Happiness Through Humanism: questions about meditation

Is mindfulness meditation? Or something else?

Mindfulness is the art of paying attention. To be mindful is to be consciously aware of something. Mindfulness is the state being consciously aware. Recently, mindful meditation has been promoted, which is a practice designed to help you to be more mindful in your everyday life.

The problem with meditation is that it is often packaged with woo. Woo, for those of you who don’t know, is a derogatory term used to describe non-science teachings and practices. Most of what passes for self help these days is woo.

But is mindfulness and/or meditation woo? Well, not necessarily. There are secular non-woo versions of both. Secular meaning non-supernatural and non-woo meaning some has actual science to back it up.

But to get back to the central question, is mindfulness meditation? Or something else? Yes and no. Mindfulness is a state of being consciously aware. Meditation is a practice which depending on the method can help you become more consciously aware, at least in the moment.

So why do meditation? Well, it turns out that it is surprisingly hard to be mindful. Focusing your attention and awareness for any length of time is something most brains fight. Our minds seem to have a mind of their own. They think what they want to think and it might not be want you want to be thinking about.

Just try and sit still and be aware of nothing but your breath. I dare you!

Most people can’t just be aware of their breath and nothing else without practice. This is why meditation is called a practice. Meditation, in its most secular non-woo form, is the practice of concentrating.

Assuming you have no medical reasons why concentration would be hard, most people can train their brains, through practice, to concentrate more effectively and presumably on your command. That’s all secular mindfulness or meditation is.

To learn more about how this works and the science behind it, consider taking Rick Heller’s excellent program, Humanist Meditation: Answers for Skeptics at Humanist Learning Systems.

Curious about meditation? New to it? Rick Heller of the Humanist Mindfulness group, answers questions about meditation for beginners.

Questions:

Where's the best place to meditate (Outside? Inside? In a chair? On the floor?)
Should it be dark? Light?
How do you stop thinking about things that are stressing you out?
How should you best position your body, and why?
How long should you meditate for in the beginning?
Is there a time of day that's best meditation for some reason?
Any other tips you can give about where, how and why we should meditate.

Answers:

For a beginner who is not participating in a group, the best place to start may be:

1. In a quiet room, especially one where they will not overhear conversations. More advanced meditators can meditate in a noisy environment, but it’s always hard to meditate when someone is having a loud conversation nearby.

2. For a beginner, a chair is probably easier than a mat on the floor. If a chair, it should not be a “comfy” chair that you sink in to. Better is a chair or bench with perhaps a little padding that lets you sit up fairly straight. You do want to sit up straight, but not in so rigid a manner that it makes you tense. Ideally, you want to feel relaxed and energetic.

3. In our group, we often dim the lights before meditating.

4. You don’t actively try to stop thinking. Rather, you focus on something like the breath, and by paying attention to the breath coming in and out of your nostrils, you naturally pay less attention to your thoughts.

5. For a beginner, we find that 20 minutes works well, but longer leads to restlessness and can be counterproductive.

6. Many people meditate shorting after getting up in the morning and before going to bed. It’s fine to meditate in the middle of the day, but if often does not fit into people’s schedules.

7. After you’ve done a bit of meditation, you learn that you can keep some of the calm meditative mindset with you as you go about your day—while walking, shopping at the supermarket, raking leaves, etc.

Hope that helps