Diving Deep and Holding Steady With An Anchor

In Edition 23, we explored the wandering mind and how to use anchors to develop single-pointed attention and mindfulness.

We explored broad and specific anchors, and in this edition, we will explore in detail the specific anchors described in the previous edition.

Specific anchors stay constant in one sitting or a practice session. They are single anchors, and we use these anchors as the resting place, where we bring our mind back as we become aware that our mind has wandered. Some specific anchors are

• Breath

• Body

• Sound (External or Internal)

• Visualisation (External or Internal)

The first two anchors, breath and body sensations, are the commonly taught meditation anchors, especially in the Buddhist lineages.

However, sound and visualisation (both internal and external objects) can be powerful anchors in practice, and they are very popular in Hindu and Yogic traditions.

Breath

Breath is a portable, no-fluff, and ever-present anchor. It is always with us.

We can train our attention to one of three points in the body where the breath is accessible with a lot more ease, although when we breathe, we breathe with our whole body, not just with these three parts.

But to begin with, we can place our attention.

1. At the tip of the nostrils, to feel the sensation of our breath, in and out.

2. On the chest, feel the rise and fall of the chest with each breath.

3. On the stomach, feel the rise and fall of the stomach with each breath.

The Anapanasati (mindfulness of breath) is the foundational practice taught by Buddha and is a key practice in the Theravada lineage of Buddhism. Contemporary mindfulness teachers teach this practice.

This practice uses breath as the anchor, and meditators train to place their attention on the breath and sharpen their attention to detect and stay present with the subtle sensations of the breath.

Body

In my first 10-day silent meditation retreat in the Theravadan lineage, I was taught Anapanasati. After that, we were taught Vipassana, where we observed body sensations while systematically scanning each part of the body.

We were taught to stay with the sensation, watch it arise, and pass away without getting hooked on to it by either craving or wishing it to disappear.

In this practice, we intentionally focus on a specific body part and train our attention to notice the sensations that arise in that part of the body. When the sensation arises and passes away, we place our attention on another body part. This is done systematically.

I’ve also explored this anchor by focusing on one part of the body for the duration of the practice. My preferred body anchor is the heart space. I like to place my attention in the heart area and notice what comes up in that space.

I feel my intense feelings in my heart area more than any other part of the body. This is a clue to my emotional state and invariably a busy highway of sensations.

Sound

Sound is one of my favourite anchors when my mind is very busy, and I can’t focus on breathing or my body.  With sound, there are two types of anchors we could use

• External

• Internal

External

A wide variety of meditation music and soundtracks are available on Insight Timer and other meditation and music apps. These could be useful anchors when we sit in practice.

I like using repetitive sounds like drumming, gongs, falling rain, binaural beats, and white noise so that the sound itself does not distract me from my practice.

Internal

This is a popular anchor I learned when I was young: mantra. Mantras are short and powerful phrases that meditators can use to train their attention. They are taught as part of yogic practices but are also widely found in other traditions.

One can get paralysed trying to choose a mantra as an anchor. Experiment with a few, and see what helps bring your attention back easily. You can say it out loud or in your mind.

This is not one of my preferred anchors, and when I played around with this in my practice, it did not stick and made me even more distracted!

Visual Object

This anchor is tricky to explain, but it is one of the most helpful ones. I will try my best to explain it, and if this doesn’t make any sense, please do write to me and let me know.

In our meditation practice, we can use a visual object in two ways,

• External

• Internal

External

The objects in traditional practice tend to be idols or any sacred objects, but you could use any object to train your attention on  - tree, moon, pen stand, candle, your body.

Keep an object that is not moving very much and is not interesting that you become absorbed in it instead of using it as an anchor.

It becomes apparent when we use this anchor when the mind wanders because our eyes have also wandered along with the mind. This helps us quickly return our minds to the anchor by refocusing our eyes on the object.

Internal

An external visual object as an anchor can be great for beginners, while this internal visual object is much more suitable for intermediate and advanced meditation practitioners.

In this, the meditator visualises an image in their mind’s eye and, with practice, makes the image vivid and focuses their attention on it. When the mind wanders, the visualisation is likely to disappear, so when the meditator brings their mind back, they recreate the visualisation.

This object is helpful when the mind has been trained to be in stable attention for long durations; otherwise, it can get frustrating very quickly. These are used mainly in Vajrayana practices of Buddhist lineage.

How to use the anchors

With such a variety of anchors, exploring different anchors can get exciting in the beginning. My suggestion is to pick one anchor and explore it for some time. It takes some time for the mind to become familiar with the anchor and to take root in it as a resting place.

The breath and the body are always available and accessible; you can make them part of your primary practice and practice on the go.

We go through phases in our meditation practice when it is boring and annoying, and we just don’t want to sit. At that time, it could be helpful to explore other anchors and see if that restores your motivation and interest in the practice.

Magic of Hidden Anchors

I used guided practices heavily in the first few years of my meditation practice. And I still use them when I find it hard to sit on my own.

I practice twice a week in a group setting, which helps me stay with my practice longer than I would have if I had been practising on my own.

To wrap up the subject of anchors, in James R. Doty’s book Into the Magic Shop: A Neurosurgeon’s Quest to Discover the Mysteries of the Brain and the Secrets of the Heart, Ruth teaches Jim three anchors to use in practising training his mind: breath, affirmations or mantra (internal sound), and candle flame (external visual object).

I hope this two-part series exploration of anchors encourages you to experiment with different anchors and deepen your practice.

Invitation to Weekly Thursday Sessions

If you’d like to practice in a Group Setting, I invite you to my Weekly Thursday Sessions, which are held at 1:00 PM IST (7:30 AM UTC). I’ve been running this weekly group since 2021, and we meet every Thursday.

If you would like an invite, please email me, and I will add you to these invites. You are free to drop in without any long-lasting commitment to the group. Please let me know if you have requests for other time zones, and I can work them around in my future plans.

What’s Next

In the next edition of the newsletter, I close out the deep dive series of the book “Into the Magic Shop”, summarising my reflections and insights. I could write about each of these reflections in detail for a few more editions, but I want to stop here to leave you the space to have your insights from the book.

As a parting thought, I will finish this edition with a story.

It Will Pass

A student went to his meditation teacher and said, “My meditation is horrible! I feel so distracted, my legs ache, or I’m constantly falling asleep. It’s just horrible!”

“It will pass,” the teacher said matter-of-factly.

A week later, the student came back to his teacher. “My meditation is wonderful! I feel so aware, so peaceful, so alive! It’s just wonderful!’

“It will pass,” the teacher replied matter-of-factly.