A 12-Minute Meditation to Find Stability Amid Change

In this meditation on impermanence, Aden Van Noppen reminds us that when the outside world feels overwhelming, we can often find inner calm by coming back to the breath. The post A 12-Minute Meditation to Find Stability Amid Change...

A 12-Minute Meditation to Find Stability Amid Change

In this meditation on impermanence, Aden Van Noppen reminds us that when the outside world feels overwhelming, we can often find inner calm by coming back to the breath.

By Aden Van Noppen June 23, 2022 Calm Adobe Stock/ carballo

We live in a world of constant change and this week, Aden Van Noppen invites us to find what roots us. Aden is the founder and executive director of Mobius, a collaboration between leading neuroscientists, meditation teachers, and technologists to work toward the creation of digital technology that enhances our individual and collective well-being. Aden is also one of the 10 powerful women of the mindfulness movement 2022, and here she guides a meditation on impermanence. 

A 12-Minute Meditation to Find Stability Amid Change

A 12-Minute Meditation to Find Stability Amid Change With Aden Van Noppen

Let’s begin with a little grounding. Gently move your attention to the place where you are most rooted to the Earth. Whether that’s the bottom of your feet or where your body rests on a chair or a cushion, take a moment to just rest your attention there. Feeling the rootedness. Feeling the ground, the floor, the chair, the cushion holding you, holding your weight, grounding you. Gently move your attention toward your breath. Take a relaxed breath, feeling the in- and out-breath like a wave. A wave of breath in and the wave as it moves out with your breath out. And just like the quality of a wave, it’s washing over you and through you. You don’t have to control it. In and out, without controlling it. And just like a wave, no two breaths are the same. And just like every moment, no two moments are the same. Let this breath be a reminder of impermanence. As you breathe in, you can gently say to yourself, “This breath.” Each moment, each breath is a chance to begin again. “This breath.” Just like a wave. As you take in your next breath, imagine the feeling of soaking up the nutrients of that breath, the life force of that breath, and with your out-breath, letting go. In—”Soaking up.” Out—”Letting go.” “Soaking up. Letting go.” Just as we do over and over in our lives. “Soaking up. Letting go. “ And combining them: “This breath. Letting go.” As we transition to close this meditation, gently move your attention away from the wave of your breath and back to the rootedness of your seat, of your feet, wherever your weight is held most by the ground. Even with the constant change, the moving in, the moving out, we always have this rootedness. It is always available to us, to remind us that we are held amid the change in our lives moment to moment. When you’re ready, you can bring your attention back into the room and gently open your eyes. Thank you for sitting with me.  

The Power of Sustainable Self-Care 

Shelly Tygielski explores how consistently showing up for yourself first lays the foundation for our life’s purpose—showing up for others—and how to create your own self-care practice. Read More 

Shelly Tygielski June 17, 2022

10 Powerful Women of the Mindfulness Movement: 2022 

In our fourth annual focus on women leaders of the mindfulness movement, ten women share what they’ve learned about living a life of meaning and purpose and how cultivating happiness fits into the equation. Read More 

Amber Tucker, Ava Whitney-Coulter, Kylee Ross, Oyinda Lagunju, and Stephanie Domet June 14, 2022

GROW YOUR MEDITATION PRACTICE

Get practices, tips, and special offers delivered straight to your inbox

About the author

Aden Van Noppen

Aden Van Noppen is the founder and co-director of Mobius, an organization dedicated to creating a more compassionate, accountable, and just tech ecosystem. She is an entrepreneur, community-weaver, and strategist, who, prior to Mobius, led bold efforts at the intersection of tech and justice in the Obama White House, Harvard Divinity School, and start-ups. She was also on the founding leadership team of The Sanctuaries, a racially, religiously, and economically diverse community in DC rooted in spirituality and the arts.

GROW YOUR MEDITATION PRACTICE

Get practices, tips, and special offers delivered straight to your inbox