So I’m interested in taking up meditation, but I don’t know how/where to start. Is there a practical guide for beginners somewhere that you would recommend?
It seems like most interested people end up practicing concentration or insight meditation by default (as indeed you will, if you read and follow the book). I would also recommend eventually looking into loving-kindness meditation. I’ve been trying it for a couple of weeks and I think it might be much more effective for someone who just wants a tool to improve quality of life (rather than wanting to be enlightened or something).
Loving-kindness meditation was one of the most easily accessible effective techniques for subverting intrusive anxiety I experimented with during my recovery. (There were more effective techniques, but I couldn’t always do them reliably.)
I looked through some of them, there’s a lot of theory and discussions, but I’m rather interested just in a basic step-by-step guide on what to do basically.
Basic method: Sit down in a place where there are few distractions, and pick an object to focus one’s attention on. The most popular objects are the feeling of breath at the tip of the nostrils / upper lip, and the motion of the abdomen as one breathes in and out. (In this description I’ll assume you’re using the latter.) Begin by trying to clearly perceive the feeling of the abdomen expanding and contracting; when it expands and you perceive it clearly, attach the label ‘in’ to that perception, and when it contracts and you perceive that clearly, attach the label ‘out’ to that perception. As your attention becomes more stable and precise, you can divide the experience up into as many parts as you can discern: for example, ‘in’->‘holding’->‘out’->‘holding’, or further, ‘in-beginning’->‘in-slowing’->‘holding’->‘out-beginning’->‘out-slowing’->‘holding’. The label you use is not important so long as it’s simple and makes sense to you. What is important is attending to the perception, and the best way to do this is by attaching a label to the perception every time you notice it clearly. Focus on perceiving every aspect of the movement of your abdomen as precisely as is possible for you, given your current level of attentional and perceptual development, and on keeping your attention as set on the movements of your abdomen as possible given the same. When you get good at this, try to incline your mind towards the attentional / perceptual flux called ‘vibrations’ in the experience of your abdomen moving. Try to see how, in the experience of attention being fixed on an object, it is continually being set and re-set there. After enough practice, they will make themselves apparent.
Whenever your attention goes to anything other than your abdomen, attach a label to the accidental object of attention and then go back to your abdomen. If you wonder about how effective the exercise is, believe it’s easy, believe it’s hard, decide it’s pointless, congratulate yourself for how you’re doing, etc. etc., label it ‘thinking’ and go back. If you think about your day, your future plans or responsibilities, etc., etc., also label it ‘thinking.’ If you visualize what you’re going to do after meditation, etc. label it ‘imagining.’ If you have the desire to move, label it ‘restless.’ If you form the intention to move, label it ‘intending.’ If you feel some emotion, label it appropriately: ‘happy,’ ‘sad,’ ‘enthusiastic,’ whatever. If your attention wanders off for a long time, when you regain it and realize that, label the whole daydream or reverie ‘wandering’ and put your attention back on your abdomen. If you hear a distracting noise, label it ‘hearing.’ Anytime your attention is not on your abdomen, whatever it’s on, recognize that it’s not on your abdomen and is instead on that thing, label it, then go back.
if you don’t want to watch the long youtube video read the following then skip to 8:20 where he explains how to think/what to do with your mind:
how to sit your body: cross legged or lotus—but lotus requires flexibility and isn’t necessary. straight spine, back and neck. rest your hands to make a ring shape. face a wall and shut your eyes. rock side to side a little then stop straight.
how to think: first few times—it’s initially very difficult to let your mind free itself of thoughts/chatter so a way to practice this is counting down slowly from 10, restarting if you stray from counting onto thinking about something else.
So I’m interested in taking up meditation, but I don’t know how/where to start. Is there a practical guide for beginners somewhere that you would recommend?
Mindfulness in Plain English is a good introduction to (one kind of) meditation practice.
It seems like most interested people end up practicing concentration or insight meditation by default (as indeed you will, if you read and follow the book). I would also recommend eventually looking into loving-kindness meditation. I’ve been trying it for a couple of weeks and I think it might be much more effective for someone who just wants a tool to improve quality of life (rather than wanting to be enlightened or something).
Loving-kindness meditation was one of the most easily accessible effective techniques for subverting intrusive anxiety I experimented with during my recovery. (There were more effective techniques, but I couldn’t always do them reliably.)
Have you seen the previous LW posts on the subject?
I looked through some of them, there’s a lot of theory and discussions, but I’m rather interested just in a basic step-by-step guide on what to do basically.
From Meditation, insight, and rationality (Part 2 of 3):
I found Daniel Ingram’s Mastering the Core Teachings of the Buddha a fun read.
I tried zazen for a few months: I like it and decided to start it again just this week. Here is straightfoward advice on what to do: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nsFlrdXVFgo
if you don’t want to watch the long youtube video read the following then skip to 8:20 where he explains how to think/what to do with your mind:
how to sit your body: cross legged or lotus—but lotus requires flexibility and isn’t necessary. straight spine, back and neck. rest your hands to make a ring shape. face a wall and shut your eyes. rock side to side a little then stop straight.
how to think: first few times—it’s initially very difficult to let your mind free itself of thoughts/chatter so a way to practice this is counting down slowly from 10, restarting if you stray from counting onto thinking about something else.