Meditation - Which Type is Right for You, part 6 of 7

Part 6

Mindfulness Meditation

While breathing, mantra, prayer, visualization and contemplative enquiry are types of concentration meditation, the practice of mindfulness is a combination of concentration and awareness. During this practice, we start by observing the breath and noticing its qualities – depth, duration, smoothness. Then we concentrate on the breath in a particular area, for example in the lower abdomen. This way we establish concentration. The next step is to shift into awareness. With our eyes closed, we notice and become aware of the room temperature, the noises, the draft, the ticking of the clock. But also become aware of thoughts and emotions.

In this practice, we start noticing and learn that everything has impermanent nature, and that all things are inter-connected. We learn to observe physical sensations and mental processes, and in this way we expand our awareness of interconnectivity. The purpose is to attend fully to the present moment without the usual filters we apply to everything, such as judgements, expectations or assumptions. With practice, we begin to gain clarity about our experience without our socially conditioned ways of being. We get an insight into the impermanent nature of reality. And what is more, we start seeing the constructed nature of ego. As we practice, our relationship with the ego personality shifts. Mindfulness aims at helping us discover what is inherently within.

Here is an example exercise, to see for yourself how you enjoy mindfulness.

Exercise: Focus on the Breath

Sit comfortably in a meditation posture – chair or on the floor. Set a timer for 15 minutes. You can close your eyes. Begin to notice the qualities of your breath – are your breaths deep or shallow, smooth or choppy? Is inhalation and exhalation long or short? After noticing these qualities, focus your attention on a particular area – on lower abdomen, or your nostrils, or the centre of your chest. Keep your attention focused there, and count your breaths. You may count up to ten, and then back down to zero. Repeat. If the mind wanders, gently return the attention to your breath.

Elena Alexandrova

Your Coach to Success

www.envisionlifedesign.com.au

Source:

Butera, Robert, “Meditation for Your Life”

Meditation - Choose the Type That Suits You - Part 2

1.       Breathing as meditation

The first type of meditation we will touch upon is breathing. What is fascinating about breath, other than the fact we cannot live without it for more than 4-5 minutes, is that respiration is the only system in the body that we control both consciously and unconsciously. This is why it is considered by some as the link between conscious and unconscious. Just think of the simplest example: when you are stressed or scared, your breathing becomes fast and shallow (unconsciously). But then, if you focus on the breathing, you can consciously slow it down, and feel the stress decreasing.

As natural as it is, breathing for meditation is not always the first choice of people both new or advanced in meditation.

All examples I will give as practice require you to sit comfortably, with a straight, erect spine. You do not have to keep your eyes closed, but it helps.

Here is an exercise that can give you an idea of how comfortable you feel practising that:

Unstructured Awareness on the Breath

Sit comfortably, let yourself breathe, and observe how your mind follows and reacts to your breath. Simply witness what occurs in your mind with a natural breath. Observe your thoughts and observe your feelings:

-          Does a familiar prayer come to mind;

-          Do you feel energy moving into and out of the body, with every breath

-          Do you visualise light or colours with every breath you take?

Notice how you feel after two minutes, after ten minutes or longer.

Another breathing exercise I love is the Smile Breath Meditation. You start sitting straight, and make a huge grin on your face. As you keep breathing naturally, the smile will fade into a gentle grin, but the cheeks and eyes remain in a position that radiate positive attitude.

The grin or half smile you reach in this practice can be established as your normal facial expression. Another benefit this exercise brings is that you can feel the smiling vitality and energy lightening up your face, and then flowing into your brain and nervous system. Breathing the “smiling energy” in allows your muscles, your bones, your every fibre get charged. Allow the “smiling body scan” to cover your mind and body, and become more open to receiving positive energy.

Elena Alexandrova

Your Coach to Success

Source: Butera, Robert:"Meditation for Your Life"

Mindfulness: A Gentle Approach to Healing

By 

Will Donnelly

There’s an interesting story about a woman being chased by a tiger. She is running for her life and comes to the edge of a cliff. Here, she notices a sturdy vine, and climbs down the vine to escape her tormentor, only to realize there is another tiger down at the bottom of the mountain waiting for her.

She then sees two mice scurry out and start gnawing on the vine. At this moment, she notices a luscious, wild strawberry growing from an outcrop inches away. She looks up. She looks down. She looks at the mice.

Then, she eats the strawberry.

Succulent juices burst in her mouth, and she feels the seeds crunch between her teeth. She notices a gentle breeze flow across her skin and through her hair, as she gazes out at the expansive vista.

Stories such at this, as often taught by eastern practitioners, offer anexperience for the listener, not advice. This old and well-know buddhist story surely has several interpretations. But if this story is anything, it is most certainly a story about mindfulness.

Mindfulness is a “moment-to-moment awareness of one's experience without judgment.” Our protagonist in the story pulled her attention from the tiger above (the past?) and from the tiger below (the future?) and from the mice on the vine (time?) and simply gave the strawberry her full, undivided attention.

Mindfulness is a 2,600 year old buddhist concept that is only recently being used in many clinical settings, to many positive outcomes. In spiritual practice, it is said to be the antidote to delusion. It turns out that when we are paying attention to “what is” in this moment and not judging it, we are not obsessing on all the bad things that could happen to us in our current situation (rumination) or worrying about the future potential disasters.

Jon Kabat-Zinn, the pioneer of mindfulness training, introduced a wonderful practice as part of a healing regime. He has students (people suffering from severe stress, cancer, etc) eat one raisin very slowly, very mindfully. Well, if you don’t happen to have a raisin with you right now, then I have the perfect way to start your mindfulness personal program.

Curious about turning the ordinary into the extraordinary? Try this mindfulness focus-builder for the next 30 seconds - assuming you are in some space where you can be relatively undisturbed (but even a coffee house or office can be great for this exercise!):

Plant your feet on the ground, and feel the earth. Sit up straight, hands on your lap. Close your eyes. Begin to inhale and exhale, slowly and deeply, through the nostrils. Pay attention to the feeling this makes at the area around your nostrils and the top of your upper lip. Also notice how if feels at your belly. With each consecutive exhale, soften your muscles, and allow yourself to go deeper and deeper within. (Cliff notes: Breathe. Relax. Pay attention.)

Take at least 5 steady breaths (if you are in a distracting environment) or practice this for 5 minutes as a mindfulness meditation at home. Voila! You have started a mindfulness personal program!

May we all learn to not require more than we have to achieve contentment. The renowned vietnamese buddhist monk, Thich Nhat Hanh has said “When our mindfulness embraces those we love, they bloom like flowers.”

May you become mindful to your own current reality, and may you watch your life bloom like a flower.

Find the full article at:

http://spiritualityhealth.com/blog/will-donnelly/mindfulness-gentle-approach-healing