Practising mindfulness

As Charles Tart writes: the problem with being mindful is remembering to be mindful and the problem with remembering is remembering to remember. Our experience has led us to a set of beliefs about ourselves and the way we live our lives that have turned us into automatons who do not possess the means to bring themselves out of their sleepwalking state.


There are some ways of jolting ourselves back into the present - an external stimulus or reminder, like a bell or an alarm, is a good example. At home, it is possible to create a CD of bells going off at random intervals. The idea could also work with a group of people who would text other members of the group when they were reminded to be in the present creating a network of potentially random wake-up texts of  I'm awake. Are you? 


Another technique is to build something into your day that forces you to come back into the present.  This needs to be intrusive rather than simply mechanical and regular in your day and to involve both the mind and the body. The idea that worked for me was doorways. Each time I walked through a doorway I noticed whether the hinges were on the left or right and then went through leading with the same leg. At the same time I brought myself back to the present and asked myself how I was feeling (which made it impossible to go back and describe any day as a bad one: some bad things had happened but I hardly ever found myself feeling bad when I walked through a doorway). Jumping through doors with no hinges was fun but these tended mainly to be in public places so I nominated a leg to lead with. Another idea I used was reciting the registration plates of white (say) vehicles.


This technique has its problems: first, we have to remember to do it; second, it becomes habitual and stops having the needed effect.


Morning exercise: There is a morning exercise that comes from Gurdjieff's teaching via Tart. It takes 10 to 15 minutes when  first learned. Its purpose is to teach mindfulness and it can be used any time during the day to bring us back into our body and into the present.


Best done first thing in the morning, start by sitting (or you can lie down) comfortably. Close your eyes and relax (but note until you have learned the exercise it is perfectly OK to read as you go along though, as you'll see, closed eyes are important).


Focus your attention on your right foot. Really concentrate on this foot at this moment and focus on whatever is there - be open to whatever is happening in your right foot. Just experience, do not judge; if it feels numb or cold, it is not good or bad, it just is.


When you have made good contact move to the lower half of the right leg and repeat the focusing.


Next, after a few seconds or however long it takes, open your mind to what is happening for your knee and the upper half of your right leg.


Then move your focus to your right hand; then to your right forearm; and on to your right upper arm.


Now move across to sense your left upper arm; then down to your left forearm; and on to your left hand.


Next the upper left leg; then the lower left leg and on to move your attention to the left foot.


In the second stage we widen our attention. We start with both feet and when we have experiences that we add in both lower legs and then include both upper legs until we are experiencing all of both our legs.


When we have these in focus we add in the upper arm, then the lower arm and finally the hands - each one step at a time.


Now you will be experiencing all of your limbs at once. And you move on to actively listen to whatever sounds are there, without judging. Hearing is more dominant so while you're making this real effort to listen keep in your mind the feelings in your limbs. This stage can be a valuable meditation in itself but for the purpose of the exercise you should aim to hold this for around 30 seconds.


Finally, slowly open your eyes, while still listening and feeling your limbs. Sight is so dominant, it's likely you'll not manage equal experience of everything but maybe 60% seeing, 30% hearing and 10% physical sensations. When seeing, you should actively look, no blank staring; let something hold your attention for a few seconds and then move on.


This state of being - with full awareness of what we're seeing, what we're hearing and the sensations in our limbs - is what we aim for in bringing ourselves back to the present. So if you are using a technique to remind you to be mindful, then it is just a question of closing your eyes briefly to sense your limbs, listen and then open your eyes to see, aiming for the full range of awareness. With practice, this quickly comes.


One of the pleasant outcomes of this exercise is how readily it displaces worry and anxiety - they seem to have no way to get through. The exercise also taught me the pleasure of just being alive.


In love and light, M