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The Mindfulness Summit

It's amazing how many people are looking for relief from back or other pain and anxiety. TV commercials and talk shows are full of them said:
Walt,

This is so true. I learned as a child that if I had an ache or pain, go to the doctor and get a pill or a surgery to fix it. I have learned new things now: there is a underlying cause, go to the source and fix that! We are changing the world, one person at a time!
Namaste,

Matthew
Click to expand...
 
Worry and anxiety self-help tip: Practice mindfulness
Worrying is usually focused on the future—on what might happen and what you’ll do about it. The centuries-old practice of mindfulness can help you break free of your worries by bringing your attention back to the present. In contrast to the previous techniques of challenging your anxious thoughts or postponing them to a worry period, this strategy is based on observing and then letting them go. Together, they can help you identify where your thinking is causing problems, while helping you get in touch with your emotions.

  • Acknowledge and observe your anxious thoughts and feelings.Don’t try to ignore, fight, or control them like you usually would. Instead, simply observe them as if from an outsider’s perspective, without reacting or judging.
  • Let your worries go.Notice that when you don’t try to control the anxious thoughts that pop up, they soon pass, like clouds moving across the sky. It’s only when you engage your worries that you get stuck.
  • Stay focused on the present.Pay attention to the way your body feels, the rhythm of your breathing, your ever-changing emotions, and the thoughts that drift across your mind. If you find yourself getting stuck on a particular thought, bring your attention back to the present moment.
Using mindfulness meditation to stay focused on the present is a simple concept, but it takes practice to reap the benefits. At first, you’ll probably find that your mind keeps wandering back to your worries. Try not to get frustrated. Each time you draw your focus back to the present, you’re reinforcing a new mental habit that will help you break free of the negative worry cycle.

10 Tips to Start Living in the Present
“The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past, worry about the future, or anticipate troubles, but to live in the present moment wisely and earnestly.”


One of the best, unforeseen consequence of simplifying our lives is it has allowed us to begin living our lives in the present. Eliminating nonessential possessions has freed us from many of the emotions associated with past lives that were keeping us stuck. And clearing our home has allowed us the freedom to shape our lives today around our most important values.

Choosing to live in the past or the future not only robs you of enjoyment today, it robs you of truly living. The only important moment is the present moment. With that goal in mind, consider this list of ten tips below to start living your life in the present:

1. Remove unneeded possessions.Minimalism forces you to live in the present. Removing items associated with past memories or lives frees us up to stop living in the past and start living in the present.


2. Smile.Each day is full of endless possibilities! Start it with a smile. You are in control of your attitude every morning, keep it optimistic and expectant.


3. Fully appreciate the moments of today.Soak in as much of today as you possibly can – the sights, the sounds, the smells, the emotions, the triumph, and the sorrow.


4. Forgive past hurts.If you are harboring resentment towards another human being because of past hurts, choose to forgive and move on. The harm was their fault. But allowing it to impact your mood today is yours.


5. Love your job.If you just “survive” the workweek constantly waiting for the next weekend “to get here,” you are wasting 71% of your life (5 out of 7 days). there are two solutions: 1) find a new job that you actually enjoy (it’s out there), or 2) find something that you appreciate about your current career and focus on that rather than the negatives.


6. Dream about the future, but work hard today.Dream big. Set goals and plans for the future. But working hard today is always the first step towards realizing your dreams tomorrow. Don’t allow dreaming about tomorrow to replace living in today.


7. Don’t dwell on past accomplishments.If you are still talking about what you did yesterday, you haven’t done much today.


8. Stop worrying. You can’t fully appreciate today if you worry too much about tomorrow. Realize that tomorrow is going to happen whether you worry about it or not. And since worry has never accomplished anything for anybody, redirect your mental energy elsewhere.

9. Think beyond old solutions to problems.Our world is changing so fast that most of yesterday’s solutions are no longer the right answers today. Don’t get locked into a “but that’s how we’ve always done it” mentality. Yesterday’s solutions are not today’s solutions and they are certainly not tomorrow’s solutions.


10. Conquer addictions.Addictions in your life hold you hostage. They keep you from living a completely free life today. Find some help. Take the steps. And remove their influence over your life.

If you can only live one moment at a time, you might as well make it the present.
 
I thought it might be helpful to post a schedule of the remaining speakers. I'm looking forward the most to Daniel Goleman (Day 24), Saki Santorelli (Day 29), and of course Jon Kabat-Zinn (Day 31).

Dan Goleman wrote Emotional Intelligence, introducing a term which, thanks to him, has become commonplace. His new book is about focusing, and it looks like the majority of his time will be spent discussing that. However, I'd love to see the books that made him famous, about emotional intelligence, discussed more in TMS circles. If I remember correctly, to Goleman, emotional intelligence was largely about being able to be aware of our emotions and also being able to manage them mindfully. The psychologists closest to Dr. Sarno often talk about alexithymia, which simply means a complete absence of the ability to be aware of one's emotions. In this sense, if emotional intelligence is about emotional awareness, then perhaps emotional intelligence and TMS theory have something in common.

Saki Santorelli and Jon Kabat-Zinn were two of the people who did the pioneering research at the University of Massachusetts that began to demonstrate the powerful effects of mindfulness meditation to a Western audience. As a result of their courageous work, there are literally now thousands of scientific articles about the benefits of mindfulness meditation. They are the pioneers of mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) and John Kabat-Zinn is the author of Full Catastrophe Living a book that Matthew, in this thread, highly recommends. As a side note, Dr. Shubiner spent time studying with both Saki Santorelli and Jon Kabat-Zinn at the University of Massachusetts. My understanding is that that is where he became a meditation instructor himself.

DAY 21 Timothea Goddard: The Insights & Realisations That Develop Through Mindfulness + Eva Papodopoulo leads a loving kindness meditation

DAY 22 Mirabai Bush: Mindfulness In Business (Submit Questions for Day 30 Today)

DAY 23 Dr. Kristen Race: Mindful Parenting

DAY 24 Dan Goleman: Why Focus Is The Hidden Driver Of Excellence

DAY 25 Professor Katherine Weare – Teaching Mindfulness To Children + Hannah Perkins lead a mindfulness practice.

DAY 26 Michael Chaskalson: Mindfulness For Peak Performance

DAY 27 Richard Burnett: How to create a mindful school

DAY 28 Dr Danny Penman: Mindfulness For Creativity

DAY 29 Dr. Judson Brewer: Mindfulness For Addiction + Saki Santorelli guides an in depth mindfulness practice.

DAY 30 Question & Answer Day 2

DAY 31 Jon Kabat-Zinn: LIVESTREAM October 31st 5:00 PM EDT/ 2:00 PM PDT/ 8:00 AM 1st November AEDT
 
I really enjoyed Adriana Huffington yesterday - I actually had no idea she is such a proponent of mindfulness. And of a full night's sleep - yay! (Forest, were you paying attention?:p)

I love her line about how we take better care of our cell phones than of ourselves. And one of the final things she said: if we don't have compassion for ourselves, how can we really have compassion for others?
 
My favorite statement in the summit thus far,,,thank you Daniel Goleman!
"Mindfulness plus selfishness is a disaster!" Mindfulness plus compassion is the answer.
Love it!
 
Hi All,

For those who missed the Mindfulness Summit, I've discovered two videos have been uploaded on YouTube and would like to share these with you.


 
Walt Oleksy said:
Worry and anxiety self-help tip: Practice mindfulness
Worrying is usually focused on the future—on what might happen and what you’ll do about it. The centuries-old practice of mindfulness can help you break free of your worries by bringing your attention back to the present. In contrast to the previous techniques of challenging your anxious thoughts or postponing them to a worry period, this strategy is based on observing and then letting them go. Together, they can help you identify where your thinking is causing problems, while helping you get in touch with your emotions.

  • Acknowledge and observe your anxious thoughts and feelings.Don’t try to ignore, fight, or control them like you usually would. Instead, simply observe them as if from an outsider’s perspective, without reacting or judging.
  • Let your worries go.Notice that when you don’t try to control the anxious thoughts that pop up, they soon pass, like clouds moving across the sky. It’s only when you engage your worries that you get stuck.
  • Stay focused on the present.Pay attention to the way your body feels, the rhythm of your breathing, your ever-changing emotions, and the thoughts that drift across your mind. If you find yourself getting stuck on a particular thought, bring your attention back to the present moment.
Using mindfulness meditation to stay focused on the present is a simple concept, but it takes practice to reap the benefits. At first, you’ll probably find that your mind keeps wandering back to your worries. Try not to get frustrated. Each time you draw your focus back to the present, you’re reinforcing a new mental habit that will help you break free of the negative worry cycle.
Click to expand...


Hi Walt, Need your guidance on how to implement this. I have reached a point in my TMS journey, where I no longer have an emotional reaction to pain related thoughts. But what I have learnt is that finally my source of pain and anxiety are my continuous worry thoughts. I cant just observe them as a third person but I experience them. When I have a situation in life specially with my partner, I start to think 24/7 and I am inside my thoughts instead of the present moment. How do i improve my mindfulness?
 
shmps said:
Hi Walt, Need your guidance on how to implement this. I have reached a point in my TMS journey, where I no longer have an emotional reaction to pain related thoughts. But what I have learnt is that finally my source of pain and anxiety are my continuous worry thoughts. I cant just observe them as a third person but I experience them. When I have a situation in life specially with my partner, I start to think 24/7 and I am inside my thoughts instead of the present moment. How do i improve my mindfulness?
Click to expand...
shmps, I saw this and i used to do this a lot more. 2 things that helped me -1- meditation -2- Byron Katies "The Work" Ask “is it true?“ If yes , ask “Can you absolutely know it's true?”, if yes , ask “How do you react—what happens—when you believe that thought?”, if you got here, then ask “Who would you be without the thought?”. I usually do not get past the first question these days. Good luck
 
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