We can think of mindfulness in two primary ways: as a formal practice (meditation) when we deliberately cultivate silence and pay attention to our breath, our body, or our environment, and also as an informal practice where mindfulness (intentional awareness) is infused into the things we do each day. It’s a bit of a balance, or a dance, between formal and informal practice.
In your next class, you will get more detailed instruction on beginning a personal practice. Ideally, we would each carve out 5-20 minutes each day (or more!) for formal mindfulness practice. It’s up to you to figure out when the best time of day is for you (morning, lunchtime, after work, before bed). It doesn’t really matter when you practice, but it helps to have a consistent time so that the habit “sticks.”
It is during these formal moments of practice that we train for the rest of our day — we train in bringing back our wandering attention, and we train in being non-reactive and non-judgmental toward our thoughts and emotions.
It can also be helpful to build in “mindful pauses” during the day. It’s pretty easy now to set up a timer on your phone or your watch to remind you to stop and breathe for 60 seconds. During these brief pauses, just bring your attention to the breath. Mindfulness teacher Chade-Meng Tan recommends the “one-breath meditation,” shown below:
You can also make a certain routine activity — turning off a light, checking your phone, etc. — as a reminder to pause and ask, “Where is my attention right now?”
Can you be mindful all day long? No! We are not aiming for perfection, and our minds will wander because that’s what minds do! What we really want are brief moments of awareness, repeated many times:
We set our intention to be present, and the mind wanders. So we bring it back. And then we notice it’s wandered again. It happens on our cushion, and it happens throughout our day. It’s important to remember when we notice that we have gotten distracted — during meditation, while at work, or in a conversation — to not get upset with ourselves. We should be excited… because we noticed the mind had wandered! THAT’S the real moment of insight, the moment you realize, “I wanted to be here, but mentally, I was over there. Now I’m coming back.”
As we repeat these brief moments of awareness … many many times… they become more frequent, and more continuous.
It’s all about the practice.
And ultimately, it’s about finding a way to do all of this with ease. Henry David Thoreau wrote, “The really efficient laborer will be found not to crowd his day with work, but will saunter to his task surrounded by a wide halo of ease and leisure. There will be a wide margin for relaxation to his day. He is only earnest to secure the kernels of time, and does not exaggerate the value of the husk.”
The more we cultivate clarity through our mindfulness practice, the more we will be able to see the essential core of the work that needs to be done (the kernels), and we won’t get so distracted by the external trappings of busyness. We may become more aware of the time we ‘waste’ on social media or on other tasks that aren’t important, or that do not fulfill us or align with our values and intentions.
Finally, you can listen to the guided meditation below for a short, 2-minute “brain break” meditation.