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; below that, you'll find a link to a meditation packet and video for techniques specifically designed to help us all manage with calmer, more resilient minds during the COVID-19 pandemic.

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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.

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Meditations for Coping with Coronavirus

We're grateful that the Juniper team has put together a set of meditations designed to help us all manage the stress that comes with the uncertainty and upheaval of this particular moment. You can find the packet here:

https://www.juniperpath.org/static/pdf/Juniper_Coronavirus_Meditations.pdf

For those who appreciate additional guidance, Segyu Rinpoche has prepared a video in which he leads you through all four of the meditations, which you'll find here.

Many thanks to our friends at Juniper for sharing their knowledge with us. To learn more and access additional meditation resources from them, visit juniperpath.org.

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Want to try another guided meditation experience? Check out our Sea Soak, which comes with two meditations to choose from. Its giant kelp was harvested from the same waters in the photograph above.