Based on the Mindfulness – Based Stress Reduction Workbook by Bob Stahl, Ph.D. & Elisha Goldstein, Ph.D. Session 8 The Healthy Path: Mindfulness in Everyday Life AN INTRODUCTION TO MINDFULNESS

“The real week 8 is the rest of our lives ” – Jon Kabat-Zinn Week 8 is not necessarily the end of the program but the beginning of a continuing journey.

Mindfulness is NOT: having a blank mind becoming emotionless withdrawing from life seeking bliss escaping pain Mindfulness increases our capacity to bear our experiences

Keeping Up the Formal Practice Keep your practice alive Continue reading about mindfulness Exposure to other meditation teachers Kabat-Zinn, J. Full Catastrophe Living: Using the Wisdom of Your Body and Mind to Face Stress, Pain and Illness, Second Edition. New York: Bantam Books Trade Paperbacks, 2013

Keeping Up the Informal Practice “Paying attention, being awake and owning your moments the best you can, and as often as you can” -Jon Kabat-Zinn Kabat-Zinn, J. Full Catastrophe Living: Using the Wisdom of Your Body and Mind to Face Stress, Pain and Illness, Second Edition. New York: Bantam Books Trade Paperbacks, 2013

Keeping Up the Informal Practice Ask yourself throughout the day : - “Am I fully awake?” - “Do I know what I’m doing right now?” - “Am I fully present in the doing of it?” - “How does my body feel right now?” - “How am I breathing?” - “What is my mind up to?”

Keeping Up the Informal Practice As long as you’re awake, you can be mindful You can tune into: standing, walking, listening, speaking, eating, working, thoughts, emotions, sensations, the environment around you, etc. Kabat-Zinn, J. Full Catastrophe Living: Using the Wisdom of Your Body and Mind to Face Stress, Pain and Illness, Second Edition. New York: Bantam Books Trade Paperbacks, 2013

Additional Awareness Exercises Mindful for one minute in every hour Touch base with your breathing throughout the day Connections between physical symptoms of distress and preceding mental states Be mindful of your needs Decompress and restore balance Kabat-Zinn, J. Full Catastrophe Living: Using the Wisdom of Your Body and Mind to Face Stress, Pain and Illness, Second Edition. New York: Bantam Books Trade Paperbacks, 2013

Beyond Eight Weeks Sit for at least 20 minutes every day Sit in the morning Same time, in the same place, each day Practice yoga 4 or 5 times a week for 30 minutes Explore the recommended readings Practice with others Kabat-Zinn, J. Full Catastrophe Living: Using the Wisdom of Your Body and Mind to Face Stress, Pain and Illness, Second Edition. New York: Bantam Books Trade Paperbacks, 2013

Formal Practices Mindful EatingMindful Standing Yoga Mindful Check-InMindful Self-Inquiry for Stress & Anxiety Mindful BreathingLoving Kindness Meditation Body Scan Sitting Meditation Walking Meditation Mindful Self Inquiry Mindful Lying Yoga

Informal Practices Mindful Eating Weaving Mindfulness Throughout Your Day Bringing the 8 Attitudes of Mindfulness into Your Life STOP RAIN Loving Kindness in Daily Life Being Mindful of Habits Minding your Pain

Love after Love The time will come When, with elation you will greet yourself arriving at your own door, in your own mirror and each will smile at the other’s welcome, and say, sit here. Eat. You will love again the stranger who was your self. Give wine. Give bread. Give back your heart to itself, to the stranger who has loved you all your life, whom you ignored for another, who knows you by heart. Take down the love letters from the bookshelf, the photographs, the desperate notes, peel your own image from the mirror. Sit. Feast on your life. - Derek Walcott

Recommended Reading Kabat-Zinn, J. Full Catastrophe Living: Using the Wisdom of Your Body and Mind to Face Stress, Pain and Illness, Second Edition. New York: Bantam Books Trade Paperbacks, Williams, J.M.G., Segal, Z.V., Teasdale, J.D., & Kabat-Zinn, J. The Mindful Way through Depression: Freeing Yourself from Chronic Unhappiness. New York: Guildford Press, Orsillo, S., & Roemer, E. The Mindful Way through Anxiety. New York: Guilford Press, Germer, C. The Mindful Path to Self-Compassion. New York: Guildford Press, Kabat-Zinn, J. Wherever You Go, There You Are: Mindfulness Meditation in Everyday Life. New York: Hyperion Press, 1994

Recommended Reading Kabat-Zinn, J. Coming to Our Senses: Healing Ourselves and the World Through Mindfulness. New York: Hyperion Press, 1994 Tolle, E. The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment. Novato: New World Library, 2004 Tolle, E. A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose. New York: Penguin Books, 2008 Levine, S. A Gradual Awakening. New York, Anchor Press, 1989 Brach, T. Radical Acceptance. New York: Bantam Books, Salzberg, S. Loving-kindness: The Revolutionary Art of Happiness. Boston: Shambhala Publications, 1995

Our Final Meditation

Assessments & Program Evaluation