WEEK 1

In the stress clinic, we find that those people who come with a skeptical but open attitude do the best. Their attitude is “I don’t know whether this will work or not, I have my doubts, but I am going to give it my best shot and see what happens.”                 ~ Jon Kabat - Zinn

Please watch this video or listen on your Smart Phone, 1x/day

1 MINUTE MEDITATION

THE ATTITUDINAL FOUNDATION OF MINDFULNESS PRACTICE


1. Non-judging
If we are to find a more effective way of handling the stress in our lives, the first thing we will need to do is to be aware of the automatic judgments so that we can see through out own prejudices and fears and liberate ourselves from their tyranny.

2. Patience
In the same way we cultivate patience toward our own minds and bodies when practicing mindfulness. We intentionally remind ourselves that there is no need to be impatient with ourselves because we find the mind judging all the time, or because we are tense or agitated or frightened, or because we have been practicing for some time and nothing positive seems to have happened. We give ourselves room to have these experiences. Why? Because we are having them anyway! When they come up, they are our reality, they are part of our life unfolding in this moment.

3. Beginner’s Mind
We tend to take the ordinary for granted and fail to grasp the extraordinariness of the ordinary. To see the richness of the present moment, we need to cultivate what had been called “beginner’s mind,” a mind that is willing to see everything as if for the first time.

4. Trust
It is important to be open and receptive what you can learn from other sources, but ultimately you still have to live your own life, every moment of it. In practicing mindfulness, you are practicing taking responsibility for being yourself and learning to listen and trust your own being.

5. Non-striving
As you will see shortly, in the meditative domain, the best way to achieve your own goals is to back off from striving for results and instead to start focusing carefully on seeing and accepting things as they are, moment by moment. With patience and regular practice, movement toward your goals will take place by itself. This movement becomes an unfolding that you are inviting to happen within you.

6. Acceptance
Acceptance as we are speaking of it simply means that you have come around to a willingness to see things as they are. This attitude sets the stage for acting appropriately in you life, no matter what is happening.

7. Letting Go
Letting go is a way of letting things be, of accepting things as they are. When we observe our own mind grasping and pushing away, we remind ourselves to let go of those impulses on purpose, just to see what will happen if we do. When we find ourselves judging our own experience, we let go of those judging thoughts.