Session 7: Be Your Own Meditation Instructor and Daylong Retreat

Wisdom Mind ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 131-146
Author(s):  
Colette M. Smart
Keyword(s):  
The Self ◽  
Mindfulness Practice ◽  
Loving Kindness ◽  
Regulatory Aspect

Nearing the end of the program, participants are asked to reflect on how they will sustain their mindfulness practice going forward. This underscores the self-regulatory aspect of mindfulness, as one learns how to “become one’s own meditation instructor.” This chapter also contains information regarding the daylong retreat. Participants are given guidance on how to prepare for this silent day of group mindfulness practice, and time is spent in session addressing any questions or concerns about the retreat. The prior week’s experience tracking reacting versus responding in relationships is discussed, and the final new practice of Loving-Kindness is introduced as a way to cultivate compassion for ourselves and ultimately for others.

Mental Illness through the Lens of Mindfulness

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patricia Lynn Dobkin ◽  
Kaveh Monshat
Keyword(s):  
Mental Illness ◽  
Mindfulness Meditation ◽  
Well Being ◽  
The Self ◽  
Mindfulness Practice ◽  
Obsessive Compulsive ◽  
Compulsive Disorder ◽  
Middle Way ◽  
Western Psychology ◽  
Essential Components

The intention of this chapter is to re-envision mental illness within a paradigm that unites the biopsychosocial paradigm with a modern Buddhist spirituality, particularly associated with mindfulness. Emotion regulation, a balanced relationship with one’s self-concept, and social connection are usually regarded as essential components of well-being within both systems of thought. Western psychology and mindfulness practice have, at times, been seen to have fundamentally opposing aims: one to strengthen the self and the other to arrive at “no-self” or “emptiness.” This chapter purports that the two approaches may overlap and can be complementary both in their contribution to understanding the self and the regulation of emotions. Clinical narratives of depression, anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and psychosis are included to exemplify the application of a whole-person outlook to understand mental illness. While an orientation to well-being through a mindfulness perspective may be generally helpful, mindfulness meditation is not a panacea: for some patients, it may be contraindicated, applied in a modified format, or used alongside medication and/or psychotherapy. This chapter presents a “middle way” between the views of suffering that informs mindfulness practice and that which is drawn from psychology and psychiatry.

Session 7: Be Your Own Meditation Instructor and Daylong Retreat

Wisdom Mind ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 61-66
Author(s):  
Colette M. Smart
Keyword(s):  
Mindfulness Practice ◽  
Meditation Practice ◽  
Loving Kindness ◽  
Taking Responsibility

As we are nearing the end of the program, you will be invited to reflect on how you might sustain your mindfulness practice going forward (assuming you have found it helpful!). Taking responsibility for our own meditation practice is something we refer to as “becoming our own meditation instructor.” This chapter also contains information regarding the daylong retreat that will occur between this session and the final one. You will be given guidance on how to prepare for this silent day of group mindfulness practice, and time should be spent in session addressing any questions or concerns about the retreat. We will also review your homework experiences from the prior week, tracking reacting versus responding in relationships, and the final new practice of Loving-Kindness is introduced as a way to cultivate compassion for ourselves and ultimately for others.

scholarly journals Coming Into Mindfulness: A Practice of Relational Presence to Cultivate Compassion in One Rural School

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 189-202
Author(s):  
Sonal Kavia ◽  
M. Shaun Murphy
Keyword(s):  
Narrative Inquiry ◽  
School Leadership ◽  
Teacher Identity ◽  
School Setting ◽  
Rural School ◽  
Children And Youth ◽  
Mindfulness Practice ◽  
Loving Kindness ◽  
Educational Spaces

This narrative inquiry explores personal and professional stories of two educators, nurtured and supported by their school leadership, in a rural school setting, who have had diverse experiences with the contemplative practice of mindfulness. Our research primarily focused on the following wonders: How does the experience of mindfulness practice shift teacher identity and awareness, and the quality of time educators spend with children and youth? As educators, how can the practice of mindfulness expand our experience of listening, loving kindness, and compassion within educational spaces? We explore how their unique experiences of mindfulness are woven into the fabric of their school and a mindful pedagogy.

scholarly journals Mind-Body Interventions to Reduce Risk for Health Disparities Related to Stress and Strength Among African American Women: The Potential of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction, Loving-Kindness, and the NTU Therapeutic Framework

2010 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 115-131 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cheryl L. Woods-Giscombé ◽  
Angela R. Black
Keyword(s):  
African American ◽  
Health Disparities ◽  
African American Women ◽  
Stress Reduction ◽  
Self Care ◽  
Mindfulness Practice ◽  
Emotional Suppression ◽  
American Women ◽  
Loving Kindness ◽  
Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction

In the current article, the authors examine the potential role of mind-body interventions for preventing or reducing health disparities in a specific group—African American women. The authors first discuss how health disparities affect this group, including empirical evidence regarding the influence of biopsychosocial processes (e.g., psychological stress and social context) on disparate health outcomes. They also detail how African American women’s unique stress experiences as a result of distinct sociohistorical and cultural experiences related to race and gender potentially widen exposure to stressors and influence stress responses and coping behaviors. Using two independent, but related, frameworks (Superwoman Schema [SWS] and the Strong Black Woman Script [SBW-S]), they discuss how, for African American women, stress is affected by ‘‘strength’’ (vis-à-vis resilience, fortitude, and self-sufficiency) and the emergent health-compromising behaviors related to strength (e.g., emotional suppression, extraordinary caregiving, and self-care postponement). The authors then describe the potential utility of three mind-body interventions—mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR), loving-kindness meditation (LKM), and NTU psychotherapy—for specifically targeting the stress-, strength-, and contextually related factors that are thought to influence disparate outcomes for African American women. Self-awareness, self-care, inter- and intrapersonal restorative healing and a redefinition of inner strength may manifest through developing a mindfulness practice to decrease stress-related responses; using LKM to cultivate compassion and forgiveness for self and others; and the balance of independence and interdependence as a grounding NTU principle for redefining strength. The authors conclude with a discussion of potential benefits for integrating key aspects of the interventions with recommendations for future research.

scholarly journals An Inquiry into Self-Immolation as Social Protest

2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 53-68
Author(s):  
Sandra Elaine Filippelli
Keyword(s):  
Social Justice ◽  
Social Protest ◽  
The Self ◽  
Poetic Inquiry ◽  
Loving Kindness ◽  
Self Compassion ◽  
Lay People ◽  
The World ◽  
Greater Good ◽  
Self Immolation

This poetic inquiry paper is a reflection on the phenomenon of self-immolation committed as compassionate protest. Whether the self-directed social protest of Vietnamese monk, Thích Quảng Đức, and Tibetan monastics and lay people, expresses selfless, altruistic action, dedicated to the greater good, merits reflection. Individuals seeking social justice in today’s troubled times may be interested in cultivating ahimsa, or non-violence, within themselves before attempting to implement it within their communities. In brief, they should change themselves before they change the world. With self-compassion that broadens to loving kindness and compassion for all, they may try to understand those from whom they seek justice before they commit to action. This inquiry concludes with ekphrastic poetry, “interpreting, troubling and addressing” (poets.org) the Tibetan painting, “Wheel of Life,” a depiction of the Buddhist concept of the “three poisons,” ignorance, desire, and anger, and contemplates their antidotes.

Mindfulness, self-compassion and spiritual well-being in chronic depression

2016 ◽  
Vol 33 (S1) ◽  
pp. S415-S415 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Silva ◽  
S. Simões ◽  
H. Espírito-Santo ◽  
M. Marques ◽  
L. Lemos
Keyword(s):  
Psychiatric Treatment ◽  
Well Being ◽  
The Self ◽  
Chronic Depression ◽  
Mindfulness Practice ◽  
Common Humanity ◽  
Self Compassion ◽  
Spiritual Well Being ◽  
Compassion Scale ◽  
Predictors Of Depression

IntroductionDepression is one of the main causes of incapacity worldwide. Research has shown that mindfulness practice, self-compassion promotion, and spiritual well-being are beneficial for depressed individuals.ObjectiveAnalyze the associations between compassion, mindfulness, and spiritual well-being, during and after a therapeutic intervention (concluded less than a year ago).AimsTo determine if mindfulness, self-compassion, and spiritual well-being are predictors of depression.MethodPatients diagnosed with chronic depression were treated in a residential therapeutic community for a period of six to eight months. The 63 participants (M = 32.84, SD = 10.24, range = 15–50 years old; 32 during treatment; 31 after treatment) were assessed with the Beck Depression Inventory, the Questionnaire of the Five Facets of Mindfulness, the Self-Compassion Scale, and the Spiritual Well-Being Questionnaire.ResultsThere were differences in mindfulness, self-compassion, spiritual well-being and depression by sex, existence of previous psychiatric treatment, moment of the study (during versus after intervention), and depression levels. After intervention the group had higher levels of mindfulness and self-compassion (common humanity) and lower levels of over-identification, compared with group during treatment. The predictors of depression were the self-judgment dimension of the self-compassion scale and, negatively, the mindfulness dimensions of non-reactivity and non-judging, and the spiritual well-being dimension of personal well-being.ConclusionResults confirm the relationship between the study variables and depression. This reinforces the importance of intervention based on positive psychology enhancing positive areas of human experience, rather than focusing on psychological pain, weaknesses, and disabilities.Disclosure of interestThe authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.

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