In many ways, learning mindfulness is just like learning any other skill, and to make it seem less esoteric I sometimes borrow the analogy of learning to play the piano.  If someone wanted to learn to play piano, how might they do it?  Well, it would probably help to have a good piano teacher, some quality books or other resources, to practice regularly, to have some periods where you step up the practice (e.g. preparing for recitals), and to have some other people to play music with.  My 11 year old son takes piano lessons from a wonderful teacher, uses the books his teacher recommends, practices just about every day, and plays with other kids in the youth ensemble at church.  Even though he's only been playing for about 6 months, it's amazing how well he can play the piano!  I, on the other hand, first picked up the guitar my freshman year of college, and twenty years later I can now play a serviceable rendition of “Margaritaville.”  Wanna hear it again?

So here’s a list of things that were helpful to me when I started practicing mindfulness (and still are, as I continue to practice mindfulness!)

1. Meditation teachers

One of my first meditation teachers was my Tae Kwon Do instructor, who would sometimes start or end the class by guiding the students in focusing exercises where we were instructed to direct our attention inward and ignore distractions. The meditation periods were brief, and we didn’t do them often, but I found it to be a powerful introduction to meditation and I’m very grateful for it.  Years later I’ve had the opportunity to learn meditation practices from a number of full-time meditation teachers, and I can’t overemphasize how helpful it’s been.  (Coming soon- another blog post listing teachers I've practiced with and what their retreats were like.)

2. Books, CD’s, MP3’s, Videos, Youtube

I mention in another article how I came across Shinzen Young’s Audiobook “The Beginner’s Guide to Meditation”, and what a huge impact it had on me.  There’s so much fantastic stuff that’s available out there, and much of it is FREE!  (I mean really free- not pirate-style “free”, but the kind of free you can feel good about- stuff on the web that’s donation-supported, freely offered for everyone’s benefit!) In addition to the great stuff that's a click away on the web, I just moments ago logged in to the catalog at my local library, did a keyword-search “Mindfulness”, and got 78 hits.  If I expand that to include all the libraries in the system that I could borrow from there’s 400 hits!  The point is- there are amazingly useful resources readily available that you can check out for little to no cost whatsoever. (coming soon, links to my favorite Books, CD’s, websites and Youtube videos)

3. Retreats

I’ve written elsewhere that when I first heard the suggestion to take a day, weekend, or week to practice mindfulness on retreat I thought it was crazy.  Who the heck has time for that?!  But I kept an open mind to the idea, and eventually attended a weekend mindfulness meditation retreat for beginners.  Now, having done dozens of mindfulness retreats over the past decade, I know that the payoff for doing a retreat is worth the investment.  I just feel so much more centered, present, and happier after spending time on retreat. And, very importantly, I’m a better husband and dad when I get back- which is why I'm allowed to participate in these retreats periodically while my wife holds down the fort with our three energetic young sons! 

4. People to practice mindfulness with

In addition to meditating with people on retreats and during mindfulness courses, it can be helpful to have other folks to meditate with.  I have a small group of people that I get together with to meditate for a while and then discuss a mindfulness book we’ve been reading. We only meet once a month, but it’s definitely a support for the practice.  One thing that has been a HUGE help to my practice is that I have a few friends with whom I’ve made a commitment to meditate for a set period of time every day.  The deal is- if, for whatever reason, you didn’t meditate the full time you committed to, the next day you have to call and ‘fess up to it.  It’s embarrassing and inconvenient enough to have to call these friends and tell on myself, that I almost never miss the meditation.

5. Retreat Centers

Retreat centers are places you can find the above- retreats guided by mindfulness teachers, other people to practice with, and depending on the size of the center, these places will often have stores where you can buy mindfulness books, CD’s, and other resources. (Coming soon, reviews of different retreat centers I've been to.)

Optional resources that are useful but not necessary-

The quote from Thoreau’s Walden comes to mind- “I say, beware of all enterprise that require new clothes.”  As I've written, mindfulness is all about cultivating skills of attention, so absolutely no special clothes or sitting accoutrements are necessary. I often will do my formal sitting practice in a chair in my office, or when I'm home sometimes I’ll put a firm pillow on my coffee table (It's the perfect height to keep my hips just above my knees and feet flat on the floor.)  But for longer periods of time I like to sit in a kneeling position using my meditation bench, or two stacked meditation cushions. Most meditation centers I’ve been to have chairs available for people who are more comfortable sitting in chairs, as well as an assortment of cushions or sitting benches that folks could try.  (coming soon, pics/links for benches, cushions)