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Juniper is a nonprofit meditation school in which the wisdom and experience of the Tibetan meditation tradition are presented in a secular form, tailored to modern culture, knowledge, and sensibility. Founded by an impressive team that includes renowned Tibetan Buddhist master Segyu Rinpoche and former Pixar CFO Lawrence Levy (author of To Pixar and Beyond), Juniper was our San Francisco neighbor for several years and opened our eyes to how simple yet profound a regular meditation practice can be.
Below, we're sharing instructions for their introductory meditation; you can start with just five minutes. (Five minutes! You can do this.) Set a timer, and off you go.
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Juniper Meditation Instruction: Concentration Meditation
Use this simple practice for calming the mind and cultivating inner strength and growth. Follow the instructions below. Try not to judge your meditation. Just relax and do the best you can.
1. Sit in a comfortable posture, either on the floor or in a chair. Try to keep the spine straight, eyes gently closed. Place the right hand, palm up, on the left hand with the thumbs gently touching. Take a few calming breaths and relax any tension in your body.
2. Breathing normally, fix your mind on your breath, either at the tip of your nose or the rise and fall of your abdomen.
3. As your focus wanders from your breath, gently bring it back to the breath. Don't worry how much it wanders. Just gently bring it back.
4. When the timer ends, take a relaxing breath and bring your meditation to an end.