228. Mindfulness Meditation - A Complete Guide With Techniques & Examples
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wPUWdhHDKS4)
 
The fundamentals of setting up a mindfulness practice; the 20% of theory that's going to give you 80% of the results.
Mindfulness is one of the most important skills to develop yet we aren’t taught about it. It’s a very important tool.
Mindfulness is experiencing reality literally, exactly as it is.
Reality comes to you through your senses. [newer blog post: Sense Organs Are Imaginary] That’s all you have of reality, and it’s changing every second.
Most people live day-to-day in their fantasies, filtering out the raw information, thinking about the future or the past. You are caught up in a conceptual life, not grounded in what is literally there.
 
There are three important components:
Focus – ability to put awareness of selective sensations for a long period of time (a very rare skill these days) Sensory clarity – how clear are you about the raw data coming in. Clear the lens of your mind Equanimity – experience and emotion/phenomena and not react to it in an emotional way (to be stable and grounded, and not go into a reactive state)  
All of these practiced simultaneously are mindfulness.
You start to see a whole new world when you practice mindfulness.
 
The Basics:
Every 10 second cycle: (Note, label, savor)
Locate an object and note that you are looking at it Label (silently) it “see” – to register that you are seeing it Take it in exactly as it is in the present moment for 5-7 seconds. (don’t judge it, just experience it)  
The above is one mindfulness cycle. The modes are “see”, “hear”, and “feel”
For short sounds, hear it and savor whatever memory of it you have.
Take in the being of the phenomena without adding or taking away anything from it. Notice it how it is.
Distinction between outer and inner sensations. Your imagination or internal dialogue is an internal sensation. Inner feeling will be emotions, outer feeling will be an itch, touch, your stomach rumbling (even though it’s inside you). Smell and taste are outer feelings.
Savor the data without judging it. This is all that mindfulness is.
Take a timer and set it for 20 min. Every day sit down and start running these cycles. Let your focus go wherever it goes and do the cycles. Note, label, savor.
For a more advanced version. Limit the number of things you let your mind focus on e.g. just inner, just sights, just thoughts etc.
 
Some pointers:
- focus on one phenomenon at a time
- if a phenomenon is transient then just savor the memory of it or note that it’s gone and savor its absence.
- if the phenomenon morphs, just stay with it.
- you’re allowed to guess, don’t have to be 100% accurate with your labeling.
- may also notice that labeling itself is an inner hearing sensation – don’t label the labels themselves. Just keep it simple.
 
Do this practice every single day.
The hardest thing to do is to do it every day. Results will take months to years.
 
Benefits:
- enormous levels of awareness and consciousness – 1000 – 100,000 times more than regular people
- super focus ability
- emotional mastery
- reduction in suffering
- increased fulfillment in life
- behavior change becomes easier
- experiences of enlightenment (by focusing on the “I” label)