Relaxing Into Freedom
Learn the Six Rs — a simple, unconventional, and highly effective technique that supercharges meditation practice by transforming how you relate to distractions, making practice easier, more sustainable, and even fun, whether you’re brand new to meditation or a seasoned practitioner, applicable to any meditation style whatsoever.
Introduction: A Technique That Supercharged My Practice
Meet Gary Sanders, a teacher in the lineage of rebel Buddhist teacher Ruth Denison, as he introduces the Six Rs — a technique he discovered from American monk Bhante Vimalaramsi that completely aligned with his practice and took it to another level, emphasizing that you don’t need to memorize all six steps in order (just 2-3 key ones) and that this unconventional yet highly effective approach really works firsthand.
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Introduction: A Technique That Supercharged My Practice
Meet Gary Sanders, a teacher in the lineage of rebel Buddhist teacher Ruth Denison, as he introduces the Six Rs — a technique he discovered from American monk Bhante Vimalaramsi that completely aligned with his practice and took it to another level, emphasizing that you don’t need to memorize all six steps in order (just 2-3 key ones) and that this unconventional yet highly effective approach really works firsthand.
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The Six Rs Explained: Changing Your Relationship to Distraction:
Discover the complete Six Rs technique — Recognize (when distracted), Release (the mind’s attention without taking it personally), Relax (body and mind into expansion), re-Smile (at all distractions with Buddha’s serene smile), Return (to your meditation object), and Repeat (with every distraction) — learning that mindfulness isn’t about emptying your mind or blocking thoughts but changing your relationship to them, and understanding that when you smile at every distraction instead of yanking yourself back harshly, you transform practice into something fun, pleasurable, and sustainable where there are no longer “bad” meditation sessions.
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Guided Practice: Metta with the Six Rs
Experience a trauma-informed guided loving-kindness (metta) meditation where you choose whether to close your eyes or find a visual anchor, relax your entire body from face to toes, offer yourself the phrases “May I be happy, may I be well, may I be peaceful,” practice the Six Rs with every distraction (especially relaxing and smiling), extend loving-kindness to a loved one who’s struggling, and radiate metta to all beings everywhere — discovering how smiling at “the absurdity that arises” becomes a strong indicator of deepening practice.
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Integration: Taking the Six Rs Into Daily Life
Receive encouragement that the Six Rs work beyond the cushion in everyday situations like traffic frustration — simply release, relax, smile, and return to the present moment without hating the person playing “Pole Position” in front of you — with reminders that loving-kindness practice combined with the Six Rs brings profound freedom and healing, resources for further exploration (Google “Six Rs meditation” or “Bhante Vimalaramsi”), and an offering of all benefits from practice to all beings everywhere so they may be free.
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