Mindfulness Meditation

According to the Eastern meditative traditions, lasting happiness is achieved by understanding and training the mind. A common pattern is to look to the outside world for the validation and comfort that define our happiness, but there are many events in our lives that we can’t control—including those that are happy, sad, stressful, exiting, etc.

Generally, events and situations contribute to how you feel. Mindfulness Meditation teaches you that even when there are ups and downs in our lives, you can use mindfulness and awareness practice to deepen your understanding and develop the positive, enduring qualities that lead to stable happiness. What’s more, you can also find that this personal well-being naturally has a ripple effect that benefits others as well.

Mindfulness is, first and foremost, a method that stabilizes and relaxes the mind by encouraging it to pay full, non-judgmental attention to the present moment. Mindfulness is simply the process of becoming aware of your thoughts and feelings in any given current moment.

A practice that can be incorporated into your daily schedule and cultivated gradually, mindfulness is the opposite of what most of us do most of the time: obsess over past or future events, worry about to-do lists, stress about life, and seek constant reassurances from others. 

When you practice Mindfulness Meditation, you train your mind to remain rooted in the present. You can do this by focusing your attention on an object—often the process of breathing—for some minutes. By turning your attention inward and training your mind to settle, your may find that your ability to remain composed and peaceful even when life presents you with curve balls increases greatly and your attitudes about life can be transformed. As the great American psychologist and philosopher William James put it over a century ago, “The greatest discovery of my generation is that a human being can alter his life by altering his attitudes of mind.” (Mindworks)

Mindfulness Meditation can help you relax and relieve stress. The goal of Mindful Meditation is to focus your attention on the things that are happening right now in the present moment. The idea is to note what you experience without trying to change it.

Mindfulness Meditation can help you relax, because you are not worrying about what happened before or what may occur in the future.

You don’t need any special tools or equipment to practice this meditation. You just sit in a comfortable position in a chair or on the floor. Or you can lie down, if that is more comfortable for you.

If your mind wanders, there is no need to worry or judge yourself. When you become aware that your thoughts are wandering, simply focus again on the present moment. One way to do this is by paying attention to your body. For example, is your breathing fast or slow, deep or shallow?

Mindfulness Meditation may bring up certain feelings or emotions. If this happens, don’t try to rid your mind of these feelings. Just focus on what you feel at the present moment. And then the next present moment. And then the next present moment…