Meditation Mindfulness and Diagnosis

Meditation methods have existed within every faith tradition and outside of faith traditions as a practical means to connect to inner strengths and to a bigger picture of life. As the people at the Littlest Tumor Foundation know very well through their impressive work, going through a loved one’s diagnosis, treatment, the family’s feelings of isolation and uncertainty and all manner of challenges, is a time when connection to resiliency, inner resourcefulness, and to one another is of vital importance.

I started practicing meditation in 1971 to try to enhance just those connections. The practices I learned, and now teach around the world, are based on: deepening concentration, so we don’t feel so scattered and fragmented and can be more in the moment instead of in the past or in future projections; strengthening mindfulness, so we have greater awareness and clarity about our experience; and increasing compassion towards ourselves and others, so that we have a new way of viewing ourselves and one another.

Here’s a way to begin, if you are moved to try:

Basic beginning Meditation Instruction

1) Start with just fifteen or twenty minutes, once or twice a day. While a relatively quiet place is useful for settling our minds down, there is no way to completely control our environment. Try to reach agreement with your family members or others who may disturb you while meditating that this is your time and to please wait until you are done. However, interruptions will happen. Don't let them upset you or throw you off balance.

2) Meditation begins with the belief that each of us has the capacity to understand ourselves more fully, to care more deeply both for ourselves and for others. It works to free us of habitual reactions that cause us great unhappiness, such as harsh self-judgment, and to develop greater wisdom and compassion. Meditation gives anybody who pursues it an opportunity to look within for a sense of abundance, depth and connection to life.

2) Sit in any position that is comfortable to you, chairs are fine, just try to sit upright. Your arms can be anywhere that feel natural to you. You can sit with either your eyes open or closed…you can experiment with both. If your eyes are open, instead of looking around, find a spot in front of you and rest your gaze. If at any given time you can’t do sitting practice you can lie down, or do walking meditation. If you have a physical limitation and can’t walk, e.g. you are in a wheelchair, you can do wheeling meditation. There also is no need for special paraphernalia. Feel free to change position when you need to.

3) Start by just feeling your breath as it enters and leaves your nostrils. You don’t need to adjust the breath to make it deeper or finer: simply feel it as it is and as it changes. Rest your attention lightly on these sensations. If images or sounds or emotions or other sensations in the body arise, and you can still be aware of the breath, let these other experiences flow on by -- you don’t have to follow them, or fight them.

4) Sometimes these experiences are much stronger than our awareness of the breath, and we realize perhaps only after some time that we have been distracted. Know that your mind WILL wander, just notice where it went and then gently bring it back to the breath -- every time, over and over. You will think and feel many things, both emotionally and physically, while you meditate. It is all ok. Just quietly bring yourself back to the breath.

5). It is ok if you fall asleep at first. Make sure you get enough sleep at night if you can, and avoid meditating during your lowest-energy times of the day (right after meals, etc.). Eventually, the urge to sleep will pass.

6) If you don't feel at ease meditating alone, find a meditation group that you feel comfortable with. Friends and family members may want to practice with you, which can be very supportive if everyone has the same understanding about the time frame involved.

7) Above all, have patience with and compassion for yourself. Each of us faces our own challenges in meditation, but the rewards are well worth it if we are kind to ourselves and keep on going!