Introduction
The original posting of this blog “Cognitive Mindful Meditation” comes from 2015. It is long with a great deal of backstory.
This is a simple cut & paste of the exercise. If you want to read up on the backstory, visit the original post. If you want to get down to the business of meditation, then below are the complete instructions.
The Methods of Cognitive Mindful Meditation
The CM2 methods are divided into three areas or phases.
- Ambiance
- Perspectives
- 3Ts
Ambiance
While walking, sitting, working, or even sitting in an official meditation posture, make note of the following elements of your environment. This list is a partial list provided to give you a starting point and example of the types of environmental elements you should attend to.
- Temperature
- Air flow (breeze, stillness, wind, …)
- Humidity
- Light quality (bright, dim, muted, …)
- Shadows
- Movement (sway of trees, stillness of books, ebb and flow of waves, …)
- Sounds
- Thrum
- Pressure
- Charge (electrical ions in the atmosphere)
- Color palette
- Mood
- Depth of field
- Size of space
Perspectives
Glimpse yourself from the perspective of other elements in space.
Randomly select an element in the space and catch a glimpse of where you are from that element’s perspective.
For example, select the lamp shade, see yourself south west and to the side – as the lamp shade would see you. Or perhaps, select your shadow on the ground. See yourself looming above and to the east looking down – as the shadow would perceive you.
3Ts
Reference elements in the environmental space and assess all three of the following (without touching the element):
- Temperature
- Texture
- Tonnage
For example you might select CD case sitting on the table. Notice the neutral temperature of the case, feel the smooth plastic surface and take note of the one ounce of weight.
Or, select the dinner knife to the side of the plate. Note the cool temperature of the metal, the smooth surface of the knife side and the rough texture of the edge. Feel the weight of the knife.
Don’t actually pick up the item to determine the 3Ts. No one is grading you, so don’t worry about getting it right or wrong. Getting uptight about the correctness of your assessment of temperature, texture, and tonnage (weight) is not conducive to a good meditation session. :)