How to do mindfulness and meditation

Find a place where you won't be easily disturbed. You can sit or lie down. You don't have to keep your back straight. Whatever makes you feel comfortable. You can just close your eyes or half-open your eyes and stare at a small fixed object in front of you. Gently focus on the touch of your breath - either the cool and hot sensation of the air coming in and out of the tip of your nose, or the swelling and contraction of your chest with your breathing. If you get distracted, gently bring your attention back. It's that simple.

I also encountered pitfalls when I first started practicing. I always thought, "Why did my mind wander again? Am I not suitable for practicing this at all?" Later, after talking with a doctor friend who does mindfulness intervention, I learned that the process of "wandering and then pulling back" is the core of the practice. Every time you pull back, it is equivalent to a strength training for the "awareness muscle" of the brain. If you practice more, you will be able to react faster and pull yourself out of the emotional whirlpool when your mind wanders at work and is trapped in anxiety.

Practitioners currently have two completely different views. One is that mindfulness meditation must have a systematic learning path, and it must be practiced with qualified instructors, and even with relevant inheritance backgrounds. Otherwise, people with emotional problems themselves can easily trigger trauma during in-depth practice and aggravate symptoms. A friend of mine who has practiced Vipassana for 10 years has always held this attitude. He would never recommend that friends with severe depression practice blindly at home by following short videos. However, many researchers who do public psychology work believe that for ordinary people without serious psychological problems, mindfulness does not require such a high threshold. You don’t even need to take time to meditate. Put down your mobile phone when eating and carefully feel the texture and taste of every bite of food. Feel the touch of wind on your face while waiting for the subway. Stop for two seconds after being scolded by the leader in a meeting and notice whether your heartbeat is fast or whether your chest is blocked. Don’t judge “Why am I so useless?” Just seeing this emotion is all mindfulness practice.

I have been practicing for almost three years, but now I seldom take time to sit down and meditate. I focus more on incorporating mindfulness into my daily life. Last time I was working on a big project for a week, and I was in a state of panic. After that, I took three deep breaths every time before typing on the keyboard. I focused on the cool feeling when my fingers hit the keyboard. It was just a small action of a few seconds. I didn’t lose my temper at the subordinate who made a mistake that day like before, and I didn’t feel as if I was hollowed out when I got off work. The effect was better than when I had to sit down and meditate for half an hour on weekends.

By the way, if you are just getting started, don’t believe the metaphysical content on the Internet about “7 days of enlightenment” and “deep meditation to cleanse karma.” For us ordinary people to practice this, to put it bluntly, it is to loosen the strings in the tense brain.