What do you think about the first thing I ever read on mindfulness?

[leosmith]

This article was the first thing I ever read on mindfulness:

https://zenhabits.net/meditation-guide/

I've read a lot of other stuff now, including several books, but I still find the first article the most helpful overall for just doing the meditation. I was wondering what members of this forum think about it. Does he say anything controversial, or did he leave anything major out, for example?

[JonW]

It's pretty good and the only point I'd maybe differ on is the one about starting small. At the start of his 8-week course, Jon Kabat-Zinn tells practitioners that they will be expected to do 45 minutes a day of home practice. That seems reasonable to me in terms of enabling one to become grounded in the practice.
Then again I can see the argument for starting out doing two minutes a day, then building up.
I guess it depends on the individual.
But I'm glad I went with JKZ's instructions when I started out...
Cheers,
Jon

[Gareth]

All of us are different. And we change from one day to the next.

I started small, but I learned the practice over a year or so versus the eight weeks that the course has. My only concern with big meditations is that people might get put off before their practice has time to get off the ground.

[JonW]

'My only concern with big meditations is that people might get put off before their practice has time to get off the ground.'

And it's an understandable concern.
Teachers vary widely on this. Jon Kabat-Zinn insists that practitioners do 45 minutes of body scan per day as home practice on their first week of the 8-week course. 'You don't have to enjoy it,' JKZ says, 'you just need to do it.' By stark comparison, the Finding Peace course introduces the body scan in week 2 and recommends 10/15 minutes.
Jon

[leosmith]

Thanks for your interesting comments gents. I was hoping 30 min or less per day would be reasonable in the long run, but I'm still open. Very curious about where this leads me...

[JonW]

Hi leosmith,
In the long run I don't really think it's that important whether you meditate for 20 mins a day or 30. Far more important is the knack of folding mindfulness into your everyday life so that, in a sense, the sitting becomes simply the practice and the rest of the day is the meditation.
I feel it's very important to keep the practice fresh. For me, that not only means varying my meditations. It means reading around the subject. It means attending meditation groups to meditate with others. It means meeting like-minded people (meet-up.com) is great for that. And, in my own case, it has meant training to become a teacher which is now my main occupation in life.
Maybe have a think about all that.
Cheers,
Jon

[monkey]

I only sit for 15-20 minutes a day. That's what I've done for years. I used to think I should make it longer but I don't worry about that so much now.

I love the zen habits website, there are some articles on there that have really changed my perception of practice, the one about letting go of expectations and one about relaxing your body (this sounds simplistic but that's now my main practice throughout the day). I think it seems like a good place to start.