Mindfulness Meditation Lesson 4

Meditation Overview

When we first start to meditate and our ability to concentrate and focus our minds is not that strong, our minds tend to wander a lot and it’s not unusual for us to get caught up in our thoughts. This is usually quite innocuous and causes no harm other than frustration at how easily distracted we get.

But sometimes if we’re feeling anxious and our mind is already racing, as we sit with nothing to pay attention to except our breath, the mind-racing can intensify and we can spend the whole time worrying more and more about whatever’s been troubling us, and end up feeling even more anxious.

The same can happen if we’re feeling depressed and ruminating and dwelling on things a lot. If we haven’t yet developed the ability to keep our mind focused on our breath, and to let go of our thoughts once our mind has wandered, a period of meditation can quickly turn into a period of rumination and dwelling that leaves us feeling worse.

If you find that symptoms you’re experiencing related to anxiety or depression or something similar are becoming heightened when you meditate and exacerbating an existing issue, please consult with a health-care or mental health professional before continuing with this course.

If the problem isn’t that severe, but you’re still finding yourself spending most of the meditation worrying, or ruminating, or having another sort of negative experience related to getting stuck in your head, you can try:

• Continuing to practice the Following Your Breath exercises until you’re better able to keep your mind focused on your breathing before continuing with the Mindfulness of Breath meditations
• Limiting yourself to the 5-minute Mindfulness of Breath meditation until you can do that without getting lost in your thoughts before moving on to the longer versions

The more time you spend early in the course improving the basics such as building focus and attentional control, the better equipped you’ll be when we learn the more advanced meditations. It’s human nature to want to move on the next level as soon as possible, but there’s no prize for finishing this course quickly, and no reward waiting once you’re done. If you were to spend a few weeks on each of the lessons, moving on to the next only once you’re ready, you’ll get much more out of this course than if you force yourself to always start a new lesson each week.