A goal I set for myself when I started mindfulness meditation a year ago, I decided to practice mindfulness meditation to enhance my personal growth. So I would like to share with you what I’ve learned while doing mindfulness meditation.
The reason I started meditating was to use my morning hours as an investment for my better daily life.
As I mentioned in a previous post about meditation, it is important to schedule a certain amount of time and put in some effort to practice meditation. I am often surprised to see how a small habit has changed me over a year.
Isn’t the trend that more and more people are interested in meditation these days? Probably we all want to adapt to the fast-changing world and to train mentally.
If you are meditating at home, you may find it helpful to read “Meditation Guide-how to start Meditation For beginner”
If you are also determined to practice meditation, this article will help you. This is how I practiced it when I first encountered this Mindfulness Meditation.
So, shall we find out?
The 8 Attitudes of Mindfulness Meditation
Before starting mindfulness practice, it is essential to understand the concept of mindfulness and what it means to you in your endeavors for personal growth.
Mindful practice often embodies the eight attitudes that contribute to the growth and prosperity of the mind, mind, and body.
1. The attitude of a learner for the first time.
Let’s say you are traveling to a foreign country you are visiting for the first time. Seeing through the eyes of a foreign traveler, everything is new and strange.
When I first learned about the meditation, I was an absolute beginner at this meditation world. That’s why I could be more absolved mindfulness meditation philosophy. Luckily, the training from “Mindfulness Exercise” helped me to extend my experience.
2. A non-judgmental attitude beyond subduction
See everything you come across fairly as it is, without judgment of right or wrong, good or bad.
3. The attitude of awareness.
It perceives what you see as it is.
4. Satisfied attitude
You are comfortable and satisfied with where you are now.
5. Stay calm and compassionate
At the time, did you get angry easily and lose your composure?
With compassion and insight into things or people, it keeps you equanimous. Also, if you keep your composure, you have control over it.
6. A Permissive Mindset
It means “Letting be”, leaving things as they are without having to change them.
7. Self-reliance
You decide for yourself what is true and what is not, based on your own experience.
8. A compassionate attitude
It’s about loving yourself just the way you are, without criticism or remorse.
The 8 Attitude of mindful living
Practicing these attitudes can be done anywhere, and it can be done consistently. In other words, it makes it much easier for the learner to have a mind, non-judgmental, accepting, stable, calm, tolerant, self-reliant, and benevolent attitude.
For example, let’s say you are preparing kimchi stew for your family for dinner. Even in these small daily routines, the mindfulness posture applies and helps your mental growth in the process.
As a learner, experience the texture of the ingredients as you collect them for kimchi stew.
There is no need to judge whether or not you are good at cooking with a non-judgmental attitude. Start without judging your cooking skills.
Your decision to cook dinner for your family is that you have made a decision on your own.
You also have a compassionate spirit for others.
Without rushing step by step, chop vegetables, chop kimchi, chop and fry meat. In the process, you focus solely on looking at the food ingredients as they are.
Know that you are doing your best to cook, and don’t be discouraged if things don’t go your way.
While the stew is boiling, I see you at ease, letting it proceed naturally.
Extend this mindset into other areas of your daily life or relationships. And record any changes that occur as you practice these attitudes. In my case, I write in a meditation journal after finishing.
When you start to feel the difference in how your body and mind feel by practicing the 8 attitudes of mindfulness, you will learn to listen to your mind and body and practice meditation to help your mind and body to harmonize better with your mind and body. You will want to start with
Now let’s practice mindfulness meditation.
Prepare for Mindfulness Meditation
1. Meditation Posture
Several postures work well for mindfulness practice and can help you avoid sleepiness during practice. Standing, sitting, or lying down is a personal preference.
If you are standing, wear comfortable shoes. You can avoid being distracted by sore feet.
If you are in a sitting position, use a cushion, blanket, or yoga mat on the floor. If you are not used to sitting on the floor, you can sit on a chair or anything comfortable for you. However, if you are lying down, it is important to be fully awake to avoid drowsiness.
It is also a personal preference to have your eyes closed or open while meditating. If you’re feeling tired, it’s best to keep it at least partially open so you don’t get sleepy. However, if you choose to meditate with your eyes open, stay focused on your meditation practice and avoid distractions.
Take a comfortable position so that your body does not tense or stiffen and cause discomfort. This will probably be a distraction that can keep you from meditating for a very long time. On the other hand, you don’t want to fall asleep while meditating in a position that is too comfortable.
If sleepiness is a problem during meditation, you can meditate standing up or meditate with your eyes open as mentioned above. Another option is to take a nap before meditating.
Write down your thoughts about which postures will be most effective while meditating, and make a checklist of the necessary before starting a meditation exercise.
For example, you can ask yourself.
Do you prefer to stand, sit, or lie down?
Are there any comforting postures of mind to try during meditation?
Are these shoes comfortable for standing and meditating?
Should you open or close your eyes while meditating?
Should I take a nap before meditation to avoid getting sleepy during mindfulness meditation?
2. A place to meditate
Once you’ve decided on the right body posture for your meditation practice, find a quiet place to meditate, where you can focus on yourself and without distractions.
Do this exercise in a comfortable environment where there are no distracting objects, such as a TV or cell phone.
Steps of Mindfulness Meditation
1. Mindful Breathing
Once you have decided on a posture or a place, it is a step to start meditating and check the many emotions, feelings, and thoughts that happen to you.
That first step is the breath of mindfulness. Start with a short time of 3 minutes or so. I recommend that you start this mindfulness meditation by exploring your mind and body and leaving your emotions, thoughts, or physical sensations intact.
Start by thinking of taking a break from your busy day. Being in a state where you are not doing something may make you aware of the thoughts and feelings you have had throughout the day. These do not require analysis or judgment, only awareness.
Allow yourself to be in the present moment. Take about three minutes to write down the feelings, emotions, and thoughts that come to mind as you identify yourself.
As you begin to understand the inner workings of your body and mind through mindfulness screening, you will want to expand your meditation to further explore the mind-body connection. Thoughtful, sedentary mindfulness meditation begins with mindfulness of the breath and expands into bodily sensations, sounds, thoughts, emotions, and finally choice-free awareness.
As you inhale and exhale with a beginner’s mind, feel the ever-changing breath, like the tide of the sea. You realize that you can choose to go with the flow instead of fighting it because everything in life changes and the more resistance you have, the greater the pain.
2. A sense of mindfulness
Mindfulness Sensation The next step in mindful breathing is the mindfulness sensation.
Unlike body scan meditation, which systematically checks the body part by part, in this course, you focus on the sensations at the moment you feel them.
Noticing the sensations you feel move back and forth throughout your body makes this exercise more insightful into the experience of the present moment. You experience many sensations, including pain, tingling, burning, warmth, coolness, itching, and dryness. If you don’t feel any noticeable sensations, you can focus on any point of contact, such as leaning on your back in a chair or your feet touching the floor.
Meditation does not analyze the sensations, but simply perceives them.
3. Mindful Listening
Once you have completed your mindfulness sense, the next step is mindful listening.
Sound is always present in our environment, so we can practice it almost anytime, anywhere.
Whatever you hear in your environment, don’t judge it as good or bad. You just need to see how the sound temporarily comes and goes.
4. Mindful thoughts and emotions
The next step is mindfulness thoughts and feelings.
Focus your attention on the mind and the thought process itself. Thoughts and emotions are always changing, like breaths, sensations, and sounds. Rather than immerse yourself in the content of your mind, just experience the thought process.
Once you know the processes by which thoughts change and the triggers that cause them to occur, you can begin to move away from them.
As you become aware of the change in the emotions that occur within you, you will experience feelings of anger, sadness, pain, anxiety, and confusion and it will decrease.
5. Record of your awareness.
Now come back to your breath and feel your whole body rise as you inhale and go down as you exhale.
Gradually it’s time for you to finish meditating. Just as every exercise begins with stretching and ends with stretching, meditation begins with breathing and ends with breathing.
Meditation Journal
Know your changes through the meditation Journal.
Start meditating and record your experience as you go through the stages of breathing, sensing, listening, thinking, and feeling.
Write in your meditation journal whether your meditation went well today or if there is something you would like to do differently in the future.
Keep in mind that the practice of mindfulness meditation is for yourself. Write down any obstacles or tasks that hinder your meditation practice.
For example, I am writing a few sentences about today’s meditation.
What do I want to achieve through mindfulness meditation?
What can I change myself by applying a mindfulness attitude in my daily life?
Finally, I made a meditation journal that records the meditations in the process of practicing meditation. I would like to share this template with you. If you need it, download it and try it.
Free meditation Journal
Records the meditations in the process of practicing.
Meditation journal and note templates
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