Eckhart Tolle’s transformational books, including “The Power of Now” and “A New Earth” have introduced millions of readers to the enlightening meditation practice of being fully present. By cultivating awareness in each moment, we can move beyond the noisy mind and experience the deep peace that connects us to our true essence.
Eckhart Tolle’s teachings encourage us not to over-rely on formal meditation techniques. Bringing heightened consciousness to ordinary activities—washing dishes, brushing teeth, walking from room to room—is meditation. However, beginning with specific methods can help develop the witnessing presence that is foundational to Tolle’s philosophy.
Here we’ll explore meditation practices inspired by Eckhart Tolle’s wisdom that anyone can try:
Observing the Breath
Our breath is always with us, flowing in and out each moment. Tuning into the natural rhythm of breathing is a simple way to enter meditative presence.
Find a comfortable seated position, either on the floor or in a chair. Allow your eyes to gently close or keep them open with a softened gaze. Bring your awareness to the belly and chest rising as you inhale and falling as you exhale. Focus on the changing sensations of each in-breath and out-breath.
Thoughts will inevitably arise as you observe the breath. When the mind wanders, which it will, gently guide your attention back to the inhales and exhales. Don’t judge yourself. Return again and again to anchoring in the breath.
Imagine yourself as a detached watcher noticing the never-ending flow of breath. There’s no need to control it, just watch with open curiosity. This creates a state of inner quiet, stillness and being rather than thinking.
Noticing Bodily Sensations
Our bodies are always speaking to us through subtle or intense sensations if we pay close attention. Expand your meditation by bringing awareness to any feelings, tightness, tingling, pulsing, warmth or coolness within the body.
Slowly scan from head to toe, noticing areas of ease as well as discomfort without judgment or attachment. You may become aware of your clothing touching skin, the connection of body to chair, soft belly movements, twitching nerves, or emotions manifesting as physical feelings.
Noticing ever-changing bodily sensations engages you fully in the present moment. When thoughts pull you outwards, gently return focus to the living sensory realm of the body.
Opening to Sounds
Sounds are another ever-accessible doorway to anchor into the state of presence. Whether inside or outside, choose to really listen to the stream of sounds flowing by in each instant.
Without labeling sounds as pleasant or unpleasant, be receptive to the endless parade – nearby conversations, birds chirping, fingers tapping on a keyboard, cars passing. Receive sound as if you are hearing with fresh ears for the very first time.
As with the breath and body, when the mind gets caught up in thoughts, return to listening. You are learning to perceive with openness rather than filter experience through mental commentary.
Practicing Acceptance
A powerful Eckhart Tolle-inspired meditation and mindfulness technique is fully accepting exactly what this moment brings. We often unconsciously resist what is happening by wanting to push away painful feelings or cling to joyful ones.
Practice saying ‘yes’ to each experience as it unfolds. For example, notice when frustration or boredom arise. Say inwardly, “yes, this feeling is arising now.” Also accept moments of happiness, sadness, discomfort, and excitement—the full range of emotions.
Acceptance does not mean passivity or powerlessness. You are empowering presence by refusing to get entangled in rejecting or grasping thoughts. Say yes to receive this moment just as it is.
Observing Thoughts Come and Go
Central to Eckhart Tolle’s meditation teachings is the practice of disidentifying from the stream of thinking and stories our minds constantly generate. He suggests picturing thoughts as clouds passing through the vast sky of consciousness. They come and they go but need not define you.
As you sit quietly, you will notice an endless parade of mental chatter arising. Without engaging in or believing thoughts, watch them appear and disappear like short movies. See them as products of the thinking mind rather than absolute truth.
When you get caught up in a thought loop, gently bring attention back to the present moment. You are the space for thoughts, not defined by them. This develops your inner witness, able to observe but not be swept away.
Living in the Now
Eckhart Tolle continually reminds us not to stay lost in past memories or future plans but to wake up to the aliveness of now. Throughout the day, pause frequently to ask yourself, “Am I fully present or trapped in mental stories?”
When you notice yourself caught in thought worlds, briefly return attention to your body and breath. Feel your feet on the floor, the touch of fingers together. This reconnects you with the living now, out of the head and grounded in sensation.
Also, look around your environment as if for the first time. Appreciate colors, scents, sounds, and textures without analyzing. Curiosity about what is present keeps you engaged in now.
Sinking into Pure Being
Tolle teaches we can move beyond mindfulness into pure presence or being. After practicing detachment from thoughts through inner observation, see if you can set aside all effort and thinking and simply be.
Rather than watching the present, attempt to fully merge into it so observer and observed are one. Let go of focusing techniques, release attachment to sensations, emotions, or experiences, and sink into the power of now.
There may be no words to describe this silent union with the present moment. Rest in the spaciousness of your essential nature, beyond all definitions. Feel the peace and wholeness of Being.
Trying Guided Meditations
If you’re new to meditation, guided practices can provide helpful structure for settling the mind and sinking into presence. Eckhart Tolle offers many audio meditations that sequentially guide you through releasing thoughts, accepting now, disidentifying from thinking, and resting in stillness.
There are also excellent presence-focused meditations from teachers like Jon Kabat-Zinn available online and on apps. Experiment with different voices and be intuitive about which resonates most with you. Over time, you may rely less on guidance.
Heart-Centered Meditation
Somewhat contrasting Eckhart Tolle’s methods of cultivating inner stillness, practices like metta, or loving-kindness meditation engage the heart’s energetic fullness. This generates warm, tender emotions for yourself, loved ones, challenges, and all beings.
Silently repeat inspired phrases like “May you be happy. May you be healthy. May you be safe from harm.” Visualize someone you love and direct compassion their way. Feel care and concern radiating outward from your heart center.
While Eckhart Tolle emphasizes accepting “what is”, heart-centered meditation adds the dimension of actively sending loving intentions. This can enhance and complement presence.
Immersed in Nature
Being out in nature can have a profoundly meditative effect as sights, sounds, scents and energies of the natural world invite you to slow down and be fully present. Trees, rivers, mountains, animals and plants reconnect us.
Tolle suggests going for walks in nature as a way to enter stillness, escape mental noise and access deeper realms of being. Pay close attention to sensations. Allow nature’s aliveness to draw you into the now. Let thoughts drift by like passing clouds.
Stillness Within Daily Life
Eckhart Tolle continually reminds us we need not rely solely on seated meditation. We can cultivate presence and stillness amid daily activities by noticing when we become lost in thought and returning to the senses.
Washing dishes, showering, cooking, eating – make a practice of waking up to the sights, sounds, scents and feelings in mundane moments. Fully engage each activity instead of allowing the mind to wander in stories. Appreciate the textures, colors, movements happening now.
Look for opportunities to insert stillness throughout your day – pause before answering the phone, truly listen when someone is speaking, feel your feet walk or climb stairs. Mini moments of full presence keep you connected.
Exploring Arts Creatively
Creative activities like drawing, painting, writing, photography, dance, singing, playing an instrument lend themselves perfectly to cultivating meditative presence. We instinctively feel more in the flow and less trapped in thinking when expressing ourselves creatively.
Set a timer and sketch what you see without judgment. Move your body randomly to music. Scribble in a journal, whatever arises. Sing in the shower. These artful explorations engage senses and emotions, keeping you immersed in the now.
The Inner Body Meditation
A specific technique Eckhart Tolle teaches is the “inner body awareness meditation” which involves scanning your body for aliveness and letting your thinking mind settle. You contact the energy field within through direct sensation.
Begin by closing your eyes and taking a few deep breaths. Notice the belly and chest rising and falling. Bring attention inside your body. Appreciate the miraculous creative power that sustains your being.
Slowly scan for sensations—pulsing, tingling, warmth, coolness, tightness. Where specifically are you feeling these? Gradually move through the body from head to toe. Notice the hands, arms, back, torso, legs and feet. Sense into the bones, organs and skin. Appreciate every cell alive with energy.
You may feel distinct sensations in the head region – pressure, pulsing, itching. Allow the neck and shoulders to relax as you scan. See if you can detect subtle feelings in the joints, tendons and fingernails. Does your stomach feel warm or fluttering? Do the soles of the feet tingle?
Don’t judge sensations as good or bad, simply notice. If an area feels neutral, assume the energy is there supporting that part of you even if not currently perceived. Breathe into any discomfort. Visualize cells bathed in soothing energy.
As you deepen into body awareness, thoughts will arise. Gently return focus to sensation without following the thinking. You are anchoring in the aliveness underneath mental chatter.
When ready, gradually open your eyes and bring this energized feeling into your next activity. Walking and moving will feel different after connecting with your inner body. The present moment opens.
Conclusion
The meditative teachings of Eckhart Tolle provide accessible ways to cultivate transformative presence. Although he emphasizes that formal techniques are not mandatory, beginning with practices like mindfully observing the breath, bodily sensations, sounds, thoughts, and emotions can stabilize attention in the now. We learn to disidentify from the noisy mind and rest in pure being.
While Tolle’s methods point us to inner stillness through letting go of resistance and attachments, heart-centered practices can complement a presence practice with their emphasis on cultivating loving feelings and intentions. Spending time immersed in nature and bringing awareness to everyday activities also enhances our alignment with the now.
There is no single “right” way to meditate. Exploring a variety of Tolle-inspired techniques allows us to discover what resonates most naturally. With regular practice, we begin to realize that we are not our thoughts, but the spacious awareness that is capable of observing them. Gradually, we unveil our essential nature as conscious presence, at one with the evolutionary impulse of the universe.
The ultimate truth cannot be contained in concepts or words. Yet Tolle’s teachings serve as signposts guiding us into the illumined sanctuary of the present. Through meditation, we transcend the mind to know ourselves as eternal, free, complete beings.
