health

1. Mindfulness
Mindfulness of Breathing
A Meditation on The Breath
Developing Concentration
Introduction
Mind Your Mind
Meditation
Mindfulness of Breathing
Place
Posture
Relax
The Technique
Phase 1
Phase 2
Phase 3
Phase 4
Battle With the Body
Battle With the Mind
Levels of Concentration
Conclusion
Footnotes

2. Introduction
We all like the illusion that we're in control of our own minds. To have to admit otherwise would seem a great failure. The t
Pause for a moment and observe your mind. How long is it before the internal dialogue starts up, and your mind starts cha
This mental chatter is a state of distractedness. The mind drifts along on the winds of it's whims. It makes it hard to conce
Meditation is a practice that can reveal the extent of the problem, and offers a solution.
Mind Your Mind
Do you recognize the feeling of being totally absorbed in something ? You're so wrapped up in it that you are barely awa
programming (or whatever) and realise that several hours have passed without you even noticing it.
This is one of the most effective states of mind to be in. When you focus on one thing, you can completely push distracti
A state of unfocussed distraction prevents your mind from functioning properly. Most of what happens in the soul goes
dimly aware of. Naturally we block these things and push them back as they rise up. This leads to nervous tension and th
work freely - and naturally bring things to a resolution.
Meditation
The sort of meditation I'm talking about is a breathing exercise called Mindfulness of Breathing. It is practising and devel
to experience the working of your mind - particularly what goes on beneath the surface.
I learned the techniques described here with the FWBO, but they are independent of religious beliefs. It is a breathing an
point of concentration frees up mental processes and will feed into every aspect of your normal life [2].
Anyway enough of the preliminaries and onto what this meditation actually is.
Mindfulness of Breathing
The point of this meditation is to be aware (mindful) of your breath - the air coming into the body. This is neither as easy
Meditation can be incredibly relaxing - but it's not about relaxation. Nor is it about emptying your mind as some people
about the breath.
Mindulness is not a forced concentration - but holding an awareness of something in your mind. You will be able to appl
Place
The first thing to address is the place you will do it, and your physical position. The meditation can take 20 minutes or 40
Posture
Your posture doesn't matter too much - any position in which you can remain comfortable. Many meditation manuals re
because meditating can easily send you to sleep [4] .
You might want a clock easily visible from your position, so you can tell how long you've been with minimum of disruptio
Relax

3. Before starting I usually do a relaxation exercise. This helps me to focus and clears my mind.
Having settled on a comfortable position let your awareness move from the bottom of your body upwards.
Start by being aware of the soles of your feet and your toes. If you can, try and feel each toe individually. Next move you
Travel slowly up through your body, dwelling for a few seconds on each part. As you do this try to consciously relax your
Move up from your calfs to the back of your legs, thighs and up. As you get to your stomach, back, and then shoulders yo
and head.
This whole process shouldn't take more than a few minutes and can be amazingly calming.
The Technique
The actual meditation is divided into four phases. You should decide at the start whether you will do a twenty minute m
Phase 1
This is a meditation on the breath. It is not a meditation on the process of breathing, or the feeling of the body moving -
This is easiest done by breathing through the nose and feeling the breath as it enters or leaves the body.
In the first phase we count before the breath. Count (silently in the mind) in the pause between breaths, from one to ten
I find in a five minute phase,mon average I count to ten five times.
The counting helps centre the mind. It makes it easier to maintain concentration on the breathing.
Phase 2
When you guesstimate that the phase is over, move onto the next phase. Checking a clock will disrupt your meditation s
distractions and get drawn into concentration - you'll wonder where the time went.
In phase two, you change to counting after the breath. Breath then count, breath then count.
This change helps break the rut and refocusses the mind.
Phase 3
In phase 3 you stop counting altogether.
This frees you up more to focus on the breath.
Phase 4
In this final phase you focus on the breath at the point where it actually enters the body. This will usually be inside the no
This phase is quite a bit harder than the other phases. It can be one of the most effective though, because it draws your

4. Battle With the Body
So that's it ? Well, that's the mechanics of it yes. It sounds easy enough, but actually doing it is another matter.
When you start meditating - each time, but particularly the first few times - you will start to fight the battle with distract
Your body will take great measures to prevent you relaxing. You will feel uncomfortable, and have itches and aches. Try
Battle With the Mind
Having basically won the battle with the body, the struggle shifts to a far more difficult one - the battle with the mind.
When you start to meditate you will realise how distracted your mind is. After a minute your mind will drift off and start
The first thing to say is - don’t worry, this is entirely normal. We're all like this, we all start from the same place, and it do
When I started to meditate it seemed like I spent very little time focused on what I was supposed to be doing. I would br
Every thought and worry in your mind will rise up as you meditate. Don't feel frustrated or discouraged by this. Just let t
It was about my third or fourth meditation when I felt like it was getting noticeably easier to let the distractions go, and
and pushing through.
Note
Don't worry if you lose count in the earlier phases (or even count beyond ten). Just start again - or from the last number
Levels of Concentration
The FWBO categorised concentration in three basic levels. I think this is useful.
The first is the basic state of the mind before meditation. This is distraction.
Once you have started to meditate, and started to concentrate, you have entered access concentration.
This stage is a whole spectrum really, rather than a distinct level.
In the early stages you are still getting distractions and thoughts every few seconds. As soon as you realise you're distrac
As you concentrate further you will notice the distractions come less often and you notice them quicker. This is still acce
The next level is a distinct level. The FWBO called it dhyana. If you read this article on gnosticism you'll see an alternative
There comes a certain degree of focus when you are able to brush off distractions easily. Thoughts may rise like smoke -