| Some masters meditate for hours. They just sit | | | | movement of the chest as you breathe, or the |
| still in one spot, holding their focus for hours on | | | | expansion and contraction of the belly as you |
| end. In some rare cases, they sit in the same | | | | breathe. |
| place for days! It is amazing to consider the things | | | | Sit silently for 1 minute and hold your focus. When |
| we can do with some practice. | | | | your attention drifts, bring it back. It is perfectly |
| But what about those us who have other things | | | | normal and acceptable for your attention to drift |
| to do than just sit and meditate? Some of us | | | | during meditation. This is part of the meditation! If |
| have jobs, a spouse, kids, car payments, etc. Do | | | | it happens, just continue to relax, and gently |
| we try to retire early so there is still time for | | | | return your awareness to the object of |
| enlightenment, or do we swear off all 'worldly' | | | | meditation. If you find drifting awareness to be |
| things and find a cave to sit in? | | | | particularly frustrating, you can also add in a smile |
| I would suggest that neither of these is an ideal | | | | anytime you notice your focus beginning to |
| solution. In fact, I doubt anyone would listen to | | | | wander: relax, smile, and gently return. |
| me if I recommended either of those choices, | | | | You can use this mindfulness as the beginning of |
| anyway. Ideally, we want to find some way to | | | | any meditation practice, or you can choose to |
| begin to integrate meditation into our daily life. The | | | | make this your entire practice of meditation. It is |
| best way to do this is to begin very simply. | | | | very handy to have a watch or some |
| Setting aside several hours is difficult, extreme, | | | | unobtrusive alarm that will alert you when 1 |
| and likely to fail. Setting aside a few minutes is | | | | minute has elapsed. At first a minute might seem |
| easy, relaxing, and will help you begin to create | | | | to last forever, but after practice, you might be |
| momentum in your practice. | | | | surprised at how fast a minute can go. |
| All you need to begin meditation is one minute of | | | | When your focus begins to build and you feel |
| silence. Find a place where you can close your | | | | good about your 1 minute meditation, you can |
| eyes, relax, and enjoy the silence for just sixty | | | | extend it to 2 minutes, 5 minutes, 30 minutes, |
| seconds. | | | | etc. Keep in mind that an hour is just 60 individual |
| You will also want to select a single focus for | | | | 1 minute periods. On the other hand, you may |
| your session of meditation. It can be virtually | | | | choose to do several 1 minute meditations during |
| anything. It could be the feeling of your feet | | | | the day. No matter how you begin to evolve |
| against the floor. It can be whatever internal | | | | your practice after mastering the 1 minute |
| sounds come up (or the internal silence). The | | | | meditation, you will find more and more surprising |
| most common focus is the breath. If you like, | | | | insight and peace can be found in the space of 60 |
| pick one element of the breath to focus on: the | | | | seconds! |
| feeling of the air passing through the nostrils, the | | | | |