Focus on Therapies
Mindfulness Meditation
Mindfulness meditation quiets the mind, opens the heart, and relaxes the body. The practice of mindfulness leads to a sense of inner stability. We experience more 'breathing room' and spaciousness inside.
With mindfulness practice we can be less reactive to stressful events. Stressors trigger physical reactions (tight body, pain, racing heart), emotional reactions (waves of anxiety or fear), and automatic thoughts (worries about the future and harsh judgments about ourselves). We can be carried away by these reactions, feeling out of control and really suffering.
Mindfulness practice teaches us how to navigate stressful events in a different way, gently releasing ourselves from automatic reactions, and touching a sense of calm and control even during difficult times.
We are so often distracted, we can easily miss out on occasions of joy and pleasure. Mindfulness practice also allows us to also be more present to life's wonderful moments.
LEARN MORE:
Free guided meditation. Scroll to bottom of page for audio file of a 20-minute, guided mindfulness meditation. You can right-click the file and "save target as" a file to your hard drive. Also read the instructions posted as a companion PDF document.
Works by Jon Kabat-Zinn, PhD, founder of the Stress Reduction Clinic of the University of Massachusetts Medical Center. Best first book is: Full Catastrophe Living. Jon has recorded guided meditations available as Series 1 and Series 3.
Mindfulness Audio CDs by Bob Stahl are available for a number of specific conditions. Also Bob has an excellent new WORKBOOK and CD SET that is a course in Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction.
