Mindful Boston

Four weeks ago, I used this quote during MBSR class #1 to describe a theme I saw emerging for all of us: "And then the day came, when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.”  - Anaïs Nin The class we just had last Friday had a theme to it that was hard for me to put into words.  In MBSR, we usually try to find poetry- but this week I was introduced to a youtube video that really described what I felt was our theme for class #4.  Someone called WaxAudio mixed together Pink Floyd and the Bee Gees.  (!) Here's the link:   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U13xOvDa19U This very strange, somewhat ridiculous, combination of music speaks to me about the questions we were facing in class: How does one live for oneself within a system that expects super-human (or robotic) levels of performance? When living in financial poverty (or emotional poverty) can there be happiness within the overwhelming levels of stress? A...

Students who are new to the concept of mindfulness are used to changing or fixing things that are considered negative.  For example, anger is considered a negative emotion in our culture.  When a student encounters an angry thought, her cultural conditioning leads her to repress it, deny it, or actively force a change so that it becomes another feeling that is more socially acceptable to feel. If a person changes a feeling before getting the chance to know what it is, and why it's there, she's missing out on valuable information. "Know thyself" is important wisdom.  It is stress-reducing wisdom. If a person has a one hour meditation practice, for one hour each day she collects self-information without changing, denying, or repressing the truth of it.  And then, for the other 23 hours in each day, she has the opportunity to change, deny, and repress as much as is necessary to live an effective life.  Living in society does require self-censure at times. In ...