Mindfulness Medicine

Eastern Medicine & Healing Meditation

MINDFULNESS MEDITATION

There are many forms of meditation, but mindfulness meditation is among the most effective for all types of people, as well as being simple to learn and practice.

     BENEFITS:

Mindfulness meditation does not require a belief in any spiritual or religious system and is compatible with any system of beliefs that you may have.

It is a very effective way to conquer your worries, overcome stress, depression and anger, produce creativity, and heal your body.

There are numerous well-documented medical, physical, mental, emotional & wellness benefits to regular meditation practice.

     The Mindfulness Meditation Practice
     You can begin your meditation by finding a quite place where you won't be disturbed for a period of 15-30 minutes. This means taking time for yourself, something that may require a little effort and discipline for some people.

     Mindfulness Meditation is a technique composed of three parts:
     1) Correct Posture
     2) Object of Meditation
     3) Mind Intention

     1. THE CORRECT POSTURE
     Begin with the six points of good posture as a way to really settle down into a meditation session. Each time you sit down to meditate, you can run through these six points, and anytime you feel distracted during your meditation, you can bring your attention back to your body and run through the six points. The six points are: (1) seat, (2) legs, (3) torso, (4) hands, (5) eyes, and (6) mouth.

     Make yourself comfortable by sitting either on the floor, or in a chair with your back upright and if possible, not resting your back against the chair.

     1. The seat should be flat, whether sitting on a cushion on the floor or in a chair, not tilting to the right or left or to the back or front.
     2. The legs are crossed comfortably in front of you—or, if you're sitting in a chair, the feet are flat on the floor, and the knees are a few inches apart.
     3. The torso (from the head to the seat) is upright, with a strong back and an open front. If sitting in a chair, it's best not to lean back. If you start to slouch, simply sit upright again.
     4. The hands are open, with palms down, resting on the thighs.
     5. The eyes are open and gaze slightly downward and in front about four to six feet. This indicates the attitude of remaining awake and relaxed with all that occurs.
     6. The mouth is very slightly open so that the jaw is relaxed and air can move easily through both mouth and nose. The tip of the tongue can be placed on the roof of the mouth.
     7. Once you feel comfortable, close your eyes and feel any sensations in your body that call out for attention and adjust your posture if necessary.

Once you feel comfortable, close your eyes and feel any sensations in your body that call out for attention and adjust your posture if necessary.

Remember that is never a good idea to struggle in meditation. So if your legs or back are hurting, it is fine to move. You will discover that large movements bring comfort for about five or ten minutes, and then you’ll just want to shift again.

By working with a proper posture it is possible to become far more relaxed and settled in one's body by making only very subtle adjustments. Then, with a sense of starting afresh, return once again to the object of meditation described next, the out-breath.

     2. THE OBJECT IN MINDFULNESS MEDITATION:
     THE OUT-BREATH

Most meditation techniques use an object of meditation — some thing that you return to again and again no matter what's going on in your mind. Through impatience, sadness, anger, uncertainty, fear, frustration, you simply return to the object of meditation.

In mindfulness meditation, the exhalation or out-breath is the object of meditation — the out-breath is as close as you can come to simply resting the mind in its natural open state and still have an object to which to return. It gives the opportunity to completely let go. As each breath goes out and dissolves, there is the chance to release ALL that has gone before and to relax instead of panic. Then when you breathe in, it's like a pause or a gap. There is nothing particular to do except wait for the next out-breath.

Lightly guide your attention to your breath in the area of your stomach, and notice the rising and falling of your stomach, rising as you breath in and receding as you exhale. The exhalation should be just the ordinary out-breath, and not manipulated in any way. The attention on it should be soft, light, and a sort of touch-and-go approach. As a general guideline, about 25% of the attention should be on the breath, so that you are still aware of your surroundings and don’t consider them an intrusion or an obstacle to meditation.

The point putting the attention on the out-breath is NOT to try to achieve some special state or to transcend the sounds and movement of ordinary life. Rather we are encouraging more complete relaxation within our environment, an appreciation of the world around us, and the ordinary truth that takes place in every moment.

     3. THE MIND’S INTENTION
     Many of my patients tell me they have tried to meditate but that they cannot stop their minds from thinking, so they quit. ‘Emptying the mind’ is spoken of in some forms of meditation, but when we look deeper this does NOT mean no thinking:

     It is the nature of the mind to think.

However, meditation should NOT be confused with concentration or contemplation. We do not to speak of "concentrating" on the out-breath because we want to let the mind relax and be naturally open. The mind intent should be to "touch the out-breath and let it go" or to "have a light and gentle attention on the out-breath" or "to be one with the breath as it relaxes outward." The basic guideline is to open and relax without adding anything extra, without conceptualizing, but to keep returning to the mind just as it is, clear, lucid, and fresh.

Just notice your breath without trying to control it in any manner, like watching waves in the ocean. The breath can be like a wave on the ocean rising and falling, appearing and disappearing.
     Notice the pace of your breath. Is it fast or slow........?
     Notice the depth of your breath. Is it deep or shallow.......?
     Is your stomach expanding and receding as you breathe.....?
     Are you noticing the breath for one complete breath, or more, or is your mind wandering?

After some time sitting there with the out-breath, begin to label your thoughts "thinking." Before you know it, your focus on the out-breath will be gone — you might be planning, worrying, fantasizing — completely in another world, a world totally made of thoughts. At the point when you realize you’ve gone off, say to yourself "thinking" and, without making it a big deal, simply return again to the out-breath.

Finally, gently guide yourself back to the breath each time it wanders, whether it has roamed for a moment or for five minutes. When you notice that your mind has wandered, label it “thinking” and gently return to the breath in the area of your stomach.

Remember it is the nature of the mind to wander. If you find that thoughts have carried you away, don't worry about it. Simply say to yourself, "thinking," and come back to the openness and relaxation of the out-breath. Again and again just come back to being right where you are.

At this final stage of meditation, what is important is not how long you can stay with the breath, but taking time for yourself, and developing a gentleness towards yourself and returning to your breath the breath each time you notice the mind has wandered. You won’t do this the first time you meditate; this is why it is called the practice of meditation.

Common thoughts often come to mind such as, “am I doing this right?” “This is a waste of time, why am I doing this?” Notice which thoughts are coming to your mind. To the best of your ability letting the thoughts go and returning to the breath. Use the same gentleness to bring your attention back to your breath without judgment just as you would train a puppy to sit. Saying "thinking" is a very interesting point in the meditation. It's the point at which we can consciously train in gentleness and in developing a nonjudgmental attitude.

     Thoughts go through our minds all the time, and when we sit, we are providing a lot of space for all of them to arise. Like clouds in a big sky or waves in a vast sea, meditating gives all our thoughts the space to appear. If one hangs on to these thoughts and gets swept away, whether we call it pleasant or unpleasant, the instruction is to label it all "thinking" with as much openness and kindness as we can muster and let it dissolve back into the big sky.

     ADDITIONAL WORDS OF ADVICE
     Sometimes people use meditation to try to avoid bad feelings and disturbing thoughts. We might try to use the label “thinking” as a way to get rid of what bothers us, and if we experience something blissful or inspiring, we might think we've finally got it and try to stay where there's peace and harmony and nothing to fear.

Right from the beginning it's helpful to always remind yourself that meditation is about opening and relaxing with whatever happens in your life, without picking and choosing. It's definitely not meant to repress anything, and it's not intended to encourage grasping, either. So as meditators we might as well stop struggling against our thoughts and realize that honesty and humor are far more inspiring and helpful than any kind of solemn religious striving for or against anything. In any case, the point is not to try to get rid of thoughts, but rather to see their true nature. Thoughts will run us around in circles if we buy into them, but really they are like dream images. They are like an illusion—not really all that solid. They are, as we say, just thinking.
     In the beginning people sometimes find this meditation exciting. It's like a new project, and you think that if you do it, perhaps all the unwanted stuff will go away and you'll become open, nonjudgmental, and unconditionally friendly. But after a while the sense of newness wears out. You just find time each day, and you sit down with yourself. You come back to that breath over and over, through boredom, edginess, fear and well-being.

     Adapted and based in part on instructions from “When Things Fall Apart: Heart Advice for Difficult Times” by Pema Chodron, 1997, Shambala Classics, ISBN 1-057062-344-9.
     GROUP PRACTICE OF MINDFULNESS MEDITATION