Deepening Your Mindfulness Practice: How to Move Beyond Basic Techniques

Ready to take your mindfulness to the next level? Discover practical ways to deepen your mindfulness practice beyond the basics and unlock new levels of calm, clarity, and presence.
 

Introduction: You’ve Started—Now What?

So, you’ve dipped your toes into mindfulness. Maybe you’ve tried a few guided meditations, done some breathwork, or practised being present while sipping your morning tea. That’s a great start.

But now you might be asking: Is there more to this? The answer is a resounding yes.

Mindfulness isn’t just a tool to reduce stress—it’s a lifelong path. And like any journey worth taking, there comes a point where you move beyond the beginner steps and start to explore deeper, richer territory.

This post is your guide to doing just that.

 

1. Revisit the Basics—With New Eyes

Before you dive into advanced techniques, it helps to return to the basics with curiosity. Often, what feels “basic” is actually profound when viewed with experience.

Ask yourself:

• Are you really paying attention during your 10-minute meditation?

• Are you present in your body or just going through the motions?

• Can you sit with discomfort or do you immediately try to fix or avoid it?

Mindfulness deepens not by adding more, but by going deeper into what’s already there. Slow down. Strip away expectations. Sit with what is.

Pro Tip: Try doing your regular meditation with the intention of not improving. Simply observe. It’s surprisingly liberating.

 

2. Explore Mindfulness in Movement

Mindfulness isn’t just about sitting still. Movement-based practices like walking meditation, mindful yoga, or even tai chi can help integrate awareness into daily life.

Walking meditation, for example, invites you to bring attention to the sensations of each step—the lift, the shift of weight, the contact with the ground.

You could also try “mindful chores”—washing up, folding laundry, or cooking—where you deliberately engage your senses and stay fully present.

“When you walk, just walk. When you eat, just eat.” — Zen proverb

Bringing mindfulness into motion grounds it in your everyday experience. It becomes less of a separate practice and more of a way of living.

 

3. Deepen Your Breath Awareness

If you’ve been using the breath as a simple anchor for your attention, try exploring it more fully.

What happens to your awareness when you follow the breath:

• All the way in and all the way out?

• As it enters your nostrils, fills your lungs, and then releases?

• When your breath changes during emotional states?

Breath can become a mirror—subtle shifts in it often reflect shifts in your mental and emotional landscape.

For a deeper dive, experiment with pranayama (yogic breath control), or extend your exhale to stimulate the parasympathetic nervous system. This helps train your nervous system to stay calm under pressure.

 

4. Invite in Mindful Listening and Speaking

Mindfulness isn’t only an internal exercise. It shows up in how we interact with others.

Try this:

• When someone is talking, give them your full attention.

• Notice your impulse to interrupt or rehearse your response.

• Pause before you speak. Breathe. Let your words arise from presence, not habit.

These small shifts create more meaningful conversations, reduce misunderstandings, and strengthen relationships.

Challenge: Go a whole day practising mindful speech—say only what is true, necessary, and kind.

 

5. Investigate Your Experience

Basic mindfulness helps you notice thoughts and emotions. Going deeper means gently investigating them without judgment.

Ask yourself:

• Where in the body do I feel this emotion?

• What story is my mind telling me?

• Is this thought a fact or just a pattern?

This is the territory of insight meditation (vipassana)—where you not only observe your experience but begin to understand its nature.

You may start to see how impermanent thoughts are, or how cravings and aversions create suffering. This can lead to profound shifts in how you relate to the world.

 

6. Embrace Silence and Solitude

There’s a reason silent retreats exist. When you remove distractions—speech, technology, stimulation—you create space for deep stillness.

You don’t need to go off-grid for a week to benefit. Try mini-retreats:

• An hour of silence in the morning

• A phone-free day

• A solo walk in nature with no podcasts or music

These pockets of quiet allow your nervous system to reset, and help you hear the quieter whispers of your inner world.

 

7. Commit to Consistency Over Intensity

It’s easy to get excited about deepening your practice and then overdo it—signing up for every course, doing hour-long sits, and burning out in a week.

Instead, build a sustainable rhythm. Ten mindful minutes a day is better than one hour once a week.

Keep a journal. Track what works. Be honest. The deeper fruits of mindfulness come from steady, patient effort.

Reminder: Mindfulness is not about doing it “right”—it’s about showing up, again and again.

 

8. Find a Teacher or Community

One of the best ways to deepen your practice is to join a group or work with a teacher. This gives you:

• Accountability

• Perspective

• Support during challenging phases

Look for a local meditation group, a retreat centre, or even online communities. You’re not alone on this path.

 

Final Thoughts: It’s a Way of Being

Deepening your mindfulness practice isn’t about levelling up like a game. It’s about softening. Paying attention. Letting go of striving.

The more you stay present with life as it is—messy, beautiful, uncomfortable, joyous—the more mindfulness becomes a natural state of being.

So whether you’re folding socks or facing a tough conversation, remember: This moment is your teacher. Come back to it, again and again.

 

Extra Resources

Go here to learn more about my online Mindfulness Course.

Why not treat yourself to a mindfulness retreat in the beautiful Devon countryside?

This post may also interest you: Open Awareness and Anchoring with Mindfulness Techniques

Best Wishes,

David.

© D. R. Durham, All rights reserved, 2025.