Where to start?

[anydayanything]

Hi there,

I am completely new to this whole mindfulness topic. A friend recommended it to me and so far I find it all very interesting. But I don't know where to start. I want to start meditating and get into the whole thing.

Where can I start online, for free for complete beginners. I checked the online course section but didn't really find anything to guide me along. Also I know that there is tons of courses out there, but I would like to know which one is the best to start off with. What would you guys recommend?

Also I would like to know how one is supposed to notice and acknowledge almost everything around us all day long? I mean I struggle concentrating on more than one thing at the time anyway...

[Gareth]

Also I would like to know how one is supposed to notice and acknowledge almost everything around us all day long?

You don't have to. Crikey, that would be a burden wouldn't it?

There are so many different ways that you can practise mindfulness. My advice to you would be to get cracking with meditation, experiment with your practice and eventually you will find a way that suits you best. Search on youtube for some guided meditations or find some audio ones somewhere. Other ways that you can start to get to grips with mindfulness:

Smartphone App, Books, Mindfulness Courses, Here

The process of mindfulness meditation is a simple one, but it's also extremely difficult to get your head round at first. Stay around and ask us any questions you have. I'm sure others will have plenty of advice to give you also.

[BioSattva]

What would you guys recommend?

I would recommend the 8 week course as taught on the NHS (book: Mindfulness: A practical guide to peace in a frantic world ) - I haven't done it myself yet, ha, but I came to mindfulness along the Japanese Zen route, ending up in science land where it is safer and simpler, and the 'NHS 8 Week course" material in books by by Jon Kabat-Zinn and/or Mark Williams has given me the most direct and deepest support for my own daily practice.

Also I would like to know how one is supposed to notice and acknowledge almost everything around us all day long? I mean I struggle concentrating on more than one thing at the time anyway...

The MBSR mindfulness method uses a one-point focus in the present moment - one-point being the clue here. That one-point can be existing in the universe in general expanding outwards from inside your body (if you want to incorporate everything around you), but you won't be picking out much detail if you catch my drift. That's pretty difficult for me (the further from the body I expand my awareness the more my mind seems to drift off), so I make do with just watching my breath in my body. Watching one's breath does not mean one must identify every small O2 molecule entering your bloodstream of course - the focus is on one general 'object' - breath or sounds or whatever.

All the best and good luck with your mindfulness adventure

Bio

[anydayanything]

Hey guys, thanks for your quick replies.

Since this is all new and I haven't really made any experience with it + I'm a poor student ( ) I would prefer sticking with free stuff for now. I might get myself a book later.

So on youtube, are there any courses you can recommend or you know about? Or should I just try anyone? Does it even matter what course I pick or are they all pretty much the same?

[JonW]

Hi anyday,
Welcome to the forum.
There's an old saying: "mindfulness is simply, but it's not easy."
A good, solid grounding is vitally important at the beginning, I'd say. While there is plenty of free mindfulness stuff available online, it is fairly scattered and I'd assume it might be confusing for a newcomer. And it can be confusing if not followed in some kind of methodical fashion.
Courses (with qualified teachers) are not that cheap but would offer the best grounding in mindfulness. If that's not an option, I agree with Bio in that the Mark Williams/Danny Penman book (Finding Peace In A Frantic World) is the best of its kind. It's the book that got me started. Best eight quid I ever spent. Though a cheaper version is available for Kindle, that doesn't come with a CD of guided meditations. So I'd recommend you go for the paper version.
Please feel free to ask any other questions. We're always happy to help on this site.
All best, Jon

[piedwagtail91]

you might find a free nhs course on here http://bemindful.co.uk/learn/find-a-course/1/?postcode=bb5%203hz&x=-724&y=-201&course_type&price&start_date
depending on where you live. if you're in lancashire then there are quite a lot coming up.
lots of people learn by themselves from a book but being in a group with a couple of trained teachers can have it's benefits as well.

[anydayanything]

Ok I'll probably get the book then.

One question though, what is the idea? I live in the now meaning I don't care about the future or past? Also how can I do anything in life if I concentrate on the given things, don't go on autopilot? How do I achieve anything? Is the idea to not be mindful when you're doing something else? I thought it was a way of life. So many questions...

BTW thanks for being so welcoming It's not the usual treatment you get when you're new in a forum.

[JonW]

Hi anyday,
I could try to make a stab at answering those questions but the Mark Williams/Danny Penman book will answer them so much more clearly and concisely.
In my experience, most if the initial the questions ebb away when practice begins. Again, it's simple but it's not easy. The hard part is being disciplined and keeping up the practice.
The more experienced practitioners on this forum would probably say that they cannot imagine their lives now without mindfulness. It truly is a way of life. It's a beautiful thing.
Btw, if you search the forum, there is a thread devoted to the Mark Williams/Danny Penman eight-week course. You might find some useful pointers there.
Again, please feel free to ask any questions along the way. We'll always do our utmost to answer them. We don't pretend to be experts. We're certainly not trained teachers (yet). But we're not lacking in passion for the benefits that mindfulness can bring people. If any question is beyond our ken, we'll say so, and suggest an alternative.
Here's hoping you have a grand adventure in mindfulness!
Cheers, Jon

[BioSattva]

One question though, what is the idea? I live in the now meaning I don't care about the future or past?

As Jon made out - it has to be done rather than pondered to really understand. However, living mindfully in the now can be remembering the past, or planning for the future, it's just that one knows in the present, with full awareness of one's body, that one is doing that and one is NOT lost in fantasy - re-running the past as if it were now, or indulging in the expectations of a future holiday, for example, as if it were now.

Remembering or planning are different from fantasisizing - this is an essential aspect to understand from a philosophical perspective. As long as you know what your body is doing right now while everything else is happening - even attempting to fantasize, for that matter, then one is being mindful. The danger of fantasizing - i.e, not knowing what is happening around one in the present, however, will be felt in one's body as a kind of anxious tension, so mindfulness naturally causes one to move away from this source of pain and into the here and now so one can by fully functional within one's psycho-physiological context. Not noticing there is a tiger on the horizon because we are dreaming about dinner has serious consequences for us - we will become dinner .

Also how can I do anything in life if I concentrate on the given things, don't go on autopilot? How do I achieve anything? Is the idea to not be mindful when you're doing something else? I thought it was a way of life. So many questions...

I think the question should be how can I do anything if I don't be mindful - how can I notice the lamp-post if I am walking on autopilot looking up at the sky with my 'head in the clouds', so to speak?

One thing at a time - multitasking has been discovered to cause people to do a bunch of jobs averagely, instead of a string of jobs well. When good performance is necessary, then habits of multitasking can be a real obstacle.

[anydayanything]

Hey guys, it's me again.

So I bought the book and am now in week one of the programme.

And I did the raisin tasting thing. And I grasp the idea of reaching fulfilment by enjoying the things we already have, by not forgetting about them, not taking them for granted. Appreciating them. But what about the things in life that aren't as 'nice'? I mean doing things you don't enjoy, don't want to but have to. If I cruise through on autopilot it's like going through surgery with a narcosis. You don't feel the 'pain' as much.
So then doesn't being aware of the negative things in life make things worse again on the flip side? I mean it's basically applying the logic on both parts of life, the 'good' and the 'bad'.