Enlightenment Achieved: Finale of 6 Week Meditation Series

We made it. Our office successfully met once a week for six weeks. Admittedly our numbers dwindled towards the end, but the folks that were left were interested in keeping up meditation beyond just this six weeks, even incorporating it into their daily lives. A big commitment seeing as meditation takes time out of your precious productivity hours each day. practicing-mindfulness-at-work-meditation-series How did this work? How did we become convinced meditation had serious benefits?

Here’s what we learned:

Week 1 – How to approach the start of meditation

Why meditate?

To provide a "lubricant for life" in the words of our teacher, David
To react to situations how you want to

As you start out with mediation, you need...

"the patience and care of a father teaching a talented child woodworking
the gentleness of a mother feeding her newborn baby
the playful curiosity of a puppy entering the backyard for the first time"

For the first week you should focus on…

Finding your seat
Finding a time and space that works best for you

Week 2 – Going back to the breath

How do you focus on the breath?

Bind your attention to the breath

What is binding?

On the inhale, completely clear your thoughts
On the exhale, relax
Repeat for the first part of your practice until it feels more natural

What else to do for week 2?

Start journaling about your experience each time you sit down - before, after, and during
Reflect on what comes into mind each time you sit down – notice any patterns of thought

Week 3 – Become a more open person

Introducing two different ways to think about opening:

Anapanasati Sutra
David’s comparison of opening to the world

An exercise to try out:

Find an intimate object and a mundane object
Consider the difference when looking at the two
Feel the warmth you feel looking at the intimate object and apply that to how you feel in meditation

What else to practice:

Try taking 3 deep breaths as various points throughout your day to practice meditating beyond your sit

Week 4 – Labeling thoughts to simplify them

What is labeling?

Mentally processing your thoughts by simplifying them before they fully develop
As a thought enters your mind, treat it as something you can suppress just like any other sensation you may try to ignore
Label it, “thinking,” and then return to your practice

Why label?

Helps to lessen your angry or fevered responses to daily occurrences
Helps to keep your attention to your meditation

Week 5 – Reflecting on Impermanence

What do we mean by impermanence?

The concept that things don’t last forever
Taking concentrated time to reflect on the fact that everything changes

Why take time to do think about this?

Helps to process the world
Brings focus back to things that matter

How do you incorporate this into meditation?

Follow the instruction of Ken McCloud
Think about these facts of life until you feel a shift in your emotion

Week 6 – What now?

Our office has seen a difference. We like to believe taking meditation into the work day has helped us approach situations more calmly and thougthfully. Can this work for your office? Why not try it out?

Resources – If you like to learn and dive deeper into these subjects, here are a few of David’s favs:

Commit – find a time that works for you to practice daily and commit to it (even set reminders on your phone to hold yourself accountable)
Be more mindful – bring your practice beyond your time sitting and allow it to change the way you react to situations at work and in life as a whole
Notice – observe how it changes your day-to-day life