Mindfulness

Celebrating Another Milestone, or Just Another Excuse for More Champagne

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Posted by Judy Moon

We recently celebrated our one year anniversary of the Wellness Seed blog. I am super excited about that and very proud of stepping our of the box and doing something that I didn’t think I could do. And I am even more excited that my Associates also wanted to contribute – go team!

I am also celebrating another one year anniversary – it has been a year since I started my Mindfulness Meditation practice. More champagne corks popping please!

I go to the beach the first week of September every year and last year I posted The Body Scan about packing my bags with Full Catastrophe Living by Jon Kabat Zinn, the guided Mindfulness CDS for practice and acting as if I was enrolled in the eight week Mindfulness Based Meditation course. It’s all laid out in the book for you and I thought vacation would be the perfect time to kick off that 45 minute body scan daily. Daily mediation on the beach – easy peasey- NOT!

I have dabbled over the years in meditation, being very diligent for periods of time but never had a really strong dedicated practice. I clearly remember sitting in my beach chair last year hearing Jon’s soft voice in my ears saying -“let go of the tendency we all have of wanting things to be different from what they are right now and allow things to be exactly where you find them” and wanting to hunt him down and argue with him. Granted, I was stressed at the time, hence wanting to do the meditation. In my mind, the meditation was going to take me away from being stressed. However, it just ended the war. The stressful things were still there, but I could breath slower. They didn’t control me. I learned to be in JUST THIS MOMENT. I don’t have to worry about what if’s and what’s next and what I can’t control. I could choose to feel different. It’s just a breath away.

I recently went through the eight weeks again with my associate and partner in crime, Gwyn. It was good to have someone to share with, bounce things off of, and keep me accountable and laugh when we would say, “wait, which week are we in?” A client suggested we do something to celebrate together, like a full day of Mindfulness together, maybe some periods of silence, etc. We are planning it but it is also going to include a swanky lunch and a trip to the Dansko outlet – all good things should be celebrated with shoe shopping!

I am grateful for my practice and to Jon Kabat Zinn and all of his hard work and inspiration.

I have two wellness seeds to leave you with –

The first is a piece about Meditation and Children and some really amazing work that teachers are doing with their students – (have some tissues ready- I got teary!)

The second seed is just pure meditation fun- don’t forget to breathe

 

The Body Scan

Posted by Judy Moon

“Hello , my name is Judy and I am addicted to The Body Scan”

There must be a support group out there somewhere for us Body Scan junkies. What the heck is “the body scan” you may be asking?

It is a meditation that is part of the eight week Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction Course, that was the brainchild of Jon Kabat- Zinn. It involves lying on your back and moving your mind through different regions of your body while breathing in and out from each region.

I have dabbled in meditation in the past and have always wanted a more formal practice, but for whatever reason, it kept falling off of my priority list. Sleeping in seems to win out more often.

Recent life challenges prompted me to stop making excuses and get busy with this practice I have been dreaming about. Heck, it’s even on my vision board!

So I decided that my week at the beach in September was going to be the kick off. I packed my copy of Full Catastrophe Living, and my practice CD’s, series 1 and 2, (yes, I still use CD’s) I decided to act as if I was enrolled in the eight week course and follow the guidelines in the book. I was going to do this finally!

Beach chair, beautiful view, sunny sky, warm breeze, meditation – piece of cake, right?

Well, the first day as I lay there listening to Jon’s soothing voice saying – “let go of the tendency we all have to want things to be different from what they are right now and allow things to be exactly as you find them.”  It triggered an immediate reaction in me  (and a few profanities) – “Are you out of your mind? Of course I want things to be different! Why the hell else would I be listening to this while I am on my vacation! I am supposed to be reading the September issue of Vogue right now – it’s tradition!!” Arguing with the CD – not very mindful Judy.

But I went with it, and breathed in and out of each region of my body and each day it got easier and there were fewer distractions. By weeks end I was hooked.

Would I be able to keep up my commitment when vacation was over? The answer is yes. I have to be honest and say that during week 3 and 4 when you alternate the body scan with some other practices, some involving gentle yoga poses and then in week 5 and 6 you don’t do the body scan at all – gasp! It was a little tricky. I was always waiting to get back to the body scan.

But I completed my 8 weeks and continue to meditate daily.

Mindfulness is not about “getting anywhere”, or “letting go of anything”, it’s about trying to be fully where you already are. In Full Catastrophe Living, the body scan is described in this way, and I think this says it best – “By the time we have completed the body scan, it can feel as if the entire body has dropped away or has become transparent…It can feel as if there is nothing but breath flowing freely across the boundaries of the body.”

It is because of that description and feeling that I remain – addicted to the body scan.

Photo Credits // 1 Tsizaivandor // 2 Seeking Indio

Practicing Stillness & Finding the Right Path

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Posted by Debi Phillpotts

We all have busy lives on many levels. When you think of it we are like tiny components of one big mechanism churning our activities to the rhythm of the days flowing into the revolving change of seasons then rolling into the constant planetary shifts in our galaxy of infinite galaxies… Like one big wheel! Sometimes it feels as though we are spinning on the wheel hanging on for dear life, wanting the ride to stop even for just a minute. How do we find stillness? Stillness is a rarity for most of us. Often I use the wheel metaphor with clients overwhelmed with stress suggesting they sit in the middle of the wheel for clarity and stillness. In Buddhism, the wheel is used as a metaphor as rapid spiritual change with each spoke representing the Noble Eightfold Path of Buddha’s teachings:

Right beliefs
Right aspirations
Right speech
Right conduct
Right livelihood
Right effort
Right mindfulness
Right meditational attainment

The shape, a circle, represents the perfection of the teaching with the wheel being called the Dharmachakra or “wheel of law” Dharma = law chakra = wheel. The spokes represent the paths mentioned above and the rim holds the spokes, which refer to mindfulness, holding everything together. The hub stands for discipline or meditation where we find stillness. So maybe the next time you are feeling the need to get on the right path or even feeling out of your mind, think of the wheel and find your way to the hub in the middle where there is stillness, then you just might know the “right path” to take.

References: Dharmachakra from Wikipedia

Photo Credits // 1 Pxleyes // 2 Jing Reed // 3 Pinterest // 4 Pinterest