Improving Mindfulness Instructor Guide
TABLE OF CONTENTS Preface ..............................................................................................................................................7 What is Courseware? ................................................................................................................................ 7 How Do I Customize My Course? .............................................................................................................. 7 Materials Required ................................................................................................................................... 9 Maximizing Your Training Power .............................................................................................................. 9 Module One: Getting Started ........................................................................................................... 11 Housekeeping Items................................................................................................................................ 11 The Parking Lot ....................................................................................................................................... 12 Workshop Objectives .............................................................................................................................. 12 Module Two: What Is Mindfulness? ................................................................................................. 13 Buddhist Concept .................................................................................................................................... 13 Bare Attention ........................................................................................................................................ 14 Psychological Concept of Mindfulness .................................................................................................... 15 Memory .................................................................................................................................................. 16 Case Study............................................................................................................................................... 17 Module Two: Review Questions.............................................................................................................. 19 Module Three: Practicing Mindfulness .............................................................................................. 22 Attention ................................................................................................................................................. 22 Acceptance.............................................................................................................................................. 23 Mindfulness Meditation.......................................................................................................................... 24 Scanning ................................................................................................................................................. 25 Case Study............................................................................................................................................... 26 Module Three: Review Questions ........................................................................................................... 28
Module Four: Emotional Intelligence ................................................................................................ 32 The Purpose of Emotions ........................................................................................................................ 32 High Performance Emotions ................................................................................................................... 33 Swing Emotions ...................................................................................................................................... 34 Blue Emotions ......................................................................................................................................... 35 Case Study............................................................................................................................................... 36 Module Four: Review Questions ............................................................................................................. 37 Module Five: Cognitive Distortion (I) ................................................................................................ 40 Dichotomous Reasoning ......................................................................................................................... 40 Magnification and Minimization ............................................................................................................ 41 Filtering ................................................................................................................................................... 43 Jumping to Conclusions .......................................................................................................................... 44 Case Study............................................................................................................................................... 45 Module Five: Review Questions .............................................................................................................. 46 Module Six: Cognitive Distortion (II) ................................................................................................. 49 Destructive Labeling ............................................................................................................................... 49 Personalizing........................................................................................................................................... 50 Blaming ................................................................................................................................................... 51 The Tyranny of the Should ...................................................................................................................... 52 Case Study............................................................................................................................................... 53 Module Six: Review Questions ................................................................................................................ 54 Module Seven: Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy ....................................................................... 57 Mental Modes......................................................................................................................................... 57 Doing Mode ............................................................................................................................................ 58 Being Mode ............................................................................................................................................. 59 Metacognitive Awareness ...................................................................................................................... 60
Case Study............................................................................................................................................... 61 Module Seven: Review Questions ........................................................................................................... 62 Module Eight: Mindfulness and Gratitude ........................................................................................ 64 What is Gratitude? ................................................................................................................................. 64 Gratitude Journal .................................................................................................................................... 65 An Exercise in Mindfulness and Gratitude .............................................................................................. 66 Forming a Habit ...................................................................................................................................... 67 Case Study............................................................................................................................................... 68 Module Eight: Review Questions ............................................................................................................ 70 Module Nine: Cultivating the High Performance Emotions ................................................................ 73 The Emotion-Cognition-Behavior Triangle ............................................................................................. 73 Cultivating Enthusiasm ........................................................................................................................... 74 Cultivating Confidence ............................................................................................................................ 75 Cultivating Tenacity ................................................................................................................................ 77 Case Study............................................................................................................................................... 78 Module Nine: Review Questions ............................................................................................................. 80 Module Ten: Mindfulness in Customer Service.................................................................................. 83 Individually Focused ................................................................................................................................ 83 Active Listening ....................................................................................................................................... 84 Building a Rapport .................................................................................................................................. 86 Timing ..................................................................................................................................................... 87 Case Study............................................................................................................................................... 88 Module Ten: Review Questions .............................................................................................................. 90 Module Eleven: Mindfulness and Leadership .................................................................................... 93 Mental Resilience.................................................................................................................................... 93 Focus ....................................................................................................................................................... 95
Compassion............................................................................................................................................. 96 Creativity................................................................................................................................................. 97 Case Study............................................................................................................................................... 98 Module Eleven: Review Questions .......................................................................................................... 99 Module Twelve: Wrapping Up ........................................................................................................ 102 Words from the Wise ............................................................................................................................ 102 Review of Parking Lot ........................................................................................................................... 102 Lessons Learned .................................................................................................................................... 102 Completion of Action Plans and Evaluations ........................................................................................ 103
In this moment there is infinite possibility. Victoria Moran Preface What is Courseware? Welcome to Courseware.com, a completely new training experience! Our courseware packages offer you top-quality training materials that are customizable, user-friendly, educational, and fun. We provide your materials, materials for the student, PowerPoint slides, and a take-home reference sheet for the student. You simply need to prepare and train! Best of all, our courseware packages are created in Microsoft Office and can be opened using any version of Word and PowerPoint. (Most other word processing and presentation programs support these formats, too.) This means that you can customize the content, add your logo, change the color scheme, and easily print and e-mail training materials.
How Do I Customize My Course? Customizing your course is easy. To edit text, just click and type as you would with any document. This is particularly convenient if you want to add customized statistics for your region, special examples for your participants’ industry, or additional information. You can, of course, also use all of your word processor’s other features, including text formatting and editing tools (such as cutting and pasting). To remove modules, simply select the text and press Delete on your keyboard. Then, navigate to the Table of Contents, right-click, and click Update Field. You may see a dialog box; if so, click “Update entire table” and press OK.
(You will also want to perform this step if you add modules or move them around.)
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If you want to change the way text looks, you can format any piece of text any way you want. However, to make it easy, we have used styles so that you can update all the text at once. If you are using Word 97 to 2003, start by clicking the Format menu followed by Styles and Formatting. In Word 2007 and 2010 under the Home tab, right-click on your chosen style and click Modify. That will then produce the Modify Style options window where you can set your preferred style options. For example, if we wanted to change our Heading 1 style, used for Module Titles, this is what we would do:
Now, we can change our formatting and it will apply to all the headings in the document. For more information on making Word work for you, please refer to Word 2007 or 2010 Essentials by Courseware.com.
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Materials Required All of our courses use flip chart paper and markers extensively. (If you prefer, you can use a whiteboard or chalkboard instead.) We recommend that each participant have a copy of the Training Manual, and that you review each module before training to ensure you have any special materials required. Worksheets and handouts are included within a separate activities folder and can be reproduced and used where indicated. If you would like to save paper, these worksheets are easily transferrable to a flip chart paper format, instead of having individual worksheets. We recommend these additional materials for all workshops:
Laptop with projector, for PowerPoint slides
Quick Reference Sheets for students to take home
Timer or watch (separate from your laptop)
Masking tape
Blank paper
Maximizing Your Training Power We have just one more thing for you before you get started. Our company is built for trainers, by trainers, so we thought we would share some of our tips with you, to help you create an engaging, unforgettable experience for your participants.
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Make it customized. By tailoring each course to your participants, you will find that your results will increase a thousand-fold. o
Use examples, case studies, and stories that are relevant to the group.
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Identify whether your participants are strangers or whether they work together. Tailor your approach appropriately.
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Different people learn in different ways, so use different types of activities to balance it all out. (For example, some people learn by reading, while others learn by talking about it, while still others need a hands-on approach. For more information, we suggest Experiential Learning by David Kolb.)
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Make it fun and interactive. Most people do not enjoy sitting and listening to someone else talk for hours at a time. Make use of the tips in this book and your own experience to keep your participants engaged. Mix up the activities to include individual work, small group work, large group discussions, and mini-lectures.
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Make it relevant. Participants are much more receptive to learning if they understand why they are learning it and how they can apply it in their daily lives. Most importantly, they want to know how it will benefit them and make their lives easier. Take every opportunity to tie what you are teaching back to real life.
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Keep an open mind. Many trainers find that they learn something each time they teach a workshop. If you go into a training session with that attitude, you will find that there can be an amazing two-way flow of information between the trainer and trainees. Enjoy it, learn from it, and make the most of it in your workshops.
And now, time for the training!
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Perfection of character is this: to live each day as if it were your last, without frenzy, without apathy, without pretense. Marcus Aurelius Module One: Getting Started Life constantly demands our attention, but when we become fixated on the past or worried about the future, we often miss vital information in our present situations. Cultivating a state where you are consistently aware of your present moment is not impossible, but it takes practice. Nevertheless, by learning to abide in the present, you acquire a sense of perspective that can allow you to learn from the past without it overwhelming you with resentment and regret, and plan for the future without it overwhelming you with anxiety or dejection. Implementing the guidelines in this module is the first step to changing your mental and emotional outlook to one that operates in the present moment.
Housekeeping Items Take a few moments to cover basic housekeeping items.
If you need an opening or a way to introduce the participants to each other, utilize the Icebreakers folder to begin or between breaks during the day.
Let participants know where they can find washrooms, break facilities, and fire exits.
Ask participants to turn off their cell phones or at least turn them to vibrate. If they must take a call, request that they do it outside.
Take this time to encourage the group to ask questions and make this an interactive workshop.
Write the words Respect, Confidentiality, and Practice on a piece of flip chart paper and tape it to the wall. Explain to participants that in order to get the most out of this workshop, we must all work together, listen to each other, explore new ideas, and make mistakes. After all, that’s how we learn!
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The Parking Lot Explain the concept of The Parking Lot to participants.
The Parking Lot is a visible place where you will “park” ideas that arise which are not on the agenda, may be off topic, or are better addressed outside of the program.
At the end of the session, we will review parked ideas and follow up, or make suggestions for your own investigation when you are back at work.
Suggestions for the trainer: 1. If you are working with a large group of participants, you may wish to nominate a recorder to park items as you are facilitating. 2. It’s a good idea to note the name of the contributor along with the parked item. 3. Items noted on the parking lot can be useful to you later as you plan future training sessions.
Workshop Objectives Research has consistently demonstrated that when clear goals are associated with learning, it occurs more easily and rapidly. With that in mind, let’s review our goals for today. At the end of this workshop, participants should be able to:
Define mindfulness
Develop techniques to make oneself more attuned to the present moment
Understand the value and utility of one’s emotions
Learn how to identify and counter distorted thinking
Learn how to cultivate genuine positive emotions
Become more fully present in social interactions
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In the beginner’s mind there are many possibilities, but in the expert’s mind there are few. Shunryu Suzuki
Module Two: What Is Mindfulness? People often confuse the concept of mindfulness with the idea that one should “stop and smell the roses.” However, if you found yourself with your nose stuck deep into a flower in a field where an angry bull was bearing down on you, this would be the exact opposite of being mindful. Put simply, mindfulness is a state of mind where you are fully conscious and engaged in the present moment and with the demands of the present moment.
Buddhist Concept The concept of mindfulness comes to us through the Buddhist religion. The word “mindfulness” is one translation of the Pali word sati (Sanskrit smrti). Other translations of this word include “awareness” and “memory.” Mindfulness is one’s capacity to avoid distraction from the present moment, but in Buddhism it also means to avoid forgetting what one already knows and to remember to do what one has an intention to do. If mindfulness means avoiding distraction, what is it that distracts us from the present? People are constantly besieged with needs. Our basic needs such as food and shelter, and our more complicated needs for love, respect, happiness, and so on all compel us to consider our past and future in terms of what to avoid and what to seek after. Consequently, the tempting answer is to blame all the things going on in our world as the source of distraction. A Buddhist would disagree. Instead of everything that goes on “out there” being the source of distraction, Buddhists blame what they call the “monkey mind.” The monkey mind refers to our own mental capacity to engage internally in constant chatter. Sometimes internal mental chatter can be helpful for working out problems, for analysis, and even for play. However constant mental chatter can also distract us from the things that are most important. And often, it can actually mislead us into misunderstanding a given situation. Buddhism teaches techniques in meditation to cultivate mindfulness and quiet the monkey mind.
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Estimated Time
8 minutes
Topic Objective
Identifying the monkey mind. Monkey mind
Topic Summary Discuss the concept of mental chatter. Materials Required
Blank paper for each participant and flipchart/board and marker
Planning Checklist
None
Recommended Activity
Participants should consider a time when they completely misunderstood a situation. This could be a first date, an argument with a loved one, or some other misunderstanding. Write for five minutes and note what thoughts they had about the situation that helped create a misunderstanding. Discuss as a group for the remaining three minutes.
Stories to Share
Share any personal or relevant stories.
Delivery Tips
Encourage everyone to participate.
Review Questions
What is the monkey mind?
Bare Attention One aspect of mindfulness is the cultivation of bare attention. Bare attention is attention that is devoid of judgment or elaboration. Whenever we are faced with a new situation, we are tempted to try and consider what this new situation means to us. Will it be pleasant, scary, long lasting, or of minor importance? More often than not, we do not have enough information yet to make that assessment. When we start attempting to evaluate the situation before it has played out, this takes us into monkey mind style thinking, which often leads to distortion. One component of being mindful is to approach any present moment with our full and neutral attention. Another way of thinking of bare attention is in the Zen Buddhist concept of “beginner’s mind.� To a Zen Buddhist, being a beginner is an ideal state because someone with no experience of something will also have developed no prejudice against it or other ways of placing limits on an experience. Since every moment of your life is unique, approaching each moment with innocence, as if you are a beginner and this is your first time experiencing this moment, allows you to keep yourself open to a host of possibilities that a more experienced person would either ignore or never consider.
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Estimated Time
8 minutes
Topic Objective
Understand what’s entailed in Bare Attention. Bare Attention
Topic Summary Explore what is involved in nonjudgmental attention. Materials Required
01-Bare Attention
Planning Checklist
This activity can be loud and disruptive, so make sure that you are in an environment that can support this.
Recommended Activity
Take six minutes to complete the worksheet individually. Share your answers with the rest of the class over the final two minutes.
Stories to Share
Share any personal relevant stories.
Delivery Tips
Encourage everyone to participate.
Review Questions
According to Zen Buddhism, which is more ideal: the mind of a beginner or the mind of an expert?
Psychological Concept of Mindfulness Although mindfulness originated as a Buddhist concept, psychologists from the 1970s to the present have studied the effects of Buddhist mindfulness meditation techniques and found that these are effective in reducing anxiety and reducing relapse rates in both depression and drug addiction. Recent studies have found that incorporating mindfulness into your life can increase positive emotions, improve the immune system, and reduce stress. Despite the nearly universal agreement on the benefits of mindfulness, psychologists disagree on an exact definition of mindfulness or an exact method for developing mindfulness. Jon Kabat-Zinn , one of the first psychologists to study mindfulness as a secular concept, defines mindfulness as “paying attention, in a particular way, on purpose, in the present moment, and non-judgmentally.” According to a later study, mindfulness studies in psychology tend to require two components for mindfulness:
A quality of high attentiveness and concentration An attitude of curiosity and openness.
Estimated Time
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4 minutes
Topic Objective
Introduce curiosity and openness. Curiosity and Openness
Topic Summary
Explore how an attitude of curiosity and openness can make tasks more enjoyable
Materials Required
Flipchart/board and marker
Planning Checklist
None
Recommended Activity
Discuss various tasks that initially seemed tedious but turned out to not be so bad. Discuss the ways our preconceived attitudes affected these tasks. List these on the flipchart/board.
Stories to Share
Share any personal, relevant stories.
Delivery Tips
Encourage everyone to participate.
Review Questions
What qualities, according to psychology, are involved in mindfulness?
Memory To this point, we have focused on just one aspect of mindfulness, that of bare attention in the immediate moment. However, as mentioned earlier, another translation of the word sati is memory, and there is a very good reason for this. Paying close attention to your immediate moment and environment sounds like a beneficial practice, and for the most part it is. However, there are times where paying too much attention can be detrimental and force you into mistakes. If you have ever been told or told someone else not to over-think a situation, this is a good example where bare attention can be detrimental. In fact, a recent study has found that a mindful state can be detrimental for certain kinds of learning. When you learn to ride a bicycle, for example, you pay less attention about the process and feel of yourself pedaling. Instead, much of the learning occurs subconsciously in what is known as muscle memory. Muscle memory is one example of a special kind of memory called implicit memory. This type of memory occurs through practice. For musicians who read music, for example, at a certain point in practice, they no longer consciously think about what the squiggles on the page actually mean. In fact, reading in general relies primarily on implicit memory. If you tried to be really mindful of what you were reading, by focusing on the shape of each letter or the makeup of each sentence, you would likely miss the overall meaning of a written passage, and it would take a long time to do it. Mindfulness is helpful in tasks that make use of another kind of memory called explicit memory. This type of memory is helpful in learning new things and in memorization. However, when you wish to Page 16
develop a habit, the combination of mindfulness when you are consciously willing yourself to do or notice something and scaling back your awareness as you allow the new task to be taken up in your unconscious mind through implicit memory is the ideal way to go.
Estimated Time
6 minutes
Topic Objective
Introduce implicit and explicit memory. Implicit and explicit memory
Topic Summary Discuss the different activities that rely upon implicit and explicit memory. Materials Required
Flipchart/board and marker
Planning Checklist
None
Recommended Activity
As a group, list the types of activities and knowledge where mindfulness can be detrimental, and make a list on the flipchart/board. Now make a list of things where explicit memory comes into play, which is appropriate for the practice of mindfulness (For example, in driving, being mindful of how you press on the accelerator or break can be detrimental, but being mindful of the traffic around you is actually beneficial).
Stories to Share
Share any personal, relevant stories.
Delivery Tips
Encourage everyone to participate.
Review Questions
When you add 2+2, is this implicit or explicit memory?
Case Study Steve hated it whenever another driver cut him off. Usually he would get angry and without thinking about it, Steve would start honking his horn, flash his bright headlights, and drive up extremely close on the offending driver. Recently, Steve had begun to practice mindfulness. One day an elderly person in a Cadillac cut him off. For a split second he recognized how his thoughts had become angry and fearful at this point. Instead of reacting like he normally does, Steve decided instead to slow down and give the other driver a wide berth. He figured the other driver probably had not seen him, so he should change lanes and, as quickly as possible, get around the other driver, who may not be paying enough attention.
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Estimated Time
5 minutes
Topic Objective
Outline the What Is Mindfulness case study. Case study
Topic Summary
Discuss the importance of mindfulness as an intervention between action and reaction.
Materials Required
None
Planning Checklist
None
Recommended Activity
Discuss the outcome of the case study.
Stories to Share
Share any personal, relevant stories.
Delivery Tips
Encourage everyone to participate.
Review Questions
Why did Steve choose a different reaction from his normal one?
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Module Two: Review Questions 1. Which of the following is NOT an accurate translation of sati? a) b) c) d)
Memory Mindfulness Awareness Kindness
The Pali word sati refers to greater awareness, mindfulness, and memory. While kindness is valued in Buddhist practice, it is not a part of the concept of sati. 2. What is the Buddhist term for mental chatter? a) b) c) d)
Lizard brain Monkey mind Talky thoughts Animal awareness
Monkey mind refers to the brain’s capacity to CONSTANTLY comment, judge, worry, and reflect upon everything. 3. According to Zen Buddhists, which is the more ideal state of mind? a) b) c) d)
Beginner’s mind Expert’s mind They’re both equally ideal They’re both to be avoided
Keeping a beginner’s mind allows you to approach situations with an openness to possibilities you might miss with an expert’s mind. 4. Which of the following is a component of bare attention? a) b) c) d)
Judgment Prediction of the future Non-judgment None of the above
Bare attention involves approaching any situation with an attitude of nonjudgmental.
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5. Who first adopted mindfulness practices into psychology? a) b) c) d)
Sigmund Freud Jon Kabat-Zinn Abraham Maslow B. F. Skinner
Imagination is important to creativity. The other answers are useful for empowering imagination. 6. Which of the following does the practice of mindfulness NOT help? a) b) c) d)
Depression Anxiety Immune system Riding a bicycle
The practice of mindfulness has been found to help reduce anxiety and depression, and improve the functioning of the immune system. It has also been found to be detrimental in activities that involve implicit memory, such as riding a bicycle. 7. Which of the following is an example of implicit memory? a) b) c) d)
Making a right turn in a car Checking for pedestrians Learning a new skill All of the above
The muscle activities involved in turning the steering wheel and hitting the accelerator to turn right are unconscious and involve the use of implicit memory. 8. When is adding 2+2 an example of explicit memory? a) b) c) d)
Always Never Only after you have initially learned the concept Only during the time when you are learning the concept
When you initially learn a new concept, you are using conscious explicit memory. Once you have learned the concept so that your knowledge is automatic, it becomes a function of implicit memory.
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9. What best describes Steve before mindfulness training? a) b) c) d)
Reactive Evil Kind Psychic
Before mindfulness training, Steve reacted to his emotions without thinking, making “reactive� the best description. 10. What did mindfulness practice help Steve increase? a) b) c) d)
His ability to avoid anger His ability to avoid getting cut off while driving His ability to pause and consider his reaction when he became angry His ability to cut other drivers off before they did the same to him.
As Steve improved his mindfulness, he was able to recognize the source of his angry thoughts and to choose alternative ways to react to them.
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Between stimulus and response there's a space, in that space lies our power to choose our response, in our response lies our growth and our freedom. Viktor Frankl Module Three: Practicing Mindfulness Mindfulness is a natural state of being. Throughout our lives we are frequently in this state without realizing it. If you have ever heard a noise at night and went to investigate, the level of attention that you bring to that situation is a good example of being mindful. However, we frequently divide our attention and, by necessity, we will selectively ignore aspects of our environment. When watching a sporting event on television, for example, a particularly enrapt fan might tune out conversation that is occurring around him or her in order to pay closer attention to the game. If the sports fanatics in this scenario consciously thought about paying attention to the conversations around them rather than the game on television, they could. In this sense, mindfulness is a mental skill that you can develop through practice.
Attention When practicing mindfulness, whether through meditation or in a given moment, you want to pay attention to whatever comes up. For example, when you focus on your breath, note whether you are breathing in deeply or shallowly. Is your breath cold or warm? Fast or slow? Through your mouth or nose? If you feel pain somewhere, focus on that pain, note how it comes and goes or intensifies or subsides. You may notice aspects of breathing that you never have considered before. In fact whenever we are in any environment, we only pay conscious attention to a small number of details, typically.
Estimated Time
5 minutes
Topic Objective
Practice Paying Attention Paying Attention
Topic Summary Observe the degree to which we pay attention normally.
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Materials Required
Flipchart/board
Planning Checklist
Prepare a list of questions in advance about various details of your class (for example, how many clocks in the room? How many participants are blonde? Etc.). Make sure the answers to these questions are numerical.
Recommended Activity
Have every member of the class close their eyes. Ask questions from your prepared list, and have class members hold up their hands to show the number that they think is the answer. Put different answers on your flipchart/board. Compare with correct answers and discuss the nature of attention and observation.
Stories to Share
Share any personal, relevant stories.
Delivery Tips
Encourage everyone to participate.
Review Questions
What types of things do you pay attention to when you focus on your breathing?
Acceptance When you meditate for mindfulness, or find yourself in a mindful state, it is important to accept things as they are without judgment. At some point, you may decide to act to change things, but initially you want to accept what you experience for what it is. Most religious thought includes some form of acceptance, whether it is the Christian view of surrendering your will to all God’s will to be done, or the Islamic view that you must submit to Allah. By accepting things as they are, you allow yourself to remain open to a wider range of possibilities. So, for instance, when you meditate, do not do so with a goal in mind, as if you are trying to change yourself from one state to another. This may happen anyway, but that’s a side effect. Instead, think of the meditation as an opportunity to observe how things change and how they don’t change with the passage of time. Mindfulness is an act of observation rather than an attempt to change something. While you may determine later that a change is in order, initially you want to take a moment to observe how things are first.
Estimated Time
5 minutes
Topic Objective
Introduce Acceptance. Acceptance
Topic Summary Consider the differences between acceptance and giving up.
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Materials Required
Flipchart/board
Planning Checklist
None
Recommended Activity
As a class, discuss the differences between the spiritual idea of acceptance and the notion of giving up. Write answers on flipchart/board.
Stories to Share
Share any personal, relevant stories.
Delivery Tips
Encourage everyone to participate.
Review Questions
What is the difference between acceptance and giving up?
Mindfulness Meditation The best way to practice being mindful is through a regular program of meditation. Keep in mind that not all meditations are for the purpose of making you more mindful. Transcendental meditation and mantra meditation might increase mindfulness as a side effect, but these aim at an entirely different result. Furthermore, there are numerous methods of meditating that do aim at improved mindfulness. Some techniques take some time to learn. For example, Kabat-Zinn’s Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) approach involves taking an eight week course where you go through guided meditations. This can get expensive and time consuming. However if you are interested in a self-directed version of Kabat-Zinn’s course as an additional supplement to this course, you can follow the link at the bottom of this section. The different approaches to mindfulness meditation typically focus on the following three attributes:
Your body Your breath Your thoughts
This course provides a simple technique for mindfulness meditation. Spending approximately 10 to 15 minutes a day can help you dramatically improve your capacity for being mindful in any particular situation. Source: http://palousemindfulness.com/selfguidedMBSR.html
Estimated Time
15 minutes
Topic Objective
Introduce Mindfulness Meditation.
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Mindfulness Meditation Topic Summary Engage in a brief example of mindfulness meditation. Materials Required
02-A Technique for Mindfulness Meditation
Planning Checklist
Encourage participants to wear loose, comfortable clothing, or bring this kind of clothing to change into for this activity. Locate a quiet environment where you are unlikely to be disturbed.
Recommended Activity
Spend 1 to 2 minutes going over the worksheet handout. Alternatively, you can pass out this worksheet the day before and allow participants to go over it on their own. Be sure and address any questions. Spend about 10 minutes in meditation and discuss your experience as a class for an additional 3 to 4 minutes.
Stories to Share
Share any personal, relevant stories.
Delivery Tips
Encourage everyone to participate.
Review Questions
How do you feel after meditation?
Scanning One technique that Kabat-Zinn’s approach to mindfulness meditation includes is called scanning, or body scanning. Once you are used to it, you can do it without the need for a guided meditation, but one option for beginners is to record your voice talking yourself through the body scan. You start by lying down on your back in a comfortable space. Focus your attention on the toes of your left foot and noting anything you observe. You then move your focus to the sole of your left foot, your heel, and the top of your left foot. Then you move your focus up your left leg – your ankle, your calf, your knee, your thigh, and finally your left hip. At this point, you do the same with your right foot and leg all the way up to your right hip. Once you have moved your focus up both legs, focus on your mid-section – pelvis, hips, groin, and buttocks – and then move your focus up your main torso – lower back, stomach, insides. At each point focus on how this part of you feels – are your muscles tense? Do you feel any pain, aches, coldness, warmth, etc.? Move your focus up the rest of your torso – your solar plexus, chest, breasts, spine, shoulder blades and shoulders. Once your focus has reached your shoulders, move your focus down the length of your left arm – your shoulder, bicep, elbow, forearm, hand, and fingers. Then do the same to your right arm. Finally we focus on the neck and head. Focus on your jaw, your cheeks and ears, eyes, forehead, back of the head, and finally top of the head. Once you have completed the scan, you can remain in this state for as long as you choose.
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Estimated Time
11 minutes
Topic Objective
Body Scanning. The Body Scan
Topic Summary Complete Worksheet Three individually Materials Required
03-Body Scan
Planning Checklist
None
Recommended Activity
Complete Worksheet Three individually and discuss results if time permits
Stories to Share
Share any personal, relevant stories.
Delivery Tips
Encourage everyone to participate.
Review Questions
How do you feel after completing the body scan?
Case Study Alice and George both worked in the same, stressful department at work, the customer service center. When they started working there, they both dealt with extremely angry customers each day. While both found it stressful, they could handle it initially without it affecting their mood. Eventually, however, the negativity they dealt with each day began to seep into the rest of their lives. Alice had begun practicing meditation, but George did not. Even though her work was still often stressful, she learned to detach herself from the demands of angry customers. She realized that her customers weren’t directly angry with her, and this helped to relieve her stress. George did not do anything to handle his stress. He just toughed it out. Eventually he got fed up and one day a customer called in and told George that his company and George himself were “woefully incompetent.” George lost it and began curse out the customer before hanging up the phone. George quit his job the next day.
Estimated Time
5 minutes
Topic Objective
Outline the Mindfulness Meditation case study. Case Study
Topic Summary Discuss how mindfulness can affect stress. Materials Required
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None
Planning Checklist
None
Recommended Activity
Discuss the outcome of the case study and how George could have changed his situation positively.
Stories to Share
Share any personal relevant stories.
Delivery Tips
Encourage everyone to participate.
Review Questions
What was Alice experiencing before she started meditating?
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Module Three: Review Questions 1. How can you develop mindfulness? a) b) c) d)
Practice, through meditation Prayer Watching sports programs All of the above
Although one can be mindful during prayer or while watching a television program, developing and improving mindfulness takes practice, and the way to practice is through meditation. 2. Paying attention is a _________ activity. a) b) c) d)
Creative Unconscious Conscious Useless
The more you consciously focus on your environment, the more details you can note, so paying attention is most of all a conscious activity. 3. Which of the following is NOT true about acceptance? a) b) c) d)
The concept of acceptance can be found in many religions Acceptance means giving up Acceptance means acknowledging reality without judgment Acceptance can sometimes be a prelude to change, but not always
Acceptance does not mean giving up. Rather it is recognizing the reality of a situation. 4. Mindfulness is _______ a) b) c) d)
An attempt to change something A conscious attempt to ignore something A method of judging something An approach to observation
Mindfulness is an attempt to observe rather than change something.
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5. What is the goal of mindfulness meditation? a) b) c) d)
Problem solving Attentiveness Enlightenment Relaxation
The goal of mindfulness meditation is to pay closer attention to your world. Problem solving, enlightenment, and relaxation are possible side effects, but they aren’t the main goal of mindfulness meditation. 6. How long should you meditate? a) b) c) d)
One to two hours Three to five minutes 45 minutes to an hour 10 to 20 minutes
While answers ‘a’ and ‘c’ are not wrong per se, the ideal for meditation practice is 10 to 20 minutes daily. Three to five minutes is not long enough to be effective. 7. Body Scanning should be performed while _________? a) b) c) d)
Lying down Watching television Sitting in lotus position None of the above
Lying down is the best position for performing a body scan. 8. Who developed Body Scanning? a) b) c) d)
Albert Bandura Michael Mahoney Jon Kabat-Zinn Wilhelm Reich
Jon Kabat-Zinn developed Body Scanning as part of his eight week Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction course.
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9. How did George handle the stress of his job? a) b) c) d)
He exercised He didn’t He meditated He beat people up
By not doing anything to handle his job stress, George eventually quit his job. 10. How did practicing mindfulness help Alice deal with her stress? a) b) c) d)
She became enlightened and didn’t feel stress anymore She became relaxed and didn’t feel stress anymore She learned how to avoid stress She learned how to become detached
Alice was able to detach from the angry comments her customers made and not take them personally.
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