Read pages 1-5 of the Basic Method of Meditation, which are the official instructions for the course.
In Week 1 you learnt how to prepare your mind and posture for meditation, and the three stages of Ajahn Brahm's method of meditation. The goal this week is to meditate daily for 15 minutes.
Here's a reminder of the brief, but powerful breath exercise we did in the class.
Sit in any posture that allows you to be alert and relaxed at the same time, whatever that means to you. You may keep your eyes open or closed. Let us take three breaths. In the first breath, bring gentle but intense attention to the process of breathing. In the second breath, calm the body. In the third breath, bring up joy. If necessary, bring up a smile or a half smile, whatever the words half smile mean to you. If any joy arises, bring full attention to it. If you like, repeat this three-breaths practice a few more times.
-- Chade Meng Tan, Joy on Demand
This is a fast (3 breaths take between 15-30 seconds), but powerful exercise which you can use to start your meditation, and also when you first move your attention to the breath. It tunes your awareness to the in-breath and out-breath, resets your posture, and orients you towards feelings of joy. This feeling of joy can become intrinsically motivating, making your daily meditation a pleasurable experience that you enjoy, and look forward to.
Use the guided meditation for at least the first 3 days this week. Find your relaxed, alert posture as you listen to Ajahn Brahm's brief introduction. He will then guide you through stage 1 (sustained attention on the present moment) and stage 2 (silent awareness of the present moment). I've added instructions for counting breaths in groups of 9, which is a way to stabilse attention on the breath when you reach stage 3 (silent present moment awareness of the breath). Once you become comfortable with this routine, you can try it without the guidance if you prefer.
The meditation this week is still quite short, but try to spend a least the last few minutes at stage 3 - silent present moment awareness of the breath.
Here's Ajahn Brahm's advice on how to invite the breath, after preparing the mind
and how to go about watching your breath
If you meditate without guidance, you can time the meditation using a phone, or an ordinary clock or watch (open your eyes briefly to check the time but remember Ajahn Brahm's advice regarding clock watching).
The goal [...] is to develop a regular meditation practice. Put all your effort into forming and holding a conscious intention to sit down and meditate for a set period every day, and to practice diligently for the duration of the sit. When your intentions are clear and strong, the appropriate actions naturally follow, and you’ll find yourself regularly sitting down to meditate. If this doesn’t happen, rather than chastising yourself and trying to force yourself to practice, work on strengthening your motivation and intentions instead.
-- The Mind Illuminated, A Complete Meditation Guide
Often with meditation there will be some hard work at the beginning, but be willing to bear that hard work knowing that it will lead you to experience some very beautiful and meaningful states. They will be well worth the effort! It is a law of nature that without effort one does not make progress. Whether one is a layperson or a monk, without effort one gets nowhere, in meditation or in anything.
-- Ajahn Brahm, The Basic Method of Meditation
This week we introduced breath counting to help you with stage 3, silent present moment awareness of the breath. Ajahn Brahm has something to say about this:
His technique is more complicated than we need, so stick to counting 9 breaths as per the guided meditation.
The guided meditations in the course may not explicitly include an instruction to invite the breath (stage 3), so just use your own judgement to know when the time is right. Here's Ajahn Brahm's advice on when and how to watch the breath: