Practice Library

Sunday recordings

81 sunday recordings in the Samadhi Practice Library, with guided instruction you can follow.

Samadhi's weekly Sunday session, open to everyone with no account needed. Each one is roughly half guided practice and half teaching, and ends with the questions people asked on the day.

• The Need for Greater Self-Compassion The session opens with a self-compassion practice: we recall a real difficulty, then offer ourselves the same kindness we would give a struggling friend, using phrases such as may
• Working with Moods In twenty minutes of mindfulness of breathing we count the breath down from seven to steady a busy mind, followed by a short contemplation on what you would like to offer yourself
• Three Habits for a Happier Life In the loving kindness practice we move outward from ourselves to a loved one, a stranger, a difficult person and finally all beings. David talks about three simple daily habits fo
• Dealing with Feelings of Regret In the meditation we use slow breathing and full body awareness to settle body and mind, releasing whatever is on your mind with each out breath. David talks about the difference b
• That was the River, This is the Sea In the gratitude meditation we move through the body, the home, our relationships and the natural world. David reflects on a Waterboys lyric, that was the river, this is the sea, a
• Overcoming Distraction in Daily Life In the shamatha meditation on the breath at the nostrils we use counting and the image of a cat watching a mouse hole to find the balance between alertness and ease. David talks ab
• Ryokan and the Moon The meditation is an inquiry into awareness itself, in which we release thoughts, feelings and sensations to rest in what remains when everything else is set aside. David tells the
• Attachment & Love in Relationships In the open awareness practice we move through the body, sound and the mind, meeting each with acceptance rather than resistance. David talks about the difference between Buddhist
• Return, Renew and Begin Again In mindfulness of breathing we watch the rise and fall of each breath and give the wandering monkey mind a job to do. Returning after a long break, David talks about the balance be
• Acceptance or Action? In the practice of open, non-reactive presence with the body, sound and mind we release any need to change what arises. Prompted by a question from a previous session, David talks
• Ask Yourself This Question Mindfulness of breathing at the nostrils, with counting to help steady a wandering mind. David suggests that instead of always asking what practice to add, we should ask what we ar
• Sitting with Emotion In the meditation we turn towards recent difficult emotions and moods, meeting them with a loving, non-judgmental presence rather than trying to fix them. Inspired by Sogyal Rinpoc
• Teaching & Meditation for the International Day of Peace 2025 David marks the International Day of Peace, a day for committing to peace above our differences. The loving kindness practice comes first, and we widen from ourselves to a loved on
• Hope In Difficult Times In the candle visualisation meditation we draw in the pain of the world as fuel that makes an inner light burn brighter, then breathe out compassion to push back the darkness. Davi
• Take a Step Back In mindfulness of breathing we settle into the body and then notice whether each in-breath and out-breath runs long or short. David uses the parable of the blind men and the elepha
• A Precious Human Life A contemplative meditation built on the Dalai Lama's reflection on waking gratefully to a precious human life. David talks about how rare and fleeting this human life is, one of th
• Catching Your Breath In the open awareness meditation we move attention through each sense in turn, sight, sound and the movements of the mind, resting with bare, non-reactive attention on whatever ari
• Habits, Labels and Transformation In the meditation we rest the mind like an open sky, watching thoughts and emotions pass through it like clouds without becoming them. David talks about how labelling ourselves as
• Comparison is the Thief of Joy A meditation on mindfulness of breathing, following the Buddha's instructions to know whether each breath is long or short, then to experience the whole body and let it settle and
• Random Acts of Kindness In the loving kindness meditation we extend the wish for genuine wellbeing from ourselves outward to a loved one, a stranger and finally someone we find difficult. David talks abou
• Do You Need To Be Right? The session opens with a loving kindness style meditation in which we rest attention on bodily sensations, sounds and sight without preference, softening tension and holding the wh
• Our Essential Nature is Basic Goodness In this meditation we imagine the mind as a clear, spacious sky, with each thought, memory or emotion arising and passing like a cloud, observed without getting drawn in. David tal
• Training the Monkey Mind David returns to shamatha, calm abiding meditation, using the image of a monkey mind jumping from thought to thought that must be gently, patiently returned to the breath rather th
• Reigniting our Practice The meditation follows the Buddha's instructions to Bahiya: in the seen let there be only the seen, in the heard only the heard, as we rest in bare awareness of body, sight, sound
• The Buddha's Message The session opens with a mindfulness of breathing meditation, in which we rest attention on the whole body as it breathes, with a gentle count from one to seven to hold it when the
• Reflecting on the Last Year In the guided reflection meditation for the final session of the year we settle first into the body and its sensations, then look back gently over the year's joys and struggles wit
• The Power of Nature In this body based meditation we bear loving witness to sensation, sound, sight and mental activity with no agenda, letting attention settle wherever it lands. David talks about th
• Relax & Go Easy On Yourself A settling meditation that moves from the body into gratitude for the day ahead, then into setting a simple intention for how to show up. David talks about the pressure practitione
• Building Resilience In the visualisation meditation we imagine a pure white light at the centre of the chest expanding to fill the body, representing our own goodness and Buddha nature. David answers
• Two Monks Cross a River A sky gazing meditation in which thoughts and feelings are observed passing like clouds through the open space of the mind, without being identified with or held onto. David tells
• Harvesting Negativity from Daily Life Mindfulness of breathing at the belly, with counting offered as a way to keep continuity of attention when the mind wanders or grows dull. David tells the parable of two neighbours
• Good? Bad? Who Knows? In the subtle mindfulness of breathing practice we track the sensation of air at the nostrils and sharpen attention with each in breath while relaxing further with each out breath.
• Radical Acceptance In this meditation we rest attention lightly in present moment experience across all five senses, without labelling or elaborating on what arises. David reads a passage on living p
• How Caring for Others Enhances Wellbeing A classic mindfulness of breathing practice at the belly, with counting offered as an aid to sustained attention. David reflects on Shantideva's teaching that self-centredness is t
• Unconditional Love for Friends, Strangers & Enemies In the sky gazing meditation we observe thoughts and feelings as clouds passing through the open space of awareness, without judging or identifying with them. For Easter, David tal
• Open Presence In the practice called open presence we move in turn through the body, sight, sound and mind before opening to all six equally, witnessing whatever arises without following or anal
• A Helpful Alternative to Guilt & Shame Mindfulness of breathing at the belly, practised with eyes at least partially open, with counting available for those who find it helpful. David addresses guilt from a Buddhist per
• Gratitude & Appreciation The meditation is a gratitude practice: we begin with the breath and the heartbeat before widening out to the room, the home and the people we are grateful for. David explains why
• Reducing Attachment Whilst Still Enjoying Hedonic Happiness In the body scan meditation, good for relaxation and well suited to lying down, we move attention slowly through the whole body. David talks about the difference between worldly ha
• Choose Compassion In the meditation on the four immeasurables, built from loving kindness, we extend first to ourselves, then to someone we love, someone neutral and someone we find difficult, each
• The Four-Fold Vision Quest A visionary loving kindness meditation built around four questions: what your own flourishing would look like, what you need from the world to get there, how you would love to chan
• Taking Our Practice One Step at a Time The session opens with a short mindfulness of breathing to settle the mind, before David guides a visualisation of a glowing white orb at the heart centre, inviting you to meditate
• Recognising The Kindness of All Sentient Beings In mindfulness of breathing at the abdomen we count each in-breath from one to seven, with guidance for a wandering mind or a dull, sinking one. David leads a contemplation on the
• Interdependence in Difficult Circumstances In the body scan we move attention through the whole body, before David talks about interdependence, using the familiar image of a cup of coffee and the vast, uncountable web of pe
• Harvesting Joy and Simplifying Life A meditation called Harvesting Joy, in which we cycle through the five senses to notice small, ordinary delights in touch, sight, sound, smell and taste. David explains that this i
• A Candle in Darkness - Compassion in the World In the compassion meditation we use the image of ourselves as a candle: we breathe in strength for the flame using empathy for the world's suffering, then breathe out the wish that
• Our Need to Be Liked & Approved Of In the meditation on the sky-like nature of mind we watch thoughts arise and pass like clouds while resting in the clear, spacious awareness beneath them. David talks about our nee
• Body of Light Meditation A body of light visualisation: a small, formless white light at the heart centre gradually expands until the whole body, organs and all, dissolves into transparent, luminous space.
• Judging and Trying to Fix Others In the meditation we watch the mind with the eyes open, observing thoughts arise and pass like clouds in the sky or passers-by in the street, without following after them. David ta
• Simplifying Our Activities and Closing The Tabs In this twenty minute meditation we move through the four elements in the body, then open to sight and sound before resting in a single open awareness of everything at once. David
• Reflecting Before Acting In this settling meditation we move attention through touch, sight and sound before resting in open awareness, the stillness David describes as the doorway to wisdom and compassion
• Being 'Intelligently Selfish' & Tonglen In the tonglen practice of sending and receiving we breathe in a loved one's pain as dark smoke that dissolves at a point of light in the heart, then breathe out comfort and good q
• Cultivating Joy We settle into stillness with an open awareness meditation, before turning to a recent moment of real joy, wishing that same happiness for every being and extending empathetic joy
• Reflecting On Our Impermanence The session opens with a short breathing meditation to settle the body, before we turn attention to how even the most solid seeming sensations are constantly changing. Prompted by
• Open Presence & Not Identifying With Our Thoughts In a practice of open presence we move through touch, sight and sound before turning to the mind itself, watching thoughts, memories and emotions arise and pass without identifying
• The Six Paramitas - Wisdom (Prajñā) In this questioning meditation we examine the body itself, asking whether contact with a chair or the outline we call our body holds anything genuinely solid or permanent. In the f
• The Six Paramitas - Mental Stability (Samadhi/Concentration) In this mindfulness of breathing practice we follow the rhythmic sensations of breath throughout the body, with a gentle count to seven offered as a way to hold concentration. Davi
• The Six Paramitas - Enthusiastic Perseverance A fourfold vision quest puts four questions to us in turn: what would bring genuine flourishing, what we would want to receive from the world, how we would love to transform, and w
• The Six Paramitas - Protecting Our Practice (Ethical Discipline) In this mahamudra style meditation we visualise the mind as a clear sky and each thought or emotion as a cloud passing through it, observed rather than followed. David turns to the
• The Six Paramitas - Patient Acceptance After counting the breath to settle the mind, you bring to mind a scenario that regularly frustrates you and meet it with understanding, acceptance and fortitude rather than resist
• The Six Paramitas - Generosity In this visualisation we walk through an ordinary day and imagine bringing generosity into it: giving materially, giving time or expertise, offering a kind word. David opens a six
• Cultivating Wholesome Emotions The session opens with a body scan to settle the room into stillness, before we rest attention on the breath, with counting to hold focus for the twenty minute practice. David talk
• Failure and Guilt The meditation this week is soothing and relaxing: we ease tension through a body scan before settling attention at the nostrils with a count to seven. David turns to failure and g
• Letting Go of Our Expectations This week's meditation is an inquiry practice: we move through the body's earth, water, fire and air elements, asking whether any sensation is stable, pleasant or truly ours. David
• Acceptance and Seeing Life As Like a River Five slow breaths and a body scan lead into open awareness, where we welcome whatever arises, sound, sensation or thought, without labelling it good or bad. David develops the imag
• Responding to Bad News or a Difficulty Slow, extended exhales calm the body before we open into stillness, inviting in a current difficulty and meeting it with resilience rather than resistance. David talks about how to
• Self-Cherishing vs Cherishing Others In the classic loving kindness practice we move from ourself to someone loved, someone neutral and someone we find difficult. David talks about self-cherishing, the mind's habit of
• Awakening the Being Mind and Natural Intuition In this meditation you bring a real, unresolved difficulty into stillness rather than think it over, examining where it registers in the body and what beliefs surround it, with a q
• Anger-Eating Demon The meditation is a gratitude practice: we picture sunrise and settle into appreciation for the breath, the body, the mind and the people around us, closing with a few spoken affir
• The Mirror-Like Mind and Five Obscurations The practice is a full loving kindness meditation: we extend from ourself through someone loved, someone neutral and someone difficult, out to all beings. David talks about the min
• Aversion in Response to Tragedy In the meditation we return to relaxation, noticing what changes in the body with each in and out breath, counting for focus, and closing with gratitude for this life. Responding t
• Is it a Duck or a Chicken? We settle our attention on the in-breath and the out-breath, using counting to steady a distracted mind, before resting in the spaciousness that follows. David tells Ajahn Brahm's
• Holding On To Our Perceptions We open awareness to all five senses before narrowing to examine the feelings, pleasant, unpleasant or neutral, that arise with sounds and bodily sensations, asking whether they ar
• Making Meditation a Simple Priority We settle into stillness with a body scan, before resting our attention on the natural breath, with counting to seven offered for those who find it helpful. David talks about makin
• Being Ok With Being Uncomfortable The body settles into contact with the ground before we rest attention on the changing sensations of each in breath and out breath, with counting offered for those who want to stea
• Working Through a Challenge or Question In Our Life After settling the breath and counting twenty-one rounds, you choose one live challenge and hold it in body awareness rather than fix it straight away. David guides an investigatio
• Tong-Len and Loving-Kindness A Tonglen visualisation: a radiant orb of light at the heart absorbs the suffering of yourself, then loved ones, then the wider world on each in breath, and breathes out loving kin
• Interconnectedness, Self and Other, Loving-Kindness We settle whole body awareness into the natural rhythm of the breath, with counting offered to steady a busy mind until it clears like a lake settling after a storm. David tells th
• The Good Nun and the Patchy Robe In mindfulness of breathing at the nostrils we keep the eyes soft rather than straining to visualise the breath, with counting to seven offered as a steadying aid. David tells the
• Why Do We Feel The Need To Control Everything? In a vipassana practice on the feelings arising with the five senses, eyes held partly open, we examine whether a sound or sensation is pleasant, unpleasant or neutral, and whether
• Can We Have a Choice in How Our Emotions Play Out? We rest in stillness with the breath, noticing any restlessness or urge to be busy and gently returning attention to the body's natural calm. David sets out the five stage timeline