MINDFUL LIVING

Class Workbook
Edited By: Steven H. Flowers, MFCC

INTRODUCTION
Welcome to Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Class! By enrolling you have already taken a major step in assuming greater responsibility for your health and well-being. This workbook is designed to support your learning and practice of mindfulness. Homework assignment sheets for each week of class detail your home practice for that week. Each week there are formal meditative practices (which involve doing the guided audio meditations); informal practices which facilitate the integration of mindfulness into everyday life; readings from Jon Kabat-Zinn's book, Full Catastrophe Living; and in some weeks written exercises. Home practice work-sheets for each week are designed to enhance motivation and to help you keep track of your practice. Finally, supplemental readings in the workbook further illuminate the spirit of mindfulness. Please do the homework! Mindfulness practice is a discipline which can support, comfort and enrich life if you make it a part of your life. The key words are discipline and practice. Experience shows that what you get out of the class is directly proportional to what you put into it - in terms of both the quantity and the sincerity of your effort. In the context of mindfulness practice, effort refers to the strong intention and commitment to being non-judgmentally aware in each moment. This connotes simply being fully present and attentive, in contrast to the conventional notion of effort as striving and doing. It is best to arrange a regular time and place to practice when you will not be disturbed. You don't have to like the homework practice - just do it! Often the times when we feel most resistant to practicing are the times when it is most valuable. Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction is different from many other stress reduction approaches in that the emphasis is on shifting your relationship to experience itself, rather than on learning techniques. It is our sincere hope that the class will help you in coping with stress, pain, and illness. Even more, however, we hope that the practice of mindfulness will deepen and transform your capacity to appreciate "the full catastrophe" - the life we are given, whatever it may be - and the preciousness, richness, and poignancy of each moment of that life, no matter how painful or mundane.

Kabat-Zinn, Jon. Wherever You Go There You Are: Mindfulness Meditation in Everyday Life. New York: Hyperion Books, 1994.

WEEK ONE

HOMEWORK SESSION #1
Formal Mindfulness Practice: Practice with Body Scan audio at least 6 days this week. Do 5-10 minutes daily of breath awareness practice on your own. Keep daily records of your practice using the home practice worksheet. Include what you did in each practice session and brief comments about what you experienced.

Informal Mindfulness Practice: Tune into your breathing 4 or 5 times during the day, and be mindful of one or two full cycles of the breath. Eat one meal mindfully this week.

Exercises: Complete the "nine dot exercise" worksheet in the workbook.

Reading In Full Catastrophe Living, read the Introduction and Chapters 1-3 (pp. 1-58) and Chapter 5

Home Practice Worksheet Week 1

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Day 1

Date: What Time: How Long:

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Day 2

Date: What Time: How Long:

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Day 4 Date: What Time: How Long: Day 5 Date: What Time:

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Day 6 Date: What Time: How Long: Day 7 Date: What Time: How Long:

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This brief piece by Dr. Rachel Naomi Remen is a wonderful exploration of the power and promise of non-judgmental awareness and acceptance.
THOSE WHO DON'T love themselves as they are rarely love life as it is either. Most people have come to prefer certain of life's experiences and deny and reject others, unaware of the value of the hidden things that may come wrapped in plain or even ugly paper. In avoiding all pain and seeking comfort at all cost, we may be left without intimacy or compassion; in rejecting change and risk we often cheat ourselves of the quest; in denying our suffering we may never know our strength or our greatness. Or even that the love we have been given can be trusted. It is natural, even instinctive to prefer comfort to pain, the familiar to the unknown. But sometimes our instincts are not wise. Life usually offers us far more than our biases and preferences will allow us to have. Beyond comfort lie grace, mystery, and adventure. We may need to let go of our beliefs and ideas about life in order to have life. The loss of an emotional or spiritual integrity may be at the source of our suffering. In a very paradoxical way, pain may point the way toward a greater wholeness and become a potent force in the healing of this suffering. A woman with heart disease and chronic angina once told me of the downside of the surgery which had relieved her symptoms. Before this surgery, she had suffered frequent chest pain from her disease. Over the years she had modified her diet, learned to meditate, and had been successful in controlling most of her pain. Yet some of her pain had been resistant to her efforts. Paying very careful attention to this, she had been shocked to notice that she experienced pain when she was about to do or say something that lacked integrity that really wasn't true to her values. These were usually small things like not telling her husband something that he did not seem to want to hear or stretching her values a bit in order to go along with others. In addition, other times when she allowed who she really was to become invisible. Even more surprising, sometimes she would know this was happening but sometimes the chest pain would come first, and then, examining the circumstances which provoked it, she would realize for the first time that she had been betraying her integrity and know what it was that she really believed. She had learned a great deal about who she was in this way, and though she was physically more comfortable now, she missed her "inner adviser." This is not actually so surprising. It is known that stress can affect us at the weakest link in our physical makeup. It raises the blood sugar in people who have diabetes, precipitates headaches in those with migraine, and stomach pain in people with ulcers. It causes people with asthma to wheeze and people with arthritis to ache. What is new in this story and so many others that I have heard is that stress may be as much a question of a compromise of values as it is a matter of external time pressure and fear of failure. Unexplained pain may sometimes direct our attention to something unacknowledged, something we are afraid to know or feel. Then it holds us to our integrity, claiming the attention we withhold. The thing which calls our attention may be a repressed experience or some unexpressed and important part of who we are. Whatever we have denied may stop us and dam the creative flow of our lives. Avoiding pain, we may linger in the vicinity of our wounds, sometimes for many years, gathering the courage to experience them.

Without reclaiming that which we have denied, we cannot know our wholeness nor have our healing. As St. Luke wrote in Acts of Apostles 4: 11, the stone rejected by the builders, may prove in time, have become the cornerstone of the building.

What we believe about ourselves can hold us hostage. Over the years I have come to respect the power of people's beliefs. The thing that has amazed me is that a belief is more than just an idea-it seems to shift the way in which we actually experience ourselves and our lives. According to the Talmudic teaching, "We do not see things as they are. We see them as we are." A belief is like a pair of sunglasses. When we wear a belief and look at life through it, it is difficult to convince ourselves that what we see is not what is real. With our sunglasses on, life looks green to us. Knowing what is real requires that we remember that we are wearing glasses, and take them off. One of the great moments in life is the moment we recognize we have them on in the first place. Freedom is very close to us then. It is a moment of great power. Sometimes because of our beliefs we may have never seen ourselves or life whole before. No matter. We can recognize life anyway. Our life force may not require us to strengthen it. We often just need to free it where it has gotten trapped in beliefs, attitudes, judgment and shame. Remen, Rachel Naomi. Kitchen Table Wisdom: Stories That Heal. New York: Riverhead Books 1996.

The Nine Dots Exercise

. . .

. . .
Above is an arrangement of nine dots. retracing along any line. We'll talk about it then.

. . .

Connect all the dots by making four straight lines without lifting your pencil and without

If you can, complete this exercise before we meet for the next class.

Ways of Perceiving

Who do you see? A young princess? An old woman?

WEEK TWO

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HOMEWORK SESSION #2

Formal Mindfulness Practice: 1. Do Body Scan audio track at least six days this week. 2. Do the sitting meditation (breath awareness) practice on your own 10-15 minutes every day. 3. Be sure to complete the home practice worksheet to keep a record of the formal mindfulness practice.

Informal Practice:
1. Tune in mindfully to one or two complete cycles of the breath four to five times during the day. 2. Choose a "routine" activity usually done on automatic pilot - brushing teeth, showering, washing the dishes, taking out the trash, etc. - and do it mindfully this week.

Exercise: 1. Complete the Awareness of Pleasant Events Calendar.

Readings:
Full Catastrophe Living, chapter 9 (pp. 132-139), and chapter 26 (pp. 349-361).

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Home Practice Worksheet Week 2

Day 1

Date: What Time: How Long:

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Day 2

Date: What Time: How Long:

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Day 4 Date: What Time: How Long: Day 5 Date: What Time:

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Day 6 Date: What Time: How Long: Day 7 Date: What Time: How Long:

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AWARENESS OF PLEASANT EVENTS CALENDAR

Instructions: Be aware of one pleasant event or occurrence each day while it is happening. At a later time record your experience of it on the worksheet below.
What was the experience? Were you aware of the pleasant feelings while the event was happening? How did your body feel, in detail, during this experience? Describe the sensations you felt What moods, feelings, and thoughts accompanied this event at the time? What thoughts are in your mind now as you write this down?

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A meditation on wholeness by Thich Nhat Hanh

Interbeing
If you are a poet, you will see clearly that there is a cloud floating in this sheet of paper. Without a cloud, there will be no rain; without rain, the trees cannot grow; and without trees, we cannot make paper. The cloud is essential for the paper to exist. If the cloud is not here, the sheet of paper cannot be here either. So we can say that the cloud and the paper inter-are. "Interbeing" is a word that is not in the dictionary yet, but if we combine the prefix "inter-" with the verb "to be," we have a new verb, inter-be. If we look into this sheet of paper even more deeply, we can see the sunshine in it. Without sunshine, the forest cannot grow. In fact, nothing can grow without sunshine. And so, we know that the sunshine is also in this sheet of paper. The paper and the sunshine inter-are. And if we continue to look, we can see the logger who cut the tree and brought it to the mill to be transformed into paper. And we see wheat. We know that the logger cannot exist without his daily bread, and therefore the wheat that became his bread is also in this sheet of paper. The logger's father and mother are in it too. When we look in this way, we see that without all of these things, this sheet of paper cannot exist. Looking even more deeply, we can see ourselves in this sheet of paper too. This is not difficult to see, because when we look at a sheet of paper, it is p~ of our perception. Your mind is in here and mine is also. So we can say that everything is in here with this sheet of paper. We cannot point out one thing that is not here-time, space, the earth, the rain, the minerals in the soil, the sunshine, the cloud, the river, the heat. Everything co-exists with this sheet of paper. That is why I think the word inter-be should be in the dictionary. "To be" is to inter-be. We cannot just be ourselves alone. We have to inter-be with every other thing. This sheet of paper is, because everything else is. Suppose we try to return one of the elements to its source. Suppose we return the sunshine to the sun. Do you think that this sheet of paper will be possible? No, without sunshine nothing can be. And if we return the logger to his mother, then we have no sheet of paper either. The fact is that this sheet of paper is made up only of "non-paper" elements. And if we return these non-paper elements to their sources, then there can be no paper at all. Without non-paper elements, like mind, logger, and sunshine and so on, there will be no paper. As thin as this sheet of paper is, it contains everything in the universe in it. Hanh, Thich Nhat, Peace is Every Step: The Path of Mindfulness Meditation in Everyday Life. New York: Bantam Books, 1991.

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FOUNDATIONS OF MINDFULNESS PRACTICE

The practice of mindfulness is like cultivating a garden. A garden flourishes when certain conditions are present. Holding the following 7 qualities in mind, reflecting upon them, cultivating them according to our best understanding--this effort will nourish, support and strengthen our practice. Keeping these attitudes in mind is part of the training, a way of channeling our energies in the process of healing and growth. Remember too that they are interdependent. Each influences the others; and working on one, enhances them all.

1. Non-judging 2. Patience 3. Beginner's Mind 4. Trust as Self Reliance 5. Non-striving 6. Acknowledgement 7. Letting Be

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Dealing with Distractions

So there you are, meditating beautifully. Your body is totally immobile, and your mind is totally still, you just glide right along following the flow of the breath, in, out, in, out...calm, serene, and concentrated. Everything is perfect. And then, all of a sudden, something totally different pops into your mind: "I sure wish I had an ice cream cone." That's a distraction; obviously that's not what you are supposed to be doing. You notice that, and you drag yourself back to the breath, back to the smooth flow, in, out, in... And then: "Did I ever pay that gas bill?" Another distraction. You notice that one and you haul yourself back to the breath. In, out, in, out, in... That new science fiction movie is out. Maybe I can go see it Tuesday night. No, not Tuesday, got too much to do on Wednesday. Thursday's better..." Another distraction. You pull yourself out of that one, and back you go to the breath, except that you never quite get there, because before you do, that little voice in your head says, "My back is killing me." And on and on it goes, distraction after distraction, seemingly without end. What a bother. But this is what it is all about. These distractions are actually the whole point. The key is to learn to deal with these things. Learning to notice them without being trapped in them. That's what we are here for. This mental wandering is unpleasant, to be sure. . But it is the normal mode of operation of your mind. Don't think of it as the enemy. It is just the simple reality. And if you want to change something, the first thing you have to do is to see it the way it is. When you first sit down to concentrate on the breath, you will be struck by how incredibly busy the mind actually is. It jumps and jibbers. It veers and bucks. It chases itself around in constant circles. It chatters. It thinks. It fantasizes and daydreams. Don't be upset about that. It's natural. When your mind wanders from the subject of meditation, just observe the distraction mindfully. When we speak of a distraction in mindfulness meditation, we are speaking of any preoccupation that pulls the attention off the breath. This brings up a new, major rule for your meditation: When any mental states arises strongly enough to distract you from the object of meditation, switch your attention to the distraction briefly. Make the distraction a temporary object of meditation. Please note the word "temporary." It's quite important. We are not advising that you switch horses in midstream. We do not expect you to adopt a whole new object of meditation every three seconds. The breath will always remain your primary focus. You switch your attention to the distraction only long enough to notice certain specific things about it. What is it? How strong is it? And, how long does it last? As soon as you have wordlessly answered these questions, you are through with your examination of that distraction, and you return your attention to the breath. Here again, please note the operant term, "wordlessly." These questions are not an invitation to more mental chatterthat would be moving you in the wrong direction, toward more thinking. We want you to move away from thinking, back to a

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direct, wordless, and non-conceptual experience of the breath. These questions are designed to free you from the distraction and give you insight into its nature, not to get you more thoroughly stuck in it. They will tune you in to what is distracting you and help you get rid of it-all in one step. When you first begin to practice this technique, you will probably have to do it with words. You will ask your questions in words, and get answers in words. It won't be long, however, before you can dispense with the formality of words altogether. Once the mental habits are in place, you simply note the distraction, note the qualities of the distraction, and return to the breath. It's a totally non-conceptual process, and it's very quick. The distraction itself can be anything: a sound, a sensation, an emotion, a fantasy, anything at all. Whatever it is, don't try to repress it. Don't try to force it out of your mind. There's no need for that. Just observe it mindfully with bare attention. Examine the distraction wordlessly and it will pass away by itself. Watch the sequence of events: breathing, breathing, distracting thought arises. Frustration arising over the distracting thought. You condemn yourself for being distracted. You notice the selfcondemnation. You return to the breathing, breathing, breathing. Its really a very natural smoothflowing cycle, if you do it correctly. The trick, of course, is patience. If you can learn to observe these distractions without getting involved, it's all very easy. You just glide through the distraction and your attention returns to the breath quite easily. Of course, the very same distraction may pop up a moment later. If it does, just observe that mindfully. If you are dealing with an old, established thought pattern, this can go on happening for quite a while, sometimes years. Don't get upset. This too is natural. Just observe the distraction and return to the breath. Don't fight with these distracting thoughts. Don't strain or struggle. It's a waste. Every bit of energy that you apply to that resistance goes into the thought complex and makes it all the stronger. So don't try to force such thoughts out of your mind. It's a battle you can never win. Just observe the distraction mindfully and it will eventually go away. It's very strange, but the more bare attention you pay to such disturbances, the weaker they get. Observe them long enough and often enough with bare attention and they fade away forever. Fight with them and they gain strength. Watch them with detachment and they wither. Mindfulness is a function that disarms distraction... Weak distractions are disarmed by a singleglance. Shine the light of awareness on them and they evaporate instantly, never to return. Deep-seated, habitual thought patterns require constant mindfulness repeatedly applied over whatever time period it takes to break their hold. Distractions are really paper tigers. They have no power of their own. They need to be fed constantly, or else they die. If you refuse to feed them by your own fear, anger, and greed, they fade. The purpose of meditation is not to concentrate on the breath, without interruption, forever. That by itself would be a useless goal. The purpose of meditation is not to achieve a perfectly still and serene mind. Although a lovely state, it doesn't lead to liberation by itself. uninterrupted mindfulness.
From Mindfulness In Plain English by Venerable Henepola Gunaratana Boston: Wisdom Publications, 1993.

The purpose of meditation is to achieve

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A PAINFUL AND LOVELY DAY IN A GREAT PREGNANCY

Steven Hampton Flowers

....everything that happens is again and again a beginning.....Rilke

We all celebrated the great pregnancy. It was, after all, long the subject and source of many years of dreams. And, it was clearly the right time. No two souls could be better joined in the joyous union of soul mates. No two better prepared or recognized for their gentle beauty, loving kindness and wisdom. The child was indeed blessed. They were both young teachers that loved children and had long prepared for the time they could parent their own. Their readiness blossomed like a vibrant and fragrant flower, rich with sticky pollen. Her swelling was not yet evident other than in unfettered joy. It was cause for everyones joy, for a coming together in song and in praise of the miracle of new life. We flew like giddy birds into an ever-rising sun. The miscarriage stripped us of our wings. All flights ended. There was no where to go. There was no escape. There was only the trip down. We fell like Icarus into a swirling cold sea that swallowed everything in inky darkness. Time passed. Out of the darkness arose only the smallest stirring. What could be said? Eyes were cast downward, mostly. Small gestures of compassion seemed hollow. It felt strangely wrong for her to enjoy anything, even the small kindness we tried to offer. Grief hung on everyone like a damp, impenetrable fog. It seemed a very long time, but the progress of months did dispel much of the clinging fog. We met her, one sunny morning by chance, on the road as we walked by her house. It was then she blurted it out; Im pregnant! I havent told anyone for months because Ive been so afraid it might happen again. The unthinkable hovers in the shadows of the mind and stalks all hope like a crouched predator. To take flight again is to risk the horror of another fall. She continued, speaking more rapidly now, But then I realized, Im missing it! This is it. My dream is happening right now. This joy, this welling up of new life inside of me. I cant let my fear and my pain take this away from me too! I shall celebrate this now, and take each moment as it comes. I felt my own courage falter in my smile and breathed in some of hers. I too shall dare this dream again. What keeps you from ......living your life as a painful and lovely day in the history of a great pregnancy? Ranier Maria Rilke

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WEEK THREE

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HOMEWORK SESSION #3
1. Practice Body Scan at least 6 days this week, alternating Yoga with Body Scan. 2. Do 10 - 15 minutes daily of sitting meditation practice, with awareness of the breath as primary focus.

Informal Practice:
1. Make an effort to "capture" your moments during the day. 2. Be mindful of going on "automatic pilot" and under what circumstances this occurs.

Exercise:
1. Complete the Awareness of Unpleasant Events Calendar.

Readings:
Full Catastrophe Living, Chapter 6 (pp. 94-113), and Chapters 11-16 (pp. 149-231).

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Home Practice Worksheet Week 3

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Date: What Time: How Long:

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Day 4 Date: What Time: How Long: Day 5 Date: What Time:

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Day 6 Date: What Time: How Long: Day 7 Date: What Time: How Long:

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AWARENESS OF UNPLEASANT EVENTS CALENDAR

Instructions: Be aware of one unpleasant event or occurrence each day while it is happening. At a later time record your experience of it on the worksheet below.
What was the experience? Were you aware of the unpleasant feelings while the event was happening? How did your body feel, in detail, during this experience? Describe the sensations you felt What moods, feelings, and thoughts accompanied this event at the time? What thoughts are in your mind now as you write this down?

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Ideas in the Yoga instruction relevant to the exploration of stress reduction and being present
Listen to your body telling you its limits. Experiment with staying at your limits longer than you might otherwise. This will develop an ability to explore limits and will eventually expand ones that are not beneficial. After doing a pose (or anything else), momentarily bring the attention back to the breath as a means of letting go of distractions and being present in moment. Look at the connection between flexibility, strength and balance in the physical sense and those qualities in the psychological. Explore the connection between your mind and your body. Lie still after each pose to tune into the consequences of having done the stretch. This reinforces your ability to connect cause and effect in regards to stress. Take time to see what you've done and what affect it has. Rest precise attention on the sensations of the yoga during each pose non-judgmentally, without commentary. This is useful for strengthening your ability to observe internal and external events clearly, aware of judgments, filters and distractions that color the experience of the events. This will help you be a more impartial observer of your life. It may be easier to see events from a slight distance than it is when you're swamped by them or running from them. Notice that even when you're intending to focus on the yoga you are distracted. Watch the distracting thoughts and their contents, without indulging in following them. Make an effort to let go of the distractions and bring the mind back to the experience of the pose to the moment. This is a way of becoming familiar with the activity and habits of the mind, which may be useful for seeing your stress in a bigger context. Observe the experience of determining your own limits in contrast, possibly to the instructors' directives. Practice setting your own limits of how long to stretch, how far to extend the stretch. What kinds of questions do you find yourself asking? What kinds of comments run through your mind around setting your own limits? Does wanting to or deciding to do something different than the instruction cause judgmental thoughts? Practice dropping down into a state of relaxation. This is not a doing-but rather a non-doing. A cessation of activity. A letting go. One of the sensations may be feeling how gravity pulls the body down. Remember that wherever you hit your limit is OK. It's where you are right now. Practice acceptance of where/how/who you are in this moment. Let go of striving to get somewhere, or of wanting to be something in particular, even relaxed. Bring awareness to fatigue of your muscles during poses. Outside of yoga, this same awareness will help you see when you're fatigued and may help you see (in the moment) what's causing the fatigue. Practice tuning to subtle messages from the body. Notice your initial sense of your limitations. Ask yourself if they are actually your limitations or if they are reactions of some sort. Are there things in the yoga that "rub you wrong?" What are they? What's to be learned? Use frustration, anxiety and fear to instruct yourself about yourself. Any sense of aversion (or attraction, for that matter) can be used as a learning experience if you're willing to linger in it and look.

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WEEK FOUR

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HOMEWORK SESSION #4

Formal Practice:
1. Continue to alternate Body Scan with Yoga at least 6 days per week. 2. Do the sitting meditation 10-15 minutes per day with focus on awareness of breathing, physical sensations, and body as a whole.

1. Be aware of stress reactions during the week, without trying to change them in any way. 2. Notice what's happening if and when you feel "stuck" (caught up in stress reactivity and unable to free yourself).

Readings:
Full Catastrophe Living, Chapters 17-20 (pp. 235-276). Santorelli, Saki, "Mindfulness in the Workplace (in this workbook).

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Home Practice Worksheet Week 4

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Day 1

Date: What Time: How Long:

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Day 2

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Day 4 Date: What Time: How Long: Day 5 Date: What Time:

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Day 6 Date: What Time: How Long: Day 7 Date: What Time: How Long:

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Mindfulness in the Workplace 21 Ways to Reduce Stress During the Workday By Saki F. Santorelli

I have had the good fortune of working with and training several hundred patients/participants per year in the use of mindfulness meditation. In the context of preventive and behavioral medicine, mindfulness practice is a vehicle for stress reduction that assists people in learning to replenish their internal resources and increase psychosocial hardiness. In addition, many participants report positive changes in their sense of self, including a deepened sense of self-esteem, an increased ability to care for themselves and understand their fellow human beings, and for some, a finer appreciation for the preciousness of everyday life. In addition to the ongoing clinical work, I act as a consultant and staff development trainer. These programs are tailored to individual, corporate, and institutional needs with an underlying emphasis on the cultivation and implementation of mindfulness and mastery in the workplace. Out of one such program evolved; 21 Ways to Reduce Stress During the Workday." During a training program for secretarial staff, I was struck by their struggle to ground and integrate the stability and connectedness they sometimes felt during the sitting meditation practice into their "nonsitting" time. In response to their need, "21 Ways" came into print. I proceeded by simply asking myself "How do I attempt to handle ongoing stress while at work?" --actually from the time I awaken in the morning until I return home at the end of the workday. In what ways do I attempt to infuse mindfulness into the fabric of my everyday life? What helps me to awaken when I become intoxicated by the sheer momentum and urgency of living? In all honesty, the awareness cultivated through meditation training has been my saving grace. Mindfulness harnesses our capacity to be aware of what is going on in our bodies, minds and hearts in the world-and the workplace. One thing we discover as we pay closer attention to what is going on in and around us is that stressors, the continual and constantly changing flow of events, are ever-present and tend to draw us away from the awareness of our true self. Meditation is the practice of returning to our true self. What the secretaries were struggling with is the gap between that awareness (sometimes) realized while sitting, and the dissonance experienced in their workday environment and their "workday mind." What they wanted was a vehicle for integrating "formal practice" into every day life. Although this need for integration is familiar to all of us, notions about how to do this remain largely conceptional unless we find concrete ways of practicing that transform theory into living reality. This is exactly what the participants wanted. They got enthusiastic about this as it provided them something solid to work with while attempting to be mindful in everyday situations-particularly while on the job. Since then, I've shared these with many workshop participants and continue to receive phone calls and letters from people who have either added to the list or posted them, as convenient reminders, in strategic locations such as office doorways, restroom mirrors, dashboards or lunch-rooms. I've been gladdened to hear from them and am happy that, by its very nature, the list is incomplete and therefore full of possibility. Each of the "21 Ways" can be seen as preventive--a kind of pre-stress immunity factor or as recuperative--a means of recovering balance following a difficult experience. In addition, they are tools for modifying our reactions in the midst of adversity. As you begin to work with these,

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you'll notice that this includes pre, during and post work suggestions. Incorporating this awareness into your life will necessitate a skillful effort that includes commitment, patience and consistence. It may be helpful to think of yourself as entering a training program, a training that is primarily self-educative and necessitates a willingness to view yourself as a learner, a beginner. Please allow yourself the room to experiment without self-criticism. Treat yourself kindly and enjoy the journey. At the heart of workday practice is the intention to be aware of and connected with whatever is happening inside and around us (mindfulness) as well as the determination to initiate change when appropriate (mastery). A wonderful example of this process is revealed in the following story told to me some years ago by a physician friend. "Little Green Dots". My friend told me that as his practice grew busier and more demanding, he began to have minor, transient symptoms that included increased neck and shoulder tension, fatigue, and irritability. Initially, the symptoms were benign, disappearing after a good night's rest or a relaxing weekend. But as his medical practice continued to grow, the symptoms became persistent and much to his own chagrin, he noticed he was becoming "a chronic clock-watcher." One day, while attending to his normal clinical duties, he had a revelation. He walked over to his secretary's supply cabinet and pulled out a package of "little green dots" used for color coding the files. He placed one on his watch and decided that since he couldn't stop watching the clock, he'd use the dot as a visual cue that served as a reminder to center himself by taking one conscious breath and dropping his shoulders. The next day he placed a dot on the wall clock, for he realized, "If I'm not looking at the one on my wrist, I'm looking at the one on the wall." He continued this practice and by the end of the week had placed a green dot on each exam room door. A few weeks after initiating this workday practice, he said that, much to his own surprise, he had stopped, breathed, and relaxed 100 times in a single day. This simple, persistent decision to be mindful had been transformative. He felt much better, and most importantly, patients told him that he was "much more like himself." For him, that was icing on the cake. The story is simple and direct. Using what is constantly around us as a reminder of our innate capacity to be calm and centered is essential if we wish to thrive in the midst of our cultural busyness. Years ago, while working with harried receptionists, I suggested that they use the first ring of the telephone as a reminder to breathe and relax. For many, this became a powerful agent of change. People they had spoken with on the phone for years didn't recognize their voices; they spoke more slowly and their voices settled into the lower ranges. The telephone no longer elicited a Pavlovian reaction. They had learned to respond rather than react.

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The following "21 Ways" are simply a road map. I wish you peace and well-being as you explore the territory and discover your own "ways."

21 WAYS TO REDUCE STRESS DURING THE WORKDAY 1. Take a few minutes in the morning to be quiet and meditate--sit or lie down and be with yourself...gazing out the window, listen to the sounds of nature or take a slow, quiet walk. 2. While your car is warming up, take a minute to quietly pay attention to your breathing. 3. While driving, become aware of body tension, e.g. hands wrapped tightly around the steering wheel, shoulders raised, stomach tight, etc. Consciously work at releasing, dissolving that tension. Does being tense help you to drive better? What does it feel like to relax and drive? 4. Decide not to play the radio and be with yourself. 5. Stay in the right lane and go 55 miles per hour. 6. Pay attention to your breathing or to the sky, trees, etc., when stopped at a red light or a toll plaza. 7. After parking your car at your workplace, take a moment to orient yourself to your workday. 8. While sitting at your desk, keyboard, etc., monitor bodily sensations and tension levels, and consciously attempt to relax and let go of excess tension. 9. Use your breaks to truly relax rather than simply "pause". For example, instead of having coffee and a cigarette, take a 2 - 5 minute walk, or sit at your desk and recoup. 10. At lunch, changing your environment can be helpful. 11. Or try closing the door (if you have one) and take some time to consciously relax. 12. Decide to "stop" for 1-3 minutes every hour during the workday. Become aware of your breathing and bodily sensations. Use it as a time to regroup and recoup. 13. Use the everyday cues in your environment as reminders to "center" yourself, e.g. the telephone ringing, turning on the computer, etc. Remember the "Little Green Dots." 14. Take some time at lunch or break to share with close associates. Choose topics not necessarily workrelated. 15. Choose to eat one or two lunches per week in silence. Use it as a time to eat slowly and be with yourself. 16. At the end of the workday, retrace your activities of the day, acknowledging and congratulating yourself for what you've accomplished and make a list for tomorrow. 17. Pay attention to the short walk to your car, consciously breathing. Notice the feelings in your body, try to accept them rather than resist them. Listen to the sounds outside the office. Can you walk without feeling rushed? 18. While your car is warming up, sit quietly, and consciously make the transition from work to home. Take a moment to simply be; enjoy it for a moment. Like most of us, you're heading into your next full-time job: home.

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19. While driving, notice if you're rushing. What does this feel like? What could you do about it? Remember, you've got more control than you can imagine. 20. When you pull into the driveway or park your car, take a minute to come back to the present. Orient yourself to being with your family or household members. 21. Change out of work clothes when you get home; it helps you to make a smoother transition into your next "role." You can spare the five minutes to do this. Say hello to each of the family members; center yourself at home. If possible, make the time to take 5 - 10 minutes to be quiet and still.

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WEEK FIVE

31

HOMEWORK SESSION #5

Formal Practice:
1. Practice at least 6 days this week, alternating Sitting Meditation with either the Body Scan or Yoga.

Informal Practice:
1. Bring awareness to moments of reactivity and explore options for responding with greater mindfulness and creativity. Do this in the formal meditation practice as well (for example, in moments of pain, boredom, agitation, etc.). Practice opening up space" for responding in the present moment. Using the breath to slow things down, imagine and experience a more "spacious" awareness within which reactivity can be noticed and observed, without it driving behavior.

Exercise:
1. Complete "Awareness of Difficult or Stressful Communications Calendar."

Reading:
Full Catastrophe Living, Chapters 21-25 (pp. 277-348).

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Home Practice Worksheet Week 5

.

Day 1

Date: What Time: How Long:

Comments:

Day 2

Date: What Time: How Long:

Comments:

Day 4 Date: What Time: How Long: Day 5 Date: What Time:

Comments:

Comments:

Day 6 Date: What Time: How Long: Day 7 Date: What Time: How Long:

Comments:

Comments:

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AWARENESS OF DIFFICULT OR STRESSFUL COMMUNICATIONS CALANDER

Instructions: Be aware of one be aware of one difficult or stressful communication each day while it is happening. At a later time record your experience of it on the worksheet below.
Describe the communication. With How did the difficulty come whom? What was the about? subject? What did you really want from the person or situation? What did you actually get? How did you feel during and after this time? Has this issue been resolved yet? How might it be?

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

Saturday

Sunday

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The Way of Awareness in Communication

Many articles and manuals have been written, and many more workshops and seminars have been given on assertiveness, active listening skills, and communication styles and techniques. Many employers even provide on-site education and training to employees on communication skills to improve customer service and employer/employee relationships. Perhaps you may have even read some of these materials yourself, or even attended workshops or other educational programs devoted to developing these skills. The tools which have been developed to improve and enhance communication skills can be very helpful in developing better relationships by noting our behavior and the verbal and non verbal ways in which we interact with one another. When we are introduced or reminded of some of these techniques, we may have a first-thought "ah-ha" response - recognizing perhaps once more some of the unskillful ways in which we get stuck or even trapped by our own communication styles. Following the "ah-ha," there may be a second-thought response of, "That's obvious. I know better, so why can't I break the old patterns?" One of the reasons is because we commonly perceive the techniques we are taught as exactly that, techniques; something to be used on occasion to address a specific situation or meet a specific need. "Assertiveness training for dealing with the difficult customer, or the difficult boss. Communication skills for improving your relationship with a lover or spouse, or with your adolescent child." The problem with a technique approach to anything is that the skill you learn is applied like a tool or a recipe; used only when the necessity arises, which is usually when what is at hand hasn't worked. Another reason why we seem to keep falling into old patterns of communication is because we follow old habit formations; sort of the auto-pilot of interpersonal relationships. When we are on autopilot we are not in touch with what we honestly want, think, or feel. Instead, we are following a programmed response to a given situation based on an old perception; a program which has little if anything to do with what we want, think, or feel in the present moment. Breaking the old patterns is essential if we are to apply different methods and skills of communication. Otherwise, our efforts become further sources of frustration and stress, self-judgment and blaming.

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By practicing mindfulness in our daily activities, not as a technique but as a way of living, new habit formations are formed which allow us opportunities for choosing new ways of responding to others. Using the same principles as we use in response to stressful situations as an alternative to the "fight or flight" reactivity, we can also break the old patterns of communication which keep us stuck in a reactive mode of relating and responding to others. STAY WITH YOUR BREATH! The fact that we are communicating with one another does not mean that we must cease being aware of our breath. Even when engaged in a conversation, periodically returning to the breath helps maintain mindfulness of the physical sensations, feelings, and thoughts which arise as we communicate. It helps us stay present in the moment to hear fully what others are saying, and to know how to respond appropriately. It gives us the still point in which the option of choice arises. It is from this still point that we can elect to apply the techniques of communication that we have learned. IS WHAT I HAVE TO SAY IMPORTANT ENOUGH TO BREAK THE SILENCE? Many times we speak or respond to situations which do not call for our response or observation. This could be motivated by a desire to be sociable or to be accepted. But often such behavior clutters the mind and distracts the attention of the communicants. It can also cloud the communication, creating misunderstandings about intention. Importantly, it moves us away from a place of awareness or mindfulness. IS WHAT I HAVE TO SAY "SO?" What is true is not necessarily what factua1 is. What is true has to do with what is so for us. To know what is "true" for us means that we must first bring awareness to what it is that we really want or need. This brings us into direct confrontation with what other's expectations are of us that we often feel compelled to live up to. It brings us into direct confrontation with old habits of emotional expression and/or suppression. Finally, it brings us into direct confrontation with how we present self in everyday life. IS WHAT I HAVE TO SAY "BENEFICIAL?" Often what we say is not beneficial to ourselves or others. One measure of "benefit" is whether our words will cause unnecessary suffering or harm to ourselves or others. If it will, it's best to not say it at this time-there will usually be other opportunities to say what needs to be said if it's really important.

- by Patrick Thornton, Ph.D.

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A COMPARISON OF PASSIVE, ASSERTIVE, AND AGGRESSIVE BEHAVIORS

VERBAL BEHAVIORS
Passive: You avoid saying what you want, think or feel. If you do, you say them in such a way that you put yourself down. Apologetic words with hidden meanings are frequent. A smoke screen of vague words or silence. Frequent use of "You know", "Well...", "I mean...", "I guess", and "I'm sorry". You allow others to choose for you. Assertive: You say what you honestly want, think and feel in direct and helpful ways. You make your own choices. You communicate with tact and humor. You use "I" statements. Your words are dear and objective. They are few and well chosen. Aggressive: You say what you want, think, and feel, but at the expense of others. You use "loaded words" and "you" statements that label and blame. You are full of threats or accusations and apply one-upmanship. You choose for others. Passive: You use actions instead of words. You hope someone will guess what you want. You look as if you don't mean what you say. Your voice is weak, hesitant and soft. You whisper in a monotone. Your eyes are to the side or downcast. You nod your head to almost anything anyone says. You sit or stand as far away as you can from the other person. You don't know what to do with your hands and they are trembling or clammy. You look uncomfortable, shuffle, and are tense or inhibited. Assertive: You listen closely. Your manner is calm and assured. You communicate caring and strength. Your voice is firm, warm and expressive. You look directly at the other person but you don't stare. You face the person. Your hands are relaxed. You hold your head erect and you lean toward the other person. You have a relaxed expression. Aggressive: You make an exaggerated show of strength. You are flippant. You have an air of superiority. Your voice is tense, loud, cold or demanding. You are "deadly quiet". Your eyes are narrow, cold and staring. You almost see through the other People. You take a macho fight stance. Your hands are on your hips and you are inches from the other People. Your hands are in fists or your fingers are pointed at the other person. You are tense and angry appearing. Passive: To please, to be liked. Assertive: To communicate, to be respected. Aggressive: To dominate or humiliate.

Feelings
Passive: You feel anxious, ignored, hurt, manipulated, and disappointed with yourself. You are often angry and resentful later. Assertive: You feel confident and successful. You feel good about yourself at that time and later. You feel in control. You have self-respect and you are goal-oriented. Aggressive: You feel self-righteous, controlling, and superior. Sometimes you feel embarrassed or selfish later.

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WEEK SIX

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HOMEWORK SESSION #6

Formal Practice:
1. Practice at least 6 days this week alternating sitting meditation practice with yoga practice or Chi Gong practice.

Informal Practice:
1. Pay attention to what you put in your body; how much; where it comes from; why; reactions and effects. 2. Not just food, but also what we take in through the eyes, ears and nose; TV, newspapers and magazines, books, music, the air we breathe, etc..

Exercise:
1. Think of yourself as a verb, rather than a noun. (Practice experiencing yourself as a process, rather than as a subject or object.)

Reading:
Full Catastrophe Living, Chapters 27-32 (pp. 362-422).

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Home Practice Worksheet Week 6 Day 1 Date: What Time: How Long: Day 2 Date: What Time: How Long: Day 4 Date: What Time: How Long: Day 5 Date: What Time: Comments: Comments: Comments: Comments:

Day 6 Date: What Time: How Long: Day 7 Date: What Time: How Long:

Comments:

Comments:

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Diet: The Course of Our Life

Though we customarily think of diet as pertaining to food, at one time the word "diet" was also used in reference to the course of ones life; a way of living or thinking. Though the use of the word "diet" in this context is now considered obsolete, it might be more beneficial if we were to think of "diet" in this greater context. Our dietary routine consists of the consumption or ingestion of food for the nourishment and sustenance of our entire being; body, soul and spirit. But there are other things that we ingest or consume during the course of a day besides what enters the stomach through the mouth. The senses of the body are gates of consumption also, and what enters the mind and body through these sense gates have every bit as much to do with nourishment for the whole being as does the 5 basic food groups. Hearing, seeing, smelling, tasting, touching or thoughts are all activities which are associated with appetite. \ So just as we may develop an appetite for certain unhealthy foods because the taste is desirable, we may also have the appetite for sights or sounds which are desirable but unhealthy, especially if consumed in excess as we are sometimes inclined to do. For example, it may be desirable to listen to world, national and local news, but we only need one helping. An excessive appetite for "news" will lead to imbalances in our life, adding to stress and anxiety. Similarly, certain music, television programs and movies will also lead to stress and anxiety, even though they may "taste" so delicious that we crave extra helpings. This does not mean that we should turn away from suffering, ignore injustice, or refrain from pleasurable activities. Being mindful in our diet is to maintain awareness of when the course of our life is a balanced "diet." So when considering your diet, you might choose to enlarge your field of awareness to include the other things you consume in addition to food. -by Patrick Thornton, Ph.D.

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Hints & Suggestions for Mindfulness of Food & Eating

1. Start paying attention to this whole domain of your life, just as you have been doing with your body and your mind. 2. Try eating a meal mindfully, in silence. Slow down your movements enough so that you can watch the entire process carefully. 3. Observe the colors and textures of your food. Contemplate where this food comes from and how it was grown or made. Is it synthetic? Does it come from a factory? Was anything put into it? Can you see the efforts of all the other people who were involved in bringing it to you? Can you see how it was once connected to nature? Can you see the natural elements, the sunlight and the rain, in your vegetables and fruits and grains? 4. Ask yourself if you want this food in your body before you eat it. How much of it do you want in your belly? Listen to your body while you are eating. Can you detect when it says "enough"? What do you do at this point? What impulses come up in your mind? 5. Be aware of how your body feels in the hours after you have eaten. Does it feel heavy 5 light? Do you feel tired or energetic? Do you have unusual amounts of gas or other or . symptoms of dis-regulation? Can you relate these symptoms to particular foods or combinations of foods to which you might be sensitive? 6. When shopping, try reading labels on food items such as cereal boxes, breads, frozen foods. What is in them? Are they high in fat, in animal fat? Do they have salt and sugar added? What are the first ingredients listed? (By law they have to be listed in decreasing order of amounts, with the first ingredient the most plentiful, etc.). 7. Be aware of your cravings. Ask yourself where they come from. What do you really want? Are you going to get it from eating this particular food? Can you eat "just a little of it? Are you addicted to it? Can you try letting go of it this once and just watch the craving as a thought or a feeling? Can you think of something else to do at this moment that will be healthier and more personally satisfying than eating? 8. When preparing food, are you doing it mindfully? Try a peeling-potatoes meditation or a chopping-carrots meditation. Can you be totally present with the peeling, with the chopping? Try being aware of your breathing and your whole body as you peel or chop vegetables. What are the effects of doing things this way? 9. Look at your favorite recipes. What ingredient s do they call for? How much cream, butter, eggs, lard, sugar, and salt are in them? Look around for alternatives if you decide that they are no longer what you want to be cooking. Many delicious recipes are now available that are low in fat, cholesterol, salt, and sugar. Some use low-fat yogurt instead of cream, olive oil instead of lard or butter, and fruit juices for sweetening . -From Full Catastrophe Living by Jon Kabat-Zinn.

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Present Moment Wonderful Moment:

Eating Mindfully
A few years ago, I asked some chi1dren, "What is the purpose of eating breakfast?" One boy replied, "To get energy for the day." Another said, "The purpose of eating breakfast is to eat breakfast." I think the second boy is more correct. The purpose of eating is to eat. Eating a meal in mindfulness is an important practice. We turn off the TV, put down our newspaper, and work together for five or ten minutes, setting: the table and finishing whatever needs to be done. During these few minutes, we can be very happy. When the food is on the table and everyone is seated, we practice breathing: "Breathing in, I calm my body. Breathing out, I smile," three times. We can recover ourselves completely after three breaths like this. Then, we look at each person as we breathe in and out in order to ~ in touch with ourselves and everyone at the table. We don't need two hours in order to see another person. If we are really settled within ourselves, we only need to look for one or two seconds, and that is enough to see our friends. I think that if a family has five members, only about five or ten seconds is needed to practice this "looking and seeing." After breathing, we smi1e. Sitting at the table with other people; we have a chance to offer an authentic smile of friendship and understanding. It is very easy, but not many people do it. To me, this is the most important practice. We look at each person and smile at him or her. Breathing and smiling together are very important practices. If the people in a family cannot smile at each other, the situation is a very dangerous one. After breathing and smiling, we look down at the food in a way that allows the food to become real. This food reveals our connection with the Earth. Each bite contains the life of the sun and the Earth. The extent to which our food reveals itself depends on us. We can see and taste the whole universe in a piece of bread! Contemplating our food for a few seconds before eating, and eating in mindfulness, can bring us much happiness. Having the opportunity to sit with our family and friends and enjoy wonderful food is something precious, something not everyone has. Many people in the world are hungry. When I hold a bowl of rice or a piece of bread, I know that I am fortunate, and I feel compassion for all those who have no food to eat and are without friends or family. This is a very deep practice. We do not need to go to a temple or a church in order to practice this. We can practice it right at our dinner table. Mindful eating can cultivate seeds of compassion and understanding that will strengthen us to do something to help hungry and lonely people be nourished. In order to aid mindfulness during meals, you may like to eat silently from time to time. Your first silent meal may cause you to feel a little uncomfortable, but once you become used to it, you will realize that meals in silence bring much peace and happiness. It is like turning off the TV before eating. We "turn off" the talking in order to enjoy the food and the presence of one another.

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I do not recommend silent meals every day. I think talking to each other is a wonderful way to be in touch. But we have to distinguish among different kinds of talk. Some subjects can separate us, for instance if we talk about other people's shortcomings. The food that has been prepared carefully will have no value if we let this kind of talk dominate our meal. When instead we speak about things that nourish our awareness of the food and our being together, we cultivate the kind of happiness that is necessary for us to grow. If we compare this experience with the experience of talking about other people's shortcomings, I think awareness of a piece of bread in your mouth is a much more nourishing experience. It brings life in and makes life real. I propose that during eating, you refrain from discussing subjects which destroy the awareness of the family and the food. But you should feel free to say things that can nourish awareness and happiness. For instance, if there is a dish that you like very much, you can see if other people are also enjoying it, and if one of them is not, you can help him or her appreciate the wonderful dish prepared with loving care. If someone is thinking about something other than the good food on the table, such as his difficulties in the office or with friends, it means he is losing the present moment, and the food. You can say, "This dish is wonderful, don't you agree? When you say something like this, you will draw him out of his thinking and worries, and bring him back to the here and now, enjoying you, enjoying the wonderful dish. You [are] helping a living being become enlightened. I know that children, in particular, are very capable of practicing mindfulness and reminding others to do the same. -From Present Moment Wonderful Moment: Mindfu1ness Verses for Daily Living, by Thich Nhat Hanh

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WEEK SEVEN

45

HOMEWORK SESSION #7
Formal Practice:
1. Practice at least 45 minutes at least 6 days this week, as best you can without using the audio or video sources. Use any combination you like of sitting meditation, body scan, yoga or chi gong. (including the loving kindness meditation, and the mountain and lake meditations). Do at least some sitting meditation every day; but mainly focus this week on making the practice your own.

Informal Practice:
1. Practice informally on your own. Be aware of moments throughout the day. How much can you be fully present for your own life? 2. Tune in mindfully to the breath on a regular basis throughout the day. 3. Discover the "bloom of the present moment" in routine activity. 4. Notice thoughts and feelings about the class ending, without judging them or reacting to them.

Reading:
1. Full Catastrophe Living, Chapters 33-36 (pp. 423-444)

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Mindful Walking
The walking meditation is done by noticing the lifting, forward and placing movement of the foot in each step. It is helpful to finish one step completely before lifting the other foot. "Lifting, moving, placing, lifting, moving, placing." It is very simple. Again it is not an exercise in movement. It is an exercise in mindfulness. Use the movement to develop a careful awareness. In the course of the day, you can expect many changes. Sometimes you may feel like walking more quickly, sometimes very slowly. You can take the steps as a single unit, "stepping, stepping." Or you may start out walking quickly and, in that same walking meditation, slow down until you are dividing it again into the three parts. Experiment. The essential thing is to be mindful, to be aware of what's happening. In walking, the hands should remain stationary either behind the back, at the sides, or in front. It's better to look a little ahead, and not at your feet, in order to avoid being involved in the concept of "foot" arising from the visual contact. All of the attention should be on experiencing the movement, feeling the sensations of the lifting, forward, placing motions. From The Experience of Insight by Joseph Goldstein

Select a quiet place where you can walk comfortably back and forth, indoors or out, about ten to thirty paces in length. Begin by standing at one end of this "walking path," with your feet firmly planted on the ground. Let your hands rest easily, wherever they are comfortable. Close your eyes for a moment, center yourself, and feel your body standing on the earth. Feel the pressure on the bottoms of your feet and the other natural sensations of standing. Then open your eyes and let yourself be present and alert. Begin to walk slowly. Let yourself walk with a sense of ease and dignity. Pay attention to your body. With each step feel the sensations of lifting your foot and leg off of the earth. Be aware as you place each foot on the earth. Relax and let your walking be easy and natura1. Feel each step mindfully as you walk. When you reach the end of your path, pause for a moment. Center yourself, carefully turn around, and pause again so that you can be aware of the first step as you walk back. You can experiment with the speed, walking at whatever pace keeps you most present. Continue to walk back and forth for ten or twenty minutes or longer. As with the breath in sitting, your mind will wander away many, many times. As soon as you notice this, acknowledge where it went softly: "wandering," "thinking," "hearing," "planning." Then return to feel the next step. Like training the puppy, you will need to come back a thousand times. Whether you have been away for one second or for ten minutes, simply acknowledge where you have been and then come back to being alive here and now with the next step you take. After some practice with walking meditation, you will learn to use it to calm and collect yourself and to live more wakefully in your body. You can then extend your walking practice in an informal way when you go

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shopping, whenever you walk down the street or walk to or from your car. You can learn to enjoy walking for its own sake instead of the usually planning and thinking and, in this simple way, begin to be truly present, to bring your body, heart, and mind together as you move through your life. From A Path with Heart

We have no reason to harbor any mistrust against our world, for it is not against us. If it has terrors, they are our terrors. If it has abysses, these abysses belong to us. If there are dangers, we must try to love them, and only if we could arrange our lives in accordance with the principle that tells us that we must always trust in the difficult, then what now appears to us to be alien will become our most intimate and trusted experience. How could we forget those ancient myths that stand at the beginning of all races--the myths about dragons that at the last moment are transformed into princesses. Perhaps all the dragons in our lives are only princesses waiting for us to act, just once, with beauty and courage. Perhaps everything that frightens us is, in its deepest essence, something helpless that wants our love. So you must not be frightened if sadness rises before you larger than any you've ever seen, if an anxiety like light and cloud shadows moves over your hands and everything that you do. You must realize that something has happened to you. Life has not forgotten you that it holds you in its hands and will not let you fall. Why do you want to shut out of your life any uneasiness, any miseries, or any depressions? For after all, you do not know what work these conditions are doing inside you.

Rainer Maria Rilke

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A GUIDED MEDITATION ON SOFTENING PAIN

(To be read slowly to a friend or silently to oneself.) Try to find a comfortable position and settle into it. Slowly allow your attention to move toward the area of discomfort. Watch what feelings, arise as you let your awareness approach that place. Let the pain just be there. Is the mind and body at war? Much resistance? Is the mind cursing the body? Is there any fear accumulated in the area of discomfort? Notice if any old mind fears cling there, turning pain to suffering. Resistance to hellishness. Notice whatever feelings arise in that area. Begin to soften all about physical and mental discomfort. Let the skin, the flesh, the muscles, begin to soften all around the pain. Let the fist of resistance and fear which closes down around the unpleasant slowly begin to open. Releasing tension around discomfort. Letting go of the rigidity holding unwanted sensations. . Let go. This holding, this old resistance and dread turns the moment sour. Let go. It is so painful to hold to the pain with anger and fear and helplessness. Let it go. Let it begin to float in awareness instead of being trapped hard in the body. Moment to moment sensation arises. Moment to moment opening. Softening to each particle of sensation. Let the muscles soften. Let the flesh open to receive the moment as it is in mercy and loving kindness. The fear, the anger, the sense of failure dissolving into the softness. Each moment new. Softening from sensation to sensation. Notice how the least thought or subtlest holding reestablishes tension. Soften. Moment to moment letting go. Remembering the mercy that pain cries out for--soften again and again and once again. Let the discomfort just be there, not holding to it, not even pushing it away. Softening to the very center of each instant of sensation and feeling. Meeting the heart of our pain in mercy and forgiveness. Moving gently into it to heal, to release so much frustration, so much helplessness. Allowing at last the moment simply to be as it is with such mercy for ourselves and these sensations arising in soft flesh. Soften the ligaments. Soften the tissue all around each sensation. Let each sensation float free in this softness. Letting it be in the heart of mercy and kindness toward oneself, toward this moment, toward these sensations constantly changing. Open all around sensation gently. Push nothing away. Let resistance melt from the body with a sigh. Let go of long-held fear and doubt.

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Softening Pain

And in the mind that holds to this pain, that prays to it and wars with it, that beseeches it, a deeper softening begins to permeate. The mental fist opens. Feel the release of tension in the mind as it softens to the unpleasant in the body. Have mercy. A moment of fear, a moment of distrust, a moment of anger--each arising and dissolving, one after the other. Each mind-moment dissolving into the next. The spaciousness increasing. Hard reactions melting to soft responses in the mind. The body softening to receive the

moment as is.

Moment-to-moment softening all about sensations arising. Softening the tissue. Softening the muscles. Softening around each moment of experience arising in the body. Softening to the center of each cell. Sending mercy and loving kindness into each moment of sensation arising and dissolving in space. Each instant of sensation received in an awareness that gently embraces. Letting go of discomfort. Letting it float in a merciful awareness. Letting the mind float in the heart. Receiving this moment in the opening heart of mercy. Receiving this softness in all the far-flung galaxies of the body. In the vast body, such mercy, such kindness, receives each moment. Softening. Opening with a merciful awareness we continue the path of the healing we took birth for. --Stephen Levine Guided Meditations

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"What Do I Resist?"
Resistance, in the context of mindfulness practice, is a wakeup call. In bringing awareness to those aspects of our daily life that we habitually resist, we begin the work of transforming them. So now take a couple of moments to consider your own habitual resistances. Is there some situation, or task, some person, or event you commonly find yourself faced with, but which you really don't like? It can be as mundane as taking out the trash... The main things we're looking for is that quality of aversion, of "don't like", and the repetition, that is, it's something that you find yourself faced with again and again. Now take a few moments and let's consider it mindfully. Begin with the body. As you hold the image of your resistance, explore the feeling in the body. Try to describe it to yourself as precisely as possible (heaviness, shallow breathing, contraction...) Next, consider any collateral effects in the mind: negative thoughts, imaginings, fears: watch these and the train of emotions that arise as you explore this resistance. What is your usual reaction? (Do it grudgingly, try to distract myself, shut down as I do it.) . . Now as you hold your awareness within this personal resistance, see if you can allow that awareness to equalize your aversion, or soften the resistance. Don't strain, but just enter into whatever it is you find yourself resisting in this moment. If judgments or additional resistances come up, notice them. If nothing shifts or changes that's all right too. Just notice whatever happens. Finally, before abandoning this exploration, mentally bow to whatever resistance you've been exploring. Return to the breath.

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Loving Kindness

A Guided Loving Kindness Meditation

(To be read slowly to a friend or silently to oneself.) Sitting comfortably, allow the attention to come, gradually to the breath. The breath coming and going all by itself deep within the body. Take a few moments to allow the attention to gather within the even rhythm of the breath. Turning, gently within begin to direct, toward yourself, care for your own wellbeing. Begin to look on yourself as though you are your only child. Have mercy on you. Silently in the heart say, "May I be free from suffering. May I be at peace." Just feel the breath breathing into the heart space as we relate to ourselves with kindness and care. Allow the heart, silently, to whisper the words of mercy that heal, that open. "May I be free from suffering. May I be at peace." Allow yourself to be healed. Whispering to yourself, send wishes for your own well-being: "May I be free from suffering. May I be at peace." Repeat, gently with each in-breath, "May I be free from suffering." With the following out-breath, "May I be at peace." Repeat these words slowly and, gently with each in-breath, with each out-breath. Not as a prayer but as the extending of a loving care to yourself. Notice whatever limits this love, this mercy, this willingness to be whole, to be healed. "May I be free from suffering. May I be at peace." Let the breath continue naturally, as mercy for yourself, your only child, for this being within. Though at first these may only feel like words echoing from the mind, gently continue. There can be no force here. Force closes the heart. Let the heart receive the mind in a new tenderness and mercy.

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Loving Kindness

"May I be free from suffering. May I be at peace." Each breath deepening the nurturing warmth of relating to oneself with loving kindness and compassion. Each exhalation deepening in peace, expanding into the spaciousness of being, developing the deep patience that does not wait for things to be otherwise but relates with loving kindness to things as they are. "May I be free from suffering. May I be at peace." Allow the healing in with each breath. Allow your true spacious nature. Continue for a few breaths more this drawing in, opening to, loving kindness. Relating to yourself with great tenderness, sending well-being into your mind and body, embrace yourself with these gentle words of healing. Now gently bring to mind someone for whom you have a feeling of warmth and kindness. Perhaps a loved one or teacher or friend. Picture this loved one in your heart. With each in-breath whisper to him or her, "May you be free from suffering. May you be at peace." With each breath draw that loved one into your heart, "May you be free from suffering." With each out-breath filling them with your loving kindness, "May you be at peace." Continue to breathe the loved one into your -heart whispering silently to yourself, to them, "May you be free from suffering. May you be at peace." Continue the gentle breath of connection, the gentle wish for their happiness and wholeness. Let the breath be breathed naturally, softly, lovingly into the heart, coordinated with your words, with your concentrated feelings of loving kindness and care. "May you be free from suffering. May you be at peace." Send them your love, your compassion, your care. Breathing them in and through your heart. "May you be free from suffering. May you know your deepest joy, your greatest peace." And as you sense them in your heart, sense this whole world that wishes so to be healed, to know its true nature, to be at peace. Note to yourself, "Just as I wish to be happy so do all sentient beings."

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Loving-Kindness

And in your heart with each in-breath, with each out-breath, whisper, "May all beings be free of suffering. May all beings be at peace." Let your loving kindness reach out to all beings as it did to your loved one, sensing all beings in need of healing, in need of the peace of their true nature. "May all beings be at peace. May they be free of suffering." "May all sentient beings, to the most recently born, be free of fear, free of pain. May all beings heal into their true nature. May all beings know the absolute joy of absolute being. "

"May all beings everywhere be at peace. May all beings be free of suffering." The whole planet like a bubble floating in the ocean of your heart. Each breath drawing in the love that heals the world that deepens the peace we all seek.

Each breath feeding the world with the mercy and compassion, the warmth and patience that quiets the mind and opens the heart. "May all beings be free from suffering. May all beings be at peace." Let the breath come softly. Let the breath go gently. Wishes of well-being and mercy, of care and loving kindness, extended to this world we all share. "May all beings be free of suffering. May all beings dwell in the heart of healing. May all beings be at peace." --Stephen Levine Guided Meditations

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The Mountain Meditation

When it comes to meditation, mountains have a lot to teach, having archetypal significance in all cultures. Mountains are sacred places. People have always sought spiritual guidance and renewal in and among them. The mountain is the symbol of the prime axis of the world (Mt. Meru), the dwelling place of the gods (Mr. Olympus), the spiritual leader encounters God and receives his (her) commandments and covenant (Mr. Sinai). Mountains are held sacred, embodying dread and harmony, harshness and majesty. Rising above all else on our planet, they beckon and overwhelm with their presence. Their nature is elemental, rock. Rock-hard. Rock-solid. Mountains are the place or visions, where one can touch the panoramic scale of the natural world and its intersection with life's fragile but tenacious rootings. Mountains have played key roles in our history and prehistory. The traditional peoples, mountains were and still are mother, father, guardian, protector, and ally. In meditation practice, it can be helpful sometimes to "borrow" these wonderful archetypal qualities of mountains and use them to bolster our intentionality and resolve to hold the moment with an elemental purity and simplicity. The mountain image help in the mind's eye and in the body can freshen our memory of why we are sitting in the first place, and of what it truly means, each time we take our seat, to dwell in the realm of non-doing. Mountains are quintessentially emblematic of abiding presence and stillness. The mountain meditation can be practiced in the following way, or modified to resonate with your personal vision of the mountain and its meaning. It can be done in any posture, but I find it most powerful when I am sitting cross-legged on the floor, so that my body looks and feels most mountain like, inside and out. Being in the mountains at night or in sight of a mountain is helpful but not at all necessary. It is the inner image which is the source of power here. Picture the most beautiful mountain you know or know of or can imagine one whose form speaks personally to you. As you focus on the image or the feeling of the mountain in hour mind's eye, notice its overall shape, the lofty peak, the base rooted in the rock of the earth's crust, the steep or gently sloping sides. Note as well how massive it is, how unmoving, how beautiful whether seen from afar or up close--a beauty emanating from its unique signature of shape and form, and at the same time embodying universal qualities of "mountainess" transcending particular shape and form. Perhaps your mountain has snow at the top and trees on the lower slopes. Perhaps it has one prominent peak, perhaps a series of peaks or a high plateau. However it appears, just sit and breathe with the image of this mountain, observing it, noting its qualities. When you feel ready, see if you can bring the mountain into your own body so that your body sitting here and the mountain of the mind's eye become one. Your head becomes the lofty peak; your shoulders and arms the sides of the mountain; your buttocks and legs the solid base rooted to your cushion on the floor or to your chair. Experience in your body the sense of uplift, the axial, elevated quality of the mountain deep in your own spine. Invite yourself to become a breathing mountain, unwavering in your stillness, completely what you are-beyond words and thought, a centered, rooted, and unmoving presence. Now, as well you know, throughout the day as the sun travels the sky, the mountain just sits. Light and shadow and colors are changing virtually moment to moment in the mountain's adamantine stillness. Even the untrained eye can see changes by the hour. These evoke those masterpieces of Claude Monet, who had the genius to set up many easels and paint the life of his inanimate subjects hour by hour, moving from canvas to canvas as the play of light, shadow, and color transformed cathedral, river, or mountain, and thereby wake up the viewer's eye. As the light changes, as night follows day and day night, the mountain just sits, simply being itself. It remains still as the seasons flow into one another and as the weather changes moment by moment and day by day. Calmness

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abiding all change. In summer, there is no snow on the mountain, except perhaps for the very top or in crags shielded from direct sunlight. In the fall, the mountain may display a coat of brilliant fire colors; in winter, a blanket of snow and ice. In any season, it may at times find itself enshrouded in clouds or fog, or pelted by freezing rain. The tourists who come to visit may be disappointed if they can't see the mountain clearly, but it's all the same to the mountain-seen or unseen, in sun or clouds, broiling or frigid, it just sits, being itself. At times visited by violent storms, buffeted by snow and rain and winds of unthinkable magnitude, through it all the mountain sits. Spring comes; the birds sing in the trees once again, leaves return to the trees, flowers bloom in the high meadows and on the slopes, streams overflow with waters of melting snow. Through it all, the mountain continues to sit, unmoved by the weather, by what happens on the surface, by the world of appearances. As we sit holding this image in our mind, we can embody the same unwavering stillness and rootedness in the face of everything that changes in our own lives over seconds, hours, and years. In our lives and in our meditation practice, we experience constantly the changing nature of mind and body and of the outer world. We experience periods of light and dark, vivid color and drab dullness. We experience storms of varying intensity and violence, in the outer world and in our own lives and minds. Buffeted by high winds, by cold and rain, we endure periods of darkness and pain as well as savoring moments of joy and uplift. Even our appearance changes constantly, just like the mountain's experiencing weather and a weathering of its own. By becoming the mountain in our meditation, we can link up with its strength and stability: and adopt them for our own. We can use its energies to support our efforts to encounter each moment with mindfulness, equanimity, and clarity. It may help us to see that our thoughts and feelings, our preoccupation's, our emotional storms and crises, even the things that happen to us are much like the weather on the mountain. We tend to take it personally, but its strongest characteristic is impersonal. The weather of our own lives is not to be ignored or denied. It is to be encountered, honored, felt, known for what it is, and help in high awareness since it can kill us. In holding it in this way, we come to know a deeper silence and stillness and wisdom than we may have thought possible, right within the storms. Mountains have this to teach us, and more, if we can come to listen. Yet, when all is said and done, the mountain meditation is only a device, a finger pointing us toward somewhere. We still have to look, then go. While the mountain image can help us become more stable, human beings are far more interesting and complex than mountains. We are breathing, moving, dancing mountains. We can be simultaneously hard like rock, firm, unmoving, and at the same time soft and gentle and flowing. We have a vast range of potential at our disposal. We can see and feel. We can know and understand. We can learn; we can grow; we can heal; especially if we learn to listen to the inner harmony of things and hold the central mountain axis through thick and thin.

Kabat-Zinn, Jon. Wherever You Go There You Are: Mindfulness Meditation in Everyday Life. New York: Hyperion Books, 1994

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The Lake Meditation

The mountain image is only one of many that you may find supports your practice and makes it more vivid and elemental. Images of trees, rivers, clouds, sky can be useful allies as well. The image itself is not fundamental, but it can deepen and expand your view of practice. Some people find the image of a lake particularly helpful. Because a lake is an expanse of water, the image lends itself to the lying down posture, although it can be practiced sitting up as well. We know that the water principle is every bit as elemental as rock, and that its nature is stronger than rock in the sense that water wears down rock. Water also has the enchanting quality of receptivity. It parts to allow anything in, and then resumes itself. If you hit a mountain or a rock with a hammer, in spite of its hardness, or actually because of it, the rock chips, fragments, breaks apart. But if you hit the ocean or a pond with a hammer, all you get is a rusty hammer. A key virtue of water power reveals itself in this. To practice using the lake image in your meditation, picture in your mind's eye a lake, a body of water held in a receptive basin by the earth itself. Note in the mind's eye and in your own heart that water likes to pool in low places. It seeks its own level, asks to be contained. The lake you invoke may be deep or shallow, blue or green, muddy or clear. With no wind, the surface of the lake is flat. Mirrorlike, it reflects trees, rocks, sky, and clouds, holds everything in itself momentarily. Wind stirs up waves on the lake, from ripples to chop. Clear reflections disappear. But sunlight may still sparkle in the ripples and dance on the waves in a play of shimmering diamonds. When night comes, it's the moon's turn to dance on the lake, or if the surface is still, to be reflected in it .along with the outline of trees and shadows. In winter, the lake may freeze over; yet teem with movement and life below. When you have established a picture of the lake in your mind's eye, allow yourself to become one with the lake as you lie down on you back or sit in meditation, so that your energies are held by your awareness and by your openness and compassion for yourself in the same way as the lake's waters are held by the receptive and accepting basin of the earth herself. Breathing with the lake image moment by moment, feeling its body as your body, allow your mind and your heart to be open and receptive, to reflect whatever comes near. Experience the moments of complete stillness when both reflection and water are completely clear, and other moments when the surface is disturbed, choppy, stirred up, reflections and depth lost for a time. Through it all, as you dwell in meditation, simply noting the play of the various energies of your own mind and heart, the fleeting thoughts and feelings, impulses and reactions which come and go as ripples and waves, noting their effects just as you observe the various changing energies at play on the lake: the wind, the waves, the light and shadow and reflections, the colors, the smells. Do your thought and feelings disturb the surface? Is that okay with you? Can you see a rippled or wavy surface as an intimate, essential aspect of being a lake, of having a surface? Can you identify not only with the surface but with the entire body of the water, so that you become the stillness below the surface as well, which at most experiences only gentle undulations, even when the surface is whipped to frothing? In the same way, in your meditation practice and in your daily life, can you identify not only with the content of your thoughts and feelings but also with the vast unwavering reservoir of awareness itself residing below the surface of the mind? In the lake meditation, we sit with the intention to hold in awareness and acceptance all the qualities of mind and body, just as the lake sits held, cradled, contained by the earth, reflecting sun, moon, stars, trees, rocks, clouds, sky, birds, light, caressed by the air and wind, which bring out and highlight its sparkle, its vitality, its essence.

Kabat-Zinn, Jon. Wherever You Go There You Are: Mindfulness Meditation in Everyday Life. NewYork: Hyperion Books, 1994

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Keeping Up the Informal Practice

ADDITIONAL AWARENESS EXERCISES YOU MAY FIND USEFUL

1. Try to be mindful for one minute every hour. 2. Touch base w/ your breathing throughout the day wherever you are, as often as you can. 3. For one week, be aware of one pleasant event per day while it is happening. Record these, as well as your thoughts, feelings, and bodily sensations, in a calendar and look for patterns. 4. During another week do the same for one unpleasant or stressful event per day while it is happening. Again, record your bodily sensations, thoughts, feelings, and reactions/responses. Look for underlying patterns. 5. Bring awareness to one difficult communication per day during another week, and record what happened, what you wanted from the communication, what the other person wanted, and what actually transpired in a similar calendar. Look for patterns over the week. Does this exercise tell you anything about your own mental states and their consequences as you communicate with others? 6. Bring awareness to the connections between physical symptoms of distress that you might be having, such as headaches, increased pain, palpitations, rapid breathing, muscle tension, and preceding mental states and their origins. Keep a calendar of these for one full week. 7. Be mindful of your needs for formal meditation, relaxation, exercise, a healthy diet, enough sleep, intimacy and affiliation, and humor, and honor them. These needs are the mainstays of your health. If adequately attended to on a regular basis, they will provide a strong foundation for health, increase your resilience to stress and lend greater satisfaction and coherence to your life. 8. After a particularly stressful day or event, make sure that you take steps to decompress and restore balance that very day if at all possible. In particular, meditation, cardiovascular exercise, sharing time with friends, and getting enough sleep will help in the recovery process.

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VISION
It is virtually impossible and senseless anyway, to commit yourself to a daily meditation practice without some view of why you are doing it, what its value might be in your life, a sense of why this might be your way and not just another tilting at imaginary windmills. In traditional societies, this vision was supplied and continually reinforced by the culture. If you were a Buddhist, you might practice because the whole culture valued meditation as the path to clarity, compassion, and Buddhahood, a path of wisdom leading to the eradication of suffering. But in the Western cultural mainstream, you will find precious little support for choosing such a personal path of discipline and constancy, especially such an unusual one involving effort but non-doing, energy but no tangible "product." What is more, any superficial or romantic notions we might harbor of becoming a better person--more calm or more clear or more compassionate--don't endure for long when we face the turbulence of our lives, our minds and bodies, or even the prospect of getting up early in the morning when it is cold and dark to sit by yourself and be in the present moment. It's too easily put off or seen as trivial or of secondary importance, so it can always wait while you catch a little more sleep or at least stay warm in bed. If you hope to bring meditation into your life in any kind of long-term, committed way, you will need a vision that is truly your own-one that is deep and tenacious and that lies close to the core of who you believe yourself to be, what you value in your life, and where you see yourself going. Only the strength of such a dynamic vision and the motivation from which it springs can possibly keep you on the path year in and year out, with a willingness to practice every day and to bring mindfulness to bear on whatever is happening, to open to whatever is perceived, and to let it point to where the holding is and where the letting go and the growing need to happen. . . The practice itself has to become the daily embodiment of your vision and contain what you value most deeply. It doesn't mean trying to change or be different from how you are, calm when you're not feeling calm or kind when you really feel angry. Rather, it is bearing in mind what is most important to you so that it is not lost or betrayed in the heat of reactivity of a particular moment. If mindfulness is deeply important to you, then every moment is an opportunity to practice. Jon Kabat-Zinn

Renew thyself completely each day; do it again, and again, and forever again. CHINESE JNSCRIPTION CITED BY THOREAU IN WALDEN POND

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STRESS REDUCTION READING LIST

Meditation
Joseph Goldstein. The Experience of Insight, Shambhala, 1987. -- Insight Meditation: The Practice of Freedom, Shambhala, 1993.

- Seeking the Heart of Wisdom, Shambhala, 1987 Thich Nhat Hanh. The Miracle of Mindfulness Beacon Press, 1976. - Being Peace, Parallax Press, 1987.
Jack Kornfield. A Path with Heart, Bantam Books, 1993.

Jon Kabat-Zinn. Full Catastrophe Living: Using the Wisdom of Your Body and Mind to Face Stress, Pain, and IUness, Bantam Books, 1990 -- Wherever You Go There You Are: Mindfulness Meditation in Everyday Life, Hyperion, 1994. Joel Levey. The Fine Arts of Relaxation, Concentration and Meditation, Wisdom Publications, 1987.
Stephen Levine. A Gradual Awakening, Anchor/Doubleday, 1979.

-- Guided Meditations, Explorations and Healings, 1991.

Shunryu Suzuki. Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind, Weatherhill, 1986. Chogyam Trungpa. Shambhala, The Sacred Path of the Warrior, Shambhala, 1984.

Stress, Illness & Healing

Marc Barasch. The Healing Path, A Soul Approach to Illness, Tarcher Putnum, 1993. Herbert Benson. The Relaxation Response, Avon Books, 1975.

Deepak Chopra. Quantum Healing: Exploring the Frontiers of Mind/Body Medicine, Bantam Books, 1989.

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Norman Cousins. The Healing Hearl, Bantam, 1983. -- Anatomy of An IUness, 1979.

- Head First, The New Biology of Hope, 1989.

Larry Dossey, Beyond Illness, New Science Library, 1984. Steven Levine, Healing Into Life and Death, Doubleday/Anchor, 1987. Steven Locke, The Healer Within, New American Library, 1986.

Dean Ornish. Dr. Dean Ornish's Program for Reversing Heart Disease, Random House, 1990. Stress, Diet and Your Heart, Holt, Reinhard, Winston, 1983. Ken Pellitier, Mind as Healer, Mind as Sloyer, Delta, 1977.
John Sarno, Healing Back Pain, Time Warner Books, 1991. Han Selye, Stress Without Distress, Signet, 1979. Andrew WeB, Health and Healing, Houghton Mifflin, 1983.

Yoga and Mindful Movement

Alice Christensen, Easy Does It Yoga, Harper & Row, 1979. Moshe Feldenkrais, Awareness Through Movement, Harper & Row, 1972. Georg Feuerstein. Living Yoga: A Comprehensive Guide for Daily Life, Tarcher, 1993 B.K..S. Iyengar, Light On Yoga, Schocken Books, 1977. Silva Mehta. Yoga The Iyengar Way: The New Definitive Illustrated Guide. Knopf 1992.
.

Marion Rosen & Sue Brenner. The Rosen Method of Movement, North Atlantic, 1991. Satchitananda, Intewal Hatha Yoga, Holt, Reinhart, Winston, 1970.

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Suggested Reading
Yoga
T.K.V. Desikachar. The Heart of Yoga: Developing a Personal Practice. Inner Traditions International, 1995. Georg Feuerstein. The Shambhala Guide to Yoga. ShambhaJa, 1996. B.K.S. Iyengar., YOGA The Path to Holistic Health. Dorling Kindersley, 2001. Gary Kraftsow. Yoga for Wel/ness, HeaJingwith the Timeless TeachingsofViniyoga.

Penguin! Arkana, 1999. Yoga for Transformation, Ancient Teachings and Holistic Practices for
.

Healing Body, Mind, and Heart. Penguin Compass, 2002. Richard Rosen. The Yoga of Breath: ,A Step-by-Step Guide to Pranayama. Shambhala, 2002. . Eric Schiffinann. Yoga: The Spirit and Practice of Moving Into Stillness. Pocket Books, 1996. Mary Pullig Schatz, M.D. Back Care Basics. Rodmell Press, 1992.

Healing
Caroline Myss, Ph.D. Why People Don't Heal and How They Can. Harmony Books, 1997. Paul Pearsall, Ph.D. The Heart's Code, Tapping the Wisdom and Power of Our Heart Energy. Cellular Memories and Their Role in the MindlBody/Spirlt Connection. Broadway Books,. 1998. John Ruskan. Emotional Clearing. A Groundbreaking EastIWest Guide to Releasing Negative Feelings and Awakening Unconditional Happiness. Broadway Books, 2000. Russell Targ and Jane Katra, Ph.D. Miracles of Mind: Exploring Non/ocal Consciousness and Spiritual Healing. New World Library. 1999

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Mindful Living Program

Congratulations upon completing this program of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction. You may realize now that the ending is really the beginning of a way of life. Priming the Pump A working definition of Mindfulness is: non-judgmental awareness. Mindfulness begins by paying close attention to the here and now. There is no special starting place other than where you are. We have learned these past eight weeks of the importance of paying attention to the present moment in day to day life. The sooner we can identify and be mindful of a stressful situation, the sooner we can develop strategies in dealing with it. There is a saying to take one day at a time. We can even fine tune this good advice by saying to take each moment one at a time. Please try to maintain the mindfulness practice both formally and informally as much as possible. It is actually not far away, all it takes is awareness to remember to pay attention to the present moment. Suggestions Try to sit every day, even a short period (20 minutes), will be beneficial. If the day is extremely challenging even one minute of mindfulness can bring you greater stillness. Please also practice compassion: for yourself, all living beings, and the universe. Do the practice that seems the most appropriate. It may be breathing in and out, the body meditation, sitting with awareness, or loving-kindness. The main point is to develop a sense of balance and make the practice your own. Try to apply mindfulness as a way of life in daily activities. Knowing when you are seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, touching, feeling physical sensations, eating, bathing, toileting, sitting, standing, walking, lying, driving, talking, and the various mental or emotional states as they ebb and flow. Every moment can be an opportunity for cultivating mindfulness & compassion.

Resources
Retreat Information Insight Meditation West (Spirit Rock Center) P.O. Box 909 tel. (415) 488-0170 W Woodacre, Ca. 94973 http://www.spiritrock.org http://www.mindfullivingprograms.com Mindfulness Newsletter Inquiring Mind P.O. Box 9999, North Berkeley Station Berkeley, Ca. 94709 Mindfulness on the Internet www.mindfulnessprograms.com (Bob Stahl's web site) www.umassmed.edu/cfm (regional listings, articles) www.mindfullivingprograms.com (Steve Flowers website)

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