Practices (non NHS)
Mindfulness - Community
Why Mindfulness?
Jack Kornfield holds a PH.d in Clinical Psychology and is a much respected and internationally recognised meditation/mindfulness teacher. We wanted to share his description of mindfulness (7 minutes 40 seconds).
‘With mindfulness we learn to be aware without judging, fixing, resisting or grasping. This is not a self-improvement project but rather the opportunity to become the loving witness to this life, which changes everything because usually we're trying to "fix" it. Mindfulness training allows us to be spacious and gracious with what's actually happening. Without being aware it's difficult to live freely because we are in reaction to what comes our way.’
With the festive season fast approaching we also wanted to combine Jack Kornfield’s talk above with a practice he offers on relating to people who we might find it difficult to be with (approx. 24 minutes).
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Recent changes in infection rates here in Glasgow, Scotland have led to some changes in what we are allowed to do to try to keep everyone safe. In these challenging times we thought it might be useful to share this practice from Professor Mark Williams, Finding Peace in a Frantic World:
When life really begins to get you down…. When you feel angry, lost or alone… When you feel close to despair… When you feel that you are your own worst enemy… The Befriending Meditation is here for you.’
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Joseph Goldstein: Meditating during a pandemic. Dan Harris, of 10% Happier, talks to Joseph Goldstein. They discuss how we are living in stressful times, and although meditation is not a panacea, how it can be helpful. Joseph Goldstein lays out a toolkit for for navigating the current crisis his advice is actionable for absolute beginners as well as longtime meditators.
If you scroll down the page the link takes you to on 10% Happier website you will also find a 10 minute meditation led by Joseph Goldstein titled 'Calm in Big Transitions'
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Have you ever been in the company of others, but still felt isolated and disconnected? Feeling connected can arise from how we relate to ourself and others, rather than how many people we are in a room with.
The environment/context we live in can influence this. Sometimes we find we have built a hard shell to try to protect ourself. The idea of softening this 'shell' we have developed may trigger feelings of vulnerability to arise. These feelings are universal aspects of being human.
It can be helpful to pause and explore this, to become aware of what patterns you are cultivating within your relationships. If we cleared some of the weeds and uncovered a sense of connection to ourself and others, what would this feel like? Would an awareness of what it feels like support us to begin to make decisions about how we might cultivate this in our relationships in a way that is helpful ? This loving kindness practice from Palouse Mindfulness offers us a chance to begin to explore this.
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Do we associate strength with love , or do we perceive love as something soft and weak? Why might someone choose to connect with qualities associated with water if they want to summon a sense of strength and power when they feel surrounded by hate? Sharon Salzberg is well known internationally for her work on loving kindness and compassion. In this article she shares her thoughts on why our interconnectedness is our greatest strength. She also offers a short guided meditation for gathering your energy.
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Connecting through walking
Can we bring a playful beginner's mind to walking? What happens when we do this?
This practice can be done when walking outside or inside your house, your back yard, or even informally when you need to travel from point A to B.
Our minds will wander off during this practice and get stuck on something. When we notice we have drifted we have an opportunity to become aware of what has happened, accepting this and gently guiding our attention and bringing our awareness to our chosen focus. Can we nurture an intent to do this over and over again with a kind acceptance - this is just part of being human?
Here are some suggestions if you would like to explore this practice, however, only use what you find helpful.
If you are walking inside your house decide a pathway, maybe the length of your hallway, or back and forth across the width of your living room, or bedroom, maybe there is a park near, or you have a garden, you could do this while walking to somewhere, or on your hours exercise during lockdown. If you are outside, be aware of the wider space you are in.
Notice how the pattern of sensations on the soles of the feet alters with the lifting and placing of each step, how does this change if we alter our pace? After a while, try expanding awareness into the whole of the body, noticing how the body is responding to walking and movement. If we play with the pace of walking is there any change in the breath, or sense of energy.
After a while, try opening awareness to sound, even if inside a building. Allowing the sounds to come into our awareness, exploring the rhythms and tones, hearing the orchestra of life around us tuning up,
Is it possible to notice smells? Don’t try too hard or reach for this, just see if you can be open to anything that touches your scent receptors.
Try moving the spotlight of awareness to sight, what shapes and textures , colours and movement is present?
When ready, guiding awareness into the body, what do you feel? Physical sensations. What do you sense within your emotions, feeling tone? Where is the mind wandering to? What happens in the body when it wanders there?
Coming back to the sensations in the soles of the feet, rest with these for a little while and then, expanding and connecting with physical sensations in the body, sound, scent, visual environment as feels appropriate.
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Feeling isolated? Here is a practice led by Bob Stahl to encourage a deeper sense of connection.
'A human being is part of the whole, called by us the Universe, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings, as something separate from the rest - a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearet to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole nature in its beauty'. (Albert Einstein, 1972)
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How often have you eaten something without even tasting it?
An aspect of mindfulness is slowing down and really noticing and exploring experiences with a beginner's mind. This can be hard to do when we are caught up in the flow of daily life. Our minds are often darting into the past or future, worrying, planning, problem solving, daydreaming… When our attention is elsewhere it this changes our experience of ‘now’, we are not so present in the moments that are our life.
A way to gradually and intentionally integrate mindful moments into daily life is to link an informal practice with something we do regularly, to consciously draw all our senses to that experience. We can do this with any activity, however, here is a short guided practice (approx. 4.35 min) , led by Vidyamala Burch of Breathworks which can be done with any beverage, called ‘The coffee meditation’.
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3 minute breathing Space with Mark Williams
Establishing daily formal practice creates a foundation providing the space to develop and deepen our mindfulness skills. But how do we integrate mindfulness into our day? How do we bring mindfulness from the formal practice, from the mat into the rest of our life?
One way is to pause, notice, and be curious of our lived experience during the day, even briefly. Here, Professor Mark Williams leads us through a 3-minute breathing space.
Could you identify a specific cue to engage with this simple practice each day? Maybe when you open your eyes to start the day, or is there a period of time each day when you know you will typically be sitting or standing waiting for someone/thing? Alternatively, could you take a minute when you first sit at your desk to start work, or at a table for a meal?
What activity would work for you as a cue to remember to take a breathing space?
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Over the last two weeks we have posted links to courses and a mindfulness summit. We hope some of you have found these interesting and are currently exploring the range of resources they offer. This week we are posting a link to a 10 minute guided meditation by Stephen Batchelor.
Stephen Batchelor has been pivotal in exploring the context of meditative practices in ways that have deepened understanding of the foundations they have been built on , whilst at the same time increasing accessibility. We are also grateful for the kindness he has shown when we have approached him, and his wiliness to offer support for NHS Scotland staff interested in mindfulness.
A brief meditation to contemplate and reflect more deeply on the conditions of our time (approx. 10 minutes).
Last updated: 11/05/2023