Mindfulness teaches us to focus our attention on what is happening at the moment, the now. The exercises are a form of training your attention. During pregnancy, we want to help you to be the driver of your thoughts instead of your thoughts driving you.
During this session, you will learn a technique called, the body scan. It will assist you to remain focused and connected to the present moment and thereby be positively focused during the pregnancy.
3. Why are we learning Mindfulness?
⢠Core skill to help us focus and enable us to deal effectively and
rationally with the context at hand.
⢠Mindfulness is a scientific programme developed by Positive
Psychologists
⢠Develop a mindful culture - living our values of compassion,
collaboration and excellence
⢠Develop mindful leadership â to help us develop an environment
where we can achieve our priorities together
⢠Mindful wellbeing â is a way of empowering our ourselves and our
customers to deal with workplace and personal issues
5. Mindfulness - Defined
⢠Focus and attention â here and now â non-judgemental
⢠Directed attention â inside and outside
⢠Thoughts and our emotions
⢠Acceptance
⢠Become an observer of your inner-state
6. What Mindfulness is NOT
⢠All about being calm
⢠The absence of thought
⢠Being complacent
⢠A religion
⢠A silver bullet
7. Jon Kabat-Zinn explains what mindfulness is. He stresses the fact that mindfulness is not a technique
9. Directed Attention (inwardly and outwardly)
⢠What are you thinking about right now?
⢠Where are your thoughts at?
⢠What are you thinking inwardly?
⢠What are you thinking outwardly?
Whatâs for
Lunch?
11. Our mind in endless thoughts (worry and rumination)
⢠Do you get lost in endless thinking?
⢠How much of the day are you worried and anxious?
⢠Do you keep thinking about something that went wrong, over
and over again?
⢠Do you lie awake at night â thinking about your problems?
⢠Are you constantly thinking about the things you need to do
or get done
⢠Our mind is never âfully switched offâ
12. Thoughts and our emotions
⢠Thoughts, or what we believe about a situation â causes us to
feel a certain way.
⢠Thoughts are fleeting âŚ..
⢠Emotions may come through when practicing mindfulness â and
thatâs ok
⢠Remember not to judge the feeling â we only want you to notice
and acknowledge the feeling, and then focus again on a single
object, item, or on your breathing
13. Thoughts and our emotions
⢠Attention without judgment.
⢠Tension or fear are automatically labelled as â
badâ, â inappropriateâ or âunwantedâ.
⢠When we judge a certain feeling we automatically
create a conflict
⢠Attempts to resolve this conflict, require a lot of
energy and paradoxically cause us to feel even
worse
15. Acceptance & Becoming an observer
⢠Acceptance - reality as it is right now.
⢠Acknowledging what is present.
⢠We devote a lot of time to denying what is
there - waste a lot of precious energy by
resisting.
⢠During practice, both pleasant and
unpleasant sensations, emotions and
thoughts may arise.
⢠Remember that the goal of mindfulness is
not to get rid of these internal states, but to
change oneâs relationship with these states
16. Without Striving
⢠There is no goal to achieve in doing the
exercises.
⢠People participate in mindfulness
trainings because they wish to achieve
the goal of worrying less, experiencing
less stress, less pain, etc.
⢠The exercises aim to cultivate
awareness of the present.
⢠The problem - I want to become calm
and relaxed
⢠The goal of mindfulness is not to
achieve a goal - but to be present with
whatever arises in the present moment
18. What is
needed for
this course?
Exercises
â˘15 to 30 minutes a day
â˘Can be done at home or at
work
â˘Formal meditation
â˘Informal daily practice
Link the insights
Patience
Effects will not be
immediate
Like going to gym, takes
time to build up muscle
Like gardening, takes time
for the planted seed to grow
into a beautiful flower
By doing the exercises
it provides opportunity
to link the insights
obtained from the
sessions
19.
20. Outline â Session 1:
Attention and Now
⢠Attention
⢠The present moment
⢠The body Scan
⢠Mindful Listening
⢠Homework
21. Eckhart Tolle explains the power of regularly paying attention to our
breathing. By paying attention to our breath, even when this is done for only
a short period of time, can help us to make contact with the present moment
again and step outside our thinking.
23. Why do the
body scan?
The body scan teaches us to recognize and experience physical sensations.
Much of our attention focuses on our thoughts and on matters outside our body
such as our job, social environment, etc. This creates the risk that one pays very
little attention to physical signals.
The recognition of physical signals such as tension or restlessness is important,
especially for the prevention of stress and burn-out (Shapiro, Astin, Bishop, &
Cordova, 2005). The body scan is a method to get more in touch with body
sensations and signals and to become familiar with them.
26. Homewo
rk
⢠Try to do the body scan (short or long) at home. The more repetitions the
greater the effect. The best would be to do the body scan daily. However,
if this doesnât work out for you, try to practice as often as possible.
⢠Tip: Choose one (or more) routine activities, such as brushing your teeth,
driving home, eating, doing the dishes, going to the supermarket, taking a
walk, etc. and try to do it with full attention. In other words, try to focus
on the act just as you try to keep your attention to a certain body part
during the body scan.
⢠During the next week I choose the following routine activities where I
consciously focus my attention on:
⢠1
⢠2
⢠3
⢠During the next week, try to pay attention to how you make conversation.
Try as fully as possible to focus on the conversation and the
person/persons you are together with. The moment you notice that your
thoughts are distracted, return your attention to the conversation. Try to
be as present as possible to practice mindful listening.
27. Log Book
Exercise Times performed
Observations or perceptions during the
exercise
Body Scan
Routine Activities
Consciously Listening
28. Some great
tools to add
to your
toolbox
Free E-Magazine on Mindfulness
https://themindfulmagazine.com/category/mi
ndfulness/
Mindfulness meditation apps
Calm app â R54 per month, training on
meditation plus over 100 meditations.
Includes 3- minute body scan meditation for
daily use. (great app, includes peaceful music)
Meditation music app
Wellzen (72mb) R13.75 pm (includes
hydration and step tracker)
E-Books:
1. The Stress-Proof Brain: Master Your Emotional
Response to Stress Using Mindfulness and
Neuroplasticity
2. MBSR â Everyday Practice
3. The relaxation and stress reduction workbook
29. Maternity Programme Objectives
Enabling the wellbeing of families
Reduce the risk of maternal and infant morbidity and mortality
Early identification of pregnancy and related risks, including lifestyle
diseases (Diabetes, Hypertension), including HIV.
Referral to GEMS Disease Management programmes
Provide support and guidance to maintain complete wellbeing (mental,
psychological and social) for optimal functioning in the workplace and at
home
Raise awareness of the importance of wellbeing & healthy living during
pregnancy
More and more people worldwide are attracted to learning how to relate to their experience with mindfulness. Because of my own personal experience and through work with students and teachers, I want to address some common misconceptions I've encountered. I share this with the teachers with whom I work in K-5 before I begin sharing the curriculum in their class. I hope you find it helpful.
What Is Mindfulness?
Mindfulness, as defined by Jon Kabat-Zinn who introduced Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) 30 years ago, is âpaying attention in a particular way: on purpose, in the present moment, and nonjudgmentally.â
Mindfulness is not about being calm or any particular way
We often expect mindfulness will bring us peace or calm and relaxation. This highlights our human tendency to want pleasant experiences and to push away what is unpleasant or average. We want something, we don't get it and then we're unhappy. We think it's not working or we're doing it wrong. We start to judge our experience and ourselves. Although it's true that you can experience a sense of peace, calm, or relaxation while practicing mindfulness, these are not guaranteed outcomes. Mindfulness is just about noticing whatever experience we're having, including all the thoughts, feelings or physical sensations that are a part of it.
Mindfulness can significantly reduce stress
but it's not about stress reduction Rather than remove stress, mindfulness helps us learn to relate to stress differently. It may seem implausible that something as simple as listening to sounds or paying attention to our breathing can help us learn to respond to experiences in a healthy way, but itâs what science is showing and what people are saying (and itâs certainly my experience). There is now over 25 years of research with adults showing that mindfulness helps with stress by changing our relationship to it.
Mindfulness is not the absence of thought
Instead of aiming for an empty or blank mind where no thoughts are present, we learn the skill of becoming aware of our thoughts, without necessarily doing anything with them. By just noticing thoughts, we learn how to unhook ourselves from our identification with them. This is different from pushing thoughts away. Itâs how we relate to our thoughts, not the absence of them.
Mindfulness is not about being complacent
Acceptance does not mean agreement or complacency. It means acknowledging whatever's going on, which is a good idea because it's already happening. We take action to change situations when appropriate - for our well-being and the well-being of others - but we do so out of compassion and understanding versus reaction and frustration.
Mindfulness is not religious
Mindfulness practices are useful for all people, regardless of their spiritual or religious backgrounds or beliefs. It's a human experience that utilizes awareness and compassion that is within us all.
Mindfulness is not a silver bullet
When weâre under stress or going through a difficult time we might look for âtechniquesâ to help us better cope. Mindfulness works, but it is important to approach it with the right attitude. Based on many years of research, it is well established that in order to fully benefit from mindfulness meditation, the best approach is to have a long-term view. Happy Practicing! And please email me if you have questions about any of this. Warm regards, Bonnie Mioduchoski
(5,17 minutes)
Jon Kabat-Zinn (born Jon Kabat, June 5, 1944) is an American professor emeritus of medicine and the creator of the Stress Reduction Clinic and the Center for Mindfulness in Medicine, Health Care, and Society at the University of Massachusetts Medical School.
Kabat-Zinn was a student of Zen Buddhist teachers such as Philip Kapleau, Thich Nhat Hanh and Seung Sahn and a founding member of Cambridge Zen Center.
His practice of yoga and studies with Buddhist teachers led him to integrate their teachings with scientific findings. He teaches mindfulness, which he says can help people cope with stress, anxiety, pain, and illness.
The stress reduction program created by Kabat-Zinn, mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR), is offered by medical centers, hospitals, and health maintenance organizations.[1
(2,16 minutes)
In the first place, acceptance is about acknowledging what is present.
In general, we often see what we donât want to see and what we wish to see differently.
We devote a lot of time to denying what is there. Consequently, we waste a lot of precious energy by resisting something that cannot be changed in the first place.
During practice, both pleasant and unpleasant sensations, emotions and thoughts may arise. Instead of denying them and pushing them away, mindfulness requires willingness to let them be, as they are, in the present moment.
Remember that the goal of mindfulness is not to get rid of these internal states, but to change oneâs relationship with these states. Mindfulness cultivates a more friendly, acceptance-based relationship with internal states. In other words, when unpleasant states arise, try to welcome them and perceive them as part of the exercise, part of reality. Let them be as they are.
LETTING GO
Â
Sometimes, positive experiences arise during the exercises. People often want to hold on to these experiences.
We attempt to prolong their duration and make them last longer. Open awareness means detachment of all events.
In fact, when we try to change the course of positive experiences, we are doing the same thing as when we try to push away the negative states.
In both cases we try to alter reality instead of experiencing it with an open, detached attitude.
It is enough to observe and give the positive experience room to follow its natural course. The more freedom you provide for experiences to occur, the more freedom you will experience.
THE BODY SCAN - SCRIPT
â˘Find a place where you will be safe, secure, and undisturbed.
â˘Lie on your back on a firm mat or cushioned floor, arms resting by your side, palms facing upward.
â˘If you find it difficult to stay awake during the meditation, it may be helpful to open your eyes or prop your head up with a pillow. If neither helps, you can change position that that would help you stay awake. Other positions include standing or sitting in a chair.
â˘Close your eyes and start to focus your attention on the fact that you are breathing. Allow each inhale and exhale to flow through your body. Notice how your body feels with each breath as well as where the breath flows. With each breath, allow yourself to sink deeper into the floor.
â˘Keep in mind that your mind will inevitably wander through this practice as that is what all minds do. When this happens, notice it and gently and kindly bring your attention back to the part of the body on which you were focusing.
â˘As you continue to breathe, on the inhale, imagine the breath filling your lungs and then moving down into the belly, into the left leg, and all the way out of the left toes. As you exhale, imagine or feel your breath moving in through your toes, up the left leg, through the abdomen, all the way up into your chest, and finally out through your nose. With a playful approach, practice a couple of cycles of this kind of breathing.
â˘Use this breathing technique throughout the remainder of the scan. When you notice a tense or unpleasant sensation, breathe into it and imagine relaxing, releasing, and letting go.
â˘Notice all the sensations in your body, beginning with the bottom of your left foot. Where do you feel pressure? What does it feel like?
â˘Move with your attention from the bottom of your left foot, up the ankle to the left leg, lower leg, knee, upper leg, across the pelvic region, down the right leg. Move into your pelvic region, scanning the front and back of your body. Notice all the sensations that arise and let them go.
â˘As you focus on each part of the body, observe what you see and feel there without forcing anything to happen. If you donât feel anything in an area of your body, thatâs okay. Simply act as an observer, noticing how your body feels today.
â˘Continue up through the stomach, upper chest, neck, down the left arm, back up through the collarbone down the right arm, up to your hairline, forehead, and finally face.
â˘Remember to observe each small area of every part of your body. For example, you may want to notice what is happening in between your toes, ankles, shoulders, ears, tongue. Investigate every area of the body with gentle curiosity.
â˘After observing every point in the body, feel your body as a whole, breathing in and out, fully alive.