Working Together: Module 2
MINDFULNESS
Module 2 - Working Together
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Mindfulness
Contents
Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 2
Learning Outcomes .......................................................................................................................... 3
Module topics .................................................................................................................................. 3
What is Mindfulness?....................................................................................................................... 3
How Does Mindfulness Work?......................................................................................................... 4
Mindfulness and Aboriginal People ................................................................................................. 4
Deep listening .................................................................................................................................. 6
How to Apply Mindfulness to the Intercultural Space .................................................................... 7
References...................................................................................................................................... 10
Appendix One................................................................................................................................. 12
Sitting Meditation - Visit to Country ........................................................................................ 12
Appendix Two ................................................................................................................................ 14
STOP Technique – Breathing Activity......................................................................................... 14
Appendix Three .............................................................................................................................. 15
Identifying supports for Tutors Activity ..................................................................................... 15
Appendix Four ................................................................................................................................ 16
Reflection Template ................................................................................................................... 16
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Introduction
Welcome to Mindfulness
In this module we will be exploring mindfulness as a means to build your resilience and skills for
teaching and leading in the intercultural space. Being mindful is about being focused on the
moment and learning to respond to challenges that life throws at you so that you can manage any
pain and stress caused without frustration and self-criticism. Mindfulness has been shown to be
effective in managing a range of conditions including stress, chronic pain, panic, and depression.
More recently it has been applied to education as a means to improve learning outcomes for
students by supporting teachers’ social-emotional competence (Jennings & Greenberg, 2009).
Social competence is ‘possessing and using the ability to integrate thinking, feeling and behaviour
to achieve social tasks and outcomes valued in the host context and culture’.
(http://www.dundee.ac.uk/eswce/research/projects/socialcompetence/definition/)
Goleman (1995), when talking about emotional intelligence, identifies five crucial emotional
competencies basic to social and emotional learning:
1. Self and other awareness: understanding and identifying feelings; knowing when one's
feelings shift; understanding the difference between thinking, feeling and acting; and
understanding that one's actions have consequences in terms of others' feelings.
2. Mood management: handling and managing difficult feelings; controlling impulses; and
handling anger constructively
3. Self-motivation: being able to set goals and persevere towards them with optimism and
hope, even in the face of setbacks
4. Empathy: being able to put yourself "in someone else's shoes" both cognitively and
affectively; being able to take someone's perspective; being able to show that you care
5. Management of relationships: making friends, handling friendships; resolving conflicts;
cooperating; collaborative learning and other social skills
According to Goleman, mastering these five competencies can enhance an individual’s emotional
intelligence (1995). Learning how to practice mindfulness will assist you as a tutor to better
understand yourself and become more self-aware of not only your own feelings and thoughts but
how to manage difficult situations that can and do emerge in a classroom or tutorial situation.
The aim of this module is, therefore, to provide you with a useful tool to lead and teach in the
intercultural space. Mindfulness is—if practiced—also beneficial to daily life. This session on
mindfulness has been intentionally scheduled as the second module in order for you to be given
the opportunity to practice mindfulness during the intercultural leadership program. This module
will draw on mindfulness to support some of the overall Working Together program learning
outcomes such as developing reflexivity and facilitating intercultural learning.
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Learning Outcomes
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Understand the relevance of mindfulness to intercultural teaching and leadership
Apply mindfulness as a reflective practice within the intercultural space
Apply mindfulness as a self-care practice within the intercultural space.
Module topics
This module is an introduction to mindfulness. To maximise the benefits of mindfulness it is
recommended that a program of mindfulness sessions be undertaken. As this is only an
introductory session and the literature on mindfulness is extensive, the module notes will briefly
explore the following topics:
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What is Mindfulness?
How does Mindfulness Work?
Dadirri or Deep listening
How to Apply Mindfulness and Dadirri in the Intercultural Space.
What is Mindfulness?
Jon Kabut-Zinn, Professor of Medicine Emeritus and founding director of the Stress Reduction
Clinic and the Centre for Mindfulness in Medicine, Health Care, and Society at the University of
Massachusetts Medical School has been instrumental in the wide spread use and application of
mindfulness to Western life. He has defined mindfulness as:
the awareness that emerges through paying attention on purpose,
in the present moment, and nonjudgmentally to the unfolding of
experience moment by moment. (Kabat-Zinn, 2003, p. 145)
Mindfulness is also popularly known as ‘mindful meditation’ as many concepts underlying
mindfulness are borrowed from Buddhist meditation. Mindfulness recognises the interconnectedness of mind and body, a notion largely absent from Western discourse. According to Germer
mindfulness “is the English translation of the Pali word sati. Pali was the language of Buddhist
psychology 2500 years ago and mindfulness is the core teaching of this tradition. Sati connotes
awareness, attention and remembering” (2004, p. 25). Mindfulness is about connecting with what
is happening in the moment—as a way to learn how to relate directly to your life—and to
recognise habitual thinking (Stahl & Goldstein, 2010). In other words, mindfulness is about
stopping yourself from merely running on autopilot.
Autopilot could best be described as:
In a car, we can sometimes drive for miles “on automatic pilot,” without
really being aware of what we are doing. In the same way, we may not be
really “present,” moment-by-moment, for much of our lives;: we can often be
“miles away” without knowing it. On automatic pilot, we are more likely to have
our “buttons pressed”: Events around us and thoughts, feelings, and sensations
in the mind (of which we may be only dimly aware) can trigger old habits of thinking
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that are often unhelpful and may lead to worsening mood.
By becoming more aware of our thoughts, feelings, and body sensations, from
moment to moment, we give ourselves the possibility of greater freedom and choice; we
do not have to go into the same old “mental ruts” that may have caused problems in the
past. (Segal et al., 2002).
Through switching off the autopilot, mindfulness enables us to be consciously in the moment and
allows us to be less reactive to what is happening in that moment.
How Does Mindfulness Work?
Increasing research from the Unites States is showing that mindfulness practice changes the
functioning of the brain and has positive health benefits (Kabat-Zinn, 2003). Lau and Grobavak,
referring to what they call the Buddhist psychological model (BPM), state that mindfulness training
improves both the ability to recognise the occurrence of unhelpful mental thoughts (proliferation)
and the ability to stop constantly thinking (ruminating) about something by learning to focus your
attention elsewhere. Mastering these skills helps individuals to treat and see their re-occurring
thoughts “as mental events rather than aspects of reality of self.”
The application of mindfulness also reduces suffering (mental proliferation) through insight which
is a
“direct, non-conceptual understanding achieved through the repeated examination (via
mindfulness practice) of the following three characteristics that are present in all sensations:
1. impermanence (sensations are transient – they arise and pass away)
2. un-satisfactoriness (attachment/aversion to the feeling of sensations leads to suffering)
3. not-self (sensations do not contain or constitute any lasting, separate entity that could be
called a self).” (Lau and Grobavak, undated; Grobavak, Lau & Willett, 2011)
Constantly practicing mindfulness and reflecting on these characteristics can eventually lead to
what the Buddhists’ call enlightenment. However, another important outcome of such “insight is a
long-term reduction in habitual attachment/aversion reactions and a consequent decrease in
mental proliferation [constant occurrence of unhelpful mental thoughts] and rumination
[constantly thinking about something]” (Lau and Grobavak, undated).
Mindfulness and Aboriginal People
In Australia the application of mindfulness as an Eastern concept is relatively new in the Aboriginal
community. Professor Michael Yellowbird, a Native American scholar and social worker from the
Department of Social Work at Humboldt State University, Arcata in California, points out that
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” almost all human cultures have engaged in practices that include the use of deep, focused
thought, listening, and attention” (Yellowbird, 2011).
Yellowbird further states that while:
Developing mindfulness is not easy … it is worth doing since it is culturally
appropriate, easy to implement, low cost, and it works. Mindfulness involves
systematic training and practice and is a process that takes place over time.
[And that] dramatic, positive changes can occur when one gently and consistently
practices mindfulness. It is a journey that is well worth it for native students and
those that teach them; for when they are invited to enter into states of deep awareness and concentration their worlds, experiences, and lives become much richer,
less fearful and angry, more vivid, creative, peaceful, and healed. Raising the
educational success and wellbeing of Indigenous students is just one mindful
breath away. (2011)
A personal story from Associate Professor Dawn Bessarab further illustrates Professor
Yellowbird’s comments:
Bard people are saltwater people because they live on the coast. Many years
ago I had the opportunity to spend time with my elders at place called ‘Gulun’
which is their country near Lombadina on the Dampier Peninsula. Their campsite
at Gulun is right on the beach on a high sand hill that faces directly out to sea.
I returned to Gulun from a shopping trip at the nearby Djarindjin community to
find my two elders sitting side by side and gazing out to sea. In that moment they
were not speaking, sitting quietly totally immersed in the landscape. My first impulse
was to go up to them announce my presence and ask them what they were doing.
But I resisted the impulse and the question, choosing instead to observe from a
distance and to try answer the question for myself. After several minutes of
reflection, I realised they were meditating which was a revelation for me as this new
piece of knowledge hit my consciousness. When they eventually moved, letting me
know that I could approach I went up and greeted them. My Gulu (grandfather)
then pointed out to sea and asked me what I saw. I looked and all I could see was
a blue flat expanse of ocean that stretched to the horizon. Occasionally a distant
wave would reflect the sun’s rays but nothing seemed to break the flat calm. After
a while I replied that I couldn’t see anything. He then proceeded to point out where
a Gulil (turtle) was swimming and a dugong diving. He read the patterns of the sea
to me like a story taken from a familiar and favourite book. I realized at that point,
that by sitting quietly meditating on the ocean my Gulu and Golli (grandmother) had
learnt to read and know the ocean in a way that I could not. That moment was
a huge learning curve for me in realising and knowing that my Elders, past and present,
had been practicing mindfulness meditation for thousands of years.
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A Koori project in the Eastern States called the ‘Deep Listening Project’ is a “unique four-way
partnership between RMIT, the Koori Cohort, the Koori Heritage trust and Silcar” and has
developed a mindfulness that has helped to generate mutual understanding, respect and
creativity between all the partners. Silcar states that the “Deep Listening project has brought new
insights and approaches to the concepts of awareness and mindfulness which underpin Silcar's
workplace health and safety commitments”.’ (Silcar, 2010)
Deep listening
Deep listening:
Involves listening, from a deep, receptive, and caring place in oneself, to deeper
and often subtler levels of meaning and intention in the other person. It is listening that is generous, empathic, supportive, accurate, and trusting. Trust here
does not imply agreement, but the trust that whatever others say, regardless of
how well or poorly it is said, comes from something true in their experience.
Deep Listening is an ongoing practice of suspending self-oriented, reactive thinking and opening one’s awareness to the unknown and unexpected. It calls on
a special quality of attention that poet John Keats called negative capability. Keats
defined this as “when a man is capable of being in uncertainties, Mysteries, doubts
without any irritable reaching after fact & reason.” (Mindful 2012)
In an interview on You Tube, Aboriginal writer Miriam-Rose Ungunmerr-Baumann describes deep
listening as ‘Dadirri’ which:
is inner, deep listening and quiet, still awareness. Dadirri recognises the deep spring
that is inside us. We call on it and it calls to us. This is the gift that Australia is thirsting
for. It is something like what you call ‘contemplation’ (Creative Spirits, undated).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2YMnmrmBg8&feature=player_embedded
Similarly Judith Atkinson, an Indigenous scholar, says that ‘Dadirri’ is important in initiating healing
and positive change in postcolonial Australia (Lowitja Institute, 2012). Both Ungunmerr-Baumann
and Atkinson refer to Dadirri ‘as an Indigenous philosophy’. Atkinson says that Dadirri can inform
the way in which we ask questions and engage in ethical and respectful behaviour … to help
ensure cultural safety’ (Atkinson, 2002:15). The principles and functions of Dadirri, as used by
Atkinson, are:
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a knowledge and consideration of community, and the diversity and unique nature that
each individual brings to community
ways of relating and acting within community
a non-intrusive observation, or quietly aware watching
a deep listening and hearing with more than the ears
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reflective non-judgmental consideration of what is being seen and heard; and, having
learnt from the listening, a purposeful plan to act, with actions informed by learning,
wisdom, and the informed responsibility that comes with knowledge (2002:16).
Although Atkinson when referring to Dadirri uses the term and concept in relation to doing
research with Indigenous people, the fundamental concept is very relevant and can be applied to
working with Indigenous people.
Ungunmerr-Baumann in her interview says that “in our Aboriginal way, we learnt to listen from
our earliest days. We could not live good and useful lives unless we listened. This was the normal
way for us to learn - not by asking questions. We learnt by watching and listening, waiting and
then acting.”
Learning to use mindfulness and apply deep listening can enhance your wellbeing not only on a
personal level but can be extremely valuable in a class room or lecture situation and is a very
culturally appropriate tool to use with Aboriginal students.
In this module you will be introduced to a guided cultural meditation that will take you on a
journey to country (See Appendix One). This meditation will focus on breathing, listening and
visualisation.
How to Apply Mindfulness to the Intercultural Space
The intercultural space is a relatively new and emerging concept that is difficult to define. it is
placed in the context of higher education teaching and learning in a unit about Aboriginal culture.
The intercultural space involves tutors and students from different cultures learning from
intercultural leaders, some of whom are Aboriginal Australians, about Aboriginal culture. Tutors
and students are encouraged to discuss key learning’s, identify differences and similarities within
and between cultures and deepen understanding about barriers and facilitators to engaging with
Aboriginal culture.
Drawing on Homi Bhaba (Rutherford 1990) the intercultural space:
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avoids binaries,
allows and holds difference,
is sometimes confronting, ambiguous, uncertain and risky
It takes courage to remain in the space as power relations shift as stereotypes are challenged;
worldviews are questioned and preconceived notions of other cultures explored. It is a space of
deep potential - some call this intercultural domain the third space (Homi Bhaba 1994), a liminal,
or in-between space, that can be both inclusive and expansive. Difficult to define, the intercultural
space of the tutorial and lecture room brings together a diversity of students from different
cultural backgrounds, beliefs and worldviews. For some it will be the first time that they have had
the opportunity to discuss and reflect on Aboriginal culture.
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The focus in the intercultural space is to encourage intercultural dialogue between students on
their understandings and meaning making of what they have gained from listening to material
presented in the lectures on Aboriginal culture. The intent is to expand the discussion and
encourage students to broaden their world view, explore and unpack their own positioning in
relation to Aboriginal people’s experience of colonisation in Australia and share, discuss and even
challenge their ideas and beliefs around Aboriginal people and culture. Sometimes this space can
pose challenges particularly when a student or students harbour racist or demeaning stereotyped
views and perceptions of Aboriginal people which are voiced in and during the lecture and tutorial.
Intercultural leaders in this space may be caught unawares or experience a reaction to what has
been said and may, without thinking, react to the comment. Practicing and becoming competent
in doing mindfulness can help Intercultural leaders to STOP and think about what they need to do
before they do it; to shift from being reactive to being responsive.
Research undertaken in the United States has shown that mindfulness can support teachers to:
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create effective learning environments,
reduce their potential to “burnout,”
assist them to model social and emotional competence (including awareness, compassion
and reflection),
and help them to respond appropriately to challenging student behaviour to assist
learning (Jennings & Greenberg, 2009).
For example, the CARE for Teachers (Cultivating Awareness and Resilience in Education) program
at the Garrison Institute has been running for some years now and, has demonstrated its ability to
increase
teacher
well-being,
reduce
stress
and
improve
mindfulness
(http://www.garrisoninstitute.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=77&Itemid=
79 ).
The reality of teaching is that it often comes with emotional labour (Isenbarger & Zembylas, 2006).
Teaching in the intercultural space—when you are passionate about change for the better—can
be particularly challenging (and rewarding) (Asmar, Mercier, & Page, 2009; Asmar & Page, 2009).
Emotional labour has been described as enhancing, faking, and/or suppressing emotions to modify
one’s emotional expressions (Isenbarger & Zembylas, 2006). Mindful practice has the potential to
lessen the burden of emotional labour in the intercultural space.
In a later module exploring interpersonal and intrapersonal relationship management in the
intercultural space it can been seen that the application of mindfulness is useful for managing
‘self-talk’ and developing reflexive practice. In module three exploring teaching and leading in the
intercultural space, mindfulness can support you to help ensure the cultural safety of all students
in your classroom as well as your colleagues. Accepting events without judgment, staying calm and
openly compassionate through maintaining positive intentions, as well as having less attachment
to outcomes, will support respectful intercultural dialogue.
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Later in this program you will have an opportunity to develop a self-care plan in recognition of the
stress and frustration often associated with leading and teaching in the intercultural space. After
completing this module you may wish to consider exploring mindfulness in more detail as part of
this self-care plan. To fully explore mindfulness you can attend one of the on-going programs
offered by Curtin’s Counselling Service and or use a workbook such as:
Stahl, B., & Goldstein, E. (2010). A mindfulness-based stress reduction workbook. Oakland, CA:
New Harbinger Publications Inc.
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References
Asmar, C., Mercier, O. R., & Page, S. (2009). 'You do it from your core' : priorities, perceptions and
practices of research among Indigenous academics in Australian and New Zealand
universities Academic research and researchers.
Asmar, C., & Page, S. (2009). Sources of satisfaction and stress among Indigenous academic
teachers: findings from a national Australian study. Asia Pacific Journal of Education, 29(3),
387-401. doi: 10.1080/02188790903097505
Atkinson, J. (2002) Trauma Trails, Recreating Song Lines: The Transgenerational Effects of Trauma
in Indigenous Australia, North Melbourne, Victoria, Spinifex Press Pty., Ltd
Creative Spirits (Undated) Deep Listening (dadirri) retrieved 19th September 2012 from:
http://www.creativespirits.info/aboriginalculture/education/deep-listening-dadirri
Germer, C. (2004). What is mindfulness? Insight, 24-29.
Goleman, D. (1995) Emotional Intelligence, why it can matter more than IQ, Bantam Books, New
York.
Grabovac, A., Lau, M., & Willett, B., (2011), Mechanisms of Mindfulness: A Buddhist Psychological
Model, Mindfulness, 2:154–166.
Bhabha, H.K. (1994). The Location of Culture, London, Routledge.
Isenbarger, M., & Zembylas, M. (2006). The emotional labour of caring in teaching. Teacher and
Teacher Education, 22, 120-134.
Jennings, P. A., & Greenberg, M. T. (2009). The prosocial classroom: teacher social and emotional
competence in relation to student and classroom outcomes. Review of Educational
Research, 79(1), 491-525.
Kabat-Zinn, J. (2003). Mindfulness-Based Interventions in Context: Past, Present, and Future.
Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice, 10(2), 144-156. doi: 10.1093/clipsy.bpg016
Lau, M., & Grabovac, A., (Undated), How Mindfulness Works, retrieved 15th June 2012 from
http://ucsdcfm.wordpress.com/2011/05/31/mindfulness-how-does-it-work/
Lowitja Institute (2012) Using Dadirri as a research methodology retrieved 19th September 2012
from http://www.lowitja.org.au/using-dadirri-research-methodology
Mindful (2012) Deep Listening retrieved 19th September 2012 from: http://www.mindful.org/inlove-and-relationships/relating-to-others/deep-listening
Rutherford, J., (1990). The Third Space. Interview with Homi Bhabha in Identity: Community,
Culture, Difference. J. Rutherford. London, London: Lawrence and Wishart: 207-221.
Segal, Z. V., Williams, J. M. G., Teasdale, J. D. (2002). Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy for
Depression: A New Approach to Preventing Relapse. New York: Guildford Press.
Silcar
(2010),
Deep
Listening
Project
retrieved
16th
http://www.silcar.com.au/indigenous-deep-listening-project
June
2012
from;
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Stahl, B., & Goldstein, E. (2010). A mindfulness-based stress reduction workbook. Oakland, CA:
New Harbinger Publications Inc.
Yellowbird, M., (2011), Minding the Indigenous Mind: How the practice of mindfulness can
contribute to Indigenous Education, ARIKARA CONSCIOUSNESS retrieved 16 th June, 2012
from: http://arikaraconsciousness.blogspot.com.au/
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Appendix One
Sitting Meditation - Visit to Country
1. Sit comfortably, with your eyes closed and your spine reasonably straight.
2. Congratulate yourself for taking this time to practice and begin a sitting meditation.
3. When you are comfortable I want you to direct your attention to your breathing. Like a leaf
gently floating down to the ground I want you to start following your breath as it moves in
and out of your body.
4. Take a deep breath in through the nose, allow your stomach to expand as you breathe in,
hold the breath for a few seconds and then breathe out your mouth slowly. Allow your
body to relax on the out breath.
5. With each breath that you take I want you to consciously slow your breathing down.
Breath in through your nose, hold for a few seconds and then exhale out your mouth.
6. With each breath that you take, your body is becoming more relaxed, and your mind is
becoming more clear and focused.
7. Breathe in through your nose, hold and count 1,2,3,4 on the in breath and then exhale out
your mouth again counting 1, 2,3,4,5. Continue this to establish a rhythm in your
breathing.
8. When thoughts, emotions, physical feelings or external sounds occur, simply accept them,
giving them the space to come and go without judging or focusing on them.
9. If you notice that your attention has drifted off and become engaged in thoughts or
feelings, simply bring it back to your breathing and continue.
10. Remember... it's ok and natural for thoughts to arise, and for your attention to follow
them. No matter how many times this happens, just keep bringing your attention back to
your breathing.
11. As you breathe I now want you to picture a place that is your favourite place. It could be
by the beach, in a forest, on a sand hill overlooking the sea or by a river. This place speaks
to you and is where you feel at peace and most comfortable.
Keeping your breathing going I want you to focus on the image of this place, pay attention
to how it feels to be in this place which I will call your country - Listen to the sounds of your
country; what can you hear: does your country talk to you? Are there waves crashing on
the beach or seagulls calling out as they fly overhead? In the forest can you hear the sound
of the trees or the sound of the river as it flows through.
Open your heart to country and feel your spirit, your Lian rise to greet and embrace the life
of this place, like an old friend country sings to you and welcomes you home.
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12. Keeping your breathing going, count 1,2,3,4,5, on the in breath hold, and 1,2,3,4,5 on the
out breath.
As you sit in your country, pay attention to your body and note the places where you are
tense; is it your shoulders, legs, back of the neck, hips or spine?. When you breathe in
direct the flow of your breath to those places and as you breathe out watch the tension
leave your body like a tendril of smoke curling up and out of your body. Feel your body
relax and loosen.
13. Keeping your breathe going, I now want you to leave your country and to slowly return to
normal breathing and bring yourself back into the room. Let the sounds of the room filter
in, the breathing of your colleagues next to you and any other sounds. Become aware of
the room and feel how your body is sitting. Take a moment to remember how being in
country felt and:
14. When you are ready open your eyes and stretch those areas of your body that may be stiff.
Welcome back
De-brief with students how this exercise felt.
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Appendix Two
STOP Technique – Breathing Activity
You are in a classroom and your students have just finished listening to a lecture on the impacts of
colonization on Aboriginal people.
A student puts their hand up, in a challenging voice he/she asks why Aboriginal people can’t move
on with their lives and that this is no excuse for them bashing and beating up innocent white
people. Continuing the student starts to tell a story of how their brother was coming home on the
train after being at the hotel with his mates and a gang of Aboriginal youths bashed and kicked
him, stole his watch and phone and left him lying in the street. Other students in the class nod and
jump in with similar stories.
In your group discuss:
What would be your initial reaction to this?
Using the STOP technique:
Stop whatever you are doing
Take a breath
Observe your thoughts/feelings/body
Proceed
Think about how you might now respond to this student’s comments.
Discuss if after applying STOP your response might be different?
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Appendix Three
Identifying supports for Tutors Activity
In small groups discuss and identify the following:
1. What sorts of supports you think Tutors teaching Indigenous studies might need?
2. How this type of support can assist tutors.
3. What can tutors do to look after themselves?
Give feedback to the main group.
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Appendix Four
Reflection Template
Aim of this activity is to reflect on your experience of this module: This is for your
benefit and will not be shared, so be honest and transparent with your reflections.
Some of the key learning’s in this module for me were:
This module affected me in the following ways: