Mindfulness; Help or Guidance

[InsecureSpike]

hi guy's, as some of you may know, i have a few mental health problems,
today during one of my therapy sessions, my therapist advised me, to read up on mindfulness, and read up upon Jon Kabat-Zinn, as she's sure it would help me along my journey,

do any of you practice mindfulness?
can anyone advise me what i should be reading or advise me on what books i could get?
or basically the best way to start practicing mindfulness,

thank you

Ad

 

[luvmysuper]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mindfulness

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mindfulness_(psychology)

Books

http://www.amazon.com/Mindfulness-A-Merloyd-Lawrence-Book/dp/0201523418

http://www.amazon.com/The-Power-Of-Mindful-Learning/dp/0201339919/ref=pd_sim_b_1/182-0817006-5315916

http://www.amazon.com/Counterclockw...0345502043/ref=pd_sim_b_2/182-0817006-5315916

Hope that's helpful

 

[InsecureSpike]

cool thank you very much Phil,

 

[scottish steve]

Mindfulness is of course a key component of all meditative and internal developmental practice. The problem many people find with cultivating mindfulness and with learning how to meditate, is that it can bring things into sharp relief in a way which doesn't seem helpful. It's analogous to finally accepting the fact that you really can't put off giving your house a good clean any longer. Once you start to assess the job, you can suddenly realise you have a really dirty house! And of course, the emotional effect of this realisation can be quite powerful.
The most important thing about this stage is to cultivate, not only mindfulnes, but a kind of mental citadel from which you can be aware of things, but also to become aware of the fact that the core consciousness surrounding the socialised or consturcted entity you have hitherto considered to be yourself, is untouchable.
Watch the watcher. Step back. Accept the expansion which mindfulness will hopefully bring you and use it to allocate space for the unadulterated spark which is the core of your being to become aware of itself. That's where you are. All the other stuff is just housework.

 

[LarryDarrell]

I've tried various meditation techniques for mindfulness but what I found works for me are activities which require that I be 'in the moment', focused and present on the Now instead of the past or the future. I experience it when I paint and, yes now, sometimes, when I shave. So often we get lost inside our own heads instead of experiencing directly the world and being conscious of ourselves in it, without judging everything we do. One writer talks about doing even the most mundane tasks with complete attention - even washing dishes like "bathing the newborn Buddha".

 

[KipNoxzema]

Transcendental Meditation or get yourself really involved in zen Buddhism.

 

[HLS]

Something/someone else who may be helpful....."The Power of Now" by Eckart Tolle

Jim

 

[jbird1264]

I'd highly recommend reading Thich Nhat Hanh. His writings are very accessible and range from simple acts of mindfulness to deep Buddhist philosophy. As a Christian, what really drew me to his writings was a book entitled "Living Buddha, Living Christ." I have been reading him for years, and I have found him wonderfully restorative.

jbird

 

[dfollett_98]

Ad:

Jon Kabat-Zinn's book, "Wherever You Go, There You Are" worked exceptionally well for me. I have since read it many times and have made copious notes.

Never having tried meditation before, his recommendations and exercises got me so deep into Meditative States it actually startled me.

Amazon still carries the book. He has sold over 700,000 copies to folks who are pleased with his writing/teaching.

I have also heard positive things about Thich Nhat Han's writings as recommended above by jbird but have no experience with them.

Good luck, be well and hang in there.

Don

 

[Skyrider55]

I've found The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle to be excellent.

“Be the silent watcher of your thoughts and behavior. You are beneath the thinker. You are the
stillness beneath the mental noise. You are the love and joy beneath the pain.”
Eckhart Tolle

It has helped keep me sane in times of stress. Believe it or not one of the reasons I like shaving with a straight is because if you're not focused in the present moment with full concentration you're liable to cut yourself. A little extra incentive to stay present. It can be quite meditative. You can practice mindfulness during any activity during your day. Just walking up the stairs. Instead of thinking of what you need to do when you get there. Pay attention to sound, smells, feel of the stairs on every step etc etc. Be in the moment pay & attention to everything.
It's kind of an adventure. Very life affirming. Makes you realize how much of the time we all run on auto pilot and how much we miss because of it. Sounds easy but harder to do consistently than you realize. Like anything else it takes practice and is a practice.
Here's some other links that explains it a little more.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTFDfR47dl4&feature=related
http://www.working-well.org/articles/pdf/Mindfulness.pdf

 

[LarryDarrell]

I've found The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle to be excellent.

“Be the silent watcher of your thoughts and behavior. You are beneath the thinker. You are the
stillness beneath the mental noise. You are the love and joy beneath the pain.”
Eckhart Tolle

It has helped keep me sane in times of stress. Believe it or not one of the reasons I like shaving with a straight is because if you're not focused in the present moment with full concentration you're liable to cut yourself. A little extra incentive to stay present. It can be quite meditative. You can practice mindfulness during any activity during your day. Just walking up the stairs. Instead of thinking of what you need to do when you get there. Pay attention to sound, smells, feel of the stairs on every step etc etc. Be in the moment pay & attention to everything.
It's kind of an adventure. Very life affirming. Makes you realize how much of the time we all run on auto pilot and how much we miss because of it. Sounds easy but harder to do consistently than you realize. Like anything else it takes practice and is a practice.
Here's some other links that explains it a little more.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTFDfR47dl4&feature=related
http://www.working-well.org/articles/pdf/Mindfulness.pdf

To each his own, I found Tolle incomprehensible, full of cryptic platitudes that mean whatever the reader chooses them to mean, a bit like a medium doing a cold reading. Someone who is a devotee of his told me the "timing wasn't right for me" and I wasn't "ready to receive" the teaching; maybe, as I said; to each his own.

http://thisrecording.com/today/tag/eckhart-tolle

 

[noahpictures]

Awesome thread.

 

[HLS]

You expressed his concept just a few posts up.

Jim

To each his own, I found Tolle incomprehensible, full of cryptic platitudes that mean whatever the reader chooses them to mean, a bit like a medium doing a cold reading. Someone who is a devotee of his told me the "timing wasn't right for me" and I wasn't "ready to receive" the teaching; maybe, as I said; to each his own.

http://thisrecording.com/today/tag/eckhart-tolle

 

[petr]

You guys are deep.

 

[The Knize]

Mindfulness is a good thing, for sure. As Phil's Wikipedia links note, "mindfulness" comes up in psychological therapy-type theory in a number of different ways. I am not really familiar with Kabat-Zin or Langer. This may be another take on "mindfulness as therapy," http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acceptance_and_Commitment_Therapy

But it sounds like your therapist may have a particular approach in mind. There is so much out there, you may want to just start with what she is recommending so as not to get overwhelmed!

Counter to that last suggestion, I have always thought "Zen Mind, Beginners Mind" by Shunryu Suzuki-Roshi to help make straight-up more traditional Zen more accessible.

 

[The Nid Hog]

Counter to that last suggestion, I have always thought "Zen Mind, Beginners Mind" by Shunryu Suzuki-Roshi to help make straight-up more traditional Zen more accessible.

Great book!

You might also want to check with your local health care providers. I live close to two large research hospitals and both of them offer seminars in mindfulness. I think that they are deliberately set up to dovetail with the health and wellness concerns of the participants.

 

[Judge Dredd]

Mindfulness is a good thing, for sure. As Phil's Wikipedia links note, "mindfulness" comes up in psychological therapy-type theory in a number of different ways. I am not really familiar with Kabat-Zin or Langer. This may be another take on "mindfulness as therapy," http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acceptance_and_Commitment_Therapy

+1 for ACT. A really helpful primer for it is "The Happiness Trap" by Russ Harris. Russ also has done a few videos that explain how ACT works in practice.

LarryDarrell hit the nail on the head when he mentioned that the mindfulness of being in the moment can be found in the most mundane activities such as shaving, and so it should. I often here people complain that their lives are devoid of meaning, when what they really mean to say is their lives are devoid of achievement, but what they should be saying is they haven't resolved their values. Values transcend goals - living to values rather than meaningless goals is part of the path to expansion or "making room" for living mindfully in the moment.

When you're shaving, really focus on the viscosity of the PSO, the scent of the cream, the weight of the brush, the sound the brush makes as it loads on the puck, the scent of the lather as it opens up, the weight and heft of the razor, the sound of the blade as it zings through your beard, etc, etc. Shaving in this way is far better than shaving mindlessly and allowing your judgments and harmful thoughts to get in the way, to the extent that you don't even notice that you shaved and took nothing out of it.

 

[Skyrider55]

To each his own, I found Tolle incomprehensible, full of cryptic platitudes that mean whatever the reader chooses them to mean, a bit like a medium doing a cold reading. Someone who is a devotee of his told me the "timing wasn't right for me" and I wasn't "ready to receive" the teaching; maybe, as I said; to each his own.

Sound like you were as put off by the devotee as you were with his book. Obviously everything is not for everybody. There must be scores or hundreds even thousands of mindfulness teachings. Could you recommend something that did resonate with you? It's been almost a decade since I've read The Power of Now. I'm up for a refresher. Any suggestions?

 

[InsecureSpike]

sorry for the late reply guy's,
thanks for all the info, very much appreciated too,

thank you

Ad

 

[noahpictures]

After a bit of research I found a promising book titled "Mindfulness: An Eight Week Plan for Finding Peace in a Frantic World" by Mark Williams (psychologist, conducted several studies about meditation's impact on patients) with a forward by Jon Kabat-Zinn mentioned by Phil in post # 2.