Entries from February 2008 ↓
February 13th, 2008 — meditation, mindfulness
This week we switched from the body scan to sitting meditation. Which reduced the risk of falling asleep, but brought on a few aches and pains 
So what is Sitting Meditation?
Sitting meditation is central to most people’s meditation practice- the hook on which everything else hangs. You can do it on the floor, in any of the cross legged or kneeling positions, but it’s also perfectly OK to sit in a chair. It’s the attitude rather than the position which is crucial. It is important though to try to sit in an upright, but not rigid, position with you head, neck and back in a straight line. This helps you to breathe more easily, and as Jon Kabat- Zinn says, encourages some of the meditation attitudes such as acceptance and self- reliance.
The Kneeling Position
I like to kneel on a meditation stool. It looks a bit like a medieval torture device, but is in fact very comfortable. You kneel on the floor with your sitting bones on the stool, which is about 6 inches off the floor. The top of the stool is angled so that the pelvis tilts forwards, pushing the back into a natural S shape- with minimal muscular effort.
Where to Sit
It often helps to choose a quiet room or area, which can be your regular meditation spot. you may then begin to associate this place with meditation, which aids the whole process. Its better if its somewhere you know you won’t be disturbed.
When to Sit
Morning is probably the best time, preferably before there’s anyone else up and about. It sets the scene for the day. If you meditate in the evening then as early possible, preferably before dinner, is best.
What to do
Take your position with intention. Have a sense of settling into your body, becoming centered. Then direct your attention to your breathing. You can follow the air as it passes over the nostrils, or the belly as it balloons in and out, or just have a general sense of the breath entering and leaving the body.
There’s no need to force anything, as Jon Kabat- Zinn says, you have to sneak up on the breath gently. Whether its at the nostrils of the belly try to follow the breath from the beginning to the end. Watch the pause after the in-breath, then follow the out-breath all the way. Keep with it till the end, again watching for the pause and stillness before the next in-breath, when the cycle starts all over again. Bringing your attention to the belly can have a more calming effect than the nostrils ( and so is often used in Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction classes). So if you’re feeling agitated the belly may be a better area to focus on, and if you’re drowsy try focusing on the breath at the nostrils.
Thoughts
If thoughts pop into your mind as you are following the breath don’t worry. It’s the normal activity of the mind. Just observe the thought, and any emotion linked to it, and then gently but firmly return to the breath. You may have to do this over and over, but that’s OK. Its really an essential part of the meditation.
Discomfort
Its common to experience some discomfort during the sitting meditation. If possible try observing the discomfort at first. It may help to direct your out breath to the area. Try staying with the sensation. Of course this may not be possible. If you do have to move because of discomfort that’s perfectly OK. Try to move with the breath though, mindfully, watching your body as it repositions itself.
Sounds, Sensations and the Mind
After some time ( perhaps 5 to 10 minutes) with the breath as the centre of attention , you may want to bring you awareness to the activity of your mind. To the thoughts and emotions, or the sounds around you, or your physical sensations- knowing that at any time you can return to the breath if you need to. I’ve written more about this in How to Meditate Mindfully
Next week Walking Meditation and the “day long retreat”
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Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction Course (Series):
Week 1 Stress Relief with a Raisin
Week 2 The Body Scan
Related Links
Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction at Sharpbrains
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meditation, mindfulness, stress reduction, Kabat-Zinn
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February 6th, 2008 — meditation, science
I’ve just seen a video by the Buddhist monk Matthieu Ricard where he describes how happiness can be achieved, through meditation. We have to change the inner conditions of the mind he says, rather than attempt to be happy by looking to fix things outside, as our control over external events is “ at best limited, temporary and often illusory”.
He argues that happiness is not pleasure, that it is a much deeper, more authentic reflection of our true nature, which paradoxically, can be present even when we’re sad.
How can happiness be cultivated? Ricard says we can take advantage of the inability of two opposite emotions to exist at the same time. For example it is impossible to feel both benevolence and hatred towards someone simultaneously. And meditating can help generate these positive emotions . We can become familiar enough with our own minds to use what he calls “antidotes” to negative mental states in our daily lives. Another method is to directly observe the emotion itself as it arises in the mind. As he eloquently puts it “it will vanish like frost under the morning sun” . I’ve written about this particular technique in How to Meditate mindfully.
Finally he discusses some of the scientific evidence relating to happiness and mediation, from studies on Buddhist monks, with thousands of hours meditating experience. Their brain activity was monitored during a 3 hr period when they were asked to generate a feeling of compassion (part of their usual practice), and showed levels of activity in the left prefrontal cortex (the area of the brain associated with happiness), far greater than seen in the an average population.
You can see the video here.
February 4th, 2008 — meditation, mindfulness
This week there were no raisins (see Week 1), but we did get a chance to lie down.
So What is The Body Scan?
It’s a meditation technique, from the Vipassana tradition, where attention is brought to different parts of the body (from the tip of the toes to the crown of the head). It has been adapted by Jon Kabat-Zinn to become an important part of the Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction Course, partly I think because it’s such a good way to develop attention . In fact it’s often used at the start of a meditation, as a way to still the mind.
How to Do the Body Scan at Home
Where?
Find somewhere quiet, where you can lie reasonably comfortably on the floor, undisturbed for 45 minutes. The idea is not to fall asleep, although many people do, which is perfectly ok. But its probably best not to encourage sleepiness with pillows under the head, or by lying on the bed. Its useful to cover yourself with a blanket, as body metabolism may slow during meditation, and you might find yourself getting quite cold. (see Relaxation Response).
What Position?
Most people lie flat on their backs, with the arms by the sides, the hands facing palm upwards. Its an open position, which tends to help the meditation. But you don’t have to lie like this if you find it too uncomfortable. The hands can be placed on the abdomen for instance or, particularly if you have back pain, the knees may be supported by placing a cushion underneath them.
Start by bringing your attention to the toes of the left foot, and then the arch and heel. Notice what you can feel when your mind comes to rest on each area. Notice any sensations on the skin, feel the weight of the foot pressing through the heel into the floor, notice if there’s warmth or cold. You can bring the breathing into your meditation, by imagining that your sending each out-breath into the foot. Imagine the breath flowing down into the toes over and over each time you exhale.
Then bring your attention to the ankle go through the same process, slowly. Asking what do I feel now, seeing the out-breath flood into the ankle.
Don’t worry if you notice that your mind has been drawn away from the object of your attention, and you find yourself thinking about something else (it nearly always is). Just calmly, gently but firmly bring your mind back to the part of the body you’ve reached. You may need to bring your attention back over and over, but this is ok, really just part of the meditation.
You can move in this way through the left calf, knee, hip, and then repeat with the right leg. Then through to the pelvis and lower back. When you reach the abdomen become aware of the movement of the diaphragm with the breath, causing the belly to balloon in and out. Pause here for a while with your attention on the belly. You can move through the chest shoulders, arms, hands, and head, focusing on the breath again when your attention reaches the nostrils. And finally settling perhaps on a sensation of the whole body lying on the floor, and of the breath passing in and out of it.
Next week sitting meditation
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mindfulness, stress, Jon Kabat-Zinn, meditation, body scan
February 1st, 2008 — meditation, mindfulness
Acceptance
Meditation is not striving to get somewhere in the way we we usually do with most activities. In fact trying to be more relaxed, or to achieve a certain state with meditation, is likely to be counter-productive. Meditation is best practiced by letting go, with an attitude of patience, trust and acceptance of the present moment. Watching your mind and body intently, but without getting caught up in it all.
Jon Kabat Zinn, developer of Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction , likens meditation to cultivating crops ” the right attitudinal soil is required to grow anything, nothing will grow if the soil is polluted by striving or pushing too hard”.
Ekhart Tolle in his book “NOW” says, ”Surrender (acceptance) is the simple but profound wisdom of yielding rather than opposing the flow of life. The only place you can experience the flow of life is now, so to surrender is to accept the present moment unconditionally and without reservation”.
So important elements of meditation include patience, acceptance, non striving and letting go. All these attitudes are to do with not pushing or trying too hard, fully being with this moment not trying to change it, whether it is pleasant or unpleasant.
It is also important to try to be non-judgmental of whatever is experienced in meditation. This is really part of acceptance. However it is in our nature to continually judge all we see as good or bad. The aim in meditation is just to observe this judging. To watch how the mind leans either toward or away from all it encounters.
Acceptance can be practiced during meditation, by observing physical sensations, thoughts and emotions. Pain and discomfort for example can be an opportunity to practice. When sitting the usual tendency for most of us is to shift position if the slightest discomfort arises, trying to achieve a more comfortable, more pleasant position, and stop the unwanted sensations. In “Mindfulness in Plain English” the Venerable Henepola Gunaratana says, ” Once you sit, do not change the position again until the end of the time you determined at the beginning. Suppose you change your original position because it is uncomfortable, and assume another position. What happens after a while is that the new position becomes uncomfortable. Then you want another and after a while, its too becomes uncomfortable. So you may go on shifting, moving, changing one position to another the whole time you are your meditation cushion, and you may not gain a deep and meaningful level of concentration. ”
So it may be worthwhile trying not to move at the first sign of discomfort, but if possible just observing the sensations, accepting them for what they are. Accepting, surrendering to discomfort may improve it, as pain is often made worse by our anxious and tense reactions to it. Of course sometimes you do need to move during a meditation, the best way to judge when is probably simply to be mindful of what your body is telling you. For more about meditation and pain see Full Catastrophe Living by Jon Kabat-Zinn.
Observing The Mind
When we sit and look at the mind thoughts and emotions stream past. Perhaps surprisingly this seems to be the normal state for our minds. Some thoughts are pleasant, some unpleasant or painful, often dwelling on the past or looking hopefully, or anxiously to the future. As with physical discomfort the natural tendency is to retreat from anything unpleasant, to push these experiences away or suppress them (in which case they may reappear later as physical symptoms).
Here again the suggestion is to try to accept, to surrender, be with whatever comes up. To try to view thoughts and emotions with a detached interest, with equanimity. This process can be helped sometimes by visualisation. For example when you sit to meditate imagine your mind as a vast open blue sky, and any thoughts and emotions that arise as clouds drifting by. Realize that they’re in the sky (the larger mind) but not affecting it. Watch them pass by and disappear.
Paul Wilson meditation teacher, and author of “The Quiet” describes another technique. When you meditate picture yourself in a cafe looking through the window at the street. Imagine thoughts and emotions as people passing by. You look and see, but do not become involved with them. You watch them pass by out of sight. With time, when the mind is brought to thoughts and emotions in this way, their temporary insubstantial nature becomes more evident . Sometimes however this is not the case, particularly with more painful emotions. In this case it is worthwhile just trying to accept, and be with what is there for now. As Ekhart Tolle says , surrendering to whatever is present now, somehow changes it, and reduces its power over you.
More on meditation attitudes in later posts.
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mindfulness, stress, Jon Kabat-Zinn, meditation, acceptance, patience