The Art and Science of Embodying Mindfulness

Friday August 3, 2012

We are looking forward to our next teleseminar with Dr. Ron Alexander, who has written a best selling book, Wise Mind, Open Mind: Finding Purpose and Meaning in Times of Crisis, and Change. To learn more about Ron, visit www.ronaldalexander.com.

I've known Ron for many years but this is the first time we have worked together. The topic of our seminar will be The Art and Science of Embodying Mindfulness to be held live on Friday, August 3rd, from 9am - 10:30am PST. No worries if you can't attend live - our permanent audio download feature ensures that you won't miss a single moment.  

Register now so you won't forget in the bustle of summer plans!

Online Ericksonian Conference

Starts July 1, 2012

Register by July 1st and save $100 on registration! 

I want you to know about the
first online conference on Ericksonian Hypnosis and Psychotherapy that will
begin on July 1st.  

This is really an ambitious and high-quality endeavor. Now those of you who have always wanted to attend or have never experienced this rich, diverse event, have an opportunity to do so without the expenses and stress of travel.

Keynote presenters include Jeff Zeig, Steve Gilligan, Bill O'Hanlon, Joyce Mills, and Michael Yapko and there are more than 40 workshops. I'm presenting: "Through the Eye of the Needle: Entry Points to Change." For more information and a complete list of faculty, click here.   

I don't want you to miss this, so go to The International Online Conference Of "Ericksonian Approaches To Psychotherapy" and scroll down to register. CEU's are also available.

Our August Sale

August 15-31, 2012   

We know that some of you have a little more time to read during the summer and you might enjoy listening to or reading the transcripts of some of our teleseminars and e-courses, especially if they are offered at a deep discount.  

During the last two weeks of August, starting on August 15 and continuing through August 31st, we will be offering many of our most popular audio downloads and transcripts at significant markdown. Our catalog of offerings will be presented in the July newsletter.

What's so Special About Mindfulness?

It's hard to go very far in the personal growth field these days without bumping into the word "mindfulness." Mindfulness meditation is becoming widely popular as an adjunct to usual medical and psychological therapies. Almost everyone agrees that mindfulness is positive, and a large body of research has demonstrated its effectiveness with depression, chronic pain, addiction, and anxiety disorders, but what is mindfulness, and what makes it so powerful?   One ingredient is that with mindfulness, the participant becomes less identified and more removed from the contents of awareness. This process has been called "decentering." Experts believe that teaching clients to initiate decentering and distancing can be very useful in circumstances of future stress. Some opponents point out that attempts to suppress negative thoughts, feelings, or sensations ultimately increases them. Mindfulness bypasses these issues by making the unwanted thought, feeling, or behavior less important. In mindfulness, there is an attempt to control attention without trying to control the contents of attention. Some of the benefits of mindfulness include: * Development of a stronger Observing Self through "decentering" or disidentifying with negative thoughts    * Mindfulness can be practiced in a wide variety of situations    * Mindfulness can help to defuse our negativity, aggression and turbulent emotions by teaching us to view whatever arises with acceptance and spaciousness    * We become aware of the temporary nature of sensations, feelings, and thoughts.  Proponents of mindfulness note that practice can begin with 5-minute sessions or even less if too challenging. For example, one 5-minute exercise is to find a reasonably quiet place and sit or lie in a comfortable, supported position. Imagine that your ears are like a satellite system that pick up sounds in the environment. The instruction is just to sit and receive sound vibrations. You don't need to like the sounds and you don't need to focus on any particular sound. Just let the sounds come and go, one after another. Don't seek out the sounds. Just let them come to you. When you notice that your mind has wandered from the sounds, just return to the task of listening. After 5 minutes, slowly open your eyes. Notice what is different. You may want to write about your experience in your mindfulness journal. It may also be helpful to cultivate important components of mindfulness approaches before putting them all together. Mindfulness expert Dr. Ron Siegel recommends that to cultivate awareness, the steps are to slow down, observe, and return to the focus of your attention frequently. Developing acceptance, he maintains is often just as hard as paying attention. Constant letting go is required as is a "soft and spacious mind." We struggle frequently with different aspects of our experience - we want more, we want less.  Dr. Ron Alexander, author of Wise Mind, Open Mind: Finding Purpose and Meaning in Times of Crisis, Loss, and Change, suggests six easy steps to perform mindfulness meditation: 1). Get into a comfortable position. This might include lying down or sitting in a chair with good back support. 2) Focus your eyes on one spot, making sure your eyes are comfortable and that your eye muscles are relaxed. If you begin feeling anxious, you may want to look straight ahead or leave your eyes halfway open or even fully open. 3) Pay attention to your breathing. It may be helpful to suggest one word on the inhale, such as "breathe," and another word on your exhale such as "out." You may also use words like "comfort" and "letting go". 4) Place your hands in a relaxing hand position called a mudra. The most common one is to touch the thumb and first finger together, then hold your hands palm up with the other fingers straight and rest the back of your hands on your thighs. This hand position facilitates the flow of energy through your body. 5) Become aware. As you breathe in and out, notice thoughts, feelings, sounds, tastes, physical sensations and other phenomena that you experience. Don't try to analyze. Just be present, alert, and observe the qualities of sensations. It may be helpful to name what you become aware of, for example, "heaviness in arms" or "sound of motor." 6) Slowly come back into ordinary consciousness. Take 3 long, slow, deep breaths, breathing in through your hose and out through your mouth. Rub your palms together to generate heat and place the palms over your eyes and face. Open your eyes slowly and lift your hands away from your face as you become more alert. You may want to inhale deeply and stretch your arms up over your head with your hands interlocked. If you anticipate a stressful situation, try to schedule a mindfulness session just beforehand to enhance your ability to remain calm, focused and nonreactive. One mindfulness exercise that is helpful with overwhelm is to think of a few people who love you and place them in a circle around you. Visualize them as sitting patiently, just for you, with love and care in their hearts and minds. Place your hand on your heart. Continue breathing with awareness. Get a sense of inhaling warmth and kindness and exhaling gratitude and love. Breathe in and out as long as you wish, feeling the energy of loving kindness radiating toward you and out from you as you breathe in and out. For more specific practices, see Germer, C. (2009). The Mindful Path to Self-Compassion. New York: The Guilford Press Finally, please sign up for our August 3rd seminar with Dr. Ron Alexander where you will learn more about the art and science of why mindfulness is so powerful.   My best wishes for the beginning of Summer,    Maggie        Esalen Coast: Big Sur, CA