Christopher introduces the Eight R's of meditation, as taught by Lorin Roche, a mentor of theirs: what your mind, body and nervous system are doing as you sit. The cycle begins with an urge to relax, which leads to releasing, a natural replaying of the day, and then repairing and restoring as your nervous system adjusts. For the first 5 to 10 minutes, almost everyone spends nearly all their time in this cycle.
'These are the things that your mind is doing.'
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More from the course
The Golden Thought: Celebrate the Moment You Notice You Drifted
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The Photographer and the Loon: Why We Keep Showing Up to Meditate
1:41
The 5 Koshas: Why Each Layer of You Moves at Its Own Speed
1:29
Questions people ask
What are the Eight R's of meditation?
The Eight R's, as taught by Lorin Roche, are a map of what your mind, body and nervous system do when you sit: relax, release, replay, repair, restore, remember, rehearse and rest. Christopher explains that this cycle goes around and around repeatedly, for quite some time, until it has been kind of used up.
What happens when you relax, release and replay?
Christopher starts at 3 o'clock on the circle. You have an urge to relax, so you sit down and make yourself comfortable. Relaxing lets your nervous system release what has gone before, such as tension or worries. That leads to a natural replaying of the day, which gives your nervous system a chance to adjust, to repair and to restore.
Why are my first minutes of meditation full of thoughts?
Christopher says that for the first 5 to 10 minutes of a sit, for basically everybody, and perhaps for the first few months if you are new, you spend almost all your time in this cycle. That is the Eight R's at work. The Eight R's of Meditation walks through the whole circle.