Discouraged

[Vakkali]

So it's been about one month since I started practicing meditation daily. I'm using "Mindfulness in Plain English" as a guide, and he recommends developing some basic concentration first, so that's what I've been focusing on. I'm up to about twenty minutes per sitting, one sitting a day. Even after all this time, though, my mind bounces around like crazy. There ARE moments where I feel like I settle in, but they're rare. Do I just need more time? Am I not being diligent enough in returning to the breath when the mind wants to go somewhere else? I'm not a lost cause, right?

[Khalil Bodhi]

Hi Vakkali,

This is all completely normal. It takes years of practice (lifetimes, in fact, for most of us) to gain a real foothold. In the interim take cheer knowing that you are cultivating paramis and engaging in supremely skillful behavior. Maybe 20 minutes is a bt much and you need to step it back a bit. Also, consider focusing on dana and service to help brighten the mind as well as natural, daily life meditation and mindfulness. Wishing you the very best!

[Nicolas]

I would say: try to be as present and aware as possible, and whenever you notice your mind bouncing, just gently return to your breath (or whatever meditation object you're using). What's important in my opinion is noticing when the mind bounces, because once you notice it's easy to get back into focus. With time the gaps of non-noticing will be shorter and shorter.

I would also extend it to longer than 20 minutes; it can take some time to settle down and 20 minutes may not be enough (it's usually not enough for me), so you could try 40 minutes for instance. Or instead, doing some form of relaxation technique before you start meditating can be very effective (e.g. moving your focus onto body parts and relaxing them one by one).

[Mkoll]

Do I just need more time? Am I not being diligent enough in returning to the breath when the mind wants to go somewhere else? I'm not a lost cause, right?

For what you're looking for, yes. Only you can know that. No, patient and sustained effort is what wins the race.

[SarathW]

Hi Wakkali
If you want to fast track Jhana fruits, please observe five precepts, practice Brahama vihara,

[Ben]

A month is just a blink of the eye in the scheme of things.
I would also like to advise you that after many years of practice I can tell you that meditation is not necessarily pleasant. In fact, it can be extraordinarily difficult and intensely confronting at times. Meditation is about cultivating wholesome mental states and eradicating unwholesome habitual responses to sense data. It takes some time and a great deal of effort. As well as the good advice offered above, I would also suggest that you also make efforts to ensure your sila is perfect, or hear perfect. Don't forget that practice is a whole-of-life approach and should also incorporate our dealings with others such as Dana and selfless service.
With metta,
Ben

[Bakmoon]

This happens to absolutely every one. I had a similar problem when I started meditating. It got a lot better when I started practicing walking meditation for the first half of my meditation times. The breath can be a very subtle object and so in the beginning it can be quite easy to lose hold of. With walking meditation the feelings of movement are very obvious, and so I find it is easier to keep the mind with it, especially in the beginning.

Also, going straight from daily activities into sitting meditation can be a sudden shift in terms of what the mind is used to doing. It's used to thinking throughout the day, so immediately sitting down and going to the breath can make the mind just rebel. Walking meditation allows the mind a much smoother transition into meditation than sitting in my experience.

Also, another thing I have found to be helpful is to use a counting technique. Here is a good explanation how to use counting with mindfulness of breathing:

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Just remember that if you decide to count, your object of attention is still the breath, and the numbers are just a guide, not the actual object of meditation.

[analatt]

hm, in my experience... forcing to contemplating breath and other mind, bodys feeling is not good attitude for meditating.
what i mean is, not following sati object but waching(just accepting) object naturaly as comes, rises at that moment time.