Mindfulness in Plain English

Three of the ideas you’ll keep

The Clif summary of Mindfulness in Plain English pulls out 7 insights. Here are the first three.

1. Use the breath as your anchor: park your attention on the subtle sensation of air at the rim of the nostrils, watch each natural in-breath and out-breath, and don't try to control or deepen it.
2. When the mind wanders, don't fight it or get frustrated. The moment you notice you've drifted IS the moment of mindfulness, so just calmly note it and escort your attention back to the breath, again and again.
3. Train your mind the way you'd house-train a puppy: with patient, gentle, endlessly repeated redirection rather than punishment. Every return to the breath is a rep that strengthens the muscle of attention.

The other 4 — and the full 9-minute summary — are in the app.

What’s inside: 9 chapters

The whole summary runs about 9 minutes, read or listened to.

1. What Meditation Isn't (and Why You Should Bother)
2. The Right Attitude: Stop Trying So Hard
3. Setting Up: Posture and Sitting Still
4. The Core Practice: Watching the Breath
5. Taming the Wandering Mind
6. Turning Distractions Into the Practice
7. Mindfulness vs. Concentration: The Two Partners
8. Structuring Your Sessions and Building Insight
9. Mindfulness in Daily Life and Loving-Friendliness