Mindfulness Exercises: Training Yourself to Fully Experience the Present Moment

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Mindfulness Exercises: Training Yourself to Fully Experience the Present Moment

Mindfulness exercises are excellent practices that train your ability to "be in the present moment."

And that's a wonderful thing, because so often we spend the day in our heads thinking about the past or the future - and missing all we really have - the present. The present is our point of power and our true contact with life.

The practice of mindfulness, which comes from the Buddhist tradition, spans thousands of years as a core part of Eastern spiritual development. In recent years, it has also been brought into mainstream Western medicine to reduce stress, relieve pain, and create a feeling of well-being.

Mindfulness works by cultivating your powers of concentration and awareness, which allows the chattering mind to settle down. This brings forth an inner peace as each moment of life is experienced fully and appreciated.

In the practice of mindfulness, Concentration develops the muscles necessary to focus on an object for sustained periods of time.

Awareness develops the inner spaciousness to observe your thoughts, feelings, and emotions and unhook from the chattering mind.

Below, you'll find an overview of mindfulness meditation, which forms the core of mindfulness exercises. In addition, you'll find instructions for walking meditation and other mindfulness exercises.

With all of these mindfulness exercises, the idea is to bring the practice of mindfulness into your normal daily consciousness. That is, bring the mindfulness you experience on the meditation cushion or in doing these exercise to your daily activities, so that you may enjoy being more present in your own life.

Enjoy!

Seated Mindfulness Meditation
Mindfulness meditation - the core of mindfulness training - is an excellent practice in its own right that brings both insight and peace.

Here are the basic steps in mindfulness meditation.

(For more detailed meditation instructions, please find my pages on easy meditation techniques or my favorite four types of meditation.)

Find a place where you you can remain quiet and un-interrupted for 15-20 minutes. Sit in a straight backed chair with your feet on the floor and your spine straight. Or, sit on a cushion on the floor in cross-legged meditation pose. Keep your back straight. Once you get comfortable, begin to relax.

Take a few deep breaths. Relax.

Focus your awareness on your abdomen and feel it rise and fall with each breath. Do not control your breath. Simply let yourself breathe and pay attention.

Keeping your attention on your abdomen, with each exhale count down one step from 10 to 1. (Ex: Breathe in. "10" - Breathe out. Breathe in. "9" - Breathe out. Breathe in. "8" - Breathe out.")

If your mind wanders, that's okay. Just return your attention to your breath in your abdomen, and begin again at 10.

Continue until you can count down from 10 to 1 without your mind wandering. This may take some time. Just gently stick with it. This practice trains your concentration.

Once you can count down from 10 to 1, return your attention to your abdomen and watch your breath. As thoughts arise, turn your attention and simply notice them. Watch them briefly, and then gently return your attention to your breath in your abdomen.

During the course of meditation, your mind will wander and you will return your attention to your breath many times. That's part of the process. As you do so, simply notice the chattering mind and how your thoughts come, peak, and fade away.

Continue the meditation until the end of the period. Take a few deep breaths, and then come out slowly.

Bring your mindfulness to the rest of your day.

For an excellent discussion on mindfulness and mindfulness exercises, I also highly recommend an excellent book called Mindfulness in Plain English, by the Ven. Bhante Gunaratana.

Also, Bhante Gunaratana runs a wonderful monastery in West Virginia that holds free workshops where you can learn meditation and mindfulness.

Walking Mindfulness Meditation
Walking meditation is an excellent practice for times you feel restless. And, it's one of the most powerful mindfulness exercises for translating the peace of seated meditation into your daily life.

The directions are simple:

Find a quiet place where you can walk for about 10 paces. Take your shoes and socks off.

Before you begin, mindfully take a few breaths, focusing on your belly going in and out.

Then, as you breathe in, lift your right heel off the floor. As you breath out, lift the rest of your right foot off the floor.

As you breath in, put your right heel back on the floor. As you breath out put the the rest of your right foot back on the floor.

Breath in, shift your weight forward. This will raise your left heel.

Breathe out, lift the rest of your left leg off the floor.

Breathe in, put your left heel back on the floor. . .and continue the pattern.

As you do this, keep your head and neck relaxed, and keep your gaze unfocused on anything in particular. You'll want to keep your awareness focused on your legs and feet, and simply be mindful of the experiences.

Continue for as long as you like. 10-15 minutes is a great place to start.

In essence, what you are doing is slowing down the motion of walking and coordinating it with your breath. The most important thing is to mindfully notice the experiences - the feel of the carpet on the floor, the muscles in your foot, the sounds, the subtle changes in balance. You don't need to do anything with what you notice. It is simply an exercise in awareness. Simply be mindful of what you're experiencing.

Continue this for as long as is comfortable. In meditation retreat settings, people often alternate periods of sitting meditation with periods of walking meditation.

Other Mindfulness Exercises
Many other activities in daily life present excellent opportunities for mindfulness exercises and can help you bring the peace and mindfulness from your seated and walking practice into the world.

Many activities, if you slow them down, can be turned into excellent mindfulness activities. With each activity, you'll want to simply notice the subtleties in touch, taste, look, feel, emotions, of what you're doing. Also, notice your posture and breathing.

As with mindfulness meditation, if your mind wanders, simply return your attention to your breath. Keep your focus there for a few breaths, and then return to noticing the subtleties of your experience.

Here's a few daily activities which make excellent mindfulness exercises:

Eating

Showering and Washing

Getting Dressed

Doing the Dishes

Folding Clothes

Mowing the Lawn

Walking the Dog

As your ability to remain mindfully in the moment grows, you can bring your mindfulness practices to more challenging and complex situations. These situations may include work, exercising, tough conversations, and any other areas of your life.

As you practices these mindfulness exercises, don't get frustrated. Your mind will wander and you will have to regain your focus. That's all part of the process.

Enjoy!

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