On how to do mindfulness and meditation

For ordinary people who have just come into contact with mindfulness meditation, there is no need to report to the expensive class, meditate in the deserted mountains, or even spend more than 15 minutes trying to grasp the two cores of "anchoring the present and not judging", even if you wait for the elevator for 30 seconds.

When I came into contact with mindfulness two years ago, I also stepped on the pit. I always felt that I had to wear loose meditation clothes, sit on a futon with my legs crossed, and nothing in my mind was qualified. After sitting hard for half a month, my legs were so numb that I almost couldn't stand up, but my mood was even more anxious-I was always worried that I was practicing "wrong", which went against the original intention of mindfulness. Later, I talked to a counselor friend who was doing mindfulness intervention in a mental health center, and I realized that I was completely biased by online ritual marketing.

Before, a girl who was engaged in Internet operation asked her for emotional adjustment, saying that she worked overtime until 11 o'clock every day, and she just wanted to be paralyzed and couldn't find time to practice when she came home. She gave the laziest method: every morning, she went to the company to wait for the elevator for 30 seconds, and put all her attention on the touch of the soles of her feet touching the ground. No matter whether the elevator came or not, whether there were people crowded around her, as long as she found herself thinking about the PPT to be done today and the plan that she hadn't changed yesterday, she silently pulled her attention back to the soles of her feet. After practicing for two months, the girl herself said that before changing the plan to the third edition, she had to strike a table. Now, when she changed to the fifth edition, she can still ask the demander the specific adjustment direction steadily. Even her colleagues asked her if she had taken a vacation secretly recently.

If you want to do more formal exercises, there is no threshold. Just find a corner that won't be interrupted suddenly, and sit in a hard chair. You don't have to force yourself to double or even single. Don't bend over the back of the chair, put your hands on your thighs casually, and keep your eyes closed. If you are afraid of falling asleep, just leave a slit and stare at the ground half a meter in front of you. Next, just focus on the "anchor point" you choose-oh, yes, there are actually different views in the industry. Some teachers who do traditional mindfulness will demand that they must anchor their breathing and think that other anchor points are not "pure", but now more consultants who do popular science will advise novices to choose whatever anchor points they feel comfortable with, such as the cool and hot feeling of breathing at the tip of their nose, the undulating touch of their chest, and even the cool bracelets in their hands and the windows.

In fact, you can also choose different practice methods for different scenes. I have sorted out several commonly used ones to suit most people's work and rest:

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When I first started practicing, I found myself thinking about the quarrel with my friends last week and the rent to be paid next month, so I couldn't help cursing myself for being so useless that I couldn't even calm down for five minutes. Later, I learned that the action of "finding your mind wandering and pulling your attention back to the anchor point" is itself the core exercise process of mindfulness meditation. Just like when you go to the gym to lift dumbbells, lifting them down is to exercise your muscles, and always lifting them is to carry heavy objects. Every time you pull back your attention, you give your concentration and emotional adjustment ability an effective training. On the contrary, those who sit for 10 minutes at first say that they haven't left once are naturally extremely attentive.

Oh, yes, there is another controversial point: should I find a professional teacher to take mindfulness meditation? Some people think that their own practice is prone to problems. For example, when they practice, they suddenly turn over their previous traumatic memories, and no one leads them to emotional collapse. Others think that ordinary people just use it to relieve their daily anxiety, and they don't need to find a teacher at all. It is enough to practice with free guided audio. Two friends around me happen to be in two situations. One has a history of moderate anxiety. Before doing psychological counseling, the doctor advised her to do mindfulness. She followed the hospital's mindfulness group for half a year and her state was much more stable. The other is that I just have a lot of pressure to go to work at ordinary times. I found a 5-minute mindfulness guide audio in a small broken station and listened to it during my lunch break every day. I haven't had any problems after practicing for a year. Now I rarely stay up late because of work. In fact, as long as you don't have a serious traumatic experience or emotional disorder, it's no problem to practice at home by yourself. If you suddenly feel uncomfortable and think of something bad while practicing, just stop to get a glass of water and take two steps, without having to carry "I have to finish practicing".

I've been practicing for almost three years now, and I've never tried to sit for more than 20 minutes. Instead, the most common thing is to make coffee in the morning, stand by the window and stare at the buttonwood downstairs for 2 minutes, and feel the wind blowing through the leaves, smell the fragrance of coffee, and think nothing, which is much better than what I forced myself to sit for 20 minutes two years ago. Really, this thing doesn't have so many mysterious rules. If you practice comfortably and can help you get out of the messy past anxiety and future worry for half a minute, you will have practiced correctly.