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1 It was difficult to refrain from urges but once I focused on it with more curiosity it was almost magical because it lost its force and suddenly I recovered my sense of control and calmness again. I look forward to incorporating this practice in my clinical interventions. I might suggest doing session and discussing the findings together.
2 I have picked a practice that I am familiar Loving-kindness. I have been practicing this meditation for a few years and find it incredibly helpful. Over the years it has brought me a sense of existence and sovereignty that I needed and all levels, emotionally and spiritually. I think I started to understand that the common phrase of “love yourself first than love others’, easy said than done, held truth and potential in my life. I have been incorporating this teaching with my clients, offering them the possibility of the practice. Some have told me that they have little sticky notes reminding them on their computers to remember to love self, others try the more formal practice of loving kindness. My clients have reported the effectiveness in their lives, just like I have discovered in my life.
3 All of us need to connect with the something greater than the immediate. The mindfulness practice is rooted in this greater connection. When we feel and be this greater connection anxieties and fear calm down, we know the greater possibilities and we recover a sense of home and safety in this world. It requires curiosity and non-judgment. I intend to continue with my practice in a more disciplined way and bring more awareness and presence of mindfulness in my clinical practice. I thank you for this invitation and I intend to pass this invitation of mindfulness to others as well.
Soft Belly exercise
I noticed a tension in my belly, my breath was more on my upper lungs and not really expanding into my belly. Intentionally I went into my belly with just gentleness and stated to soften and expand and just allowing my breath to go further and almost massage my whole gut area. It brought me more focus and a loving approach to my body/myself. I think this exercise can be very helpful to clients to come back to present moment and not let their thoughts and feelings to wander and arouse their nervous system. I is a powerful exercise to being self-regulation.Acceptance exercise
When repeating the phrase “May I accept myself completely as I am right now” I found to bring a sense of belonging and relaxation. I did not need to fix anything, there was nothing to be done, but just accepting. There was a sense of loving towards self that increased my internal safety. I think acceptance can be crucial for all of us. I believe many of us struggle to fully accept ourselves and love ourselves with kindness. This exercise done regularly can enforce this internal safety and therefore bring a sense of relaxation, calmness and effectiveness in the world.
Incorporating
I believe, that like mentioned by Germer, that is important to adapt and make it possible for the clients to relate to these exercises in meaningful ways. I intend to pay attention when and how I can suggest these exercises when it makes sense for the client. I intend to, when appropriate, suggest within session that we pause, observe the body/breathing and come back to the present moment. We then proceed to debrief with lens of fully acceptance of what their bodies were experiencing, what their feelings of the experience and understanding what the thought process around this experience was about. This non-judgmental and accepting conversation can assist clients to increase their ability to accept their present moment and understand their feelings and thoughts. These exercises carry an incredible power of transformation and self-regulation. These exercises are accessible and when adapted to clients world can be something readily available for them.
1-It was nice to do the exercise of lying down, it reminded me of the many hours I spent years ago on the floor sensing my body in dance warmups. I noticed that I had a completely different experience before than this time. I am out of practice. I was able to notice tensions in my body, spaces between floor and my body, the process of letting go of tension, the difficulties of certain areas to relax, among many other sensations. I enjoyed very much the invitation to be in my body again with such care and loving kindness, without judgment or need to change, but just notice. It is a privilege to be able to take time to pay attention to our body while lying. It should not be this way, but it is. This is effective way to come to sensations of the body, helping to stay in the present moment, focusing and staying with what is.
2-I can see that the object meditation does help with development of attention focus. I can see that with practice it might become easier to sustain focus and train the brain to stay with what is in front of us. The mind wanders but the sensory part helps to stay with the physical sensation which helps to stay with the attention on the moment. I find this exercise effective and although simple, not easy.
3-I intend to teach the exercise of lying down as a possible tool to assist with relaxing the body, to being in touch with sensations and being curious of the correlation between sensations and feelings. I have already taught clients to use this meditation exercise to calm the anxious mind at night in bed before falling sleep. Sometimes I do with clients during session a quick check of the sensations of their bodies. Usually, their answers of their observations of their bodies lead us to interesting conversations around challenges they encounter in their other realms of their being, feelings, thoughts, and spirituality. I have learned, in my many years as a dancer, that the body doesn’t hide, and the body is a friend. By developing with clients this concept of the body as a honest friend, clients learn how to be more kind, respectful and trusting of their bodies. My clients also learn that listening to the body respectfully teaches them to be more accepting and compassionate with themselves.
1- During the counting meditation my mind definitely wandering into wanting to get things done, move to the next task, how much time still left… type of thoughts. I noticed my body tense but slowly relaxing and slowly my mind also started to settle and enjoying the moment of stillness. I found effective way to calm mind because the combination of breath and counting was a gentle way to relax and bring focus to here and now.
2- The basic meditation (I followed the female voice link) allowed me to have more awareness of different parts of my body, my mind was focusing on the sensations of the body and possible causes, my calf was tense and my mind was thinking, oh too much sitting, I need to stretch my body more…I can see that as you practice with more regularity you can start seeing patterns of your mind.
3- My experience with both meditations were similar but with subtle differences. The counting one allowed more the mind to have a more focused point counting, which can be helpful when our minds are all over the place giving us a reference, harbor to come back with the mind. The basic meditation also gave the same reference but for me I focused more into the body and the sensations. The reference on both were the breath, but with differences on the focus.
At this moment I think I should stick to my own practice because then I can be more present and calm to my clients. I can see down the road that it can be a centering beginning of a session, teaching this meditation to clients can be a tool for them to develop a practice on their own, so their minds and bodies can become more resilient over time.
