Living in Our Heads

Welcome to Week 2 of this 4 Week Introduction to Mindfulness. If you started the daily meditation practice of the 10 minute Breath & Body last week, you probably noticed how much your mind was wandering during the meditation, whether it was planning, day dreaming or thoughts about the past. Often people think they are not doing mindfulness right if their mind is wandering a lot, but this is perfectly normal. Each time we notice the mind wandering is a moment of mindful awareness, we have the opportunity to practice letting go of the thought or judgement, and guiding our attention back to the breath, without needing to give ourselves a hard time for this, knowing that if we have a mind it will wander. So starting to notice how much these minds of ours are wandering is a really good starting place on this mindfulness journey. Having the breath as an anchor allows us to move out of the busy mind and shift gear into being what is arising in the present moment. 

‘The present is the only time that any of us have to be alive-to know anything-to perceive-to learn- to act -to change-to heal’                                 

                                                                                        (Kabat-Zinn, 1994)

We may also notice sleepiness, doubt, restlessness, boredom, impatience or strong desire for things to be different than they are in our out of our meditation practice. Knowing that this is normal, we are not trying to force ourselves to feel relaxed, we are simply noticing how we are, so if we notice ‘impatience’ we notice impatience and when we are ready, returning to the Breath to notice the physical sensations of the inbreath or the outbreath, depending on what way to body is naturally breathing when you redirect your attention to it.

This week we are also introducing the Body Scan meditation, which can be done lying down or sitting. We are not trying to achieve a certain state of relaxation we are simply observing the sensation in the body, even noticing the lack of sensation. 

Tips for the Body Scan                   

1. Regardless of what happens (e.g., if you fall asleep, lose concentration, keep thinking of other things or focusing on the wrong bit of body, or not feeling anything), persist with it! These are your experiences in the moment. See if it is possible to be aware of them all, just as they are.

2. If your mind is wandering a lot, simply note the thoughts (as passing events), then bring the mind gently back to the body scan.

3. Let go of ideas of “success,” “failure,” “doing it really well,” or “trying to purify the body.” This is not a competition. It is not a skill for which you need to strive. The only discipline involved is regular and frequent practice. Just do it with an attitude of openness and curiosity, and then allow the rest to take care of itself.

4. Let go of any expectations about what the body scan will do for you: Imagine it as a seed you have planted. The more you poke around and interfere, the less it will be able to develop. So with the body scan, just give it the right conditions—peace and quiet, regular and frequent practice. That is all. The more you try to influence what it will do for you, the less it will do.

5. Try approaching your experience in each moment with the attitude: “OK, that’s just the way things are right now.” If you try to fight off unpleasant thoughts, feelings, or body sensations, the upsetting feelings will only distract you from doing anything else. Be aware, be non-striving, be in the moment, and accept things as they are.

  (Adapted Segal, Williams and Teasdale, 2013)

The Summer Day

Who made the world?

Who made the swan, and the black bear?

Who made the grasshopper?

This grasshopper, I mean-

the one who has flung herself out of the grass,

the one who is eating sugar out of my hand,

who is moving her jaws back and forth instead of up and down-

who is gazing around with her enormous and complicated eyes.

Now she lifts her pale forearms and thoroughly washes her face.

Now she snaps her wings open, and floats away.

I don’t know exactly what a prayer is.

I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down

into the grass, how to kneel down in the grass,

how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields,

which is what I have been doing all day.

Tell me, what else should I have done?

Doesn’t everything die at last, and too soon?

Tell me, what is it you plan to do

with your one wild and precious life?

By Mary Oliver (1992)

Home Practice for the Week Following Session 2

1. Do the 13 minute Body Scan each day 

http://www.mindfulness.ie/resources/audio/short-body-scan-with-fiona-odonnell-13-mins

2. Set the alarm on your phone for just one minute, and count the breaths, no need to change the breathing in any way, simply bring your awareness to how the body is naturally breathing. Being with your breath in this way each day provides an opportunity to become aware of what it feels like to be connected and present in the moment without having to do anything.

3. Choose one routine activity in your daily life and make a deliberate effort to bring moment-to-moment awareness to that activity each time you do it. Possibilities include brushing your teeth, showering, drying your body, getting dressed, eating, taking out the rubbish, walking etc. Simply zoom in on knowing what you are doing as you are actually doing it.

FOR FREE DAILY MEDITATIONS, CLICK ON THE LINKS BELOW: 

• For Breath and Body (10 mins)

http://www.mindfulness.ie/resources/audio/breath-and-body-with-fiona-odonnell-10-mins

• For Body Scan (13 mins) 

http://www.mindfulness.ie/resources/audio/short-body-scan-with-fiona-odonnell-13-mins

• For Mountain Meditation (15 mins)

http://www.mindfulness.ie/resources/audio/mountain-meditation-with-fiona-odonnell

• For Mindful Movement (30 mins)

http://www.mindfulness.ie/resources/audio/mindful-movement-with-fiona-odonnell

• For Three Step Breathing Space (3 mins)

https://soundcloud.com/user-938311516/3-step-breathing-space-3-mins

REFERENCES

Segal, Z.V., Williams, J.M.G., & Teasdale, J.D. (2013). Mindfulness–Based Cognitive 

Therapy for Depression: A New Approach to Preventing Relapse (Second Edition). London: The Guilford Press.

Kabat-Zinn, J. (1994).  Wherever you go, there you are: Mindfulness meditation in everyday life.  New York: Hyperion.