Mindfulness and Yoga in Schools A Guide for Teachers and Practitioners

CHAPTER 6: MINDFULNESS ON THE CUSHION • 103

returning to the anchor, the capacity for concentration is further developed (Willard, 2016).
Every time the meditator focuses on the anchor and disengages from the ongoing stream of
thoughts, there is an increase in the capacity to let go of distraction (Willard, 2016). Perhaps
one of the most misunderstood aspects of meditation is the exact process through which
there is the greatest opportunity for growth and insight. Specifically, each time the medita-
tor notices his or her mind wandering, this is “a moment of mindfulness—not a moment of
failure” (Willard, 2016, p. 33). In this way, formal meditation cultivates the space between
stimulus, or being distracted, and response (i.e., training back to focus, going with the stim-
ulus, or reacting; Wallace, 2011). It is in the moment within which the mind wanders, as well
as in the direction of the wandering (i.e., the where of the wandering), that the meditator has
an opportunity to see his or her own habits and patterns (Willard, 2016). This is the source of
what some call wisdom, self-understanding, or insight (see Figure 6.3; Cook-Cottone, 2015;
Willard, 2016).
Here is a more detailed breakdown for you. As you sit in meditation, you will notice
stimuli (Grabovac, Lau, & Willett, 2011). It may be a mental event or a thought (as Hanh
[1975] describes), or it may be a sense impression, information coming from one of your
senses or your body. You simply notice. Because you are human, each stimulus is automati-
cally and immediately tagged by the brain with a feeling-tone: pleasant, neutral, or unpleas-
ant (Cook-Cottone, 2015; Grabovac et al., 2011; Hanson & Mendius, 2009). Research suggests
that there is an added challenge. That is, owing to biological mechanisms of self-protection,
“negative trumps positive” (Hanson & Mendius, 2009). According to neuropsychologists
and neurologists, these things we cannot control (Cook-Cottone, 2015). However, it is at
exactly this point in the process that you have a choice (Chapter 3, principle 7: I choose my
focus and actions).
In meditation we dig into this space, the space right after the stimulus and feeling-tone
(Cook-Cottone, 2015). This is the space of insight, in which lives can be changed (Cook-
Cottone, 2015). As you sit in meditation, you notice stimuli and feeling-tones, then you
choose to attach, avoid, or allow. This is not an easy practice as the natural tendency is to
attach and build on the feeling-tone cultivating concepts, emotions, and maybe even a line
of thinking or ruminating (Grabovac et al., 2011). More insight is available here. Many times,

Focus

Focus

Insight

Mindfulness

of the Meditator

Distraction

Habits

and

Patterns

of the

Mind

FIGURE 6.3 Meditation insights.

Source: Cook-Cottone (2015) and Willard (2016).