Everyday Mindfulness

Hi all,

I was watching a video of Eckhart Tolle the other day and was interested that he recommended doing many "mini meditations" throughout the day, suggesting this would be more helpful in integrating practice with daily life than just doing longer sits. Examples were being 100% present whenever you wash you wash your hands, or do other everyday tasks. He added that doing both may be even better, but I wondered what practitioners here find most helpful, do you go mini, maxi, neither or both?

Thanks for your replies,
Oli Doyle
Author of "Mindfulness Plain & Simple"

I'm a maxi man myself.
Occasionally, when time is tight, I will do a three-minute meditation but I rarely find it to be beneficial. A short meditation doesn't allow me the time to get into the zone, as it were. I usually meditate for at least 30 minutes at a stretch, 45 maximum. In addition I try to remain mindful throughout the day. I live right by the sea so I regularly pop out with my dog and stand facing the sea in contemplation while Banjo goes on the sniff.
I'm not completely convinced by Tolle. It strikes me that he's cleverly repackaged the ideas of Zen and mindfulness for the mass market. I don't see that he's saying anything that hasn't already been covered at length (and in far more depth) by masters such as Alan Watts. But there's no doubt that Tolle is a wonderful communicator.

I've not read any Tolle, but I would be suspicious of anybody trying to package this simple concept as a 'self help' regime. But as I say, I don't know anything about Tolle.

I meditate for 30 min (virtually) every day. I also try to be mindful as much as I can throughout the day, that might involve the odd 'mini meditation'. For some reason, closing my eyes seems to signify the difference between formal and informal. I can normally tell when I need to meditate. My mind feels frayed, and I get lost in thought more easily. I am addicted to the clarity that mindfulness brings, this only comes about through regular long sittings.

Interesting, thanks guys. Personally, since I have had little feet running around my house (for the last 3 years & 10 months), I have become a more informal practitioner, but I would say my practice has become more integrated in that time. I am far more able to stay present during the day than I was 4 years ago, but I rarely sit formally outside of a weekly class I facilitate. This has got me pondering, because I always saw regular formal sits as important, but now they seem like an added bonus.

What do others find?

Alan Watts caught a lot of flak for saying that sitting (formal meditation) wasn't that important.
I've just finished reading Charlotte Joko Beck's excellent Nothing Special: Living Zen. She argues that sitting is immensely important.
I've a relative newcomer to it all but I'd siding with Beck at the moment. If I get slack with my sitting, I simply become less mindful in my everyday activities. Yesterday I was on the road all day, had no time to meditate at all, and spent most of the day caught up in tormented thoughts. The more I sit and meditate, the less caught up in my thoughts I become.
Maybe that will change. That's just how it is for me at the moment.

Hello, all. This conversation has folded into the "formal" vs. "informal" meditation discussion again. I find that interesting.

I think at first it's easy to think of our practice as something we do on the cushion for XX minutes. After some time practicing, seeing that formal practice is just a simplified space for us to be present and practice mindfulness, we begin to "do" it naturally off the cushion. We still have a formal practice, but now we have an informal practice, too.

Doing a very short "formal practice" -- either taking the full posture or closing eyes and focusing on the breath -- during the day feels like a nice little break and a chance to tune in. It doesn't have to take the place of a longer formal practice, certainly, but on some days, maybe that's all we can get! Sometimes, perhaps that's just the form our practice will take for a while.

All the while, our less formal, "everyday mindfulness " practice grows in strength. At some point some confusion arises between the two because we expect there to be a difference .. but the only difference is the posture itself. Intense periods of sitting (long sits, retreats, multiple long sits in a day) can really get momentum going and can be very useful, but sprinkling in a handful of 3 minute sits can't hurt!

The very fact that this issue keeps coming up means that we're DOING IT. So, keep it up, everyone!

Be well! Be happy! Be free!

Well said, Pranna.
On the subject of Charlotte Joko Beck she talks about meditation retreats where people sit for hours on end, sometimes most of the day without a break. I think I would find that immensely challenging. Impossible perhaps.

I regularly practice both "mini" and "maxi" meditation and would encourage others to experiment with both approaches. They are extremely complementary, and practiced together, strengthen one's capacity for full-time mindfulness.

"Mini meditations" are definitely most effective at integrating practice with daily life, since while performing these brief mindfulness practices, one is also engaged with other tasks. This way, mindfulness becomes seamlessly enmeshed in everyday activities. As the Buddha candidly put it, mindfulness may be practiced at all times:

"[W]hen going forward & returning, he makes himself fully alert; when looking toward & looking away... when bending & extending his limbs... when carrying his outer cloak, his upper robe & his bowl... when eating, drinking, chewing, & savoring... when urinating & defecating... when walking, standing, sitting, falling asleep, waking up, talking, & remaining silent, he makes himself fully alert." (Satipatthana Sutta)

"Maxi meditations" constitute a more formal practice. These are more suitable for those with some official training in mindfulness, either secular or spiritual (or both). It takes time and patience to settle into a consistent "maxi" meditation practice, but it is more than worth pursuing for those who are serious about cultivating mindfulness.

Personally, when I began a formal practice of mindfulness, I jumped right into "maxi" meditation and observed the results trickle into the realm of the "mini." I've found that with deepening "maxi" meditation practice, "mini" meditations feel increasingly natural and effortless. I'm sure the same happens in the opposite direction, where those who start with "mini" meditations ease their way into "maxi" meditations over time. In fact, this is probably more common.

In terms of retreats, there is definitely immense value in taking this "super-maxi" approach to mindfulness. The handful of retreats I've been on have involved anywhere between 5 and 10 hours of seated meditation per day, interspersed with walking meditation and eating meditation. It's not uncommon to perform chores around the retreat center as well, thereby introducing "mini" meditation into daily activities through mindfulness.

There is a Zen proverb, "Before enlightenment: chop wood, carry water. After enlightenment: chop wood, carry water." Mindfulness doesn't end when concluding a formal "maxi" meditation session. It spills over into everyday life. Even the seemingly ordinary can be made extraordinary.

All! Long sitting when there is time, short sits when less time. Mindfulness in all I do during the day (as much as I remind myself to) Spot meditations are especially useful when my day is getting more and more stressful and I feel it building