Mindfulness Session 8 - Integration
- 2. Welcome to the Mindful Wellbeing Workshop: Session 4 - Acceptance
- 3. Outline – Session 8 Integration Integrating the 7 themes The end of the beginning Seated Meditation Three minute breathing space Homework
- 4. Homework Debrief Did you practice meditating? If so, what was your experience? Did you complete the exercise “observing the ego”? What did you observe? Do you have any other questions or concerns concerning the topic of the last session, “the Ego”?
- 5. The body scan - meditation
- 6. Integration During the past 7 sessions, a variety of themes and exercises were explored. Undoubtedly, the experience was different for everyone. We have differing experiences of which exercises we found useful, what information offered the most insight, what we found difficult or what we liked. An important question for each one of us is: what is next? There is a wise expression that says that the last meeting lasts for the rest of your life. And that is true. Mindfulness is a process that develops infinitely over time. In this final session we will reflect on what has been learned and we will integrate the previous themes with each other. We will also reflect on how this knowledge and experience can be integrated into your life after this training.
- 7. Integrating the 7 themes Although the 7 themes were introduced separately, in reality they form an inseparable entity. Together they form the concept of mindfulness. In this section we will map the links between the themes.
- 8. Session 1 integration – Attention and the now
- 10. Exercise: Mindful Reflection think about the most important thing you learned during this training How did you feel when speaking during the exercise? How did you feel when listening during the exercise? Did you notice your mind-wandering? If so, what was the distraction? What helped you bring your attention back to the present? Did your mind judge while listening to others? If so, how did “judging” make your body feel? How did your body feel right after speaking? What are you feeling right now? Do you think mindful listening would change the way you interact with others?
- 11. The end of the beginning This coaching can best be considered a start. What has been learned and experienced in the past weeks can be a starting point for further development. Mindfulness is not something that you have achieved after 8 weeks. You cannot become mindful, you can only be mindful. By practicing and applying these concepts, the effects will be stronger and it will be easier to be mindful. In other words, the more mindfulness is integrated into your daily life, the greater the impact will be. During the coaching, a number of exercises were discussed. Not only formal exercises, such as the body scan and the seated meditation, but also exercises that can easily be integrated into your daily living, such as working with more attention or mindful eating.
- 12. Exercise: Your personal Mindfulness Plan The past 7 sessions can be best regarded as a starting point in the cultivation of mindfulness. In this exercise, you are invited to create a personal plan for sustainably, incorporating mindfulness in you daily life after completing this training. Reflect on the following questions and share your answers: If you are considering a continued mindfulness practice, what is the most important reason for doing so? In what ways will you continue to integrate mindfulness into your daily life? What kind of exercises will you continue doing? What are you going to do to make sure you will stick to your intentions?
- 13. Practice: What’s Next If you decide to maintain living in a more mindful way or to develop it further, reflect on how you could integrate mindfulness into your everyday life after this course. Setting up a regular time to practice will help you integrate the exercise. I choose to continue doing the following exercises, at the following times, for the following durations: ___________________ “I’m going to do the following to ensure this”: ___________________ Consider actions to make the exercises easier or more enjoyable. e.g., adjust your routine to get up a little earlier, to meditate, choose a private place in your house
Editor's Notes
- #6: THE BODY SCAN - SCRIPT •Find a place where you will be safe, secure, and undisturbed. •Lie on your back on a firm mat or cushioned floor, arms resting by your side, palms facing upward. •If you find it difficult to stay awake during the meditation, it may be helpful to open your eyes or prop your head up with a pillow. If neither helps, you can change position that that would help you stay awake. Other positions include standing or sitting in a chair. •Close your eyes and start to focus your attention on the fact that you are breathing. Allow each inhale and exhale to flow through your body. Notice how your body feels with each breath as well as where the breath flows. With each breath, allow yourself to sink deeper into the floor. •Keep in mind that your mind will inevitably wander through this practice as that is what all minds do. When this happens, notice it and gently and kindly bring your attention back to the part of the body on which you were focusing. •As you continue to breathe, on the inhale, imagine the breath filling your lungs and then moving down into the belly, into the left leg, and all the way out of the left toes. As you exhale, imagine or feel your breath moving in through your toes, up the left leg, through the abdomen, all the way up into your chest, and finally out through your nose. With a playful approach, practice a couple of cycles of this kind of breathing. •Use this breathing technique throughout the remainder of the scan. When you notice a tense or unpleasant sensation, breathe into it and imagine relaxing, releasing, and letting go. •Notice all the sensations in your body, beginning with the bottom of your left foot. Where do you feel pressure? What does it feel like? •Move with your attention from the bottom of your left foot, up the ankle to the left leg, lower leg, knee, upper leg, across the pelvic region, down the right leg. Move into your pelvic region, scanning the front and back of your body. Notice all the sensations that arise and let them go. •As you focus on each part of the body, observe what you see and feel there without forcing anything to happen. If you don’t feel anything in an area of your body, that’s okay. Simply act as an observer, noticing how your body feels today. •Continue up through the stomach, upper chest, neck, down the left arm, back up through the collarbone down the right arm, up to your hairline, forehead, and finally face. •Remember to observe each small area of every part of your body. For example, you may want to notice what is happening in between your toes, ankles, shoulders, ears, tongue. Investigate every area of the body with gentle curiosity. •After observing every point in the body, feel your body as a whole, breathing in and out, fully alive.
- #9: We started with attention for a good reason; attention is the most fundamental building block of change and insight. Attention ensures that we are aware. If we are not aware of something, we cannot change it. Thus, by learning to consciously regulate attention, we become aware of our automated actions (2). This allows us to make new choices. Attention is necessary to become aware of the fact that we judge (3), that we avoid or stick to situations or feelings or fight them (4), that we are too attached to the busy-ness of our goals (5) or that we are mercilessly critical to ourselves or others (6). Without attention we can never see how our identification with things affects us. Attention is required to see through our ego and to limit its influence. If our attention is not judgmentally focused on the experience of the moment, then we can become a direct observer. This observer is the non-ego (7).