Source: ddm After presenting research showing that 10 minutes of mindfulness meditation a day can increase the grey matter in important regions of the brain, I am commonly asked, “What meditation apps are your favorites?” While I do my best to smile and suggest a few, my heart always sinks a bit. How have we let it happen that even meditation is tied to our phones?
Don’t get me wrong; apps that teach us how to meditate and help us remain motivated and disciplined can be fantastic tools. I use online meditation tools to supplement my practice and suggest them to others as they begin or want to deepen their experiences. I’ve even recorded meditations in an effort to offer guidance to those who are wanting to learn). I believe that these tools have an important place in the world and want them to stay.
My only wish is that at least some of the time, we would be able to meditate (and live all parts of our lives) with our phones powered completely off.
Developing the ability to meditate is simply like developing any other skill. It requires practice and patience and risk. The more you practice it, the more you’ll get from it. The hardest part is trying it enough to begin to feel the benefits of the grounded calm and steadiness that meditation can afford. More than ever, I believe we need to be able to function from an internal locus of control, responding to life from this grounded core rather than reacting to every single shiny thing that calls out for our attention. Meditation is one of the best ways I know to develop this ability. *
To help you with this first device-less meditation, use these alphabetically organized ideas. You might even consider printing them out and bringing the paper with you to your space. Together we can contribute to a more peaceful and equitable world by creating a deeper ability to be calm and centered within ourselves, even when we are in situations that don’t allow us to pull out our earbuds and devices to bring us into meditation space. Let’s get to work putting this into action.
How to Meditate Without Your Phone
A. Assume a posture of alert restfulness.
Find a spot that is free from unnecessary distractions and get your body into a comfortable position. For some, this will be in a chair where your back is straight and your feet touch the floor. For others, this may be lying on your back or sitting on a small cushion. Most people find that closing their eyes helps. If you are a person who prefers to keep their eyes open, consider positioning yourself where you have something neutral or beautiful to look at. Don’t be facing the bed that is piled high with laundry. Choose a window or a lighted candle or a blank wall to gaze upon.
B. Breathe.
Don’t worry about mastering breathing techniques in these early attempts. Simply breathe in and out and see if you can’t deepen the inhales and exhales. If you want a few basic ideas you can “smell the roses, then blow out the candles” to remind you to inhale through your nose and exhale through your mouth. Meditation uses the breath to focus. If you find yourself distracted, simply re-direct your attention back to what it feels like to take in a breath and to release it. This is enough.
C. Create space to simply be.
This is not a time to succeed, to win, or to accomplish. This is, instead, time to simply experience the spaciousness of being. This is counter to nearly all of our other living. These 10 minutes are simply a gift to yourself. By creating time for them, you’ve already won. The goal now is to simply exist in this quiet space.
THE BASICSD. Direct your distractions.
Early in one’s practice, distractions riddle the time spent meditating. This is normal. Our minds are busy, and it takes a lot of practice to keep them quiet. When distractions come (e.g., “I forgot to respond to that text,” or “I think I forgot to lock the door,” or “I really want a pizza”), simply notice them, and when you can, redirect your attention back to simply breathing in and out or the flicker of the candle you are looking at. Don’t try to free your mind of them. Rather, see them, name them (you can even say to yourself, “Oh, there’s that distraction”), and then “tell” them that there will be plenty of space for considering them later and redirect your attention to your breath or the state of calm you were finding before the distraction. If it’s simply too difficult to do this without expression, bring a piece of paper and pencil with you to your meditation and write the distraction down, reminding yourself that you’ll tend to it later. The goal is not to be distraction free. The goal, instead, is to learn how to deal with distractions while staying in a calm space.
E. Eliminate judgment.
This is a new skill, and you’re likely accustomed to only doing things that you are good at. Commit to letting go of evaluations about your performance. You are simply practicing, and there is no one to grade you.
F. Fidget with intention.
It would be unrealistic and non-empathic to expect everyone to be able to silently sit with no movement. If you are a body/kinesthetically smart person, there is a chance that stillness is too difficult to maintain, especially early in your practice. If this is the case for you, bring something to the meditation with you that will allow you to move, but won’t require you to tend to it. Prayer beads might be a good idea, as would putty or kinetic sand. If sitting is difficult, try a balance board or stand, balancing on one foot for a while and then switching. Over time, see if you can move less and be still more, but be gracious with yourself in this process.
Mindfulness Essential Reads
Mindfulness and Contemplative Photography 
Embracing Simplicity: A Gift of Awareness Now it’s time to get to it. Commit to accepting all the experiences that new endeavors entail (feeling silly, looking silly, etc.) and decide that doing a “good enough” job is plenty. Find your space and begin.