Counselling Level Threeweek 19

Mindfulness

Check-in

• What are you thankful for this week?

• What have you enjoyed?• Consider this for a few

moments • How do you feel (in your

body) when you recall an event you have enjoyed or things to be thankful for?

You will be invited to:

• Hand in your assessment 3 plans (optional)• Check in with yourself and the group• Agree the session plan• Take part in a chocolate based experiential exercise!• Join in a short meditation taster session with the group• Participate in another mindfulness based exercise• Consider some key features of Mindfulness – origins,

ideas, practise. • Consider two short practices which you may wish to try

out before the next session

Why are we looking at mindfulness?

• It is increasingly used throughout the world• Its modern origins are not white and western!• It has been researched and approved by the NHS and

is increasingly practised in schools and colleges.• It is often combined/integrated with other therapies• It is relevant to your next assignment• There are some similarities between mindfulness and

Roger’s Person-centred Approach• It fits with and has informed some of my own

experiences and resonates with aspects of Carl Roger’s theory and practice.

Eating mindfully!

• Choose a chocolate bar or piece of fruit.

• Listen carefully to the instructions, which will be read out by the tutor

• Share your experience of the exercise with another member of the group.

An introduction to mindful meditation…

• John Kabat-Zin• Mindfulness Meditation Taster with Jon Kabat-

Zinn (12 minutes) • www.youtube.com/watch?v=D5Fa50oj45s

Where does mindfulness come from?

• The origins of mindfulness are in Buddhism, which has its origins in Northern India c.490BC.

• “Mindfulness” does not require a belief in a god or an afterlife and, so appeals to those with a secular mindset

• It is sometimes said that the use of the word “mindfulness” has taken hold because it is more acceptable in the modern the western world than either “Buddhism” or “Meditation”

• Adapted from “Go Mindfully” website Zoe Shobbrook-Fisher and Karen Jaya Rudgard

• Pictured: Animation of the Buddha gaining enlightenment while sitting under a fig tree (Asterisk Animation http://interactive.wxxi.org/highlights/2010/03/Buddha)

What is Mindfulness?• Mindfulness means paying attention, on purpose, in the

present, and non-judgmentally. Through Mindfulness practice we develop an awareness of everything that is going on within us moment by moment, especially in our bodies. This enables us to discover new ways of relating to experience. Stress levels are reduced and we find we have more choice in how we respond to the challenges of our lives.

• Mindfulness is less about gaining something new than becoming more in touch with what is already here. It means cultivating an attitude of openness and flexibility. Many people find it brings them more joy and a greater sense of fulfilment that is less dependent on external conditions. Mindfulness is sometimes referred to as Heartfulness.

• Adapted from “Go Mindfully” website Zoe Shobbrook-Fisher and Karen Jaya Rudgard

A summary if the main ideas and practise

• “In mindfulness… we bring our attention to the present moment so that we can be aware of all that is there, including suffering. In gentle accepting awareness, we see what it is we are grasping for and are able to ‘let go’ or hold more loosely. If we keep recollecting the need to bring out attention back to the present in this way, it will become more effortless each time we do it, just as a path through a meadow of high grass is easier to walk the more times we have walked it before.”

• (Batchelor, 1997, cited in Baker et al. 2010:186)

How do we do “mindfulness”

Examples:• Individual/group meditation• Guided meditation• Walking/moving mindfully• Eating a raison/apple

mindfully• Drinking a cup of coffee

mindfully• Paying attention to the

breath• Making a space for “what

else”

Chadwick (2013) ‘Zen Coffee’ available at Wild Mind http://www.wildmind.org/blogs/on-practice/the-joys-of-zen-coffee [accessed 7/3/2013]

Mindfulness and CBT

• Mindfulness is most often associated with CBT• It is sometimes referred to as the third wave in CBT (after

behaviourism and cognitivism)• Examples of integrative therapies which include mindfulness

are: Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and Dialectic Behaviour Therapy

• Jon Kabat-Zinn’s Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) programme was created as a response to suffering caused by long term injury or illness.

• It was further developed by Zindel Segal, Mark Williams and John Teasdale and became known as Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy. It’s original purpose of MBCT was to prevent recurrence of depressive episodes in adults.

A useful integration… with integrity?

• CBT and Mindfulness both involve adapting (or adopting new) cognitive processes in order to improve behavioural and emotional outcomes

• Mindfulness can be taught and practised in groups or via books, dvd etc. It is not easy, but it can be cheap.

• “Mindfulness” does not require a belief in a god or an afterlife and, so appeals to those with a secular mindset

• CBTs often include diagnosis and reflects a medical model which does not fit with Buddhism/Mindfulness.

• Sometimes CBTs advocate “thought stopping”, challenging or changing thoughts which is very different to the Buddhist way of awareness and acceptance.

Mindfulness and other therapeutic approaches

• Mindfulness has been combined with other approaches including humanistic and psychodynamic.

• However, it has been said that it is less often “integrated” with the person-centred approach, because there are already many similarities.

The Pause• Stop doing what you are

doing (thinking, walking, talking, writing, planning, worrying, eating…)

• Become wholeheartedly present, attentive and physically still.

• Simply do no-thing• Simply notice what you are

experiencing in your mind, your body, your spirit.

• Without judgement

“Do you have the patience to waitTill your mind settles and the water is clear?Can you remain unmovingTil the right action arises by itself?”

Lao-Tzu, Tao TeChing

(In Go-mindfully course book.)

The Habit Releaser:• Can be a big thing or a small

thing…• The simplest of changes can

help us sharpen our awareness, loosen up our processes and add a bit of randomness and adventure to life.

How?• Doing something you wouldn’t

normally do, or doing something you usually do but in a different way…

• Adapted from Williams and Penman (2011) Mindfulness: a practical guide to peace in frantic world. London: Piatkus

Examples: Cycling to work instead of taking the busSitting in a different place to usualWalking on the other side of the roadHaving something different for lunch…

Planning mindful experiences in pairs

• Consider if /how you might try out the two exercises described.

• When will you PAUSE?• What might you do differently… a small

change.• Next week: you will be invited to feedback

your experience to your partner/three/group.

Next Week

• We will begin to explore integrative therapies in preparation for our group debate.

References

• Barker. Vossler and Langdridge (Eds) (2010) Understanding Counselling and Psychotherapy. London: Sage Publications

• Jon Kabat zinn guided meditation – Mindfulness taster with Jon Kabat Zinn (internet) http://videosift.com/video/Mindfulness-Meditation-Jon-Kabat-Zinn [accessed 20/2/15]

• Zoe Shobbrook-Fisher and Karen Jaya Rudgard (2014) ‘Go Mindfully” 8 week course workbook. .