Two weeks ago I wrote an article on a very specific epiphany that I obtained through meditation. And while what I realized is good enough advice in and of itself, what many people really seem to want to know is—how do you actually meditate?

There are actually several different types of meditation, the simplest one being mindfulness or vipassana meditation, which is the one that I as a novice have started doing. And as I practice this skill for the foreseeable future, I will undoubtedly write about those other types of meditation.

To make something quite clear (and any scrupulous meditator will say the same thing) meditation will absolutely not give you superpowers—you won’t be able to fly, breathe fire, turn into a Super Saiyan, open up a third eye in your pineal gland, or any of that crap. Indeed, the book from which I learned the majority of my meditative skills, Mindfulness in Plain English, makes that explicitly clear in the first chapter:

“We are not going to teach you to contemplate your navel or to chant secret syllables. You are not conquering demons or harnessing invisible energies. There are no colored belts given for your performance, and you don’t have to shave your head or wear a turban. You don’t even have to give away all your belongings and move to a monastery. In fact, unless your life is immoral and chaotic, you can probably get started right away and make some progress. Sounds fairly encouraging, wouldn’t you say?” (Mindfulness in Plain English, page 18)

But there are benefits to any kind of meditation—the benefits of my own meditation were discussed in the previous article. And without further ado, let us discuss how mindfulness meditation is done.

The basic process of meditation is to sit down on the floor for a set period of time (Start with 20 minutes or so and gradually build up) and concentrate on breathing in and out through your nose. But in practice, it’s a bit more complicated than that.

The first thing to consider is what you sit on—if it’s too soft, it’ll be too comfortable and you’ll fall asleep. If it’s too hard, you’ll be in pain and thus distracted from your meditation. I recommend sitting on a pillow lain on a hardwood floor.

Your clothes should be loose and comfortable (think athletic clothes), with no socks or shoes. Once ready, place the pillow on the floor, sit on the front edge of it, cross your legs on the floor in front. Maybe leg padding such as a second pillow is necessary for you, it’s up to you.

The position you sit in is also important—lotus position is of course the best, but if you can’t do that, do a half lotus. And if you can’t do THAT, sit in the Burmese fashion.

Full Lotus

Half Lotus

Burmese

Whatever you do, your hands are palms up, resting on your thighs. Wrists against the thighs, hands below the navel. This braces the upper body. Keep your neck and shoulders LOOSE. Your chin is up, diaphragm normal, close your eyes. All is relaxed, you “hang” from your spine like a ragdoll.

Once you sit, do NOT move until you’re done. If it’s your first time, do it for 20 minutes at most, probably even less. The more you practice the more time you can do, of course.

Keep the mind in the present moment. Sit motionlessly and close your eyes. Think of your mind as a cup of oil and water—the more still it sits the oil and water separate allowing you to see the clarity of the water. Similarly if you sit still, your thoughts will “Settle” and calm. The mind needs an “object” to focus upon. You must give your mind an object that is always available. That is why you focus on your breathing—you are literally always breathing so it’s a good thing to focus upon.

The first step in meditating on the breath is to “find” it. What you are looking for is the physical, tactile sensation of the air that passes in and out of the nostrils. Try to feel the exact point of the nose where you feel the most air going through-possibly the upper lip. Once you found it, don’t deviate from that spot. Fix your attention on that point. If you don’t fix your attention it won’t work.

Just notice the breath going in and out. When one inhalation ends there is a brief pause before the next begins. Notice that pause. There are two brief pauses—one after the in breath, one after the out breath. The point is to be mindful of the smallest sensations.

DO NOT verbalize or think in concrete words. Just notice the breathing and pausing without thinking or saying “I’m breathing in or out.” Clear your mind and think of nothing but the breath. Notice this without conceptualizing it. Notice the breathing process in its entirety. The breath becomes long and subtle and you become calm. Notice the calmness too.

And that’s basically it! But as a bonus…

What To Do When The Mind Wanders

Just focus on your breath again and try to “anchor it”.  As with most things it gets easier with practice.

Count your breaths to regain concentration—All counting is done mentally, not verbally. Breathe in on a 10 count, breathe out on a 10 count. Do this until you’re back to concentrating on the breath without counting.

As you meditate you might start to feel light, like you’re floating on air. Bear in mind that once you’ve stopped focusing on the “Grossness” of your nostrils and in and out breathing, you’ll start doing subtle imperceptible breathing. THAT is the what you really want to concentrate on. In general with awareness, you notice the obvious first and then you notice the subtleties of that obvious object. Like the breath, you notice the big breath first and then the imperceptible. Through all of it you remain focused on the nostrils. Always focus on that breath on the nostrils, no matter how subtle. Sometimes it gets so subtle that you don’t notice the breath. If that’s the case be mindful and focus on feeling it again. Whenever you “lose” it, you can “find” it again.

As you meditate, focusing on the nostrils and breathing, eventually you will feel the pleasant development of a “sign”. It’s different for everyone. It may be like a star or a gem or a flower, a puff of smoke or a cloud, or anything.

When that happens, meditate on the sign (the book doesn’t really make it clear whether this happens every time or if it’s like a concrete “goal” you hit). Focus your attention on it. This sign is present at the nostrils, you’ll kind of “Feel” it there. When you focus on that object you reach a stage sufficient for the practice of true insight meditation. Continue meditating, but now start to plumb the depths and answer the questions you want. You have to master this “sign” and gain control of it so it can be available whenever you want it.

Unite the mind with the sign and let the mind flow from hence forth. As you pay attention you will see the sign itself is changing. Keep your mind with those changes. Notice that your mind can only be concentrated on the present moment—the unity of the mind with the here and now is called momentary concentration.

During meditation you don’t stay with the breath all the time. It goes to sounds, memories, emotions, perceptions, consciousness, and mental formations as well. When we experience these states, we should forget about the feeling of breath and immediately focus our attention on these states—one at a time, not all of them at one time. As they fade away, we let our mind return to the breath. Think of it as the breath being the “home base”–you leave the home base for any period of time but you ultimately come back to it.

To make any progress in insight meditation you are going to have to use this sort of momentary concentration, focusing on what comes to you before going back to the breathing. As you do it you will notice other sensations beyond the breath coming and going. Watch them–don’t do anything with them or try to make new sensations, but keep an “Eye” on them. Notice thoughts too but let them drift away. All you should notice is the impermanent and unsatisfactory nature of your conscious mental and physical experiences.

What To Do With Your Mind

There is a difference between thinking a thought and BEING AWARE of a thought. A thought you are merely aware of “feels” “light and if you leave it alone it goes away. Normal thought is “heavy”–it takes hold of you. It leads immediately to another thought in a chain.

When you get distracted, just note the fact that you have been thinking, daydreaming, worrying, or whatever. Gently, but firmly, without getting upset or judging yourself for straying, simply return to the simple physical sensation of the breath.

There are two things you want to avoid: thinking and sinking. Thinking is of course conscious deliberate thought. “Sinking” is the reverse—a decline in awareness. It is sort of a mental vacuum in which there is no thought, no concentration, no observation of the breath, no awareness of anything. It is a gap, a formless mental gray area rather like a dreamless sleep. Regardless of whether its thinking or sinking try to take notice of it and refocus insightfully.

And lastly, take your time, it’s not a race.

It’s only 20 minutes a day—do it right before you go to bed, and it provides immediate benefits. Give it a try!