The importance of a formal meditation practice
“I’m mindful throughout my day — isn’t that good enough?” Well, no. Not if you want to experience the benefits of formal practice, that is.
Having an informal practice can be supportive to a formal meditation practice, but it will not enhance your life in the ways that a formal practice will. A formal practice has no substitute for a number of reasons:
Formal meditation offers a unique opportunity to notice your heart and your mind and how they move together very intimately. This is often the first step in noticing our habitual patterns. This is much easier to do when there are very few outside distractions.
All of the benefits of mindfulness meditation were discovered in studies with formal practice.
Formal practice offers the opportunity to work with heart practices and mind states in a controlled environment, so to speak. It is the practice of tolerating something unpleasant, such as an itch, and then take the generalized acquired skill out into daily life with a sense of curiosity.
Formal meditation calms the nervous system and quiets the mind in a specific way that an informal practice does not.
Do the math. Add up the time during the day when you are truly being mindful. For most people it’s only a matter of moments — meaning seconds of time here and there. Informal practice is usually not a lot of time.
You can find my collection of free mindfulness meditations on Insight Timer.
I have been practicing mindfulness meditation for over 25 years and have been certified to teach mindfulness meditation by the Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Certification Program. If you are interested in working with a mindfulness meditation teacher toward a formal practice contact me to see if I might be a good fit for your needs.
