In this episode of Meditate Year, the host introduces a short guided Anapana (breath‑focused) meditation while reflecting on the theme of patience, especially in the context of the COVID‑19 pandemic. He muses on how awareness of mortality drives urgency, whereas imagined immortality might foster greater kindness and presence. Drawing from his own two‑hour daily meditation practice, he emphasizes the need to be "patient but persistent" and encourages listeners to apply this mindset to their own practice. After a brief acknowledgment of the background music by his friend Ranjit and thanks to video director Ulla, he leads the meditation: sitting upright, locating the breath at the nose, using slightly stronger breaths to re‑anchor attention when the mind wanders, and gently returning focus. He concludes with a gratitude segment, inviting listeners to appreciate everyday contributors (food providers, cleaners, officials) and to send positive thoughts to them. The video ends with thanks to the audience, a request for comments and likes, and well‑wishes for the coming week.
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Hey everyone, welcome back to another week of Meditate Year. We're trying to keep with the video version of meditation. Hopefully this resonates with folks. I really enjoyed making the last one, and I think it's a nice format to get a little bit more intimate and more connected versus just being being purely audio. So this week it's going to be just another quick meditation. But before we get started, I wanted to just talk a little bit quickly about a concept that I often think about, which is patience. As I'm sure all of you are experiencing COVID in different ways, It's definitely a time for, for patience. The things that we hope would be ready and that we could accomplish and do obviously have changed. And, and, you know, we can feel this like rush to like want to get stuff done and to accomplish what we had desired. But this at the same time is an awesome moment in time where we can think about how we can be patient and how can we adapt ourselves to the situation and utilize time in a different way. I definitely think about it a lot in my own life. I was pondering on the question of, you know, if we could live forever, how would we live differently? And made me think that we would actually be kinder to one another. But because we know that we're going to die, we're the only species on the planet that knows that we're going to die. But because we know that, We rush to get things done instead of being patient. And if we knew that we were going to live forever instead, we would, or never have no idea that we were going to die. We might actually be inclined to take our time to do things, to experience life, to be there for our friends and family. Like, oh, I'll give a year to my life, like helping a friend because we had no concept that we would ever die. Right. And In that process, we would be more present for those around us, more present in our own life. And so I think about patience a lot. I try to incorporate that lesson from meditation. Meditation is a practice of patience. I've been sitting and meditating every day for 2 hours for a long time now. And some days my practice is so bad. So bad in the way I think, you know, you would typically think about it. And I just have to have patience that this is going to grow and develop in its own time. Um, so definitely, hopefully this is something you'll think about in your own practice. I'm sure your own practice, you know, wanes and, and comes in and out, wanes and waxes, wanes and waxes. Um, so just Be patient with yourself. Patient but persistent. That's what, uh, my teacher would always tell me— be patient but persistent. So, um, all right, with that, uh, we'll get into our meditation. Thank you so much. Hopefully if you're enjoying the music, um, it's a cousin friend, his, uh, live set, uh, I'm playing in the background. His name is Ranjit. I'm gonna link his music in the description below, so definitely check it out. And thank you again for tuning in for another week of Meditate Year. Much appreciation to you for sitting in for yourself and for you to join me. I really, really appreciate that. So let's get to it. I'm gonna lower the music a little. Okay, so we get started. Sit up straight, guys. Give yourself a good shake in a comfortable place. Focus on your breath in this triangular area coming in and out of your nose. Try to feel the sensation of your breath coming in and out of your nose. Catch the exact location where you feel that breath. And keep your attention there. That's it. Try to locate exactly where your breath is coming in and out of your nose and keep your attention just there. Your mind wanders, no problem. That happens to all of us. Just gently bring it back to the sensation of your breath coming in and going out, coming in and going out. If your mind has wandered, or if you're having a hard time focusing your mental attention on your breath, for a few breaths, for a few breaths, just breathe a little bit harder, a little bit more force from your nose, in and out, just with a little bit more force. Once you do that for a few breaths, you should be able to catch the exact spot where your breath is coming in and out. Should help calm your mind a bit. And once you do, go back to your normal breath while keeping your attention on the exact spot you felt your breath. Nice job, everyone. Keep it up. Be patient but persistent. We're almost done, guys. Leaves a past behind. And start again. Start on this next breath, just focusing on it coming in and out. Let the past behind— let the past go. Just focus on your next breath. That's it. Nice job, everyone. Before you open your eyes, let's just take a moment together to think about some of the things we're grateful for. Gratitude is just a nice way to fill our minds with positive thoughts. And even during tough times, there's many things we can be grateful for. The food we're eating, the people who brought that food to us, who cooked it or even brought it to a grocery store. Maybe the people who take care of the building you live in, the garbage man, the recyclers, government officials. Whatever, whoever they may be. Just try to be thankful. Our family, our friends, so many people. So have some gratitude for them. Send some positive thoughts their way. Big gratitude for Ranjit for this amazing music. Wow, it's awesome. And thank you to all of you. I appreciate you guys joining in. To our video director Ulla behind the camera. Thanks guys. Hopefully all of you are well. Please leave a comment, like the video, or just let me know what you think about this new format. So till next week, have a great day. And a great week ahead, and sending much love to everyone. Thanks, guys.
