An online article titled “The Happiest Man in the World?”described research on the brains of long-term meditators, one of whom, French Buddhist monk, Matthieu Ricard, registered unexpectedly high levels of mind control and “upbeat impulses”, that is, happiness. Other long-term meditators also “experienced a huge level of ‘positive emotions’ in the left pre-frontal cortex of the brain, which is associated with happiness”1.
Happiness is reason enough to meditate, surely, but before I tell you how to do it, here are some more benefits to be gained from mindfulness meditation.
Why Meditate?
The evidence that mindfulness meditation is good for us is, frankly, overwhelming, and thanks to the persistence of long-term meditators such as Professor Emeritus Jon Kabat-Zinn, it is now used in “mainstream institutions such as medicine, and psychology, health care and hospitals, schools, corporations, the legal profession, prisons, and professional sports”2. “Meditate as if your life depended on it”, Kabat-Zinn exhorts a group of Google staffers, “because it does”4.
Meditation improves mental function and resilience, and promotes that serenity and happiness one sees on the face of another long-term meditator, the Dalai Lama. Studies show that “even novices who have done only a little meditation have increased levels of happiness”1. Meditation can even change the architecture of the brain, including “changes in gray matter concentration in brain regions involved in learning and memory processes, emotion regulation, self-referential processing, and perspective taking”3.
The goal of meditation is to get past your mental conditioning to connect with the deeper reality of your own being.
Mindfulness meditation increases our capacity to be aware, to see aspects of ourselves which are normally not evident, to “see the world as it really is,” writes meditation teacher Jack Kornfield, and helps us “to fulfill the capacity we each have as humans to awaken”, to be “more present”5. Kabat-Zinn likens meditation to getting in tune. Trying to function effectively without it “would be like the Philadelphia philharmonic...playing Beethoven without tuning first”4.
How Do I Meditate?
You will see from the following guidelines (based primarily on Jack Kornfield’s Meditation for Beginners and a little of my own experience) that meditation can be quite simple. It does, though, require time, effort and practice. Keep in mind that the aim is not to assume a particular posture, repeat a particular mantra, or have a special kind of experience.
The purpose of mindfulness meditation is awareness, to be more fully conscious, not thinking, just present and aware. We can do this by attending to the breath. Why? Because breath is always there, a steady presence that does not depend on our cooperation. We do not have to think about breath, just be with it. “Drop down on your breath,” Kabat-Zinn likes to say, and “ride it4.”
If you google images for 'meditation', you get lots of pictures of people in gym clothes looking smug and sitting in perfect postures ... usually in gorgeous natural locations. It doesn't really matter how or where you sit; sitting on a chair in the kitchen or on your living room floor are just as good as sitting on the top of a mountain or in a forest glade. Choose an agreeable place where you feel comfortable, and will be undisturbed for ten or twenty minutes.
As you go there, clear your mind and adopt an attitude of calm expectation of a positive meditation experience. “The attitude you bring to meditation practice, and the expectations you have for it, are very important,” meditation teacher, James Van Auken, tells his students , and “bear heavily on ..... the type of growth or development you activate by your practice6.”
Get into a comfortable position on a chair, cushion or whatever suits you, erect but relaxed, hands resting easily on your lap. You can lie down, but you risk falling asleep.
Consciously relax your body. A few deep breaths might help.
Bring your mind gently to your breath without trying to control it in any way. Your breath breathes itself. Just observe it. Let your awareness float on it. Notice the pause between the in- and out-breaths; where you feel your breath, its natural rhythm.
As you attend to breath, you may notice bodily sensations - tensions, aches, itches etc. Let your awareness touch these also, as you stay with the breath.
If thoughts arise, notice these, and stay with the breath. You can, if you like, acknowledge these passing thoughts or sensations by naming them: thought, thought; itch, itch, before returning to the breath. Or just stay with the breath.
End your meditation gently, slowly, appreciatively. Try to maintain the attitude of mindfulness as you go about your life.
What if I get Distracted?
Do not become frustrated; it is the nature of mind to wander and be busy. Instead, when you notice your mind has wandered, return to your breath: this moment, this meditation, this breath. “The breath is the easiest way to come back to the present”6.
How often Should I Meditate?
It is best to develop a daily routine, 10 to 20 minutes a day, or twice a day, morning and night, preferably at the same times every day. Small daily efforts are more beneficial than long, once-in-a-while sessions. Remember, you are tuning your instrument. You are training your mind, and developing a more grounded, aware, present way of being. This takes practice.
Meditation is the practice. The best meditation is the meditation you do every day.
Am I Doing It Right?
A young acquaintance told me that she got such ‘highs’ from meditation she could hardly wait to meditate again. Meanwhile, she was resentful of friends and family, who “don’t get it...they’re not spiritual at all.” I doubt she is meditating well.
Jack Kornfield reminds that “the larger purpose of meditation is to realize how we are a part of everything, and not to try to escape from any aspect of our lives” including “our social responsibility"5. If after beginning to meditate you notice that you feel more connected, a little more patient and compassionate, you are probably doing meditation right. Keep at it.
Sources:
1 Barnes, A. (2007, Jan 21). ‘The happiest man in the world?’, The Independent. Accessed online on 29 Jan 2007 at http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/the-happiest-man-in-the-world-433063.html
2 Centre for Mindfulness in Medicine, Health Care, and Society, University of Massachusetts Medical School. ‘Jon Kabat-Zinn: Biographical Information’. Accessed 1 Feb 2012 online at http://www.umassmed.edu/
3 Holzel, B.K. et al. (2010, Nov 10) ‘Mindfulness practice leads to increases in regional brain gray matter density,’ Accessed 2 Feb 2012 online at http://www.umassmed.edu/cfm/research/index.aspx
4 Kabat-Zinn, J. (2011, Nov 12) ‘Mindfulness with Jon Kabat-Zinn’, Presentation at Google, Nov. 2007. Accessed on 3rd Feb. 2012 online at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3nwwKbM_vJc
5 Kornfield, J. (2010) Meditation for Beginners. Boulder, CO: Sounds True, Inc.
6 Van Auken, J. (2011, Dec). ‘James Auken on Mindfulness’, Report to A.R.E. Staff Meeting, Edgar Cayce’s A.R.E. Access online at http://media.edgarcayce.org/members/james_vanAuken/index.html