Feel free to use this site in any way you want. It is a playground for the mind and spirit. The following are only suggestions.
There are broadly two different parts of this website. There’s the blog, which mostly contains one-off articles, and sometimes series of articles, about meditation and about spiritual practice more generally. Almost by definition, the blog is for dipping into. It’s perfect if you’d like a little inspiration or guidance on some specific area of your practice.
If you want to explore a specific topic in the blog, you can use the search feature (look for the magnifying glass icon at the top of the page). Or you can click on the tags beneath each post in order to find other articles on that topic. For example there are tags for empathy and for pain.
In the main menu for the site you’ll find a link called “Meditation Guides.” This will take you to structured guides to various meditation practices. This is ideal if you’re new to meditation or to those specific practices.
The meditation practices on this site are all in several stages. The Mindfulness of Breathing has four stages, and the Metta Bhavana (Development of Lovingkindness) has five. We suggest learning these practices one at a time and one stage at a time. Each stage is a meditation practice in itself.
We also teach Walking Meditation and have a guide to Mantra Meditation.
Learning meditation is a skill, and like all skills, is learned only through practice. You have to do the exercises to get the benefits.
I suggest reading only as much as you need in order to do a few minutes of meditation. If you read information about meditation as if it were a novel, you won’t experience much benefit. Because meditation is about doing, and you only need to learn enough to take the next step.
So I recommend that you do the practice, and then read. Listen to the guided meditations that you’ll find in the various sections of the website, and which will guide you through each stage of the meditation. Then read some of the background information that will help you with doubts of questions you may have, and that will give you pointers about problems you’ve experienced.
There are some people who prefer to know a bit about what they’re going to do before they do it. That’s understandable. If you’re in that category then read just a little. Then do some meditation. Take five minutes out and actually do some meditation, following one of the exercises in the site. The site will still be here when you come back!
Take your time learning the exercises, and come back frequently to explore. You’ll probably have some questions and the site is set up to answer the most common questions that beginning meditators come up with. If you still have questions, then you can e-mail us.
Practice at home. Even ten minutes of meditation every day will make a big difference to your life.
There is one whole section of this site that’s only available for Wildmind’s sponsors. For a small monthly fee, which helps support me to teach, sponsors get access to dozens of online courses I’ve created over the years, as well as exclusive articles and meditation downloads. It’s an amazing bargain. Check it out!
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I discovered mindfulness about 3 months ago after stumbling upon an Eckhart Tolle video. He informed my that 'mindfulness' is a bit of a misnomer as it really means mind 'emptiness'. I was surprised to discover that meditation really is about clearing out all the thoughts and earworms that are burning up our consciousness. Years ago I studied philosophy where we are in fact encouraged to think, and I always thought this was the way to go - I seemed to have a reasonable relationship with my thoughts - but more recently they have become heavy and exhausting. I have increased alcohol use to blot out the constant noise but of course this is only temporary medication. Any way, I find meditation very difficult because of the sheer volume of noise in my head but occasionally find a few seconds reprieve here and there and sometimes have almost a minute with no thoughts - how light it feels! I have had a quick look around this site and think it will be very helpful to me and I can hardly wait to explore it more fully! Thanks!
Hey Richard, there is much healing and power to be gained from quieting your mind. I wish you well in your endeavor and want to offer some encouragement. I can relate to the difficulty of quieting the mind, especially in troubling times. Remember that while it may seem like an unfruitful struggle at times, be persistent, and patient. The gains are not made by reaching a destination, per say, but by being steadfast in your journey.
Best,
Thanks for your comment Raphael. I have had a wonderful 10 years or so but recently had a series of extreme difficulties that my mind is whirling to try to resolve (adding many times to the burden and not resolving anything). If I can clear away this negativity I'm hoping I will find solutions by seeing more clearly. Best wishes to you.
Richard, believe me, I know from experience that alcohol is not a solution to any problem but only makes it worse. I am a recovering alcoholic but have not had a drink for 38 years. Although meditation takes longer it is a far better road to travel that using them short cut of drinking, which only leads to us getting lost. For me, I find that exercise helps with those heavy and exhausting thought. I am 80 and still exercise vigorously 5 to 6 days a week.
I am very much interested in learning to do meditation and on my desperate search for good guidelines on the web I came across your site.Your presentation style is beautilul.I am determined to practice following your guidelines.Also very much impressed with the effort made by you in promoting meditation among fellow human beings which indeed is a dire necessity in the restoration of peace and calmness in stressed minds of to days' world.May you have all the Blessings of Lord Buddha in achieving your objectives!!!!!!!
Hi Bodhipaksa, thank you for this site, very helpful. There is one thing I am looking for which I haven't found yet. Which is a full metta bhavana without a body scan and just the five stages and bells and just a few words to remind us of what each stage is about. Is that available already, or did I miss it?
Hi, Nene.
I'm glad you find the site helpful. Unfortunately I don't have a recording like the one you describe.
All the best,
Bodhipaksa
Hi Bodhipaksa, thank you very much for the wonderful website.
I am not sure if this is the place to ask this question (I could not find other related part in the website): it is around 6 months that I meditating. Recently, I have a big issue with watching the sensation on the nose: I immediately feel a burst of energy on my nose which causes some sort of dullness, where as a result I cannot feel the sensation anymore (the sensation clarity is fully lost). I was wondering what can be the reason for this? I tried not focusing too much of the nose but this still continues and I cannot make any more progress. I would be grateful if you can give me some hints why this happens?
Hi, Saeid.
Unfortunately I don't know the answer to your question. My first thought though was to wonder if you might be trying too hard, since unnecessary effort tends to lead to suppression. This is just a guess, though.
All the best,
Bodhipaksa