Mindfulness is always now. It may sound trite, but it’s true. The reality of your life is always now and to realize this, and experience it, can be liberating. But, we spend most of our lives forgetting this truth—running from it, repudiating it. We somehow manage to avoid being happy while struggling to become happy. We chase one desire after another, ignoring our fears, grasping at pleasure and seeking to avoid pain. It consumes our every waking moment. We fail to appreciate what we have until we’ve lost it. We crave experiences, material objects, relationships, only to become unsatisfied or bored with them. Mindful meditation practice is a means of connecting with now, which is perhaps the most effective remedy at our disposal for all this chasing and grasping. Whether you’re new to or looking to improve your mindfulness meditation practice, this article aims to serve as a guide.
“Mindfulness is like that—it is the miracle which can call back in a flash our dispersed mind and restore it to wholeness so that we can live each minute of life.”
― Thich Nhat Hanh
Vipassana meditation: A starting point for mindfulness meditation practice
Many spiritual traditions ask us to adopt unfounded ideas about the nature of reality. But not all paths require any unwarranted assumptions at all. For beginners, the recommended mindfulness technique is called vipassana meditation (Pali for ‘insight’), which derives from the oldest tradition of Buddhism, Theravada.
One of the advantages of vipassana is that it can be taught in an entirely secular manner—it requires no spiritual or religious beliefs. Experts in this practice generally acquire their training in a Buddhist context, with its associated Buddhist philosophy, but this technique can be taught in a completely scientific and secular manner. This is why so many psychologists and neuroscientists study vipassana practices.
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Neuroscientist Sam Harris writes, “The quality of mind cultivated in vipassana is almost always referred to as mindfulness and the literature on its psychological benefits is now substantial. There is nothing spooky (esoteric) about mindfulness. It is simply a state of clear, non-judgmental, and undistracted attention to the contents of consciousness, whether pleasant or unpleasant. Cultivating this quality of mind has been shown to reduce pain, anxiety, and depression; improve cognitive function; and even produce changes in gray matter density in regions of the brain related to learning and memory, emotional regulation, and self-awareness.”
The key to sustaining mindfulness meditation practice is recognizing that it takes the right effort
Many critics of mindfulness practice maintain that meditation is simply ‘navel-gazing’: a passive enterprise that engages in wishful thinking and is simply a waste of time. However, there’s nothing passive about mindfulness meditation practice. In fact, it requires an immense effort on one’s part and those who practice regularly cultivate a specific passion; a passion for discerning what is subjectively real in every moment. It’s a mode of consciousness that’s undistracted, accepting, and ultimately, non-judgmental.
Rather than engaging in wishful thinking, mindful meditation requires great courage and dedication, for it entails standing in the ground of our own lives. We don’t run away from our own problems and shortcomings nor do we constantly project ourselves into a better strategic future. We practice non-attachment to ‘what is’ for ‘what should be’. Once we begin to perceive our lives more clearly and the problems that we, as humans, inevitably face, we can find better solutions and ways to overcome our shortcomings.
Focus on experience over thought
Mindfulness meditation practice is not a matter of thinking more clearly about experience; it’s a matter of experiencing more clearly, including the arising and passing of thoughts themselves. Mindfulness is a clear awareness of whatever is appearing in one’s mind or body—thoughts, sensations, emotions—without grasping at the pleasant or seeking to avoid the unpleasant. It doesn’t require us to adopt any type of dogmatic cultural or religious beliefs or assumptions. It simply demands that we pay close attention to the flow of experience in each moment.
The principal impediment to mindfulness is our deeply ingrained habit of being distracted by thought. The problem is not thoughts themselves, but failing to recognize that we are lost in thought—for most of us, all the time. In fact, thoughts can become good objects of mindfulness, as long as we recognize the experience of thinking. However, in the beginning, the arising of thoughts will become pretty much synonymous with distraction. And it can be frustrating. The key is to not judge ourselves harshly for becoming distracted, but to return diligently to our non-judgmental observation of the experience.
The benefits of mindfulness meditation practice
Some people mistake meditating with simply thinking with their eyes closed. But, with practice and the proper instruction, we can begin to awaken from the dream of discursive thought and begin to see each arising image, idea, or bit of language vanish without a trace. So the benefit of mindfulness meditation is? What remains is consciousness itself, with its attendant sights, sounds, sensations and thoughts appearing and changing in every moment. Those who practice on a regular basis can attest that this evokes a certain feeling of liberation. Again, why? I think it’s because we no longer identify with every single thought, emotion, and sensation that comes along. We are no longer tethered to passing thoughts and emotions.
If this all sounds rather confusing, welcome to the club. In the beginning of one’s mediation practice, the difference between ordinary experience and ‘mindfulness’ is not quite clear. It takes some training to distinguish between being lost in thought and seeing thoughts for what they are: passing mental formations, mostly the product of past conditioning—especially if you are prone to repetitive negative, self-defeating thought patterns. Trust me, I know of what I speak! But, with practice, mindfulness becomes a well-formed habit of attention, and the difference between it and ordinary thinking will become increasingly clear.
“Eventually, it begins to seem as if you are repeatedly awakening from a dream to find yourself safely in bed. No matter how terrible the dream, the relief is instantaneous. And yet it is difficult to stay awake for more than a few seconds at a time.”
Lost in the movie of our lives
Mindful meditation practice affords an awareness that’s difficult to describe unless you experience it for yourself. Imagine yourself in a theater watching a movie fully immersed in the story and then suddenly you become aware that you’re sitting in a seat watching a mere play of light on the wall, watching a fictional story unfold involving paid actors. Most of us spend every waking moment lost in the movie of our own lives.
We are the stars of our own movies, and everyone else is merely playing a supporting role. Until we see that an alternative to this state of being exists, we’re entirely at the mercy of appearances. We’re not talking about changing our understanding of reality, (that we don’t exist) or anything radical, but just being able to experience the present moment prior to the arising of thought. So we can step out of the habit of judging every single experience as ‘good’ or ‘bad’, ‘pleasant’ or ‘unpleasant’.
How to practice mindfulness meditation: The Basics
- Sit comfortably with your spine erect, either in a chair or cross-legged on a cushion.
- Take a few deep breaths, and feel the points of contact between your body and the chair or floor. Notice any sensations associated with sitting—pressure, warmth, tingling, etc.
- Gradually become aware of the sensation of breathing. Pay close attention to where you feel your breath the most—the nostrils, mouth, or the rising and falling of your abdomen.
- Allow your attention to rest in the mere sensation of breathing. You don’t have to manipulate your breath. Your breath will take care of itself. Is it shallow or deep? Does it change as you settle in or don’t settle in, whatever the case?
- Every time your mind wanders (which will be every few seconds), gently return your attention to the breath. Don’t judge yourself harshly for failing to hold your attention on the breath. There is no fighting in this practice. Be kind to yourself. You’re doing your best.
- As you focus on the process of breathing, you will also perceive sounds, bodily sensations, and emotions. Don’t push them away. Simply observe these phenomena as they appear in your consciousness and then return to the breath.
- The moment you notice that you have been lost in thought (this is mindfulness), observe the present thought (I have been lost in thought) as an object of your attention. Then return your attention to the breath or to any sounds or sensations arising in the next moment.
- Continue in this way until you can merely witness all objects of consciousness—sights, sounds, sensations, emotions, even thoughts themselves as they arise, change, and pass away.
You are much more than your thoughts
You will soon find out that mindfulness meditation practice is a discipline—a lifestyle of sorts not unlike physical fitness. But, practice makes perfect. A time will come when you will ask yourself, ‘Who is noticing this distracted state of incessant thinking?’ and you will experience a feeling of liberation from distraction and incessant worry, and one day you will no longer be compelled to act on or identify with your thoughts and emotions. You will come to realize that you are much more than your thoughts.