#716 How Mindfulness (MBSR) Can Change Your Life

     "Mindfulness is a way of being - a basic human quality of awareness that is cultivated by learning to pay wise attention to whatever is happening in our lives.
     People who participate in a mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) program, learn through their own experience how to take better care of themselves, by understanding the interplay of mind and body, allowing for greater access to inner resources for coping, growing and healing. 
     MBSR is an approach that combines meditation, dialogue, reflective inquiry, mindful yoga and movement, as means to assisting participants to work more effectively with stress, pain and illness, as well as the challenges of life in the 21st century."

 

#662 The Ultimate Nature of Human Existence

     "Do we understand the domain of being, or do we not? 
      Can we inhabit our lives while we have them to live, as if they were worth actually knowing with some degree of intimacy, so that we could live the lives that are ours to live and do actually the work that's ours to do, as opposed to being driven by a whole range of complex motives...?"                                     Jon Kabat-Zinn

#631 Understanding

     "The most direct way to understand our life situation, who we are, and how our mind and body operate, is to observe with a mind that simply notices all events equally. This attitude of non-judgmental, direct observation allows all events to occur in a natural way. By keeping the attention in the present moment, we can see more and more clearly the true characteristics of our mind and body process. "

                 Jack Kornfield                                                  www.wisdomatwork.com

#535 Mindful Heart Monitoring

     Cultivating stable, continuous awareness - monitoring - the state of my mind-heart is key. Then I recognize:

           • What impact my being kind, aware & open mind-hearted has on my own & others' quality of life,
           • Compared to when I'm self-centered, "driven" & closed mind-hearted.

      "The path to loving-kindness will always entail our gentle attention to the very things that block our way to it."  
                              Ezra Bayda

      See:  http://mindfulnessforeveryone.blogspot.ca/2013/02/285-how-my-heart-feels-heavy-or-open.html
 

#433 Very Brief Mindfulness Exercise - the Plank

     What makes this a mindfulness exercise, not simply a physical one? Is there such a thing as only a physical exercise, without effecting the mind and emotions?
     First of all, this popular, very effective core-strengthening exercise can be done with straight arms (strengthens the upper body more) resting on the palms of the hands OR (as illustrated) on the forearms (strengthens the abdomen more). Shoes are optional. The body is held straight (as illustrated). What's not obvious, is that all the leg muscles are active, the belly is allowed to move up towards the spine, the shoulder area is intentionally connected by muscles to the chest, sides of the body & back, the neck & jaws are allowed to relax.
     Start with a modest time that you can do fairly easily - perhaps 30 seconds. Repeat this daily for a week, taking Sunday off, then up it to 60 seconds per day, daily, etc. Use a timer to let you know when the session is over. Gradually keep increasing the time (by 30 seconds each week, up to 5 minutes or so) so as to maintain a steady mind-body training effect.

     The mindfulness part: 
     • Welcome all perceptual inputs from your body into awareness. Allow these to FILL awareness COMPLETELY.
     • Notice & gently let go of words, forceful effort, & any concept of time. Awareness does NOT have any ROOM for these (see above).

     You are practicing noticing and letting go of extraneous friction, noise (unnecessary suffering); WHILE stabilizing simple direct contact with what is real. This is profoundly healthy, beneficial, & takes a few minutes per day.
     This may be the easiest, most efficient Mindfulness practice - try it - notice all that may happen over the course of a few weeks. Remember, stay open - everything changes - see: http://www.johnlovas.com/2012/01/intention-shifts.html

http://nbfit.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/plank1.jpg

#326 Classical Japanese Centeredness & Mindfulness

      Profound awareness of, being fully at home and thoroughly grounded in one's own body, anywhere, under any circumstance, is relatively rare these days, perhaps even in the East. Nevertheless, this mind-body-universe integrity is an important quality to regain, and mindfulness practice is an excellent way to do so.

     “Japanese women … their way of sitting still – knees together, resting on their heels, withdrawn into themselves and yet completely free and relaxed. If with a swift and supple motion they rise from this position to do something such as pouring out the rice wine, they return immediately and without loss of poise to the quiet sitting posture, upright and attentive, completely there, yet not there at all, and just wait until the next thing has to be done. … but so also sits the ballad singer, and the singing geisha, and so sits the male choir in the Kabuki, the classical theater, and so the Samurai – so they all sit and stand like symbols of life, collected and ready for anything. And as they sit and stand, so also do they walk and dance and wrestle and fence, fundamentally motionless. For every movement is as though anchored in an immovable center from which all motion flows and from which it receives its force, direction and measure. The immovable center lies in Hara.”

       Durckheim KG. “Hara – The vital center of man.” Inner Traditions, Rochester VT, 1975 (originally published 1956). 

     For more on Hara see: http://www.johnlovas.com/search?q=hara

Tai Chi on Samish Island, WA