meditation while walking around).

Next, I initiate meditative breathing , all the while staying fully aware of my surroundings, whether it be a bustling ancient souq, mountaintop with a view, or a dark, incense smoke-filled temple. It doesn’t matter where you are, so long as you are fully aware of and connected to that place.  

With every inhalation, I envision that I am inhaling all the energy present in that location. Depending on where it is, this energy can be one or both of two forms. The first is natural energy that is rooted in Mother Earth herself, and all life forms.

To focus on the breath is to dwell on the simple fact that we and the natural world are one on the same interconnected thing. The second is the energy of human presence, prayer, love, and devotion that has been left behind by other visitors.

By simply being present in a place we are simultaneously becoming a part of that place by breathing in molecules of it, and leaving behind a bit of ourselves by breathing out molecules of our bodies.

This is a scientific concept as much as a spiritual one. We do this whether we are conscious of it or not. Simply bringing awareness to the process as it is unfolding is to meditate on the interconnection of all things.

Personally I find it most effective to inhale deeply through the nose, hold the breath for several seconds in my lungs, and exhale though the mouth. As I exhale, I visualize that I am sending out peace and compassion too all forms of life sharing this place, or who will visit it in the future and share my energy and experience.

This is no different than monks who meditate on artwork such as mandalas, except that our mandala becomes the world. You could focus on the colors, the sounds, the smells, the people, the architecture, and so forth. Just like mandalas, each and every environment offers something unique.

I’ll give three personal examples from a single country that I visited, Egypt. When I went inside the Pyramid of Khafre, I meditated on the heaviness of the air, with its 4500 years of history. Atop Mount Sinai I meditated on the sunrise and the songs of a group of Christian pilgrims who were singing hymns nearby, allowing their devotion to resonate in my own body. And while scuba diving in the Red Sea, I meditated on the brilliance of the rainbow of underwater colors.

If you are traveling with a companion, it is better not to chat while meditating, and there are moments when of course you may be interrupted by people who want to communicate with you, or you may need to do something, like show a ticket, buy a drink, etc.

Do not view these as interruptions to your experience but as akin to the chattering that comes and goes in your own mind when doing classic meditation. Don’t try to avoid interruptions or get frustrated when they arise, and return to your meditation whenever circumstances become suitable again.

Unlike classic meditation, you don’t have to devote a set period of time in your day to it. Rather, you can come in and out of this state of meditation continually throughout the day whenever you see fit.

Where This Travel Meditation Works Best

As travelers we gravitate to places that are aesthetically pleasing, or culturally, historically, or religiously significant. These places also happen to be focal points of more concentrated energy, or expressed otherwise, areas where the energy that is present everywhere in the world is more readily experienced by humans.

For this reason, this meditation works best in places of immense natural beauty or of religious, cultural, or historical importance. For the former, I usually zone in on the sensual aspects, the sights, sounds, smells, and feelings of the environment while simultaneously remaining aware of my breath.

For the latter, I also try to visualize those events or ideas that made this sight sacred or significant to humans, and all those visitors who’ve journeyed there to stand in the same place. Many of the world’s holiest sights, greatest temples or monasteries, and other man-made wonders also happen to be found in locations of stunning natural beauty, and that is no coincidence, so oftentimes you can find both types of energy in one place.

Ideal places can also vary by person. If you find artwork inspiring, meditate before paintings. If you love the buzz of a noisy crowd, then try meditating on the sights and smells of a busy market. If you feel at home in the mountains, then meditate on the tress and vistas next time you are hiking rather than thinking about what you are going to do tomorrow or once you arrive at the next rest stop.

Breathing mediation is also great when eating. Close you eyes and take deep breaths while you focus your mind on the smells and flavors of the food; ponder the sources of those ingredients, the process by which they got to your table, who prepared them for you, and so on. Don’t be surprised to find that the food tastes substantially better once you simply pay proper attention to it.

Earlier in my travels I used to consciously remind myself to do breathing meditation whenever I found myself in an appropriate place, but over time I found I would automatically go into that state of breath awareness without even thinking about it every time I found myself somewhere inspiring.

Next you can take this travel meditation a step further by applying it to your daily life — to meditate on the not-so-obviously beautiful or amazing places, such as city streets, the view from your bedroom window, or even your bathroom. Because there is beauty everywhere, and we are always connected, we just need to pay attention to fully experience it.

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2 thoughts on “A Super Simple Travel Meditation: How to Transform Your Travel Experience”

Thank you for writing this, it really resonates with me. It took awhile to adjust the mindset that leads us out of the ‘party mode’ it only serves us for so long and then it about the bigger picture of where we are instill with the moment that is now.

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In this gently guided visualization filled with beautiful imagery, you will be taken on a journey to your inner house and sacred space. Here you can relax fully and connect with your inner knowing and receive messages from your guides and your inner self. The music, created specifically for this journey, contains binaural beats assisting you in your relaxation. You can keep a notebook at hand to write down the messages you receive. Return to this practice as often as you like.

Meet your Teacher

Emeli Ericsson, founder of A Conscious Space, is passionate about helping you connect with the beauty and wisdom of your innermost self using yoga nidra, visualization and the magic of the moon cycles. Emeli lives in Sweden where she works as a conscious designer, workshop facilitator and spiritual mentor. She’s deeply connected to nature and often receives inspiration for her work when meditating with trees. read more

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Why You Should Meditate on a Plane (and How to Do It)

By Cassie Shortsleeve

All products featured on Condé Nast Traveler are independently selected by our editors. However, when you buy something through our retail links, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Seat assignments that leave you too-close-for-comfort to your neighbor, germ-infested cabins, the sounds of crying babies: Air travel isn’t exactly what most would call a meditative experience . But while there’s a common misconception that meditation means sitting cross-legged on the floor in a state of not thinking, says Doron Libshtein, founder of the Mentors Channel, meditating on a plane doesn't need to be an oxymoron.

According to Tina Chadda, a psychiatrist and founder of Akasha Meditation, tuning into all of the factors that irritate you—a loud seatmate or a long delay—can be an exercise in mindfulness in itself. Even better, the overall trend emerging from in-flight initiatives is that airlines (finally) are becoming more sophisticated when it comes to catering to a passenger’s emotional needs, moving beyond functional elements such as in-flight entertainment to create an experience that differentiates them from the competition, says Raymond Kollau, founder of airline innovation agency AirlineTrends .

While some airlines, like Virgin America, have been offering in-flight meditation guides since 2011; others are breaking new ground in the space. Take Air New Zealand's ' Virtual Flight Lab ,’ for example. Created to show visitors of the airline's 75th anniversary exhibition how the in-flight experience could be radically reimagined via virtual reality, it opens a whole new realm of possibilities: Passengers would be provided with VR headsets that could create a tranquil mini-universe via sights, sounds, and smell, Kollau says. Meanwhile, Boeing wants to project calming images mimicking the time of day onto the interior of the plane to help passengers relax, sleep better, and enjoy some virtual stargazing.

With all that in mind, here’s how to find your zen at 30,000 feet.

Start Before You Find Your Seat

A meditative in-flight experience starts long before you reach 13D and many airports have meditation rooms for that purpose. Take the Berman Reflection Room at San Francisco International Airport’s (SFO) international terminal, or the Yoga Room in Chicago O’Hare’s terminal 3. Stopping in pre-flight can help calm your nerves so that you board a little more even-keeled.

Then, even if you’re stressed, it’s important to help other passengers with their bags, smile at seat mates, and be kind to flight attendants, says Libshtein. “You will be amazed at what a little mindful kindness can do in terms of keeping you, as well as keeping those around you, calm.”

Breathe Right

A simple breathing technique designed to calm your body’s natural stress response and relieve you of negative thoughts can be its own form of meditation: Inhale for four counts (your stomach should expand) then exhale for eight counts (your stomach contracts), says Libshtein. Do this for three minutes. Repeat this whenever you begin to feel angst creep in, or allow it to lead you into a deeper meditation.

Consider an App

Meditation apps can keep you focused—allowing you to release a certain level of responsibility into the hands of a guide, says Chadda. They’re a great option if you’re new to meditating: Plug in, close your eyes, and imagine you’re somewhere calming.

Check out the in-flight entertainment, too. Virgin America provides mindfulness films from the meditation app Headspace that help flyers find sleep, focus, or switch off from work mode, says Kollau. Meanwhile, British Airways has a Headspace channel full of short meditation exercises; and Delta flights offer the ' OMG. I Can Meditate! ' service, which even provides a short meditation specifically aimed at managing holiday stress.

Otherwise, hop on the Wi-Fi. Beyond Headspace and OMG I Can Meditate!, Calm is an easy-to-understand app worth downloading, says Libshtein. WellBe , a wearable that helps you identify stress triggers, then beat them with breathing techniques, calm music, and guided meditation, is another one to consider.

Go Old School

Remember: There’s no one way to meditate, says Libshtein. And while apps can be helpful for entering a calmer mindset in a stressful situation, you don’t always need one to find your zen. In fact, meditating doesn’t have to be anything like how most people see it. “Reading a new book, knitting, or doing a crossword puzzle are meditative activities many of us engage in while flying,” adds Chadda.

If you have a tech-free practice, after the breathing exercises, simply go into your meditation, whichever method that may be. Focus on a sense of safety, suggests Chadda. “It’s the groundlessness that stresses us or makes us anxious.”

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There's Never Been a Better Time to Start Meditating — Here's Expert Advice to Get Started

De-stress and relax by learning how to meditate.

Elizabeth Rhodes is a special projects editor at Travel + Leisure , covering everything from luxury hotels to theme parks to must-pack travel products. Originally from South Carolina, Elizabeth moved to New York City from London, where she started her career as a travel blogger and writer.

If you’ve ever considered learning how to meditate, now is the perfect time. It’s completely normal to feel stressed out or overwhelmed by the COVID-19 pandemic , but taking care of yourself is important. Daily meditation can help reduce stress and anxiety , and with countless meditation apps at your fingertips, it has never been easier to start.

Travel + Leisure spoke to Jamie Price, co-founder and president of Stop, Breathe & Think, to get answers to some of the most-asked questions about meditation. Stop, Breathe & Think is an emotional wellness and mindfulness platform that offers guided meditation and activities, including breathing exercises, acupressure, and more. Right now, the app even offers a range of meditations to help calm your coronavirus anxiety, perfect for the whole family. With her advice, you can begin your meditation journey and find mindfulness during this difficult time.

Travel + Leisure: What is meditation?

Jamie Price: “There are many types of meditation, but one of the most common forms is mindfulness meditation, where you focus your attention on your breath. The breath can become an anchor to the present, and [it] provides an opportunity to strengthen your awareness, which simply means that when you are doing something, you know that you are doing it. Your mind is not wandering, and you are not lost in a train of thought that is unrelated to what is happening right now. Incorporating meditation into your day can have a powerful impact on your health and ability to manage life with resilience and ease.”

What are the basics of meditation?

“When you practice mindfulness meditation, you focus on being aware of your thoughts, feelings, and/or your physical sensations with openness and curiosity, and without judging or evaluating what you notice. You begin by finding a comfortable, upright position, where your body feels alert and relaxed. Then you bring your attention to the sensation of your breath, for example, noticing where you feel it most, and what it feels like as it goes in and out. When you notice that your mind has wandered, which it will, you gently bring your attention back to the sensation of the breath.”

What do you need to start meditating?

“You can practice it anywhere and anytime, without special equipment or advanced knowledge. For example, while walking or in bed before going to sleep or waking up. But in terms of consistency, it can be helpful to find a quiet space without distractions, where you can practice at the same time every day. All you need is a cushion or chair where you can sit comfortably in a relaxed position.”

What do I do if my mind wanders while I meditate? Is it normal to get distracted?

“If you are like most people, it can seem like your mind wanders the most when you sit down to meditate. But with meditation, you’re not trying to stop your thoughts. Rather, you are strengthening your ability to watch them come and go. It’s the difference between standing on a riverbank watching the river flow by, as opposed to jumping in and trying to reverse the flow. Rather than getting frustrated, try to view it as a great opportunity. No matter how little or how often your mind wanders, each time you become aware of your mind wandering and choose to bring your attention back to your breathing, you are strengthening your awareness — your mindful muscles.”

How long do I need to meditate?

“You don’t have to practice for hours at a time to feel the benefits of mindfulness, but consistency and repetition are key. It’s more effective to practice a few minutes each day and build from there, rather than practice for a longer period of time every once in a while.”

What if I feel like I’m not good at meditating?

“Meditation is a skill. Just like lifting weights or learning a new sport, the more you do it, the better you get. When you start to practice meditation, it’s helpful to remember that this isn’t about being perfect. You’re not striving to sit still for an hour feeling totally calm, with an empty mind, free of any thoughts. That’s actually not possible. It’s more about being engaged in the process. And the attitude you bring to it will have a significant impact on your experience. So the more open you are without expectations about how things “should” be, the more at ease you’ll be with the way things actually are. That means, when you’re following your breath and you notice that your mind has drifted off, which it will, you just bring it back without giving yourself a hard time. It doesn’t matter if your mind is like a rushing river or a tranquil stream. The important thing is to notice when you’re no longer aware of your breath, and to bring your attention back with a sense of friendliness.”

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Why You Should Keep Up Your Meditation Practice While Traveling

Going on vacation or exploring a new culture is exciting, but let's be honest: It can cause stress, too. That's where these mindfulness tips come in.

Traveling to an unfamiliar country, no matter how well-seasoned an adventurer you are, can be intimidating. A new culture to learn, new places to explore, and possibly a new language to decipher-it's easy to see how it all can become overwhelming, fast.

That's why meditation can be even more important when you're traveling than it is in your day-to-day, says Megan Jones Bell, Psy.D., chief science officer at Headspace . "The experience of travel itself can be stress-inducing: the hurry-up-and-wait at an airport, the bewilderment of trying to navigate a new place, the crowds and close quarters of many forms of travel," she explains.

"Meditation practice can support you in bringing mindfulness into the choices you make, such as eating with greater awareness, bringing your full attention to new experiences, and having more compassion for your fellow travelers." (

Plus, experts say there are immediate health benefits you can score from taking a few minutes to meditate. "Science is just now proving what some spiritual traditions have been saying for thousands of years; that a consistent meditation practice will lower your stress levels, make you more productive and efficient, normalize your sleep, and boost your immune system-all good things for when you are stressed and traveling," says Lodro Rinzler, co-founder of MNDFL meditation studio in New York City and author of the upcoming book How to Be Decent: A Mindful Guide to a Messed-Up World .

It's also particularly helpful for keeping your emotions in check. "When you think about traveling, the things that probably upset us the most are those that are out of our control: The flight is delayed an hour, there is a screaming baby in the row ahead of you, or the airline lost your luggage," says Jones Bell. "All of these are an exercise in patience, resilience, and emotional regulation. A consistent meditation practice can help teach you [these] important skills so that when you are in a situation out of your control, you are still in control of how you react." (

Below are prime times to either take a few minutes to meditate or simply add more mindfulness to your routine. From your arrival at the airport to the time you touch down, here's how to introduce more zen to your journey into the unknown.

Step 1: When You're Planning

Okay, you don't have to meditate while booking the trip, but one of the first decisions you make is where you'll go-so why not choose a destination that has meditation built right into the itinerary? Some cultures encourage tuning inward to find that inner sense of calm, like in Japan, Thailand, or even Hawaii if you're looking to stay stateside. (

If you're not sure how to plan your itinerary so it doesn't feel overwhelming, look for adventure-based brands that can help (many have made itinerary-making an art form so no one is too stressed out). REI Adventures , for example, recently launched an 11-day hiking trip through Japan that stops at meditative hot spots like the Arashiyama Bamboo Forest in Kyoto, quiet mountain towns along the Nakasendo Trail , and the UNESCO World Heritage Hongu Grand Shrine . And Intrepid Travel offers a nine-day Beautiful Bali expedition, where you'll enjoy moments of peace at the Hindu-Buddhist lake temple Pura Ulun Danu Bratan , at the summit of Mt. Batur at sunrise, and in the hillside village of Sideman . (

Step 2: On the Way to the Airport

It's not easy to meditate in the frazzled, rush-through-it moments of security, so prepare yourself for one of the most stress-inducing parts of travel beforehand. During your trip to the airport-whether in a car or via public transit-take a few minutes to notice your breath, listen to the sounds around you, and take in your environment, suggests Jones Bell. "The important thing is to be aware of the breath and slow it down," she says. "Focus on the exhale. As you become more aware you will be able to start slowing down the distracting thoughts that often control your mind."

Step 3: At the Airport

Skip stress-eating at the gate or speedily grabbing the first thing you see in the food market, says Jones Bell. Instead, peruse for healthy eating options and practice mindful eating -tuning in to why you are eating. "Eating should be an enjoyable experience for fuel and satiety," she says. "If you can't remember what you ate or how it tasted, you probably could use more mindfulness in your meals." (Here's how flight attendants eat healthy at the airport .)

First, ask yourself a few questions to slow any racing thoughts (and in turn lower stress) and determine your actual hunger level. Are you eating for hunger? Or because of boredom and anxiety? What are you in the mood for? Are you actually thirsty? Once you settle on an option, Jones Bell says to try to be aware of all your senses-how the food smells, tastes, etc., with each bite. Doing so can also help you tune into your "I'm full" cues to prevent overeating. (Keep an eye out for these foods that can help fight stress .)

Step 4: On the Plane

Once you're seated, it's easy to focus on the annoyances of travelers around you, like how someone actually thought it was a good idea to bring Chinese food into an enclosed space. Rather than succumb to the negativity, choose a guided meditation that's tailored specifically for a travel issue you often struggle with (Headspace has specific meditations for those with a fear of flying, for example).

Depending on which airline you've chosen, there may be options right on your back-of-the-seat entertainment console, too. JetBlue , for example, offers more than 20 different meditations on select aircrafts, ranging from two to 10 minutes, for various types of travel experiences (it also includes helpful info for how to sleep sitting upright, calming exercises for kids, and tips for tackling jet lag). Hawaiian Airlines also has a series of in-flight wellness videos that include in-flight and post-flight stretches and healthy tips. (Speaking of Hawaii, make sure you try these Polynesian-inspired workouts while you're there.) Sure, stretching isn't meditation per se, but the gentle movement can be calming.

Pair it with this meditation practice from Rinzler to help you feel chill from 10,000 feet: With your feet flat on the floor, sit in your chair and feel the weight of your body on the seat. Gently lift upward through your spine. Let your gaze settle on a point on the ground three to four feet in front of you (in a relaxed fashion, laser focus not required). Connect to the natural cycle of your breath, feeling the rise and fall of your belly. Tune into the breath like a radio signal, sensing each one as a unique act. When your mind wanders (as it will), return to the physical sensation of the breath.

Step 5: Once You're There

After your feet are back on solid ground, cue up one of your favorite guided meditations to help you get in the right frame of mind before venturing into the unknown. It doesn't have to be long-even 10 minutes can be effective, says Jones Bell.

Preparing for potentially stressful situations can help, too. Are you someone who likes to have a plan for each day of your vacation? Pick up a guidebook in advance, so you can find out which must-see activities are close together and schedule accordingly. Worried no one will understand you? Download Google Translate, which lets you type phrases to read or speak aloud, and can even decipher menus. (

As you explore, try to be mindful in your movement, suggests Jones Bell. "Pay attention to your posture, and notice if you are slouched or hunched over," she says. "Simply standing up straight can provide you with the right frame [of mind]. Take time to feel your feet on the floor as they take each step. This brings more awareness to your movement and can change your experience."

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Meditation: a simple, fast way to reduce stress.

Meditation can wipe away the day's stress, bringing with it inner peace. See how you can easily learn to practice meditation whenever you need it most.

If stress has you anxious, tense and worried, you might try meditation. Spending even a few minutes in meditation can help restore your calm and inner peace.

Anyone can practice meditation. It's simple and doesn't cost much. And you don't need any special equipment.

You can practice meditation wherever you are. You can meditate when you're out for a walk, riding the bus, waiting at the doctor's office or even in the middle of a business meeting.

Understanding meditation

Meditation has been around for thousands of years. Early meditation was meant to help deepen understanding of the sacred and mystical forces of life. These days, meditation is most often used to relax and lower stress.

Meditation is a type of mind-body complementary medicine. Meditation can help you relax deeply and calm your mind.

During meditation, you focus on one thing. You get rid of the stream of thoughts that may be crowding your mind and causing stress. This process can lead to better physical and emotional well-being.

Benefits of meditation

Meditation can give you a sense of calm, peace and balance that can benefit your emotional well-being and your overall health. You also can use it to relax and cope with stress by focusing on something that calms you. Meditation can help you learn to stay centered and keep inner peace.

These benefits don't end when your meditation session ends. Meditation can help take you more calmly through your day. And meditation may help you manage symptoms of some medical conditions.

Meditation and emotional and physical well-being

When you meditate, you may clear away the information overload that builds up every day and contributes to your stress.

The emotional and physical benefits of meditation can include:

• Giving you a new way to look at things that cause stress.
• Building skills to manage your stress.
• Making you more self-aware.
• Focusing on the present.
• Reducing negative feelings.
• Helping you be more creative.
• Helping you be more patient.
• Lowering resting heart rate.
• Lowering resting blood pressure.
• Helping you sleep better.

Meditation and illness

Meditation also might help if you have a medical condition. This is most often true if you have a condition that stress makes worse.

A lot of research shows that meditation is good for health. But some experts believe there's not enough research to prove that meditation helps.

With that in mind, some research suggests that meditation may help people manage symptoms of conditions such as:

• Chronic pain.
• Depression.
• Heart disease.
• High blood pressure.
• Irritable bowel syndrome.
• Sleep problems.
• Tension headaches.

Be sure to talk to your healthcare professional about the pros and cons of using meditation if you have any of these or other health conditions. Sometimes, meditation might worsen symptoms linked to some mental health conditions.

Meditation doesn't replace medical treatment. But it may help to add it to other treatments.

Types of meditation

Meditation is an umbrella term for the many ways to get to a relaxed state. There are many types of meditation and ways to relax that use parts of meditation. All share the same goal of gaining inner peace.

Ways to meditate can include:

Guided meditation. This is sometimes called guided imagery or visualization. With this method of meditation, you form mental images of places or things that help you relax.

You try to use as many senses as you can. These include things you can smell, see, hear and feel. You may be led through this process by a guide or teacher.

• Mantra meditation. In this type of meditation, you repeat a calming word, thought or phrase to keep out unwanted thoughts.

Mindfulness meditation. This type of meditation is based on being mindful. This means being more aware of the present.

In mindfulness meditation, you focus on one thing, such as the flow of your breath. You can notice your thoughts and feelings. But let them pass without judging them.

• Qigong. This practice most often combines meditation, relaxation, movement and breathing exercises to restore and maintain balance. Qigong (CHEE-gung) is part of Chinese medicine.
• Tai chi. This is a form of gentle Chinese martial arts training. In tai chi (TIE-CHEE), you do a series of postures or movements in a slow, graceful way. And you do deep breathing with the movements.
• Yoga. You do a series of postures with controlled breathing. This helps give you a more flexible body and a calm mind. To do the poses, you need to balance and focus. That helps you to focus less on your busy day and more on the moment.

Parts of meditation

Each type of meditation may include certain features to help you meditate. These may vary depending on whose guidance you follow or who's teaching a class. Some of the most common features in meditation include:

Focused attention. Focusing your attention is one of the most important elements of meditation.

Focusing your attention is what helps free your mind from the many things that cause stress and worry. You can focus your attention on things such as a certain object, an image, a mantra or even your breathing.

• Relaxed breathing. This technique involves deep, even-paced breathing using the muscle between your chest and your belly, called the diaphragm muscle, to expand your lungs. The purpose is to slow your breathing, take in more oxygen, and reduce the use of shoulder, neck and upper chest muscles while breathing so that you breathe better.

A quiet setting. If you're a beginner, meditation may be easier if you're in a quiet spot. Aim to have fewer things that can distract you, including no television, computers or cellphones.

As you get more skilled at meditation, you may be able to do it anywhere. This includes high-stress places, such as a traffic jam, a stressful work meeting or a long line at the grocery store. This is when you can get the most out of meditation.

• A comfortable position. You can practice meditation whether you're sitting, lying down, walking, or in other positions or activities. Just try to be comfortable so that you can get the most out of your meditation. Aim to keep good posture during meditation.
• Open attitude. Let thoughts pass through your mind without judging them.

Everyday ways to practice meditation

Don't let the thought of meditating the "right" way add to your stress. If you choose to, you can attend special meditation centers or group classes led by trained instructors. But you also can practice meditation easily on your own. There are apps to use too.

And you can make meditation as formal or informal as you like. Some people build meditation into their daily routine. For example, they may start and end each day with an hour of meditation. But all you really need is a few minutes a day for meditation.

Here are some ways you can practice meditation on your own, whenever you choose:

Breathe deeply. This is good for beginners because breathing is a natural function.

Focus all your attention on your breathing. Feel your breath and listen to it as you inhale and exhale through your nostrils. Breathe deeply and slowly. When your mind wanders, gently return your focus to your breathing.

Scan your body. When using this technique, focus attention on each part of your body. Become aware of how your body feels. That might be pain, tension, warmth or relaxation.

Mix body scanning with breathing exercises and think about breathing heat or relaxation into and out of the parts of your body.

• Repeat a mantra. You can create your own mantra. It can be religious or not. Examples of religious mantras include the Jesus Prayer in the Christian tradition, the holy name of God in Judaism, or the om mantra of Hinduism, Buddhism and other Eastern religions.

Walk and meditate. Meditating while walking is a good and healthy way to relax. You can use this technique anywhere you're walking, such as in a forest, on a city sidewalk or at the mall.

When you use this method, slow your walking pace so that you can focus on each movement of your legs or feet. Don't focus on where you're going. Focus on your legs and feet. Repeat action words in your mind such as "lifting," "moving" and "placing" as you lift each foot, move your leg forward and place your foot on the ground. Focus on the sights, sounds and smells around you.

Pray. Prayer is the best known and most widely used type of meditation. Spoken and written prayers are found in most faith traditions.

You can pray using your own words or read prayers written by others. Check the self-help section of your local bookstore for examples. Talk with your rabbi, priest, pastor or other spiritual leader about possible resources.

Read and reflect. Many people report that they benefit from reading poems or sacred texts and taking a few moments to think about their meaning.

You also can listen to sacred music, spoken words, or any music that relaxes or inspires you. You may want to write your thoughts in a journal or discuss them with a friend or spiritual leader.

• Focus your love and kindness. In this type of meditation, you think of others with feelings of love, compassion and kindness. This can help increase how connected you feel to others.

Building your meditation skills

Don't judge how you meditate. That can increase your stress. Meditation takes practice.

It's common for your mind to wander during meditation, no matter how long you've been practicing meditation. If you're meditating to calm your mind and your mind wanders, slowly return to what you're focusing on.

Try out ways to meditate to find out what types of meditation work best for you and what you enjoy doing. Adapt meditation to your needs as you go. Remember, there's no right way or wrong way to meditate. What matters is that meditation helps you reduce your stress and feel better overall.

Related information

• Relaxation techniques: Try these steps to lower stress - Related information Relaxation techniques: Try these steps to lower stress
• Stress relievers: Tips to tame stress - Related information Stress relievers: Tips to tame stress
• Video: Need to relax? Take a break for meditation - Related information Video: Need to relax? Take a break for meditation

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• Meditation: In depth. National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health. https://nccih.nih.gov/health/meditation/overview.htm. Accessed Dec. 23, 2021.
• Mindfulness meditation: A research-proven way to reduce stress. American Psychological Association. https://www.apa.org/topics/mindfulness/meditation. Accessed Dec. 23, 2021.
• AskMayoExpert. Meditation. Mayo Clinic. 2021.
• Papadakis MA, et al., eds. Meditation. In: Current Medical Diagnosis & Treatment 2022. 61st ed. McGraw Hill; 2022. https://accessmedicine.mhmedical.com. Accessed Dec. 23, 2021.
• Hilton L, et al. Mindfulness meditation for chronic pain: Systematic review and meta-analysis. Annals of Behavioral Medicine. 2017; doi:10.1007/s12160-016-9844-2.
• Seaward BL. Meditation. In: Essentials of Managing Stress. 5th ed. Jones & Bartlett Learning; 2021.
• Seaward BL. Managing Stress: Principles and Strategies for Health and Well-Being. 9th ed. Burlington, Mass.: Jones & Bartlett Learning; 2018.

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247 episodes

We celebrate the fun & positive side of miles, points & travel while talking to the most interesting people in the space. Get inspired to travel, find out the latest tricks and learn how to maximize travel rewards. Save money, accomplish your goals and form memories that will last a lifetime! Shawn Coomer has spent the last 17 years globetrotting with his family and has been professionally covering the miles & points space since 2013 when he launched Miles to Memories. He earns and burns millions of miles per year through welcome offers & spending from his Amazon side hustle. By interviewing some of the best & most interesting voices in the miles & points space we aim to bring you a wide range of knowledge, different perspectives and enjoyable conversation. Come learn how miles & points can enrich your life in so many ways. Want to dive deeper into miles & points? Check out our private Diamond Slack community - http://www.milestomemories.com/diamond

Miles to Memories - Conversations About Miles, Points & Travel Shawn Coomer

• Society & Culture
• 4.6 • 277 Ratings
• MAY 9, 2024

Time for Some Big Announcements!

Episode Description On this episode Shawn and Joe recap the Denver MtM Diamond meetup including some tips for your next Denver trip and how the Grand Hyatt is holding up. They also announce some exciting changes and are joined by a special guest for one more thing. Episode Notes Subscribe to 20 Minute Travel! 20 Minute Travel on Youtube Apple Podcasts - Spotify - TMT Podcast Feed   Enjoying the podcast? Please consider leaving us a positive review on your favorite podcast platform! You can also connect with us anytime at [email protected].  You can subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Spotify, TuneIn, Pocket Casts, or via RSS. Don't see your favorite podcast platform? Please let us know! Music: Rewind by Jay Someday | https://soundcloud.com/jaysomeday Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License

• MAY 2, 2024

Demystifying Hilton Brands, Hilton Honors Insights & Southwest’s Big Change?

Episode Description On this episode Shawn and Joe discuss Shawn’s recent trip to Nashville and all of the takeaways from his time spent there. They go over why there are so many brands these days and how consumers are changing. Plus will there be more changes to Hilton credit cards and how will they integrate all of their upcoming partnerships into the program? Joe also discusses his Spirit adventure and why Southwest may be finally moving away from their cattle call boarding. Episode Notes 0:00 - Flying Spirit 8:06 - DOT forcing airlines to pay penalties 10:55 - Southwest boarding changes 16:26 - What Shawn learned at Hilton 29:55 - The Conrad brand 33:04 - Hilton brand expansion 37:05 - Hilton credit cards 41:09 - Hilton experiences Enjoying the podcast? Please consider leaving us a positive review on your favorite podcast platform! You can also connect with us anytime at [email protected].  You can subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Spotify, TuneIn, Pocket Casts, or via RSS. Don't see your favorite podcast platform? Please let us know! Music: Rewind by Jay Someday | https://soundcloud.com/jaysomeday Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License

• APR 25, 2024

Evolution of the Miles and Points Space, Extreme Tracking & Picking Cards with Grant Thomas

Episode Description In this episode, Shawn and Grant discuss their experiences in the miles and points hobby. They talk about the evolution of the space, the changing credit card landscape, and strategies for maximizing rewards. They also touch on the importance of organization and tracking, especially when it comes to credit card offers and free night certificates. Finally they dive behind the scenes of upcoming trips, share their love of Scandinavia and discuss how cruise hacking has become such a good opportunity lately.  Episode Notes 0:00 - Introduction to Travel with Grant 7:58 - Keeping up with the changing game 16:29 - Keeping track of credit cards and various offers 21:51 - Dealing with free night certificates 28:17 - Are Hilton cards changing again? 32:06 - Higher annual fees are a challenge 35:04 - Why people shouldn't underestimate InKind 38:21 - Behind Grant's upcoming bookings 44:03 - Enjoying tons of free cruises   Shawn's InKind referral Grant's InKind NYC Article   Enjoying the podcast? Please consider leaving us a positive review on your favorite podcast platform! You can also connect with us anytime at [email protected].  You can subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Spotify, TuneIn, Pocket Casts, or via RSS. Don't see your favorite podcast platform? Please let us know! Music: Rewind by Jay Someday | https://soundcloud.com/jaysomeday Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License

• APR 18, 2024

Maximizing 0% APR Offers, Turning Down An Amazing Retention Offer & Is Chase's Disney Offer Good?

Episode Description In this episode of the Miles to Memories podcast, Shawn and Joe discuss their experiences recording on the road and share some travel hacks for setting up recording equipment in different environments. They also talk about their missed opportunity to see the solar eclipse and the impact of the eclipse on wildlife. The conversation then shifts to regional food chains like Bojangles and Waffle House, and the excitement of these chains expanding to new locations.   On the credit card side of things, a new offer for Chase Disney Visa cardholders has been released, but is it actually good? Other topics discussed include: turning down an amazing Amex retention offer, the importance of doing the math to determine if the annual fee on a credit card is worth it, a 250K Amex welcome offer, the strategy of using 0% APR offers to earn interest on money while avoiding interest charges on credit cards and Shawn shares his upcoming trip to Nashville with Hilton and his plans to explore their different hotel brands.   Episode Notes 0:00 - Recording on the road & Eclipse FOMO 8:56 - Chase Disney Visa card offer - Is it good? 13:36 - Changes to Disney's Disability Access Service - More planning required 19:58 - Turning down an amazing Amex retention offer 23:41 - 250K targeted Business Platinum Offer 26:15 - Interesting Amex referral offers you shouldn't overlook 28:12 - Pursuing credit cards without a sign-up bonus 32:28 - Taking advantage of 0% APR offers & why what is old is new again 35:35 - Preview of Nashville & meeting with Hilton Enjoying the podcast? Please consider leaving us a positive review on your favorite podcast platform! You can also connect with us anytime at [email protected].  You can subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Spotify, TuneIn, Pocket Casts, or via RSS. Don't see your favorite podcast platform? Please let us know! Music: Rewind by Jay Someday | https://soundcloud.com/jaysomeday Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License

• APR 11, 2024

Global Entry Price Increase, Spirit Airlines Booking and Wynn Status Matches

Episode Description We discuss Shawn’s experience with the Wynn status match, Hilton buying the Nomad brand, increases in Global Entry fees and much more! Plus some quick deals to help you along your way. Episode Notes 0:00 - Eclipsing 7:05 - Wynn status match experience 12:07 - Joe booked a Spirit flight 28:04 - Nomad hotels are going under the Hilton brand (except Vegas) 31:50 - Global Entry and NEXUS costs increasing 38:13 - Quick deals Benjy’s Choice Hotels article Enjoying the podcast? Please consider leaving us a positive review on your favorite podcast platform! You can also connect with us anytime at [email protected].  You can subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Spotify, TuneIn, Pocket Casts, or via RSS. Don't see your favorite podcast platform? Please let us know! Music: Rewind by Jay Someday | https://soundcloud.com/jaysomeday Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License

• APR 4, 2024

Down a Hilton in Vegas, Amex Changes Again, 3% Everywhere Coming & More!

Episode Description Joe’s back from an epic Disney trip, Shawn visits the Tropicana before it closes and a ton of credit card news in this week’s podcast. Plus, Joe considers booking Spirit and we discuss what’s going on with the blogosphere and Google’s negative SEO changes (negative for independent people, that is). Episode Notes 0:00 - Joe just got home and is Disneyed out 6:43 - Tropicana closing 10:01 - Booking Spirit Airlines 18:41 - Amex updates Delta card rules to minimize churning? 23:11 - Amex Hilton Business updates 26:26 - Chase Sapphire Reserve removes Priority Pass 30:13 - Robinhood 3% card 35:10 - Founders Card and Caesars 39:32 - The value of the Swan Reserve 44:36 - How Google is hurting independent blogs Enjoying the podcast? Please consider leaving us a positive review on your favorite podcast platform! You can also connect with us anytime at [email protected].  You can subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Spotify, TuneIn, Pocket Casts, or via RSS. Don't see your favorite podcast platform? Please let us know! Music: Rewind by Jay Someday | https://soundcloud.com/jaysomeday Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License

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Always enjoy your podcast. Very good banter between you both. I like the different perspectives you give on topics such as cards with no SUBs, cashing out MRs etc ( not that I would but I enjoy hearing about different situations to keep any open mind ). I keep checking when you have any available space in your Diamond group but it’s always full. This Benji person intrigues me too.

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Enjoy listening to their podcast. They have many pearls of wisdom that I have absorbed. Thank you!

It’s only or the best

I think one of the easier more fun travel podcasts to listen to. I think they are class A in small talk. Keep it up friends!

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NASA's Proposed Plasma Rocket Would Get Us to Mars in 2 Months

The space agency is investing in the development of a propulsion system that uses nuclear power to create plasma bursts..

The future of space travel depends on our ability to reach celestial pit stops faster and more efficiently. As such, NASA is working with a technology development company on a new propulsion system that could drop off humans on Mars in a relatively speedy two months’ time rather than the current nine month journey required to reach the Red Planet.

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NASA’s Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) program recently selected six promising projects for additional funding and development, allowing them to graduate to the second stage of development. The new “science fiction-like concepts,” as described by John Nelson, NIAC program executive at NASA, include a lunar railway system and fluid-based telescopes, as well as a pulsed plasma rocket.

The potentially groundbreaking propulsion system is being developed by Arizona-based Howe Industries. To reach high velocities within a shorter period of time, the pulsed plasma rocket would use nuclear fission—the release of energy from atoms splitting apart—to generate packets of plasma for thrust.

It would essentially produce a controlled jet of plasma to help propel the rocket through space. Using the new propulsion system, and in terms of thrust, the rocket could potentially generate up to 22,481 pounds of force (100,000 Newtons) with a specific impulse (Isp) of 5,000 seconds, for remarkably high fuel efficiency.

It’s not an entirely new concept. NASA began developing its own version back in 2018 under the name Pulsed Fission-Fusion (PuFF). PuFF relied on a device commonly used to compress laboratory plasmas to high pressures for very short timescales, called z-Pinch, to produce thrust. The pulsed plasma rocket, however, is smaller, simpler, and more affordable, according to NASA .

The space agency claims that the propulsion system’s high efficiency could allow for crewed missions to Mars to be completed within two months. As it stands today with commonly used propulsion systems, a trip to Mars takes around nine months. The less time humans can spend traveling through space, the better. Shorter periods of exposure to space radiation and microgravity could help mitigate its effects on the human body.

The pulsed plasma rocket would also be capable of carrying much heavier spacecraft, which can be then equipped with shielding against galactic cosmic rays for the crew on board.

Phase 2 of NIAC is focused on assessing the neutronics of the system (how the motion of the spacecraft interacts with the plasma), designing the spacecraft, power system, and necessary subsystems, analyzing the magnetic nozzle capabilities, and determining trajectories and benefits of the pulsed plasma rocket, according to NASA.

The new propulsion system has the potential to revolutionize crewed spaceflight, helping humans make it to Mars without the toil of the trip itself.

For more spaceflight in your life, follow us on X and bookmark Gizmodo’s dedicated Spaceflight page .

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30 relaxing meditation retreats around the world.

Prepare to say "om" at these stunning wellness properties.

(Courtesy of Banyan Tree Spa Sanctuary) |

Close your eyes, open your mind and get ready to unwind at these gorgeous destinations across the globe.

(Courtesy of Sanctuary Camelback Mountain Resort & Spa) |

Sanctuary Camelback Mountain Resort & Spa: Paradise Valley, Arizona

(Courtesy of Hurawalhi Island Resort) |

Hurawalhi Island Resort: Lhaviyani Atoll, Maldives

(Courtesy of Four Seasons Resort Oahu at Ko Olina) |

Four Seasons Resort Oahu at Ko Olina: Kapolei, Hawaii

(Courtesy of The Oberoi Sukhvilas Resort & Spa) |

The Oberoi Sukhvilas Resort & Spa: New Chandigarh, India

(Courtesy of ESPA at Vdara) |

Vdara Hotel & Spa at ARIA Las Vegas: Las Vegas

Banyan Tree Spa Sanctuary: Phuket, Thailand

(Courtesy of The Omni Grove Park) |

The Omni Grove Park Inn: Asheville, North Carolina

(Courtesy of Rise) |

KINKARA: Santa Elena de General Viejo, Costa Rica

(Courtesy of Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health) |

Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health: Stockbridge, Massachusetts

(Courtesy of The American Club) |

The American Club: Kohler, Wisconsin

(Courtesy of Sansara Surf & Yoga Resort) |

Sansara Surf & Yoga Resort: Cambutal, Panama

Courtesy of The Assemblage John Street Hotel |

The Assemblage John Street Hotel: New York City

(Courtesy of Spa Solage) |

Solage, An Auberge Resort: Calistoga, California

(Courtesy of The Buddhist Retreat Centre) |

The Buddhist Retreat Centre: Ixopo, South Africa

(Courtesy of Hilton Head Health) |

Hilton Head Health: Hilton Head, South Carolina

(Courtesy of Vidanta Nuevo Vallarta) |

Vidanta Nuevo Vallarta: Nuevo Vallarta, Mexico

(Courtesy of The Spa at Sanctuary Beach Resort) |

The Sanctuary Beach Resort: Marina, California

(Courtesy of the Dolder Grand Spa) |

The Dolder Grand: Zurich

(Courtesy of Red Rock Spa by Well & Being) |

Red Rock Casino Resort & Spa: Las Vegas

(Courtesy of JW Marriott Venice Resort & Spa) |

JW Marriott Venice Resort & Spa: Venice, Italy

(Courtesy of Tibetan Mongolian Buddhist Cultural Center) |

Tibetan Mongolian Buddhist Cultural Center: Bloomington, Indiana

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The Shanghai EDITION: Shanghai

(Courtesy of Well & Being Spa at The Fairmont Scottsdale Princess) |

Fairmont Scottsdale Princess: Scottsdale, Arizona

(Courtesy of the St. Regis Bahia Beach Resort) |

The St. Regis Bahia Beach Resort: Rio Grande, Puerto Rico

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Omni La Costa Resort & Spa: Carlsbad, California

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1440 Multiversity: Scotts Valley, California

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Canyon Ranch Lenox: Lenox, Massachusetts

(Courtesy of Skyterra Wellness Retreat & Weight Loss Spa) |

Skyterra Wellness Retreat & Weight Loss Spa: Lake Toxaway, North Carolina

(Courtesy of Andaz Scottsdale Resort & Spa) |

Andaz Scottsdale Resort & Spa: Scottsdale, Arizona

(Courtesy of VeraVia at Park Hyatt Aviara Resort, Golf Club & Spa) |

Park Hyatt Aviara Resort, Golf Club & Spa: Carlsbad, California

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Boeing is on the verge of launching astronauts aboard new capsule, the latest entry to space travel

Boeing’s Starliner capsule atop an Atlas V rocket is rolled out to the launch pad at Space Launch Complex 41, Saturday, May 4, 2024, in Cape Canaveral, Fla. NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams will launch aboard to the International Space Station, scheduled for liftoff on May 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Terry Renna)

NASA’s Boeing Crew Flight Test astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore exit the Neil A. Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida during a mission dress rehearsal on Friday, April 26, 2024. The first flight of Boeing’s Starliner capsule with a crew on board is scheduled for Monday, May 6, 2024. (Frank Micheaux/NASA via AP)

Boeing Crew Flight Test crew members Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore work in the Boeing Starliner simulator at the Johnson Space Center in Houston on Nov. 3, 2022. The first flight of Boeing’s Starliner capsule with a crew on board is scheduled for Monday, May 6, 2024. (NASA/Robert Markowitz)

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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — After years of delays and stumbles, Boeing is finally poised to launch astronauts to the International Space Station for NASA.

It’s the first flight of Boeing’s Starliner capsule with a crew on board, a pair of NASA pilots who will check out the spacecraft during the test drive and a weeklong stay at the space station.

NASA turned to U.S. companies for astronaut rides after the space shuttles were retired. Elon Musk’s SpaceX has made nine taxi trips for NASA since 2020, while Boeing has managed only a pair of unoccupied test flights.

Boeing program manager Mark Nappi wishes Starliner was further along. “There’s no doubt about that, but we’re here now.”

The company’s long-awaited astronaut demo is slated for liftoff Monday night.

Provided this tryout goes well, NASA will alternate between Boeing and SpaceX to get astronauts to and from the space station.

A look at the newest ride and its shakedown cruise:

NASA’s Boeing Crew Flight Test astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore exit the Neil A. Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida during a mission dress rehearsal on Friday, April 26, 2024. (Frank Micheaux/NASA via AP)

THE CAPSULE

White with black and blue trim, Boeing’s Starliner capsule is about 10 feet (3 meters) tall and 15 feet (4.5 meters) in diameter. It can fit up to seven people, though NASA crews typically will number four. The company settled on the name Starliner nearly a decade ago, a twist on the name of Boeing’s early Stratoliner and the current Dreamliner.

No one was aboard Boeing’s two previous Starliner test flights. The first, in 2019, was hit with software trouble so severe that its empty capsule couldn’t reach the station until the second try in 2022. Then last summer, weak parachutes and flammable tape cropped up that needed to be fixed or removed.

Veteran NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams are retired Navy captains who spent months aboard the space station years ago. They joined the test flight after the original crew bowed out as the delays piled up. Wilmore, 61, is a former combat pilot from Mount Juliet, Tennessee, and Williams, 58, is a helicopter pilot from Needham, Massachusetts. The duo have been involved in the capsule’s development and insist Starliner is ready for prime time, otherwise they would not strap in for the launch.

“We’re not putting our heads in the sand,” Williams told The Associated Press. “Sure, Boeing has had its problems. But we are the QA (quality assurance). Our eyes are on the spacecraft.”

THE TEST FLIGHT

Starliner will blast off on United Launch Alliance’s Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. It will be the first time astronauts ride an Atlas since NASA’s Project Mercury, starting with John Glenn when he became the first American to orbit the Earth in 1962. Sixty-two years later, this will be the 100th launch of the Atlas V, which is used to hoist satellites as well as spacecraft.

“We’re super careful with every mission. We’re super, duper, duper careful” with human missions, said Tory Bruno, CEO of ULA, a joint venture of Boeing and Lockheed Martin.

Starliner should reach the space station in roughly 26 hours. The seven station residents will have their eyes peeled on the approaching capsule. The arrival of a new vehicle is “a really big deal. You leave nothing to chance,” NASA astronaut Michael Barratt told the AP from orbit. Starliner will remain docked for eight days, undergoing checkouts before landing in New Mexico or elsewhere in the American West.

STARLINER VS. DRAGON

Both companies’ capsules are designed to be autonomous and reusable. This Starliner is the same one that made the first test flight in 2019. Unlike the SpaceX Dragons, Starliner has traditional hand controls and switches alongside touchscreens and, according to the astronauts, is more like NASA’s Orion capsules for moon missions. Wilmore and Williams briefly will take manual control to wring out the systems on their way to the space station.

NASA gave Boeing, a longtime space contractor, more than $4 billion to develop the capsule, while SpaceX got $2.6 billion. SpaceX already was in the station delivery business and merely refashioned its cargo capsule for crew. While SpaceX uses the boss’ Teslas to get astronauts to the launch pad, Boeing will use a more traditional “astrovan” equipped with a video screen that Wilmore said will be playing “Top Gun: Maverick.”

One big difference at flight’s end: Starliner lands on the ground with cushioning airbags, while Dragon splashes into the sea.

Boeing is committed to six Starliner trips for NASA after this one, which will take the company to the station’s planned end in 2030. Boeing’s Nappi is reluctant to discuss other potential customers until this inaugural crew flight is over. But the company has said a fifth seat will be available to private clients. SpaceX periodically sells seats to tycoons and even countries eager to get their citizens to the station for a couple weeks.

Coming soon: Sierra Space’s mini shuttle, Dream Chaser, which will deliver cargo to the station later this year or next, before accepting passengers.

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

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Nasa administrator to engage officials in italy, vatican, saudi arabia.

Lauren E. Low

Nasa headquarters.

Continuing his engagement to deepen international collaboration and the peaceful use of space, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson will travel to Italy and Vatican City, followed by Saudi Arabia, beginning Thursday.

Nelson will meet with key government and space officials in each country.

Italy is a longstanding partner in human spaceflight and Earth science. Nelson will meet with President Teodoro Valente, Italian Space Agency (ASI) and other officials to discuss current and future collaboration, including the Artemis campaign to return to the Moon, partnership on the International Space Station, the exploration of Mars and Venus, and Earth science missions to study our home planet.

In Saudi Arabia, Nelson will meet with Saudi Space Agency and other senior officials to discuss future collaboration and underscore the importance of civil space cooperation for the broader United States and Saudi Arabia relationship. Students will interact with Nelson about the importance of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education and their roles as members of the Artemis Generation.

For more information about NASA’s international partnerships, visit:

https://www.nasa.gov/oiir/

Faith McKie Headquarters, Washington 202-358-1600 [email protected]

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Okinawa prefecture discourages US military flights to pair of islands near Taiwan

U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel visits Yokosuka Naval Base, Japan, on Jan. 19, 2024. (Jennessa Davey/Stars and Stripes)

CAMP FOSTER, Okinawa — Okinawa prefecture has objected to the U.S. ambassador’s upcoming visit to two islands east of Taiwan because he is planning to travel on U.S. military aircraft, according to official and media accounts.

The U.S. military asked the prefecture for clearance to use the Ishigaki and Yonaguni airports on May 17 for “transportation of personnel,” a spokeswoman for the prefecture’s Military Base Affairs Division told Stars and Stripes by phone Wednesday.

U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel is expected to visit Japan Ground-Self Defense Force bases and meet city officials on both islands, according to a May 1 report by public broadcaster NHK that cited unnamed government officials.

The islands’ proximity to Taiwan and the Senkaku islets, a Japanese possession, puts them center stage as regional tensions simmer between China and the United States.

A Camp Ishigaki spokesman confirmed by phone Wednesday that the base had been notified of the ambassador’s visit, but he declined to provide further details.

U.S. Embassy Tokyo, U.S. Forces Japan and the Okinawa Defense Bureau did not immediately respond to phone and email requests for comment Thursday.

The prefecture’s Airport Division approved the Yonaguni stop but rejected the one at Ishigaki because “it is not possible to park the aircraft during the requested time,” a division spokesman said by phone Wednesday.

The base affairs spokeswoman said the prefecture discourages U.S. military aircraft from visiting the islands.

“Civilian airports were built for civilian aircraft; our policy is that the U.S. military should refrain from using the airport except in case of emergency,” the spokeswoman said. “We are requesting it to assure a safe and smooth operation of those aircraft.”

The prefecture appealed Wednesday to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Okinawa Liaison Office and Okinawa Defense Bureau to ask the U.S. military to refrain from using both airports.

“This request does not have a legal binding power, and the U.S. military can use the airport if there is an open spot during the requested time,” the base affairs spokeswoman said.

It is customary in Japan for some government officials to speak to reporters on condition of anonymity.

In March, the prefecture similarly asked the U.S. Navy to cancel a three-day port call at Ishigaki, a popular tourist destination, by the USS Rafael Peralta.

The guided-missile destroyer made its rest stop, but local dockworkers went on strike in protest during its stay.

Yonaguni and Ishigaki are approximately 70 miles and 160 miles east of Taiwan, respectively.

Camp Ishigaki opened with anti-ship and surface-to-air missiles in March 2023. Japan plans to install an upgraded version of its Type-12 surface-to-ship missile there and on two other islands by 2026 to counter perceived threats from China and North Korea.

The Ground Self-Defense Force established a surveillance station at Camp Yonaguni and held a training exercise with U.S. Marines on the island in February, The Washington Post reported in March.

Japanese Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada in April 2023 ordered a Patriot missile-defense system deployed there following reports that North Korea planned a satellite launch.

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