a lot can happen with an open mind and an open heart

             I felt sad when Thursday came this week.  My class on Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction had ended so no longer would I be sitting in a circle with my classmates each week, discussing our struggles and successes in Mindfulness.  Our class had become a little haven, where we could speak and share openly, knowing we would each be listened to and accepted with warmth.  There aren’t many places where a person can feel so safe and secure.  And at the beginning of the eight weeks, we had all been strangers to each other.  A lot can happen with an open mind and an open heart.

            The first meditation we learned was Awareness of Breath.  Even if I am going to do a different meditation, I always like to begin my formal practice with this one.  The Awareness of Breath meditation is a practice in attention and focus.  To try this meditation, take a comfortable but alert position, seated in a chair or a cushion, or lying on the floor with legs on a chair or pillows beneath the knees.  Close your eyes and gently invite your mind to focus on the breath.  Feel the air move into your nostrils, down your windpipe, expanding your chest and abdomen, then flow out, emptying your diaphragm and lungs out your nose on the exhale.  Feel the breeze of the breath on your upper lip and notice the pause in between exhale and inhale. 

            If your mind begins to wander, and you find yourself thinking about dinner or the book you are reading, label the thought as “Planning” or “Thinking” and gently invite your awareness back to the breath.  If you have a thought, that is not failure, you might have a hundred in a minute.  But just by noticing that your mind has wandered is an act of awareness.  Remember the seven attitudes of Mindfulness: non-striving, non-judgment, patience, beginner’s mind, trust, acceptance, and letting go.

            If you want to begin Mindfulness meditation, or any meditation, start small.  Our minds have been programmed to think, think, think; this is the monkey mind. It takes time to quiet the constant stream of thoughts, so don’t be discouraged.  When I first began meditating, I could barely make it to ten minutes, if that.  After two months of daily practice, I can meditate much longer, sometimes up to an hour.  However, some days, fifteen minutes is all I can handle.  I begin to get frustrated, but I remind myself that these things take time and each day is different; this is just today; tomorrow will be different, as will be the day after that.

            Our lives and our minds are anything but static.  We are constantly shifting and changing.  In Walden, Thoreau reminds us, “All change is a miracle to contemplate; but it is a miracle which is taking place every instant.”  But this is a hard sentiment to take to heart.  So easily, we get comfortable with routine and shy away from anything different.   But if we can embrace change, such as moving cross-country or finding a new meditation group, with an open mind and an open heart, anything can happen.

For step-by-step instructions of an Awareness of Breath meditation for beginners by Mindfulness Psychotherapist, Lisa Dale Miller, click here.