(They call meditation “practice.” I suppose it’s to indicate that we’re all students and that we’re never done learning. It’s kind of a warm, fuzzy concept but I think it’s worth remembering.)

Tips on Mindfulness MeditationTips on Creating a Mindfulness Meditation Practice

These are simple, easy-to-remember tips on creating  a mindfulness meditation practice according to the course (and a little bit from me.)

Here are the tips provided when beginning a mindfulness meditation practice:

  1. Choose a sacred space and time – there is no perfect time for a practice but if you make it part of your routine, you’re more likely to do it. Make sure to minimize distractions. (And realize that your space might just be the corner of your living room. We don’t all have ashrams to retire to.) Many people find meditation earlier in the day easier.
  2. Sit in a comfortable and strong position – either in a chair or on the floor, sit with a straight back with your legs uncrossed. Let your face relax into a natural smile and let your hands rest on your lap or cupped in each other.
  3. Use a gentle-sounding alarm to time your practice – so you relieve the worry of time.
  4. Make your mantra, “meditate anyway…” – things will always seem “more important” than meditating and things will always stand in the way of your meditation practice – do the meditation anyway. Even if it is only 5-10 minutes, this is better than nothing and it’s daily practice that’s going to make this meditation useful (not to mention easier to continue in the future).
  5. Be gentle – let go of any preconceived notions of what a meditation “should” be and just be curious about whatever arises.
  6. Gently bring your mind back – when meditating, if your mind wanders, understand that this is normal and gently bring your mind back to the here and now.

I admit to not using all of these tips but I do think they are a good idea.

I’ll talk about how I put these mindfulness medication tips to work with some mindfulness meditation exercised next.