Counting on your fingers
This suggestion is not based on an assumption that you don’t know how to count up to ten unaided! This is a useful technique that I’ve used when my mind has been very distracted and I need a bit of a hand to get it under control.
What I do is very simple; in the first two stages I count on my fingers as my breath flows in and out. I don’t move my fingers but simply take my awareness into each finger in turn, starting with the thumb of my right hand, working my way through the fingers of that hand in turn, and then continuing from the thumb to the pinkie on my left hand.
This really does help to keep your mind more firmly anchored than when you simply follow the breath alone. So why not use this all the time? Well, you could, I suppose, but I find this technique mainly to be of use when I’m very distracted. Once I’ve managed to get my mind to settle down I let go of it.
The reason I do this is because I find that counting on my fingers is effective but slightly crude as well. I think that if you relied too much on this method it would stop you from developing more refinement in your practice. Perhaps it would be like never getting beyond using stabilizers (training wheels) when learning to ride a bicycle.
Although I said that I don’t move my fingers, I felt that I actually had to do so when I first tried out this method. Unless I physically moved my fingers a tiny bit I found I had difficulty telling which finger was which (and that’s despite spending years trying to learn the trumpet).
Perhaps you won’t have the same problem and can go straight onto counting your fingers without having to wiggle them. I stress that I don’t do this all the time – I only use this method when my mind is particularly unruly and needs to be, well, taken in hand.
Bodhipaksa is a Buddhist practitioner and teacher, a member of the Triratna Buddhist Order, and a published author. He launched the Wildmind website on November 11, 2000. Bodhipaksa has published many guided meditation CDs, guided meditation MP3s, and books
He teaches at Aryaloka Buddhist Center in Newmarket, New Hampshire. You can follow him on Facebook or support him on Patreon.
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Because I know American Sign Language, sometimes when my mind needs help settling down, I will count using sign language, and it is very subtle and very deep-rooted, as sign language comes from a more primal part of the brain. Also, we can count from 1-10 on one hand.
Dear sir, what if I use the prayer beads band as the anchor for my breath?
You could certainly try that, Todd. I’d imagine that it would help with remaining mindful.
I do the same “trick” . It feels very pleasant as if you were breathing through each finger in turn. After the ten fingers I sometimes do the same thing with my toes. It ensures you to have done ten or twenty breathings and you can use it instead of a bell if you want to control your time or want to switch the object of your meditation after a while (e.g. body awareness followed by compassion with all beings than with the earth as a whole ) . A mala or even a christian rosary also can help. I don’t see these object as something “holy” but on the other hand a christian rosary sometimes reminds me to my parents which is a nice source for contemplation
Thank you for your suggestion. I often make something similar: when breathing in, I imagine how the breath does not only enter my nostrils but also the tip of my right little finger and it feels as if a gentle cool stream enters my finger via my arm to my lungs so from two parts of my body at the same time. I continue with every finger until my thumb than the same with my other hand, it gives a nice feeling of relaxation and I can also be a little bit aware of the time. The first set of ten breathings I say to myself one (for in) – one (for out) and when I start with the right hand again it is ten times two – two so I can also keep some control of my time if necessary without an annoying alarm clock