Meditation is not an easy practice to take up.

Although guided meditations get you into the swing of things, your ability is accelerated when you understand the process and can adapt it to your needs.

Despite the plethora of guided resources available, in my early days, I always found it more manageable to have a piece of paper with a few small cues and keywords. This approach allows for a more intuitive, natural approach.

No matter what cues and resources you use, you’re still going to have to deal with one harsh reality of meditation: mind-wandering.

Fortunately, I’ve spent almost every morning of the past half-decade in meditation, accruing 1000+ hours of practice time.

I’ve discussed the topic with several other practitioners, taken intensive courses, and analysed and digested some of the most esteemed literature on the topic, both old and new.

I’ve developed a simple acronym you can leverage in and out of your mindfulness practice.

Cultivate awareness of awareness.

Adopting the approach outlined here will help you cultivate the metacognitive awareness critical in meditation and mindfulness practice.

This is essentially the mind’s awareness and knowledge of its behaviours. Think of it with this analogy to physical exercise:

Meditation is the gym.

Mindfulness is the exercise.

Metacognitive awareness is the muscle.

Throughout our sitting practice, we train our awareness ‘muscle’ by continually redirecting our attention back to the meditation object.

For example, when we are focused, and our attention is directed to the breath, this is how things should be.

However, sooner or later, a distraction will arise from the subconscious mind or the environment, and we will forget that we were supposed to pay attention to our breath.

This mind-wandering episode may last from a few seconds to a few minutes before we have the ‘aha’ moment, where we realise we are off task from what we should be doing.

Frustration is natural.

When we experience this moment of introspective awareness, we naturally tend to feel annoyed or frustrated with ourselves.

However, this is counterproductive to the relaxed state we’re trying to cultivate.

The AARC Approach, outlined below, is beneficial for using mind-wandering to help rather than hinder our practice.

The truth is that we need the mind-wandering process to train our introspective awareness. Without it, there would be no material to work with, and we should welcome it with open arms and be grateful for it. People say they don’t meditate because they can’t focus, but that’s no excuse.

Just like no one can lift heavy weights on their first day in the gym, no one can focus entirely during their first meditation session. It takes time, effort, and patience, so only those willing to invest in these will reap the rewards.

Over time, the periods of mind-wandering between the period of focused attention will become shorter and shorter.

Eventually, we catch these distractions almost immediately before they incite an episode of mind-wandering.

With enough time and dedication, some of us reach the stage where we see the distraction arise in real time and let go of it before it tempts us into drifting out of focus.

This is highly beneficial for our focus in our work and life and allows us to see thoughts, feelings, and emotions arise before they have had time to engulf us. Often, this weakens their hold on us as we can watch them from the observer’s seat.

This way, we can make more informed, rational decisions about how we react to the world around us, resulting in a better quality of life for ourselves and others.

The AARC Approach

So you’re sat there meditating, relaxed and peaceful, and then you realise you smell coffee downstairs.

“Who’s making a coffee at this time?”

“I wonder if they’re making me one?”

“Should I have milk and sugar?”

And there you go, the mind has wandered again like that. So, when you realise what’s happened, follow these simple steps to get back on track:
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Acknowledge

It all starts with acknowledging that the mind has wandered. It doesn’t matter what you were thinking about or how long you were thinking.

The point is that you were no longer doing what you set out to do in your meditation: paying attention to the meditation object.

It doesn’t matter what shiny thought or idea comes along; it’s still a distraction.

By the way, thinking about meditating apps, cushions, or postures also does not count as meditating; it’s still a distraction, so don’t fool yourself with that one as many people do.

Accept

After acknowledging that your mind has wandered from what it was supposed to be doing, you’re likely going to feel a mix of emotions.

Annoyance, frustration, and disappointment, to name a few. However, you mustn’t let these get the better of you.

It’s time to accept that the mind has wandered without resistance or judgment.

There’s nothing you can do nothing about it now, and dwelling is only going to hold you back from making any further progress.

Forgive yourself and let go of whatever you were caught up in.

Remember that no distraction is as valuable as the benefits you reap from dedication to your meditation practice.

Redirect

By accepting that the mind has wandered and letting go, you can now permit yourself to move on.

You do this by redirecting your attention to the meditation object, whatever it was when your mind wandered.

For this explanation, we’ll imagine it was the breath.

Giving yourself a fresh start is essential when you bring the attention back to your breath.

Imagine you’re right back at the beginning of the meditation session again and try to see things with fresh eyes.

Don’t get hung up on whatever you were thinking about a few minutes ago.

Instead, come back into the present with a beginner’s mind.

This creates the space for insights to reveal themselves and progress to be made.

Connect

Sitting here to meditate proves there must be an ambitious and courageous version of yourself.

Just because your mind drifted momentarily doesn’t mean that person has disappeared. Those qualities still lie within you; you need to channel them.

When we say connect, it means to connect with the virtue inside you that represents patience, diligence, and determination.

As you return to counting the breath again, do your best to channel this version of yourself as you narrow your focus once more and cultivate mindful awareness.

Why is it so effective?

The AARC Approach is one of the most helpful strategies I’ve developed in my years of meditation. Now, you’re also equipped with it. The beauty is that you can apply it to just about any form of meditation.

You might wonder how long you’re supposed to use this, and the answer is not easy. When you first begin meditating, you must use this approach almost constantly.

Your temptation will be to rush through it, saying to yourself, “Yeah, acknowledge, accept, redirect, connect, blah blah blah…”

The problem is that the more you rush through this approach without giving it due attention, the less effective it will be.

Part of its power is that it can almost seem tedious after several repetitions, but this is good.

Our minds get bored of repeating these things, so doing it properly gives us more incentive to remain focused and not get lost in mind-wandering. Otherwise, we know we must go through that boring AARC thing again!

You get the point now; it’s essential to do it properly.

Giving the method due diligence will be more effective, and your mind-wandering periods will eventually get shorter.

It might take weeks, months, or even years. It all depends on the person.

Meditation is a long game, though, and there’s no better time to start than now.

It will make you better in all aspects of your life for the rest of your life, as long as you remain consistent.

Enough for today.