Mindfulness and mental health

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• Mindfulness and mental health
• December 12, 2007

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Mindfulness Whats its all about?

• Now
• Here
• This

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the human condition

• No matter how hard you pursue pleasure and
  success, there are times when you fail. No matter
  how fast you flee, there are times when pain
  catches up with you. And in between those times,
  life is so boring you could scream. Our minds are
  full of opinions and criticisms. We have built
  walls all around ourselves and we are trapped
  within the prison of our own likes and dislikes.
  We suffer.
• Mahathera

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What is mindfulness?

• Paying attention in a particular way on purpose,
  in the present moment, and non-judgementally.
• Jon Kabat-Zinn

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Mindfulness Living the Full CatastropheJon
Kabat-Zinn

• Living each moment of our life as if it counted
• Owning and working with each element of our lives.

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What is mental health?

• Awareness
• Openness to experience
• Freedom from compulsion
• Ability to give / receive affection
• Sense of purpose
• Ability to cope with setbacks

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• How can mindfulness help my mental health ?

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What mindfulness meditation delivers

• Ability to experience the present moment
• Clear awareness of thoughts / emotions
• Ability to relate to ones experience with
  compassion/understanding
• Ability to experience/transform emotional
  distress
• Space where creative solutions can arise

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Mindfulness

• Using the breath we learn to ground ourselves in
  the present moment
• Accepting what is happening in us and around us,
  whatever it is, we learn to open to experience,
  without judgement
• Teaches us ways to connect with our emotional
  experience without becoming overwhelmed
• Learning to watch our thought patterns come and
  go, we see about how our mind works

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why the breath?

• Breathing is universal.
• Breathing provides a ready focus for the mind
• The breath is the doorway to the here and now

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helpful attitudes to practice..

• Dont expect anything
• Let your effort be relaxed and steady
• Dont rush (sit as though you have the whole day)
• Accept whatever arises. Dont cling to anything
  dont reject anything
• Be gentle
• Loosen up and let go
• Dont think. See

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Mindfulness creates space around our pain,
allowing us to work with it without being
overwhelmed.
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The Guest House
still, treat each guest honorably. He may be
clearing you out For some new delight.

• This human being is a guest house. Every morning
  a new arrival

A joy, a depression, a meanness, some momentary
awareness comes as an unexpected visitor.
The dark thought, the shame, the malice. meet
them at the door laughing, and invite them in.
Welcome and entertain them all! Even if theyre a
crowd of sorrows, who violently sweep your house
empty of its furniture,
Be grateful for whoever comes, because each has
been sent as a guide from beyond. Rumi
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Mindful Responce
Non-mindful Reaction
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Mindlessness and Vulnerability to Depression
Non-awareness
Depression
Rumination
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Mindfulness and Prevention of relapse into
depression
Low mood
Freedom to choose not to go there
Mindful awareness
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Sample of goals expressed by addiction group

• To learn to focus on things, to concentrate and
  relax and focus on one thing
• To be less anxious, not to fear negative thoughts
  and run away from negative thoughts
• I want to be more aware of where my heads going.
  Just to be where I am.
• I just want to able to concentrate, to be able to
  appreciate the good stuff in my life I have so
  much but I have no respect for it.

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• For as long as I can remember, as soon as I woke
  up, Id put the radio on I cant remember
  anytime I didnt need noise lately, Im not
  interested in banging on noise as soon as I come
  in
• Last week, I visited my grandparents farm. I was
  very, very sad. It was sheer pain. I remember
  sitting there by the swings thinking this is
  unbearable but it was OK
• I was waiting for the 15A (bus) the other day..
  an ambulance was whizzing by, it was absolutely
  chaotic but I could hear the birds tweeting and
  I thought youre either having a nervous
  breakdown or a spiritual awakening Jesus! Your
  life has done a 360, maybe it was worth all the
  work connecting to nature on the middle of
  Pearse Street. Before, if I was hungover and a
  bird was tweeting Id want to kill it!
• The whole thing at the start for me was a bit
  slow. I wanted to speed things up, I heard it
  was a life-changing experience. Usually I make
  up so much dramastories in my head Now Im
  watching a bit more what Im thinking Ive had
  two fantastic weeks and I think its a direct
  result of slowing down I was so content.

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• Mindfulness provides a simple but powerful route
  for getting ourselves unstuck, back into touch
  with our own wisdom and vitality. It is a way to
  take charge of the direction and quality of our
  own lives, including our relationships within the
  family, to work and to the world, and most
  fundamentally, my relationship with myself as a
  person.
• Jon Kabat-Zinn