Introduction to Mindfulness: Week 5
Suggested Home Practice
Continue to use the chart of Everyday Mindfulness/Mindfulness Every Day (below)
Continue to practice informal mindfulness and some formal mindfulness, and include movement
Continue to notice challenges that come up as you deepen your practice
Try the self compassion break as many times as you need it
5-20 minutes self-guided or guided daily meditation: An invitation to notice breath and consider the elements of S.O.A.R.
S.O.A.R.
S: Slow down, Settle, Stabilize, Stillness, Space
O: Observe with curiosity, Openness
A: Allow, Acknowledge, Appreciate, Accept
R: Refresh, Restart, Rest
Self Compassion Break
Adapted from Kristin Neff and Chris Germer (2014)
Notice your experience of suffering; perhaps what brought you to this group at the beginning; or suffering right now.
Notice where in your body, mind, emotions, thoughts, heart space where you experience suffering.
Now, say to yourself, slowly:
“This is a moment of suffering”
That’s mindfulness of the present moment experience. Other options include:
This hurts.
This is tough.
Ouch!
“Suffering is a part of life”
That’s common humanity. Other options include:
Other people feel this way.
I’m not alone.
We all struggle in our lives.
Everyone struggles, this is just my moment.
Some people may want to place a hand over the heart, or wherever it feels soothing, feeling the warmth and gentle touch of your hands to each other, or on your face (maybe even holding yourself by hugging your own arms).
Say to yourself:
“May I be kind to myself”
See if you can find words for what you need in times like this.
Other options may be: Select what words are yours.
Some suggestions might be:
May I accept myself as I am
May I give myself the compassion that I need
May I learn to accept myself as I am
May I forgive myself.
May I be strong.
May I be safe
(pause)
If you’re having trouble finding the right words, imagine that a dear friend or loved one had a similar difficulty as you. What would you say to this person? Now see if you can offer the same words, the same message, to yourself.
Wild Geese
Mary Oliver
You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
for a hundred miles through the desert repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body
love what it loves.
Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.
Meanwhile the world goes on.
Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain
are moving across the landscapes,
over the prairies and the deep trees,
the mountains and the rivers.
Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,
are heading home again.
Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting -
over and over announcing your place
in the family of things.
© 2004 Mary Oliver, Wild Geese: Selected Poems
