The Basics III: The Breath and Beyond

Whenever we hear beginning meditation instructions, there is always this talk about following the breath. We place our awareness on the breath, the physical sensation in the belly or the nose, we observe it. We are asked to approach it with interest, curiosity, "What is this breath like?" Notice the beginning of the in-breath, the middle, the end, the space between the in and out-breath, the begin of the out-breath, the middle, the end, and start over. It goes like this, over and over. The mind wanders off, we bring it back, again and again.

So what is this about? Sometimes we ask our self, "What am I doing here? I'd rather be doing something fun. This is hard. This is boring. When do we get to the interesting part?" Sometimes people say, "Okay, I can watch my breath, what's next?" or, "When do we start doing real meditation?"

Sure, there are other instructions besides following the breath, but there really isn't anything more advanced, more profound than awareness of the breath. This is it. Because if we can really pay full and complete attention to the breath, without trying to change it, with a relaxed and open mind, without judgment or commentary, then this is really the practice. This is training the mind, developing the skills of mindfulness, kindness, attention. We train with the breath and other body sensations because it is easier than starting with, say, anger or chronic pain or anxiety. We need to develop our skills with the breath so we can apply them to every experience in our life.

Working with the breath, we learn how to meet every experience this same way, with openness, curiosity, kindness. We learn to touch everything in our life in a deep and immediate way. The breath is our home base, where we start and where we return when everything else is too hard, too crazy, too much. No matter where we are, what the situation is, the breath is here, now.

So, if we get bored and want something more interesting to happen, we notice that and return to the breath. If we notice the thought, "I can't do this," notice that and return to the breath. When other thoughts, stories, planning, memories, judgments pull us away, we notice them and return to the breath. Every return, if done gently, without judgment, is a mindful moment and strengthens the capacity to be more alive, aware, conscious in all situations. Welcome each return. Appreciate the freshness, the aliveness of each moment spent in awareness. Let the breath be, just as it is without trying to change it. Get to know it, really know it, without mental commentary. Relax into this moment, this breath with your whole being.

The Basics II: Getting Started

Mindfulness is a skill which is cultivated through practice. Our unhelpful patterns of thinking and reacting have been formed over years of repetition in an effort to cope with stress and the difficulties of living. Fortunately, the human brain is capable of making remarkable changes throughout life, something research has shown only relatively recently. Practicing mindfulness breaks the old habitual patterns and creates the possibility of new and creative approaches to our problems, our life.

The skill of mindfulness is cultivated through the concentrated and repeated practice of mindfulness, which is called mindfulness meditation. There are other types of practices which support the development of mindfulness, such as yoga, qi gong, centered prayer, and other types of meditation such as use of mantras. These are wonderful and beneficial practices that I recommend to anyone who feels drawn to them. However, my personal opinion is that these are most beneficial as complements to mindfulness meditation, rather than substitutes for it. All of these practices develop the skill of being aware in the present moment, but only mindfulness meditation also cultivates the ability to observe all the aspects of our own experience.

To get started, eliminate any distractions in the room and create a quiet space. Arrange not to be interrupted. Now find a comfortable sitting position, in a chair or on a cushion on the floor. What's important about our position is that it is not rigid, allows the spine to be straight, and the head to rest on top of the spine. If you're in a chair, it is best not to lean back, and to have both feet flat on the floor. Sitting 'just so' may seem silly, but the proper position makes meditation much easier and promotes an alert state of mind and the concentration needed to focus our attention.

Next, relax the muscles of your face and body, without slouching. See if you can generate the qualities of curiosity, openness, willingness, and alertness in your mind. Bring these qualities to bear on whatever is present during your meditation.

Diane Winston, at UCLA's Mindfulness Awareness Research Center, has a set of wonderful guided meditations on their web site, which can be played directly or downloaded onto your computer. Since I can't improve on these (and can't figure out how to save audio files to a blog), I'll give you the link to the page: http://marc.ucla.edu/body.cfm?id=22 I strongly recommend starting with the "5 minute breathing meditation." Practice this until you can do it on your own (without listening) for 10-15 minutes a day. Meditation on the breath is the foundation of mindfulness meditation, so it is important to be really familiar with these instructions. After you've done this for a couple of weeks, try moving on to the "19 minute complete meditation instructions." This meditation is what I recommend learning and staying with.

Other things to keep in mind as you get started:

1) The first thing you will probably find is that your mind will wander. This is normal. Wandering is what the mind is used to doing. The important thing is to keep bringing the attention back, over and over again. Just notice what the mind does, and keep coming back to the breath. If you practice long enough, it will probably wander less (but not always).

2) Be kind, to yourself, your mind, and your body. Don't judge anything that happens as you meditate. This is your time to be with yourself.

3) You may be tempted to "use" the meditation time to ponder a problem or do some planning. If you find yourself doing this, say to yourself, "not now" and come back to the breath. During this time, there is nothing else you have to do, nothing more important than just being here, with all your attention.

4) Be curious. Be open. What is this like, to just be present with this experience, in this moment?

If you have a question, click on the "comments" link at the bottom of this post and leave it there.

Note: I will discuss more of the meditations on the UCLA marc site in later posts.

The Basics I: What is Mindfulness?

Fundamentally, mindfulness is conscious awareness of what is happening in the present moment. It is experiential awareness: what is the sensation, sight, sound, taste, smell, or mental formation (thought, emotion) that is happening right now? This is the bare observation aspect of mindfulness; simply placing our complete attention on what is happening in the present, without comment or evaluation.

In addition, there is a certain quality of attention that we use to practice mindfulness. When focusing attention on our experience, we try to do so with a sense of openness and acceptance. We observe what is happening without making any judgements about it (good, bad, right, wrong, should, shouldn't) and without either grabbing on to it (trying to get more) or pushing it away (avoiding, escaping). Whatever is going on in this moment, just is.

This sounds pretty simple, and really, it is. But it is not always easy (okay, it's just plain difficult, especially when we are just starting, or when extreme difficulties arise). The reasons it is difficult also point to why it is so beneficial and to its potential for promoting well-being.

Mindfulness is hard because it is not what we are used to doing. Most of us spend nearly all our waking moments engaged in some kind of thinking about this or that, commenting, judging, ruminating about the past, worrying about or anticipating the future. We spend a great deal of time telling ourselves stories of one kind or another about what this person said or what our friend/ boss/ wife/ boyfriend/ mother/etc. thinks about how we look, our job, what kind of car we drive, the comment we made last week. We speculate about our kids, our future, money, relationships. Accompanying these stories and thoughts are our feelings about them: anger, desire, jealousy, rejection, anxiety, worry, hope, guilt, resentment, etc. These thoughts, stories, and feelings aren't just random, but are based on habitual patterns formed in response to our life experiences, especially the painful ones. As a result, we tend to react to life situations out of our habitual patterns instead of acting in a conscious way with full freedom of choice. This is a profound source of suffering.

Mindfulness is about waking up from the unhelpful ways we think and feel about ourselves and others to what is actually happening. It's about listening deeply to ourselves in an open, caring, non-judgmental way that engenders understanding and compassion. Mindfulness lets us see how we undermine our own peace and happiness, and provides us the means to reclaim it. It gives us a window into the richness that exists in our lives, the richness we've been missing.

Next - The Basics II: Getting Started