Meditation skills 7-12

 Purpose:

• To cultivate the skill of applying awareness to the object of meditation and sustaining it. 
• To clarify habitual movements of attention away from the object of meditation in order to make distraction the object of meditation. 

Benefits:

This mindfulness training the minds habitual entanglement with all experiences that arise within the field of the six senses.

Summary:

In Meditation Skill 7, you develop the skill of clarifying shifts of attention during meditation by using a mindfulness labeling technique. A label is a silent, intentional word used to describe an experience that arises during meditation in order to direct awareness and clarify perception. As an example, as the breath draws in you silently say “in”, as it goes out you silently say “out”, aligned with the experience of the breath. Whenever you notice your attention habitually move from the experience of breathing you clarify it by silently saying “hearing” for a sound or “thinking” for a thought etc. 

 Instruction:

1. Ground awareness within the experience of your hands touching, body sitting or body breathing.

2. Relax your mental grip on your grounding point and allow the attention to habitually move. 

3. Clarify movements of attention by using a silent label such as wandering, dreaming, thinking, hearing etc.

4. Clarify the relationship to the distraction through simple silent labels such as planning, remembering, longing, fearing etc.  

How Often?

 Practice daily for 1 week by bringing your awareness to the experience of your whole body as it sits and breathes. Next ground your awareness in this experience, as the mind settles relax your mental grip on the touch and allow your mind to wander. Put effort towards observing these wanderings. Use simple, silent labels to clarify where your attention moves to. Use two labels, the first to bring your attention towards the experience, the second to clarify it. Such as "thinking, thinking", "dreaming, dreaming", "fearing, fearing" etc.  

Investigation:

Use labels as a way of clarifying your experience. Be careful of focusing on the label rather then on the actual experience. Every time you use a labels to describe your experience, gently rub your awareness against the experience and mentally 'feel' it in order to develop understanding.  

Purpose:

• To develop the ability to experience natural breathing, free from unconscious control, as a foundation for mindfulness of breathing. 
• To develop a heightened sensitivity to habitual control as it arises within the mind, through observing changes in the natural breath.

Benefits:

This mindfulness training develops the ability to abandon the innate tendency towards control, not only in seated meditation but most importantly, in daily life, lowering of attraction and aversion. 

Summary:  

Breathing makes a wonderful meditation object for observing control because it can be intentionally controlled by your mind, or it happen autonomously, controlled by your brain. Breathing can be considered as happening in three ways: You can intentionally take a breath in and out, your habitual, survival mind can control the breath as in the case of stress breathing. Or breathing can happen naturally, regulated by the brain, this is referred to as the natural breath.

To decondition habitual control within your mind you simply breathe out, relax and wait for the breath to draw in by itself. Whenever you notice any tightness within the breathing you simply repeat this training until you can mindfully observe breathing free from any habitual control of your mind.

Instruction:

Step 1: Create Your Foundation

Take a seated meditation posture and gradually bring awareness to your whole body. In a general way start to become aware of the experience of warmth or coolness, of points of touch.

Step 2: Relax Awareness into Your Body

Once your mind has settled down gradually relax awareness into   

the experience of your body. Relax into sounds, into warmth, coolness and touch. Relax all effort. Start to notice the natural flow of breathing within your body. 

Step 3: Breathe Out, Relax and Wait

Now bring awareness to the tip of your nose and gently breathe out. Relax and wait for the breath to draw back in by itself. Observe and soften any fear that the breath will not come in again. Don’t worry, if you relax your brain will signal breathing all by itself.

Step 4: The Natural Breath

When the breath draws in, by itself, experience the natural breath free from control. Its beauty, it sense-of-ease. 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. Rinse and repeat.

Investigation: 

Take interest in any fear that arises at the end of the out-breath and use your softening skills to relax it. Be curious about the difference between the experience of the natural breath, free from control. And the experience of tightness or tension that gradually arises within your breathing, as your mind habitually tries to control that which does not need to be controlled. 

 Purpose:

• To develop the ability to observe natural breathing in order to cultivate mindfulness and concentration. 
• To increase the accuracy of awareness to one point and to ground within breathing.

Benefits:

This mindfulness training develops the ability to mindfully observe natural breathing through its cultivation of mindfulness and one-pointed concentration, aiding in the settling of the  Hindrances:  (attraction, aversion, restlessness, sluggishness, doubt).

Summary:

After grounding awareness within your body, allow yourself to relax and open your sensitivity to the natural flow of breath within your body. Wherever breathing appears to you is ok. Just be aware of the general experience of the flow of the breathing, not locating it in any one place.

As your mind settles down, bring awareness to the one point in your body where the experience of breathing is most clear to you. Silently say "in" as the breath draws in, silently say "out" as the breaths goes out. Mentally feel each breath as you say this. Whenever you notice your attention has wandered silently say "wandering, wandering", soften, ground in your body, slowly breathe out through nose and wait for breath to come in by itself.

 Instruction:

Step 1: Create Your Foundation

Take a seated meditation posture and gradually bring awareness to your whole body as in MIDL 4. In a general way start to become aware of the experience of warmth or coolness, of points of touch.

Step 2: Relax Awareness into Your Body

Once your mind has settled down gradually relax awareness into the experience of your body. Relax into sounds, into warmth, coolness and touch. Relax all effort. Start to notice the natural flow of breathing within your body, picturing the in & out-breath as one. 

Step 3: Bring Mindfulness to the Front

Relax any tension you feel in your chest and belly allowing your breathing to flow freely. Wherever the experience of breathing appears to you is ok. Do not try to place it anywhere but rather just be aware of it as it moves within the centre of your body.

Step 4: Training Your Attention

To help train your you can use a silent mental word called a label, such as “in” when the breath comes in and “out” when it goes out. Whenever you notice your attention has wandered silently say "wandering, wandering", soften, ground in your body, slowly breathe out through nose and wait for breath to come in by itself.

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. 

Investigation:

Play with how little effort you need to observe the movement of your breath as it comes in and out. Pay attention to the experience of your breathing. The changing sensations within your body, rather than the breathing itself. Take interest in every time you forget that you are sitting in meditation and become lost with habitual thought and how labelling helps to establish mindfulness. 

Purpose:

• To develop the ability to observe the full length of each breath from the beginning, to the middle to the end. 
• To develop initial one-pointed concentration in order to settle Five Hindrances (attraction, aversion, restlessness, sluggishness and doubt). 
• To develop accuracy and continuity of the factors of attention (curiosity, mindfulness, concentration and awareness) and to ground awareness in breathing.

Benefits:

This mindfulness training develops initial one-pointed concentration and the accuracy of your attention by being more attentive towards the experience of your natural breathing.

Summary:

Where in the previous training you applied one noticing to each breath: in and out. During this training you apply multiple noticing by rubbing awareness along the length of each breath, thereby developing continuity of mindfulness and concentration. It is helpful at this stage to change your perception of breathing so that the in and out-breaths appear as one continuous breath that just changes direction. 

To do this turn your awareness towards the middle of each breath as it passes one point. Avoid clarifying when each breath begins and ends but rather focus on the breath presence itself. The analogy here is of a carpenter cutting a piece of wood, they do not follow the saw but instead focus on the place that is being sawn.

 Instruction:

Step 1: Create Your Foundation

Take a seated meditation posture and gradually bring awareness to your whole body as in MIDL 4. In a general way start to become aware of the experience of warmth or coolness, of points of touch. Start to notice the natural flow of breathing within your body.

Step 2: Bring Mindfulness to the Front

Relax any tension you feel in your chest and belly allowing your breathing to flow freely. Wherever the experience of breathing appears to you is ok. Do not try to place it anywhere but rather just be aware of it as it moves within the centre of your body. 

Step 3: Aware of the Length of Each Breath

Keeping awareness your awareness gently on one point be aware of the breath experience as it passes that point from the beginning, to the middle to the end.  The analogy here is of a carpenter cutting a piece of wood, they do not follow the saw but instead focus on the place that is being sawn. 

It is helpful to perceive your in breath as one continuous breath that changes direction, this is done by focusing on the point that the breath passes and by not paying attention to the ending of each breath but rather towards its constant presence.
How Often?

Practice daily for 1 week, begin mindfulness of breathing by observing the breath as its flows autonomously through your body. Observe and label any movements of your attention away from the breath. Once sufficient concentration has developed, that is the five hindrances to meditation have settled down and your attention is not longer drawn out to your five senses then change the way that you observe the breathing.

 
Investigation: 

Take interest in what it means to clarify the beginning of each in-breath and out-breath. Be curious about the movements of your attention away from the breathing, particularly towards thinking.  When the beginning of these breaths become clear you start to play with the amount of effort needed to become fully aware of the middle and end of each breath without becoming restless. Investigate what it means to intentionally rub awareness along the length of each breath while being sensitive to relaxing the effort behind this intention. 

Purpose:

• To develop the ability to be aware of your whole body as it breathes. 
• To develop accuracy and continuity of the mental factors (curiosity, mindfulness, concentration and awareness). 
• To ground awareness within the whole body as it breathes.

Benefits:

This mindfulness training develops the ability to mindfully observe your body as it naturally breathes. This balances your mental factors and increases the clarity of awareness regarding the six senses (seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, touching, mind).

Summary:

It is necessary in mindfulness meditation to move from the development of initial one-pointed concentration, to a more open momentary concentration, in order to develop wisdom. To make this transition you need to intentionally change your perception of breathing from mindfulness of your breathing as it draws in and out of your body. To the experience of the expansion & deflation of your whole body as it responds to breathing. This is done by intentionally becoming aware of different phases of your breathing. Starting with the experience of the breath at the tip of your nose, moving into your head, then chest and belly and finally into the experience of your whole-body breathing.

 Instruction:

Step 1: Create Your Foundation

Take a seated meditation posture and gradually bring awareness to your whole body as in MIDL 4. In a general way start to become aware of the experience of warmth or coolness, of points of touch. Start to notice the natural flow of breathing within your body. Be aware of each breath as it comes in, and as it goes out again.

Step 2: Aware of Breathing in Your Nose and Head

Intentionally bring your awareness to the experience of the breath at the tip of your nose. Experience the different sensations you can feel there. Next see if you can experience breathing inside your head and see what sensations you can feel there. 

Step 3: Aware of Breathing in Your Chest & Upper Back

Then gently bring your awareness to the experience of breathing in your chest. Experience the different sensations you can feel there. Next see if you can experience breathing inside your upper back and ribs and see what sensations you can feel there.

Step 4: Aware of Breathing in Your Belly and Whole Body

Then gently bring your awareness to the experience of breathing in your belly. Experience the different sensations you can feel there. Widen your awareness to your whole body and become aware of your whole body as it breathes. As it expands and deflates.

How Often?

Practice daily for 1 week, begin mindfulness of breathing by observing the experience of the breath as its flows in and out through your nose - autonomously - free from control. 

Investigation:

Pay attention to the change in experience of breathing in different parts of your body. Observe how moving awareness through your body affects your mind and perception of breathing. Be curious in regards to changes in stability of awareness of breathing at different points within your body and soften any restlessness that arises. 

Purpose:

• To change from mindfulness of in & out-breathing to mindfulness of your body as it breathes. 
• To learn to open with the expansion of the in-breath to experience all your senses and to soften with the deflation of each out-breath. 
• To understand what it means to ground within the experience of the whole-body breathing in order to. develop accuracy and continuity of the factors of attention.

Benefits:

This mindfulness training develops the ability to mindfully observe whole body naturally breathing and balances the mental factors of curiosity, mindfulness and momentary concentration. 

Summary:

In Meditation Skill 12, you develop your awareness of the expansion and deflation of your whole body as it responds to breathing. This is done by aligning awareness with the length of the expansion of your body with each in-breath and with the deflation of your body with each out-breath. 

The natural expansion of your body can then be used to experience all your senses: How you are feeling now. The natural deflation of each outbreath is then used to soften into this experience. At first the perception of body-breathing is most clear as movement in the shoulders, upper chest and upper back. But gradually it expands until your whole body is experienced as breathing itself. 

Instruction:

Step 1: Create Your Foundation

Take a seated meditation posture and gradually bring awareness to your whole body as in MIDL 4. In a general way start to become aware of the experience of warmth or coolness, of points of touch. Start to notice the natural flow of breathing within your body. Be aware of each breath as it comes in, and as it goes out again.

 Step 2: Aware of the Length of Each Breath

Intentionally bring your awareness towards the beginning of each in-breath and out-breath until they become clear to you. Next, become aware of the middle and end of each breath. Gently rub awareness along the full length of each breath.

Step 3: Aware of Your Whole-Body Breathing

Bring your awareness to the area of your shoulders, chest and upper back and experience the expansion and deflation of breathing here. Gradually open your awareness to your whole body as it naturally breathes. Align your awareness with the expansion of each in-breath and open to your all your senses. Align awareness with the deflation of each out-breath and soften along the length of the breath. 

How Often?

Practice daily for 1 week, begin mindfulness of breathing by observing the experience of the breath as its flows in and out - autonomously - free from control. Observe and label any movements of your attention away from the breath. 

Once the five hindrances have settled down and a base concentration developed, change your perception of breathing by widening your awareness to your whole body. Bring your awareness to the experience of your whole body as it breathes so that the full length of the expansion of the in-breath and deflation of the out-breath become clear to you.

Investigation:

Play with what it means to allow your body to breathe naturally free from control. Investigate the amount of effort that is needed to align your awareness with the expansion and contraction of your whole body as it breathes. As your body fills and expands, expand your awareness beyond your body to experience all six of your senses (seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, touching, mind). As your body deflates investigate what it means to borrow this breath to soften relax into experience as in MIDL training 4 & 5.