Mindful Boston

We modern Bostonians do work hard to achieve our goals. And then once the goals are achieved, there is a sense of satisfaction about the achievements.  This is a great thing.  Miraculous accomplishments that we have in our lives (such as, for example, working plumbing) would not exist without our abilities to have goals and to achieve goals. It is also clear from media articles, medical reports and our own experiences that there is a side effect to having and achieving so many of the modern goals that we have: stress . During my meetings with MBSR applicants, I have been hearing them say, "I have a goal to reduce my stress."  And I have been hearing the ways in which these folks have been addressing this goal.  Because it works well for achieving their other life goals, they have been approaching stress reduction in the same way that they might approach the goal to fix their own sink.  They read about it. They take classes. They consult with experts. They ...

MBSR class will be starting in two weeks.  Before class starts there are a number of things that the students need to understand about the format and structure of class.  And, there are a number of things I need to understand about where each student is coming from.  So, there needs to be an orientation process before the start date.  In MBSR, there is some leeway about class structure.  Each teacher can decide how they want to run the orientation process for their class.  Some teachers do group meetings or skype calls.  My preferred method is to hang out in a coffee shop for an hour with each student.   There are some drawbacks to this method.  Primarily, if I am going to have 30 students in my class, I will need to budget my time to include about 40 hours of sitting in a coffee shop.  When I reflect upon the concept of 40 hours in a coffee shop, I do laugh out loud at myself for this decision.   But, we all weigh our o...

I am aware that I have not blogged in a while.  So, I'll start off slow with a quote.  The following is from one of my yoga teachers, Ken Nelson .  He is writing his newsletter from Belize where it makes sense to reflect on who the Maya were and how the "Maya Prophecy" can be viewed with sanity and wholeness. What is the Maya Prophecy? More than 5,000 years ago, Mayan astronomers calculated a cycle that began on the summer solstice of 3114 BC and will end on the winter solstice of 2012. Theories abound as to what the cycle means. Doomsayers call it the end of the world. What does the Mayan calendar mean? The director of the Belize Institute of Archeology, James Awe, says that the end of this cycle in 2012 is like the end of one year and the beginning of another, only on a very long scale. He says it's not the end days, but a time for reflection, for considering future direction. Making meaning of experience As transformational teachers our craft is practi...

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...