A Grounded Eyes-Open Meditation With Susan Piver

Your meditation doesn’t need better willpower, a quieter mind, or a more “spiritual” seat on the floor. With renowned meditation teacher Susan Piver, we practice a clear, grounded approach to mindfulness meditation that starts where your body already is: feeling your weight land, sitting upright with dignity, softening the belly, and letting the jaw and shoulders finally unclench. If you’ve ever wondered whether a chair “counts,” you’ll love her reminder that it does.We also explore eyes-open meditation in a way that feels surprisingly gentle. Susan shares how to cast the gaze down, let vision mix with space, and stop turning attention into a hard stare. From there we move into breath awareness without breath control, and a key insight that changes everything for overthinkers: don’t just notice the breath, feel it as expansion and letting go.Then we get honest about thoughts. Thinking isn’t the enemy, and spacing out isn’t failure. When you catch yourself lost in a storyline, you silently label “thinking,” let go, and return. The best part: you get infinite fresh starts. We close with a behind-the-scenes conversation on teaching meditation, timing silence, and adjusting pacing online or in a room by reading the group’s energy with humility.Subscribe for more practical mindfulness, share this with a friend who wants a simpler practice, and leave a review. What helps you most right now: more guidance or more silence?BECOME A CERTIFIED MINDFULNESS MEDITATION TEACHER Teach mindfulness with confidence and skill — without self-doubt, fear of judgment, or imposter syndrome. Our internationally accredited certification is for therapists, coaches, yoga teachers, educators, and helping professionals. Accredited by the IMMA and CPD; endorsed by Gabor Maté and Rick Hanson. → https://mindfulnessexercises.com/certification/NEW HERE? START FREE Explore 3,000+ free guided meditations, scripts, and worksheets — for your own practice or to share with the people you teach. → https://mindfulnessexercises.com/free-mindfulness-exercises/ENJOYING THE PODCAST? Follow the show in your favorite app and leave a quick rating or review. It takes a moment, and it genuinely helps more teachers and practitioners find these conversations.———————————————————————————ABOUT THE SHOWMindfulness Exercises with Sean Fargo is a practical, grounded mindfulness podcast for people who want meditation to actually help in real life.Hosted by Sean Fargo — a former Buddhist monk, mindfulness teacher, and founder of MindfulnessExercises.com — the show explores how mindfulness can support mental health, emotional regulation, trauma sensitivity, chronic pain, leadership, creativity, and meaningful work.Each episode offers a mix o...