Eyes open, on purpose.

Hello, ,

There's a new practice up: Arriving in the Room. It's six minutes, your eyes stay open the whole time, and there's nothing to do with your breath. You sit in a chair and look around. (Any chair. The kitchen one is fine.)

I also wrote about why I start here and not with the breath. The short version: in one study of an eight-week mindfulness program, more than half of the participants reported at least one unwanted effect from meditating, and feeling anxious was among them. Looking around the room is a way to practice that doesn't ask you to go inward first.