12 Guidelines To Develop Or Deepen Your Mindfulness Meditation Practice

In this lesson, we explore mindfulness of the body, which is the first area or foundation of mindfulness in Buddhist teachings. Cultivating mindfulness of the body brings us home to ourselves and is a pathway to deep peace and freedom. We practice a guided meditation on mindfulness of ‘four elements’ of bodily experience: 1) earth element—hardness, softness, roughness, smoothness; 2) water element—liquidity, flow, stickiness; 3) fire element—temperature: warmth, coolness; and 4) air element—spaciousness, movement. In experiencing our body in this elemental way, we cultivate a wiser and less attached approach to experiencing our body. Poem shared: ‘In Blackwater Woods’ by Mary Oliver.

In this lesson, we explore a key focus of mindfulness practice—bringing mindfulness to our breathing. We discuss how the breath can be an accessible focus in meditation since it is always available; it’s relatively neutral focus; it’s a helpful barometer of our levels of stress or relaxation; and it can help us cultivate calm in times of stress or activation. We practice a guided meditation to cultivate mindfulness of breathing and point to different areas of the body or breathing experience where we can rest our attention and allow ourselves to settle and be present. The benefits of cultivating mindfulness of breathing include being more present for ourselves and for life; moving out of habitual patterns of distraction, stress, and clinging, and finding peace in the present moment. Poem shared: ‘Part One, Sonnet IV’ (‘give yourself to the air’) by Rainer Maria Rilke.

In this lesson, we explore the importance of meeting our experience with acceptance as a foundation of mindfulness practice—and how meaningful change has to begin with a deep acceptance of who and where we are. We discuss images, metaphors, and expressions for acceptance, including Rumi’s invitation to ‘welcome the guests’; Eckhart Tolle’s ‘yes to what is’; Tara Brach’s ‘radical acceptance’; and Ajahn Sumedho’s ‘it’s like this.’ In the guided meditation practice we invite a quality of deep acceptance to whatever is arising in body, heart, and mind. Poem shared: ‘The Guest House’ by Jellaludin Rumi. Benefits of meeting our experience with acceptance include a greater ability to be at ease with life as it is, to change what can be changed, and to open to life’s ten thousand joys and ten thousand sorrows. In the next session, we will explore the power of cultivating compassionate curiosity to deepen well-being and happiness.

In this lesson, we explore the power of cultivating an attitude of compassionate curiosity to our experience. Meeting our experience with compassion and kindness helps us to make space for what’s difficult or painful without escaping or responding in a reactive way—and allows us to find peace with the ups and downs of life. The benefits of cultivating compassionate curiosity include strengthening self-compassion, a key to well-being while opening to life’s joys and sorrows. In the guided meditation we cultivate the qualities of curiosity and kindness to all that’s arising. Poems shared: ‘The Way It Is’ by Lynn Ungar and ‘Small Kindnesses’ by Danusha Laméris. In the next session, we’ll discuss and work with thoughts that arise in our practice and emphasize that thinking is not a problem in meditation.

In this lesson, we explore ways of working wisely with thoughts in meditation. We invite an approach in which thinking is not a problem and our ‘task’ is simply to notice when we are lost in thought and come back to our focus (e.g., the breath). In the guided meditation we practice working with thoughts by responding with kindness when the mind wanders and returning to the body and the breath. Poem shared: ‘I Worried’ by Mary Oliver. A key benefit of this way of working kindly and non-judgmentally with thoughts is that we minimize self-judgment and the belief that our meditation should be a certain way and experience peace in this moment, just as it is. In the next session, we will explore and practice working skillfully with emotions in meditation.

In this lesson, we explore and practice meeting our emotions, particularly the challenging ones, like anger, fear, or sadness, with kindness and acceptance, rather than with resistance or trying to suppress them. In the guided meditation we explore the difference between saying ‘yes’ to challenging emotions and mind states and saying ‘no’ to them. Poem shared: Excerpt from ‘Letters to a Young Poet’ by Rainer Maria Rilke (‘always trust in the difficult’). A key benefit of meeting our emotions with acceptance and kindness is in being able to live our life fully without feeling we need to escape from challenging emotions and mind states. In the next session, we will explore the question of ‘how much effort is appropriate and beneficial in meditation?’

In this lesson, we explore and practice cultivating wise effort in meditation—a balanced effort where we are not striving too hard to get somewhere, but are also not lethargic or lackadaisical in our effort. In the guided meditation we practice bringing awareness to the nature and quality of our effort and invite balanced effort in our practice. Poem shared: ‘Keeping Quiet’ by Pablo Neruda. The benefits of cultivating wise and balanced effort include deepening acceptance of our experience and living with greater ease through letting go of the tension of ‘over-efforting’ while staying focused and committed to our practice. In the next session, we will explore and cultivate a ‘beginner’s mind.’

In this lesson we cultivate a ‘beginner’s mind,’ an attitude of mind where we don’t think we already know how this next breath will be or what the person we’re speaking with is going to say next. A beginner’s mind opens up possibilities for new information to come in and to see things in new ways. The Zen Buddhist teacher Suzuki Roshi said, ‘In the beginner’s mind there are many possibilities. In the expert’s there are few.’ The benefits of cultivating a beginner’s mind include being open to the joys and wonders of life that come with curiosity and openness. In the guided meditation we practice bringing the quality of an open and curious mind to our experiences of body, heart, and mind. Poem shared: ‘Mind Wanting More’ by Holly Hughes.

In this lesson, we explore the practice of loving-kindness, a quality of friendliness and care that incorporates all beings, including ourselves. We discuss the origins of the practice of loving-kindness, or metta in Pali, as one of four skillful qualities of heart (with compassion, appreciative joy, and equanimity), known as ‘divine abodes’ in the Buddha’s teachings. In the guided meditation we explore the practice of loving-kindness—inviting qualities of kindness, friendliness, and care towards ourselves, loved ones, friends, ‘neutral’ people, difficult people, and ultimately all beings. Poem shared:, ‘There was a time I would reject those…’ by Muhyiddin Ibn al-Arabi. The benefits of cultivating loving-kindness and the other three heart qualities is in connecting to others and experiencing ourselves as an essential part of the web of life. In the next session, we will explore and practice self-compassion.

In this lesson, we explore and cultivate self-compassion, a quality of kindness and care toward ourselves. We discuss the three key elements of self-compassion, highlighted by Kristin Neff: 1) self-kindness; 2) remembering our common humanity; and 3) mindfulness; and outline the benefits of self-compassion. In the guided meditation we invite compassion towards ourselves, using the phrases, ‘May I be happy… May I be safe… May I be healthy… May I live with ease’ while meeting whatever arises with kindness and acceptance. Poem shared: ‘Kindness’ by Naomi Shihab Nye. The benefits of practicing self-compassion include deactivating the body’s stress response and activating the caregiving response; reducing anxiety and depression and increasing resilience to stress. The lesson finishes with a brief conclusion, summarizing the main themes covered in the 12 Guidelines To Develop Or Deepen Your Mindfulness Meditation Practice and we finish with a short meditation and poem, ‘The Journey’ by Mary Oliver.