Mindfulness Training

Learning to be with what is, by way of mindfulness training, has been one of the most wonderful and useful skills I’ve ever learned. Of course, I’m still learning about, deepening, and expanding these attentional capacities, and I imagine this will continue for the rest of my life.

One way to understand mindfulness training is to break it down into the cultivation of 3 basic attentional skills: Concentration, Sensory Clarity, and Equanimity.

Concentration is the ability to focus on what is relevant to you in the moment.

Sensory Clarity is the ability to be clearly aware of what is arising in your sensory experience in real time.

Equanimity is the ability to allow sensory experiences to come and go freely without push or pull.

To cultivate these attentional capacities is to tend to the foundational elements of human wellbeing. Whether we are interested in getting relief from suffering, getting better at a particular skill, cultivating meaningful relationships, or knowing ourselves at the deepest level: mindfulness practice can reliably and constructively support any and all of these goals. For this reason, I have often felt that mindfulness training is one of the most productive ways I could ever spend my time, because the state of my awareness is the very ground from which everything unfolds. To bring the skills of concentration, sensory clarity, and equanimity to our experience moment by moment is to invite skillfulness, grace, and clear presence to what is already arising and passing. It is a kind of true power: a power that is both relaxed and fierce, open and penetrating, resilient and curious, honest and loving.

We are living in a time where high quality teachings on mindfulness have become accessible to most people across the planet. It doesn’t require believing in any kind of religious doctrines or new age concepts, but rather points the individual to their own direct experience. Training our concentration, sensory clarity, and equanimity over time, especially if we have a good support system in place, is nearly guaranteed to enrich and expand our basic wellbeing, both individually and collectively.

I spent the last couple of years teaching mindfulness classes, and while I’m currently taking a break from teaching and guiding in order to focus on making music, my intention is to utilize my artistic life to share this transformative practice and spread it as far and wide as I am able. It seems that we as a species have some growing pains ahead of us, and we’re going to need as many people as possible to cultivate our inner resources and capacities. I can’t imagine any facet of human development that is more essential as we meet this challenging moment in the story of planet earth. Mindfulness practice is not necessarily easy, but it just might be the most important training we could ever do.

At the moment, I am in a process of inquiry regarding how I’ll continue to share this practice, but in the mean time, if you are in need of resources to get started, check out this free book by Julianna Raye about the Unified Mindfulness system. Also, my friend Eric Rockey is teaching periodic classes very much akin to the classes I was teaching over the last couple of years and I’d highly recommend him as a teacher.

We are together! May we hold our experience and all of our relationships with great care, for the good of all.