In my years of talking with meditators and spiritual seekers, I have come to realize that every beginner needs a personalized mindfulness meditation practice. Furthermore, I do not believe in rigid systems of mindfulness mediation. We should be able to tweak the practice to suit our own needs.
You might have tried a particular mindfulness meditation and then given up after a while, frustrated with how little progress you were making. There is a reason for that. Your personality type did not match up to the meditation practice.
Every individual is unique, and as such, the meditation practices you choose need to be in sync with your personality type as well as your unique life conditionings.
Jane( name changed) had learned mindfulness meditation, but the moment she sat down to practice mindfulness and observing her thoughts, all her repressed stress, anxiety and fear surfaced, which made her extremely anxious. When she met me, I advised her to sit down and practice focusing on the breath instead. She needed to meditate on the breath to find inner balance first, and then with time she could experiment with letting her feelings arise and surface.
Tom (name changed) had a different problem. He had been advised breathing meditation by his teacher, but he was a claustrophobic, and turning his attention to breath caused him to become tensed and anxious. For Tom, the best approach was to practice mindfulness of external environment; eg external sounds, etc.
What is mindfulness meditation?
Mindfulness meditation is derived from the Buddhist practice and is based on sati, which means – the awareness of both inner and outer worlds, which includes thoughts, emotions, bodily sensation and your surroundings as they are, at this present moment. When you begin mindfulness meditation, you can be mindful of a number of things, including your thoughts.
Different types of Mindfulness meditations
- Being mindful of the breath
- Being mindful of thoughts and feelings
- Being mindful of external environment; eg sounds
- Being mindful of bodily sensation
If you want to meditate on the breath, please check the meditation here.
Mindfulness Meditation Exercise for beginners – Being mindful of thoughts and feelings
I will discuss the process of being mindful of thoughts, which can be applied to other types of mindfulness meditations. The core aspect of being mindful is to be aware, without judgment. You let thoughts arise, watch them come and go, observing them, but not attaching any particular meaning to the thoughts.
Whenever a thought arises in our mind, we habitually
- Label them- good/bad, negative/positive, happy/sad
- Based on the label, we either like them or shun them
When we are being mindful of our thoughts and feelings, we watch the thoughts come and go. We become non-judgmental and observe our thoughts without attaching labels to them. A fearful thought is not shunned; a pleasant thought is not welcomed. Thoughts are seen as clouds in the sky, forming and dissolving. You are the sky. The clouds come and go.
3 key aspects of mindfulness are
- Becoming aware of your thoughts
- Observing thoughts- you are not interested in engaging with thoughts.
- You are not your thoughts. You are the self-awareness in which thoughts appear and disappear. You do not have to stop the thoughts. You just need to learn to disengage with them.
Mindfulness guided meditation
Sit in a comfortable position. Keep your eyes closed. Take a few deep breaths, relaxing your body as you exhale. Bring your attention to your thoughts. Notice them with the understanding that they are neither good, nor bad. They are just thoughts. Imagine the thoughts like clouds in the sky, appearing and disappearing.
Do not identify with your thoughts. Don’t repress them. Just be aware of them. Create space around them, so that they can appear and disappear. At this very moment, whatever you feel and think, watch it with affectionate detachment. You are not your thoughts. If your mind drifts away, gently bring it back to the present awareness of the thoughts.
Duration- start with 5 minutes and as you progress, you should aim for 10 minutes or more.
Mindfulness is the beginning of the journey into meditation. Once you are good at mindfulness, you can go deeper into your consciousness by going to the next step- being aware of consciousness, understanding witnessing consciousness and finally experiencing pure awareness.
6 Responses
I feel happy when I meditate. I started mindfulness meditation since 3 years now. Before this, I was full of anxiety and stress and I was literally going crazy. If you are looking for happiness, I can suggest you give guided meditation a try. It will bring lot of peace, joy and happiness in your life.
Meditation is very difficult for me. I am very impatient and anxious, and can’t seem to control my mind. I will try your advice and focus on the body instead of my mind. Hopefully this will help.
Initially, meditation can be quite difficult. But rest assured, with constant practice, you will get better and better. Its like picking up a new skill or hobby. Initially it may seem daunting, but with time you learn more and more and it becomes easier.
Your advice has been a huge help for me, and its lessons on the importance of personal growth, self-acceptance and mindfulness meditation are very helpful.
A lot of great advice, especially how to do your breathing right, and what should happen during mindfulness meditative practice. Thank you
I am a doctor who sees patients. I am also a passionate meditation practitioner, using my own experience with pain to help patients understand how meditation can heal their pain. I work for my company in a similar position, teaching people who have pain to help improve their lives. I want my meditation practice not only to create hope, but also to allow me to create peace inside me. In order to accomplish this I often provide mindfulness meditation coaching and support for people who struggle with pain.
I agree on your process of meditation and awareness of the self, as I have been following this for sometime now. I utilize meditation practices, exercises, chanting and breathing. They also speak of the concept of kundalini as “the center of consciousness”. Some of these sages speak of “karuna” which is also called the center of the subconscious