The Mindfulness Summit

Like The Self Acceptance Project before it, The Summit is such a gift. I've been away from the forum for awhile, and I feel like the universe brought me back just in time to get to know some great new members and to be here for the Summit!

That's interesting, Forest, what you noticed about the juxtaposition of the first three presentations, and you're right, they balance each other perfectly, especially with Dan Harris's compelling personal story following the rather intellectual presentation by Joseph Goldstein, which I had a little difficulty remaining present with. And yes, I did notice that's where Dan Harris is studying.

So far, I'm most taken with Mark Williams who brilliantly combines compelling scientific evidence with passion and compassion.

But we have 28 more to go!

 

I liked this meditation very much. Just the right length for me at this time. Thanks, @Forest , for bringing it to my attention. I seem to like meditations the most if the person has a somewhat foreign accent. Not sure why this is.....

 

Maybe it reminds you of being far from home and relaxing some place overseas

 

Forest, thanks for showing me how to watch the mindfulness meditation sessions. It opened for me fine today (Sunday).

I will watch that audio you posted above.

Today's session with Jono Fisher was interesting but only as background. I wish he'd have spent some time on how to do MM.
I found some guided mindfulness meditations on Youtube that helped me learn how to do it.

I'll start a new thread now on one of those guided sessions from Youtube.

 

I think the accent takes things out of the realm of the familiar just enough to cause me to pay more attention.

 

I did get a lot out of Goldstein's discussion of the importance of acceptance of our periods of "non-mindfulness". After I find that I've gotten caught up in my thoughts, I sometimes am hard on myself about it. Of course that's the inner bully--to tie it in with TMS teachings. I always need to be reminded that acceptance and suspending judgement extends to myself, not just others.

So when I find that I've gotten caught up in the delusions of my thoughts, I try to just say "Oops, I did it again..." to quote Britney Spears. Bet no one thought Britney Spears would be quoted in a thread on mindfulness

 

Lol these pop culture references may help improve search optimisation and allow the younger generation to discover TMS, good work Ellen

 

So far I have enjoyed Joseph Goldstein best. Perhaps this is because it is very similar to the Buddhist practice I follow. I was a bit disappointed with the meditation, that it didn't go deeper to connect with inner peace that exists in our hearts. Fore , meditation doesn't happen in my head, it happens in my heart....

 

Thank you, Forest - that means a lot to me

I'm with you there, which is why I am thrilled at the number of mindfulness mentors who are now assuring us that even three minutes can help change your brain! Mark Williams has several free meditations (none of them long) on his web site Peace In A Frantic World - including one called "Three-Minute Breathing Space". Three minutes!
http://franticworld.com/free-meditations-from-mindfulness/

 

you crack me up

 

Let's not skip over Jono Fisher, a bit slow to start and the title for his interview wasn't overly appealing to me but I am keeping an open mind! In fact, I really liked his story and his message and he's easy to listen to. Better yet, he makes mindfulness practice very accessible, and I intend to listen again.

 

Some interesting techniques today regarding mindful eating. But I felt Susan really pushed her books too much.

 

I wish the summit stuck more with HOW to practice mindful meditation. We all know it's good for us. I had to go through quite a bit
to learn how to eat better for mindfulness but never learned what that takes. I don't want to sign up for more newsletters and get on more lists.

 

I quite liked Jono's interview too. It was very personal - I enjoyed how he adopted mindfullness techniques without conciously being aware of the practice until later.

I agree, it did seem as if it was more geared towards being in control of one's eating. I remember Richard Gere (who also practices Buddhism), make the very same reference about cookies and how each subsequent cookie is less fulfilling than the first and with mindfulness we can stop any cravings or bad habits.

 

Okay, guys - I have a couple of points to make here.

1. The summit is not intended to teach us mindfulness. The goal is to introduce a wider world audience to the many ways in which mindfulness can be used to improve our lives - and to introduce us to some of the many and varied teachers, authors, and practitioners who are finding ways to bring mindfulness to the world. This is exactly what I expected from this project - but then it is very similar in that regard to the Self-Acceptance Project of two (three?) years ago.

2. I don't mind the book plugs at all - Susan's books are not yet very popular on Amazon but they consistently receive high ratings. As far as I'm concerned, if just one person buys one of her books and achieves a healthier lifestyle, it's worth it, because overconsumption of unnatural food is killing humanity in general - while millions still starve. And I love Melli's question at the end of each interview - what would the world look like if a billion people were practicing mindfulness? Her goal, and the goal of many of the leaders in this field, is simple - change the world, one person at a time. Sounds like what we're doing here! It's why so many of us come back to help others.

The Summit is co-sponsored by SoundsTrue, the organization that produced the Self-Acceptance Project. I gave them my email address however long ago that was, but I've received very few emails from them, and I am quite positive that they did not put me onto any other email list. The vast majority of junky email I receive is from outfits I've never heard of trying to sell me accounting and tax-related products and services. That's because every continuing ed conference I attend (to maintain my license) DOES sell my name and email address, as does my state board of accountancy, my two professional membership organizations, and the IRS practitioner registration program.

Bottom line: at no cost, we are getting to hear and see interviews with some of the most amazing teachers in this field. Coming up: Tara Brach, Rick Hanson, and John Kabat-Zinn! I am loving this.