Mindful Boston

At this time of budget cuts, layoffs and other manifestations of economic crisis, it is not uncommon to react with feelings of fear, horror, etc. As a Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction teacher, I am not able to change these outside stressors for you.  I can't do anything about your bills.  I can't find you a new job. If you have health concerns, I can't cure your body.  I am deeply sorry. What I can do is help you with an "inside job."  I can assist you in addressing your own feelings of fear and horror.  I can show you strategies for transforming knee-jerk emotional reactions into measured responses . In mindfulness, we work towards creating sane responses that give us more control over our inner experience of happiness regardless of the outside circumstances, even when circumstances are dire.  In MBSR class, we work on our inner perceptions of reality. We work on seeing a feeling of horror as a feeling instead of perceiving the feeling as a reality...

During our MBSR class #6 last week, I handed out a sheet on logistics for the All Day Retreat.  At the end of the page I wrote a section on possible intentions for the All Day which included some blanks to fill in.  It looked like this: Possible intentions: A full and deep experience of the MBSR practices. Immersion into your own direct experiences without outside distractions. Respite.   _______________________     _______________________     _______________________   In reply, one student said, "I plan to have a Saturday."  We all laughed. This was a funny joke because class discussion has included the concepts of non-judgment, content-neutral acceptance, and unconditional kind regard (aka unconditional love).  For a couple of weeks now, as part of saying goodbye at the end of class, we have been telling each other "have a week" instead of "have a good week." "I plan to have a Saturday" is not only a funny joke, it is actu...

Think about a toolbox. In any toolbox, a screwdriver is great. A screwdriver is even essential.  A tool box could be considered incomplete if it doesn't include a screwdriver.  But a screwdriver is not enough in order to consider your tool box complete.  A screwdriver alone couldn't handle all of your handyperson needs.  Here we are in week number 5 of the fall MBSR series.  And the theme that I'm seeing arise for the students is that mindfulness by itself is not fulfilling all their needs.  Mindfulness is an essential part of the "toolbox" of life, but it cannot address everything.  During this week's classes, we discussed some of the other tools that are essential: compassion, humor, kindness, self-care, established coping mechanisms, therapy, therapeutic drugs,  friendships, social networks, family and chosen family, and more... I asked the class, "How many people here signed up for this program because they wanted to fix a specific thing ...

At one point I had the intention to blog each week.  I did succeed in accomplishing a weekly post during the 8 weeks of the Fall 2010 MBSR.  And then I really just felt done with that intention...   Now I blog when I can.   And I've asked some fellow practitioners if they are interested in helping out here and there.  A good friend who goes by MindfulRookie submitted this blog post.   Many thanks to MindfulRookie for being my first guest blogger! -GB Out of Practice The dentist said to make sure to brush every tooth individually. That should be no problem for a practitioner of mindfulness, I thought but was I a practitioner? It had been-- phew-- a while since I took the time to sit and meditate. As I brushed my teeth I started to daydream about beginning my practice again. I remembered how good I felt when I practiced every day. I had so much more energy. I started thinking about all the things I could do with my extra energy. I w...

For my city apartment, the "back yard" consists mainly of the space between the fire escape and the chain link fence. A while ago, I put up a hammock there. One end of the hammock is attached to the fire escape. The other end of the hammock is attached to the post of the chain link fence. I hang out there on a regular basis, sitting on the hammock maybe with a cup of coffee. For some days, I have one minute. Other days I have time for a nap. Some days, I bring my headphones and listen to the MBSR body scan. I can lie down and look at the sky, I can sit up and look around me. My family has come to call this my Hammy Time, shortened from Hammock Time, so named because there was a rap song in the 80's called "Hammer Time" by MC Hammer.  The theme is that this is time that's all about me. In between the buildings, trees, and fences, sunshine does fall on my hammock.  And the timing of direct sun, and the sun's intensity shifts with the seasons. Right now i...

Today's MindfulBoston Blog is dedicated to a couple of yogis out there who have asked me the following question: What's the difference between a Yoga Nidra practice and an MBSR Body Scan? If you don't know what Yoga Nidra is, then you haven't been spending much time in a Kripalu Yoga Sudio.  Yoga Nidra is a meditation that is sometimes done at the end of an asana practice as part of shavasana time.   - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - As an MBSR teacher I lead a lot of body scans and as a yoga teacher I lead regular Yoga Nidra workshops. I do see that there are a few surface similarities between the two practices that might lead to confusing them. From my direct experiences of teaching each practice, I am of the opinion that the two are distinct and that each has a different purpose.  I have studied at Kripalu with Yoganand Michael Carroll and have taken a specific Yoga Nidra Teacher Training workshop at Kripalu with Tarika Diana Damelio. From ...

When meeting a ski instructor, a non-skier could say, "I would try skiing, but gravity makes me fall down."  Then everyone would laugh, because it's a witty joke.  Yes, gravity makes new unskilled skiers fall down on the side of the mountain...  BUT skiing itself would be impossible without gravity.  If fact, successfully skiing down a mountain to the bottom could be considered simply falling down the mountain with skill. There seems to be a misunderstanding that meditation is different than that.  As I go out and about in the world, I sometimes mention that I am a meditation teacher. On a regular basis, folks say to me, "I would try meditation, but I can't keep my mind still."  From my point of view, this should be a witty joke and everyone should laugh.  In my experience, the racing mind is actually essential for many of the forms of meditation, including Mindfulness Meditation, which is what I teach.  Yes, in beginners' skiing class it doe...