How to practice Mindfulness Meditation

“The distinction between ‘Mindfulness meditation’ and ‘Calmness meditation’ is… in Mindfulness meditation, we’re the observer of our mind. While, in Calmness meditation, we’re the observer of the object.” – Coach Atip Muangsuwan

One of my new-generation-leader clients showed up with his interesting topic for discussion prior to our coaching session. His topic of discussion was… “How to practice mindfulness meditation?”

Our chat went on like the followings.

Client: From our last session, we discussed about Emotional Intelligence Elements. And you said that “The prerequisite of emotional intelligence is mindfulness. You cannot have emotional intelligence without being mindful of your thinking, feeling and doing.”

Coach Atip: That’s right. We did discuss about that. And you also said that you wanted to practice mindfulness meditation in order for you to raise your emotional intelligence. Is this still what you want?

Client: Absolutely! could you please share with me how to practice mindfulness meditation?

Coach Atip: Certainly, I could. But firstly, we must understand what mindfulness meditation is.  Mindfulness meditation is one of the 2 types of meditation. This type of meditation is focused on being mindful or being the observer of the 4 foundations. In Buddhism, it’s called, “Sati-pat-than 4”. Sati means mindfulness and Pat-than means foundation.

The 4 foundations of mindfulness meditation comprise of…

1. Body

There are several objects in the body we can use as an object for practicing mindfulness meditation. I’ll give you just 2 examples of meditation objects related to the body in order to simplify the practice.

Object 1: Breath

We can use our own breath as a meditation object. The way to practice is… when we are breathing in, we’re aware that we are breathing in. When we’re breathing out, we’re also aware that we’re breathing out. We become aware of our breath at all times. If our mind’s wandering, we’re also aware that our mind is wandering. Then, we quickly come back to become aware of our breathing again.

The key principle of this breath practice is… we’re fully aware of our breath and where our mind is relative to our breath in the present moment. That basically means… when our mind is with our breath, we’re fully aware of that. And when our mind is not with our breath (mind’s wandering away), we’re also fully aware of that.

Object 2: The 4 postures of the body

We can also use the 4 postures of our body; that is, standing, walking, sitting and lying down as a meditation object for mindfulness practice. The way to practice is… when we’re standing, we’re fully aware that we’re standing. When we’re walking, we’re fully aware that we’re walking. When we’re sitting, we’re fully aware that we’re sitting. And when we’re lying down, we’re also fully aware that we’re lying down.

The key principle of this practice is… we’re fully aware of our postures in the present moment and where our mind is relative to our postures in the present moment. That’s to say… when our mind is with our posture, we’re fully aware of that. And when our mind is not with our posture, we’re also fully aware of that.

The key distinction between ‘Mindfulness meditation’ (Vi-pas-sana) and ‘Calmness or single-point meditation’ (Sa-ma-tha) is… in mindfulness meditation, we’re the observer of our mind. No matter where our mind is (with our breath or with postures of our body), we’re fully aware of our mind. And when our mind is absent from those objects of meditation, we’re also fully aware of our mind that it is absent. While, in calmness meditation, we’re the observer of the object. We concentrate or focus on the object of meditation.

Client: Wow! This is a very insightful distinction for me! Prior to this session, I was not so clear about these 2 types of meditation. I thought I had been practicing mindfulness meditation all along. But actually, I had not. I had been practicing calmness meditation all along but mistakenly regarding it as mindfulness meditation.

Coach Atip: I’m glad that you have the right understanding of the 2 types of meditation now. So, you can appropriately choose which type of meditation you want to practice at a particular time. Calmness meditation is also useful and powerful in its own purpose. If you want to gain more understanding about calmness meditation, you can also read from my article: The 2 types of meditation.

Client: Thank you so much. I will definitely read your article as soon as we’ve finished this session. And what are the rest of the 4 foundations of mindfulness?  

Coach Atip: The next foundation is…

2. Feeling

When we’re experiencing a pleasant feeling, we’re fully aware that we’re experiencing a pleasant feeling. When we’re experiencing a painful feeling, we’re also fully aware that we’re experiencing a painful feeling. Or at times when we’re experiencing a neither-pleasant-nor-painful feeling, we’re fully aware that we’re experiencing a neither-pleasant-nor-painful feeling.

If we can presently observe our mind’s reaction while we’re experiencing those feelings, then we’re practicing mindfulness meditation.

Again, we’re the observer of our mind when whatever feelings arise. We observe what our mind is doing, reacting or responding when those feelings arise. For example, when we’re experiencing a pleasant feeling, our mind loves it or clings to it. If we’re fully aware of that reaction of our mind, we’re practicing mindfulness meditation.

And when we’re experiencing a painful feeling, our mind hates it or wishes to avoid it. If we’re fully aware of that reaction of our mind, we’re also practicing mindfulness meditation.

Client: Can I double-check my understanding about these 2 foundations: body and feeling for mindfulness meditation practice? Can I say that… although we’re fully aware of our body or our feeling, we must also observe our mind and the reaction of our mind in corresponding with our body or our feeling?

Coach Atip: You’re correct. Our body and feeling are just the objects for meditation. But the behind-the-scene player or the essence of mindfulness meditation is our mind. We want to observe our mind in the present moment. We want to be fully aware of what our mind is doing, responding or reacting in the present moment. This is the top secret of mindfulness meditation that not many people know about.

Client: Wow! This is really deep! If we didn’t have this discussion, I wouldn’t be able to know about this top secret!

Coach Atip: Yes, mindfulness meditation is not shallow like most people think! 

Client: Our discussion on this topic is really an eye-opener for me! So, I’m really curious to know about the remaining foundations.

Coach Atip: Sure. The next foundation is…

3. Mind

When we’re thinking, it basically means that our mind is working. If we’re fully aware that our mind is thinking in the present moment, we can say that we’re practicing mindfulness meditation.

When our mind is with defilements (greed, hate, delusion), we’re fully aware of that state of our mind. And when our mind is without defilements (greed, hate, delusion), we’re also fully aware of that state of our mind. This is to say… we’re practicing mindfulness meditation.

We observe the state of our mind in the present moment. The state of mind could be positive, negative or neutral. We use the current state of our mind as the object for meditation.

So, when our mind is in a particular state, we observe and become fully aware of the reaction of our mind in that particular state. Say… if we’re in a positive state and our mind likes or loves it, and we’re fully aware of our mind’s reaction (like or love), this is to say… we’re practicing mindfulness meditation.

Similarly, if we’re in a negative state and our mind hates it, and we’re fully aware of our mind’s reaction (hate), this is to say… we’re practicing mindfulness meditation.

In the same fashion, if we’re in a neutral state and our mind doesn’t neither like nor hate it, and we’re fully aware of our mind’s reaction (neutral), this is to say… we’re also practicing mindfulness meditation.

Client: I’ve noticed that when we would use our mind as a meditation object for mindfulness meditation practice, it’s not the mind itself that we’re observing, but it actually is the work or response or reaction of the mind that we’re observing in the present moment.

Coach Atip: You’re absolutely right! You know why? This is because our mind is the consciousness. We cannot observe the consciousness. It’s emptiness or nothingness. So, we cannot observe it. That’s why we’ll observe the reaction or response of the mind instead of the mind itself.

Client: Wow! This is another key insight for me! The insight of our mind. And what’s the last foundation?

Coach Atip: The last foundation of mindfulness meditation is…

4. Mental Objects

We can use mental objects that arise in our mind in the present moment as a meditation object for mindfulness meditation. Mental objects can be positive, negative or neutral.

There are some examples of these mental objects referring to Buddhism. They are like… The Five Hindrances. The Five Aggregates of Clinging, The Six Internal and External Sense Bases, The Seven Factors of Enlightenment and The Four Noble Truths.

For a negative mental object like… The Five Hindrances, our mindfulness practice for them is… we’re fully aware of them when they are present and also when they’re not present. And we’re fully aware of our mind’s reaction to them when they’re present or not present.

For a positive mental object like… The Seven Factors of Enlightenment, our mindfulness practice for them is… we’re fully aware of them when they are present and also when they’re not present. And we’re fully aware of our mind’s reaction to them when they’re present or not present.

Coach Atip: For the interest of time, I want to touch on the mental objects briefly. If you want to discuss further in details, we can find time for another discussion.

Client: Sounds good me. So, from all these 4 foundations of mindfulness, which one would you recommend for me to practice? I guess I wouldn’t need to practice on all 4 foundations at the same time, would I? I can choose to work on just only 1 foundation. Correct?

Coach Atip: You’re correct. We can choose only 1 foundation to do the practice. We don’t need to do all 4. Scientifically, this is called, “random sampling”. That basically means… when we practice on one foundation and we can attain the wisdom from it, we don’t need to practice on the rest of the foundations. Because all 4 foundations of mindfulness lead to the same ultimate wisdom; that is, the 3 Characteristics or Tri-Luk in Buddhism. If you want to learn more about the 3 Characteristics of all things, you can read from my article: The 2 types of meditation.

And which foundation to recommend for you? It’s up to your appetite!  What I mean is… You’ll have to try and test it first, then you’ll know which one suits you the most. Then, after you find it, you stick with it day in, day out until you’re good at it. Then, it would become your second nature. And you’ll have your mindful meditation practice happen automatically in your daily life.

Another top secret of mindfulness meditation practice is… we have to integrate it into our daily life from waking up in the morning until going to bed at night and practice it every day. We don’t practice mindfulness meditation only at a particular time or particular activity of the day.  

So, what comes up for you?

Client: Terrific! I love your recommended approach. Thank you so much. By the way, I hope after I can master my mindfulness meditation practice, I’ll be good at raising my emotional intelligence, too!

Coach Atip: Absolutely, you will! Not only will you be good at emotional intelligence, but you will also be good at transformational leadership!

As we know, leadership is influence. And the most influential and sustainable kind of leadership is the ‘transformational leadership’ which you can read from my leadership article, “What’s a definition of transformational leadership?” on my website for further insight of this kind of leadership.

Client: Thank you very much. I will definitely read your article on this. Seems like mindfulness is a prerequisite of all good qualifications of leaders, not just emotional intelligence.

Coach Atip: Absolutely it is!

After my client and I finished our ‘How to practice mindfulness meditation’ discussion, we continued on with our coaching session as per schedule.  

If you’re interested in discussing or being coached on any leadership, emotional intelligence or mindfulness meditation practice topics, we can get in touch via my homepage for a discovery session @ Home – The Best Coach International (thebest-coach-international.com)

Empowering the world thru coaching,

Coach Atip
Advocate of ‘Coach-Facilitator-Mentor-Strategist-Diplomat’ skills and self-transcendence leadership