Practice: Mind Focus Meditation

One of the challenges for me to do meditation is to decide how to meditate. There are so many different practices, and I am not the type who would be satisfied with simply doing any of them; I want to do those that will work the best for me and that are grounded in best practice and science. I have already collected a number of practices on this blog but I am afraid that I am not very good at practising them.

I recently discovered a new practice I think may be more fruitful for me. It is nothing particularly innovative so I am sure it is well known by a different name or names. Being ignorant of these names, I call this practice mind focus meditation. It is a form of Vipassana mediation; so it is about directing our mind towards something but not being judgemental of our thoughts if they stray from their purported objective.

This mediation consist of three phases:

Phase 1: Body

I begin this meditation by focussing my attention on a small body part, such as a finger or a toe. I visualise that a form of energy accumulates at this point.

It is a gentle, yellow light and also warmness and heaviness. I then let this energy travel through my body. It can stay focussed on a very small point, or it can engulf larger body parts or my whole body. Each area of focus is bathed in gentle, yellow light and will become warm and heavy. For instance, taking a deep mindful breath may fill my lungs with energy focus.

This phase is similar to a body scan mediation.

Phase 2: Place

In the second phase, the focus may shift from my body to other objects; the floor I am sitting on, the building I am in or the city that surrounds me. Each of these is enveloped in my attention. I also open my mind to embrace the abstract energy of powerful emotions; such as kindness, forgiveness, gratefulness, and love.

Phase 3: Interbeing

The third and final level is to loose the focus in the one simple idea; that everything is connected; that I am a part of everything; that I can connect with everything through love.

The three levels are not a strict hierarchy or visited in a linear process. One might go from the third level back to the first, then to the second and back to the third. I generally find that for the third level, I need to be in the right state of mind, and the previous two levels enable me to do that. However, that does not mean the third level is more valuable or desirable than the other two. They are all of equal value and of most value when combined.

I will continue to apply this practice and will update my description here if I gain further insights into how to conduct the practice and how to describe it. I also continue to search for other meditation practices. I am currently reading the book Radial Acceptance by Tara Brach and I have already found some interesting meditations I might share here in the future.