Foundation in Mindfulness Home Practice Guide Mark Craigie and Paul Buttigieg Perth Mindfulness Centre 2018
Preface Welcome to the Foundation in Mindfulness Course. This document is intended as general guide for people attending the Foundation in Mindfulness course. The guide provides a session by session summary of key concepts and practices introduced in the course. It also include suggestions for home practice. A companion text to this course is The Five Minute Meditator book by Eric Harrison. We thank Eric for his guidance and permission to reference his approach and materials for this course. Table of Contents Session 1 Introduction... 3 Session 2 Mindfulness of Body and Breath... 5 Session 3 A New Way of Relating to Experience... 7 Perth Mindfulness Centre - 2018 Page 2 of 8
Session 1 Introduction Key Points: Meditation is a practice that relaxes the body quickly and calms the mind. It involves two skills 1. The first is learning to relax quickly and consciously. The second is learning to pay attention and so minimize runaway / reactive thinking. To relax, the principles are clear: shift from thinking to sensing, and come into the present moment. Meditation practices are based on abilities we already have to some extent, namely; - Relaxing - Paying attention and - Self-awareness or self-observation Formal Meditation practices allow us to develop these abilities as a set of conscious skills. Meditation is the art of putting one thing in the foreground, and letting other things pass by in the background. The core instructions for most meditations you will come across are: 1. Focus on a meditation object (usually a body sensation) 2. When the mind wanders away, gently bring it back, and 3. Let all other thoughts and sensations pass by Focusing here means being able to hold your attention on the breath or the body, (and it takes some effort). Good focusing on the breath or the body, in itself, can be enough for you to relax. Mindfulness - to be mindful means to pay attention or to hold something in mind (Harrison, 2017). Mindfulness is broader than meditation. It involves attention towards present moment experience, while cultivating a sense of curiosity, kindness, and non-reactivity to experience and our reactions, rather than being caught up in automatic and more scattered thinking / reacting (sometimes called our default autopilot mode). Mindfulness involves a shift from automatic reactive thought, to a more steady, and conscious attention that allows space for more considered responding (stepping out of autopilot). It implies seeing things clearly and accurately, which usually leads to a better outcome. If we become mindful of unnecessary tension or unhelpful thoughts or an emotional overreaction, we can quickly adjust our response accordingly. Mindfulness meditations are therefore based on good focusing and awareness. You are paying attention to something and you know it. Regularly practicing these types of meditation can help strengthen everyday mindful awareness and responding. Mindfulness meditations combine the tranquillity that comes from focusing on the breath or the body, and the mental clarity that arises from self-awareness/or self-observation. 1 Definitions, descriptions, and practices are based on: Eric Harrison (2017) The Foundations of Mindfulness, and The Five Minute Meditator; Segal, Williams, & Teasdale (2012) - Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy. Perth Mindfulness Centre - 2018 Page 3 of 8
Meditating involves focusing on and object (such a body sensations / breath) and gently explore it. Sooner or later, you will find your mind has wandered off and you are thinking about something. It s what minds do. Mind wandering is a normal occurrence. This usually happens unconsciously and it s not a deliberate choice. Once you realise your mind has wandered, however, you now have a choice. You can stay with the new thought, which is most likely stirring you up. Or you can let it go and return to the meditation object. Thinking can be helpful for problem solving but it stimulates the body and it is not relaxing. Initially, you are either with the meditation object or distracted by something. As you relax, something else happens. You find you can notice thoughts and sensations but they no longer distract you as much. You are both focused (on the object), and passively aware (of the background thoughts and sensations). As we begin to feel the body, the mind will start to look for what s wrong what is out of balance e.g. tension, pain, tiredness, et cetera. If we can continue to refocus on the meditation object while having a casual awareness of the background then we will naturally relax further. Dealing with the Wandering Mind (Stop Hold Decide) Stop and name the distraction (e.g., thinking, sounds, sleepy etc). Hold it in awareness gently and briefly: e.g., for one breath (observing it with curiosity) Decide whether you need to stay with the distraction is it worth further attention? Or, gently and kindly let go of the distraction and return to the where you are focusing. Home Practice Suggestions: Listen to Eric Harrison CD 1: Track 1 Introduction; Track 2 - How Meditation Works; Track 3 - The Short meditations explained, at: www.perthmindfulnesscentre.com.au/downloads/ Practice the 3-Sighs at least three times a day, especially when transitioning to different tasks. Be mindful of posture and daily activities. Use 3-sighs to slow down, soften the body, and make a mindful choice / adjustment. Listen to the bodyscan CD 1 (8 mins), or longer bodyscan CD 2 (22 mins) about once per day. Explore the first 3 or 4 chapters of the Five Minute Meditator by Eric Harrison if you have time. Perth Mindfulness Centre - 2018 Page 4 of 8
Key Points: Session 2 Mindfulness of Body and Breath 3-Minute Breathing Space is a mini mindfulness practice to step out of autopilot and be more mindful. It can be used as brief practice once or twice per day (see our website: resources\downloads page for more information and link to guided practice), especially if you forget to do a formal practice. The 3-min breathing space exemplifies some of the main components of a typical mindfulness practice, namely: 1) Acknowledging gently and kindly your experience without trying to quickly change or fix it; 2) Focusing on the breath and body to unhook from thinking, steady the mind, and relax a little; 3) Expanding awareness with a sense of spaciousness and acceptance before transitioning out. Bodyscan with 2-passes second pass releasing tension, then expanding awareness to body as whole. Noticing any relaxation and staying with it. Then finally checking for thoughts and how you are relating to thoughts; can you just allow space for them being there without reacting or getting drawn into answering them back? Perhaps briefly naming them (e.g., planning). Releasing Tension - we can directly loosen up some muscles to some extent. We can move, stretch or contract many of our muscles. We don t, however, have direct control of our autonomic nervous system. We can t directly control our heart rate or blood pressure, or how quickly we burn up the glucose in our blood stream. But we can indirectly change our heart rate, blood pressure and arousal levels by how we move and breathe. By focusing more on the out breath and lengthening it. In breath Sympathetic nervous system: increases arousal. Out-breath Parasympathetic nervous system: decreases arousal. The 3-sighs is an ideal activity since we stretch and unlock the muscles in our jaw and throat, and we extend the out breath. Dealing with Distractions - when we are meditating we will become aware of discomforts, thoughts, sensations, and so on. This is quite natural. The question is, what do we do next? If you recognise and accept your distractions then you can automatically regain control of your focus. This may be all we need to do before we refocus on the meditation object. (focusing and monitoring of peripheral experiences). At other times, we consciously evaluate the distraction e.g. thought - do we stay with it or do we let it go? Meditation is really about selective attention. You notice you are thinking and you make a choice. If you are mindful of it, name it. E.g. thinking. Then you can emotionally disarm the thought to some extent. We become better at meditation when we recognise we have lost our focus. We can also lightly explore the distraction. We can ask ourselves what is this? We hold it still on our stage of consciousness. Is it worth attending too? (this thought). This may be all we need to do to let it go. We may also notice how the thought hooks us in and how we relate to it. Perth Mindfulness Centre - 2018 Page 5 of 8
At other times, there are thoughts we can t easily let go of. So we keep it in mind but to one side. E.g. sick child. It won t go away the thought, but it doesn t have to take all of your attention. Breath Meditation - during the meditation, when you become aware of your distractions you can use counting each breath or affirmations on the outbreath (e.g., re-lax; let-go) as a way of refocusing your attention. Once you have focused well, perhaps noticing you mind state and the presence of thoughts. Name the thoughts, let them go, and come back to the breath. At the end of the practice, check-in, notice how you feel now and what has changed. Is your mind more clear, is your body more relaxed, where are the thoughts now? Did counting or affirmations help you settle and be more present, or did you prefer to just use them a bit at the start and eventually they were no longer needed. Stop before you Start is a way of finishing one action and preparing for the next action - a form of mindful self-regulation when transitioning between tasks. It helps us to relax a little, mindfully prepare and adjust, and thus prevent the escalation of unnecessary tension or stress that can happen when we get too focused on tasks without a broader awareness. It involves grounding yourself in the present moment before your next activity. Focusing on the out breath helps us to relax. Anxious people tend to focus on the in-breath and then hold the breath. This increases arousal and holds the physical charge. And without knowing it, this can lead us to be more hypervigilant and on the lookout for potential difficulties and danger that may not be there (see page 40 of the Five Minute Meditator by Eric Harrison for further description). Steps: Before you start some new activity, consciously pause. Acknowledge where you are at. Take a nice big breath and sigh (or maybe two sighs), Breathe out gently, mindfully, and come to an intentional mental pause. Linger for a few seconds at the end of the out-breath. Perhaps say a key word e.g., settle. Prepare to take action. Proceed mindfully with the new intended action with the next in-breath. Home Practice Suggestions: Try to do three sighs at least 10 times a day. Meditation 15 minutes per day. E.g., Bodyscan, Count Down, or Breath Meditation Stop before you start, regularly. Mindful awareness of walking, softening the body as you go with a sigh or two. 3-minute breathing space once per day to mindfully check in and remember to be mindful. Choose a suitable time e.g., just before lunch. Just before bed, finish the day with three sighs and this time the silent sigh (more subtle form). Continue browsing relevant chapters of the Five Minute Meditator. Perth Mindfulness Centre - 2018 Page 6 of 8
Key Points: Session 3 A New Way of Relating to Experience A natural tendency when experiencing difficulties is to attempt to avoid, control, or push away unpleasant thoughts, feelings, and experiences that may accompany such difficulties. This is especially the case if fatigued, stressed, and feeling like you have little fuel left in the tank to tackle issues. Our natural reaction to unpleasantness or fatigue is to avoid, contract, or conserve our resources in some way. Although this tendency is quite understandable, excessive attempts to avoid unpleasantness can take a great deal of effort and can sometimes exacerbate the issue, potentially leading to burnout, anxiety, or other types of problems. The work that we have done so far in cultivating mindfulness practice now provides us with the platform for developing a different relationship to experiences in our lives. A relationship characterised by acceptance, or what we call opening / allowing / letting be. This is not necessarily easy, because of our natural habit of wanting to control experience and of wanting things to be a certain way, but may be the key approach to more helpful responses. Acceptance in this context does not mean giving up or resignation to how things are. Rather, acceptance means an initial step to mindfully respond to feelings by allowing space for them, being kind to yourself as you have these feelings, and as best you can letting them be. By pausing, allowing and observing unwanted feelings and sensations moment to moment means we can register their presence before deciding on how to respond. It creates a gap between our automatic reactions and later responses. Acceptance does not mean that you should put up with everything or not deal with issues in your life. Sometimes actions need to be taken for concrete issues that can be problem solved and are within your control, but from a mindfulness perspective it important that those actions are based on a certain level of stability of mind, openness, non-reactivity, and clarity that can assist with creating more optimal conditions for considered and balanced choices. One way of cultivating a new way for relating to your experience is to practice COAL as a set of intentions in your practice: Curiosity towards experience. Openness and space towards experience. Allowing and letting be towards unwanted or uncomfortable experience. Loving or sense of kindness to yourself and your experience when difficulties arise. Allowing our thoughts and feelings to be just as they are, as best we can, noting the effects they have on the body and seeing the moment by moment changes may offer an opportunity to: See our thoughts as just thoughts, not necessarily facts or a complete description of things. Observe that all things including the way we feel changes over time. Learn how our thoughts and feelings are connected. Learn how we can be more accepting of unpleasant feelings, and then decide how you wish to respond or if any action needs to happen (sometimes it does, sometimes it does not). Opens up to considered choices based on a broader perspective, rather than contraction, avoidance, and withdrawal which tends to restrict helpful problem solving and thinking. Perth Mindfulness Centre - 2018 Page 7 of 8
One way of skilfully disengaging from reactions and the chatter of our mind is by simply practicing observing sensations in the body with curiosity and kindness as you notice a reaction and letting go of the natural tendency to judge, compare and want to fix experience. The breathing space and other mindfulness practices are ways of cultivating a more open and accepting stance towards difficult experience. Stopping and pausing with the breathing space or 3- sighs is a first step. By practicing being more present during the day and paying greater attention to bodily sensations in a kind and curious way it is possible over time to build a springboard for developing more skilful ways of responding to unpleasant experiences and patterns of reactions. When difficulties do arise it is important to experiment with findings ways to work with the difficulty while remaining balanced, mindful, and caring towards yourself. Not trying to push away or suppress negative feelings, but practicing kind and skilful ways to encourage yourself and work with them. You may try noting / describing, such as labelling your internal experience by saying to yourself pressure sensations, agitation, fear etc and returning focus back to the breath. If you find it particularly hard to stay with a particular sensation in the body (e.g., it is very painful, or there is lots of agitation), you can mindfully choose to imagine breathing into the sensations on the in-breath, and out from the sensations in the out-breath. Give the sensations some space. Or, in the next breath to mindfully shift your focus to another more neutral object of attention in order to help settle and stabilise the mind and body. For example, to sensations in your feet, movement, sounds in the room, or open your eyes and re-orientate yourself to visual sensations you can see close by or further away. Finally, we can skilfully work with difficult experience by intentionally cultivating self-kindness / selfmentoring. This is where we remember to self-validate that this is not easy, but you are doing the best you can. Remembering your values, goals and intentions, and therefore kindly and gently encouraging yourself to act on them, while letting go of any unnecessary self-judging or self-criticism. This involves practice at being kind, encouraging, warm, caring, interested, and understanding toward ourselves when we suffer, fail, make mistakes, or feel inadequate, rather than ignoring our stress or suffering, or pressuring ourselves to be better. This may involve asking the question: "What do I need right now?" How might I be more self-compassionate? This may involve simply saying something kind and supportive to yourself, or engaging mindfully in some form of self-care activity when agitated or stress (e.g., pleasurable activity, a physical activity, have a shower, cup of tea, or talk to a friend etc..), but can also involve reflecting on what your goals, values, and needs are and then aligning your behaviour accordingly. Home Practice Suggestions: Quality beats quantity, regular if only brief (10 to 15 mins per day) e.g., bodyscan or breath practice, or 3-min breathing space a few times per day with COAL. Portable frequent practices 3-sighs, mindfulness of walking/movement, 3-min breathing space, rather than rely too heavily on guided instruction. Practice sounds and thoughts meditation at: http://franticworld.com/free-meditations-frommindfulness/ Stop before you Start using sighs when transitioning between activities. Perth Mindfulness Centre - 2018 Page 8 of 8