Meditation

[MartyT]

Dear Ones, it's not exactly about meditation, but I like that today's Daily Om addresses a topic near to my own heart: Restorative Slumber: The Importance of Napping

[feralfae]

Thank you for that Marty.

I am beginning to understand how important naps can be.

Fae.

[enna]

I love naps. I even have Benji trained.

[mfh]

I think Bentley has ME trained.

[MartyT]

I truly believe that dogs are among our very best teachers, if only we'd pay attention to the lessons they offer us.

As Michael Chase declares in his delightful book, The Radical Practice of Loving Everyone,

[she was] the only one I knew who actually encompassed the qualities necessary to practice unconditional love. She was unselfish, forgiving, nonjudgmental, ego free, and always living in the present moment. These are the traits of enlightened beings! My head understood that Mollie was a dog; my heart, however, now saw her in a completely different way: as the ultimate expression of everything I wanted to be.

♥

[mfh]

I love this book, Marty, and am slowly reading it. Too many books and hopefully reading them will get easier.

---------------------------

Here is a good article on Mindfulness in the corporate world. It is good to know some of what is happening as this "tool" is more and more being used in the world of business, sometimes for all the wrong reasons.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ron-purser/beyond-mcmindfulness_b_3519289.html

Tomorrow evening and all day Saturday I will be with Jon Kabat-Zinn who is the Mindfulness guru (I use that word loosely) and Richie Davidson. Friday night is a talk sold out months ago and Saturday is an all day retreat, also sold out. Mindfulness as it enters the corporate world. is, in many instances, frequently bring used and promoted for the wrong ends (like anything can be). The good news is, in my opinion, that when I started working with corporations in the 80s the words meditation and spirituality could not be mentioned. I have learned the hard way, that in relation to grief, mindfulness is one of the most helpful tools I have in my toolbox. In the early days of gut wrenching grief it was a challenge to even care about it, but as time as gone on, I can not live without my meditation and mindfulness practice.

For those new to meditation, a good place to start is at www.tarabrach.com. Tara offers many free guided meditations here. There are many sites like this and using guided meditation is a great way to begin.

[Wifflesnook]

I'm doing the mantra 21 day meditation. I missed out on some of it when poorly and then when the family was here, so I bought it. I recommend it. The music is beautiful. I think Marty gave the link in this thread.

[Wifflesnook]

It is http://www.mentorschannel.com/DevaPremal/21-DayMantraMeditationJourney/LandingPage/883/

[feralfae]

Oh, Jan, that sounds like a wonderful thing to do, your 21 days.

I hope you are feeling better, stronger, and your spirit and heart are feeling more intact and healing. As the stars are fading this morning, a dense fog has settled in and I cannot see the tall trees at the other end of our forest here. Very thick fog. I feel snugged in, and think of you there on an island where I have seen fog so thick that that was all I could see, although I could hear waves lapping the shore.

I must go feed the fires and bring in a few logs for keeping the house warm.

I wish Doug were here today, because we would snuggle on the sofa, watch the fire, and sip warm tea or coffee, and be happy to share this little nest inside the clouds that have settled around us here in the hills.

I am sending much love to you, dear one, for this day of healing and feeling your heart settle from the recent surprises.

Much Love and

*<twinkles>*

fae

[mfh]

"Meditation is not a way of making your mind quiet. It's a way of entering into the quiet that's already there buried under the 50,000 thoughts the average person thinks every day." ~Deepak Chopra

[MartyT]

This just in, from Ashley Davis Bush, LICSW:

For a deeper look at mindfulness, whether or not you're a mental health clinician, I think you'll be interested in this FREE series.

My friends at NICABM developed the Making Mindfulness Work webinar series to bring you the latest research and the most effective practices for helping yourself or your clients reduce stress, improve focus, and even enhance relationships.

Here's a look at what's in the series:

It's free to watch each webinar at the time of broadcast, just go here to sign up now.

Or, you can register for a Gold Membership to get all 6 webinars, including the videos, audio recordings, transcripts, bonus sessions, and two new learning tools to simplify the question of where to start.

Plus, you'll get 5 additional bonuses when you sign up for a Gold Membership right now (but they're only available until midnight EDT on Wednesday, October 16th, so don't miss out).

Check it out right here.

• Jack Kornfield, PhD - Shifting Focus through Mindfulness: How to Grow Love and Compassion out of the Seeds of Suffering
• Dan Siegel, MD - The Neurobiology of Mindfulness: How Being Present Can Change the Brain
• Tara Brach, PhD - Mindfulness and the Gateways to Refuge: Finding the True Self
• Ram Dass, PhD - How to Help People Connect to Loving Awareness: Expanding Our Capacity to Give and Receive Unconditional Love
• Marsha Linehan, PhD - Dialectical Behavior Therapy - A New Approach to Treating Extreme Emotions
• Joan Halifax, PhD - Deconstructing Death: Using Mindfulness to Manage Life's Ultimate Transition

[mfh]

Well, after sleeping until almost 9am I should be wide awake but I am not.

I did just read my email as I am having my first cup of java and saw what you posted from Ashley, Marty. I have to study this a bit as the cost is $237 if I want the CEUs.(I need 30 to renew my license and will get most at the Death Education conference in June but this would wrap it up except for the required ethics class). It is FREE to listen live. I hope everyone will choose to listen to it live...Mindfulness is so incredibly helpful with grief and stress and these are some of the top names in the field. I am probably going to buy the package since it includes 12 CEUs and we are allowed in WI to have 12 via the internet programs...that is a great price with great skilled names.

If I had to identify one tool that has helped me through this grief journey (which is far far from over) I would say besides the forum here, it is Mindfulness and of course, my reading.

I am so glad you posted this as I might have deleted it in my email though I usually check Ashley's. It looks as if the free broadcasts are every Wednesday. I will schedule these and perhaps we can have/start a discussion HERE on grief and Mindfulness after each one. Just a thought. Thanks for this post.

Anne, this would be great for you along with your class. Perfect timing. Hmmmmm! The universe speaks.

Mary

[mfh]

I just got my directions etc. for our all day retreat on Saturday with Jon Kabat-Zinn. I thought some here might be interested in what a day like this looks like should you wish to attend one locally. I guarantee you that people will come in with their meditation cushions, blankets, water, and more. I am very excited about this. Probably a last chance to see JKZ in person. He getting as old as me

A Note from Jon Kabat-Zinn:

A Day of Mindfulness Practice and Dialogue

This day is an opportunity for us to practice mindfulness together as a community of caring and intentionality, and at the same time, for us to drop deeply into our own experience of life as it is unfolding on this day, moment by moment, whatever our circumstances and aspirations for attending. People new to formal meditation practice as well as graduates of mindfulness- based programs and long-term meditators are welcome. We will explore a range of ways of cultivating mindfulness, based on the practices used in clinical programs such as mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) and mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT). The day will include periods of dialoguing together about our first-person experience with both formal and informal practices, as well as about their potential clinical applications and their value for people seeking to enhance quality of life and optimize well-being more generally.

The entire day will be an invitation to cultivate greater intimacy with silence, emphasizing inhabiting the domain of being in movement and in stillness, rather than being caught up in endless doing. We will be coming to our senses, literally and metaphorically, through bringing open-hearted, non-judging attending to our direct experience of sights, sounds, smells, tastes, touch, and the non-conceptual knowing that attends these and other senses, such as proprioception and interoception, and learning how to rest in awareness itself. Group dialogue grounded in our first-person experience will be interspersed throughout.

~ Information web link: A Day of Mindfulness with Jon Kabat-Zinn<www.benedictinewomen.org

[enna]

So, I have signed up and I know what I'm going to be doing on Wednesdays at 2:00 AZ time. Thank you for the information about the webinar, Marty. Many of my favorite people with most of their lastest books waiting to be read!!! I am most interested in the topics and I think Mary's idea about a discussion or exchange of ideas is a good one - perfect timing is right, Mary.

Mary, your day with JKZ sounds so inviting. I know it will be a wonderful day for you. I am happy for you. I know I shall be looking for a report about the day if you feel like sharing with us here on the forum.

My Saturday will be partly taken up with participating in a real October Fest (celebrating a few birthdays) and spending time up north driving through the colors of autumn in and around the Sedona area - an opportunity for me to practice mindfulness.

[mfh]

Anne, I am so glad you signed up. I just did the same and was able to download some other talks. I will share here whatever I am able to share but can't look at them until I go get these glasses checked shortly. My eyes are driving me nuts.

I envy your drive through the red hills of Sedona. Some of my sacred memories with Bill happened in those hills...and many times I sat in that chapel just outside of town being still and holding Bill's hand. Enjoy the Octoberfest and the drive. AWESOME!

[mfh]

Well, I just got home a while ago from the evening with Jon Kabat-Zinn and Richie Davidson (founder and head of the Center for the Investigation of Healthy Minds. This whole thing is sponsored by the UW Program for Mindfulness and Jon helped them get it off the ground 20 years ago. He called Madison magical and it truly is magical...

I had trouble hearing again...Richie was ok but Jon is soft spoken and the first four rows were reserved for the staff and donors so we were in row 5. I plan to tell the powers that be tomorrow that I have a hearing issue and sit in front. It is at a different setting and I think the sound system will be ok. It is clearly NOT ok at the Unitarian Society and I plan to write them. This is the second time in a month I have been frustrated with their sound.

I have notes from the talk but too tired and too late to do that tonight. Here is a picture I got of Jon hanging out with us outside before the talk. I think that is my car in the background...the black one. Jon and Richie were hanging out with we early birds. Then disappeared to a reception and dinner celebrating the 20th birthday of the Mindfulness Program at UW.

I drove home following the moon, alone in the silence and darkness on our country highway...crying. These events are so difficult at one level...I so want Bill to be by my side where he belongs and driving home alone to a silent house after dropping my friend off (she lives in Madison) seemed just so lonely and sad tonight. Grateful for Bentley's greeting and clinging for a long while. I think we were clinging to each other, frankly. I know ten years from now I will Bill miss as much as i do today. Maybe more. I am grateful for the healing that is mine so that I am not crying every single day now but tonight was really tough. Between the bright headlights and the tears, I was relieved to get home tonight. I leave at 7am and will be gone 12 hours tomorrow. A friend will come in twice to play with and let Bentley out while she also uses my w/d...long story...sad one for her.

One thing I remember Jon saying...well two...is that he still gets distracted when he meditates...he is 69 and started at age 20. That made me feel good as I am 73 and started at 20 also and still fight distraction. Also he said there are no right ways or wrong ways, we enter from many doors. The important thing is to get in the room. More notes tomorrow...night. I will carry all of you with me tomorrow. Tonight Jon asked the audience of 400 how many meditate regularly. I do not think there was a hand that was not up....Tomorrow will be a smaller group...I have been in the chapel at Holy Wisdom Monastery and it will not hold 400. I have packed my blanket, yoga pad and water bottle and am ready to go. I can only get down on the floor with the help of a chair and will go back and forth between the two on and off all day. You are all with me there...

Peace

Mary

[kayc]

I think most of us humans struggle with distractions.

[mfh]

Yes, Kay, we all deal with distractions all the time. But knowing that the "guru" could only get to 6 inhalations before he was distracted was consoling.

I just got home from a day of silence...no breaks. We used the restroom as needed, ate in silence, breaks consisted of mindfulness exercises. We sat (sitting means sitting in meditation) many hours today, did movement mindfulness, yoga mindfulness and more. I will go over notes tomorrow and post them when I re-write them. It was a marvelous motivating day. Jon is an excellent teacher and of the 200 people attending, many were Mindfulness teachers associated with the UW Program for Mindfulness which Jon help found in 1992...I came home with renewed energy at many levels and lots to share with you all. (The you all is in your honor QMary). More on that tomorrow. Here are a couple of pictures. We were in silence from 9am to almost 5pm except in the last hour if you wanted to ask a question which I did so I heard my own voice after 7 hours or more . At 10am I was prepared to vacate the place because I could not hear. A few people had trouble also and so I went to the desk and asked if they had Personal Mikes and they did. I wore one all day instead of my hearing aid in my better ear and heard everything well. So did others. I could even him Jon breathing I sat on a chair most of the day except for the one hour body scan where I was flat on my back. About half or more people sat on cushions but those days are gone for me...In the past I could do floor time for hours...no more. VERY tired but peaceful and renewed...I have no plans tomorrow and only the food pantry volunteer work on Monday. That is enough.

Afternoon. about 100 or more people of the 200 spent the day on their meditation cushions. I only got down there for an hour on my yoga mat.

Getting organized in the a.m. Lovely chapel used for many purposes but as we left they were preparing the space for Mass in the morning. Food was vegetarian, gluten free...it IS Madison, WI after all.

Nothing new...I have either learned all this and most I even taught but that is not why I go. I go for renewal and motivation and the people...energy....scattered thoughts that remind me of what I already know but need to think about.

[mfh]

During the Friday night and Saturday retreat, Jon recited some poems. These are three of them....for you. He is not the author...he just had these memorized. I like them all but the last one...speaks loudly to my soul.

JKZ poems.pdf

[enna]

The poems you shared are full of meaning, Mary. I shall look forward to your notes from your retreat when you post them. What a wonderful experience it must have been to be surrounded by beautiful people. I am so glad you were able to work out the hearing with those personal micks.

[Wifflesnook]

I love that last poem best of all. I'm so happy that you got such a lot out of this experience Mary. I wish something like that were available to me, but living on the east coast of. Yorkshire remote from most things I will have to make my own. I'm looking forward to hearing more.

[mfh]

Anne, It was a good retreat. Surrounded by beautiful people. We only spoke as we gathered and disbanded but I believe the vast majority of them were graduates of the MBSR (Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction) program. The gal I went with, another gray haired warrior, is in the class now. It is pricey or I might take it but what I need to do is keep my practice going. I will get notes legible today and post them. You are up mighty late!!!

Jan, I also wish you had things closer to you. This was in Madtown (45 minutes away) and even that gets cumbersome. Driving home Friday night around 10pm I was hoping my eyes would tolerate lights better but I think they will never do that. My corneas are somewhat compromised so perhaps that is the issue. A question on my list for the MD. Thank goodness for the internet where so many things are available for us to learn...like the one Marty posted earlier this week for Wednesdays....I purchased that for my CEU (Continuing Ed Units) renewal and will be posting what I get beyond the free lectures if it is postable. (is that a word?)

[mfh]

Just saw this on Facebook

Living with Mindfulness

A traditional Irish saying:

"Nil aon tintean mar do thintean fein."

(There is no hearth like your own hearth.)

Mindfulness is remembering to come back to our own hearth, over and over again.

[mfh]

http://www.jsonline.com/features/health/uw-study-shows-benefits-of-mindfulness-meditation-for-inflammation-ju8e3em-187618081.html

As one diagnosed with a low level Rheumatoid Arthritis after Bill died and being told that this was a genetic condition that surfaced due to the stress of caregiving and Bill's death, I am very interested in this study showing that Mindfulness Meditation (UW-Madison) benefits Chronic inflammation, IBS, and Asthma. Another reason for all of us to take the benefits seriously. A gal at the retreat said she has been on pain killers from age 6 to 26 because of a chronic inflammatory condition. She pursued Mindfulness two years ago and is better able to deal with the decreased pain and has shed the strong debilitating pain killers.

[mfh]

OK, here are the notes from my Mindfulness retreat for those interested. Don't forget the free webcasts 5pm Eastern I got the Gold membership and will share what I can from this and perhaps we could start a topic discussing these each week. I truly believe Mindfulness to be an essential tool on the grief journey. And i say this knowing that at least early on it is hard to concentrate on anything...hence the value of mindfulness even when you feel it is a total waste at this stage.

Drive to Madison early morning Saturday.

JKZ Mindfulness Retreat page 1.pdf

JKZ Mindfulness Retreat page 2-4.pdf

Edited October 13, 2013 by MartyT
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