Allow at least 20 to 30 minutes for a meditation sitting. Mindfulness of Breathing is broken down into four sections of approximately equal length. Try to maintain this in your own sittings. Our object in this form of meditation is to concentrate wholly on the breathing. As distractions and thoughts inevitably arise, simply notice that they are there – don’t get caught up in them or get irritated by them – and then simply return to the observation of the breath. In time we will develop greater concentration and tranquillity through this practice.<\/p>\n
First Section – Breathe in, breathe out, count…
\nSecond Section – Count, breathe in, breathe out…
\nThird Section – Simply concentrate on the in-flow and out-flow…
\nFourth Section – Focus on the breath at the point of contact…<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
That’s it; essentially, mindfulness is no more complicated than that. <\/p>\n
Here are some tips to help get the most out of the practise.<\/p>\n
Take some time to find yourself the right place. Make yourself comfortable in a quiet room free from bright light, without a breeze and with no distracting smells, and either sit, or kneel down placing your behind on a couple of cushions, with your hands in your lap.<\/p>\n
You don’t need to adopt any particular position, or cross your legs yoga-style, but maintaining a straight back and keeping upright prevents you from falling asleep as you begin to relax, which is a definite tendency in the beginning, because the time we are all used to shutting up our internal dialogue is in preparation for sleep. <\/p>\n
Let your eyelids fall almost closed, but keep some light coming in. Place the tip of your tongue behind your upper teeth. Relax your muscles from your head and neck, down through your back. Remain relaxed but keep still and vertical during the time you are meditating. If you wobble, or need to correct your posture, try to do it gently without disturbing your effort.<\/p>\n
The counting is to give your mind something to do other than mentally rattle on like a train. I count to seven, but it doesn’t matter so long as you keep the number small, say, between four and ten. If you forget where you are (you will!) with the next breath, start again at one. Don’t over-state the mental counting or become obsessed with it, let it happen, in the first section, after the out breath has completed, in the second, before you take the in breath.<\/p>\n
In the third section, it helps to notice the feeling of the breath in the nostrils as it flows into and leaves the body. In the fourth, experience ‘one-pointedness’ as you bring your calm focussed attention on the tip of your nose or perhaps the tip of your tongue as your ‘point of contact’.<\/p>\n
Deal with interruptions. Set up your meditation to prevent them. Tell people you are busy for the next thirty minutes and turn the phone off. If you need to shift position, or scratch your nose (mostly you can resist this urge) do so, and then carry on.<\/p>\n
I cannot re-state this often enough – keep going. Even if you sit still and become aware that your mind is returning over and over to that shopping list of preoccupations which accompanies daily life, sit with it. Be patient. Treat yourself like a youngster who doesn’t know any better – which is exactly what you are. You are gaining a healthy ability, like swimming, and you can and will improve.<\/p>\n
When you finish, stay in position for a while, don’t rush to abandon the calm. If you need to stretch, do it mindfully. If anything came up during the meditation, make a note of it. Try to carry the calm into the rest of the day. Put it in your mental pocket, and remind yourself from time to time that it is there.<\/p>\n
There are ongoing, tangible benefits, deriving from the straightforward gift to myself of meditation. I am more patient, less frequently competitive, and when I am competing, more effective. My decision-making has improved – I am less likely make bad judgements, and if I do make a bad call, more likely to admit it. I have become less impulsive, more able to distinguish between my healthy instincts and reactions which could cause bad outcomes. Some of this is due no doubt to simply ageing, but I am convinced that the last twenty years would probably not have given me such a great deal of pleasure and satisfaction without meditation.<\/p>\n
Committment is important. I aim to never miss a day, no matter my state of body or mind. If one day is particularly crap, well, so what, at least I tried. This ongoing committment repays you over and over, by developing your calm will to do whatever it is you set out to do.<\/p>\n
On bad days, or weeks, better to sit still and attempt five minutes than do nothing at all.<\/p>\n
On Fridays, I follow a different meditation – za zen, or ‘just sitting’<\/a> – just to introduce a day where I have a different structure. I like it that way.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"I meditate every day. Consequently I find an increase in clarity and a lessening of stress. Six days a week, I follow the simple and effective meditation called ‘the mindfulness of breathing’, which takes about twenty to thirty minutes. You don’t need to follow a religion, chant a mantra, believe in God, or disbelieve in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":126,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[330],"tags":[61],"class_list":["post-1812","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-living","tag-meditation"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theothersideofeverything.com\/flip\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1812","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theothersideofeverything.com\/flip\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theothersideofeverything.com\/flip\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theothersideofeverything.com\/flip\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/126"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theothersideofeverything.com\/flip\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1812"}],"version-history":[{"count":24,"href":"https:\/\/theothersideofeverything.com\/flip\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1812\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1836,"href":"https:\/\/theothersideofeverything.com\/flip\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1812\/revisions\/1836"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theothersideofeverything.com\/flip\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1812"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theothersideofeverything.com\/flip\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1812"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theothersideofeverything.com\/flip\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1812"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}