28 Oct Types of mindfulness
The mindfulness we develop through meditation is usually
focused on developing one or more of the following skills:
1/ Focused attention / concentration
This skill enables us to take all our attention and focus it on one point.
A good metaphor for this is light. If you focus light into one point it
becomes a powerful laser.
When we do the same for our attention we greatly improve our
performance at the task in hand.
Scientists have confirmed that a wandering mind is an unhappy one.
When we focus we are present in the moment and that is when we our happiest.
The better our attention and focus, the happier we become.
2/ Opening monitoring
Open monitoring is a term neuro-biologists use to describe the skill
of observing how the mind creates suffering for itself.
Studies have shown that an individual emotion or feeling only lasts around
90 seconds unless it is supported by thought. Much of our suffering is
self-inflicted by the thoughts we have after a negative event.
Mindfulness can make us aware of this and help us reduce unnecessary suffering.
3/ Acceptance and Loving-Kindness
Loving-Kindness meditation increases our compassion for ourselves and for others.
It counters critical self-talk and negative feelings. Obviously if we hate ourselves
and everyone around us it becomes very difficult to be happy. If we feel love and
compassion towards ourselves and everyone around us it becomes much easier to be happy.
In the two years I have been attending Sefalis’ meditation classes we have mostly
focused on developing attention as this is a great foundation on which to build
any meditation practice you enjoy or find helpful.
So far we have covered the following forms of meditation;
Walking
passage
loving-kindness
mantra
yantra
breath counting
I have enjoyed all them. I have found each one useful. In the same way that
different physical exercises develop different physical attributes, I have
found that different forms of meditation develop different mental qualities.
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