I've made a few notes below on ideas from Jon Kabat-Zinn[i]
that we explored in our Gentle Yoga and Mindfulness Meditation classes, Feb-March 2016
1.
a)
Remind ourselves from time to time that “This
is it”. This is about accepting the present
moment and letting go of wanting something else to happen in this present
moment. It doesn’t mean resignation in
the face of what is happening but it does mean paying attention so as to
acknowledge that what is happening is
happening.
b)
Acceptance doesn’t tell us what to do.
What happens next, what we choose to do, that has to come out of our
understanding of this moment.
2. “You
can’t stop the waves but you can learn to surf.” Think of the mind as the surface of an
ocean. There are always waves, some
bigger, some smaller. Mindfulness does
not try to stop the waves, but can help us learn to surf them. Another image is of thinking as the cascade
of a waterfall. We can learn to go beyond or behind our thinking – as if stepping out of the waterfall, resting
from the torrent of the “autopilot”.
3. Patience is a quality that can be cultivated to
help mindfulness. TRY: looking into
impatience and anger when they arise.
See if we can adopt a different perspective, one which sees things as
unfolding in their own time. This may
help if we are feeling under pressure.
4. Non-judging.
The judging type of thinking can really dominate the mind and weigh it
down, “like carrying a suitcase full of rocks on your head.” Mindfulness can give us a chance to step back
from habitual judgemental thinking (unconscious patterns of liking and
disliking), and pause and gain clarity before making a decision. (See 1b above)
5. Voluntary
simplicity – doing one thing
and really paying attention to it.
Resisting (at least sometimes) the impulse to squeeze one more thing
(task/phone call etc.) into the present moment.
[i] From: Jon Kabat-Zinn,
Wherever You Go, There You Are, Piatkus, London, 2011, Section 1 of the
book “The Bloom of the Present Moment”
Please email me, Sue, at sjyogaandphilosophy@gmail.com if you have any queries or would like
further information.
