Anybody into Mindfulness Meditation?

[A Work in Progress]

I wasn't sure if this should be placed in the "holistic" area or not. I ran a search over there and didn't find anything about this type of meditation practice, so I am posting it here.

I am wondering if anyone here has an active meditation practice (Zen, or Vipassana, or Insight Meditation, or Mindfulness Meditation)?

I was once a Zen student and, since then, have had a lot of training and experience in the tradition(s) that Jon Kabat-Zinn teaches (mindfulness-based stress reduction). I have let my meditation practice slide away, while all this recent crap has been going on (abusive, paranoid mother now in nursing home; job loss; etc.) and while my drinking got worse.

I have not ordered the hypnotherapy CDs... am wondering if getting back to my meditation practice will serve essentially the same purpose. I think that "metta" practice is really important, for me, while going through something like this program (it is something like visualization, something like affirmations).

At 3am this morning, my current metta phrases came to me: May I be happy, may I be healthy, may I be free (especially, now, from alcohol), may I be strong (mentally and physically). And so, also, for all beings (including everyone here, and my suffering mother, and the boss-from-hell who forced me out of the job that I loved) as well...

Anybody else here doing that kind of practice?

[A Work in Progress]

Anybody into Mindfulness Meditation?

Absolutely! Books R Me!

I'd recommend starting with Jon Kabat-Zinn's first book (Full Catastrophe Living), or his latest one (Coming to Our Senses).

Some excellent work is being done by researchers (such as Alan Marlatt, a very big name in addiction research) on using mindfulness meditation methods for prevention of relapse in addictions. Results are very promising.

[Lila]

Anybody into Mindfulness Meditation?

Thanks for bringing this up, Jez. I can kinda relate to you being overloaded with troubles...I keep waiting for my problems to be over, and they kinda pushed me over the edge a bit. I started drinking and wanting to be alone a lot.
I'm interested in what other people here have to say. My fave author, Anthony de Millo said if you were really mindful (and woke up) you would stop right away what you are doing that is harmful.
But he was a priest and didn't have to deal with kids, an ex-husband, obligations.....
anyways, we can't grow without problems I suppose....
Love,
Lila

[bestlifeldms]

Anybody into Mindfulness Meditation?

Jez,

It sounds like you are heading down the right path. Great! You have far greater experience and training than I, in this area. But, just wanted to give the twist that my group uses. Rather than using and visualizing "May I be..." We use "I am..." The concept is that "May I be..." leaves open that possibility that you may or you may not. By using, believing and seeing/experiencing through visualization that you already are, there is no variable. We conclude by "Being thankful for what we have..." this being the visualized goal. Make sense? Anyway, just a spin. I have experience positive results.

I will look forward to reading more of what you write on this subject.

Love and support, Best

[wonderworld]

Anybody into Mindfulness Meditation?

Hey Jez-

I'm a long time Shamata meditation practitioner in the Kagyu/Nyingma Tibetan Buddhist traditions. Am also familiar with Zen and Vipassana, etc. My study and practice have been in a pretty active phase for the last few years so that has been part of my journey here going AF. I think the daily sitting was really helpful. Also getting back to some inspirational reading helped get my mind re-focused. I also highly recommend, if and when possible, to sit with a group somewhere if you're into it at all. There's something so ....... comforting? empowering? relaxing? clarifying? uplifting?........ about that experience for me.

I did not get the MWO CD's. My personal feeling is that the element of 'mind' was being dealt with in my practice. Just me. However, if the other MWO tools hadn't eventually "worked" I would have tried those too!

Wishing you all the best -

WW xox

[A Work in Progress]

Anybody into Mindfulness Meditation?

Thanks for the responses!

Meditation/metta, and visualization, and affirmations... These methods are similar, but not identical. I know that there is quite a bit of support in the psych literature for visualization in some contexts (including athletic performance, and pursuit of other goals as well). Affirmations (e.g., I am happy, strong, free, etc.) have always been a bit off-putting to me, and that (I believe) diminishes their effectiveness (for me, personally). And, more recently, it reminds me a bit too much about that popular book about creating your own reality ("The Secret")... It also feels a bit too much like trying to talk myself into believing something that is not yet true, as is done in some forms of cognitive therapy (and I don't think that's effective for everyone)...

The standard formula used in traditional metta practice (beginning with "May you be happy... May I be happy... etc.), I agree, sounds a bit iffy, doesn't it? But I see it as an expression of compassion and regard, extended to all beings, including myself. It could be expressed as the concept of "Big Mind" offering compassion to "small mind" (for me, maybe for others, as well).

Anyway, the bottom line is there are a lot of methods we can use to help our minds/brains engage in the changes that we really want to make in our lives. Great to be sharing these with others!

[Yosemite Sam]

Anybody into Mindfulness Meditation?

Jez;368164 wrote:
I am wondering if anyone here has an active meditation practice (Zen, or Vipassana, or Insight Meditation, or Mindfulness Meditation)?

Anybody else here doing that kind of practice?

I have been meditating about 35 years and credit my practice for the great
changes that have taken place in my relationships [ to self,family, and god ]

I would not call it mindful, as it is more like an open ended prayer that I do
once in the morning and once in the evening. I am certain, in my heart, that had
I not been so committed to my practice, that I would have been taken years
ago, as my practice has brought me very far from where I started in this
life.

namaste, Yosemite Sam.

[nancy]

Anybody into Mindfulness Meditation?

I think mindfulness meditation is really valuable. We had some lively discussions about meditation and Buddhism on the holistic section quite a while ago. If you search, you can find them. I think the value of mindfulness meditation is that it teaches you to be accepting of the many tides within yourself, that you don't have to act on these things and that they come and go. Also, Roberta Jewell has posted some links to good meditation materials.

[DeeBee]

Anybody into Mindfulness Meditation?

Thanks so much for starting this post. I having been thinking about meditation a great deal lately but have never tried it and don't know much about it other than what I have read but one book in particular had a great impact on me. I am a great believer in reading and learning so will log onto Amazon right now and try find that book.

Please also keep me posted if you can think of any other books you can think of for a "newbie"

[A Work in Progress]

Anybody into Mindfulness Meditation?

Thanks! I will try again to check those old threads (the search I first ran came up with nothing at all on the Holistic section, maybe I was not entering the right terms... although I tried just plain "meditation")...

DeeBee, my all-time favorite book for beginners is called "Mindfulness in Plain English" by Bhante Gunarata. And I have read them all, because I do teach this stuff...

Certainly the practice of mindfulness meditation, or any sort of meditation, is not a cure-all... otherwise I would not find myself here on this forum! ... As someone mentioned earlier in this thread, practicing regularly with others is, if not essential, then at least very valuable. When I was forced out of my teaching position, back in January, I lost the biggest part of my own community of colleagues, friends, and students... and I did not find a way to get integrated into a new supportive community. Other big stressors were present, and I was very sad and angry, discouraged, demoralized, etc., and drinking just became the most attractive alternative for me. For a while.

So, here I am... I have certainly resumed my own meditation practice. I am hoping there are others here who maybe want to join me, so we can support each other?

Is there any way to form groups on this forum? I notice that when I look at people's profiles, it usually says "not a member of any public groups." What are these "public groups"?

[KateH1]

Anybody into Mindfulness Meditation?

Great Thread! I have been interested in this topic for over 30 years, beginning with Transendental Meditation back in the early 70's. I have experiemented with many diciplines since that time. Truly it is a facinating journey. I have and still am searching for a spiritual outlet that feels true to my soul. I might have found it.

I am taking a Kabbalah class and I am amazed at what I am learning. I know, I know, everyone thinks that Kabbalah is a "popular trend" at the moment because of Madonna. But, I am gaining so much insight into who we are as a human race, how to connect with the universal energy that we are all a part of and how to connect with who I am. Meditation is a big part of Kabbalah. I intend to go through the series of classes that will take a year to complete. One thing that I am really enjoing is that there is no attempt what so ever to try to draw us into a system of belief or practice. We are encouraged to embrace all people as we all come from the same energy force. I could go on and on about what I am learning.......but, I will just share this.......mindfullness is the way to ground our concious and sub-concious, when we are grounded, substance abuse no longer has a place to reside in us!

xxx Kate

[A Work in Progress]

Anybody into Mindfulness Meditation?

Seems as if there is a good level of interest out there for continuing this thread as a support thread for folks who are interested in starting and/or maintaining a meditation practice, for learning more about types and styles and methods of meditation, and just talking about how our practice is going?

I'm very happy to be getting back on the path. Maybe others will find it helpful, too.

I'll start with my own background and (resumed!) meditation practice: I spent 3 years as a student and teacher at a Zen Center, but gravitated more toward Vipassana, or mindfulness meditation, over the years. I have done training in Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy, and Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction, and developed a couple of successful programs along those lines.

My usual practice is to do sitting meditation every day, usually in the morning. I am being very easy on myself these days, only setting my timer for 8 minutes. Not much, but a great start for me, right now. I will gradually move up to 20 or 25 minutes.

Basic instructions: find a comfortable sitting position, one in which you will not need to shift around. Close your eyes (or let them be half-closed, and gently resting at one spot in front of you, on the floor or table). Bring your attention to the physical sensations of your breathing (at the nostrils/mouth, or chest, or abdomen, or throughout the body). When you notice that you have become distracted, or your attention has wandered off, just notice that this has happened, and gently bring your attention back to the sensations of breathing. Repeat. If you notice that you are having judgmental thoughts (e.g., "I am doing this wrong... this is not working... " etc.), just notice that you have had judgmental thoughts, and gently return your attention to the sensations of your breath. Don't make an effort to change your breathing... just notice the sensations that your breathing produces, regardless of whether it is fast or slow, deep or shallow, regular or irregular.

One good way to know when your time is up is to get a kitchen timer, but put it in a box or something, because they usually have a very harsh and loud ring, and that can be really jarring. There are also all kinds of timers you can get online. Some are sound files you can download into an ipod, and onto CD's.

And tons of recordings of instructions on Gil Fronsdal's excellent website (see my website, link up above).

I would love to hear from anyone who is doing this sort of practice, on an ongoing basis; I know that it would be a great support to me, in my own practice...

[KateH1]

Anybody into Mindfulness Meditation?

Work in Progress, Thank you for sharing your website with us! You have certainly done a lot of work preparing this. There is so mucy information! I have bookmarked your site and will return when I am able to spend more time! There is so much to learn in regards to mindfull living and meditation. I love exploring all diciplines.

I hope that you are able to get back on track with this soon! I am certain that this work is healing for you as well!

Best Wishes,
Kate

[A Work in Progress]

Anybody into Mindfulness Meditation?

OK, so this is the morning of day 4 AF for me this time around, and I finally got a good night's sleep. Up at 5am instead of the 3 or 3:30 I had been doing for months when the drinking was really bad. Feeling much better!

Had dinner last night with old friends from my Zen Center days... in the Buddhist world, there is an ancient set of ethical or behavioral guidelines known as "precepts." One of them is a commitment to refrain from the use of intoxicants. This precept is kept strictly by some, not so strictly by others (some see it as a requirement not to become intoxicated, leaving it OK to drink a little alcohol), and pretty much disregarded by others. The underlying idea is that our "true nature" can only be present when our minds are clear, not clouded by intoxicants.

The Zen Center my friends and I were a part of eventually imploded, in part due to the sexual misconduct of a teacher (and also sexual misconduct, affairs, cheating, by others in the community)... and that was happening at the same time that there was also quite a bit of drinking at parties given and attended by lots of Zen Center people. The alcohol did not, by itself, cause the extensive problems; but it certainly was a part of it.

I am reminded of the sorrow that alcohol has caused for so many people, myself included, and including so many people I love and have loved. I am so grateful to see the clarity of my mind returning, after so much cloudiness and confusion and misery.

best wishes to all...

[A Work in Progress]

Anybody into Mindfulness Meditation?

My day 7 AF is today... I've been sitting meditation and doing metta (compassion) practice at least for a short time every day. There's all kinds of research coming out that demonstrates the effectiveness of meditation practice for a variety of medical problems: overall, it appears to reduce the inflammatory response, and that can help to keep us from developing a huge variety of problems, from diabetes to depression to cancer. It's being used now in relapse prevention programs for addictions... So I consider it an essential part of my own MWO program...

Anybody else? Want to keep the thread going on meditation practice?

wip