I meditate every morning, early. I sit in a half-lotus position (pictured here) on a meditation cushion called a Zafu, palms one on top of the other on my lap, facing forward, eyes closed. This is what Thanissaro Bhikkhu, a renowned Buddhist meditation teacher, calls “getting the body into position.” For beginners, sitting like this for long periods can be a bit uncomfortable, until your body gets used to it.
Even so, sitting this way is the easy part. The hard part is what comes next: getting the mind into position, keeping yourself focused on the in-and-out breath until the bell rings.
But let me take a step back for a moment, and talk about the term meditation. It’s a heavy word with a number of meanings, so it’s important for me to clarify what I mean — and what’s usually meant in Buddhist schools of thought — when thinking of meditation. In the western world, it’s often defined as “continued or extended thought; reflection; contemplation.” I frequently hear people using the term to mean “thinking hard about something.” They’ll say, “Oh, that’s a tough problem. Let me go meditate on it.”
That’s a perfectly valid use of the word, but it’s not the kind of meditation I’m talking about here. I’m using the term meditation to mean something quite different and in this case, more specific: the practice of mindfulness of breathing, a meditation practice in which one maintains attention and mindfulness on the sensations of breathing. This type of meditation, the one I practice, is called Vipassana or “Insight” meditation, which is Buddhist in origin and about 2,600 years old.
The goal of this kind of meditation is to bring an inner peace and a lasting happiness. Along the path to that goal, you get a lot of other benefits such as being more connected to your body, more aware of your feelings and emotions, and less caught by your thoughts and what’s called the “monkey mind” – a mind that won’t rest and that, over time, contributes to the kinds of anxiety and stress many of us feel each day.
As human beings, it’s normal for our minds to wander. If you want to see what I’m talking about, just try this quick experiment, even if it’s noisy or crowded or bright: Close your eyes, and focus your attention on your breathing. Don’t try to change it by breathing more or less deeply, or more or less slowly. Just pay attention to how you’re already breathing right now. Count the breaths starting with the in-breath (one) and the out-breath (two), counting up until you reach 10. Then start over. Count the breath this way 3 times (30 breaths).
How did it go? Were you able to make it all the way to 10 each time? Did your mind wander? Did you find yourself planning what you were going to do next, or wondering how much longer this exercise would take? Did you get distracted by background noises? Did you feel impatient or relaxed? Did you enjoy the experience?
It may seem hard to believe at first, but by paying attention to your breath in this way, over time, you will begin to develop an incredibly deep, rich level of understanding and insight into your own mind. It’s a fascinating process, and it has the potential to be incredibly beneficial, allowing you to more deeply connect with the jumble of processes that make up the concept of your identity. Over time, you’ll find that you’re able to touch a deeper sense of peace regardless of the circumstances that surround you. You won’t be as caught by an emotion, and you’ll be able to make a decision about how you’d like to react to a situation in a way that might have been out of reach to you before.
It does take time to see the benefits of meditation, though. Just like the development of any skill, from playing an instrument to training for a marathon, meditation is a practice that requires a daily commitment. This isn’t something you can do once a week and see real benefits from.
For many people however, the benefits can be life changing. I can say that the results of my meditation practice have affected me on more levels and more significantly than anything else I’ve undertaken in my whole life.
The concept of meditation is too big for just one post, so I’m planning on a series of articles that will break it down into smaller more manageable concepts, with a focus on integrating some simple mindfulness practices that can help improve how we approach problems in our work and life, and how we become more effective all around.
One final thing to keep in mind; you absolutely do not have to be a Buddhist to meditate in this way, and this practice won’t turn you into one, either. As Thanissaro Bhikkhu says in one of the articles I’ve linked to below:
[Meditation] is a good topic no matter what your religious background. As my teacher once said, the breath doesn’t belong to Buddhism or Christianity or anyone at all. It’s common property that anyone can meditate on.
Here are a few links that can serve as a great jumping-off point on the subject of breath meditation:
- Article: A Guided Meditation
- Article: Basic Breath Meditation Instructions
- Book: Mindfulness in Plain English
- Audio: Introduction to Meditation
I’d like to tune future posts on this subject on the aspects of meditation and mindfulness in daily life based on your feedback and requests, so please let me know what you’d like for me to write about in the comments.
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Ryan Schwartz
30 April 2009 at 11:27 am
I made it to 10 three times. I could sense my brain sharpening while doing so, and it was neat. Thanks Dan for the thoughtful article and I hope to work meditation practice into my daily schedule!
eric
30 April 2009 at 11:29 am
Thanks for writing this. I’m still fairly new to mindfulness practice, but it’s fast becoming a time of the day I treasure. When I first started, I also found it very helpful to plan a specific time of the day and length of sit. It made it easier to incorporate it into my daily routine.
I’ll be ordering that cushion shortly. I’ve tried to make do with couch cushions, mats, pillows, anything I could find. All were distracting in their ineffectiveness.
Dan Benjamin
30 April 2009 at 11:34 am
@Eric - Absolutely, a good cushion, especially when you’re first starting out, is absolutely essential. Maybe a good topic for the next article could be starting out, what you need (time, place, cushion, etc.)?
jake
30 April 2009 at 11:43 am
I’m concerned this will make me lazy. It’s probably useful for those with ‘too much’ energy and motivation. But less useful for those, like me, who find motivation a problem.
isaiah
30 April 2009 at 11:51 am
when i swim laps the focus on my fatigue and maintaining my form, and that makes my mind wander. i used to find it difficult to remember how many laps i had completed. my solution was just to repeat the lap count on each arm-stroke.
once it become second nature i found that i was reaching a similar mental state as my meditation. busying my conscious mind with the mundane task of counting was enough to let me relax.
this brought about a real revelation for me in my regular meditation routine. in times past a mental mantra or counting (my standby) was not really enough to busy my conscious mind. my swimming discovery lead me to try different counting patterns. i’ve settled on something that has always helped me pass time in boring school classes—counting doubles. i think of it as a computer geeks version of a mantra.
i start at 2 and then double to 4 and then to 8. when the next double doesn’t come readily to mind i reverse the process and come back down again. for me this has lead to a whole new level of relaxation and awareness that i had never really been able to achieved before. i think counting or chanting was simply not enough—my conscious found a way to sneak in—i needed something just a little more interesting.
perhaps if i studied at meditation more i wouldn’t need this artificial chewing gum of the mind. but for those of us that have kids and work and lives and ... well, any little personal routine to make it easier is helpful.
—
oh, and, by the way, a very nice article. i always enjoy your writing. thanks again,
isaiah
Dan Benjamin
30 April 2009 at 11:55 am
@Jake - this kind of meditation won’t make you lazy, nor is it “relaxing” in the traditional sense, although the side-effects will create calmness. In fact, you may find that it calmly energizes you as it does for most people. They’ve measured the brainwaves and done studies on Buddhist monk’s while they were in meditation, and have discovered that their minds are more active, focused, and concentrated during meditation than any other time of day.
Marcus
30 April 2009 at 12:07 pm
I’ve practised breathing meditation on and off for about six or seven years now and have always found it to be a fantastic way to sharpen my focus on reality, on the “here and now”. Given enough time and devotion mindfulness meditation can be a great way to improve your overall mindfulness and general wellbeing.
This is a great beginner’s guide - the only thing I would add is that it does not matter if your “chattering mind” tries to get your attention with random thoughts as you meditate. Part of meditation is noticing these thoughts, noticing that you noticed them, and dismissing them. Over time, as your focus and attention span increases, you will get progressively less of these random thoughts.
Phil Dokas
30 April 2009 at 12:18 pm
I’m very much looking forward to this series, Dan!
Chris Yunker
30 April 2009 at 12:24 pm
Good post. How long until you started noticing changes?
John Lamber
30 April 2009 at 12:54 pm
Daily meditation and desire to change make me a better person. I started a few years ago and however you will see a real benefit just after a few weeks. If you decided to to meditate everyday then I suggest you buy a good set of zafu and zabuton. A friend pointed me to this company http://www.zafustore.com and I am really happy with their products.
Steve Sanderson
30 April 2009 at 1:43 pm
Nice article - inspiring.
Thomas
30 April 2009 at 1:46 pm
I practice an old scandinavian form of meditation called ‘Sjælevandring’, or in english ‘Spiritwalking’, where you through relaxation and focus detach your senses from the body.
It’s an incredibly powerful experience, but it usually takes far longer to obtain the right state of mind, which renders it somewhat useless for a quick pick-me-up.
Maybe I should do a quick write-up on it.
Mxa
30 April 2009 at 2:06 pm
Great Article. I’ve tried meditation in the past but didn’t really commit to it and did it every day. I’m going to try it again. Looking forward to your series.
Mxe
30 April 2009 at 2:07 pm
Meh. I mean “i didn’t to it every day” of course.
Jen (Modern Beet)
30 April 2009 at 3:25 pm
I disagree with your point that you must meditate often to feel any results / changes. I started doing yoga occasionally (also basically an exercise in breathing), and it changed me dramatically. At first I would do it once or twice a week, and now, admittedly, I never attend classes any more (I live in germnay now), but the mindfulness that I learned in the first classes is still there. Anyways, I find this tremendously useful useful as programmer, mostly because it helps me deal with unexpected (*whatever you want to call it *&^) from management; I just take a few deep breaths, then tell them why their idea is scheisse
imo, yoga and programming have a natural but undervalued connection
Julian Schrader
01 May 2009 at 1:54 am
Thanks for this very interesting article! I’m looking forward to reading more meditation tips—I felt the same as Bryan Schwartz (1st comment): I made it to 10 three times, and each time it felt “better” than before.
I think I’ll try this more often now and I’m curious to see how it develops :-)
Steve Morris
01 May 2009 at 4:04 am
Nice piece. You are so right about the benefits - I have been doing this for some years now and the benefits are immense.
As a natural healer I need to be able to address and utilise high levels of ‘chi’ and this breathing meditation enables the clarity of sensitivity that is required for such work.
And it’s very very helpful to overcome the stress of modern life, particularly the side effects of unchecked emotional storms.
Kind regards,
Steve.
Dan Benjamin
01 May 2009 at 8:21 am
@Jen - I didn’t mean to imply that there would be *no* benefits from having an occasional meditation practice. Certainly any degree of mindfulness is better than none. But greater and deeper benefits are a result of a more regular practice.
Thanks for your comments, very inspiring.
Ryan Singer
01 May 2009 at 9:20 am
I’ve found the question of regular vs. occasional practice is easily answered by meeting people who have put the hours in. The most impressive people I know are Buddhist meditators (lay people, not monks) who have put the time in every day for many years using authentic methods. And why? Because the untrained mind has strong habits. The only way to overcome a strong habit is to practice regularly.
The Tibetan word for meditation is “gom” and it means “getting used to”. At first we have such a strong habit to chase after thoughts and feelings that we are not “used to” experiencing our mind which is between and behind all the thoughts and feelings that come and go. The different Buddhist meditation methods are tools that allow us to meet the qualities of our own mind and then stabilize and train in them for the benefit of ourselves and others.
Thanks Dan for choosing to write about this topic on your blog. I hope it’s helpful to a lot of people.
mike
01 May 2009 at 9:46 am
Thanks for the article! I’m very interested in learning more about this. I’ve never done meditation before so the articles that I would like to see are similar to your articles that introduced me to setting up the Rails stack on my Mac - an opinionated walkthrough for beginners.
I look forward to the series.
Keith Jacobs
01 May 2009 at 12:44 pm
I am a Christian and have meditated regularly for a little over a year now. I personally found the concept hard to learn by reading, but I bought an audiobook by Shinzen Young (http://www.shinzen.org/) that really helped.
I look forward to the series, Dan.
Sean Chambers
01 May 2009 at 7:21 pm
It’s actually quite amazing that you posted about this today. I just subscribed to your blog yesterday for the ruby articles. At the same time, I had practiced meditation awhile ago but stopped for a long time due to various other things going on in my life. Recently however I have been trying to get back into the habit again.
Quite the coincidence that I come across your blog and you post about this the day after? Sounds like my subconcious is trying to give me a hint =)
I’m going to make the effort to start meditating every morning like I did in the past before I start work at my house as I am a remote developer.
Thanks for this post, It’s exactly what I needed to read to light a motivational fire under my rump =)
Greg
01 May 2009 at 9:40 pm
What do you use for a meditation timer?
Duncan Lee
04 May 2009 at 1:46 pm
I started looking into meditation because of the fact that you mention it in your ‘About’ page. Now you’re writing articles about it… so great! I can’t wait to read more.
James Frost
05 May 2009 at 9:00 am
Thanks for writing this, Dan - I found it really useful. I bought Mindfulness in Plain English at the weekend, thanks to your recommendations, and it’s by far the best meditation book I’ve come across. I’ve been wanting to begin meditating daily for a while, and I think you’ve given me the nudge I needed.
As for how these articles can progress - I’d actually be quite interested in reading a similar-in-style article that is ‘an introduction to Buddhism’. I’d like to learn about Buddhism, but the problem is always ‘where to begin?!’.
Erik Kringlie
08 May 2009 at 10:17 am
Thank You, great article and please continue your posts on meditation. My practice is changing my life everyday. I am also a tennis coach and I have been trying to figure out a way to incorporate the practice into sports and getting high school aged kids to focus better / perform better, their minds wonder so much. Do you know of any articles that combine meditation and sports?
Anthony
16 May 2009 at 8:46 am
The form of meditation you describe, though it may be Buddhist in some of its particulars, has its roots in the yogic traditions of ancient India, most if not all of which, broadly speaking, involved a mindful focus on breathing.
@kuzushisan Tim
16 May 2009 at 10:30 am
Lovely article Dan - I was reminded by a good friend recently, for beginners or those returning to ‘sitting’(zazen), that sitting for a timed period is another useful tool toward getting used to meditation.
Of course, the danger here is that one focuses on the time elapsed/elapsing, rather than not focusing on the time elapsing… “This too shall pass…”
I breathe in, I breathe out, sometimes in the right order, sometimes not. (O:
I found Kosho Uchiyama’s book “Opening the Hand of Thought” to be very helpful in establishing a meditation practice, it is Zen based, and his style of writing is very easy and clear - in contrast to the practice, at first (O:
I look forward to more from you, and thank you
Ralph Mason
02 June 2009 at 11:02 pm
I was delighted to find this post, Dan. I’ve been practicing meditation for many years, but only involved in web design for a few. Of all the fields I’ve worked in, none has had more of a churning influence on the mind than the web and all its technologies.
Without a steadying influence like meditation, it’s easy to fall for ‘information overload’... yet, until now, I’ve not heard a mention of meditation in web circles. Well done for bringing it to the fore!
Devin Liles
17 June 2009 at 5:53 pm
Great article. I wanted to add my opinion that it isn’t necessary to sit on a cushion to do this practice. Over the years I have seen folks endure unending pain as their bodies did not get used to sitting in half lotus or some other position on the ground. At a certain point it seems to be a distraction with diminishing returns. I have also attended numerous meditation retreats wherein teachers advised folks to just sit upright in chairs. The focus is simply in sitting in an upright and dignified posture, whether it be on a cushion or in a chair with your feet firmly planted on the ground. Just wanted to add this as I have seen people get hung up on this over the years.
Louis Muloka
14 July 2009 at 4:53 pm
Meditation is a ridiculous practice that I enjoy profusely. It is madness pointing the mind at itself and gazing down the mirrored hallways it creates.
And yea I agree with Jen, you can definitely do this practice once a day, week, month, year, etc and still get a sense of benefits from it. Yes there is a correlation between the frequency of your practice and the initial response/resonance/ripple. Over the years these ripples will expand outwards in more and more subtle ways.
Personally, I still have aha moments about moments I had during practice years ago.
Also to anyone beginning or into a meditation practice I highly recommend these books by Chogyam Trungpa:
* The Myth of Freedom
* Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism
And to also look into the practice of tonglen.
Marc Learner
03 December 2009 at 3:10 pm
Thank you for the audio link!
Not for me, I’m already into it but! But I will definitely pass it along to some friends because I think listening to the audio is the easiest path into meditation for beginners (unfortunately not everyone likes reading)
I myself started off with this CD, but mostly because it has a French version that is my first language:
http://www.easysteps-meditation.com/meditation-techniques.htm