Jump to content

Search the Community

Showing results for tags 'mbsr'.

  • Search By Tags

    Type tags separated by commas.
  • Search By Author

Content Type


Forums

  • Happiness Community Forum | learn - practice - share
    • Introduction Circle - A warm welcome to happiness!
    • Happiness & Life Advice Forum
    • Friendship, Love, Relationship Forum
    • Voting Forum
    • Mindfulness & Meditation Forum
    • Mental Health Forum
    • The MBSR Course Forum
    • Happiness Academy Forum
    • Feedback & Technical Stuff
  • Self Development Tools & Happiness Practices and dealing with Life's Challenges
  • The happiness academy forum - Groups dedicated to the courses of the academy
  • Happiness Community Forum: Werkzeuge, Methoden, allgemeine Diskussionen
    • Alles rund ums Glück
    • Off-Topic

Categories

  • RELATIONSHIPS
  • PERSONAL GROWTH
  • SCIENCE & PSYCHOLOGY
  • HEALTH & BODY
  • ART & CULTURE
  • INSPIRATION & SPIRITUALITY

Categories

  • Beziehungen
  • Persönlichkeitsentwicklung
  • Wissenschaft
  • Gesundheit
  • Kunst & Kultur
  • Inspiration & Spiritualität

Find results in...

Find results that contain...


Date Created

  • Start

    End


Last Updated

  • Start

    End


Filter by number of...

Joined

  • Start

    End


Group


Found 7 results

  1. The central theme of week 7: Cultivating a regular practice infused with kindness and compassion "A human being is part of a whole, called by us "universe" a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and emotions as something separated from the rest....a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. The delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest 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 of nature in its beauty." Albert Einstein In this weeks' formal practice - the loving kindness meditation -, we include every living being in our good wishes. Everyone - including ourselves, people we have troubles with and people we will never meet. Some days this might be harder than others. Some days the main challenge might be to with well to ourselves when the waves of self-criticism and the all too popular "not good enough" or "who do you think you are" thoughts have power over us. Don't let them shame us, we all deserve well wishes. On other days it might be hard to feel warmth towards people we have troubles with. What works for me in those cases is a thought I heard first from Jack Kornfield. It goes something like this: "Wish for the people you have troubles with to be happy because if they would be truly happy, they'd be way easier to deal with." Please share your experiences with the practise here.
  2. Manche Menschen denken immer noch, dass sie ihr Glück durch das Erreichen von Zielen oder den Erwerb materieller Dinge erreichen, aber die Wissenschaft zeigt, dass das nicht der Fall ist. Die Psychologin Stanislava Puač Jovanović erklärt, warum Glück eine innere Angelegenheit ist und verrät einen Drei-Schritte-Plan, um deine innere Freude zu entwickeln. Die meisten von uns erkennen bei einem von zwei typischen Anlässen, dass Glück eine innere Angelegenheit ist. Die erste ist, wenn du alles bekommst, was du dir gewünscht hast... und du dann feststellst, dass du immer noch keine Freude im Leben finden kannst. Das andere ist, wenn du alles verlierst, von dem du dachtest, du könntest es nicht entbehren... und dann feststellst, dass du einen anderen Weg finden musst, um dich gut zu fühlen. Ich habe beides erlebt und jedes Mal wurde mir klar: Glück ist eine innere Angelegenheit. Schließlich kann ich nicht zulassen, dass äußere Umstände bestimmen, wie ich mich mein ganzes Leben lang fühlen werde, oder? In diesem Artikel wird erklärt, warum Glück von innen kommt und diese Behauptung mit wissenschaftlichen Erkenntnissen untermauert. Außerdem gehen wir auf Techniken und Werkzeuge ein, die dir helfen, die Fähigkeit zu entwickeln, mit dem glücklich zu sein, was du in jedem Moment hast. Warum Glück eine innere Angelegenheit ist Wenn wir den Satz wörtlich nehmen, gibt es zwei Komponenten der Behauptung, dass Glück eine innere Angelegenheit ist, über die wir nachdenken sollten. Erstens, dass das Glück in uns selbst liegt. Zweitens ist es ein Job - mit anderen Worten, es ist nicht etwas, das uns natürlich passiert, sondern etwas, an dem wir arbeiten müssen. Lass uns beide Elemente untersuchen. Innen vs Aussen Wir alle wissen, dass Glück eine innere Erfahrung ist, ein Gefühl, das sich durch unser Wesen zieht. Trotzdem erwarten wir meistens, dass es durch äußere Umstände entsteht. Leider gibt es viele Mythen über das Glück. Sonia Lyubomirsky, eine Forscherin auf diesem Gebiet, hat sieben schädliche Überzeugungen zusammengefasst, die wir normalerweise über das Gefühl haben und die uns nicht gut tun. Sie drehen sich meist um eine Überzeugung, die wie folgt ausgedrückt wird: "Ich werde glücklich sein, wenn..." (etwas passiert). Das "wenn" wird dann mit unseren individuellen Wünschen gefüllt - wenn wir den richtigen Partner finden, drei Kinder haben, den perfekten Job bekommen, eine bestimmte Menge Geld auf der Bank haben, unsere Hobbys ausleben, die Welt bereisen und so weiter und so fort. Glück ist ein innerer Job: Dankbarkeit zeigen hilft shutterstock/Anatoliy Karlyuk Das Streben nach Glück kann theoretisch nie abgeschlossen werden. Das ist, grob vereinfacht, der Grund, warum im Buddhismus die Sehnsucht als Ursache des Leidens angesehen wird. Ich habe diese Wahrheit mehr als einmal in meinem Leben erlebt. Der letzte Vorfall ereignete sich vor kurzem. Ich habe endlich ein Ziel verwirklicht, das ich mir vor drei Jahren gesetzt hatte - in Immobilien zu investieren. Es war zwar nur eine bescheidene Investition, aber in meinen Augen reichte sie aus. Ich hatte mich drei Jahre lang zu Tode geschuftet, um genug Geld zu sammeln und eine Immobilie zu kaufen; ein kleines Haus auf dem Land, damit meine Tochter und ich ab und zu Zeit in der Natur verbringen können. “Wir scheinen zu übersehen, dass wir die Kontrolle darüber haben, wie wir uns fühlen; dass Glück eine innere Angelegenheit ist. Wir müssen uns anstrengen, um Glück zu erreichen und zu bewahren.” Ich habe mir immer wieder versprochen, dass ich, sobald ich dieses Ziel erreicht habe, meine Arbeit etwas lockerer angehen und mein Leben ein bisschen mehr genießen werde. Ich werde glücklich und entspannt sein, weil ich weiß, dass wir alles haben, was wir brauchen. Keine schlaflosen Nächte und stressigen Tage voller Müdigkeit mehr. Und dann ertappte ich mich dabei, wie ich etwas tat, das mir klar machte, dass Glück eine innere Angelegenheit ist. Ich dachte darüber nach, auf dem Grundstück, das ich gekauft hatte, ein Glamping-Unternehmen zu gründen (und mehr Geld zu investieren)! Übersetzt heißt das: Ich kann nicht mit dem zufrieden sein, was ich endlich erreicht habe, ich musste mehr tun. Ich darf nicht zufrieden sein mit dem, wo ich bin. Ich muss auf mein Recht auf Schlaf, Freizeit - und Glück - verzichten, bis ich das nächste Ziel erreicht habe. Glück kann man nicht kaufen (außer man gibt sein Geld für diese Dinge aus) Was Menschen überall auf der ganzen Welt glücklich macht – Glück in verschiedenen Ländern Glücklich sein. Was heißt das genau? Da kommt mir unweigerlich eine Sache in den Sinn. Nein, ich werde auch mit der nächsten Sache nicht glücklich sein. Glück ist eine innere Angelegenheit. Wir entscheiden uns dafür, mit etwas zufrieden zu sein oder unglücklich über dieses oder jenes zu sein. Wäre das nicht der Fall, gäbe es massive Unterschiede im Glück, die auf verschiedenen äußeren Faktoren wie Alter, Familienstand und sozioökonomischem Status, Bildung, Religion oder Kompetenzen beruhen. Aber das tun wir nicht. Obwohl sie konsistent und vermutlich kausal sind, bewegen sich die Unterschiede zwischen 10% und 15%. Es muss also einen anderen Grund geben, warum manche Menschen (und Nationen) unabhängig davon, was sie haben, wo und wie sie leben, glücklich sind. In der Tat scheinen einige Menschen und Kulturen zu wissen, wie sie sich Frieden und Zufriedenheit bewahren können, unabhängig davon, was in ihrem Leben passiert und wie viel sie haben. Und der Grund dafür? Diese Menschen wissen, dass Glück eine innere Angelegenheit ist. Man kann sich nicht auf Glück oder Errungenschaften verlassen, um glücklich zu sein. Wir müssen die Arbeit in unserem Inneren machen. Arbeit vs. Passivität Ein detaillierter Blick auf die Vorstellungen von Glück in 15 Ländern hat gezeigt, dass die Menschen auf der ganzen Welt glauben, dass Glück zerbrechlich ist. Wir halten es für flüchtig. Wenn wir glücklich sind, haben wir das Gefühl, dass es sich leicht in einen weniger günstigen Zustand verwandeln kann. Diese kulturübergreifende Überzeugung spiegelt unsere Passivität gegenüber Emotionen wider. Wir scheinen zu übersehen, dass wir die Kontrolle darüber haben, wie wir uns fühlen, dass Glück eine innere Angelegenheit ist. Mit anderen Worten: Wir müssen uns anstrengen, um Glück zu erreichen und zu bewahren. Wir können nicht einfach darauf warten, dass uns etwas oder jemand fröhlich macht. Aber wie können wir die Arbeit machen? Wenn Glück eine innere Angelegenheit ist, was ist dann das Handwerkszeug dafür? Wie du mit dem, was du schon hast, glücklicher wirst Nachdem wir nun verstanden haben, dass Glück eine innere Angelegenheit ist, müssen wir darüber sprechen, wie wir mehr darauf hinarbeiten können. Jedem Werkzeug, das ich hier vorschlage, liegt ein Grundsatz zu Grunde: Proaktivität. Instinktiv lassen sich die meisten von uns einfach von den Ereignissen und Emotionen leiten. Dennoch ist eine proaktive Emotionsregulierung der Schlüssel zur Aufrechterhaltung der Widerstandsfähigkeit angesichts von Widrigkeiten. Wir geben dir ein paar Techniken an die Hand, mit denen du lernen kannst, wie du das Prinzip "Glück ist ein Insider-Job" in die Praxis umsetzt. Bevor wir uns mit den vier praktischen Möglichkeiten befassen, schauen wir uns ein Konzept an, das ihnen zugrunde liegt. Glück ist eine innere Angelegenheit, die in erster Linie davon abhängt, dass wir lernen und wieder lernen, wie wir andere, uns selbst und unsere Aussichten im Leben wahrnehmen. Mit anderen Worten: Um glücklich zu werden, egal, was das Schicksal uns in den Weg stellt, müssen wir lernen, optimistisch zu sein. Nichts deutet mehr darauf hin, dass Glück eine innere Angelegenheit ist, als das Konzept des erlernten Optimismus. Dieses Konzept stammt aus der Positiven Psychologie und wurde von ihrem Begründer Martin Seligman postuliert. “Wenn wir Dankbarkeit entwickeln, verbessert sich unser langfristiges Wohlbefinden erheblich, wie die wissenschaftliche Forschung bestätigt hat. Lerne also, das Gute in deinem Leben anzuerkennen und zähle deine Segnungen.” Im Wesentlichen bedeutet erlernter Optimismus, dass wir uns die Überzeugung aneignen, dass wir unsere Einstellung und unser Verhalten gegenüber Lebensereignissen ändern können. Und wir können beschließen, die Kontrolle darüber zu haben, wie wir uns fühlen. Laut dem Wörterbuch der American Psychological Association ist erlernter Optimismus: ...ein Erklärungsstil, der die Ursachen für negative Ereignisse auf externe, instabile und spezifische Faktoren zurückführt: Das heißt, man glaubt, dass Probleme durch andere Menschen oder situative Faktoren verursacht werden, dass die Ursachen als flüchtig angesehen werden und dass sie auf eine oder wenige Situationen im eigenen Leben beschränkt sind. Dennoch warnt Seligman auch vor den Gefahren eines extremen und unrealistischen Optimismus. Die Techniken, um eine gesunde (und heilende) Dosis Optimismus zu entwickeln, sind: 1. Sei dankbar für deine Privilegien Dankbarkeit bedeutet, dass du das, was für dich wertvoll und bedeutsam ist, zu schätzen weißt. Wir alle haben täglich viele Dinge im Leben, für die wir dankbar sein können. Bist du einigermaßen gesund? Sind deine Liebsten in Sicherheit? Hast du ein Dach über dem Kopf? Hast du bisher schon viele schöne Momente in deinem Leben erlebt? Auch interessant? Tipps für mehr Dankbarkeit im Alltag Und das sind nur die Grundlagen. Wir Menschen - vor allem in der westlichen Welt - vergessen oft, wie gesegnet und wohlhabend wir sind. Tatsächlich ist es unsere natürliche Reaktion, uns auf das zu konzentrieren, was wir nicht haben, anstatt auf das, was wir haben. Wenn wir hingegen Dankbarkeit entwickeln, verbessert sich unser langfristiges Wohlbefinden erheblich, wie wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen bestätigen. Lerne also, das Gute in deinem Leben anzuerkennen und zähle deine Segnungen. 2. Anderen helfen, die in größerer Not sind als du selbst Wenn du den Grundsatz akzeptierst, dass Glück eine innere Angelegenheit ist, entwickelst du Handlungskompetenz. Um den erlernten Optimismus in dir weiter auszubauen, solltest du daran denken, anderen in Not zu helfen. Freiwillige Arbeit und Spenden werden dir sehr helfen und dir zwei Dinge bewusst machen: Bedürftigen zu helfen ist eine großartige Möglichkeit, inneres Glück zu finden Erstens gibt es da draußen so viele Menschen, die viel mehr zu kämpfen haben als du, aber sie kämpfen weiter. Das macht es dir noch leichter zu erkennen, wie viel Glück du hast. Zweitens gibt es dir ein Gefühl der Macht, etwas Gutes in der Welt zu tun. Dieses Gefühl wird sich auf viele Bereiche deines Lebens ausweiten, auch auf die Kontrolle über deine Wahrnehmungen und Gefühle. 3. Den Nutzen deiner negativen Gedanken und Überzeugungen in Frage stellen und angehen Wir alle sind durch unsere automatischen negativen Gedanken stark belastet. Wir bemerken sie selten, aber sie bestimmen, wie wir uns im Leben fühlen. Also, mach dich an die Arbeit. Beobachte deine unmittelbaren Reaktionen auf Stressoren. Dann stelle sie in Frage. Wenn deine automatische Reaktion auf einen Misserfolg ein Gedanke ist: "Das schaffe ich nie", dann frage dich, was du davon hast, so zu denken? Wie fühlst du dich? Und wie möchtest du dich fühlen? Gibt es keine alternativen Erklärungen für diese Situation? Doch, die gibt es. Das könnte dich auch interessieren: Glücklicher und reicher sein - eine Frage der Perspektive? Achte also auf den potenziellen Nutzen deines Pessimismus und deiner harschen Selbstkritik (ist das zum Beispiel ein Teil von dir, der dich vor Enttäuschungen schützt?) Entscheide dich dann bewusst für eine andere Sichtweise der Dinge. Durch Wiederholung werden sich deine neuen Überzeugungen und mentalen Gewohnheiten verfestigen und dir helfen, glücklicher zu sein. Mein Fazit: Glück kommt von innen Das Leben ist voll von Höhen und Tiefen. Wir werden mit Glück und Unglück beschenkt. Das wissen wir alle. Wenn wir jedoch ständig auf ein Geschenk des Himmels warten, um uns gut zu fühlen, haben wir es vielleicht schwer. Stattdessen haben wir eine Wahl. Wir haben die Wahl, das Glück als eine innere Angelegenheit zu betrachten - und die Arbeit zu tun. Es geht nicht nur darum, deine Bedürfnisse zu befriedigen, dich körperlich und seelisch zu pflegen und gesunde Beziehungen aufzubauen. Du musst dich verpflichten, proaktiv mit deinen Gefühlen umzugehen. Der Schlüssel zu deiner Glückseligkeit liegt in dir selbst. Übernimm die Kontrolle. Sei glücklich. Hat dir der Artikel gefallen? Erfahre mehr über das kostenlose Angebot des happiness Projekts: Unsere Mission: Eine sichere und sich gegenseitig unterstützende Gemeinschaft zu ermöglichen, in der Werkzeuge, Praktiken und Erfahrungen ausgetauscht werden, die es jedem ermöglichen, ein glückliches und erfülltes Leben zu führen. Konkret heißt das für dich, dass du als Mitglied der happiness Gemeinschaft kostenlose folgende Vorteile genießt: regelmäßige Tipps zur Stressbewältigung, Meditation, Nachhaltigkeit und vielen anderen spannenden Themengebieten gelebte Inspirationen für ein glücklicheres Leben durch neue, tiefe Freundschaften im happiness Forum Erfahrungen austauschen, anderen auf ihrem Lebensweg beistehen und selbst unterstützt werden spannende, kostenlose Online Kurse in der happiness Academy belegen (aktuell ausschließlich auf englisch) z.B. Achtsamkeitsmeditation/ MBSR wissenschaftlich fundierte Artikel im happiness Magazin über das glücklich sein, zu den Vorteilen der Meditation, ... Du kannst dem Auf- und Ab des Lebens nicht entkommen, aber du kannst lernen bewusster damit umzugehen, es anzunehmen und dadurch innere Freiheit zu erlangen. Werde heute noch Teil der liebevollen Gemeinschaft offenherziger Menschen und melde dich jetzt an. Titelbild: shutterstock/Daisy Daisy Geschrieben von Stanislava Puač Jovanović Stanislava Puač Jovanović hat einen Master-Abschluss in Psychologie und arbeitet als freiberufliche Autorin und Forscherin in diesem Bereich. Ihr Hauptaugenmerk liegt auf Fragen der psychischen Gesundheit, der Stressbewältigung, der Selbstentfaltung und des Wohlbefindens.
  3. Here are the links to the guided meditations we are practicing with during the MBSR course: Feel free to choose the recoding for the week you are at that resonates best with you. I will continuously add more links to high-quality recordings to cover a broader spectrum of voices and personal styles. Like the posture, the teacher that works best for where you are at today might differ. Yet in their core, those different meditation are the same. We offer a free guided meditation once a week live on zoom. Onve a month we offer a free FAQ session for this course. To see the time and dates and sign up for a session please checkout Tine's profile. Some recordings are by Dave Potter, an experienced MBSR teacher and psychotherapist who put together this online course. Jon Kabat-Zinn is the founder of the MBSR course. Emma Reynolds is an experienced MBSR teacher with the Mindful Academy, Solterreno, Spain. This is where I got my training too. Lynn Rossy is a health psychologist, author, researcher, and Kripalu yoga teacher specializing in mindfulness-based interventions. Week 1: Bodyscan Bodyscan 29min by Jon Kabat-Zinn (the founder of MBSR) Bodyscan 15min (YouTube) Bodyscan 15min (InsightTimer) by Tine Steiß Bodyscan 33min by Dave Potter Bodyscan 45min by UC San Diego Center for Mindfulness Bodyscan 20min by Emma Reynolds Compassionate Body Scan 24min by Kristin Neff Week 2: Sitting Meditation Sitting Meditation 32min by Dave Potter Sitting Meditation 40min by Jon Kabat-Zinn (the founder of MBSR) Week 3 and 4: Mindful Yoga Mindful Yoga 1 37min by Lynn Rossy PhD Mindful Yoga 2 36min by Lynn Rossy PhD Week 5: "Turning towards" the difficult, Soften, Sooth, Allow Turning Towards - Meditation for difficult emotions 23min by Dave Potter Turning Towards - Meditation for physical pain 25min by Dave Potter Soften, Soothe, Allow 16min by Dave Potter Soften, Soothe, Allow 9min by Happiness Insight RAIN 11min by Dave Potter Week 6: Mindfulness and Communication Mountain Meditation 20min by Dave Potter Lake Meditation 20min by Dave Potter Week 7: Mindfulness and Compassion Lovingkindness Meditation 13min by Dave Potter Other meditations that are closely related to the MBSR curriculum: Taking a breath - taking a break 13min by Tine Steiß Breathing Meditation for Beginners 10min by Jack Kornfield Labelling emotions 20min by Emma Reynolds the RAIN of Self-Compassion by Tara Brach (PhD in Clinical Psychology, founder of the Insight Meditation Community of Washington and author of Radical Acceptance, True Refuge, Freedom In Your Own Awakened Heart) Oneness Meditation 35min by Jon Kabat-Zinn (the founder of MBSR)
  4. I would say yes and here is why: The most influential course I took was "the science of happiness" about which I wrote an article for the Happiness Magazine a few years ago when happiness.com was just a little blog. Since then many things changed (for the better), and I think it is fair to attribute a big chunk of it to this course because it convinced me to start with meditation. I then did an MBSR (meditation-based stress reduction) course, and a few years later I am a certified meditation and MBSR teacher. What is your favourite course and why? How did it influence your life?
  5. The main topic in week 3 is "Mindfulness of the Breath and the Body in Movement: There is both pleasure and power in being present." For week 4 it's "Learning about our Patterns of Stress Reactivity: Wherever you go, there you are." In the two Mindful Yoga exercises, we tune in closely into our bodies which is similar to the bodyscan yet completely different as we are moving. What came up for you during the exercises? How do the practices evolve as you get more familiar with them? Share your experiences during the Mindful Yoga/ Movement exercises with your fellow participants. Personally, this is the exercise where I lead most from my own experience when guiding a group. Like for any other mindful exercise I have a script and a dramaturgical arch for the practice (yes, you do have that in mediations too) but here I let the practice and the group to guide us more. Where, what do we move next? While I enjoy mindful yoga, I struggle with mindful walking. I was mindfully walking in the most beautiful surroundings, in busy streets, even in Plum Village, and yet I struggle to find any sort of engagement with the practice I seem to be stuck with boredom. Now that I have said it out loud, I wonder if it'll change. Acceptance precedes change.
  6. Interviewer Veronika Eicher still had the distant flavor of raisins in her mouth – from finishing the 'raisin meditation' on Dave Potter’s MBSR course – when the pair sat down to talk. She asked him about his background in Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction, the motivation behind his free course, dealing with chronic pain, and meditation. When was the last time you ate mindfully? Dave Potter, fully-certified Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) instructor and retired psychotherapist, laughs before answering: “Well, it’s all a matter of degree. Even though I'm a mindfulness teacher, there are times when I’m not eating very mindfully. For instance, last night my wife and I talked continuously through dinner, and I was not at all mindful of what I was eating. In a previous life as a marketing manager at Intel, many of our meetings were over meals and we were expected to do business and eat at the same time. I used to tell people that I didn’t progress any higher than I did on Intel’s corporate ladder because I never learned to eat and talk at the same time.” Although Dave didn’t stay at Intel for long, he spent over 20 years in the computer industry, first as a free-ance computer consultant and later founding a software company that grew to a dozen employees and customers all over the world. At age 51, although he loved technology, he came to realize that he was far more interested in people than computers, and he went back to school to get a graduate degree in counseling and became a psychotherapist. It was then that he started teaching mindfulness, which led me to my next question: How did you first get to know MBSR? “I found MBSR about the time I began working as a therapist, but I was not new to meditation, having meditated since I was in high school. Even though I was already a long-term meditator and didn’t think I had much to learn, after taking a training class from Jon Kabat-Zinn, I was impressed with MBSR and how teachable it was. MBSR, as Jon Kabat-Zinn taught it, is neither full of esoteric terms, nor religious. Instead, the language Jon used was so simple that wasn’t until Dave saw Jon teach the MBSR course that he understood the tremendous power of MBSR and this particular way of teaching meditation. “The language is very simple: ‘Pay attention to your experience while you are having it’, but embedded in the MBSR course was such depth and meaning that I wanted to share it with others, so I became certified to teach by the University of Massachusetts Medical School, where Jon Kabat-Zinn founded MBSR,” Dave explained. RELATED: 7 mindfulness tips for staying engaged Eating mindfully can be one of many daily opportunities to practice mindfulness Many people take the course to reduce the level of stress in their lives. You say that when you tell new students that they will need to dedicate 30 minutes a day to meditation, they often say: “Where will I find the time? This will make me more stressed, not less!” Isn’t that ironic? “In the beginning, many people do feel that it is more stressful, that’s true. This is because they are now paying closer attention to what is happening inside them, and they have begun to notice things that were there all along, but under the surface. But, typically, after about three or four weeks, things settle down. What most people discover by that point is that although their day is technically 30 minutes shorter, the rest of the day is more productive and much less stressful than it was before. So people do see the fruits of the practice, but often not until three or four weeks into the course. That's one of the reasons the course is eight weeks long and not three.” Discover more about Dave Potter's free MBSR course What can participants of the course expect to happen? “At first, it feels as if nothing is happening. You sit in meditation, your mind wanders, you pull it back, your mind wanders again, you pull it back again, and on and on, in a seemingly endless cycle. It looks like nothing productive is happening. But there is magic in this process that is not at all apparent while it’s happening. The point of the meditation is not to stop thoughts, but to change your relationship to them, and the critical place in which that relationship can change is when you notice your mind has been wandering. What people typically say in the beginning is, “I’m no good at this, my mind is wandering all the time, I can’t do this.” They're frustrated that they can’t get their mind to stay in one place and beat themselves up about it. But it's not about keeping the mind in one place: it's about what happens in that moment when you discover that you mind has wandered. It’s about accepting that fact and being kind to yourself at that moment.” RELATED: 9 science-backed benefits of meditation Jack Kornfield often tells a story about training a puppy to fetch. In the beginning, you throw the stick and the puppy doesn’t bring it back. But you don’t give up, and you throw the stick many, many times until finally, almost unexpectedly, the puppy brings the stick back to you. At that point you don’t say, “Bad dog!! Why didn’t you bring the stick back before now?!?”. You say, “GOOD BOY!!! GOOD JOB!” and give the puppy a treat. This encourages the puppy to do it again and strengthens your good relationship with your puppy. “It’s the same with our mind. We train our students to recognize that those moments when they notice their mind has wandered are moments of awakening. These moments of awakening are cause for celebration, not self-criticism. Every single time you notice your mind has been wandering, you have just broken a life-long habit. This is what we aim for in our meditation.” Train your meditative mind like a puppy: with patience and treats! I must admit, I thought that when you meditate long enough – perhaps like you as a life-long meditator – that at some point your mind doesn’t wander anymore. Is that incorrect? “It’s not true that advanced meditators have learned to stop their thoughts entirely. Eliminating thoughts is actually not the goal of this type of meditation. Thinking is not a function we aim to eliminate. We need thinking to plan, to organize, to build, to create. Thoughts are important, but they are not the most important aspect of our experience, and, in fact, the thoughts we do have are often untrue or misleading. Tara Brach often says, ‘thoughts are real, but not true.’ RELATED: Tara Brach – psychologist, meditation author and teacher It’s true that there are types of meditations designed to perfect concentration but this type of meditation, when combined with a single-minded goal of achieving states of absorption and bliss, don’t address the realities of day-to-day life. There's a story about a monk who goes up to a mountain cave to meditate in isolation. After years of practice, he perfects his concentration to the point where he is in almost continuous bliss and decides he is ready to come down from the mountain. Five minutes after arriving to town, one of the vendors at the market makes an insulting comment and he blows up in anger, seemingly undoing his years of practice in just moments. “People do see the fruits of MBSR, but often not until three or four weeks into the course. That's one of the reasons the course is eight weeks long and not three.” The type of meditation taught in MBSR includes both concentrative meditation and a more open-ended meditation that can be accessed in the midst of daily life, in which the meditator is fully aware of what’s happening around him and in him, on a moment-to-moment basis.” Your MBSR instructor: Dave Potter Dave Potter and I are talking more about the power of our minds. He shares the example of a Buddhist monk, Matthieu Ricard, who's had 50,000 hours of meditation practice over 30 years (that’s five hours a day – every day!) and who has been extensively studied by psychologists and neuroscientists. Paul Ekman, a University of California psychologist, suspected that Ricard would have a very low “startle response”, which has been shown to correspond to anxiety; the more anxious a person is, the stronger the physiological response to being startled. In this laboratory test, the subject is wired up to instrumentation and the physiological response to a very loud sound, similar to a gun-shot, is measured. When Ekman tested Ricard, he had to do it a second time because he couldn’t believe what his instruments were telling him about Ricard’s reaction. Ricard’s physiological response was lower than any subject he’d ever tested. In fact, it was lower than medical science had up to that point thought possible. When he asked Ricard how he did that (expecting he would say he brought his attention to a single point and blocked everything else out), Ricard said he did the opposite – he said that instead of narrowing his attention, he widened it, imagining himself to be as big as the universe, so large that it could easily absorb any sound or disturbance. He said he heard the sound very clearly, but it wasn’t bothersome to him due to his having widened his perspective to include and accept absolutely everything that came into awareness. Could this technique also be a way that MBSR participants learn to deal with discomforting feelings or chronic pain? By imagining the biggest pain and experience as less painful within the practice? The course doesn’t eliminate pain. For instance, people who have a chronic pain condition have typically tried everything and there is nothing doctors can prescribe that is safe that would eliminate the pain. In the MBSR course we aren’t working on eliminating the pain, but changing our relationship to it. We teach our students to work with difficult emotions and physical pain in a paradoxical way, something we introduce in Week 5, in a practice called “Turning Towards”. Students learn through this practice, building on skills they’ve learned in the first four weeks, that they can be with difficult feelings or sensation without being alarmed. RELATED: Mindfulness quotes – 10 sayings to inspire and ground you In the case of chronic pain, instead of trying to make it go away, which of course doesn't work, we ask students to get curious about it. Without labeling the discomfort as “pain”, we have them investigate the actual physical sensations. For instance, is it sharp or throbbing, large or small, precisely where is it located, what are its boundaries? By examining it closely, in a curious, non-fearful way, they discover that their “pain” is not a static thing, that their experience of it shifts when they're curious about it in this way. “Through MBSR we aren’t working on eliminating the pain, but on changing our relationship to it.” Then, after exploring the difficult area, we ask them to move their attention to a part of the body that is relatively relaxed, and stay there for a moment, noticing what kind of sensations they have there, maybe warmth or softness, or simply freedom from pain. This can look like we’re asking them to distract themselves, but we are simply having them shift attention to another part of their body, one that is actually connected to the difficult area. Then, after spending a few minutes there, they go back to the difficult area, and back and forth. By doing this a few times, the students experience the discomfort as only part of them, and that it’s not fixed and unchangeable. In this way, the student learns to see and experience the difficult area in a larger context, similar to the way that Matthieu Ricard did with the loud sound in the “startle” test. So, in that sense, it is a widening of awareness and perspective that makes the pain less difficult. Probably the most gifted and skilled meditation teacher for dealing with chronic pain is Vidmayala Burch. She is founder of Breathworks in the UK and understands chronic pain because she has dealt with serious, debilitating pain she has had her entire adult life, including now. She is a gifted teacher and role-model for those dealing with chronic pain. Vidyamala often uses pillows to demonstrate how we compound physical (or emotional) pain with fear and worry, having a student sit in the center of the room with a pillow on their lap, saying that the pillow represents the physical pain, the difficult sensations themselves (or problematic life event). Then, on top of this pillow, another is added, representing a fear or worry they have about the pain, such as the fear that the pain will get worse. Then they add another, maybe about the worry that if it keeps up they won’t be able to work and support themselves, and another, and another, each one representing a specific worry or fear, until the pillows are stacked so high they are higher than the student’s head. Then Vidmayala would ask them to remove the pillows of worry and fear one by one, letting go of each one until all that remains in their lap is the first pillow representing the actual physical sensations. That pillow is still there, but much less troublesome than it was when buried under all the other pillows of fear and worry that were added to the actual physical pain (or problematic life event). Pillow practice for pain: MBSR was originally designed for pain patients The 'Pillow Practice' with Vidyamala Burch was mind-opening for me, as a chronic pain patient. Is this what mindfulness is about? Exactly. Being mindful is about realizing what is actually happening as well as noticing that we are compounding the situation with our fears and worries. In Buddhist terms you would say there is the first arrow which is the difficulty itself and the second arrow is all the worries and fears we have about that. We can’t always do anything about the first arrow, but the second arrow that is magnifying the difficulty can be removed. You were one of the first teachers to provide us with your MBSR course for free in our happiness academy and you also provide the course on your website palousemindfulness.com free of charge. What was your motivation for this? “There are a couple of answers to that. The first is: “Why not?”. The fact that I can even say this is because I’m retired and don’t need extra income and because of the efficiencies and reach of the internet. But, most importantly, I knew there are people who cannot afford to pay for a mindfulness course, and in many parts of the world there is no access to an in-person MBSR class. My intention was to make mindfulness as widely available as possible, no matter what the financial situation or geographic location. I’m fortunate that this is also the intention of most of the other teachers of mindfulness, even those who are well-known and can command high fees for their teaching. World-renowned mindfulness teachers such as Jon Kabat-Zinn, Vidyamala Burch and Tara Brach have given me their written permission to use their videos and writings without any fee so that mindfulness can be more widely available. “The course does not make life perfect. It's about being at peace with not feeling peaceful.” As a former psychotherapist, it makes me happy to know that, through the Palouse Mindfulness course, people are being helped. Every day, I get letters from people who say the course has changed their lives. As a retired therapist whose work was about helping people, what could be better? RELATED: Meditation vs mindfulness – what's the difference? The course does not make life perfect. It’s not about being peaceful all the time. Not even the Dalai Lama is peaceful all the time. It's about being at peace with not feeling peaceful. When I hear from my students that this is what they’ve learned and that they are happier and more resilient than they were before, this is worth more to me than any monetary compensation.” Finally, do you still meditate on a daily basis? “I do. I’ve had a few periods in my life when I didn’t maintain a formal sitting practice, figuring that if I just lived my life mindfully, letting 'life' itself be my meditation, that would be enough. While that might be true, in principle, because any experience can be made into a mindful experience, during those periods without a formal practice, much of my life wasn’t very mindful. So, about 30 years ago, after being an on-again, off-again meditator, I committed to a regular, daily meditation practice of half an hour every morning and haven’t stopped since, except for a handful of days during that 30-year period. I don’t meditate to have some peace experience while I’m meditating, although that can be pleasant; I do it because of how it affects the rest of my day. My morning meditation creates a resilience and aliveness during the rest of the day that wouldn’t be there if I didn’t have this practice. My morning practice is actually fairly simple, similar to what in Soto Zen is called “zazen” or “just sitting”, a time that I don’t have to be anywhere else or doing anything else, a time that is just for me. Years ago, when my daughter was young, we took a parenting course from Barbara Coloroso and at the end of the course, she said, “I want you to spend 30 minutes a day with the person you are going to be with for the rest of your life with… and I don’t mean your spouse, because they may go before you. I mean you.” ● Thank you Dave, for the talk and for your work. Enroll here for the free MBSR course at the happiness academy. And don't forget to join in the MBSR course discussion in the forum: share your experiences and ideas with other members. Watch the full interview with Dave Potter: Interview by Veronika Eicher Veronika is a freelance writer. She likes to spend her free time working on her dream of a farm. On Instagram she writes about climate crises, nature and sustainable living.
  7. MBSR or mindfulness-based stress reduction is a technique growing in popularity. Ed Gould takes a look at the science behind it and the growing list of physical and mental positive effects on the body... Do you want to alter the way your mind works to gain a greater understanding of the here and now? Are you thinking about which strategies you can use for dealing with pain, inattentiveness or stress? Worried that any approach you might take is not bound up in real scientific research? If so, then MBSR – mindfulness-based stress reduction – may be the practice you've been looking for. The techniques involved are simple; anyone can learn them with persistence. Thorough research from various leading medical experts in their fields has revealed some impressive facts about this practice. The key effects of MBSR Mindfulness-based stress reduction is something that can bring tremendous benefits to anyone who takes it up. While it's not a substitute for treating more serious medical conditions, it does have many benefits. As with most things in life, creating a balance is key. Once you become better-versed in the mindfulness techniques and training, they can have a widely-accepted therapeutic effect for any of the following conditions: stress high blood pressure depression chronic anxiety migraine headaches diabetes some heart conditions In particular, common uses for MBSR are for controlling the often debilitating effects of chronic pain, a frequently unwanted symptom of several of the above-listed ailments. But, how can such claims be made? According to Dr Daniel J. Siegel, a professor of clinical psychiatry at the UCLA School of Medicine, scientific studies and research programs have regularly shown that MBSR is effective in reducing stress in all these conditions and more. Keeping calm: MBSR helps to reduce stress In addition to the medical effects that mindfulness can have, many people use the techniques involved to improve their daily lives. Everyday tasks, such as cooking, cleaning, going for a walk, can all be performed using mindfulness techniques. According to Jon Kabat-Zinn, Professor of Medicine at the University of Massachusetts, taking a mindful approach is as focused on being as fully awake in life as it is when dealing with medical ailments. “It's about perceiving the exquisite vividness of each moment," he says. Therefore, stress-reducing mindfulness can have a powerful effect on individuals who consistently practice the techniques. Even those who don't suffer from excessive amounts of anxiety and mental anguish can benefit from mindfulness. The history of MBSR The science of mindfulness has been a crucial part in creating its modern history. It had its start in America in 1979. Numbers were small, but as word spread of its positive effects, numbers grew. The 35-year history of the course program has revealed to science that it can deliver a consistent and reliable improvement in individuals suffering from stress and other related symptoms. This betterment is present in both medical and psychological symptoms. MBSD was pioneered by Kabat-Zinn, who successfully brought together modern Western traditions of science and medicine together with ancient mindfulness techniques from the Far East. Indeed, mindfulness can trace its roots back hundreds, if not thousands, of years to transcendentalism and Buddhism. Centered in and around the Middle East, India and China, mindfulness takes hold in various religions and philosophies. "Meditation is the only intentional, systematic human activity which at bottom is about not trying to improve yourself or get anywhere else, but simply to realize where you already are." Jon Kabat-Zinn The word mindfulness is essentially a translation into English of the Indian Pali word sati or smrti in Sanskrit. Sometimes translated as 'awareness', sati is one of the fundaments of Buddhist thought. These concepts have a broad range of ways in which they can be practised, similar to anapanasati and satipaṭṭhāna, which are popular in Zen Buddhism. These ideas focus on mindfulness and awareness of sensory experiences. Notable scientific studies into MBSR effects According to Philippe R. Goldin and James J. Gross in their study 'Emotion Regulation in Social Anxiety Disorder', one of the key findings of MBSR research is that it has measurable effects on emotional regulation. Goldin and Gross point out that reducing stress, anxiety, and depression is possible by using these techniques. This result was due to the modifying emotion regulation abilities which mindfulness practices can create. Peace, please: mindfulness can regulate emotions so try MBSR The study also shows that people involved in this research program were able to achieve emotional regulation in a number of different ways. These included changing situations by selection, modifying situations, attentional deployment and response modulation. Another key factor in the scientifically noted emotional regulation detected in participants resulted in cognitive change. Further research studies have been carried out to determine the impact of mindfulness-based stress reduction on social anxiety disorder, a common psychiatric condition. According to one critical study, carried out by Koszycki et al. in 2007, results from the study showed a like-for-like improvement in patients with the disorder was achievable by participating in an eight-week MBSR course, compared with a 12-week cognitive–behavioural group therapy course. Although both programs produced improvements in the mood, functionality, and quality of life for the participants, the study also revealed significantly lower scores for anxiety, especially with cognitive behavioural therapies compared with MBSR, as rated by both clinicians and patients. “Mindfulness-based stress reduction is something that can bring tremendous benefits to anyone who takes it up.” In a 1998 study conducted on medical students, a control group who underwent an MBSR course showed reduced stress levels. Published in the American Journal of Behavioural Medicine, Shapiro et al.'s study showed that there was a reduction of reports from the group of overall psychological distress, including depression. Furthermore, the group stated that they felt increased levels of empathy. They also measured their spiritual existence with higher scores at the end of the course. Fields of use for stress-reducing mindfulness According to Judith Ockene Ph D at the University of Massachusetts Medical School in this video, there are many areas of use for mindfulness-based stress reduction. Early scientific studies showed that psoriasis patients saw improved results after their phototherapy treatments. Two control groups were created. One group listened to a guided mindfulness audio during their treatment, the other group heard no accompanying audio. This study, it should be noted, centred on the physical ailments of psoriasis and not the mental aspects. By simply reducing the stress levels of the patients who underwent their treatments, scientifically demonstrable improvements demonstrated the effects of the physical outcomes from using the mindfulness audio. Now's the time: why not take the free course in MBSR? Much of the recent scientific research into MBSR focusses on mental health, with a particular focus on conditions like depression. But mindfulness can be a powerful tool in the field of medicine across many disciplines and therapeutic avenues. For example, according to Lawrence Leung, Associate Professor at the Department of Family Medicine at Queen's University, Canada, MBSR techniques are also used to help patients cope with chronic non-cancer related pain and a range of other conditions. These matters eventually affect up to half of the world's population at some time or another. With such wide-ranging uses, it seems that the medical possibilities for mindfulness are limitless. All it takes is new ways of imagining its practical application. If you' re keen to try out mindfulness techniques yourself, you can take this 100% free 8-week MBSR course, created by a fully certified MBSR instructor and modelled on the program founded by Jon Kabat-Zinn. ● Main image: Colorbox.com Written by Ed Gould Ed Gould is a UK-based journalist and freelance writer. He's also a practitioner of Reiki.
×
×
  • Create New...