The most fundamental harm we can do to ourselves is to remain ignorant by not having the courage and the respect to look at ourselves honestly and gently

— Pema Chodron

An introduction to mindfulness meditation

Submitted by RagsToRich on Mon, 2009-11-23 09:15

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Mindfulness meditation, or awareness meditation, is in my opinion the purest form of meditation. It is a way of liberating a confusing internal reality of endless mental clutter, and a way of experiencing a rich moment in all it’s phenomenological glory. As a regular habit done for small periods in the day it is one of the most beneficial ways which anyone can spend their time; on top of that a regular formal meditation sitting practice has numerous valuable benefits.

The basic form of mindfulness meditation has no taint of new-age invention or commercialism. It is a kind of meditation which has been practiced for many thousands of years; pre-dating all major religions. It is the type of meditation practiced by Buddha when gaining enlightenment and is thus the primary enlightenment practice of Zen Buddhism.

"Mindfulness is non-judgmental observation. It is that ability of the mind to observe without criticism. With this ability, one sees things without condemnation or judgment. One is surprised by nothing. One simply takes a balanced interest in things exactly as they are in their natural states. One does not decide and does not judge. One just observes. "

– Ven. Henepola Gunaratana

There are many immediate and long term benefits from mindfulness meditation such as a greater awareness of ones feelings in the body, a richer experience of reality, being put more in touch with what is real, an ability to recognise ones own thought processes, will-power, emotional tolerance, pain tolerance, satisfaction, happiness, relaxation, and the list goes on.

Mindfulness is also a great place for someone interested in meditation to begin because the practice is so pure and the mental abilities developed in mindfulness can be later applied to any other form of meditation. The skills developed from mindfulness meditation are universially applicable to all other forms of meditation, this includes: awareness, the ability to clear the mind, focus, breathing, sitting still comfortably and so on.

There are two types of mindfulness practice – formal and informal. Formal practice means that you set aside a minimum time for meditation, and then formally meditate in a quiet prepared place. Informal practice means you are actually engaging in mindfulness activity just throughout your normal day to day life – so informal practice can actually be engaged in at varying levels every waking moment of the day.

The Mindfulness Practice

I recommend beginning with a very simple formal practice of only 10 minutes or so a day. It is very important that you associate your practice with a positive experience, so attempting a long haul 2 hour session right from the get-go could prove counter-productive in the long run. It is also important to take enjoyment in your practice. Habits are easily created from things which you take pleasure in.

It is, however, prudent to set a minimum time for your formal meditation session. Otherwise you may find yourself completely distracted after only a few minutes – already looking for some new shiny object to occupy our short modern attention spans. The temptation to get up and do something else may become strong, so setting a minimum time helps remind yourself that you have commited to sit for at least this period.

Find a relatively quiet peaceful place. You can be in any position that is comfortable. I recommend starting off sitting down on a chair with a straight back and with your feet planted flat on the floor. Your arms can rest in whatever position is comfortable, just choose one and stick with it throughout your meditation. You can even perform this meditation lying down or standing up, but I wouldn’t recommend either until you have had some experience with the process.

Mindfulness can be done with the eyes open or closed. Personally I prefer open because it ensures you stay awake and for me it’s more comfortable – but if you find visuals too distracting then eyes closed can be done. The mouth likewise can be left hanging over or closed comfortably – just do what feels right.

Breathing is usually recommended to be in through the nose and out through the mouth – taking deep slow breaths into the lower abdomen. However I personally do not concentrate much on the method of my breath, I just let it happen.

You begin by focusing lightly on a sensation. This is typically recommended to be the tip of the nostril as the breath leaves and enters the body – but it can be anything you choose. Personally I use the general sensations of the body – the feelings inside my stomach and chest, the beating of my heart, the touch of the chair on my back, the warmth of my skin, etc.

Allow yourself to be in the present moment. If a thought arises, let it go. Let all thoughts go. If they come, then they come, but then you let them go and return to your breath.

In mindfulness this focus is said to be shallow – which means you should not typically feel as if you are concentrating hard. The shallow focus is used merely as a means of staying in touch with the present moment.

Every time the mind wanders, and it will wander like crazy at first, you return your shallow focus to the breath (or whatever object you chose). So as you find yourself thinking about work, or your family, or whatever concerns and worries perpetually harass your mind you should recognise those thoughts for what they are – do not judge them, but just leave them and return your focus to the present moment.

You may experience all kinds of strange phenomena while meditating – bright lights, warm fuzzy feelings, deep primal feelings, it’s a very fascinating experience and the only way to being to understand these things is to try them yourself.

One of the most important things in mindfulness practice, as with anything, is to trust yourself and your own intuition. You will feel if something is right or wrong and nine times out of ten you can have faith in that intuition.

I recommend performing your practice at least 5 days a week, and gradually increasing the time you spend with your formal practice until it’s greater than 45 minutes. The benefits you will experience in only a couple of months will be numerous and noticeable. In my opinion there are few ways more comprehensively valuable of spending your time than a mindfulness practice.

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