Pleineconscience-Mindfulness HOME PRACTICE MANUAL MBSR Program Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction Teacher: Lothar Bielke Tel. +41 21 601 33 40 Mob.: +41 79 916 74 36 Mail: info@pleineconscience- mindfulness.ch Web site: www.pleineconscience- mindfulness.ch
Week 1 "Be strong then, and enter into your own body; there you have a solid place for your feet. Think about it carefully! Don't go off somewhere else! Kabir says this: just throw away all thoughts of imaginary things, and stand firm in that which you are." Kabir 2
MBSR : An Invitation to spend time with yourself over the next 8 weeks " A good place to start is with yourself. See if you can give yourself gifts that may be true blessings, such as self- acceptance, or some time each day with no purpose. Practice feeling deserving enough to accept these gifts without obligation - to simply receive from yourself and from the universe. " Jon Kabat- Zinn In order to realize the great benefits of Mindfulness we invite you to please consider... approaching the MBSR Programme with an attitude of simply starting over, without judgment, cultivating gentleness toward yourself. Your job is to just observe, developing a deeper awareness. making a personal commitment to practice for about 45 minutes daily for the next 8 weeks (formal practice). Your commitment is essential. It is the practice of mindfulness meditation that will enable you to realize its benefits. This commitment can be a challenging one, and you may have to rearrange your schedule to allow time for daily practice, carving out time from other activities. making a personal commitment to practice mindfulness in your daily life through the short practice exercises (informal practice). We can bring mindfulness to eating, walking, driving, interpersonal relationships, anytime throughout the day. This conscious act of remembering and bringing attention to the present moment and simple activities throughout the day, enhances your formal meditation practice. Both formal and informal practice are just that, practice at being fully present to each moment as life unfolds just as it is. We hold this process with kind curiosity, patience, and courage. sharing relevant events, experiences or reflections for the good of the group. You are invited to share, in whatever manner you are most comfortable, ideas, stories, experiences or anything that is relevant to the formal or informal practice of mindfulness or stress management. This information may be shared during any session in the group or in the dyads. Knowing and reminding yourself your intention/aspiration/motivation will be quite helpful. 3
Home practice assignment " Looking inward for some part of each day, we touch what is most real and reliable in ourselves and most easily overlooked and undeveloped. When we can be centered in ourselves, even for brief periods of time in the face of the pull of the outer world, not having to look elsewhere for something to fill us up or make us happy, we can be at home wherever we find ourselves, at peace with things are they are, moment by moment." Jon Kabat Zinn 1. Do the body scan every day (download from dropbox or use USB key). Don t expect to feel in a particular way while listening to the guiding instructions. In fact, I encourage you to give up all expectations. Just let your experience be your experience. Don t judge it, just keep doing it and we will talk about it next week. You will notice that neutral sensations are sometimes part of the body scan. We generally experience pleasant, unpleasant, and neutral sensations. Whatever it is that you are feeling, simply be mindful of what it is. Deepening the practice of the body scan allows us to begin to be aware of more and more subtle feelings. 2. Do the Nine Dots exercise (see in this manual). 3. Chose at least one of the following ways of practicing Mindfulness in Daily Life and do it each day (informal practice): While brushing your teeth simply stay aware of the sensations, and notice when the mind starts wandering off, thinking of the things you need to do after you finish. Bring gently but firmly your attention back to the activity. When taking a shower in the morning be aware of the water, the soap, the temperature, the pressure on your skin, being fully present in that activity noticing again the thinking ahead or planning other activities later in the day. Bring gently but firmly your attention back to the activity. On your way to work or to appointments or your other daily errands, try to be mindful of your travelling. Be aware of your walking, sitting on the bus or metro, getting the train or sitting while you are in a car. If you are driving a car or riding a bicycle or motorcycle, try to be aware of your driving or riding. When stopped at traffic lights try to be aware of just being stopped. Take a few mindful breaths to relax your body and mind. If your day involves answering the phone, let it ring for three or four times before answering, using the phone as a reminder to come back to the present moment. Bring your attention to the time between activities, resting or pausing before the next thing begins when you are transitioning. Resist the temptation to rush or the need to do two or more things at once (multi-tasking). This kind of pause does not have to be long. Just consciously choose to stop, maybe close your eyes, and drop into your body. Leave your attention on thoughts and images in the backstage and move it towards the breathing in the front stage. Rest and know that this special moment will never come again. For example, in the elevator, do not push the button that closes the doors and moves you towards the next floor and the next task. Let the elevator do its job. Whenever you find yourself waiting at the supermarket checkout, for the traffic light to change, for the Web page to load be present. Instead of being impatient and wishing things would go faster, be grateful for the gift of a pause for the 30 seconds or a minute or two minutes during which you have no obligations. Take the opportunity to breathe in and breathe out and be aware of the fact that you are breathing. 4. Eat this weak at least one meal «mindfully» in the way you ate the raisin. 4
The 9 Dots Exercise Connect up all of these dots with only four straight lines - without lifting the pencil of the page - and without retracing over any of the lines. 5
Support over the Next Weeks Contact number: 079 916 74 36 Call me if any questions, if you will miss a class, if problems with the USB keys, if difficult stuff comes up. Email: info@pleineconscience- mindfulness.ch Internet : www.pleineconscience- mindfulness.ch 6
MBSR- Week 2 "Maybe there is no box to think outside. Maybe there's no lock, no door, or key perhaps there's just the scared, small me holding tight to turf that isn't mine, trying to be somebody." Danna Faulds 7
The Pleasant Events Calendar: Noticing Feeling Tones The first weeks of Mindfulness practice involve practicing paying greater attention to our moment by moment experience; strengthening our ability to be aware. To do this we practice this week paying greater awareness to the feeling tone of our experiences. Mindfulness of feelings involves the paying careful attention to the flow of pleasant and unpleasant sensations in the body. You don t need to try and change or control these experiences, simply to notice your direct experience or felt sense. Start this week by noticing when you feel an experience as pleasant. For example, you may notice how pleasant the warm sun feels on your face in the morning, or how pleasant the smell of a cup of coffee is. Simply note what you are feeling using the categories outlined below. Developing awareness of pleasant sensations and how they condition the mind is a big step on the road to finding peace in our lives. What was the experience? Where you aware of the pleasant feelings while the event was happening? What did you notice in the body during this experience? What moods, feelings, and thoughts accompanied this event? What thoughts are in your mind now as you write about this event? Example with Yes. pleasant sensations: while returning home from work I noticed birds tweeting and stopped to listen to them. A sense of relief, lightness, and well- being in my face and A feeling of peacefulness and joy. Happiness. "It is "It is just a little thing but it is good that I noticed this moment". my chest, my shoulders spring! How beautiful relaxing, smile on my to stop and enjoy this!" lips. 8
Home practice assignment 9
"When you dwell in stillness, the judging mind can come through like a foghorn: "I don't like the pain in my knee...this is boring...i like this feeling of stillness; I had a good meditation yesterday, but today I'm having a bad meditation...it's not working for me. I'm no good at this. I'm no good, period..." This type of thinking dominates the mind and weighs it down. It's like carrying around a suitcase full of rocks on your head. It feels good to put it down. Imagine how it might feel to suspend all your judging and instead to let each moment be just as it is, without attempting to evaluate it as "good" or "bad." This would be a true liberation. Meditation means cultivating a non-judging attitude toward what comes up in the mind, come what may." Jon Kabat Zinn 1. Formal Practice: Continue to do the Body Scan at least 6 days this week (recording). 2. Formal Practice: Do sitting practice with AOB (awareness of the breath) for 10 15 minutes at least 6 days (without recording!). Being with the breath in this way each day provides an opportunity to become aware of what it feels like to be connected and aware in the moment without having to do anything. 3. Short Practice: Complete the Pleasant events calendar for the week (one entry for each day). Use this as an opportunity to become aware of the body sensations, feelings, and thoughts that are involved in one pleasant event each day. Notice and record as soon as you can, in as much detail as you can- put the actual words or images that thoughts came in and the precise location and nature of the body sensations. 4. Informal Practice: Continue to read about the practice Mindfulness in Daily Life (see Week 1 on the Manual). Choose a new routine activity and do it mindfully each day: while brushing your teeth, loading the dishwasher, washing the dishes, putting out the garbage, shopping, having a shower in the morning, on your way to work, answering the phone, whenever you find yourself waiting, etc. 5. Informal Practice: Rest your attention on the breath at different times during the day, feel the abdomen wall raising and deflating twice or three times. Take the chance to do so when transitioning from one daily activity to the next, for example after a conversation on the phone or before you pick up the phone, when you are washing your hands, whenever your computer's screen saver shows up. Bring awareness to your thoughts and feelings in such moments simply observing whatever is there, letting go of judging. Be at the same time conscious of your way to see things and your states of mind. 10
MBSR- Week 3 "Do you have the patience to wait 11
till your mud settles and the water is clear? Can you remain unmoving till the right action arises by itself?" Laou- Tzu The Unpleasant Events Calendar This week we continue to pay greater awareness to the feeling tone of our experiences. Mindfulness of feelings includes paying careful attention to the flow of unpleasant sensations in the body. You don t need to try and change or control these experiences, simply notice your direct experience or felt sense. For example, you may notice how unpleasant an upcoming meeting feels, or how the anticipation of meeting a certain person makes you feel. Simply note what you are feeling using the categories outlined below. Developing awareness of unpleasant sensations and our instinct to run away from them is a significant part of developing wiser responses to stress. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Were you What did you What moods, aware of the notice in your feelings, and unpleasant body during this thoughts feelings experience? accompanied while the this event? event was happening? What was the experience? What thoughts are in your mind now as you write about this event? 12
Home practice assignment 13
"The only time you ever have in which to learn anything or see anything or feel anything, or express any feeling or emotion, or respond to an event, or grow, or heal, is this moment, because this is the only moment any of us ever gets. You re only here now; you re only alive in this moment." Jon Kabat Zinn 1. Formal Practice 1: Alternate Body Scan recording with Lying- down Yoga new recording every other day at least 6 days per week. 2. Formal Practice 2: Do sitting meditation with AOB (awareness of the breath) for 10 15 minutes at least 6 days (without recording!). Being with the breath in this way each day provides an opportunity to become aware of what it feels like to be connected and aware in the moment without having to do anything. 3. Informal Practice 1: Continue integrating the practice into your daily life when walking mindfully to work or somewhere else. 4. Informal Practice 2: Complete the Unpleasant events calendar for the week (one entry for each day). Use this as an opportunity to become aware of the body sensations, feelings, and thoughts that are involved in one unpleasant event each day. Notice and record as soon as you can, in as much detail as you can- put the actual words or images that thoughts came in and the precise location and nature of the body sensations. What are the unpleasant events that pull you off centre or get you down (no matter how big or small)? What do you most not want to look at? Notice the moment when you switch to autopilot. Under what circumstances does this happen? 14
MBSR- Week 4 "Stand still. The trees ahead and the bushes beside you are not lost. Wherever you are is called Here, and you must treat it as a powerful stranger. Must ask permission to know it and be known. David Wagner (an old Native American elder story) 15
Adapted from Full Catastrophe Living by Jon Kabat- Zinn, Ph.D 16
Stress Awareness Stress is the body s response to a demand which it perceived as overwhelming its resources. R. Lazarus Take a moment to jot down some of the stressors, which you perceive in your life this week. Be aware of stress reactions and behaviors, without trying to change them: feeling stuck, blocking, numbing, or shutting off to the moment when it happens. When you have written some, take a deep breath and read your list slowly, stopping after each stressor and repeating it to yourself for three breaths, simply noticing what arises in the body. Stressor 1: Stressor 2: Stressor 3: Stressor 4: Then to go a bit further you could ask yourself a question: What does this situation demand of me? Or What are the expectations I feel being placed on me? Let the questions and your thoughts and emotions reside in your awareness for a few breaths and then write them down. It is recommended you do just one at a time. Stressor 1: Stressor 2: Stressor 3: Stressor 4: 17
Home Assignements "A common pattern of the human mind is to be locked into a rigid and fixed view of ourselves and the world. Meditation enables us to look deeply into what is happening in each moment and see its changing and conditional nature. Doing it develops acceptance, which comes from knowing ourselves in a stable and open manner: We see directly and experientially what is there and embrace it fully. This leads to a creative engagement with what is happening within and outside ourselves. It allows the possibility of meeting ourselves in a different way. The space, calm and openness of such awareness all help us to stop identifying with any one particular aspect of our experience." Martine Batchelor 1. Formal practice 1: Alternate the Body Scan recording with the Lying- down Yoga recording, every other day at least 6 days during this week. If you can't practice Mindful Yoga because of your physical condition, practice Walking Meditation or do the Body Scan everyday. 2. Formal practice 2: Do Sitting Meditation 20 minutes a day with attention to breathing, other physical sensations, and awareness of the whole body (with the Meditation Body Sensations recording). 3. Informal practice 1 : Continue integrating the practice into your daily life. 4. Informal practice 2: Be aware of stress reactions during the week without trying to change them. Notice any awareness of being stuck, blocking, numbing, and shutting off to the moment when it happens. Fill in the Stress Awareness Handout. 5. Review information about stress in practice manual. 18
MBSR- Week 5 "Hokusai says look carefully. He says pay attention, notice. He says keep looking stay curious. He says there is no end to seeing." Roger Keyes 19
Adapted from Full Catastrophe Living by Jon Kabat- Zinn, Ph.D 20
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STOP You can use the acronym STOP as an informal mindfulness practice to decrease stress and anxiety in daily life. It is a very simple and effective method for bringing the body and mind back into balance: S = Stop T = Take a breath O = Observe P = Proceed You might observe that during the day there are many times when you are unaware of what is happening inside you (in your mind and in your body). Invite yourself to slow down, stop, drop in, and take a breath. Observe whatever is there: your thoughts, emotions, and sensations. You can reconnect in this way with your experience and then proceed to respond more effectively. This practice can be very revealing and full of insights. Maybe you will observe that your shoulders are tense, your jaw is clenched, or other parts of your body are filled with tension and pain. Perhaps you will realize that you are hungry or bored or tired or simply need a break. Maybe it is time to remind yourself to come back into the present moment. You can practice anytime you feel tense or upset, or anytime you like. You might choose to do the STOP practice transitioning from activity to the next. It is a way to show up in your moments, in your life, and check in with yourself. Be creative and find different ways to remind yourself to STOP and come back into the moment. We can all become an active participant in the management of our own health and develop the capacity to experience any moment, no matter how difficult or intense, with more balance, freedom and peace. Remember: You can't always influence what others may say or do to you but you can influence how you react and respond to it. 22
Home Practice Assignement Difficulties are inevitable, suffering is not. Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to chose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom. Victor E. Frankl 2. Formal practice 1: Do Sitting Meditation 30-40 minutes everyday (new recording). You may alternate with the Body Scan or the Lying- down Yoga recordings. 6. Informal practice 1: Do the regular practice of a 3- minute breathing space in your life during your daily activities or in places you are everyday (e.g. on waking up, before eating, after washing your hands, on sitting into the car, on the bus, before watching TV, etc). 7. Informal practice 2: Explore options to respond mindfully, with greater awareness, more creativity, more freedom during your meditation practice, but also in your daily life. 8. Informal practice 3: Practice STOP several times during the day. 9. Fill the Difficult Communications Handout. 10. Review information about stress in practice manual. 23
MBSR- Week 6 "When we come into contact with another person, our thoughts and actions should express our mind of compassion, even if that person says and does things that are not easy to accept. We practice in this way until we see clearly that our love is not contingent upon the other person being lovable." Thich Nhat Hanh Guidance for listening: Pause- Relax- Open 24
PAUSE, to stop the habit/rush of conditioned thought and reactive emotion. In other words to drop the reflexive reactions which others provoke I like them, I do not like them and drop in to the present moment of stillness. The pause opens the door to mindfulness in the moment. Step out of these thoughts and see they are not me. You simply observe them with acceptance. You observe them with kindness not judging. Don't pursue them; don't engage yourself in them. This initial pause could last between 1 to 3 seconds or even longer depending on your mind state. Did I stop before I spoke? Did I become aware of my thoughts and body feelings? RELAX, releasing any tension of the body/mind arising due to defensiveness or fear. This relaxing opens to acceptance, meeting first one s own experience with compassion and allowing us to meet the other person in kindness. Be aware of the change of body sensations as the body relaxes. Give yourself some time for this, perhaps 2 to 5 seconds. It may be helpful to breathe deeply as you relax your body. While you are relaxing, you might notice how the body reacts to the thoughts of this person or what they have said. OPEN, extending this release outward; this is an invitation to extend awareness and acceptance fully into the body and then beyond to others. Becoming Spacious. 25
Home practice assignment "Our relationships with other people provide us with unending opportunities for practicing mindfulness and thus reducing people stress. We need to take responsibility for our part in those relationships, for our own perceptions, thoughts feelings and behaviour. Just as in any other unpleasant or threatening situation we can react with some version of the fight-or-flight reaction when we have a problem with another person and this usually makes matters worse in the long run." Jon Kabat-Zinn 1. Formal practice 1: Do Sitting Meditation 40 minutes everyday (recording). You may alternate with the Body Scan or the Lying- down Yoga recordings. 2. Informal practice 1: Do the regular practice of a 3- minute breathing space in your life during your daily activities or in places you are everyday (e.g. on waking up, before eating, after washing your hands, on sitting into the car, on the bus, before watching TV, etc). 3. Informal practice 2: Practice Pause- Relax- Open in communications that are familiar or difficult (Handout). Try out a day long the exercise of listening during your communications with others putting great attention on how the conversation starts, our natural tendency to give rapidly our opinion, and to talk instead of listening. Relax and slow down, take a few breaths, observe all that without judging yourself then express yourself, say what is in your mind, or defend your point of view. Notice what happens in your mind and in your body. Cultivate a state of mind of openness that will allow you to listen to yourself and listen to the other person in deep silence. 26
l MBSR- Week 7 "As many times as I forget, catch myself charging forward without even knowing where I'm going, that many times I can make the choice to stop, to breathe, and be, and walk slowly into the mystery." Danna Faulds 27
Awareness of present eating habits: Becoming aware of patterns List the experiences, the types of day or the occasions that lead to you eating mindlessly (Certain experiences can repeatedly lead us to stress and to comfort eat. Some triggers can sometimes be hard to identify because they can be subtle: the hint of an aroma, someone mentioning where they went to dinner, a clutch of unpleasant sensations at work, rushing without time to prepare a meal. What happens? What are the stories associated with the moment?) 1 2 3 4 List the foods, which are triggers for you eating mindlessly (Not all foods trigger mindless eating. Typically specific foods or snacks are stronger triggers than others. Sometimes these foods produce a biological response, such as your mouth producing saliva and your stomach beginning to secrete juices that are important for digesting food.) 1 2 3 4 28
MINDFUL EATING: THE SEVEN HUNGERS 1. Eye hunger: You want to eat what you see. For instance, you may see a dessert tray in a restaurant and want the dessert even though you re already stuffed. The look and beauty of the food entices you. It could be the same for an advertisement on the TV or a page in a magazine. The eyes can then override other signals coming from other parts of the body. 2. Nose hunger: You smell something you want to eat. For example, you may walk into a bakery, smell something wonderful baking, and your mouth begins to salivate. Most of our sense of taste is related to smell. Smells exert a primitive and potent effect upon the subconscious mind. 3. Mouth hunger: You want to taste something and chew. Sometimes your mouth wants things that are crunchy or soft, hot or cold, salty or sweet, and so on. The key to satisfying mouth hunger is to be present and aware of what is in the mouth, placing the focus of the mind in the mouth while we are eating. 4. Stomach hunger: You feel your stomach wants food because it feels empty or is gurgling. You may feel like your stomach is trying to digest itself. It gets conditioned to expect food at certain times. Living in harmony with the stomach could mean not putting food into a stomach that has no need for it at that moment. 5. Cellular hunger: The body has its own wisdom and can tell us a lot about what it requires if we are able to listen. It could need more vitamins, or iron or salt. You feel that the cells in your body want something. For example, if your body lacks certain vitamins, your cells may crave certain foods that contain those vitamins. 6. Mind hunger: This is based upon thoughts of food, often upon absolutes and opposites good food versus bad food, should eat versus should not eat. Your thoughts may begin with I should or I shouldn t. It can follow the latest dieting fad or say you should eat this, but not that. Our minds do not always tell us the truth. 7. Heart hunger: You want certain types of food you find comforting, sometimes because they remind us of our childhoods. The memory of special times infused certain foods with warmth and happiness. Sometimes we eat not to fill our stomachs but to fill our heart. Heart hunger can sometimes be noticed if we pause and inquire when we have an impulse to snack. 29
Mindful Eating "When we are mindful, we recognize what we are picking up. When we put it into our mouth, we know what we are putting into our mouth. When we chew it, we know what we are chewing. It's very simple. And when you chew, chew only the food, not your projects or your ideas. You are capable of living in the present moment, in the here and the now. It is simple, but you need some training to just enjoy this piece of food. This is a miracle." Thich Nhat Hahn Slowing down your eating and drinking Here are some methods for helping you to slow down your eating by creating pauses: 1. Pause before beginning the meal. Look at each item of food, taking it in with the eyes. Notice colours, textures, shapes, arrangements on the plate or bowl. 2. Take a moment to say grace. Be grateful for the animals, plants and all the people from farmers, to distributors to those who prepared the meal who brought this food to you. Be aware of the interconnectedness of food as you eat. 3. Begin the meal by pausing to inhale the fragrance of the food. Imagine that you are being nourished by just the smell. 4. Eat like a wine connaisseur tasting wine. Take a small taste. Roll it around in the mouth, savouring it. What ingredients can you detect? Chew slowly and swallow. Take a sip of water to cleanse the palate. When the mouth is empty of food repeat the process. 5. If you notice you are eating without tasting, stop and pause to look at the food again. 30
Home practice assignement 3. Formal practice 1: Do Sitting Meditation for up to 45 minutes everyday without the recorded instructions. If this is too difficult, you may alternate between recording and self- guidance every other day. You could also create your own blend of the various practices such as: 30 minutes sitting meditation + 10 minutes mindful yoga + 5 minutes body scan; 30 minutes sitting meditation + 15 minutes walking meditation; 25 minutes sitting meditation + 15 minutes mindful yoga + 5 minutes body scan, etc. There are no new recordings this week. 4. Informal practice 1: Practice informally by being as aware and awake as possible throughout the day. 5. Informal practice 2: Practice STOP (as explained in the Manual Week 5) at least 3 times a day. 6. Informal practice 3: Pay attention to mindfully eating one meal each day. Try slowing down at mealtimes (read information about mindful eating in the handout). 31
MBSR- Week 8 "Every morning, when we wake up, we have twenty-four brand-new hours to live. What a precious gift! We have the capacity to live in a way that these twenty-four hours will bring peace, joy, and happiness to ourselves and others." 32
Thich Nhat Hanh 33
Learnings What do you want to be sure to remember from this course? Something you have touched or learned about yourself, an experience you have made............. Set three short- term goals (3 months) and three long- term goals (3 years or more) which come out of your direct experience in the program and your meditation practice. Include potential obstacles to reaching these goals and your strategies for working with them. Short- term goals: 1:..... 2 :.... 3:.. 34
.. Long- term goals: 1:..... 2 :.... 3:.... 35
DEEPENING YOUR MINDFULNESS PRACTICE: THE NEXT STEPS Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom. Victor Frankl The best support for regular and consistent meditation practice is that we enjoy doing it. If we enjoy it, it will be a place we want to go to. If we prepare for it properly and make it a regular part of our life it becomes also like drinking water. The basic premise for achieving this is not too tight, not too loose gentleness and precision. Without precision we will not be able to establish a strong container in which our practice can survive. Without gentleness, meditation will become just another way in which we are trying to measure up to a hopeless ideal. Here is a reminder of the different ways to deepen your Mindfulness practice on your own and with a group: Formal practices (daily for at least 30 min.): sitting meditation, walking meditation, Yoga, Body Scan, and Loving- Kindness meditation. Informal practices (daily): mindful eating, mindful listening and communicating, STOP, being mindful of habits, calendars (see your hand- outs), etc. Meditation group (a Saturday per month): only in French for now, in Lausanne. All Day Session: in English and in French, as you know these days are integrated into the MBSR- course that we teach 3 times a year in Lausanne, Vevey and Fribourg. Graduates are invited to join us as long as there is still enough space. The first step is to establish a basic routine for meditation. When will you practice and where? The Eight weeks has allowed you answer these questions in many ways already. For some people mediation works best in the morning, for some in the evening. Once you settle on a regular time, stick to it. This is how to develop a daily rhythm of meditation. Establish a definite practice time frees you from having to plan from day to day. At times of agitation or after a busy day, it may be necessary sometimes to ease yourself into the sitting by a short period of walking, or having a shower, or reading a short passage. However, remember, preparation for meditation is not meditation, it is just the preparation. 36
Free yourself from worrying about how long you will meditate by deciding to meditate for twenty or thirty minutes. If you decide twenty minutes stay on your seat for that period of time unless the house goes on fire. Use a timer so that you can just relax into the practice without thinking about the minutes passing. The best way to develop your meditation practice is to be consistent. Short sessions consistently for a very long time is better than longer sessions sporadically. If we meditate haphazardly, doing a big session of practice one day and not returning to the sitting for a week, we won t enjoy meditation. One of the simple things you can do is create a proper environment for practice a space that is comfortable, quiet and clean. A corner of the room that feels spacious and where you will not be disturbed is good enough. If you find ritual appealing you can bring inspiring objects into that space by using a candle, a flower, incense, pictures - whatever inspires you and meditate in front of them. But again do not get caught up in chasing an idea about the perfect environment in which to meditate. Support the development of your practice by reading good meditation teachers, such as the ones indicated in the reading list. You can also find many good teachings on the internet or available to download. The support of other meditators is very useful also, creating a community of people who are intent on developing greater awareness and balance in their lives. 37
Retreat Centers We encourage you to participate in a mindfulness meditation retreat from time to time. Even if your everyday practice is the key, a retreat can be a great chance to help you profoundly deepen this practice. Practicing in a group increases your motivation. There are many possibilities, ranging in duration from a day, to a weekend, to a week, to a month, or even longer. You are welcome to join our French- speaking meditation group that sits together monthly on a Saturday in Lausanne (see our website). Some well known Mindfulness / Insight Meditation Centers in Switzerland and abroad: www.gaiahouse.co.uk - England www.spiritrock.org - California, USA www.dharma.org - Insight Meditation Society (IMS), Massachusetts, USA www.vimalakirti.org - Geneva, Switzerland www.karuna.ch - Beatenberg, Bern, Switzerland Retreat Centers in the ZEN tradition: www.ndroute.ch - Zen (France) www.villagedespruniers.net - Zen Teacher Thich Nhat Hanh, Bordeaux (France) www.montchardon.org - Buddhist Center Karma Migyur Ling, Montchardon (France) Meditation Centers in the French Speaking Region of Switzerland Buddhist and Christian Tradition: Lausanne http://www.mudita.ch/agenda.html http://www.mediter.ch/index.php/lausanne http://www.rigdzin.ch/index.php/programme/programme- en- detail- lausanne http://www.zenlausanne.ch/product.html http://meditationchretiennelausanne.wordpress.com At the Cathedral in Lausanne - Fridays from 12:30 to 13:30pm: Christian meditation based on Contemplation of a biblical reading, inspired by Jean- Yves Leloup and guided by François de Charrière. Genève 38
http://www.vimalakirti.org Patricia et Charles Genoud, Geneva Neuchatel and Jura Via Integralis with Yves Saillen, disciple of Jesuit Father Nicklaus Brantschen. E- mail: saillen- jordi@bluewin.ch, tel. 031 869 43 49 Remember that YOUR LIFE IS YOUR RETREAT! Yoga Studios in Lausanne We have met the teachers and taken classes in all these studios during the last years. You can try them out once and see for yourself if the teacher and his/her method correspond to what you need. http://www.atelieryoga.ch/ Vanessa Langer, a friend and our current yoga teacher. She offers Yoga sustaining the practice with Mindfulness in a similar way we have introduced it in our MBSR classes. Only in French. http://www.meher4fitness.com Mehernaaz is an Indian friend of us who teaches in English and in French. An approach aligned with our Mindfulness practice. http://www.lechim.ch Jean Lechim is a very well known yoga teacher in Lausanne. He has trained many yoga instructors. http://www.yogaworks- lausanne.ch Different teachers and various traditions. Some quite challenging. If you want to cultivate your yoga practice as you have learnt it in the MBSR program you may want to go to the Hatha Yoga class. Classes are taught in French and in English. http://yoga- lausanne.ch/index.htm Different teachers who offer particularly Hatha Yoga or Mindful Yoga. 39
Reading List MBSR Jon Kabat Zinn : Wherever you go there you are Full catastrophe Living Coming to our senses Mindfulness for beginners Everyday Blessings: Mindful Parenting Mark Williams, John Teasdale, Zindel Segal : The mindful way through depression Saki Santorelli : Heal Thy Self Bob Stahl and Elisha Goldstein: A Mindfulness- Based Stress Reduction Workbook Insight Meditation Teachers Joan Duncan (Ed.,) : Commit to Sit Andrew Weiss : Beginning Mindfulness: Learning the Way of Awareness Jack Kornfield : Meditation for Beginners Jack Kornfield : A Path with Heart Jack Kornfield : Bringing home the Dharma: Awakening right where you are Jack Kornfield : Meditation for Beginners Jack Kornfield : The Wise Heart Arinna Weisman & Jean Smith : The Beginner s Guide to Insight Meditation Larry Rosenberg: Breath by Breath : The Liberating Practice of Insight Meditation Tara Brach: Radical Acceptance: Embracing Your Life with the Heart of a Buddha Sharon Salzberg: Lovingkindness: the Revolutionary Art of Happiness Sharon Salzberg: The Kindness Handbook Sharon Salzberg: The Mindful Path to Self- Compassion Christina Feldman: Heart of Wisdom, Heart of Calm Joseph Goldstein: A Heart full of Peace Joseph Goldstein: Mindfulness: A Practical Guide to Awakening Rodney Smith: Stepping Out of Self- Deception 40
Research into Mindfulness Daniel Siegel: The Mindful Brain Sharon Begley: Train your mind, Change your brain Rick Hanson: Buddha's Brain Rick Hanson: Hardwiring Happiness Applications Jan Chozen Bays: Mindful Eating Jackie Gardner- Nix: The Mindfulness Solution to Pain Sharon Salzberg: Real Happiness at Work Michael Chaskalson: The Mindful Workplace Mark Coleman: Awake in the Wild: Mindfulness in Nature as a Path to Self- Discovery Lawrence Peltz: The Mindful Path to Addiction Recovery Mark Epstein: The Trauma of Everyday Life Mark Epstein: Open to Desire S. M. Pollak, T. Pedulla, R. D. Siegel: Sitting Together: Essential Skills for Mindfulness- Based Psychotherapy Zen and Buddhist Teachers Thich Nhat Hahn: Peace is every Step Thich Nhat Hahn: The Miracle of Mindfulness Thich Nhat Hahn: Love Letter to the Earth Thich Nhat Hahn: The Heart of the Buddha's Teachings Thich Nhat Hahn: You Are Here Thich Nhat Hahn: Understanding the mind Pema Chödrön: When Things Fall Apart Pema Chödrön: The Wisdom of No Escape Pema Chödrön: The Places that Scare You Pema Chödrön: Taking the Leap Sakyong Mipham : Turning the Mind into an Ally Bhante Henepola Gunarata: Mindfulness in Plain English Sayadaw U. Pandita: In This Very Life Ezra Bayda: At Home in the Muddy Water 41
Poetry Mary Oliver: New and Selected Poems Derek Walcott: Collected Poems Portia Nelson: There is a Hole in My Sidewalk: The Romance of Self- Discovery Kabir: Kabir: Ecstatic Poems Hafiz: The Gift Rumi: The Soul of Rumi You will find excellent free Dharma Talks on: http://www.dharmaseed.org/talks/ For more papers, books, and videos on MBSR and Mindfulness check out from time to time our website www.pleineconscience- mindfulness.ch and the Center for Mindfulness at University of Massachusetts Medical School's website: www.umassmed.edu/cfm/index.aspx. 42
THE END OF THE PROGRAM AND THE BEGINNING OF THE REST OF YOUR LIFE Mindfulness is a personal journey, just like your life is a journey. Some practices probably resonate with you more than others. This is an invitation to keep on exploring them and decide which ones you want to emphasize: Body Scan, Mindful Breathing, Sitting Meditation, Mindful Lying Yoga, Mindful Standing Yoga, Walking Meditation, Loving- Kindness Meditation, Mindful Check- In. You might also occasionally choose a practice that is more challenging as a way to continue deepening your process. Now you have also a variety of informal practices which you can incorporate in your everyday life: Mindful Listening, STOP, Being Mindful of Habits, Mindful Eating, Weaving Mindfulness throughout your day. In this journey Mindfulness invites us all to discover the world with a beginner's mind: seeing, smelling, touching, tasting, hearing, and perceiving each moment of this one "wild and precious life", as Mary Oliver reminds us. The Summer Day Who made the world? Who made the swan, and the black bear? Who made the grasshopper? This grasshopper, I mean- - the one who has flung herself out of the grass, the one who is eating sugar out of my hand, who is moving her jaws back and forth instead of up and down- - who is gazing around with her enormous and complicated eyes. Now she lifts her pale forearms and thoroughly washes her face. Now she snaps her wings open, and floats away. I don't know exactly what a prayer is. I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down into the grass, how to kneel down in the grass, how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields, which is what I have been doing all day. Tell me, what else should I have done? Doesn't everything die at last, and too soon? Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life? Mary Oliver (1990) May you all be well on your journey, Lothar 43