AN INTRODUCTION TO

MINDFULNESS

The Healthy Path: Mindfulness

in Everyday Life
Session 8
Based on the Mindfulness – Based Stress Reduction Workbook
by Bob Stahl, Ph.D. & Elisha Goldstein, Ph.D.
 “The real week 8 is the rest of our
lives”
– Jon Kabat-Zinn

Week 8 is not necessarily the end of the program but the

beginning of a continuing journey.
 Mindfulness is NOT:
• having a blank mind
• becoming emotionless
• withdrawing from life
• seeking bliss
• escaping pain Mindfulness increases our
capacity to bear our
experiences
 Keeping Up the Formal Practice
• Keep your practice alive
• Continue reading about mindfulness
• Exposure to other meditation teachers

Kabat-Zinn, J. Full Catastrophe Living: Using the Wisdom of Your Body and Mind to Face Stress, Pain and Illness, Second Edition. New York: Bantam Books Trade Paperbacks, 2013
 Keeping Up the Informal Practice
“Paying attention, being awake and owning
your moments the best you can, and as often
as you can”
-Jon Kabat-Zinn

Kabat-Zinn, J. Full Catastrophe Living: Using the Wisdom of Your Body and Mind to Face Stress, Pain and Illness, Second Edition. New York: Bantam Books Trade Paperbacks, 2013
 Keeping Up the Informal Practice
Ask yourself throughout the day:
- “Am I fully awake?”
- “Do I know what I’m doing right now?”
- “Am I fully present in the doing of it?”
- “How does my body feel right now?”
- “How am I breathing?”
- “What is my mind up to?”
 Keeping Up the Informal Practice
• As long as you’re awake, you can be mindful
• You can tune into: standing, walking, listening,
speaking, eating, working, thoughts, emotions,
sensations, the environment around you, etc.

Kabat-Zinn, J. Full Catastrophe Living: Using the Wisdom of Your Body and Mind to Face Stress, Pain and Illness, Second Edition. New York: Bantam Books Trade Paperbacks, 2013
 Additional Awareness Exercises
• Mindful for one minute in every hour
• Touch base with your breathing throughout the day
• Connections between physical symptoms of distress and
preceding mental states
• Be mindful of your needs
• Decompress and restore balance

Kabat-Zinn, J. Full Catastrophe Living: Using the Wisdom of Your Body and Mind to Face Stress, Pain and Illness, Second Edition. New York: Bantam Books Trade Paperbacks, 2013
 Beyond Eight Weeks
• Sit for at least 20 minutes every day
• Sit in the morning
• Same time, in the same place, each day
• Practice yoga 4 or 5 times a week for 30 minutes
• Explore the recommended readings
• Practice with others

Kabat-Zinn, J. Full Catastrophe Living: Using the Wisdom of Your Body and Mind to Face Stress, Pain and Illness, Second Edition. New York: Bantam Books Trade Paperbacks, 2013
 Formal Practices
Mindful Eating Mindful Standing Yoga
Mindful Check-In Mindful Self-Inquiry for Stress & Anxiety
Mindful Breathing Loving Kindness Meditation
Body Scan
Sitting Meditation
Walking Meditation
Mindful Self Inquiry
Mindful Lying Yoga
 Informal Practices
Mindful Eating
Weaving Mindfulness Throughout Your Day
Bringing the 8 Attitudes of Mindfulness into Your Life
STOP
RAIN
Loving Kindness in Daily Life
Being Mindful of Habits
Minding your Pain
Love after Love

The time will come

When, with elation
you will greet yourself arriving
at your own door, in your own mirror
and each will smile at the other’s welcome,

and say, sit here. Eat.

You will love again the stranger who was your self.
Give wine. Give bread. Give back your heart
to itself, to the stranger who has loved you

all your life, whom you ignored

for another, who knows you by heart.
Take down the love letters from the bookshelf,

the photographs, the desperate notes,

peel your own image from the mirror.
Sit. Feast on your life.
- Derek Walcott
 Recommended Reading
Kabat-Zinn, J. Full Catastrophe Living: Using the Wisdom of Your Body and Mind to
Face Stress, Pain and Illness, Second Edition. New York: Bantam Books Trade
Paperbacks, 2013.
Williams, J.M.G., Segal, Z.V., Teasdale, J.D., & Kabat-Zinn, J. The Mindful Way
through Depression: Freeing Yourself from Chronic Unhappiness. New York:
Guildford Press, 2007.
Orsillo, S., & Roemer, E. The Mindful Way through Anxiety. New York: Guilford
Press, 2011.
Germer, C. The Mindful Path to Self-Compassion. New York: Guildford Press, 2007.
Kabat-Zinn, J. Wherever You Go, There You Are: Mindfulness Meditation in Everyday
Life. New York: Hyperion Press, 1994
 Recommended Reading
Kabat-Zinn, J. Coming to Our Senses: Healing Ourselves and the World Through
Mindfulness. New York: Hyperion Press, 1994
Tolle, E. The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment. Novato: New World
Library, 2004
Tolle, E. A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose. New York: Penguin Books,
2008
Levine, S. A Gradual Awakening. New York, Anchor Press, 1989
Brach, T. Radical Acceptance. New York: Bantam Books, 2004.
Salzberg, S. Loving-kindness: The Revolutionary Art of Happiness. Boston:
Shambhala Publications, 1995
Our Final Meditation
Assessments & Program Evaluation