A gong every five minutes and nothing else. Use each interval to change what you are working on.
Listen to the Meditation
About This Practice
The interval version is more useful than it first appears. Instead of one long stretch of the same thing, the gong divides your sitting into segments, and each one can hold a different focus.
The obvious use is mantras. Start with one phrase, and when the gong sounds, move to the next. That suits work on beliefs, where you might want to build several related statements in a single session rather than repeat one until it goes flat.
It works for other things too. A segment following the breath, then a segment noting, then a segment sitting with something difficult. Or the four steps in order: notice, be kind about what you noticed, look for the belief underneath it, then work on the belief.
The structure also helps if your attention tends to drift and stay drifted. A gong every five minutes brings you back whether or not you noticed you had gone.
Micro Practice: Three Breaths
Before you begin, decide what each segment holds, then take three breaths.
- Breathe and settle on the breath itself.
- Breathe and name what the first segment is for.
- Breathe and begin.