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Question 1: I had a difficult time with this exercise, but I found it incredibly effective. I get pretty itchy in general (perhaps just a focus thing?) so, of course, as soon as I started this I had an itch on my back. For the first 30 seconds or so, it was all I could think about. As I let myself delve into the realization that it wasn’t going to seriously injure me to just let it be uncomfortable, I felt a specific type of release in my body – and poof, like that, it was gone! I can absolutely envision that while having a craving, this could be really effective. Discomfort doesn’t equal pain, and it’s difficult to help our clients see that discomfort is a natural thing that doesn’t require numbing. I personally wouldn’t utilize this until I had a long standing relationship with my client – I personally see this as a practice that requires trust. I certainly wouldn’t trust a stranger/new person to tell me “you’ll be fine”. Validation through out this process will lead to a higher success rate. Just like all of the work we’ve done in this class, it’s not meant to be done alone for the first time. I’d really like to utilize this in a group, where peers can see others identifying discomfort and regulating themselves within it.
Question 2: I chose “Being Mindful of Emotions Without Judgment”, particularly because it felt aligned with the Urge Surfing practice. Emotions, by and large, are uncomfortable when we aren’t familiar with them. I recognize that a huge part of our socialization is to identify feelings to “work on”, especially within counseling. It feels very freeing to simply identify feelings and thoughts, and let them go. I actually found myself crying during this. I fell into a pretty deep state of meditation during this practice, and I think it allowed me to just exist within the moment moreso than any other practice we’ve done during this course. I wouldn’t utilize this practice until far after the physical detox of substances; I think it’s simply too much for someone who’s attempting to get through their day without getting high. I appreciate the place this has in the work, and I’d like to put it closer to the discharge period. This may be the hardest one to identify effectiveness within, because it’s so personal. I think we, as providers, would just have to look at the way our clients take feedback and have conversations to identify it ourselves.
Question 3: I’ve had a lot of fun in this course over the last month! As someone who already has a personal meditation practice, it’s been informative and interesting to learn about the various opportunities to bring it to the work that we do. I’m hopeful that I can bring meditation into meetings with my clients, and even their families, in a way that doesn’t seem intimidating. It’s historically been difficult (for me) to mention mindfulness without people brushing it aside because it’s been seen as a little “whimsical” (and actual quote from a client!) I believe that having the clinical background to it will bring more openness to exploring. As a provider, I believe these practices can bring me more peace through the difficult days, which of course leads to a more productive time for both myself and my clients. I believe that as we passively introduce mindfulness, we’re allowing our clients with substance use disorders to find more of themselves outside of their bottle/pipe/etc. So frequently in SUD people feel trapped because of the physical compulsion. I’m looking forward to helping them loosen the grip.
Question 1: I noticed that during the soft belly meditation I felt incredibly vulnerable. It made me think about my cat and the way he “presents” his belly when he is feeling safe. My initial reaction was to think about anything except laying there and identifying a tender spot within myself. The longer I did it, however, was the more comfortable and accepting of my experience that I became. I was able to recognize the gratitude I felt with each inhale, the rising and falling of my body. I could physically envision all of these powerful phrases from our readings really “floating” within myself.
Question 2: I cried during this practice! I think words are the most powerful tool that we have, so verbally speaking to myself felt like a promise almost – a promise to be radically accepting of whatever experience I’m having in the moment. I believe this kind of thing is so desperately needed within the helping professions. I know I’m always pushing myself to be “better” than the last day, the last appointment, and that can leave a sense of hollowness (if we aren’t proud of ourselves, who will be?) Allowing myself to accept that whatever just occurred, is occurring, and may occur is done in perfect time within the universe let me loosen my grip on the doubt and fear (that I think is part of the human experience). If I was to evaluate the effectiveness of this, I think it would probably be in a more physical response – the loosening of the jaw, the slowing of the heart rate, the brightening of the skin. Within all meditation we have physical responses, of course, but the lasting effects of this seem to be much more likely.
Question 3: I’d really like to develop more of the Acceptance exercise into my work. I do a fair amount of motivational interviewing with my folks who use substances, and I think this practice could play really well within that context. I believe deeply in the reframing of a thought, not changing it. It’s simply not my place, clinically, to tell someone how they should feel. I believe that hearing my folks truth and saying it back in a way that is accepting of it, and also loving, can bring a lot of power. I’m always hopeful that my clients will leave feeling as though they have more tools for self love after our sessions, and I think that empowering them to feel totally at peace with where they are will allow more strength between the thought of drinking/using and the action of it. The soft belly meditation may take more time! I’m considering how that would play with my harm reduction folks and how I can bring that to them to encourage staying tender.
Question 1: I immediately noticed the amount of relief that came from simply being in a laying down position. It allowed my body to relax entirely. I believe that as a society we are so disconnected from our physical being that at times we forget to stay in contact with it. I found it was easier to disconnect from the “productivity mindset” and come into a meditative space than last week, so that’s certainly a success! I believe that this allowed me to look in at my experience with a more objective point of view. There was no judgment in how my body was feeling, I was simply observing. Through this, it further identified where I’m most likely to find stress in my body (for example, my shoulders and knees both felt incredibly tense), which has since allowed me to stay aware to let both of those body parts “rest” more often through out my day. I believe effectiveness in a practice like this does take quite a bit of time to evaluate, simply because you need to complete it more than once to compare/contrast it with your “normal” experience.
Question 2: As someone with a notable difficulty with attention, this practice was quite difficult for me! My initial reaction is to feel a little “bored”, but I found that with setting it aside and coming back to it at the end of my day, I had more space to truly delve into the experience. It was quite peaceful, which felt so relaxing. I believe that this practice is so effective because it can be done any time with any thing. Being able to offer an experience that requires little to no preparation is so helpful in the social services, because it allows for an immediate action – as we know, brief interventions can help increase distress tolerance skills. I noticed that the following day I was less judgmental of myself for having difficulty focusing, and I actually used this practice to “come back into myself” by focusing on objects on my desk.
Quest 3: I’m feeling quite hopeful that this work will specifically be helpful in clinical work with my substance use clients. Since we so frequently see that almost “obsessive” consideration of substances, I’m particularly interested in utilizing the “focusing on a single object” practice to recalibrate how we draw attention to what we’d like as opposed to what we may “need”. I believe that there are truly cognitive benefits to meditative practices, and particularly to replacement therapy. As an abolitionist social worker, I’m always excited to step away from institutions and bring more organic, client prioritized work to the table.
I have a personal meditation practice, so doing “Returning to One” was a really comfortable and safe place for me. The ability to practice non-judgment and commit to be totally aware of my experience in the current moment brought me a lot of peace in the midst of a very busy work day. I found that my bod immediately relaxed – my shoulders dropped, my face stopped tensing, my body felt more at ease. My heartrate also came to a more even place, which increased that feeling of calmness. I think because I already practice meditation, my mind had an easier time really leaning into the counting portion of this. However, I do remember when I first began practicing meditation how difficult even 2-3 minutes was. We’re socialized to be thinking of the next steps, preparing for what comes, that it feels almost unnatural to take a space where it is only about this moment. I felt guilty, and it took me months of doing daily practice to get to an understanding that this was bringing me peace I could bring to other people in my life.
Moving onto the Mindfulness exercise, I feel like the “Returning to One” exercise really prepped me for that sense of peace I would find with this. Even now, though, my thoughts have a tendency to race and wonder how much longer this exercise will take, what could I be doing with my time that would be more productive, etc. I have to constantly remind myself that my productivity doesn’t connect to my worth… which of course, leads me to feeling guilty that I’m not being totally present. I decided to do this exercise lying down (as opposed to sitting in a chair for the previous exercise) and I got slightly more anxious in this laying position… perhaps because it felt like rest, which is difficult to wrestle with during a work day. I decided to step away and try this exercise an hour later, which felt a little better.
I believe that while these are both very similar and could fall under the “meditation” category, it was slightly more difficult to engage in the mindfulness exercise. There was more structure around the “Returning to One” exercise. I allowed myself to truly lean into focusing on the counting, whereas the Mindfulness exercise felt more self guided, which of course takes time. I’m looking forward to utilizing the “Returning to One” exercise with my clients, specifically my folks with anxiety concerns. I think purposefully slowing down could help them reset, or at least give them a break from feeling so responsible for any negative feelings they are having. I’d like to run a meditation group at some point, where clients can share their own experiences with mindfulness to their peers. I think this could be a really powerful coping mechanism that eventually can be done independently in any situation.
Hi, everyone! My name is Maggie Zall (she/her), I’m CADC and MHRT/C. I work at The Opportunity Alliance in Portland as a care coordinator, and starting this fall I’ll be a MSW student at USM. This is really aligned with my own work values and I’m looking forward to incorporating more mindfulness into my work with my folks.
