Paulette GrotrianMindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Teacher

*Learn Mindfulness:How being good to yourself can make a difference for students

*In this room, in this place

*Let’s arrive.

*We should appreciate the Here and Now

‘cause it’s only here now!!

*The Mindful Revolution

Feb 3, 2014

*Full Catastrophe Living

Jon Kabat-Zinn

*Congressman Tim Ryan on the cover of

Mindful

*Richie Davidson, Ph.D., Psychiatry, U of

Wisconsin

*Rick Hanson, Ph.DNeuropsychologist

*Today we are more stressed than we

were 50 years ago.

TOP REASONS PEOPLE ARE STRESSED*1. Job Pressure*2. Money*3. Health*4. Relationships*5. Poor nutrition*6. Media Overload*7. Sleep Deprivation

*Work, downsizing, do more with less, cutbacks, Can I

ever retire?

*Women are more stressed out at work then men.*38% of women say they aren’t paid adequately for their work*Compared to 27% of men

Technology*Email*Facebook*Twitter*Games*Virtual Identity*Match.com

*Mindful Moment: Pause before replying to that email. Do I

really need to add to the other person’s inbox?

*We’re living in the age of distraction. Margaret

Wheatley

*ADD Nation—JKZ*ADT—Attention Deficit Trait—not born with it/workplace induced—Psychiatrist Edward Hallowell*Never before has the brain been asked to track so much data*“Butterfly Brain”

*Multi tasking vs uni tasking*Human beings seem cognitively unable to multitask.*Multitasking is a modern myth.

*Mindful Moment: If you are on a conference call, can you refrain form checking your email or doing another

task?

*Still hardwired for fight or flight*Body changes to escape the saber-toothed tiger*Activates the stress response--adrenalin, cortisol, other stress hormones--Allostasis*Our ancestors lived a life of intense striving and deep rest—returned to homeostasis*Today’s stresses are different—i.e., traffic jam—”paper tiger paranoia”

*Equanimity/Balance: we get

out of balance

*Unhealthy coping skills—numbing, frenetic lifestyles, sedentary living* Poor diet, shopping, meaningless sex, eating our comfort foods, drinking our alcohol, smoking, medicating with drugs, keeping busy beyond human scale.*We are the most obese, medicated, addicted, and in-debt Americans EVER.

*Stress>*Distress>*Chronic Stress>*Illness*Mental and Physical*Lifestyle Diseases: obesity, heart disease, depression, anxiety, suicide, substance abuse and attention disorders

*Short Practice

*S-T-O-P --To balance throughout the day

Stop. Take a breath. 

Observe your thoughts and feelings.

Pause. Proceed mindfully.

 

*Can change the way we interact with people, i.e., dealing with angry students, unpleasant coworkers

*Can help almost any relationship.

*The PAUSE makes the DIFFERENCE. We learn to respond rather than react.

*Thoughts are not facts.

*Our thoughts drive our reality. *We are disturbed not by what happens to us but by our thoughts about what happens. *If our thoughts are filled with stress, we subject our bodies to inflammation—the proven root of nearly all illness.

*The mind has a life of its own.

*It’s like having a radio station with static on

24/7.

*There is a way, a practice.*Mindfulness offers a healthy coping skill.*We can train our bodies and our attention with practice.*Otherwise, we remain reactive, on automatic pilot, swept along by the current of stressful current events.*We can form new habits, new neuropathways.

* --Jon Kabat-Zinn

*What is mindfulness?--Paying attention in a particular way: on purpose, in the present moment, and non-judgmentally

*Jon Kabat-Zinn on Mindfulness

*http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Um8giSSI93k&list=PLa4kuhVDFVpMwk-BY1QSJFtzrMJzZGtlW

Why the breath as an anchor?

*Always available*Free*Accessible—easily felt*Connects mind and body, a measure of well-being*Fairly neutral

*Short Practice

*Twenty Breaths

*Activating the Relaxation Response

*Slowing the Stress Response

*Calming the anxious mind

*Increasing focus, paying attention

*Developing Stress Hardiness

A posture that’s comfortable yet dignified

*Let’s Practice. Guided Meditation on the Breath

*What worked for you?*What surprised you?*What was challenging?

Foundations of a Mindfulness Practice*Attitudes and Commitment*Both in Formal Practice (Meditation) and *Informal Practice (Daily Living)*Mindfulness becomes a way of being.

*NON-JUDGING

ObservingGiving up being Chief Justice

We have an opinion on everything.Am I a good meditator?

Can you let go of the inner critic?

*PATIENCE

*Open to each moment*No quick fix*Allowing life to unfold over time

*Mindful Moment: When standing in line, can you just breathe and

be present?

*We want it now!

*BEGINNER’S MIND

* The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking out new landscapes but in having new

eyes.Marcel Proust (1871-1922)

*Can always begin again, no matter what*“Fresh eyes” Seeing things as if for the first time*Never the same breath twice; never the same moment twice*Be curious. Curious George

*TRUST

*Trust the 2600-year-old practice* Self/Feelings*Intuition*Listen*Trust our awareness this moment

*NON-STRIVING

*Not trying to get anywhere*Non-doing*Being here now, Seeing*What are we hurrying to?

*ACCEPTANCE

*Note to self: “I am meditating.” *Not denying the facts*Now is the only time there is*Not passive, just seeing things as they are*It’s challenging; we wish things were different.

*LETTING GO

*Let it be.The Beatles

*Going to sleep is letting go*When our stress is elevated, we can’t sleep.*Letting go to sit in silence*Letting go of mental events (thoughts) rather than getting on the thought train

*Non-Judging*Patience *Beginner’s Mind*Trust*Non-striving*Acceptance*Letting Go

*Take a moment and choose one that speaks to you.*Share your choice with a partner.

*Mindful Moments: Can you work with this quality or

qualities this week?

*Breathing in, I calm my mind and my body. TNH

*Below the surface of the ocean is calm.*Belly breath is calming, grounding, centering.*Paying attention to the breath and sensations in the body--shifting focus

*Touching into Bodily Sensations

*The Body Scan

*The object of attention is the stepping.

*Walking Meditation

*What worked for you?*What surprised you?*What was challenging?

*Today’s informal practice during lunch:

Be aware of coming into contact with water, i.e., drinking, washing hands

*In this room, in this place

*Let’s arrive.

*Awareness on the movement itself

*Mindful Movement

*What worked for you?*What surprised you?*What was challenging?

*Myths and Misconceptions remain.

*What mindfulness is not—it’s not what you think!

Mindfulness is not relaxation spelled differently.

That’s a side effect.

Take your daily meditation. No warning label needed.

Other side effects can include *decreased anxiety *calm *clarity of mind *improved concentration *stress regulation *decreased blood pressure *enhanced immune system

Mindfulness is not a religion.*It is spiritual—transpersonal—connects us to our humanness and the planet*Practiced by Buddha over 2600 years ago*Part of most spiritual traditions*Can be a secular practice

It’s not about transcending ordinary life.*We’re not trying to go somewhere like Nirvana or a state of bliss.*It’s about experiencing oneself more fully*Like cleaning the windows to see more clearly what’s here

Mindfulness meditation is not about trying to get anywhere else.*Our job is to be awake, present, aware of what is arising and to see our thoughts, our thought patterns, see if they’re helpful or keeping us stuck.*Beginner’s mind—letting go of expectations—it’s never the same sit twice

It’s not about emptying the mind of thoughts.

*The mind is wired to wander about 50% of the time. (most often on your commute, while working, when you’re looking at a digital screen)*Mindfulness Meditation takes advantage of the brain’s hardwiring and creates an opportunity for mental training.

It’s not too hard.*Anyone can do it.*It’s simple but not easy.*Buddha means “awake.”

*Larry Rosenberg, Breath by Breath

*1. Follow the breath.*2. When the mind wanders, bring it gently and lovingly back to the breath.*3. Repeat a thousand times or more.

It’s not DOING anything.*Mindfulness—a shift from the doing into the being mode.*We are HUMAN BEINGS, not HUMAN DOINGS.*--a shift from ego driver to witness—*Homo Sapien Sapien

Not an escape from the rough patches of life*Circumstances don’t change but our way of seeing does. “new eyes”*Meditation teaches us a different way to relate.

* If you can breathe, you can meditate.

Not for special people*You don’t have to be an ace at sitting still.*You don’t have to give up caffeine. *You don’t need to study anything before you begin.

*A final mindfulness attitude

COMPASSION

*Heart/Mind—same word in Asian languages*Our self talk can be critical*Cultivating Kindness toward self*Befriending our breath, our minds, our lives*Cultivating kindness toward others, empathy

*Lovingkindness PracticeMay I be safe and protected.

May I be happy and content.

May I be healthy in mindbody.

May I live with ease.

May I know peace.

Begin by directing these to yourself,Then, a loved one,A neutral one,A difficult person,A group of people like us,All people on the planet,The planet itself and all that inhabit it.

*Kindness is my religion. --The Dali

Lama

*Kindness on the go

*What worked for you?*What surprised you?*What was challenging?

*Three-minute practice

*Short Practice *A-G-E*Minute 1: Attention to what’s here now*Minute 2: Gathering the attention to the breath*Minute 3: Expanding the attention to the

breath and sensations in the body

*Benefits of sitting 5-10-15-20 minutes most

days

*Begin with five mindful breaths in the morning and five mindful breaths before going to sleep.*Begin with sitting 5 or 10 minutes a day. *Work up to 15 and then 20.*The important piece is to show up every day.*Otherwise, post card to self: having a nice life, wish you were here.

*Like going to the gym, lifting weights, reps

*Mental fitness: focus on one thing, your mind wanders off, you notice it wandered, and you shift attention back to that one thing again. You do this over and over again.

*Strengthens brain matter; implications for aging

Make a practice that works for you*Try sitting for 5 minutes each day this week

Throughout the day*Try paying attention to taking a shower, washing, the dishes, eating a bite*Try pausing when the phone rings or at a stop sign, taking a breath*Try taking more breaks at work

*What is your take-away?

*What practice resonated with you?

*What would you like to incorporate into your day?

*If you take care of the moments, the years will

take care of themselves!

*A small thing repeated routinely adds up over time to produce big results*Just One Thing that could change your life

*Foundational Books on the

Practice

* Kabat-Zinn, Jon--Mindfulness for Beginners: Reclaiming the Present Moment—And Your Life (2012) (includes CD)

* Kornfield, Jack, Meditation for Beginners, 2008, (includes CD)

* Richard, Matthieu, Why Meditate?: Working with Thoughts and Emotions, (2010) (includes CD)

* Salzberg, Sharon, Real Happiness: The Power of Meditation, A 28-Day Program, (2011) (includes CD)

* Thich Nhat Hahn, The Miracle of Mindfulness: An Introduction to the Practice of Meditation, 1975, 1987

*Books Referenced in the Talk

* Davidson, Richard J., The Emotional Life of Your Brain: How Its Unique Patterns Affect the Way You Think, Feel, and Live—and How You Can change Them, 2012

* Hanson, Rick, Hardwiring Happiness: The New Brain Science of Contentment, Calm, and Confidence, 2013

* Hanson, Rick, Just One thing: Developing a Buddha Brain One Simple Practice at a Time, 2011

* Mindful Magazine subscription, www.mindful.org* Ryan, Tim, A Mindful Nation: How a Simple Practice Can

Help Us Reduce Stress, Improve Performance, and Recapture the American Spirit, 2012

* Salzberg, Sharon, Real Happiness at Work: Meditations for Accomplishment, Achievement, and Peace, 2014

* Paulette GrotrianMindfulness-Based Stress Reduction

Teacher

*Contact me at*grotrian@wccnet.edu*734-276-7707*www.mindfulnessmeditationmichigan.weebly

.com