How Important is structure?

[Innerchatter]

Hi,

A couple of weeks I got to the end of the 8 week course in FPIAFW. For the most part the course went very well. I certainly feel like I have a better understanding of the subject.

Since finishing the 8 week course, I have turned back to the headspace app, and have been working through the headspace plus, content. These are unguided meditations that have a little bit of coaching at the beginning and end. Im finding there is a little bit of useful information there on how to incorporate mindfulness into my daily life better.

Anyway onto my question, since finishing the 8 week course and all of my practices have been unguided, some of my practices during the 8 week course were asa well. Once I had the meditation committed to memory, I preferred to go unguided as I listening to the voice too distracting.

I have noticed is since doing this i seem to have less structure to my practices, i used to try and focus on my breath for a bit, and then bring my body into mind, as in the breath and body meditation, then id move onto the listening to sounds and then try to watch for thoughts, like in the sounds and thoughts meditation, but I have been finding of late that I don't seem to be following such a structure, its more random, I'm doing all those things but in no particular order.

If I hear sounds i listen to them for a bit, I then go back to by breath and follow that until, something in my body grabs my attention, so follow that for a bit, until a sound appears so i listen to that, then i might find myself thinking so, I watch that for a second see what its doing then go back to the breath, ect.

so i am as best as I can be present and aware, but more like a leaf being blown around in the wind, so I'm wondering if this is a good thing or if I should try and bring some structure back to my practice?

cheers for any insight.

[Matt Y]

Hi Innerchatter,

Your less structured (or more spontaneous, organic and receptive) approach sounds like it's serving you well.

Guided meditations, in my view, are a bit like training wheels. They're a great help when you are getting started, but you don't need to keep using them once you are confident balancing on your own. Without the guidance, you are free to listen to your own impulses and intuitions, and this, in most cases, is a very good thing.

You can always add some structure if you find the wind whipping itself up into a tornado, but otherwise, enjoy the breeze!

Matt.

[Peter]

Hi innerchatter,

I understand your concern, and I think it could be valid. As I see it, there are (at least) two things important in mindfulness: awareness, and concentration.

What you're describing might neglect the concentration part of the practice. This could 'feed' into what's called the 'monkey mind'.

Quote: Dudbridge (1970:168) explains how "the random, uncontrollable movements of the monkey symbolise the waywardness of the native human mind before it achieves a composure which only Buddhist discipline can effect."
This explanation is a bit strong perhaps, but you get the idea.

Peter

[JonW]

"Awareness, and concentration...and compassion."

The 'wholly' trinity of mindfulness.

[Peter]

Thanks, Jon. Indeed compassion is very important to mindfulness too.

For completeness, I'd like to add: non-judgmental, and acceptance (which overlap)

Peter

[Innerchatter]

thank you for the replies chaps, two very different answers in the first two posts.

To respond a little to peters reply, I would say that although the practice is quite free flowing, it doesn't feel like I'm not concentrating, and a lot of the time is taken up focusing on the breath. and i don't feel like my mind is in auto pilot. but with that said it does sound like sage advice.

perhaps I should work both aspects into my practice? have a good amount of time put aside for focus and then see what enters my awareness.

jon post got me thinking also, I don't spend much time on compassion. I should make more of effort here as well. I found the meditation in the book difficult as i kept forgetting the three lines, so i spent more time worrying about getting the lines right then i did actually thinking on their meaning.

[Gareth]

I don't spend any time on compassion practice, really. I think I was lucky in my upbringing in that I don't struggle to be kind to myself.

My practice is largely choiceless awareness with a vague anchor to the present moment - usually my breath. But to a large extent, I let my awareness float around and attach itself to whatever it will. As long as it is in the present moment, it's ok by me. I also meditate more formally by listening to music in noise-cancelling headphones from time to time.

I frequently wonder whether I should experiment with different ways of meditating, but I never do. what I do feels like enough for me, at least for now.

[JonW]

'I found the meditation in the book difficult as i kept forgetting the three lines, so i spent more time worrying about getting the lines right then i did actually thinking on their meaning.'

I had the same experience. When i teach loving-kindness meditation these days I usually stick to one line: may I have ease of being.
Jon

[Innerchatter]

thanks for the additional replys, what your doing Gareth sounds like the approach i fell into. I have since gone back to a less wondering approach though as i have found my mind is a bit all over the place at the minute.

i like the idea about only have none sentence to remember jon, that sounds much more manageable, i will give that a go.

[mikemonett]

I have never been able to meditate in a structured way. When I first firmly committed to mindfulness in 2008, I tried for weeks then just gave up. But I have somehow learned to continuously sense all approaching thoughts during all awake moments and be a gate keeper to them. Thus I have somehow learned to keep negative thoughts from entering the center stage of my consciousness. Instead I dissolve them somehow. I have learned really well to listen to my body continuously while I'm awake. And since I seem to feel negative thoughts in my body somehow before I think them, it's easy to dissolve them before they enter center stage and trigger painful emotions. I'm telling you all this to indicate that it is possible to achieve the benefits of mindfulness with no formal structured meditation sessions at all. This probably is only possible for some of us though. I'm so glad it worked for me, since I still can't meditate as a formal, focused daily event.