Mindful
Strategies
For stress reduction and
well-being
Why Mindfulness, Why Now?
 Growing
research base supporting the
physical, psychological and emotional
benefits to mindfulness & meditation.
 Challenges of a 24/7/365 life.
 Desire to take back aspects of our lives.
 Search for meaning and significance.
 To be more present to the world, those
around us and to ourselves.
Thoreau
Only
that day dawns to
which we are truly awake.
Body Scan Meditation
 When




it is effective:
Morning upon waking
During the day in times of stress
After a strenuous workout
NOT at 6:30 pm?
Mindfulness as a Component
of Comprehensive Well-Being
 Career
Well-Being
 Social Well-Being
 Financial Well-Being
 Physical Well-Being
 Community Well-Being
 Spiritual Well-Being
 Psychological Well-Being
What is Mindfulness?
 Palmer:
 The
most practical thing we can achieve
in any kind of work is insight into what is
happening inside of us as we do it. The
more familiar we are with our own inner
terrain, the more surefooted our teaching
– and living - becomes.
Kabat-Zinn
“…awareness that arises through paying
attention, on purpose in the present
moment, non-judgmentally.”
Kabat-Zinn
“…mindfulness is the aim, the methods or
practices, and the outcomes or
consequences all wrapped up together,
wholly fitting for a non-dual orientation that
emphasizes nowhere to go, nothing to do,
and nothing to attain.”
Conscious intention to move from Human
Doing to Human Being.
Don’t Just Do Something – Sit
There!
 Sitting
Meditation
MEDITATION:
Its NOT what you THINK
 Meditation
is best conceived as a set of
practices designed to help us become
more mindful, more aware, more present
to ourselves, our loved ones, our
students/clients/customers/friends, and
our world.
 Meditation is a map, but the map is not
the terrain.
The Three Categories of
Mindfulness Practice
 Formal






mindfulness/meditation (ex.):
Body Scan meditation
Sitting Meditation – breath, sounds, objects,
open awareness
Walking meditation
Movement/yoga meditation
Eating meditation
Others….
The Three Categories of
Mindfulness Practice
 Informal

mindfulness/meditation
Strategies for moving from our
mats/cushions into our lives.
 Mindful
moments
The Three Categories of
Mindfulness Practice
 Formal
Meditation Retreats
What Mindfulness Meditation
IS and IS NOT
 Not
having a blank mind or stopping all
thoughts from showing up.

Mindfulness practices help us see our
thoughts and mind more clearly.
 Not

about seeking blissful states.
Mindfulness practices help us accept all of
our experiences instead of just clinging to
those we enjoy and avoiding those we
dislike.
What Mindfulness Meditation
IS and IS NOT
 Not

Mindfulness practice enables us to more
fully bear a full range of emotional
experiences.
 Not

becoming emotionless.
withdrawing from life.
Mindfulness practice attunes us to others,
assists us to become more compassionate.
What Mindfulness Meditation
IS and IS NOT
 Not

Mindfulness practice helps us recognize our
pains, sufferings and dis-eases and allows us
to embrace them.
 Not

about escaping pain.
about converting to a new religion.
Mindfulness practices can support our
efforts in any spiritual or psychological
condition.
Eating Meditation
Seven Foundational Attitudes
(Kabat-Zinn)
 Non-judging
– being a witness to your
experiences
 Patience – Sometimes things must unfold
in their own time.
 Beginner’s Mind – Too often our mental
constructs, our propensity to attach value
get in the way of simply experiencing.
Seven Foundational Attitudes
 Trust
– in your inherent wisdom and
goodness and your feelings.
 Non-Striving – there is no goal other than
to be here, now, in the present moment
with whatever arises.
 Acceptance – seeing things as they are in
the present moment.
 Letting Go or Non-Attachment –
metaphors for letting thoughts go.
What are my intentions?
Why am I hear?
Curiosity
Free food/ Free Session (100% Money Back
Guarantee)
Alleviate stress in my life – do you know what I
have been going through lately with the kids,
my spouse, the idiot boss at work…
Learn some ways to become more present
For some time away from everyone else
I’m actually in the wrong room, but too
embarrassed to get up and leave
To find enlightenment
Hindrances to a Regular
Formal Practice
 Time


Meditation – yet one more thing to feel
guilty about NOT DOING
Add it to my checklist of 67 other things to
do tomorrow.
 Location
 Don’t
know how (resources)
 My spouse/significant other/children will
think I’m nuts
Stages in My Practice
 Curiosity
 Stress
Reduction
 Dealing with Difficult Emotions
 Identity and the Nature of Self
Compassion/Loving Kindness
Meditation
 Four




steps
Compassion to/for yourself
Compassion to/for a loved one
Compassion to/for someone neutral
Compassion to/for someone dislike.
 “May
you have happiness and the causes
of happiness.”
 May you be free from suffering and the
causes of suffering.
Resources
 Full
Catastrophe Living & Coming to our
Senses, John Kabat-Zinn.
 A Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction
Workbook. Bob Stahl & Elisha Goldstein.
 The Stress Reduction Workbook for Teens.
Gina Biegel.
 The Mindfulness Solution. Ronald Siegel
 Mindfulness in Plain English. Bhante
Gunarantana.
Resources






Eight Mindful Steps to Happiness. Bhante
Gunarantana.
Beyond Mindfulness in Plain English. Bhante
Gunarantana.
Nothing to Do, Nowhere to Go. Thich Nhat
Hanh
Happiness. Thich Nhat Hanh.
The Joy of Living. Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche.
Joyful Wisdom. Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche.
Resources
 The
Meditator’s Atlas: A Roadmap of the
Inner World. Matthew Flickstein.
 The Meditator’s Workbook: A Journey to
the Center. Matthew Flickstein.
 Happiness: A Guide to Developing Life’s
Most Important Skill. Matthieu Ricard.
Resources
 Savor:
Mindful Eating, Mindful Life. Thich
Nhat Hanh & Lillian Cheung
 Mindful Eating: A Guide to Rediscovering
a Healthy and Joyful Relationship with
food. Jan Bays.
 Eating Mindfully: How to end mindless
eating & enjoy a balanced relationship
with food. Susan Albers.
Resources
 Unlearning
Meditation: What to do when
the instructions get it the way. Jason Siff
 Numerous books by the Dalai Lama
 CDs:
 Mindfulness for Beginners – Jon Kabat-Zinn
 Mindfulness Meditation for Pain Relief. –
Jon Kabat-Zinn
 Set of four tapes for the MBSR Program
(www.mindfulnesstapes.com)
Resources
 Meditation
for Beginners. – Jack Kornfield
 Guided Meditation. – Jack Kornfield.
 Mindfulness
Based Stress Reduction (U. of
Mn), September 29th – November 17th;
Center for Spirituality & Healing
(www.csh.umn.edu)