Get pen and paper and answer the following ten questions to help you to find out your attitudes towards mindfulness meditation.
-
What do you hope to get out of practicing mindfulness?
-
Why are you practicing mindfulness?
-
What experiences do you expect to arrive at through practicing mindfulness?
-
How long do you think it’ll take before you notice the benefits of meditation?
-
What physical sensations do you expect during or after a meditation?
-
What are your past experiences of meditation? Do you continue to hold them or have you let them go?
-
How much effort are you willing to put into the practice? Will you meditate several times a day, or once a day, or once a week, or whenever you feel like it?
-
When you hear the word ‘meditation’ or ‘mindfulness’, what sort of thoughts and feelings arise?
-
How will you know that you’re doing your meditation correctly?
-
What’s the great thing about meditation?
Try to be non-judgmental towards your answers. See them as just the way things are. If you can’t help being caught up in thinking, ‘That’s good’ or ‘Oh, that’s a really bad attitude, what’s wrong with me?’ Notice that too. Your mind is simply coming up with judgments.