Effortless Mindfulness is Recommended by Research

Nondirective Meditation

Here is some important research on the benefits of “nondirective meditation,” a type of effortless mindfulness in which the mind is not focused on an object.

While “concentrative meditation” can be helpful at times, specific forms of nondirective meditation are essential for insight and transformation. Concentrative meditations tends to be fairly dualistic. Our interest ultimately is in uncovering our natural nondual awareness.

The instructions offered at my retreats and workshops typically utilize specific forms of inquiry that can be more closely associated with nondirective meditation than with concentrative meditation.

Excerpt from the Study

The other type [than concentrative meditation] may be called nondirective meditation, where the person who is meditating effortlessly focuses on his or her breathing or on a meditation sound, but beyond that the mind is allowed to wander as it pleases. Some modern meditation methods are of this nondirective kind…. The study indicates that nondirective meditation allows for more room to process memories and emotions than during concentrated meditation,” says Svend Davanger, a neuroscientist at the University of Oslo, and co-author of the study.

—Science 2.0

Read the full study »