“Just sit there.” This was some of the best meditation advice I ever got. When my meditation practice was still young, a teacher gave me this instruction during an interview on a retreat. I had been doing breath focus practice for a while and explained that I was rushing back to the breath. Though I didn’t know the term then, my teacher suggested that I try open awareness or open monitoring meditation.
On the very next sit, that is what I did and I quickly fell in love. As I will explain in this post, open awareness meditation has some disadvantages. But for me the advantages were clear. I had honed focus pretty well, but I needed to learn to relax and let go. If this sounds familiar to you, keep reading. In this post, I will briefly explain what open awareness practice is. I will also tell you how to do it. Finally, I will show you how to embed it in your meditation practice.
What Is Open Awareness Meditation?
As the instructions from my teacher indicated, the beauty of open awareness practice is its simplicity. With this style, you drop all specific focal points and just sit there. The thing is, of course, that you don’t merely sit there. Instead, you sit there and pay attention to whatever comes up in your awareness.
This includes thoughts, sensations in the body, emotions, and external stimuli. In short, with open awareness meditation the practice is to note all of your awareness. Ideally, you will also do so with mental clarity but without judgment.
Why You Should Try Open Awareness Meditation?
Many people assume that focus is the primary benefit of meditation. That can be true for many people, but I don’t think it is true for all. Many people, including lots of lawyers, may have pretty strong focus skills already. As I learned, though, meditation can also impart other important traits.
These include things like relaxing, letting go, non-judgment and kindness. Open awareness helps to cultivate these things in particular because the practice literally invites everything into awareness. Nothing is off limits. It’s all part of the practice. As you practice welcoming everything in experience into awareness, you build patience, flexibility, equanimity, and self-kindness.
Potential Benefits of Open Awareness Meditation
Because all of us are different, the potential benefits of open awareness meditation are varied. With that said, I quickly experienced more access to insight when I started open awareness meditation. I also noticed an increase in intuition and creativity. When I allowed space in my mind, I became clearer about my life and more receptive to my own ideas.
I also soon started to understand myself better because I started to see my patterns in real time. Instead of merely focusing on the breath, I could see familiar narratives arise and fade. By watching this play out, some of those stories lost their power. These included my tendency to doubt myself and to do everything on my own. This made room for new wholesome ones, like self-compassion and opening to creative pursuits like writing.
How to Explore Open Awareness Meditation
If this sounds attractive, you may next wonder how you can start exploring open awareness meditation. As I already mentioned, the classic way to start this practice is to start just sitting. Let go of all focal points, broaden the scope of your awareness, and see what comes up. For people with some experience with meditation, this can be a great way to explore a new style of practice.
Some may worry that this openness can cause confusion. However, there are ways to expand awareness more gradually. One choice is to try a noting practice, in which you note things that arise in experience. You can also try practices that categorize experience, such as a practice that focuses on feeling tones (neutral, pleasant, unpleasant). Shinzen Young also has a style called “see-hear-feel” that categorizes the visual, auditory, and sensory experiences that arise.
Dealing with Disadvantages or Problems
Now, some people may worry that their mind isn’t automatically open or won’t stay open for this practice. The easy answer is that starting with open awareness practice is not necessary. You don’t need to begin with it in order to do it. Instead, you can begin a meditation session with breath focus. You could also use a body scan or a mantra. Then transition to open awareness. This is what I have done for years, though the time I need to spend settling with a focus practice has decreased over time.
You may worry that open awareness could lead to dullness. It might also cause spacing out. This is something that happens to the best of us. One way to tackle this is to manage sleepiness. Watch your temperature, practice at a good time of day, and don’t try to meditate after a big meal. Another solution is to bring back in elements of focus practice to support mental clarity when needed. For example, if you find yourself spacing out you can energize the mind with a focus practice.
Conclusion: Open Awareness Meditation Is a Practice to Try
In truth, though, you can’t learn open awareness meditation from reading about it in a blog post. I wrote this post to encourage you to consider and explore the practice. The best way to learn about open awareness meditation and what it can do for you is try it yourself. To that end, I give you the same advice my teacher gave me years ago. Set a timer. Find a quiet safe space. Just sit there. See what open awareness meditation can do for you.
Want to learn more about mindfulness and compassion? Check out my new book, How to Be a Badass Lawyer, for a simple guide to creating a meditation practice of your own in 30 days. And to share mindfulness with your little one, check out my new children’s book, Mommy Needs a Minute.
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