Meditation & mindfulness

FOR HEALTH & WELLBEING

All that we are, is the result of all that we have thought.

Buddha.

Hit pause and get your chill on.

A course in meditation and mindfulness practice for young transgender people.

OVERVIEW Client
Face Value / Blueprint 22.

Contacts
Amanda Baker / Veronica Carver.

Duration
1 hour per week x 8 weeks.

Start date
Monday 14 January 2013.

Goal
To teach awareness of the benets of meditation and mindfulness, and how to develop a daily practice of meditation and mindfulness, to the young people of Face Value / Blueprint 22. In particular, how it can contribute to your wellbeing, at work, and in daily life, and how you can incorporate it into upir daily lives. To teach a basic set of practical tools that young people can use to cope with the stresses and strains of every day life. To create a new baseline for happier living.

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Hit pause and get your chill on participants will learn 4 meditation techniques, and 4 mindfulness techniques, including pause button techniques, all versatile enough that they will be able to use them whenever and wherever they should need.

Session 02
Tea. Introduction. Serve tea, and introduce students to the mindfulness of tea, with a simple tea meditation. 5 mins. Meditation 01. Mindfulness of tea meditation. 10 mins. Questions. Any questions from last week? 5 mins. Inspirational talk. What were doing this week. Stress. An introduction to and discussion of the dierent forms that stress can take, it's impact on the body, mind, health and wellbeing, and how meditation and mindfulness can help resolve and prevent it. An introduction to the mindfulness of tea. Recommended reading.10 mins. Meditation 02. The pause button. A micro meditation to use any time. 5 mins. Meditation 03. Lying down, or seated bodyscan meditation. 20 mins. How to practice. How to practice this week. Homework and how to time your meditations. Any questions? 5 mins. Resources. Where to nd further resources. http://silenc.es/fv

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Tea meditation. The future is not even here yet. Plan for it, but do not waste your time worrying about it.
Thich Nhat Hanh Meditationcan be the act offocusingon something as seemingly simple as a cup of tea. Thich Nhat Hanhhas a practice oftea meditation, where you pick up your tea, breathe it in, and bring your mind back to your body. By doing this he says youbecome fully present in the here and now. He says: I don't think of the past anymore, I don't think of the future anymore, I'm free from the past, from the future, and there is a real encounter between me and the tea. Here is a simple method you can practice around your cup of tea, at any time of day. Chooseyour tea cup, andset it down mindfully, ready to be lled. Select the tea you are going to brew, andboil the kettle. Whilst the water boils, sit andpractice a short breathing meditation, simply observing your in breath, and your out breath, as it rises and falls. Taking even these few moments each time you brew a cup of tea, will calm and refresh you. 4. Mindfully, with full attention, place the tea in the cup, or teapot, and pour the freshly boiled water over it. 5. Allow it to steep for 3-4 minutes, again, sitting beside it, simplyfollowing your breath. When the tea is brewed, drink it, mindfully, using the following mindful tea drinking exercise fromThich Nhat Hanh, Vietnamese Zen Master and mindfulness expert. Drink your teaslowlyandreverently,as if it is the axison which the world earth revolves. Slowly, evenly,withoutrushing toward the future. Live theactual moment. Onlythis moment is life. 1. 2. 3.

You must be completely awake in the present to enjoy the tea. Only in the awareness of the present, can your hands feel the pleasant warmth of the cup. Only in the present, can you savor the aroma, taste the sweetness, appreciate the delicacy. If you are ruminating about the past, or worrying about the future, you will completely miss the experience of enjoying the cup of tea. Silences : http://silenc.es / hello@silenc.es

You will look down at the cup, and the tea will be gone. Life is like that. If you are not fully present, you will look around and it will be gone. You will have missed the feel, the aroma, the delicacy and beauty of life. It will seem to be speeding past you. The past is nished. Learn from it and let it go. The future is not even here yet. Plan for it, but do not waste your time worrying about it. Worrying is worthless. When you stop ruminating about what has already happened, when you stop worrying about what might never happen, then you will be in the present moment. Then you will begin to experience joy in life. Click here to watch a video, where Thich Nhat Hanh does tea meditation with Oprah Winfrey.

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Pause button meditation.

Let your meditation practice be a sanctuary. Harshada Wagner

Perhaps you nd yourself seeking a moment of peace in the midst of the motorway of life? Or you want to improve the quality of your daily meditations? Maybe youre stressed out, under pressure, or in a dicult situation, and you need to take stock. Maybe you usually reach for a cigarette, a drink, rescue remedy, a tranquilliser, or perhaps something else. Whatever it is, you wont always have it with you. This simple practice is one you will always have with you, you wont be searching your pockets, cursing the lack of your usual prop. Its a very good trick to have up your sleeve. Let me share a basic meditators tool with you, one you can use any place, any time. Micro meditation is a form of mindfulness practice. Its a way to hit pause, refresh, clear cache, revitalising your mind and freshening up your day. Its like going to the wash room and picking yourself up with a splash of cold water. Set aside a minute for yourself, mentally dropping whatever youre doing. Dont wait for the perfect moment, there wont be a better one. 1. Stop whatever youre doing. 2. Shut your eyes. 3. Focus on your breath. 4. Mindfully take three rounds of in and out breaths. 5. Gently open your eyes and resume what you were doing. Youve just created your sanctuary, one you can return to any time you wish. When you return to activity, youll nd yourself more able to focus, with a better perspective on things. Use this micro meditation any time you need to hit the pause button. Perhaps when you are at work, with family, friends, or just in the streets or at the shops. If you dont have time, then you can even make this meditation shorter, a single in and out breath. Even if youre feeling stressed out of your mind, and youre running late for work, you can only improve things by hitting the pause button for a single in and out breath.

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Bodyscan meditation
So the rst practice were going to work with is called the Bodyscan meditation. This is a variation on a practice called nanso no ho, taught by Hakuin Zenji who is one of the most important Zen masters in our lineage. So as we mentioned you can practice this meditation and all the others well be doing standing, sitting, walking or lying down. Were going to practice lying down. So come into a comfortable position, lying on your back if at all comfortable or if you need to, lying on your side. Have your palms at your side with your palms facing up. Make sure your spine is long and straight, your neck as well. Just adjust your position so that you can get as comfortable as possible. Allow your eyes to rest down you can close your eyes or rest them half open along the line of your nose, whichever for you is most comfortable. Have your mouth closed and your tongue resting against the roof of your mouth. Just relax and feel your breathing in your belly. When you relax you can naturally feel the rising and sinking of the breathing in your belly. As your body relaxes, have your mind be aware and sensitive. Were going to bring this presence or awareness through the body. First of all were going to bring the attention to the crown of your head; just becoming aware of the crown of your head. Dont try to change anything, dont try to do anything; just being present with how things are in the crown of your head. And now bring your awareness into your forehead. Just present; aware. And now into the left side of your head, above your ear. The right side of your head, and the rear side of your head behind your forehead. And bringing your awareness now into your eyes, rst your left eye, your right eye, your right ear, the back of your head in line with your ears, your left ear; bringing your awareness into your nose, moving downwards through your body all the time; just being present, aware of how things are in your nose. And now down again, aware; around your mouth, your right jaw, the back of your head at the base of your skull, your left jaw. Moving your awareness down again into your throat at the front. Not doing anything; not changing anything just aware. All the transformation you need comes simply from your awareness. Moving your awareness to the right side of your neck, to the level of your throat, the back of your neck, the left side of your neck; moving your awareness down again to the top of your chest at the front, into your right shoulder, into the top of your back, your left shoulder, just present, just simply aware. Moving your awareness down again, moving always downwards into the area of your chest on the level of your heart, slightly to your left, the right side of your chest, under your right arm, your upper back on this level, under your left arm, becoming aware of your arms themselves, your right upper arm, your left upper arm, moving your awareness down into the lower part of your chest cavity rst on the left side. On the right side, and now the right side of your body, roughly on the level of your elbow, your back on this level, the left side of your body on the level of your elbow, your solar plexus, the right side of your abdomen, the right side of your body, the rear side of your body on this level, the left side of your body, becoming aware of your elbow Silences : http://silenc.es / hello@silenc.es

on your right side, on your left side, simply present, simply aware; moving your awareness down again to the level of your navel, just being present, just being aware whats here at the front of your body, the right side of your body on the level of your navel, the rear side of your body, the left side of your body. Moving your awareness down again to the level of your pubic bone in your lower belly just present, aware; now the right side of your body on this level, the rear of your body, your lower back, the left side of your body; moving your awareness into your right lower arm, your left lower arm, moving your awareness down again into the level of your pelvis at the front of your body, moving your awareness into your right hip, the rear of your body on this level, your left hip. Moving your awareness down again into your right upper leg, rst the front, the right side, the rear side of your right upper leg, the left side, moving your awareness into your left upper leg, rst the front of your upper leg, the right side, the rear side, the left side of your left upper leg, moving your awareness, your presence into your right wrist, what happens when an area comes into your awareness like this? Moving your awareness into your right palm, the back of your hand, your right thumb, your right index nger, middle nger, ring nger, little nger. Moving your awareness into your left wrist, the palm of your hand, the back of your hand, your left thumb, your index nger, your middle nger, your ring nger, your little nger; moving your presence, your awareness down into your right knee, rst the front of your knee, the right side of your knee, the back of your knee, the left side of your knee; moving your awareness into your left knee, the right side of your left knee, the rear side of your knee, the left side of your knee; moving your awareness down again, into your right lower leg, the front of your leg, the right side of your lower leg, the rear side of your lower leg, the left side of your lower leg; moving your awareness to your left lower leg, the right side of your lower leg, the rear side, the left side and back to the front; moving your awareness down again into your right ankle, rst the front of your ankle, the right side, the rear of your ankle, the left side, back again to the front, moving your awareness down into your left ankle, the front of your ankle, the right side of your ankle, the rear side and the left side of your ankle. Moving your awareness into your right foot, the topside of your foot, your right heel, the sole of your foot, your right big toe, your second toe, your third toe, your fourth toe, your fth toe, moving this presence, this awareness into your left foot, the topside of your foot, the left heel, the sole of your left foot, your left big toe, your second toe, your third toe, your fourth toe, your fth toe. Now moving your awareness again up to the crown of your head, letting your awareness just sweep down through your body, perhaps a little faster now, a little more easily, through from the crown of your head all the way through and over your face you head, your neck, over your shoulders, your chest, your upper back, down through your upper arms, down through your mid-back, your abdomen, your elbows, your lower arms, your hands, down through your pelvis, into your legs, down through your upper legs, your knees, your lower legs, your ankles, your feet, thats right. As you become aware of all these areas you may nd your awareness can slip down through the body even more readily, even more easily, just letting this happen very naturally, and now, allowing your awareness to be generalised through your whole body, particularly allowing yourself to be aware of any places of any kind of discomfort, tension, stress, anything thats not 100% how it might be; allowing these areas to be held in this gentleness, in this curiosity, this presence of your awareness.

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Dont try to change anything; just being aware, being present; the changes come when theyre ready, and even if they dont come, thats ne too. When youre in this quality of awareness, your relationship to all these things changes in a very benecial way, and when you feel your awareness very diused throughout your body, very present and very gently become aware of your ngers, your toes, gently starting to move into your ngers, your toes, gently, gently, allow yourself a really good, deep stretch, a really good stretch, allowing your body to open up, to wake up so that youre ready to carry on with the next thing.

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Talk
Welcome back! Stress. The practice of meditation and mindfulness is good for you. The evidence continues to gather and this course is designed to help those who wish to become healthier and more ecient in their lives. This week were going to look at stress, what it really is and how it can aect us. Stress acts on dierent levels psychological, physiological, social, etc, and all these levels interact. Dr Hans Selye popularized the term stress in the 1950s. He was studying animal responses. He dened it as the nonspecic response of the organism to any pressure or demand. So stress is what you do when you respond to stressors. Stressors can be work, relationships, living conditions, any number of external things, but can also be internal. For example particular thoughts or feelings can cause stress. Selye realized that diseases can result from failed attempts to adapt to stressful conditions. Stress reduces immunity to disease. The classical stress reaction occurs in three stages : 1. The initial ght or ight reaction, which mobilizes the body for immediate action 2. A slower resistance reaction 3. Exhaustion In stage one the sympathetic nervous system diverts energy to the muscles and organs needed for immediate survival. In consequence the digestive, reproductive and urinary system become impaired or shut down. In the second stage, the body releases cortisol, human growth hormone and thyroid hormone. These hormones produce increased energy, help the body repair damaged cells and reduce inammation. In the third stage the body continues to produce large amounts of stress hormones. Prolonged exposure to these, particularly cortisol, destroys healthy muscles, bones and cells, suppresses the immune system, impairs digestion and weakens the endocrine system. But we can change how we respond to stressors. We learn as adults how to handle stressors and this learning can continue to develop. So ultimately it is not the potential stressor, but how you perceive and handle it that determines the level of stress created. Some stressors will kill anyone, for example electricity at high levels or toxic chemicals. Some stressors are barely noticeable, and then theres a huge mid-range of things, which we can learn to handle and work with. As adults, sometimes there are external actions that we can take that will reduce stress. Its only smart to turn down the music if were blasting our ears beyond the Silences : http://silenc.es / hello@silenc.es

range of pleasure. But oftentimes were dealing with stressors which are good and appropriate even good things like getting married can create stress. So in these cases the only logical thing we can do is learn to change our response to the stressor. We can to some degree stress-proof ourselves. Jon Kabat-Zinn says in his book Full Catastrophe Living, You have the power to aect the balance point between your internal resources for coping with stress and the stressors that are an unavoidable part of modern living. The same event can be more stressful for one person who has fewer resources for dealing with it, and less stressful for a person who has greater resources. You can build up your resources both inner and outer sources of strength. On the outer side friends, family, teachers, our environment provide vital resources. On the inner side, your beliefs, your mental skills, your physical and mental health, your view of yourself, all provide resources. You can obviously develop both and both are important for wellbeing. This course, and your practice of mindfulness and meditation will help you develop the inner resources. There are two main ways in which meditation and mindfulness will help you : 1. Providing an oasis of calm and relaxation in which we can recuperate and gather our forces. 2. Perceiving clearly what we are going through. This can change at a profound level how stressors aect us. There is a huge dierence between conscious and unconscious stress. Hakuin Zenji, the great Zen master compared Buddhas to water and ordinary people to ice. Our mindfulness, our awareness is the warm sunlight, which can begin the process of melting away the stress. Right at the heart of East Asian philosophies of life such as Buddhism and Taoism is the conviction that change is universal. We have this in the West too with the Greek philosopher Heraclitus stating that you can never step into the same river twice. There is nothing that isnt slowly or quickly going through a process of change. In fact, on a deep level, there are no things, just processes in motion, and that includes us. Quantum physics shows us how at a microscopic level, even the most solid appearing objects and substances are intensely dynamic and in the modern world, this dynamism is more and more a fact of life in day to day experience. Experts talk about the rocoroc, the rate of change of the rate of change its apparently doubling every ten years. Our own bodies, relationships, roles, are constantly changing. Jon Kabat-Zinn states, The ultimate eect on our health of the total psychological stress we experience depends in large measure on how we come to perceive change itself in all its various forms, and how skilful we are in adapting to continual change while maintaining our own inner balance and sense of coherence. When we can apply mindfulness to the changing reality of our lives, we can start to nd a dierent relationship to change. Rather than change being our enemy, we start to relax and appreciate the ever-changing reality right in front of our eyes. Over time and with practice, the ongoing reality of change in every dimension becomes like a vast symphony and we can feel like a new-born being in a freshly new-born universe every single moment. For most of us, however, we have work to do thats closer to home. We have a range of stressors some very short-term, like a child stepping out in front of our car, and some ongoing and long-term such as our yearly tax bill. When you experience a stressor, internal or external, the body and mind will typically react to it as if its a

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threat an alarm reaction the bodys way of clearing the decks for defensive or aggressive action. Walter B. Cannon, the Harvard physiologist who was the pioneer in this area, called this clearing the decks the ght or ight reaction. This is step one of the process we mentioned above. In this reaction, the body releases stress hormones including adrenaline. This leads to heightened sense perceptions so that we can take in as much information as possible. The heart output jumps by a factor of 4 or 5 so that more blood can be directed to the arms and legs. At the same time, blood ow to the digestive system shuts down. All of this is superb if youre about to be attacked by a tiger. But the stressors were dealing with are not really of that type any more. If a dicult encounter with your boss leads to this alarm reaction, what you probably dont want to do is kill him or run out of the building at top speed. Well maybe you do one one level, but in the social situation we nd ourselves in neither reaction is going to work. We have no inherent way to deal with the hyperarousal. For some people this state of hyperarousal with ght or ight hormones rushing around the body can become a permanent state. They typically then feel ongoing muscular tension, elevated heart rate, butteries in the stomach, sweaty palms. In beginning the journey to freedom from these eects, awareness is the critical element. Perhaps right now we can suppress these feelings, driving them deep inside. When you do this, you dont get the resolution that ghting or running brings. You just carry the hyperarousal around deep inside of you. Sometimes we encounter a series of minor alarms where the ght or ight response is partially triggered. If we dont have a way to release these eects, they just build up inside. The eect of this built up stress, the poor sleep and digestion, chronic head and backaches, cardiac arrythmias and so on, can in turn become further stressors and the whole situation can become a vicious circle. We can develop various coping mechanisms : denial distractions, including busyness and workaholism chemicals alcohol and drugs food None of them solve the problems and if left for long enough, the problem can lead to burnout, breakdown, depression and other sickness. Jon Kabat-Zinn says, The healthy alternative to being caught in this self-destructive pattern is to stop reacting to stress and to start responding to it. This is that path of meditation and mindfulness. The stress response is the healthy alternative to the stress reaction. Stress reactions happen automatically and unconsciously but when you bring awareness to a situation, you immediately change it. How does this work? In a moment of stress, you remain centred and aware. You recognize both the reality of the stressors and the reality of your responses the thoughts, feelings and sensations. This awareness provides a space in which you dont have to run away from these thoughts, feelings and sensations nor do we have to react to them in any particular way. This space reduces the strength of the reaction, even to the point where you start to nd that many things dont push your buttons any more, and it also helps to reduce the time you need to recover from stressful situations. It takes time to develop this awareness and consequent freedom. Thats why we practice Silences : http://silenc.es / hello@silenc.es

meditation every day. This practice makes it much easier to shift from stress reaction to stress response in the moment. This is a process and takes time to learn, but over time, it may literally save your life. Summarising this process just to clarify it. When we encounter stress, we dont act out and we dont suppress it. We are aware. We allow thoughts, feelings and sensations to arise and pass and act as appropriately as we can. Very simple. This is the path to freedom from stress. Ok good, so lets get going. Lets have a three minute toilet break and start our practice. The classical texts talk about the four postures of meditation walking, standing, sitting and lying down. Were going to start with meditation while lying. There are two main positions lying on your back or if you cant get comfortable like that, lying on your right side. Try both and then choose one for the group practice. Lying on your back. Extend your spine. Extend your legs all the way down into your heels, legs out straight. If its more comfortable for your back, you can bend your knees, place your feet down on the oor and have a support under your knees. Lie as straight as you can. You may feel comfortable with your head down on the oor or you may want a little support. Your hands can be folded on your belly or if you wish you can have your arms a little away from and beside your body with your palms face up. Have your mouth closed and your tongue resting on the roof of your mouth. Breathe through your nose. Have your eyes closed or half-closed and soft, looking along the line of your nose. Lying on Your Right Side. If your body doesnt allow you to lie on your back, try on your right side. Have your right hand under and supporting your head. Your knees a little bend, legs one on top of the other. Have your left arm draped along the left side of your body. Your mouth and eyes are just like in the lying on your back position. Feel free to adjust to make yourself more comfortable. Talk about breathing in the belly as opposed to the chest. Dont worry about thoughts, just let them come and go. The physical body, relaxed and yet broadly straight, reects the mental state. Spend three to ve minutes helping people nd their way into the posture. Check everyone, then have them stretch and sit up. Ask for feedback. When everyone is clear, have them lie down and adopt the meditation position Introduce the rst meditation practice. Can play CD if you wish. Afterwards, feedback session with partners, then with the whole group. Check everyone is comfortable to go home and practice. Meditation diary. Have students note down how they felt, any particular insights/ inspirations that might have arisen, also when appropriate give a guesstimate of what percentage of the time they could stay with the meditation object. Remind students to take a few minutes to do this after each meditation period when they go home.

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Assignment for the week. To take 30 minutes once a day to practice the bodyscan meditation and update meditation diary. If you need a timer, you can use an alarm clock or a mobile phone on vibrate. Question to be answered. What happens if, with the best will in the world you miss a day of practice? The answer comes in two parts Really, really, dont miss a day. Carry straight on the next day. Note that you missed a day in your meditation diary and then just keep going. Final questions.

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