Design a Mindfulness and Meditation Practice That Suits You

Myths and Misconceptions

Let's explore a few common myths and misconceptions about mindfulness and meditation:

• Mindfulness wears down grit and softens one’s ability to persevere through adversity because they become too passive.

• Makes it difficult to discern right and wrong while becoming morally ambivalent.

• Mindfulness can increase extroversion and lessen social capacity potentially causing more isolation.

• It can make you sluggish and tired from too much relaxation. \

• It can only be joyous, fun or happy. We reject any negative feelings or occurrences.

• It can be as or more effective than clinical treatment for mental health. No! They can be a part of more holistic program but cannot replace formal clinical treatment for mental health.

• Mindfulness teachers are gurus and always mindful and you too shall become immune to any negativity or hardships.

• It has to be the same every time.

• Variation in our practice is a bad sign.

• Mindfulness or meditation replaces spiritual or religious beliefs.

• If you don't feel something special or magically you're doing it wrong.

Most Common Problems:

What are the most common problems we face with mindfulness and meditation?

Please write down yours or any resistance you may have. Share this with the community or reach out to us and we can add to the available content to include anything you may require to work through the potential challenges in your practice.

Types of Meditation

There are many different types of meditations; as well as schools of thought and approaches to mindfulness and meditation. Here we will organize meditation types and sub-categories to offer an overview that is both conceptual as well as aids in the selection process of which meditation and mindfulness techniques to further explore.

Types of meditation include:

Mindfulness

Guided

Visualization

Calming

Insight/Reflective

Prayer

Breath Work

Focused Attention

Body Scan/Biofeedback

Loving Kindness

Compassion

Somatic

Why Should We Consider The Spectrum Of Energy?

Because, we're not the same all-the-time. We're not. We're constantly changing. We have different needs at different times. Is it okay to incorporate this in our mindfulness and meditation practice? Yes.

How Do We Use The Spectrum Of Energy?

Simply, by assessing where we are and where we'd like to go. We need not apply the concept if it doesn't feel necessary, but, if we wish to: maintain, change or alter our energy level or readiness for the activity(ies) to follow. For example, if we wish to wake up and getting going in the morning we can employ the golden rod meditation - concentrating on a golden-energetic-light beaming through us from the earth to the sky and beyond. Other uplifting and energizing techniques can be Tummo and other breathing-technique meditations. Guided visualizations about goals or achievements can create more energy to accomplish the day's tasks while relaxation visualizations can be a great sleep aid or lowering of energy. Walking and moving meditations can be relaxing, neutral or uplifting - depending on how to perform them.

What is occurring during mindfulness and meditation?

A change of state. We are going from one conscious state to another conscious state.

States of being. How would you describe states-of-being?

Like, how are we? What are we feeling and experiencing?

Joyous> Angry> Relaxed> Excited> Happy> Sad> Fulfilled> Un-enthused> ETC

Trait Vs. State

We have various states of mind:

What we do in Mindfulness and Meditation is improve our state. We better our 'state of being' - call it mood, feeling, status, headspace, condition or emotion.

Once we have changed our state and done so enough times - the state because a trait. We adopt the quality that we create as being who we are. For example, you become more relaxed in temporary states during mindfulness and meditation practice so over time, being relaxed becomes a trait of who you are.

Well-Being

What is our ultimate goal: well-being.

How do various choices and decisions affect our well-being?

What can we do to stabilize, improve or increase our well-being?

Our well-being, is our livelihood. It is how we are doing at any given time. It can be influenced by: sleep, diet, activity, toxicity, stress and more.

What are some of the best ways to ensure our well-being?

The Why

Now that we have talked about the WHAT, we can now use this time to describe the meaning behind your application of the subject matter.

The WHY helps provide you with a purpose and motivation behind the learning, and is where we draw the primary value of knowledge we're attaining.

If executed properly, explaining the WHY can consistently produce extremely high-yielding results of all your effort, so be sure to put a lot of thought into explaining the WHY behind your desire.

How to experience what’s right here and right now

This lesson has been made to outline three simple steps to take as often as possible:

• STOP

• Pause

• Breathe

Be here. Be now.

There is nothing more. Nothing else exists except the here and now. This is it!

Experiencing what's right here and right now can be the aim of mindfulness and meditation but it also is the immediate or direct result thereof.

Presence.

How often do you feel as if you've escaped yourself or can't catch up to what you're doing or thinking?

Let's bring you back to the present moment.

Stop. Pause. Breathe. - And do this as often as you can or would like

Exploration of meditation techniques

Let's take an overview of all the different types of meditations. The schools of thought, various forms and components.

Designing a practice that suits us

Knowledge is great, but Applied Knowledge is even greater.

How will we use the knowledge of this course to design a practice that suits you?

We are uniquely our own and we must honor this in everything we do.

How can we collaborate and create a mindfulness and meditation course that you'll actually want to follow-through with? How can we get your certified commitment?

The next module: Experiential Learning, will offer us just that. A survey of examples of various mindfulness and meditation techniques for you to test out and try for yourself. This way you can figure out, based on lifestyle and needs, what's practical and what can you keep up with.

This is a guided scenery meditation that focuses on the mountain in the backdrop.

Time-boxed Breathing

Time-Boxed Breathing is very similar to the Four-Seven-Eight Technique.

You're counting or keeping count of your: inhale, hold, exhale, hold. And you're doing so for the same amount of time each time.

Breath in for Five, hold for Five, exhale for Five and hold for Five. Repeat.

Breath is Life

You take your first breath and come to life. You take your last breath and leave this life.

Breath is life.

We must focus on our breath. Tune into our breath as often as we can.

Four Seven Eight

Four Seven Eight Breathing is named after the breath count for your inhale, hold and exhale.

The elements of mindfulness are contained within the intent of the technique. We are aware and intend to direct our breath. We are counting our breath to bring added awareness to our breath.

You can choose to close your eyes or keep them open.

Bring your awareness to concentrate on your breath.

Inhale for a four count. Hold for Seven count. Exhale for an Eight count.

Repeat as many times as you'd like.

Tummo Breathing

What is Tummo Breathing? What is Inner Fire?

How does it harness our energy and potential?

What does it do to our parasympathetic nervous system?

What if we feel light-headed? Or like we're going to pass out? That's okay. This is an intensive activation technique and may result in intense sensations. This is completely normal, don't worry.

Take it easy. Ease back into yourself. Trust in the technique.

Focal Point Meditation: Using an Anchor (focused attention):

This is an example of:

Scenery Meditation

Observation of Nature

And as well, Focal Point and Using an Anchor.

Example:

The Sun is powerful and symbolizes a great deal within its scope. It is our life-source. The Sun is what supplies all of the energy for our planet. The rising of the sun means a new day and a new opportunity. The setting of the Sun means a day well-earned, another accomplishment made. The Sun or horizon can be a great focal point for meditation.

Standing Meditation

When moving throughout your day, you may need to simply: stop, pause and breathe. It be very convenient to employ a standing meditation. This is personally one of my favorite and most used forms of meditation.

Standing meditation is a powerful means of healing the body from injuries, damage and chronic illness.

Standing meditation can be observed in many forms of Yoga, Tai Chi and Qi Gong.

Standing meditation [one example within TCM and Acupuncture is: ‘Zhan zhuang’ ( pronounced Jam Jong)] increases longevity, internal strength and fitness as well as overall body power and well-being.

It is easy:

Stretch your toes and feet out and roll your hips and torso to loosen up and find a comfortable stance. Remember to ease into the position and gently relax yourself into your stance. Stand tall in a strong upright posture and breathe fully and deeply to seal the position. Be patient with yourself and continue to be aware of your breath as you meditate standing.

Scenery Meditation: The Lake

The meditation example is in the category of Scenery Meditation, Focal Point as well as guided - being led by my voice.

Here, we observe how meditation/mindfulness techniques can be used individually or combined to meet our needs and desires.

There is something very special about water. The strength, versatility and tranquility it upholds in all of it's forms.

In this exercise we will meditate on the lake. What do we see? What qualities do we take from the lake? What effect does this have?

If we can create more instances to practice mindfulness and stop, pause, and breathe; we will become happier and more centered. The more we routinely guide ourselves to do this, the more it will naturally happen unconsciously.

We can do any activity Mindfully

Stop. Pause. Be still.

Slow down.

Carefully return to the very moment you're in. Become aware, once again, of where you are presently.

At any time, during any activity, we can tune back in to the individual experience of what ever we're doing in order to be in mindful in the activity or moment.

We can use the variety of meditation techniques taught in the Examples module and we can also craft a meditation out of any experience we have.

At any moment, we have the opportunity to step in the meditative state that we have been cultivating in our practice.

Any activity can be done Mindfully.

Meditation is always available.

Once you get the basics down and have a practice going you can alter and enhance it as necessary. You will notice more and more subtitles and finer states as you progress in your practice.

Going Beyond this course

Let's now reflect on the experience we've had here:

How far did we go? Was it challenging? What is rewarding? Was it relaxing?

--- Please type or create a journal entry for the above questions ---

The journey has just begun.

I'm not leaving you from this point on. We can still connect on social media, in our private Facebook group, our community discussion board and I'm available for one-on-one sessions!

I hope to hear from you. I also hope we can all grow together in our new shared community. Let's keep working together and improving. Let's never stop collaborating.

Some easy advanced tips are the following (virtues):

Be patient

Be courageous

Be gentle

Be kind

Be yourself

Never see any of these as fully achieved. Simply live them out day in and day out.

Check in with yourself periodically and journal or reflect upon how you're living out the virtues of mindfulness and meditation.

Continuing with the journal exercise:

How did you live before the course?

How are you now living because of the course?

How do you feel towards yourself?

How do you feel towards others?

Please repeat the eight journal entry questions from time-to-time to improve self-study and your mindfulness and meditation practice. These questions can offer insight to what's working and what isn't and what or how we can adjust our practice to better suit us. Things change, and so do we. It is important to track this change as best we can to use it for bettering ourselves.

Teaching others:

The best way to learn something is to teach it. That's why it's a great idea to teach others early on in your meditation journey. It can be a great way to assess and enhance your own practice. This is just one idea.

If you would like teach others, start simple. Start with The Why and The Basics. Lower the expectation of results and just expect to perform the exercise/activity without being attached to the end result or outcome.

Choose one exercise/topic/technique that you feel will be well-received and focus there. Be slow, sensible and flexible with your delivery.

Be patient. Know that you are serving a great purpose and your intention is to help others. Take it slow and recite the exercise carefully and compassionately.

What does our practice look like?

Now, that we've completed the course and have understood the theory and conceptualization as well as experienced the exercises - we have an idea of what we want our practice looks like.

What does our practice look like?

How have we evolved from this course?

Don't forget to stay in involved in our community! Let's keep the progress in our practice and go further together.

We need to tie things up, reflect, and know the major takeaways of the class. We now have some options for our practice and we can choose techniques based on our needs or status. If you need to review anything simple refer to the earlier course material or reach out with questions.

Here are a few additional resources. Please let us know if you need anything else. We are also here as a resource so please reach out for any need at all.