The Mind Illuminated // Dr. John Yates
Stage 1: Establishing a Practice
- Put all effort into forming and holding a conscious intention to sit down and meditate for a set period every day, and to practice diligently for the duration of the sit
Goals for Stage 1
- Learn how to prepare for practice by entering meditation gradually
- Establish a consistent daily practice where meditation is done to the best of my ability
Points of note
- To succeed, I must recognize the obstacles that stand in my way and create solutions
- Mastering this stage provides me with the strong foundation I need to progress rapidly through the following stages
Six Point Preparation for Meditation: motivation, goals, expectations, diligence, distractions, and posture
- Fire up my Motivation
- Remind myself why I have chosen to meditate
- Don’t judge my reasons, just acknowledge and accept them as they are
- Having a clear sense of purpose will fire up my motivation and help me deal with any feelings of restlessness or resistance
- Set Reasonable Goals
- Goals give direction, and it’s important they be realistic so I’m not disappointed
- Ask myself what I hope to accomplish in my particular session
- Think about the problems I’ve been working on in recent sits, and decide how I can best apply myself to the practice today
- Beware of Expectations
- Be careful of ambitious expectations about where I “should be”
- Simply sitting down to practice is an accomplishment
- Always remember, there is no such thing as a “bad” meditation
- Commit to Diligence
- Diligence means engaging wholeheartedly in the practice
- Whenever resistance arises, the best way to overcome it is by simply continuing to practice
- Resolve to practice diligently for the entire session, regardless of how my meditation goes
- Review Potential Distractions
- Perform a quick inventory of the things in my life that could come up as distractions
- Check to see if my mind is occupied by any worries about the future, regrets about the past, doubts, or other annoyances
- Acknowledge these thoughts and emotions, whatever they are, and resolve to set them aside if they arise
- Adjust my Posture
- Head, neck, and back should be aligned
- Even shoulders and hands level
- Lips closed, teeth slightly apart, tongue against roof of mouth with the tip against the back of my upper teeth
- Eyes closed and angled slightly downward to relax forehead and face
- With closed lips, breathe through my nose in a natural way, not controlled or forced
- Scan my body for any tension and let it go
- Relax and enjoy myself
It doesn’t matter how long I spend on the Preparation because it is a form of meditation. If my mind wanders, bring it back by focusing on the breath. The more often I do it, the faster it goes