7 Meditation Essentials
Over the last thirty years of advising meditators, I’ve noticed some common patterns and misunderstandings that arise early on. Here are 7 points to keep in mind as you learn how to meditate.
- Pair mindfulness with metta (lovingkindness) meditation. Mindfulness teaches us how to pay attention, but metta teaches us how to relate to what we observe with kindness, gentleness, acceptance, and curiosity. Metta also makes meditation more enjoyable, which thereby provides motivation to keep going.
- Meditate without an app. Once you’ve learned the basic skills—posture, breath, body sensations, sounds, emotions, thoughts, and metta—try setting aside guided meditations. Observing your own unfolding, present-moment experience leads to personal insights that an app cannot anticipate.
- Meditation is not about emptying the mind or stopping thoughts. It is about knowing that thinking is happening and observing thought patterns and content. Be sure to include observing your mind as part of your meditation: some of the richest learning happens from this.
- Learn the 5 Mindfulness Trainings, as Thich Nhat Hanh calls them (aka the Five Precepts). These guidelines direct attention to the areas of highest impact in our lives. In theory, you could gain wisdom from watching bread get moldy, but far more useful is watching what you say, how you behave, and the way you relate to people.
- Go on a silent retreat of 3 to 9 days at an established meditation center. In-depth, sustained practice with experienced teachers will deepen your understanding in ways that are not really possible through daily practice alone.
- For those with trauma or mental health concerns, learn trauma-sensitive meditation techniques. Meditation can reactivate trauma or intensify certain conditions such as anxiety. See David Treleaven’s book and workbook Trauma-Sensitive Mindfulness.
- Most importantly, meditate with others, ideally in-person, at least once a month and preferably once a week. Group meditation is quite different than meditating alone. Just as solo sports (running, swimming) have teams, “team” meditation is vital for development. Friendship and companionship are keys to meditation success.
There are a number of further meditation essentials, but these 7 are foremost. Wishing you success in your efforts to develop a solid meditation practice!