Mindful Meditation

Perhaps the most common mindfulness meditation is one that teaches you to do this by sitting in a comfortable position, on a chair or on the floor, with your back straight and your eyes closed, and focusing on your breath. In addition to this type of practice, Daniel Siegel, M.D., points out that yoga, qi gong, tai chi, and the Christian practice of centered prayer are also forms of mind­fulness meditation.

Over a number of years, I experimented with various medita­tion techniques I learned in classes and seminars or from books, and I called upon them in times of frustration, personal crisis, or pain. Three years ago I began a consistent practice of mindfulness meditation by focusing on my breath, and now I practice that four or five times a week.

In later posts, I’ll share with you more precise instructions for mindfulness meditations. For now, as you think about the idea of beginning to practice a type of mindfulness meditation, it’s impor­tant to know that closing your eyes and focusing on your breath doesn’t mean that the activity of your mind will suddenly stop. It can feel awkward and challenging not to judge yourself for the men­tal chatter that continually arises, but I’ve learned that as long as I keep returning my attention to the breath, gradually a sense of calmness and an ability to focus on being in the present will appear.

Not holding on to thoughts and not judging yourself for having thoughts is the practice, because dissolving thoughts and judgments and using your intention to return your attention to the breath in the present moment is being mindful.

You don’t need to practice mindfulness meditation to develop mindfulness, however. You can practice and develop mindfulness just by doing everyday things mindfully.⁷ This means, for any activ­ity you do, being present with curiosity, openness, acceptance, and love; experiencing the activity moment to moment, without seizing and holding on to whatever judgments, expectations, memories, and other thoughts pass through your mind.

When you do this, you’re not only having a mindful experience of that activity, you’re practicing mindfulness, which will help you develop the trait of being mindful in your everyday life instead of acting on automatic pilot. You can change a child’s diaper mind­fully, hang up clothes in your closet mindfully, prepare a meal mindfully, vacuum or dust the house mindfully, exercise mindfully, do a creative activity mindfully. You can do any activity mindfully just by being present for it, not holding on to your mental chatter but instead intentionally focusing your mind on the present to be in the moment, experiencing the activity.

An excerpt from my recent book, Your Mind Is What Your Brain Does for a Living, now available at Amazon.

 
photo credit: khalid almasoud via photopin cc