Summary
An attentive morning unfolds through ordinary rituals, sitting practice and repeated returns from distraction. The author explores how automatic judgments become part of what we practice with.
At a glance
Begin by sitting up, washing attentively, changing into comfortable clothes and noticing the morning without rushing. During meditation, return to your existing method whenever attention wanders, without labeling the session a failure. The author's teacher emphasizes changing habitual tendencies; the practice continues through breakfast and the day's interactions.
Start Your Morning with Ten Mindfulness Practices
01
If you want a morning with less chaos and perhaps a little poetry, stop battling the alarm. When it rings, you may long to linger in bed, but you are already slipping into that hazy interval where dreams put on a show of their own: “Still not getting up? Then let me entertain you!” Drift back to sleep and you can emerge even more disoriented, frustrated and anxious. Muster a little resolve and sit up.
02
Wash your face and look at yourself in the mirror with a little more awareness. Feel the warm, damp towel helping you wake up. Brush your teeth slowly. Especially with these small everyday tasks, resist the urge to hurry toward the finish. Notice each stroke, each point where the brush meets your teeth, whether they are natural teeth or dentures. Feel the rinse swirling through your mouth and between your teeth, awakening another layer of touch.
03
Change out of your pajamas before you meditate. They carry a quiet suggestion: “No one is checking; you might as well keep sleeping.” Even if you are staying home, put on soft, comfortable clothes you like, look in the mirror and comb your hair. Give the moment a little ceremony. Another day in the theater of life is beginning; let each morning find you stepping onto the stage awake and clear.
04
Begin with a glass of warm water, noticing how it moistens the dryness left by the night. To me, it feels as though the water opens the central channel; in this traditional understanding, it also eases the digestive tract and helps bowel movements. If your morning meditation will be relatively long, consider having coffee with milk or milk tea beforehand, especially in autumn and winter. My thinking is that it gives the body warmth and energy, helps raise yang energy and reduces drowsiness while sitting.
Lately, I have been making myself a cup of coffee with milk. I grind 10 grams of beans and use a pour-over so the coffee will not be too strong first thing in the morning. Then I heat the milk and finish with a little chocolate powder over the fine milk foam. By then, the sky is just beginning to lighten, and it feels as though verses of a morning prayer are drifting down from above.
05
Do not rush off to accomplish something “important.” Treat meditation or yoga as an assignment and you can become so tense and hurried that you miss the morning happening around you. Begin with the unforced spirit of wu wei: nothing needs to become overwhelmingly important, and nothing needs to be done carelessly. Take in the morning itself. This pause takes only ten or twenty minutes, with each sip of coffee warming the palate. I always step into the courtyard for a few breaths of fresh air, where I can see the warm yellow of the eastern sunrise lighting the branches and edges of houses to the west.
06
The small rituals of the morning wake you layer by layer. Without hurrying, the mind gradually brightens too. Then enter the meditation room and sit down. Set an alarm to mark the end of your session, close your eyes and give yourself over to the morning. Breathe in, then breathe out through your mouth. Repeat this three times, lengthening your spine, and begin the day's sitting with a sense of openness and clarity in body and mind.
07
You probably know what happens next: that lovely feeling soon passes. Not every morning will be as clear, peaceful and free of stray thoughts as you imagined. Often, we are either groggy or, as our energy returns, carried away by a restless mind. This brings us to the real questions. If sitting does not feel good, should I still keep getting up so early? Should I end the session ahead of time and do something else? If I never seem to make any progress, should I keep meditating at all?
There may be all sorts of techniques for sustaining pleasant feelings or creating fresh ones. Ultimately, though, the purpose of sitting is to change our habitual tendencies. My teacher has emphasized this to us again and again.
08
“What do you mean by habitual tendencies?” a puzzled friend once asked me. The opening of the Third Patriarch Sengcan's Xinxin Ming came to mind: “The Supreme Way is not difficult; it only shuns picking and choosing. With neither aversion nor attachment, all becomes clear.” The crucial thing in meditation is not to prevent every thought from arising. It is to avoid instantly deciding, when you notice you have fallen asleep or followed a train of thought, that you have meditated badly, that the session has failed, that you have wasted your time, that the whole sitting was pointless or that your method must be wrong. I understand this stream of automatic judgments in terms of what Buddhism calls manas, the seventh consciousness: our deeply rooted habitual tendencies. The label snaps into place before there is even a moment's pause.
This is right; that is wrong. This matters; that does not. This feels comfortable; that does not. Which one is better, after all? Our habits of picking and choosing—always demanding an answer, wanting a faster result, seeking pleasure and avoiding discomfort—attach themselves to whatever circumstances we encounter. The mind becomes so caught up in taking sides that it leaves no room to observe or adjust.
09
These judgments can leave us feeling trapped or agitated, but they can also give us a sense of accomplishment or security. Repeated over time, they become habits we barely recognize in ourselves. These days, it seems increasingly common to struggle with falling asleep, getting out of bed, finding energy or settling the mind. We need to understand and adjust the blower working behind the scenes, fanning these difficulties. Our habitual tendencies are that blower.
Here, the trouble is not simply that a difficulty has appeared; it is that, when it appears, we turn it into something that troubles us. Stay where you are, with simple awareness. When the mind wanders, return. When it wanders again, return again. If you fall asleep, wake up; if it happens again, wake up again. Begin afresh, over and over, simply returning to counting your breaths or to whatever meditation method you already use. Add no judgments or labels to what has passed. Do not grasp at or chase what comes next. Practice this way every day.
10
When the alarm sounds, end your sitting. Put on some music, make breakfast and chew slowly. Continue on your way to work, meet people and attend to the day's interactions. Once you leave the cushion, the practice of everyday life begins again. Simply respond to what comes and do what needs doing; deal with each matter on its own terms. Practice diligently, with ease. When I read the phrase zhi ren yun—letting things unfold naturally and directly—I was struck by its freedom. It is so simple, and that is precisely what makes it so difficult.
The things that are truly absorbing have no final outcome.
Frequently asked questions
What should I do when my mind wanders during morning meditation?
Return to counting your breaths or whatever meditation method you already use. Repeat this whenever attention wanders, without adding judgments about what has passed or chasing what comes next.
Does the routine require coffee before meditation?
The author suggests considering coffee with milk or milk tea before a relatively long morning meditation, especially in autumn and winter. The detailed coffee preparation describes the author's recent personal habit, rather than a requirement for everyone.
Does a distracted meditation session mean I have failed?
The author advises against immediately labeling a sleepy or distracted session a failure. The author's teacher emphasizes changing habitual tendencies, and the practice involves returning repeatedly without those automatic verdicts.
How does the practice continue after meditation?
The author describes making breakfast, chewing slowly, going to work and attending to interactions as continuations of practice. Respond to what comes and handle each matter on its own terms, with relaxed diligence.
