Posts tagged with 'meditation'
Going back for a university reunion: emotional archaeology unearths a treasure trove of insights & new directions (6th post)
18th September 2012
This is the sixth and final blog post about going back to my old university for a reunion dinner. I wrote three posts last month and a further couple earlier this month. In the first post of the series, I said: "I've never been back for any kind of reunion …
Going back for a university reunion: self-esteem, hallucinogens, wonder & the transpersonal (4th post)
14th September 2012
"Who will prefer the jingle of jade pendants if he once has heard stone growing in a cliff?" Lao Tzu "To stand and stare, to watch the rising sun, fills me with such calm happiness, I am sure I have dwindled away too much time on inessentials." Diana Gault (when …
Using Williams & Penman's book "Mindfulness: a practical guide" as a self-help resource - overview of 10 supporting blog posts
14th August 2012
Earlier this year I wrote a sequence of ten blog posts to support people working their way through Mark Williams & Danny Penman's fine book "Mindfulness: a practical guide to finding peace in a frantic world" as a self-help training in mindfulness practice. I've referred lots of people to these …
Leeds BABCP conference: compassion focused therapy & CBT, John Vlaeyen & treating chronic pain problems (8th post)
2nd August 2012
In June I wrote a series of five posts reporting on a pre-conference workshop (about treating chronic fatigue) and the first day of the British Association for Behavioural & Cognitive Psychotherapies (BABCP) main annual conference, held this year in Leeds. Then last month I wrote a further couple of posts. …
Personal directions in mindfulness teaching: should we really only be training mindfulness for diverse group populations?
6th July 2012
I wrote an initial blog post in May entitled "Personal directions in mindfulness teaching: an overview" where I said that I was "excited, stimulated, happy, frustrated, challenged, and hopeful" about the current surge of interest in mindfulness and introduced the following diagram: (This diagram is downloadable both as a PDF …
Jon Kabat-Zinn in Glasgow: honour, confusion, sadness, interest
21st June 2012
I wrote a blog post yesterday just before heading out to what was billed as an international conference on "Mindfulness, health and wellbeing" with Jon Kabat-Zinn. I described the structure of the day - with a variety of interesting speakers billed - and sounded a note of caution about possible …
Jon Kabat-Zinn in Glasgow: has mindfulness got too "sexy"?
20th June 2012
I'm off to Glasgow a little later this morning to what is billed as "Mindfulness, health and wellbeing" An international conference with Jon Kabat-Zinn, co-hosted by Mindfulness Scotland and University of Glasgow. The programme looks very interesting - Harry Burns, chief medical officer for Scotland, is scheduled to kick off …
Using Williams & Penman's book "Mindfulness: a practical guide" as a self-help resource (10th post) - eighth week's practice
9th March 2012
I wrote recently about the seventh week's practice in this eight week mindfulness course. In today's post I'll look at the final session of the Williams & Penman course, described in chapter twelve (pp. 236 to 249) - "Your wild and precious life". This phrase is taken from Mary Oliver's …
Using Williams & Penman's book "Mindfulness: a practical guide" as a self-help resource (9th post) - seventh week's practice
23rd February 2012
The seventh week's practice in the sequence described so well in Mark Williams & Danny Penman's book on mindfulness is covered in chapter eleven "When did you stop dancing?" (pp. 209 to 235). I have already discussed the sixth week's practice in another recent post. The week-by-week programme summary (p. …
Personal experience (3rd post): feedback as opportunity & as a way of getting back on track
9th February 2012
In the last couple of days I have written posts on "Personal experience: feedback, group work & learning from difficulties" and "Personal experience: caution over "goodwill" & "mindfulness" practice". I'm a great fan of both mindfulness training and of using goodwill or loving-kindness or compassion focused meditation practices. However in …