MINDFULNESS MEDITATION
Watching the Mind by Jon Kabat-Zinn
What Is Mindfulness Meditation?
Mindfulness meditation is a practical self-awareness training practice. We learn to let go of negativity, calm our minds and relax the body. It combines meditation with the practice of mindfulness. It involves feeling the safe sensations of the breath.
Also being aware of our senses hearing, seeing, tasting, smelling, and thinking. Which is being fully grounded and open to “this moment”. So we can acknowledge and accept your thoughts, feelings, and sensations. As best we can with a non-judging attitude.
What Is Mindfulness Meditation is not?
Practicing mindfulness meditation doesn’t require props or preparation (no need for candles, essential oils, or mantras, unless you enjoy them). To get started, all you need is a comfortable place to sit, three to five minutes of free time, and a judgment-free mindset.
Mindfulness meditation is different.
We learn how to be with all of our emotions. Mindfulness meditations can be as short as one minute. They can be simple may I be happy. Mindfulness meditations can have a specific purpose. i.e, ‘may I be happy‘.
INTRODUCTION
Concentration Meditation
When most people hear the word meditation, they think of transcendental meditation or similar practices used to evoke the relaxation response. In concentration meditation, these approaches focus attention on one thing, usually the sensation of breath leaving and entering your body or a mantra (a special sound or phrase you repeat silently to yourself). Anything else that comes into your mind during meditation is seen as a distraction to be disregarded. These practices can give rise to very deep states of calmness and stability of attention. They are known as the concentration, or “one-pointed,” type of meditation — what Buddhists call shamatha or samadhi practices.
Mindfulness Meditation
Mindfulness is the other major classification of meditation practices, known as insight meditation. In the practice of mindfulness meditation, you begin by concentrating the attention to cultivate calmness. Then by recognizing and acknowledging what thoughts and emotions are present. When thoughts or feelings come up in your mind:
- You do not ignore or suppress them.
- You do not analyze or judge their content.
Rather, you simply note any thoughts as they occur as best you can. Observe them intentionally but non-judgmentally, moment by moment, as the events forming in the field of your awareness.
Paradoxically, this inclusive noting of thoughts that come and go in your mind can lead you to feel less caught up in them. Recognizing and acknowledging your emotions gives a deeper perspective on your reaction to everyday stress and pressures.
By observing your thoughts and emotions as if you had taken a step back from them. See much more clearly what is actually on your mind. As you see your thoughts arise and recede one after another. You can note the content of your thoughts. The feelings associated with them, and your reactions to them.
There may be agendas, attachments, likes and dislikes, and inaccuracies in your ideas. Gaining insight into what drives you, how you see the world, who you think you are. Insight into your fears and aspirations.
Pure Awareness
The key to mindfulness is not so much what you choose to focus on. But the quality of the awareness (clear & spacious) that you bring to each moment. It is very important that it be nonjudgmental — more of a silent witnessing, a dispassionate observing of your inner experience.
Observing without judging, moment by moment. Helps you see what is on your mind without intellectualizing it (over-thinking).
Interest is the hallmark of mindfulness meditation and differentiates it most from other forms of meditation. The goal of mindfulness meditation is to be more aware of what is happening in your body and mind at the time it is happening. This is present moment awareness.
If you are experiencing a distressing thought or feeling or actual physical pain at any moment. You resist the impulse to react to it by trying to escape the unpleasantness. Instead, you chose to respond and see it clearly as it is. Then accept it because it is already present in this moment.
The Complete Experience
The complete experience is to first recognize the emotion. Then acknowledging the emotion because it is here inside of me in this present moment. Example – ‘This is my anger‘. The more often that I recognize and accept my anger. The sooner I will understand it. By understanding my anger it is less problematic it is in my life.
Acceptance does not mean passivity or resignation. On the contrary, by fully accepting what each moment offers, you open yourself to experiencing life much more completely. It is more likely that you will be able to respond effectively to any situation that presents itself.
Acceptance offers a way to navigate life’s ups and downs with courage, humor, and in time some understanding of the big picture (wisdom).
One way to envision how mindfulness works is to think of the mind as the surface of the ocean. There are always waves, sometimes big, sometimes small. The goal of meditation is not to stop the waves so that the water will be flat, peaceful, and tranquil.
The purpose of mindfulness meditation is to develop the skills to:
- Ride out our emotional waves
- Learn what is causing our emotions
I have found the best way to do this is to:
- Ground – safely ground in the present moment
- Open – open my mind to all my emotions
- Rest – rest in the complete experience
Source- Jon Kabat-Zinn, Director, Stress Management Clinic
University of Massachusetts Medical Center
Frequently Asked Questions
Concentration and Mindfulness Meditations: Unique forms of consciousness?
Consciousness is an individual or being’s awareness of their internal and external existence. This includes the emotional, physical, and mental awareness of your physicality, sensations, feelings, and thoughts.
Researchers define consciousness in different stages and levels, with each stage having its unique characteristics. The four stages of consciousness include awake, dream-filled, deep sleep, and beyond deep sleep. The five levels of consciousness are conscious, preconscious, unconscious, non-conscious, and subconscious. These different stages and levels of consciousness define how our minds and bodies behave and the degree of awareness we experience.
Doctors, therapists, and other professionals typically recommend individuals who suffer from chronic pain, mental health illnesses, stress, and anxiety practice meditation as a way to cope and reduce the symptoms of their conditions.
Meditation techniques help patients focus on present moments and their consciousness to respond to their symptoms in a productive and less-critical way. Not only can individuals feel more relaxed during a meditation session. It also allows them to reflect more closely on their thoughts and feelings to understand the sensations they have.
Consciousness and meditation are closely tied together. When individuals practice meditation, they are often more attuned and focused on their consciousness in a calmer way. On the contrary, a lack of mindfulness meditation techniques might make an individual’s consciousness feel more stressed and anxious.
When it comes to meditation, there are different types that can help an individual regain their active consciousness and become more present at the moment. This is especially helpful when you’re feeling overwhelmed or stressed about your current situation or a future scenario.
For example, concentration and mindfulness meditation are two common types of meditations. That individuals practice to mitigate the symptoms of stress. These two types of meditation are unique forms of consciousness. That help you focus on the present in different ways to ground you when you’re feeling stressed and anxious.
The definition of mindfulness meditation is the practice of self-awareness. When your mind and body are mindful of the thoughts and emotions you feel in the moment. This could be feelings of sadness, fear, happiness, anger, or stress. People that practice mindful meditation also become aware of the things they see, hear, taste, and smell. For example, the food in the kitchen or the cars on the street.
When you’re mindful of your body and what’s happening to it, you learn to become calmer and more relaxed. This helps you mitigate some of the stress and anxious thoughts you have. You’re also able to identify the root causes of your thoughts and feelings more accurately without judging yourself.
During a concentration meditation session, your mind and body focus all your attention on one thing. This usually involves focusing on your deep breathing as it enters and leaves your body. Some people also like to focus on a saying or mantra to help them concentrate on their meditation. A mantra is a phrase that you silently repeat to yourself. For example, a mantra could be “I am not afraid” or “ Everything is okay.”
When you repeat the slogan/mantra to yourself or focus on your deep breathing. You tend to focus less on other thoughts or feelings that could distract you. These practices help increase the level of calmness and relaxation you feel.
The main difference between mindfulness meditation and concentration is what your body and mind focuses on during the session. When you practice mindfulness meditation, you recognize and acknowledge. The feelings, thoughts, and sensations you have instead of suppressing them. The goal is to accept the feelings you have without judging or analyzing them.
Concentration meditation focuses on a specific activity that you concentrate on during the meditation session. This helps you get rid of other thoughts. You’re able to remove the distractions in your environment and become more attuned to the present.
What is meant by concentration meditation?
Concentration meditation is a type of meditation that focuses on your attention. Most people think about meditation as concentrating on specific elements that help ground you and keep your mind in the present. For example, you might be encouraged to focus on your breathing, the pain you feel, the butterflies in your stomach, or a feeling of joy. These feelings remind you of what is happening in the present, which helps you calm your mind and thoughts instead of feeling stressed or worried about the future.
In a concentration meditation session, you’re only focused and actively thinking about one thing. This one thing could be your deep breathing, a sound, or a mantra that you constantly repeat to yourself. Focusing on these single activities help you eliminate all other thoughts or feelings that could distract you during your meditation. Now that your mind is focused on a repetitive action, it’s easier to tune out any stress or anxiety that could be causing you negative emotions or pain.
Individuals that practice concentration meditation experience many benefits that help them cope with stress and alleviate the symptoms they feel.
Improved stress management
Concentration meditation emphasizes attention and focuses on a single object. When your mind concentrates on one thing for a long period, you tend to get rid of any other thoughts or feelings. This helps you focus less on any negative thoughts or emotions you might feel, such as stress, anxiety, and pain. Instead, your body focuses on an easy and calming activity to help your mind feel less worried.
Concentration meditation also helps slow down your breathing. When you feel stressed or anxious, you might feel your heart rate and breathing rate increase. This is one of your body’s natural responses to fear. When your breathing and heart rate slows down, your body naturally starts to feel calmer and more relaxed. This helps you with stress management.
Calmer detachment from worries
Worries are a common cause of stress and anxiety for many people. It can lead to overthinking and fears as the mind thinks ab out different scenarios and possibilities of things going wrong. When you’re concentrating on your breathing, a sound, or a mantra, your mind naturally starts to focus on the new task. This makes it harder for your mind to focus on the thoughts that make you feel more worried.
Reducing obsessive thoughts
Our minds tend to wander whenever we’re not actively thinking about something. Our minds also wander when we’re faced with fears of the unknown or a situation that we’re not comfortable with. Concentration meditation helps our mind stay focused on one thing, bringing our attention to what’s happening in the present.
This could be the sound of a clock, your breathing, a bell, or a saying or word that you repeat. When you hear that sound or feel that motion repetitively, you have something to guide your attention. Gently bringing your attention and concentration back to the object or sound whenever you feel your mind start to wander can help you stay focused on the present and reduce the distracting thoughts you have.
Does mindfulness meditation improve concentration?
Stress, pain, depression, anxiety, and other symptoms or conditions can easily keep your mind occupied or distracted throughout the day. If you aren’t feeling well, it’s easy to not feel productive or motivated to concentrate on your responsibilities.
Meditation in general is great for improving your concentration, patience, and focus on an activity. Research has found that mindfulness meditation can change the way your brain reacts by increasing feelings of relaxation. It can help you reduce stress, pain, depression, and anxiety. It can also help you focus and concentrate, allowing you to be more productive and feel more accomplished throughout your day.
Mindfulness meditation also helps train your mind to regain focus every time it gets distracted by something. For example, if you’re distracted by the sound of a car or a bird during a meditation session, the techniques you learn in mindfulness meditation can help strengthen your brain’s ability to stay focused for longer periods of time.
This helps improve your ability to concentrate throughout the day, such as at work, during school classes, when you’re running errands, or simply at home. When you’re focused on the present sensations that your mind and body feels, you’ll be able to concentrate on the present more often.
If you consistently practice mindfulness meditation, your mind and body will become used to bouncing back after certain stressful situations and distractions. You’ll likely be able to recover quicker without feeling as overwhelmed by negative thoughts and symptoms.
Difference between mindfulness meditation and concentration meditation
Mindfulness meditation emphasizes your awareness. It involves paying attention to specific thoughts and feelings you currently have without judging those sensations. The goal is to be as aware as possible of everything your body experiences in that specific moment and identify how those experiences make you feel.
Present moment awareness is the key in mindfulness meditation for transforming anxiety and stressful moments. It gives you the tools to turn the anxiety you feel into calmness by acknowledging all your emotions and focusing on the present to process the thoughts and feelings you have. You recognize these thoughts and feelings as a normal part of being human and to redirect your energy into calmness and relaxation instead of fear.
When you’re able to live in the present moment more often, you typically have less room to think about anything that gives you stress or anxiety, such as worries and fears about the future or the unknown.
Concentration meditation emphasizes the focus of attention. Instead of simply being aware of your thoughts, feelings, and anything that you’re currently experiencing right now, concentration meditation makes you focus on one single activity.
This activity could be the inhale and exhale of your breath, the ticking of a clock, a specific phrase, or a small repetitive motion. Since it’s easy for the mind to start to wander and get distracted, having a physical sound or motion that you can focus on helps a lot with regaining concentration.
It also makes it harder for your mind and body to feel or think about other things, since your mind is concentrated on a specific action or sound. If your mind does wander and you get distracted during a concentration meditation session, simply return your attention to the specific sound or motion of your choice and you can regain concentration.
Another difference between mindfulness meditation and concentration meditation is that mindfulness picks an object for you to focus on and simply notices when your attention has changed. In concentration meditation, your mind is focused on the actual work of keeping your attention steady for the entire duration of the session. You’re only focused on one object throughout the entire session, which makes it easier to regain focus if it’s lost.
During concentration meditation, you don’t have to think about what your body or mind is going through. You also don’t have to think about the reasons why you have these thoughts and feelings. You simply let your mind concentrate on a simple task to help it relax and to bring you to a clamer state.
Adapted by, G Ross Clark
G Ross Clark C.C.P.
Waterloo, Ontario, Canada
Email- TheMindfulCoach@gmail.com
More …- https://mbsrtraining.com/
{
“@context”: “https://schema.org”,
“@type”: “FAQPage”,
“mainEntity”: [
{
“@type”: “Question”,
“name”: “Concentration and mindfulness meditations: unique forms of consciousness?”,
“acceptedAnswer”: {
“@type”: “Answer”,
“text”: “Consciousness is an individual or being’s awareness of their internal and external existence. This includes the emotional, physical, and mental awareness of your physicality, sensations, feelings, and thoughts.”
}
},
{
“@type”: “Question”,
“name”: “What is meant by concentration meditation”,
“acceptedAnswer”: {
“@type”: “Answer”,
“text”: “Concentration meditation is a type of meditation that focuses on your attention. Most people think about meditation as concentrating on specific elements that help ground you and keep your mind in the present. For example, you might be encouraged to focus on your breathing, the pain you feel, the butterflies in your stomach, or a feeling of joy. These feelings remind you of what is happening in the present, which helps you calm your mind and thoughts instead of feeling stressed or worried about the future.”
}
},
{
“@type”: “Question”,
“name”: “Does mindfulness meditation improve concentration”,
“acceptedAnswer”: {
“@type”: “Answer”,
“text”: “Meditation in general is great for improving your concentration, patience, and focus on an activity. Research has found that mindfulness meditation can change the way your brain reacts by increasing feelings of relaxation. It can help you reduce stress, pain, depression, and anxiety. It can also help you focus and concentrate, allowing you to be more productive and feel more accomplished throughout your day.”
}
},
{
“@type”: “Question”,
“name”: “difference between mindfulness meditation and concentration meditation”,
“acceptedAnswer”: {
“@type”: “Answer”,
“text”: “Mindfulness meditation emphasizes your awareness. It involves paying attention to specific thoughts and feelings you currently have without judging those sensations. The goal is to be as aware as possible of everything your body experiences in that specific moment and identify how those experiences make you feel. Concentration meditation emphasizes the focus of attention. Instead of simply being aware of your thoughts, feelings, and anything that you’re currently experiencing right now, concentration meditation makes you focus on one single activity.”
}
}
]
}