Mindfulness is a term that was borrowed by Rhys Davids, a translator of Buddhist Pali texts from a gospel. At the end of the 19th century, he was looking for the correct translation of the word “sati” – the literal translation of this term is “remembering” a present moment and what we most deeply value. "To summarize, mindfulness is like a diamond with many facets, It is a state, process, and faculty; it has at its core intentionality; it is imbued with certain attitudes (curiosity, friendliness, patience, and care); it requires effort; it is intrinsically ethical" (Christina Feldman and Willem Kuyken, 2019).
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Each lesson has a consistent structure and a topic. It starts with a stabilisation and continues with a teacher-led meditation practice. This is followed by a conversation during which we learn about our experience and reflections from the meditation. We always have some time dedicated to our experience with practicing at home: what made us happy, what surprised us but we also talk about challenges that might have arisen during the practice. This part is often followed by another short practice or exercise and we think about what we could learn from them. I often read poems or short stories that are related to the current topic which support the learning process. At the end of each lesson, we discuss practicing at home during the upcoming week.
If possible, please wear comfortable clothes. Lessons include meditation while sitting or lying down (if you chose to do so), simple stretching and light walking. I am aware that many of you might come straight from work – the movements we will be doing are gentle, and can be done even in a formal wear. Mats and meditation pillows will be available or you can bring your own ones.
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Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy is a programme established by Oxford University in the United Kingdom. It was developed for prevention of depression relapses and scientific studies with positive results have been published since 2002 when the programme was first used, As its application proved to be useful for non-clinical individuals as well, Mindfulness- Based Cognitive Therapy for Life and Mindfulness: Finding Peace in a Frantic World courses have since been developed by Oxford University experts.
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There will be no more than 15 participants per group.
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With regular mindfulness practice, you will learn how to stay in touch with yourself and how to respond, rather than automatically react, to happy or challenging moments in your everyday life. How? According to scientific studies, the activity in amygdala decreases – amygdala is the part of brain that is responsible for stress generation. We will learn to identify our habits and reactions which then allows us to respond in a new way, rather than repeating the same process over and over. By approaching our life mindfully, we will learn to grow a capacity, to face our challenges rather than to respond by habit. By leading such way of life, you will find out that even if some life situations are not always under our control, you have inner resources that will help you to respond to many things that you encounter in your life.
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• It is not a panacea.
• It is not a quick fix nor simple.
• It is not about emptying or clearing the mind, not thinking, or turning away from experience.
• It’s not a relaxation method, though be warned you might experience relaxation.
• It is not about dismantling the self.
• It’s not about achieving a particular state of mind or outcome but more about meeting your life the way it is.
