MIDL Training 1 - 6

Purpose:

• Creating a 'grounding point' for awareness by Immersing awareness within the sensate quality of your body.
• Develop flexible attention by observing habitual movements of your attention away from your 'grounding point'.

Benefits:

• Develop initial investigation and mindfulness.
• Develop ability to observe your attention move.
• Foundation for MIDL Mindfulness of Breathing.

Summary:

In MIDL Mindfulness Training 1/52 you develop your initial skill in grounding your awareness by bringing it to the sensate quality of your body as you sit in meditation. By systematically 'opening up' to the general sensations within your body, your awareness will naturally immerse within them. This will will create a reference point from which you can develop the skill of observing habitual shifts of your attention away from your body towards thoughts, sounds etc. thereby strengthening mindfulness.

Instruction:

Sit down in your meditation posture and bring awareness to what it feels like just to sit there. The sounds around you, the warmth & coolness of your body, the touch of your hands, the pressure of your body on the chair or floor as you sit. These are known as your 'grounding point' for your attention. Because sensations have the quality of being present, her, now, they allow you to observe when your mind wanders off to thoughts of past or future.Training your skill in mindfulness is done simply by keeping the experience of what it feels like to sit still in mind, that is any sensations within your body, and putting gentle effort towards noticing whenever your attention habitually moves away from them.  

How Often?:

Practice daily for 1 week. In your first meditations use the guided meditation above.then learn to alternate between guided and unguided meditations. If you feel you would like to continue with this meditation longer then for 1 week then that is perfectly ok. There is no strict time frame for this training. The important part is just to be aware if the meditation becomes habitual, if so then move on to the next training regardless of whether you have refined the skill or not, you can always come back later. It is important to understand however that habit is the enemy of mindfulness meditation. 

Investigation:

Play with how little effort you need to observe habitual movements of your attention away from your grounding point. Take interest in the collapsing of mindfulness into periods of knowing and unknowing and the returning of mindfulness again. Take interest in the clarity of awareness between been lost within habit and present..

Purpose:

• Continue to develop the grounding of awareness within the sensate quality of our body as a foundation for meditation.
• Cultivate the ability to smoothly change the focus of awareness from awareness of all six senses to one-pointed attention on one aspect of experience.

Benefits: 

• Develop focus and accuracy of your attention.
• Develop flexibility of the focus of your awareness.
• Immerse awareness within the experience of your body.

Summary:

In MIDL Mindfulness Training 2/52 you develop the skill of one-pointed and open awareness by precise movement of awareness through your body. The three points that you cycle awareness through to train its focus are: 

• Your body sitting, 
• The touch of your fingers.
• The experience of your five senses. 

All this is done while observing any habitual shifts of attention towards distraction. 

Awareness has the function of being able to zoom in on one experience or to open to the experience of all six senses,  Gently change the focus of awareness between different grounding points from wide to narrow and back out to wide again dwelling in each focus point before moving to the next.  It is important as a MIDL meditator to develop the ability to focus this zoom function through systematic training to develop flexible attention.

Instruction: 

Sit down in your meditation posture and bring awareness to what it feels like just to sit there. The sounds around you, the warmth & coolness of your body, the touch of your hands, the pressure of your body on the chair or floor as you sit. Ground your awareness within your body as it sits. Next bring awareness to the touch of your hands, those sensations of touch: warmth, coolness, pressure and hold them gently in mind. Once settled open your awareness back to your whole body as it sits. Mentally feel the sensations in your body. Now widen your awareness to all your senses, becoming aware of the world around you, gently hold your awareness wide. 

Continue to cycle between these three levels of focus: narrow, middle and wide, spending time in each focus to be aware of whatever is present to you and to relax and clarify that focus. Observe and relax and restless you experience during this training.

How Often? 

Practice daily for 1 week. In your first meditations use the guided meditation above.then learn to alternate between guided and unguided meditations. If you feel you would like to continue with this meditation longer then for 1 week then that is perfectly ok. There is no strict time frame for this training. The important part is just to be aware if the meditation becomes habitual, if so then move on to the next training regardless of whether you have refined the skill or not, you can always come back later. It is important to understand however that habit is the enemy of mindfulness meditation. 

Investigation: 

Play with how little effort you can put into holding each grounding point and your minds relationship towards the change in the focus of awareness between each point. Take interest in the habitual focusing of your awareness, the collapsing of mindfulness, the periods of knowing and unknowing. Learn what it means to relax any resistance within your mind towards intentionally changing focus between these three points.

Purpose:

• To retrain habitual stress chest breathing patterns to diaphragmatic breathing to remove anxiety and the fuel for the Five Hindrances to Meditation: (attraction, aversion, restlessness, mental sluggishness & doubt)..
• To develop a foundation for the Second Pillar of MIDL; the ability to Soften our relationship of attraction or aversion towards experiences.
• To develop a heightened sensitivity to the relationship between our breathing patterns, emotions and our current state of mind.

Benefits:

• Significant lowering of stress / anxiety in daily life.
• Significant lowering of defensive reactions and emotions.
• Significant lowering of the Five Hindrances to Meditation in seated meditation.
• Increased sensitivity to the relationship between subtle changes within breathing and aversion / attraction within the mind. 

Summary:

In MIDL Mindfulness Training 3/52 you intentionally retrain any habitual stress chest breathing patterns to lower anxiety and as a basis for the development of MIDL Mindfulness of Breathing. Autonomous diaphragm breathing is essential to the development of mindfulness meditation as it affects the arising of the Five Hindrances to Meditation and the ability to use breathing as a meditation object. Sensitivity to diaphragmatic breathing is also used as a basis to reflect the mind to decondition habitual patterns. It can be considered the first of the softening skills developed within MIDL.

Instruction:
Meditation is practiced laying down on a yoga mat / blanket, use a blanket under your knees and a pillow if you prefer to relax your abdomen. On the floor is preferred for alertness, can be done in bed but bed = sleep.

The Five Stages of Training:

• 1. First lengthen and strengthen your diaphragm by slowing down your breath just in your lower belly, hands below your belly button.

• 2. Next breathe from your lower abdomen up into your ribs, place your hands on the side of your ribs to feel the movement of opening your ribs sideways.

• 3. Next learn to breathe from your lower abdomen - to your ribs - then into the top of your chest; relaxing with the out-breath. Place one hand below your belly button, the other on top of your chest to help you feel the breath.

• 4. Next learn to breathe from your lower abdomen - ribs - top of your chest - relaxing with the out-breath, without your hands on your body.

• 5. Stop controlling the breath, allow the diaphragm to re-engage by itself - autonomously - controlled by your brain not by your mind - relax any control you observe. It is helpful to distract yourself at this point by bringing awareness into your whole body. Give up all effort, relaxing with each natural deflation in your belly. 

How Often?  

Practice daily for 1 week (3 - 4 weeks if experiencing anxiety), until diaphragm breathing becomes natural for you in seated meditation and daily life. Natural means it occurs by itself, without your control.

Investigation: 

Be curious, always play with how little effort you can put the breathing. While training your diaphragm muscle your aim is to be able to move your diaphragm slowly (down on the in-breath, up on the out-breath), 5 seconds in-breath, 5 seconds out-breath. In the beginning this range of movement may only be 2 seconds. The movement beginning and ending below your belly button.

This cannot be done through force but only through, gentle patient training. The biggest hindrance to retraining habitual stress chest breathing patterns is the obsessive desire to control. Observe any desire to control, it will appear as an over-effort. Relax this effort whenever it arises. Do not neglect stage 5 of training of lying still and allowing the breathing to happen by itself. this is necessary in retraining the brain in autonomous diaphragm breathing.

Detailed Article on retraining breathing patterns for Anxiety

Purpose:

• Develop a foundation for the Second Pillar of MIDL (softness), the ability to Soften your relationship towards all experience.
• Develop a heightened sensitivity to the relationship between your breathing patterns and your current state of mind.
• Develop the ability to abandon all resistance within your body inline with each out-breath.

Benefits:

• Significant lowering of stress / anxiety in daily life.
• Significant lowering of defensive reactions and emotions.
• Significant lowering of the Five Hindrances to Meditation in seated meditation.
• Increased sensitivity to the relationship between subtle changes within breathing and aversion / attraction within the mind.

Summary:

In MIDL Mindfulness Training 4/52 you develop your skill in softening your relationship towards all experience. This skill of being able to soften is then brought into mindfulness of breathing and your daily life as a way of bringing about 'mindful non-participation'. This creates the basis for deconditioning of habitual defensive patterns within your mind. Softening is an abandonment skill that refers to turning the experience of mental hardness associated with resistance into the experience of mental softness associated with acceptance. The foundation for the MIDL Softening skill is trained in MIDL 3/52.  

Instruction:
Meditation is practiced in a seated position.

The Four Stages of Training:

• 1. Lengthen and strengthen your diaphragm by slowing down your breath just in your lower belly, hands below your belly button while seated.

• 2. Learning the full breath, from your lower belly, to your ribs, opening the top of your chest; relaxing with the out-breath. One hand below your belly button, the other on top of your chest to help you feel the breath while seated.

• 3. Learning to breathe from your lower belly - ribs - top of your chest - relaxing with the out-breath, without your hands.

• 4. Learning to align with and borrow the natural deflation of the body with each out-breath to refine the MIDL skill of Softening Into.

How Often?  

Practice daily for 1 week, play with how little effort you can put the breathing. Your aim is to be able to move your diaphragm slowly (down on the in-breath, up on the out-breath). This can not been done through force but only through, gentle patient training. Softening is a key skill that you will bring with you throughout the development of MIDL.

Investigation:  

Observe the desire to control as an over-effort and relax this effort whenever it arises. Bring in your 'grounding' skills developed in MIDL Mindfulness Training 1 - 2/52. Investigate what it means to "align your awareness" with the deflation of your body with each out-breath and what it means to "give up all effort" within your body, allowing gravity to balance you and the earth to support you.

Purpose:

• Develop a foundation for the Second Pillar of MIDL, the ability to Soften your relationship towards all experience.
• Develop a heightened sensitivity to the relationship between your breathing patterns and your current state of mind.
• Develop the ability to abandon all resistance within your body inline with each out-breath.

Benefits:

• Significant lowering of stress / anxiety in daily life.
• Significant lowering of defensive reactions and emotions.
• Significant lowering of the Five Hindrances to Meditation in seated meditation.
•  Ability to be with difficult experiences that arise in meditation and daily life.
•  Ability to intentionally decondition habitual tendencies and defensive emotional charge from memories.
•  Ability to develop and establish wholesome qualities of mind.

Summary: 

In MIDL Mindfulness Training 5/52 you refine your softening skill to bring deep relaxation within your mind and body through 'mindful non-participation'. You do this initially by borrowing the natural abandoning that occurs with the deflation of each out-breath and allowing yourself to mentally ‘sink’ and relax. The abandonment of mental participation is enhanced by slowly extending the breath out through your nose with each out-breath. At first this skill still rests on the physicality of breathing but with practice it gradually changes into a deep relaxation of the mind that arises due to an abandoning of all mental effort.  

Instruction:
Meditation is practiced in a seated position. 

The Three Stages of Training:

• 1. Learning the full breath, from your lower belly, to your ribs, opening the top of your chest; relaxing with the out-breath.

• 2. Learning to breathe from your lower belly - ribs - top of your chest and borrow the natural deflation of the body with each out-breath to refine the MIDL skill of Softening Into.

• 3. Learning to extend the out-breath through the nose, aligned with the natural deflation of the body with each out-breath to abandon all participation through mentally relaxing.

How Often?  

Practice daily for 1 week, Softening is a key MIDL meditation skill and all future training rest on your development of the ability to Soften into mindful non-participation.

Investigation:  

play with how little effort you can put into the breathing; slow down the out-breath through the nose and see if you can experience the area within the frontal lobes of your brain relax. Observe how when this area relaxes all thinking stops, mental activity settles down. Your aim is to abandon all mental effort with each out-breath and to allow the deep relaxation of your body, that arises through softening, to enter your mind.

Purpose:

• Develop the ability to experience the natural breath, free from control, as a foundation for mindfulness of breathing.
• Develop a heightened sensitivity to control as it arises within the mind through observing it in the natural breath. 
• Decondition habitual control through softening to intentionally abandon. 

Benefits:

• Significant lowering of desire to control within daily life.
• Refinement of the skill of abandoning the Five Hindrances to Meditation. 
• Ability to be with and soften into difficult experiences that arise. 
• Ability to intentionally decondition habitual tendencies based on control.

Summary:  

In MIDL Mindfulness Meditation Training 6/52 you begin mindfulness of breathing by creating the conditions to observe habitual control within the breathing itself. Breathing makes a wonderful meditation object for observing control because it can be intentionally controlled or happen autonomously. To decondition habitual control in this training you simply breathe out, relax and wait for the breath to draw in by itself. Whenever you notice the tightness of control within the breathing you simply repeat this training until you can mindfully observe breathing free from any habitual control of your mind.

Instruction:

Meditation is practiced in a seated position.

 
The Three Stages of Training:

• 1. After grounding awareness within your body as in MIDL 1/52 observe the breath naturally flowing within your body.

• 2. Gently breathe out, relax and wait for the breath to draw back in by itself. Observe and soften into any fear that the breath will not come in again or ‘holding’ of the breath. Experience the natural breath free from control.

• 3. Observe any tightness or tension that gradually arises within the breath as a reflection of habitual control. When observed breathe out, relax and wait for the breath to draw in again by itself. 

How Often? 

Practice daily for 1 week or longer if needed. Begin mindfulness of breathing by creating the conditions to observe habitual control within the breathing itself. Breathing makes a wonderful meditation object for observing control because it can be intentionally controlled or allowed to happen autonomously.

Investigation: 

To decondition habitual control in this MIDL training you simply breathe out, relax and wait for the breath to draw in by itself, autonomously, controlled by the brain. Be aware of any fear that arises at the end of the out-breath that causes each in-breath to come in and use your softening skills to relax it. Within the natural breath whenever you notice the tightness of control within the breathing you simply repeat this training until you can mindfully observe breathing free from any habitual control of your mind.