Author: Allan Johnson

Building the Meditation Habit

Posted on by Allan Johnson in habits, meditation

While the techniques of meditation are easy to learn, the discipline that the practice of meditation requires can be difficult.  If you are new to meditation or a frequent practitioner who hasn’t been able to turn meditation into a regular practice, building the meditation habit is a crucial step to deepen and expand your insight and connection.  Even when it is difficult to find the time for meditation, remind yourself that you deserve this time to replenish, recharge, and reinvigorate your mind, body, and spirit—it’s this daily practice of self-care that will equip you to best tackle the challenges of life and work. 

To gain the full benefits of meditation, we must develop the discipline that allows us to practice daily, in the same way that we shower and brush our teeth daily without much thought.  A daily practice of mediation brings enhanced well-being, and enables to body and mind to reconnect through the breath.  On those days when you just don’t feel like meditating, remind yourself of the benefits it brings and trust the process: the stress and distress of the day disappears by the end of your meditation session, leaving you renewed.  Treasure the time you set aside for meditation for the precious gift that it is.

Here are several tips to help you build the meditation habit:

Begin with Shorter Periods

I recommend two periods of 20-minutes of meditation every day, but this is only something to build up to over time and isn’t a habit you can expect to get into straight away.  One of the biggest challenges of the discipline required by meditation is simply making the decision to meditate.  Begin by making the decision to meditate for shorter periods, perhaps 3 minutes every morning.  Over time, you can gradually build this up to more sustained sessions as you begin to recognise the benefits of meditation and the discipline of committing to it. 

Practice Daily

While it is useful to begin with shorter periods of meditation, it is still important to practice every day.  Don’t try it once and then leave it for several days or weeks before trying again.  Instead commit to daily practice, which will not only allow you to strengthen your meditation habit but will dramatically increase the positive benefits that you experience. Committing to your meditation practice daily is what is going to turn it into a habit and allow you to experience the greatest benefits.

Create a Meditation Corner

Meditation can be practiced anywhere, but, especially as a beginner, it is useful to have a specific area used for meditation.  This doesn’t have to be an elaborate meditation altar, and you certainly don’t need any fancy cushions, bells, or candles, and it doesn’t even have to be a space set aside only for meditation.  Find a simple corner in your house where you can go to each day to commit to your practice.

Keep It Simple

There are lots of fantastic tools and toys for meditators and yogis out there—I know, I’ve bought quite a lot of them.  While specialist zabutons (meditation cushion), meditation benches, signing bowls, malas, and statues can certainly help aid in your practice, they are absolutely not essential.  Don’t think that you need to wait until you have the right incense or the right prayer beads—start today, because you already have everything that you need. 

Create a Habit Trigger

While you don’t need lots of physical objects for your meditation practice, it can be helpful to have a simple candle in your meditation corner that you light at the beginning of each practice.  It doesn’t need to be expensive (a tealight or basic dinner candle will work absolutely fine).  The simple act of mindfully lighting the candle at the beginning of your daily practice helps to create a trigger for the routine and begin to prepare you for the mindful state.

Maintain a Beginner’s Mindset

In a society driven by competition and hustle, it can be easy to want to rush to the ultimate conclusion.  Sometimes we get disappointed that we aren’t transformed into a wise, ascetic monk after practicing meditation for several days, or disillusioned by what seems to be a lack of any noticeable benefits.  There is no end goal in meditation, so no need to rush or to push ourselves so hard that we feel defeated and abandon the practice.  Begin each meditation session with a beginner’s mindset, knowing that by showing up to your practice you have already made a huge achievement.

Download your free 21-day course in The Path of Mindfulness. In this life-changing 21-day mindfulness journey, Dr Allan Kilner-Johnson guides you through a series of self-guided mindfulness exercises and shows you how and when to bring mindfulness into your daily life. 

15 Minutes for Meditation Before Bed

Posted on by Allan Johnson in meditation, mindfulness

A lot of people who recognise the many benefits of mediation wish that they had enough time in their day to sit down to meditate.  For many, the demands of work and family mean that there really isn’t enough time in the day for an hour of guided meditation or even the two 20-minute blocks that I recommend.  But the time right before we fall asleep, when we’re tucked into bed and winding down from the day, can be a really powerful and convenient opportunity for meditation.  Not only will using the 10 to 20 minutes before we fall asleep help to carve out a dedicated time for meditation each day, but it can also help to improve the quality and quantity of our sleep—great news for anyone who suffers from insomnia, restless sleep, or oversleeping.

Preparation

Meditation in bed requires somewhat different preparation than other forms of meditation.  Preparation begins an hour before you get into bed as you begin gradually slowing down, relaxing, and quieting your mind.   During this hour, do your best to avoid screens of any sort as you transition your body and mind away from the digital information world that shapes much of our experience.  Even though I love my MacBook and iPad as much as the next millennial, I keep a print book on my bedside table for nighttime reading (some people recommend choosing fiction over nonfiction for bedtime reading). If reading isn’t your thing, another gentle, enjoyably hobby in the hour before you get into bed can be really useful.  Use the time to knead your sourdough before its overnight bulk rise, get back to that unfinished puzzle, or begin a new painting.  Don’t be tempted to snack late into the evening, but a relaxing tea or turmeric in warm milk can assist your body in preparing for meditation and, eventually, for sleep. 

Meditation in Bed

While we often try to avoid falling asleep during meditation, a gentle, gradual movement into sleep is exactly what we are aiming for in bed meditation.  There are several techniques that we can use once we are in bed:

  1. Body scan: This traditional mindfulness technique is often performed lying down, so is the perfect tool to use for bed meditation.  Begin by drawing your focus and attention to your feet, gentling guiding your centre of consciousness to your feet and allowing it to rest there for 2-3 minutes.  Slowly move your centre of consciousness up to your legs, then your abdomen, chest, throat, and forehead, staying with each for 2-3 minutes. Be gentle and allow your emotions to express themselves in the ways they need to you as move through all parts of the body.  When you notice that your mind has begun to drift, gentle invite it to return to the body.
  2. Guided meditation: bed meditation is the perfect opportunity to listen to guided meditations.  Headspace and Insight Timer are two of the apps that I regularly use and love, but there are also countless free guided meditations and visualizations available online. The wide variety of recordings available mean that you can hone in on any particular issues that you faced during the day and select a meditation specifically suited to your needs in that particular moment.  If, for instance, you’re particularly stressed from work, dealing with disappointment, or hoping to expand your creativity, there will be guided meditations perfectly suited to your needs.
  3. Simple mantra: one of the simplest techniques for bed meditation is a simple breath-focused mantra that will regulate your breathing, relax your mind, and lead you gently into a deep sleep.  On the in-breath silently say the mantra ‘as I breathe in, I breathe in’ and on the out-breath silently say ‘as I breath out, I breathe out.’  As your mind begins to drift, you can graciously return its attention to the mantra and breath. 
  4. Yoga nidra: something of a combination of guided visualization, mindfulness, and gentle hypnosis, yoga nidra (or ‘yogic sleep’) is another outstanding technique for bed yoga.  This is something that you will almost certainly need an online recording to guide you through, but, with advanced training, yoga nidra practitioners are able to lead themselves through this deeply relaxing and restorative practice. 
  5. Gratitude: often overlooked as a form of mindfulness meditation, expression of gratitude can be a powerful way to calm and centre our mind in the moments before we fall asleep.  To practice this transformative form of meditation, we should situate ourselves comfortably in bed and then invite our mind to gradually move backwards through our day, pausing to reflect on each small moment that we are grateful for.  How many moments during our day have led to gratitude and joy?  By the time that we get all the way backward to reflect on the moment we woke up that morning, we will likely have already fallen asleep.    

Using the 10-20 minutes before we fall asleep as a time for meditation can help you to develop your daily meditation practice, even if our work and family life means that we never have much time for ourselves.

Five Minutes to Ground Your Practice: Traditional Breathwork for Mindfulness

Posted on by Allan Johnson in meditation

In many ways, our diaphragm muscle is the key to finding stillness and connection in every moment.  This powerful thin domed sheet of skeletal muscle separates our thoracic and abdominal cavity, contracting to create a vacuum that allows air to be pushed into our lungs about 23,000 times per day. As we learn to control our breath, we learn to control our life.

While many meditators and yoga practitioners integrate the art of breathing, or pranayama, into their formal practice, these tools can be used almost anywhere and at any time to help us find the strength and grounding that we need in our daily lives. Pranayama may not come easily to everyone, but the principles are straightforward and everyone can learn to engage with these practices. Don’t worry if you find these practices difficult at the start—slow and steady wins the race and with just a few minutes of regular practice you will quickly get the hang of things.  Like anything else, pranayama requires practice.

The following four practices can be used separately or combined together into a five-minute pranayama routine to begin your daily mindfulness or yoga practice.  Used separately, they provide powerful tools that can be drawn upon in any situation.  Each of these can be practiced in traditional meditation pose, or at any point during the day.  Although these instructions offer guidance on these traditional practices, the most important thing is to always trust your own body and stop immediately if the practice becomes too intense for you.

Practice 1: Durga Pranayama (‘Full Yogic Breath’)

In our daily lives we have a tendency to breath through the chest in what is known as costal breathing or ‘rib breathing’ and when we’re agitated or worried our breath quickly retreats into our chest, creating shallow breaths.  Fortunately, we can easily move to slower, deeper breaths by consciously engaging our diaphragm.

To begin, place one hand on the stomach and one hand on your chest.  On your next in-breath, allow your stomach to expand outward as the lungs fill fully with air.  Notice the hand on your stomach naturally moving outward.  As you continue to inhale, feel the breath filling into the upper part of your lungs creating expansion and a very gentle bend in the upper back as you fill the lungs to their full capacity.

To exhale, begin by releasing the breath in your upper chest, feeling the hand placed there drawing in to your spine.  Next allow the lower abdomen to pull in, releasing the air fully and drawing the hand placed on your stomach toward your spine.  Repeat as many times as desired, allowing the rhythm of the breath to emerge naturally from the rise and fall of the abdomen and chest.

Practice 2: Kapalabhati (‘Shining Skull Breath’)

This pranayama is a powerful energiser but can be very intense, so exercise caution in your practice and rely on your own connection to your body and breath to know your limits.  Steadiness and ease are the aim of all pranayama, so stop if it becomes too much—traditionally kapalabhati should be avoided by pregnant women or those with high blood pressure. Begin by placing one hand on your abdomen and breath in with a full yogic breath, expanding the abdomen outward.  Now, with a pumping action draw your abdomen sharply inward to create a brief, forceful exhalation.  The force of the exhalation will create an involuntary inhalation.  Repeat 5 or more times.

Practice 3: Nadi Shodhana (‘Alternate Nostril Breathing’)

Breathing through the mouth offers a short and powerful way to fill the lungs with oxygen, but the natural purifying features of the nose paired with our tendency to breath more slowly through the nose means that engaging nostril breathing is a powerful way to calm and regulate the body and mind.   This powerful pranayama is traditionally performed by resting the thumb and ring finger gently on the outside of the nostrils. Begin by inhaling and then gently closing the right nostril with your finger; exhale fully through the left nostril. Leaving your finger in place, inhale through the left nostril before carefully closing that nostril and exhaling through the right.   Repeat 5 or more times, alternating between nostrils.

Practice 4: Sama Vritti Pranayama (‘Box Breathing’)

Sama vritti pranayama or ‘box breathing’ is a popular breathing technique that has been adapted into many different physical and contemplative practices.  This practice recognises the four elements of the breath: the inhalation and exhalation as well as the brief, often imperceptible pauses that come each time the breath changes direction. These four parts of the breath create the ‘box’ breathing as we count equal time:

            Inhale: 4

            Hold: 4

            Exhale: 4

            Hold: 4

There are also several variations of this traditional 4-4-4-4 count that can be used as needed throughout the day to recharge or relax:

Power Up
            Inhale: 6

            Hold: 1

            Exhale: 2

            Hold: 1
Cool Down
            Inhale: 4

            Hold: 6

            Exhale: 8

            Hold: 1

Pranayama are helpful practices to connect to the fullness of your breath and the way in which your body and breath are intertwined.  Performed together, these four pranayama techniques provide the perfect 5-minute practice to prepare your mind and body for the work ahead, whether that’s an important pitch, a creative session, or a stressful situation. As you continue to work with these pranayama techniques, begin to notice how the sensations of the breath begin to change:

  • what does the air feel like?
  • where do you feel the sensation in your body?
  • what does the breath sound like?
  • what minor variations do you notice between inhale and exhale?
  • how does your mind or state of being change?
  • are your pushing or gripping at any stage?

Life is meant to be cherished, so appreciate each and every breath as it passes naturally through your body.

Download your free 21-day course in The Path of Mindfulness. In this life-changing 21-day mindfulness journey, Dr Allan Kilner-Johnson guides you through a series of self-guided mindfulness exercises and shows you how and when to bring mindfulness into your daily life. 

Research Workflow for Academics: The Best of Digital and Analogue Working Together

Posted on by Allan Johnson in Productivity, Research

research workflow

 

In his presentation at the ‘Humanities Computing: Formal Methods, Experimental Practice’ symposium at King’s College London in 2000, John Unsworth described the seven ‘scholarly primitives’, that is, the ‘basic functions common to scholarly activity across disciplines, over time, and independent of theoretical orientation’:

  • Discovering
  • Annotating
  • Comparing
  • Referring
  • Sampling
  • Illustrating
  • Representing

A similar taxonomy was described by Ernest Boyer in Scholarship Reconsidered: Priorities of the Professoriate.  Boyer’s model of scholarship refers to four interrelated areas of practice: ‘the scholarship of discovery; the scholarship of integration; the scholarship of application; and the scholarship of teaching.’  While the nature of scholarly work hasn’t changed much since Unsworth’s and Boyer’s observations, the way in which we go about it and the goals that we hope to meet by completing it certainly have.

The workflow that I use for my academic research draws upon Boyer’s model of scholarship and Unsworth’s scholarly primitives, and aims to both isolate the individual components of scholarly work while recognising the inherent relationship and necessary overlap between these components.  In order to meet these aims, I needed a workflow that fulfilled several requirements:

  1. Assign tasks to the platform best designed for that task.  Evernote is excellent for taking notes, for example, but doesn’t stand up well to PDF management.
  2. Integrate analogue components at suitable points. I love notebooks and pens so this is largely a personal preference, but considerable research shows longhand writing aids in memory and comprehension.
  3. Create a frictionless system that allows for collaboration. When working with collaborators or research assistants, the workflow can be opened up at strategic points, while still offering privacy.
  4. Exist in the cloud. My academic writing takes place in my office, at home, and on the road; it happens on computers, iPads, and iPhones. I need to be able to reach everything securely in the cloud and across multiple platforms.
  5. Look visually appealing, and capture content in a visually appealing way. This isn’t just about aesthetics.  Visual appeal is a significant aspect of the success of digital spaces.

As it turns out, these five objectives are often at odds with one another.  Creating a frictionless system (#3) is easiest if only one programme is used, but then there will likely be tasks that are not suited to that programme (#1) (this is often the issue when all aspects of research and writing live exclusively in Scrivener or Evernote).  If the workflow exists securely in the cloud (#4), then it seems counterintuitive to involve analogue components (#2).

The workflow that I use takes the best of digital and analogue research and puts it into an adaptable, frictionless, and appealing system.  I begin by uploading articles to Papers and cleaning up metadata.  As I read the article in Papers, I highlight important passages, but keep my written notes and commentary separately in longhand form in my notebook.  With a clever shortcut in Papers (⌃⇧C), I can copy the full citation, all highlighted text, and associated page numbers of these highlights.  This is then pasted into a new Evernote note along with the link to the article in Papers (Edit > Copy As > Papers Link).  In both Papers and Evernote I rely on the same tagging conventions.

The outputs of this workflow are important: 1) PDFs continue to livein  Papers where they can be organised, tagged, and read in the most efficient way, 2) notes live in Evernote where they add to a growing commonplace book of research, and 3) commentary and ideas for future research live in a notebook where I can reflect upon them at a later point.  Of course, any workflow should stay flexible–already I am considering moving from Word to Scrivener for drafting, and from Papers to Mendeley for PDF management–but no matter how this workflow continues to evolve, it will always accept the distinctiveness of each component of scholarly work while acknowledging the necessary overlapping between these components.

15 Flags: How I Create Habits for Writing

Posted on by Allan Johnson in Productivity

I am constantly searching for ways to better integrate my digital life into the world of paper, pens, and printed materials that I still love (here, here, and here).  Although there are countless apps available to help create and track new habits–many of which gamify the traditional 21-days rule of habit formation with some very fun results–I have found the best way for me to track my habits is with a stack of sticky flags and my Moleskine.

Continue reading “15 Flags: How I Create Habits for Writing” →