Session Three#
Intro#
The entire MBSR course is a lab where we put our experience under a microscope. The microscope gets unfocosed at time when the attention slips inside the content of the experience, rather than just watching the processes as they unfold (i.e. knowing about sensation/feeling/thought when they arise and pass). The moment of recognizing the slip (it can take a while), I am mindful and the microscope sees sharp again. It is imilar to learning a new language, or becoming familiar with a new country; any judgment (such as: I am not doing it right) is just another process under the microscope — I become conscious of “judging” and move the attention to the next present moment, happening right now.
Walking meditation#
We tried a short (10-minute) walking meditation. Read the instruction below and then try it, without wanting to do it perfectly; doubts about what is “correct” are just another part of the meditation — label them!
Walking mediation is similar to the sitting meditation; only the anchor the attention moveds back to is different: the steps rather than the breathing. We might make consistent used of the labeling, providing an immediate feedback: when I am not labeling, the mind is wandering.
For this practice, we need about 2–3m of space, walking back and forth in a slow pace; with a short break after each step so that the movements don’t fuse. You may hold hands together, front or back; eyes open, looking about 2m to the front, neutrally, to the floor. When you get to the end of the 2–3m of the walking path, turning 180° mindfully (one may label each movement as one turns), walking back.
Labeling each step as right goes there and left goes there (or similar), simultaneously with the movement. The mind will wander inevitably, to something else than walking; not trying to prevent that, it is an important part of the practice. Realizing that, I stop the walking (feet together, labeling stop) and then labeling 3× where the mind went (such as “planing, planing, planing”; whichever happens: thinking, remembering, seeing, hearing, boredom, impatience, joy, peace, concentration, effort, seriousness, tension, pain, warmth, …). In the moment of labeling, the attention is on what is happening, mindfulness is back already. Then I move the attention back to the walking (right goes there); this is another mindful moment.
You may want to continue with 5–10 minutes of sitting meditation (with breath as an anchor) and compare your experience between then two.
Home practice#
Home practice is the active pillar of the course. If you already have some experience of its benefits (such as “being more in touch with myself”), use it to nourish a healthy attitude to the practice: an act of self-care rather than an obligation. This can also boost the motivation to practice.
Regular practice of the bodyscan naturally cultivates sensitivity to the body perceptions outside of the practice — e.g. noticing tight stomach when experiencing worries. The body is the main barometer through which we perceive stress; the ability to stay in touch with the body is an important ingredient to have feet on the ground in the moments of stress. One of the reasons is that body perceptions are usually grounding and have less tendency, in contrast to feelings/thoughts, to pull the attention away from the present moment.
In the sitting meditation (even the 15-minutes variant, for becoming familiar with it), anything may happen, just like in the other practices. Tiredness, dullness, falling asleep, boredom, irritation, impatience, anger, sadness, memories, plans, judgments, doubts, craving (to eat, move, scratch, do something), …. None of that is wrong (or right), it is just important to see it as something happening; this can be supported by labeling the process by one word (to say, in the mind, “tiredness” or “hearing” or “falling asleep” etc) and moving the attention back to the “anchor” of attention (the breath felt in rising/falling of the abdomen).
Each moment is happening anew, so perhaps becoming curious: I never know what will happen in the next moment, I can’t possibly know it, but I also don’t have to know it. There is no need to create the present, it is always here; just tuning into it, directing the attention to it.
Pleasant Events Calendar. Can I always distinguish sense perception, feeling, though? Did I experience somethign ambivalent, e.g. pleasant physical sensation, coming with unpleasant thoughts?
It is frequently reported that there is a surprising amount of small pleasant experiences which would go unnoticed were the attention somewhere else. And we can work with attention (more precisely, we can learn that). Open senses and spirit are supportive conditions for pleasant experiences, such as fleeting beauty of the moment.
STOP#
Use the STOP card as a support for daily practice, as a visual reminder of being mindful. Put it visibly in places where you often find yourself in stress and reactivity so that it “hits your eyes”; common locations include fridge door, car, computer screen, wallet, mirror in the bathroom etc. The card reminds us that even though there are waves of stress (background image), we can stop and observe what’s happening, narrow the attention to the breath, then expand it again to look around in body/feelings/thoughts; and the continuing with mindfulness rather than on the autopilot.
You can’t stop the waves, but you can learn to surf.
A more detailed explanation is in the workbook (One-minute breathing space).
Yoga (mindful movement)#
During the movement, being mindful of body/feelings/mind. The anchor of the attention is the body, and breathing. If we get to a boundary of what the body can do, observing how that manifests in the body, what thoughs and feelings arise. Judgmental thoughts are not to be chasen away, only noting them. The goal of the practicde is not to stretch the body, relax it or heal pain — it can all nevertheless happen as a side-effect.
Self-care and self-respect are essential: skipping positions which are not suitable at this moment (body indisposition, injury, strong discomfort); in that case, doing the position with eyes closed in imagination, as realistically as possible.
Practice mindful yoga with audio guidance (choose variant to your liking) found in Guided meditations.
After the practice, reflect shortly; the following questions might serve as guidance:
How did it manifest in the body and in feelings/thoughs when you were approaching a boundary?
Which other feelings came up? E.g. uncertainty, fear, worries, joy, lightness, curiosity etc.
Was the attention wandering away from the body frequently? Where to?
How do you feel in the body right now?
Closing#
The practices in the MBSR course follow a certain progression:
The raisin exercise shows concentration (collecting mind from being scattered, the ability to move attention around) and anchoring attention in immediate sense perceptions.
The bodyscan is a practice of tuning to the body and mindfulness (knowing what is happening, and if it happens to be wandering, coming back to the “anchor”: body sensations).
Mindful yoga is a practice of recognizing signals from the body, and being mindful while moving.
Sitting meditation is the practice of anchoring in breath; there is more difficutly, since the breath is “boring” (neutral, less variable than body parts in the bodyscan, or movements in the yoga) and mindfulness is challenged even more.
(Review the sitting meditation instructions, as an extra input for the practice.)
All practices have an element of concentration (directing attention) and mindfulness (opening awareness). Being only concentrated, the mind is lost in the object; being only open, the mind is scattered everywhere. There needs to be a certain balance (as well as understanding the balance) which we are cultivating; perceiving without judging.
Being aware of one’s own habitual, reactive patterns, auto-pitols, prepares the ground for a whole spectrum of possible responses in challenging situations (rather than one single necessity which happens unconsciously, automatically). Avoiding the unpleasant is not the objective; chasing only pleasure is one more reacitivity at play, in the circus of the mind. We are observing the entire experience (body/heart/mind) as it is unfolding, with friendly and curious attitude. Like a new language we don’t understand yet much; like listening to contemporary jazz for the first time — it can feel chaotic at first, but just listening attentively, our ability to understand improves and gives meaning to what once felt hopelessly unintelligible.