“You should sit in meditation for 20 minutes a day, unless you’re too busy. Then you should sit for an hour.”
— Zen saying
Mindfulness is a foundational mental skill. Consistency and frequency is key when it comes to mindfulness practice. So find a regular time each day to practice for at least 10 minutes, whether after waking up in the morning, before going to bed, before/after a workout, or during another time of the day. The point of the dedicated practice time is to develop awareness with an eye on expanding that awareness into everything you do in training, racing, and life.
Various approaches and techniques for mindfulness practice have developed over the centuries. Choose one that works for you and stick with it. Regardless of the specific approach or technique, you are practicing meta-awareness — the awareness of being aware in the present moment.
Below are guidelines to get started with basic mindfulness meditation, plus a mindfulness exercise that takes you through the four attentional control quadrants discussed in the previous lesson. These instructions are followed by a 10-minute guided meditation led by Andy Puddicombe of Headspace, plus several short animations from Headspace to help you get started with your practice. If you don’t already know about the Headspace guided meditation app, consider checking out their free trial using this link and you’ll support Alp Fitness in the process.
Mindfulness Meditation Practice
Here are instructions for a basic mindfulness meditation that you can do for 10 minutes, 20 minutes, or however long works for you. The point of the exercise is to simply sit and count your breaths. As your mind wanders, return your focus to the breath. The breath is your anchor.
Prepare:
- Find a quiet space where you won’t be disturbed (no texts, emails, etc.).
- Sit upright in a comfortable position in a chair or on the floor.
- Set a timer on your watch for 10 minutes (or your chosen duration).
Start:
- Take three deep breaths, breathing in through the nose and out through the mouth.
- On the third breath, close your eyes or lower your gaze.
- Relax into a steady breathing pattern, breathing in and out through the nose, without trying to control the breath.
Practice:
- Focus on each in-breath and out-breath by choosing one aspect of your breathing to follow, such as the rising/lowering of your diaphragm or the sensation of air coming into/out of your nose.
- Count each in-breath and out-breath until you reach 10. Then start again at 1. Continue repeating this cycle of counting your breaths from 1-10.
- When your mind wanders or if you lose track of your count, simply return to the breath and start the counting again. The breath is your anchor.
When finished, take a moment to reflect on how the exercise went for you. The busy-ness of the mind varies from day to day. That’s normal and to be expected. As you continue practicing each day, bring awareness to what’s going on without judging or trying to push away the thoughts. Simply observe the thoughts and let them move on without turning your attention to them.
Noting/Labeling. Another mindfulness meditation technique is to note or label what comes up when your mind wanders and distracts you from counting your breaths. When something pops into your mind, give it a label, such as “thinking” or “feeling.” Then let it go on its way. You’ve recognized and acknowledged it, but don’t need to identify with or be distracted by it. Once noted, return to counting your breaths.
Attentional Control Practice
Use this exercise to either supplement the mindfulness meditation or integrate into it. In this exercise, you’re going to shift your attention across each of the four quadrants of attentional control discussed in the previous lesson: broad external, narrow external, broad internal, and narrow internal.
Prepare:
- Find a quiet space where you won’t be disturbed (no texts, emails, etc.).
- Sit upright in a comfortable position in a chair or on the floor.
- Set a repeat timer on your watch for 1-5 minutes (or however long you’d like to spend on each quadrant).
Start:
- Take three deep breaths, breathing in through the nose and out through the mouth.
- On the third breath, close your eyes or lower your gaze.
- Relax into a steady breathing pattern, breathing in and out through the nose, without trying to control the breath.
Practice:
- Broad external. Focus broadly on your external surroundings, noticing all of the various sounds, smells, and sensations around you.
- Narrow external. After the timer goes off, shift to a narrow focus on something from those external surroundings you previously surveyed. It could be a particular sound or smell or maybe the feeling of the floor on your feet.
- Broad internal. After the timer goes off again, shift your attention inward with a broad focus on how your body is feeling. You can scan through from head to toe to get a general sense of whether you’re feeling alert, fatigued, tight, etc.
- Narrow internal. After the time goes off again, now shift your internal attention onto one thing in particular, such as a niggle or twinge you may be having in your knee. Focus your attention there and just observe what’s going on.
Guided 10-Minute Meditation with Andy Puddicombe
Why Meditation is Just Like Riding a Bike
Meditation doesn’t just take practice, it is practice. You have to get used to gently letting go of the thoughts and feelings that occur in the mind. But, just like riding a bike, the more you do it, the easier it feels. So jump on your trusty bicycle, and enjoy a taste of freedom.
Noting Technique
Noting is one of eight techniques used within the Headspace app to help you train your mind. Rather than trying to create calm by stamping out thoughts or feelings, this simple strategy helps us to acknowledge them before returning to the object of focus.
Training the Monkey Mind
When you first close your eyes to meditate, you might be surprised by how energetic the mind is. Where is the peace I was promised? It’s not peaceful in here at all! But don’t be discouraged. In this animation we explore how to create the conditions for a calm, quiet mind.
Accepting the Mind
Meditation is the simple act of taking time out to observe the mind. But what happens if we don’t like what we find? In this Headspace animation, co-founder Andy Puddicombe uses a traditional metaphor of a calm pool of water to explain how each meditation session can become an exercise in acceptance.
