for beginners…and the beginners’ mind
Brief exercises to resource your body and mind
Time to unwind - lakeside harp music
Therapeutic Harp Music - To the North Star: Year End Reflections
Sound of nature - autumn
Mindfulness Practice: 3-step breathing space
Mindfulness Practice:
10 minutes guided sitting meditation
(with the sound of the bell)
Mindfulness Practice: 10 minutes body scan
Books recommendation
Use the hidden foundations of mindfulness to rediscover calm and reclaim your life in our chaotic world.
There are moments in life that decide your fate. They ripple into the future and dictate how you experience the world in the moments that follow; either positive and uplifting, dark and chaotic, or flat and dull. What if you could recognise these moments before they seized control of your life? What if you could use them to set sail for a better future? What if all moments, big and small, could be harnessed this way?
In Deeper Mindfulness, University of Oxford Professor Mark Williams and Dr Danny Penman reunite to present a new eight-week guided meditation programme that takes mindfulness to the next level. Deeper Mindfulness reveals how the latest advances in neuroscience, combined with millennia old wisdom, can be used to transform your life. These discoveries open the doors to a deeper layer of mindfulness known as the ‘feeling tone’. This sets the ‘background colour’ that tinges your entire experience of life. It is also the tipping point from which you can reclaim your life in an increasingly stressful and chaotic world. Proven effective at treating anxiety, stress and depression, the practices in Deeper Mindfulness offer a new and more fruitful direction for both novice and experienced meditators. It also allows the rest of us to approach life with renewed strength, vigour and equanimity.
“我們的前一本書《正念：八週靜心計畫，找回心的喜悅》成為許多人的必讀之書，陪伴讀者從情緒和身體的受苦中獲得解脫。在書中，我們如實陳述了靜觀的好處，同時也提醒讀者，這趟旅程無法一蹴可幾，也不容易。我們請讀者務必確認自己正處於生命中適合的起點，並強調每天必須撥出時間落實修習。儘管有這些提醒，仍有成千上萬，甚至數百萬人，完成了書中課程（或以此為基礎的靜觀課程）。其中有許多人覺得靜修對生活的深遠影響很奇妙，因此想要拓展和深化修習。也許你正是其中之一。如果你也想在上一本書的八週課程，或是參與過的MBCT或MBSR課程之外更進一步，深化修習並鞏固成效，那麼本書將是理想的起點。”
Find Attune Mind Body Wellness on YouTube and other social media pages for more audio-visual materials supporting your home practice!
Good reads
Why do people find it hard to let go of anxiety?
In my mindfulness groups working with medical students and other front-line healthcare professionals, some participants struggle to let go of their anxiety. Dr. Jud Brewer described how people commonly link anxiety with success. Some people attribute their success to anxiety as a critical driving force to boost their academic and work performance. He explicitly named the notion, "If you are stressed, you are making a contribution. If you're not stressed, you're a loser."
Is that true?
He criticized such a notion as somehow romanticized. Interestingly, he elaborated on a phrase shared by his Ph.D. mentor, Dr. Louis Muglia, "true-true-unrelated," something basic we adopt in scientific research. Correlation is not the same as causation. Being anxious may help us work harder, but it is not necessarily a critical factor leading to a successful outcome.
In mindfulness practice, this is indeed something important to reflect on. If participants are not aware of the intention they carried, mindfulness practice could amplify their anxiety. Being in touch more vividly with their physical sensations, emotions, and thoughts, the practitioner may not find relief through the practice. Living in the modern world filled with anxiety-provoking conditions, finding peace is becoming an essential life skill. When someone cannot take care of strong emotions in oneself, the negative impact could be contagious and cause harm not only to personal health but also to the relational wellbeing in the family, workplace, and social network.
According to the traditional text of Buddhist teaching, recognizing the hindrance is crucial for the purification of the mind. Nevertheless, meditating without recognizing such a hindrance can become a "mis-meditating" practice. (Anālayo, 2003).
Learning to live with ease is never easy. Are you willing to explore this part of your life starting today?
References
Anālayo. (2003). Satipaṭṭhāna : the direct path to realization. Windhorse.
Brewer, J. (2021). Unwinding anxiety: new science shows how to break the cycles of worry and fear to heal your mind. Avery, an imprint of Penguin Random House.