"Mindfulness Meditation And How To
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Mindfulness is the most important part of your attitude during meditation and whenever you're dealing with stress.
It is the way to experience life moment by moment, the way it was supposed to be, and the way other animals are living.
Humans are different. We have the potential to mindfully experience both life and happiness. There's a firm connection between them, and learning to practice is a vital first step.
But what's the essential meaning of mindfulness?
Click here to learn more.
Do you see the elderly man in the picture, observing the fountain and the big city? He is relaxing, doing his mindfulness meditation...
The skyscrapers, the fountain, the sky, the clouds, the trees, any sound or word he hears, any thought or person passing by - any aspect of the big picture is a mantra.
The elderly man observes any and all parts of this picture, and he accepts every part of it.
During mindfulness meditation, you observe any aspect of your internal and external environment - any thought, sound, object -- any mantra - while you patiently acknowledge that these mantras are part of you and part of life.
You become more aware while (and because) you learn to appreciate both good and bad for what they are -- natural parts of life. And no matter what you become aware of, there is
no failure in meditation!
One more thing before the session. Mindfulness goes hand in hand with compassion, and this link takes you to the most important part of meditation/awareness...
The Science of Compassion.
And here's our
Disclaimer.
All right, shall we proceed to the first technique...
Unstructured Mindfulness Technique - Freestyle:
Sit comfortably, spine and neck straight. Keep your shoulders low, hands resting gently in your lap.
You may close your eyes at any point during this meditation or keep them open. If you keep your eyes open, it helps to start off by keeping a calm, unmoving focus in order to settle the mind.
When thoughts or sensations pop up into your awareness, let them 'pop' and let them go.
It's just your mind making stuff up. It loves to keep busy. Sometimes it's like a dog wanting to sniff every bush, bark, play around, run away, sometimes all at once.
Now let's start and observe what happens...
Gently observe what your mind does without casting judgment. It will come back to you, time and time again. Sometimes it may seem agitated and even hostile.
Relax, just let it play around.
You are the master and you are observing, learning, aware but not expecting anything. Free from judgment. Detached from your mind and whatever it may say. You're bigger than the mind, detached from it, immovable...
Be patient and tolerant. Relax.
If your eyes are open, now try closing them for a couple of minutes. Take a deep breath and forget about the computer screen.
A couple of minutes later...
If you found this meditation technique to be difficult and your mind went all over the place, don't worry. You're never a bad meditator because there's no such thing.
This is the simplest and most straight-forward mindfulness meditation, and yet it's actually the most difficult. Falling asleep is common.
Let's move on to the next, slightly easier technique. Here's your
Guide to structured mindfulness meditation
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