I thought I would discuss another tip about sitting mindfulness practice. I think that, when people start out with this type of practice, they often get the message that they are supposed to concentrate really hard on one particular thing, such as the sensations of breathing, etc. Quite a few years ago, I read S. Suzuki’s book, Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind. In the book, Suzuki says that the point of sitting mindfulness practice is not really to concentrate on your breath. I don’t think I really quite understood this point when I first read it, and I just went back to my old routine of trying my best to concentrate and focus. My mind would wander, I’d get mildly annoyed and guide it back to my breath, and the process kept repeating itself ad nauseum. Having to focus on my breathing almost set my mind up as an adversary. My mind just kept dragging me further from my goal. Over time, I began to realize that I was missing the idea that mindfulness practice is most helpful when we are not trying or striving to do anything in particular. Sitting with the express purpose of focusing intently on my breathing is kind of like striving or having a goal to achieve. Instead, I’ve found it more helpful to just tell myself that I am simply sitting and breathing. This type of practice is not necessarily to concentrate on any one thing in particular, but rather to do exactly what you were doing. If you are sitting and breathing, sit and breathe. If you are walking, walk, and so on. Don’t try to force your mind to do anything in particular. It’s helpful, of course, to be awake enough to notice that you’re sitting and breathing, but see what it’s like when you don’t set the goal of controlling your attention. I realize this sort of runs counter to what we sometimes tell clients and DBT about mindfulness skills. We sometimes say that mindfulness skills are practice in controlling your attention. There are good reasons for this. Being able to attend to what you want to attend to is pretty important when it comes to getting work done, managing emotions, paying attention to the important people around us, and so on. It is also probably true that, to be fully present in the current moment or experience, you do have to pay attention to it. At the same time, I might suggest that you both attend to what you’re doing and let go of the goal of having to attend to what you’re doing. Before you start your practice, tell yourself it would be good to be awake during the practice. Also, tell yourself that you have nothing else to do but simply sit and breathe. When you’re done, whether you’ve practiced for 5 minutes or 25 minutes, spend a few minutes reflecting on your experience, and see what you think about this approach. ~ Alexander L. Chapman, Ph.D., R.Psych.