Have you ever found yourself pleasantly entertained by the sensations of a fly on your face? That could mean only two things; either you are going nuts, or you’re on a meditation retreat –or another intensive experience that is utterly unentertaining. For the next three weeks I will be writing on why on earth do we have to put ourselves through intensive periods of serious self-examination, in my case: meditation.

(Click here if you want to read last week’s blog first)

Everyone who’s ever done some kind of form of serious self examination knows that moment when you wished you just could have gone watch a soccer match or gone shopping instead of getting all intimate with your neurosis.  It seems easy and to some extent far more attractive to just speed along the highway that we usually are on. Especially if you are a meditation practitioner, sitting hour after hour until your butt and back are sore can bring up quite some “what the effs?!”

One of the teachings that works like a bazooka on meditation anxiety are the Buddha’s teachings on the Four Foundations of Mindfulness. It’s simple, profound and never seizes to remind me why it is important to get so embarrassingly up close and personal with ourselves.
The Four Foundations of Mindfulness are:

1. Mindfulness of Body
2. Mindfulness of Feeling
3. Mindfulness of Mind
4. Mindfulness of Dharmas

At a recent meditation retreat with dharma rock star Noah Levine, we worked with the Four Foundations of Mindfulness by continuously feeling our way through the questions below. At any point of your life, whether it’s while waiting for a bus or while smootching with your new love interest, you can ask yourself:

1.    What is going on? In my body, in my mind, at my sense doors?

Try it right now. As for me, I’m sitting in a chair in the garden with a pillow in my back. My feet are on the small table in front of me, toes clutching its legs. My skin and the summer air seem about the same temperature.  A soft breeze brushes against it. The air has a slightly fermented smell. I hear a truck pass by and hear people dragging their canoes onto the river bank nearby. My forehead is slightly frowned, holding some tension. My mind is thinking about the pancakes I am about to eat for lunch.Take a minute to do the same. Where are you? What do you hear, think, smell, see, think?

2.    Is the experience pleasurable, neutral or painful?

How does it feel? Recognize your first thought. Notice that things that aren’t consider pleasant in a conventional sense sometimes feel pleasant to you. My feet are starting to fall asleep on the table legs, but it still feels pleasant to push against it. This also works the other way around. Having the sun shine on you is usually considered pleasant but can feel really unpleasant if we’re honestly paying attention. Noticing whether something feels neutral may be the most difficult. We are so used to categorizing our experience into good or bad, wanted or unwanted, that we miss when something feels neither pleasant nor unpleasant. Learning to notice the neutral usually opens up a huge part of our life that we habitually skip and therefore, miss out on.

3.    If it’s pleasurable, can I meet it with appreciation and gratitude? If it’s neutral, can I meet it with curiosity and exploration? If it’s painful, can I meet it with compassion and forgiveness?

After noticing what is going on in the first place, followed by the observation on whether we experience this sensation as pleasant, neutral or unpleasant, we actively get involved. This step is simple in way, because it’s a pretty defined instruction. You have 3 options, with 3 appropriate responses. Feel your way through. Why these are matched will be explored in more detail next week.

4.    Whatever the experience is, I will let it go and return to my direct experience (step 1)

After you have touched on the sensation, labeling and response –which may take as little as 10 seconds- let it go and start again.

I encourage you to try this for one week. See if you can find a few moments a day to dissect your direct experience. Make sure to differentiate all four steps. Next week I will go into why following these simple four steps is the foundation of the most radical revolution you’ll ever experience. Honestly.

Till next week!