How to do mindfulness and meditation

In fact, it is not as mysterious as what the outside world spreads. The core is to anchor your attention on the current perception consciously and without judgment. The procedures of burning incense, crossing your legs, and sitting still for half an hour are not necessary. You can do it now by leaning on the back of the chair at your workstation, squeezing in the subway and holding on to the railing. I went through many detours at the beginning. I followed online tutorials and bought special meditation mats and sleeping incense. I set my alarm clock and sat for 20 minutes every day. The more I sat, the more irritable I became. The to-do list in my head was going back and forth. The more I forced myself to "clear my mind," the more chaotic I became. Later, I practiced with teachers in offline training camps and figured it out. I didn't have to chase away the thoughts that popped up, just like you have seen while sitting under the trees on the roadside. When a car is heading towards you, you know it is passing by, so you don’t have to chase it or stop it. When an idea pops up and you realize, “Oh, I was so distracted by what I was eating tonight,” just gently bring your attention back to the anchor point you chose—whether it’s breathing, the touch of your fingertips on the table, or even the sound of the air conditioner blowing outside the window. Pulling it back is already an effective practice.

Nowadays, people’s opinions on practice methods are actually quite controversial. Some people insist that there must be a fixed sense of ritual, a fixed time, a standard seven-branch sitting method, and closing the eyes to eliminate distractions to truly meditate. An old practitioner beside me who has been practicing for 6 years never fails to get up at 6 a.m. and sit for 40 minutes every day. He said that this fixed ritual can help him quickly get out of a chaotic state and maintain a stable state throughout the day. There are also those who are completely opposed to formalism. Another friend of mine who is an emergency doctor rarely even has time to drink water when he is busy. He just squeezes out a minute between each consultation to focus on the stuffy feeling of the mask against his face and take three deep breaths. He can quickly peel off the emotions just now and deal with the next patient smoothly. There are a lot of practitioners to support both views. There is no absolute right or wrong. Just find a way that suits your own rhythm.

Novices don’t have to force themselves to sit for long enough at the beginning. I introduced several stressed colleagues in the department before and asked them to spend 2 minutes doing it while they were fishing. They could feel the support of the chair against the buttocks, the hardness of the feet on the floor, and the cool air inhaled by the tip of the nose when breathing. It feels warm when you exhale. It’s that simple. You don’t need to seek a state of “emptyness”. You can notice when your mind wanders and pull it back. After practicing for two weeks, they all said that they used to want to throw the keyboard when there was a need to change it three times. Now they can pause for two seconds before speaking, and they are not so easily carried away by emotions.

Oh, by the way, don’t regard it as a KPI that must be completed. Nowadays, many people say that practicing it is useless is purely an IQ tax. Indeed, there are a large number of clinical studies that prove that regular mindfulness practice can reduce anxiety levels and improve concentration, but it is not a cure-all. It's a magic medicine. If you feel more and more irritable the more you sit, and instead put pressure on yourself "I must practice meditation well", then it doesn't matter if you stop. It's just a tool to help you take a breather from your high-speed brain. Just do it as you feel comfortable.