Meditation involves a principle of awareness that you can practice in every moment of your life.
While the time that we spend on the cushion most definitely has an effect on the quality of our emotional and mental life in the rest of the day, making an effort to practice mindfulness during so-called “ordinary” activities such as working, driving, doing housework, and spending time with our friends and families is a very powerful practice.
We often see these things as impediments to practice. In fact an interesting thing is that a lot of people fall into the habit of using the word “practice” as a shorthand for “meditation practice.” So they’ll say things like, “My practice is going very well. I’ve been sitting every day.” And this implies that the rest of our lives is “not practice.” But in fact, anything we do can be part of our practice, which I’d broadly define as the ongoing effort to cultivate mindfulness, compassion, and an awareness of things’ ungraspability.
So we can use eating as a practice. We can use driving as a practice. We can use showering, or shaving, or taking a leak as a practice.
No matter what we’re doing, we can always be more mindful when we’re doing it. No matter what we’re doing, we can always be kinder and more compassionate; even when we’re on our own, we can be kind with ourselves, or show an attitude of kindness and care in the way we handle objects. And we can always — always! — recognize when we’re hoping on in some way (to feelings, to anticipated outcomes, to thoughts) and learn to let go.
Living mindfully in this way is incredibly enriching. It helps prevent the arising of unpleasant states of mind such as stress and depression, and it also helps us to live with freedom, dignity, and with respect for ourselves and others.
Living with mindfulness brings us into the field ethics, of talking about how best we can live our lives. But it also is a way of living meditatively.
This section of the site will develop into an extensive guide to applying the principles of meditation to your daily activities.
We’ve started with a section on bringing Metta (lovingkindness) into your everyday life, and more information on mindfulness. Soon, we’ll add other tools to help you live with more awareness.
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Hi,
I'm interested in building in some simple, daily things I can do (and keep doing) like, especially during "transition times" during the day that might help me ground, release, let go and reattune in my daily life.
I wonder if you might have some suggestions (maybe readings, too...).
For example, one thing I try to do periodically, is remind myself to "half smile". Another thing I try to link onto this behavior is to remember the Buddist principle, that "nothing is forever". I'm trying to create "a cascade" of linked Buddist principles like this that might be fun and help me better assimilate like basic meditation practices into my daily life.
I'm not sure I'm being clear about what I'm trying to do, but I thought I'd ask ?
Peter
It doesn't seem unclear, but it's a very expansive question, Peter. So rather than my writing a book-length comment full of suggestions, you might want to try looking at books like:
These all contain numerous practices that you can bring into daily life.
Is it normal and common that after practicing meditation, people start to sleep less hours?
It's quite common, yes. You also may find that you have more interesting dreams, at least at first, or when you do more meditation than usual.
To practice mindfulness, as has been said by many of the leading lights in meditation, is easy. The 'hard' part is to remember to do so. But the more you do it, the more the brain *remembers* to do it. So, the next time something unremarkable happens--make it remarkable. The flight path of two birds swirling around each other. The way that stones are arranged on the ground in an interesting fashion. I was startled last year by stepping out onto my front steps, only to be "confronted" by a hummingbird--it regarded me for a few moments, as I froze, taking in this amazing little creature and truly internalizing the moment. I dwelled in that moment for long after it passed--it was mindfulness practice that I was doing. I wasn't thinking about yesterday or tomorrow, I was there, only just, with this creature. Remarkable. You can do this with anything--rain rushing down the street, the way the waning sun carves out shadows in the a stand of trees. Moments are everywhere to be experienced and dwelled in--we just have to allow ourselves to be with them! :)
I was not sure where to post this question. So pardon me for posting it under meditation. I read a book about eightfold path. I wish the book would not only explain but also apply each path by mentioning examples of daily life that we all encounter at times.
I am searching for good books that only deal with one path at a time in each book. So I need 8 individual books that are truly well written. Any recommendations?
Hi, Sam. I'm afraid I'm not aware of any such book series. It's a good idea, though.
Hi Bodhipaksa
I am new to the practice of meditation and mindfulness and I was hoping you could answer a simple question for me: does being mindful simply mean turning the inner dialogue onto the actions we are performing in the moment. Or is there more to it?
Thank you for the reply x
Hi, Naz.
If you mean, do we simply change our inner talk so that we're describing what we're doing in the moment rather than thinking about unrelated events, then no, that's not what it is. Mindfulness is a form of attention, and it's essentially wordless. Just being aware of your experience is mindfulness. Describing to yourself what you're experiencing may or may not be an aid to mindfulness. It's sometimes done in meditation, and can be helpful. But sometimes the thinking can get in the way of the experiencing, which creates a kind of pseudo-mindfulness that can be rather alienating.
Hi Bodhipaksa
I have a question while I am trying to practice awareness or mindulfness. For example, when I am eating or walking or doing anything, I am saying to myself that ( the action performed ). But I found this practice stressing, even more than thingking about past or anything. It is like my mind is always busy ( walking, eating, driving, watching, talking, etc ) It can be compared as an alienating experience, it is like the experiencing is interrupted by the thinking. Would you mind telling me what am I doing wrong, and helping me to improve the practice of daily meditation ? I do not want to think on the action i´m performinb, but the thought of the action ( eating, walking, etc ) suddenly pops on my mind, and it is a little bit annoying.
Thnak you very much.
I can see how commenting on your experience could become alienating. I've heard of that happening.
Mindfulness isn't about keeping up an inner narrative about our experience, but about noticing our experience. It's about really paying attention to what we're seeing, hearing, feeling, and thinking. The more we can immerse ourselves in our actual physical experience, the less likely we'll be to get caught up in our own heads.
So when you're walking, pay attention to the physical sensations in your body, and the sensations (visual forms, sounds, smells, etc) arising from the world around you. There's a lot to pay attention to, and you can't notice it all! But that's not the aim. What we're trying to do is just to be as present as we can, without being sucked into inner dramas.
I hope this helps!
Thank you very much Bodhipaksa for your kind words. Any advice about ending the inner narrative actions?
Best regards
Hi, Fernando.
Ending the inner narrative is a tall order. It's possible to do for short periods of time, but it takes a lot of training and practice. What we need to start with first is just noticing that we've become caught up in thinking, and letting go of it. Then we can allow thoughts to drift by, while keeping our awareness focused on the object of meditation. But if you want to know more specific techniques for calming the mind, you can search for "calmness" up above (or click on that link, which will save you the bother!) This particular article will probably be useful.
Thank you for this site. Your articles have helped me tremendously in furthering my practice, reminding me to step back and observe where I am in my practice and what I need to work on, allowing it to happen in its' own time. I Like to give myself queues, or a mental list if you will, to help remind myself to be mindful throughout daily activities, particularly repetitive, mundane tasks. It particularly helps for these moments since it is so easy to enter autopilot during these tasks such as doing the dishes, laundry, making tea having a shower. It turns out that doing the dishes can actually be quite fun when one is fully engaged.
Well done.
How do I practice mindfulness? I understand it is being aware in the present moment but what do I say to myself? Im talking about when im not meditating and just doing everyday things.
You don't necessarily have to say anything to yourself, Sean, although it can be useful to have little phrases or words that act as triggers for your mindfulness. "Am I aware right now?" could be one such phrase. Or any single word that evokes a quality of mindfulness or care could work as well.