Do Nothing
Meditation
Doing Nothing, and
Doing It Well!
Most forms of mindfulness meditation require effort, whether
it’s the focused attention of concentration practices or the more broad
awareness encouraged by practices like Non-Duality. In fact, one of the main
criticisms of mindfulness is that it can seem to vilify the idea of daydreaming
and suggest that letting the mind wander naturally is a bad thing.
This is a slight misconception –mindfulness simply
creates a space in which to focus on taming the mind and thinking differently,
if only for a few minutes each day – but it’s true that we often place
too much pressure and intention on our meditation practice.
“Do Nothing”
meditation is all about moving away from that notion.
Now, it’s worth noting early on that the words ‘Do’ and
‘Nothing’ are inherently opposites. At any one moment, you are always
breathing, or moving, even in some barely identifiable way. So why is the idea
of “Doing Nothing” so ingrained in both modern society and culture and in
ancient meditative practices?
The Art of Doing Nothing
Do Nothing” technique insists that this type of meditation
should include the suffix “with time”. In other words, this is a practice that
one gradually develops a knack for in the long term. With time, you’ll develop
a sensitivity for the part of you that controls attention.” But we’ll get more
into the benefits of this type of meditation soon; first, let’s take you
through the basics of how it actually works.
“Do Nothing” meditation represents the opposite of
standard mindfulness meditation; instead of creating a state of calmness by
focusing on the breath or another anchor, meditators practice simply letting
their minds go wherever they like, without control or disruption.
Various terms have been coined in relation to this
meditation practice, including “choiceless awareness” or “Just
sitting”, which derives from the Zen practice of Shikantaza. Its principles
have been employed in a number of different spiritual traditions, including the
Tibetan Buddhist practice of Dzogchen (meaning “great completeness”), which
encourages meditators to reach a space of emptiness or “purity” in order to
understand the true nature of existence.
Another similar technique is the concept of radical
acceptance, which teaches that only by accepting the things that are out of
our control can we truly end suffering.
Clearly then, this is an idea that humans have been
considering for a long time. But it might still sound a little airy-fairy and
difficult to grasp — if that’s the case, don’t worry. Later on this blog post,
we’ll take you through exactly how to create a “Do Nothing” experience for
yourself. But first, let’s briefly consider the science behind this meditative
method.
The Neuroscience of Doing Nothing
A lecture by American neuroscientist and psychiatrist Judson
Brewer explains how humans can benefit from flow states in which we’re
focusing on nothing in particular and instead wrapped up in the joy of just
“being”. There’s science to back this idea up. MRI brain scans show that the
activity of the PCC (posterior cingulate cortex) decreases when we let go of
the feeling of doing anything.
This means that the
default mode network, which can cause stress and other negative feelings, is
less active. The more it feels like things are just effortlessly happening, the
more your default mode network slows down, which boosts your levels of
happiness and peace of mind. This is one of the many positive effects
meditation can have on human brain structure and the brainwaves we experience.
The “Do Nothing” Meditation Technique
During meditation, thoughts, memories, worries, pains,
itches, and a million other distractions come up. “Do Nothing” practices
encourage us to simply accept all of these things. Whether what we’re
experiencing is boring, neutral, negative, or positive, the trick is to not
resist any of it or judge anything as bad. Your mind can ruminate on stories,
escalate into monkey chatter, or do anything else — and this is the whole
technique!
According to Meditation teacher Shinzen Young, the
instruction stage for this meditative practice should essentially amount to two
sentences:
Let whatever happens happen.
As soon as you’re aware of an intention to control your
attention, drop that intention.
The first instruction is all about allowing sensory
experiences to happen, whatever they are. You could get sleepy or restless,
you could get lost in monkey mind, or you could have very little clarity. All
these things are okay — let them happen.
Don’t worry about where your mind goes while you’re
sitting. It can go to all sorts of distractions, and that’s fine. The main
thing is that you’re not making a concerted effort to meditate, focus, or
concentrate in any way.
The instruction “As soon as you’re aware of an intention to
control your attention, drop that intention” might sound like it’s encouraging
you to monitor whether or not you have intentions; however, this isn’t the
case. This is because if you’re actively trying to seek out and drop
intentions, you’re actually doing two things, rather than doing one, or even
nothing. Instead, this form of meditation is just about sitting and allowing
the mind to wander.
It’s also okay to be unaware of your own intentions. You
can’t force it; you have to wait for the awareness to be there. This could take
just a few seconds, but it could also take a long time. When you do become
aware of a particular intention, “do nothing” meditation asks you to drop this
thought or idea, letting go of it in order to simply “be”.
How long should I practice for?
When you first try this technique, you should set aside 10-15
minutes for it. As you become more comfortable and the process becomes a
little easier to get into, you can extend the period of time you spend
practicing. Given the free, liberated principle that remains at the core of
this form of meditation, you might not be surprised to hear that the period of
time you spend practicing this technique can vary immensely depending on your
individual circumstances and needs.
There’s no end goal, and you definitely don’t have
to be searching for some kind of spiritual awakening or enlightenment.
Crucially, there’s no “wrong” way of doing this kind of meditation. Just
let go of intentions, and let go of control.
Why “try” to do nothing?
Most forms of meditation seem to focus on cultivating a
state of mind that wasn’t there before you started that particular meditation
method. But what about the innate capacity for inner peace and happiness that’s
already inside us? Shouldn’t we be able to access awakening without even
trying?
The type of meditation we’ve focused on today is all about
cultivating a form of effortlessness. This can lead to flow states, in
which we are entirely “in the zone”, engaged with the task at hand and
able to perform it with no visible effort. Not only are these states great for
creativity, open-mindedness, and general well-being, they can also help reduce
feelings of irritability, impatience, frustration, and forgetfulness.
As we mentioned earlier, the “Do Nothing” technique can also
help take the pressure away from meditation, which is often what gets in the
way of effective practice. Our belief that we must always be doing something,
completing tasks, and striving forwards, is what drives the ego. This can get
in the way of us noticing or experiencing more profound states of mind.
When we let go of the need for action and instead “do
nothing”, our egoic voice quietens, and the attitude change this causes can be
immense.
What if it doesn’t work?
First, it cant not work because there is no goal to achieve.
It’s possible that you’ll find this type of meditation hard. You could end up
just sitting there, thinking about current problems and difficult experiences,
considering what you’re going to have for lunch, or just getting sleepy and
tired, without getting much deeper into meditation.
There are a few things you might end up doing that signal
intentional thinking, and that you should try and shift away from if you
become aware of them:
Actively trying to meditate
Trying to focus on something specifically
Intentionally thinking about a certain topic
Keeping track of the time or tracking events that are
happening
Focusing on a certain sight or sound within your environment
If you find yourself doing one of these things, first of
all, don’t beat yourself up about it! It’s totally natural for the mind to
drift towards intentional thoughts and behaviors, so it takes practice to just
“do nothing” instead.
One good fix you can try if this problem strikes you is to
use breath awareness as a gateway into your meditation session. Spend 10
minutes or so focusing on the breath (check out this article for some advice on
the best breathwork techniques out there), and hopefully, you’ll gently
transition into a more natural form of “do nothing” meditation. Another thing
you can try is defocusing your gaze, keeping your eyes open but allowing them
to blur, and letting yourself space out a little.
Getting Something from Nothing
Many people believe that “real meditation” is simply about
letting go of control and breaking away from the human need to constantly guide
our own experience. Mindfulness meditation can be great for developing ways to
control our chaotic minds and ground ourselves in present moment experience;
however, calmness and peace can also be achieved by simply letting our minds go
where they like.
You can think of your mind as an energetic dog who you’ve
let off the leash at a park.
They’ll run around like crazy for a while, but if you just
sit on a bench calmly waiting for them to get tired, they will eventually come
back to you. In the same way, taking an effortless approach to meditation might
lead to all sorts of crazy thoughts at first, but in the end, your internal
monologue will hopefully settle down.
When it comes to thriving and surviving in an intense, busy,
constantly interconnected world, one of the best things you can do is learn how
to do nothing. Aimlessness, rest, and boredom can be great sources of
inspiration and creativity, while thinking without an open mind can create
tunnel vision and stop you from accomplishing your goals. Ultimately, the brain
needs downtime in order to process the events of a day, store memories and
experiences, recuperate, and ensure it is performing at its optimum level.
We need to look after our emotional and mental health and
give our brains the rest they need; “do nothing” meditation can be a great way
of making this process more natural
Frequently Asked Questions:
Is meditating just doing nothing?
The term ‘meditation’ encompasses a huge range of different
practices, from various different spiritual traditions and cultural contexts.
Some of these involve doing nothing, while others require intense levels of
concentration. To improve your knowledge on this subject, check out our article
on the six main types of meditation.
How do I train myself to do nothing?
As we’ve explored, it can be difficult to feel comfortable
doing nothing. You may need to train yourself to move away from human habits of
busyness and action, and mindfulness noting practices of breathing techniques
can be a great way to do this. Our article on Quick Mindfulness Exercises You
Can Do Anywhere can provide you with some useful ideas.
What’s the difference between mindfulness and
meditation?
We’ve talked a lot in this article about how “Do Nothing”
meditation differs from most mindfulness practices, and you might be a little
confused about the distinctions between mindfulness and meditation. Put simply,
meditation is a formal practice, while mindfulness can be a quality of mind as
well as a form of meditative exercise.