New Class: Having practiced meditation for the past 20 years, I wanted to share with my clients the benefits I have received from the techniques I have learned. The new class is "An Introduction to Mindfulness Meditation". Please also see the article below on mindfulness. The schedule for all the classes is listed below. Some of these classes are offered on a donation basis and others are in a small group format which makes the cost very reasonable. Please pass this information onto anyone you may think would be interested.

QUOTE

"Self-awareness is an act of self-kindness"

-Reuben Lowe

Mindfulness and Movement

Mindfulness and mindfulness meditation is rapidly becoming a part of the environment of hospitals, psychotherapy, prisons, and the work place. So what is mindfulness? One definition I have seen that is consistent with the research being done in this area is: “a moment-to-moment awareness of one’s experience without judgment”. Mindfulness can be cultivated with a variety of practices such as yoga, tai chi and qigong, but much of the research had focused on mindfulness meditation. This was described in one article as: “those self-regulation practices that focus on training attention and awareness in order to bring mental processes under greater voluntary control and thereby foster general mental well-being and development, and/or specific capacities such as calmness, clarity and concentration”. Some of the reported benefits of the practices are: self-control, objectivity, affect tolerance, enhanced flexibility, equanimity, improved concentration and mental clarity, emotional intelligence and the ability to relate to others and one's self with kindness, acceptance and compassion.
 
These same benefits can be attained when applying the practices to any movement or exercise program. The increased awareness can help in picking up deficiencies in movement before they becomes a major issue or result in an injury. Or minor discomforts or aches can be detected and then addressed before they become a bigger problem. Noticing a difference in movement capabilities between the two sides of the body can be used to adjust what exercises are done; how exercises are done; and the number of repetitions being done. All these may lead to doing exercises in a more asymmetrical way to bring more balance back into the body and joints.
 
Some simple practices to initially incorporate into movement are: awareness of the breath, doing focused single joint mobility drills (see: Your Body Tuning In and Tuning Up class, February 18), and body scanning. For the breathing awareness it could be counting the breaths or paying attention to where there is the greatest sensation of breathing occurring in the body. For the mobility drills it may be comparing quality or range of movement from one side of the body to the other. Body scanning may include noticing where the greatest sensation exists in the body while doing an exercise or identifying discomforts, aches or pain that arises with a given exercise.
 

So add some mindfulness into your exercise (and daily) activities to gain another whole host of benefits for your well-being.

To learn more about mindfulness meditation come to the class on Monday April 1, “An Introduction to Mindfulness Meditation” (see listing in this newsletter).

Gratitude: I am continually grateful for the support of you, my clients, for making it possible for me to continue offering my services to a wide range of people. Your referrals of friends, family, colleagues, and acquaintances maintains this flow of giving and receiving. Thank you!