Mindfulness Meditation

What mindfulness means

Mindfulness is the usual English translation of the Pali word sati, a central term in Buddhist teaching on meditation. In practice it means knowing what is happening while it is happening: this breath, this sound, this thought. The secular form taught today owes a great deal to Jon Kabat-Zinn, who built the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction course in 1979 and described mindfulness as paying attention on purpose, in the present moment, without judging what you find. Most modern courses and apps follow that outline.

Focused attention and open awareness

There are two ways of working, and a sitting often uses both. In focused attention you choose one anchor, usually the breath, and return to it each time you drift. In open awareness you let go of the single anchor and notice whatever is most obvious from moment to moment: a sound, an itch, a thought, a mood. Open awareness sounds easier and is usually harder, because it is simple to slide into daydreaming without knowing. Spend the first few minutes on the breath to steady yourself, then widen out. Go back to the breath whenever you feel lost.

Working with thoughts and feelings

• Label lightly. One quiet word is enough: ‘planning’, ‘remembering’, ‘worrying’, ‘hearing’.
• Notice the tone. Is this pleasant, unpleasant or neither? You do not have to do anything about the answer.
• Find it in the body. Worry may sit in the stomach, irritation in the jaw. The body is easier to stay with than the story.
• Watch it change. Most sensations and moods shift within a few breaths if you do not feed them.
• Drop the commentary about how well you are doing. That is also a thought, and it can be labelled like any other.

Common misunderstandings

Mindfulness is not an empty mind. Thoughts will keep arriving, and the practice is in seeing them arrive. It is not the same as relaxation, although you may feel calmer afterwards. It is not positive thinking, and it does not ask you to like everything you notice. Nor is it a test you can fail. A sitting in which you wandered fifty times and returned fifty times is a full practice.

Building up, and taking care

Begin with five to ten minutes a day for the first fortnight. In weeks three and four, move towards fifteen or twenty if you want to, and try one ordinary activity a day with full attention, such as washing up or drinking tea. Studies of structured mindfulness programmes suggest modest benefits for stress, anxiety and low mood, though results vary and much of the research looks at eight-week courses with a teacher. Longer or more intensive practice can sometimes stir up anxiety or painful memories. If that happens, open your eyes, move about, shorten the sitting or stop. If you have a history of trauma or a mental-health condition, consider learning with a qualified teacher and tell your clinician what you are doing.