When I can let go to feel into it (my mindfulness practice)– then I begin to enjoy the ride, no matter what comes at me. But this takes some doing, and last week, mindfulness allowed me to at least take my hands off the oars which were useless anyway. In fact, this week, I just threw my oars overboard and gave in to it all. Trying to control, or navigate, or steer in anyway was the perfect state of delusion – and I realized caused me more harm than good – added tension of trying to keep a grip on events that were beyond my control. Mindfulness Level One course helped me to build an awareness to notice and intercept my unhelpful behaviours – intercept my mind when it takes me off into catastrophising…This week I really felt the benefits of mindfulness as my week became more and more full of difficulties – one after the other – it was one of those weeks. I could feel it building up…

As I surrendered… and I mean as soon as I surrendered – whoosh! The flush of gratitude fills me and I am full of the joy of the gift that mindfulness has given me – at that moment I came home to myself and then the energy is released that gives me the strength I need to cope. It feels like a deeper and limitless source of energy. Compassion training adds such a level of support – once we have stabilised our mindfulness we begin to see things about ourselves we may find uncomfortable. The strength of compassion flows and soothes and activates where it’s needed.

It took some time in my practice to notice that these little flashes, these little emotional flushes were in fact gratitude breaking through the tough-nut coating of my ‘coping’ attitude – an attitude which got me through but denied me my feelings. You may not feel any gratitude when times are tough – it feels like such a contradiction in terms. There’s a lot of paradoxical stuff that goes on in the mind! My compassionate messy-me has the capacity to sob and laugh at the same time.

Last week I had to let go – I was heading into the rapids and I knew it. Here it comes. My son, my last manchild-at-home is going to leave;- next week… in a couple of days… now it’s today… this morning, in an hour, in a few minutes, here it is, he is walking to his car, he is coming back for something, he is going, getting in his car, waving, reversing, waving, gone.

A poignant moment….this is the moment, in slow motion that marks a major transition of both of us.

Leading up to the moment, I was aware of wanting to just sob. I could feel this rising tide of emotion, the tsunami rising, the pause before the hit as the tide pulls away and gains momentum.

I think to myself a confusion of thoughts and Mindfully I am aware that it’s OK to be sad. It’s ok to cry, of course I am going to cry. But I can’t do it on front of him. I want him to leave knowing I am so happy for him which I am. Maybe he can see my eyes are filling up a bit, I hope he can’t see it but also hope he can. My feelings are so mixed up. I don’t want him to think I am TOO happy about him going either. Ah the confusions of being a mother. Every moment is new and there’s a feeling I’m supposed to know what to do, how to behave, do the right thing.

I think of all the times I held in tears. In my mind I did this to protect my children from feeling worried about me – I needed them to feel I was OK so they would feel OK. I have considered this aspect of hiding my emotion from my children. I decide that maybe in retrospect allowing them to see my weakness says a lot about my own conditioning and childhood. The fact I wrote the word weakness – says a lot – that’s quite revealing. It isn’t weakness – quite the opposite. Courage is required to step into this messy paradox of feelings – I am so happy for him, after years of difficulty finally he has the strength, the enthusiasm, the courage to make his own way in the world and it was something he chose himself. Such a relief. Any sadness is my own grief, ‘feeling sorry for myself’- these words come to mind. I am just feeling sorry for myself. When I was younger this was seen as something deeply selfish and something that must be overcome – if you were feeling sorry for yourself this is BAD.

I hug my son. He is at the door. Our eyes meet and as I write it I revisit the moment and feel the emotion welling up in me – it’s still fresh and ailve.

It brings that moment and my son closer to me.

He came in and out the front door a few times and I feel his own hesitancy, has he got everything, oh he needs to do his teeth. Funny to watch this delicate dance of in and out the door, dancing on the threshold of his liberty, his independence.

We waved as he left and his car was gone.

I walked up and down in the space, stepping mindfully feeling into each step, each step into myself. I decide that I am going to step into this ‘feeling sorry for myself’. I am consciously stepping into the pain. I head for my cushion. I’m going to feel this.

I was still debating (thinking mind) whether I should cry or not cry in front of my children – this is a thinking activity that is trying to byspass my feelings. I acknowledge it, let it go. As I settled into my seat, the deep sea of grief rose and I was engulfed. I allowed the grief to fill me fully it filled me and filled me and I was so full it just poured out of my eyes. As the drops of tears poured, like a life passing before me I felt the flush of my mothering of my leaving son –  everything I did wrong, everything I could have done better – how I might have failed him – but then a feeling of glimmering – he’s OK – we are OK, my mothering-at-home phase is over my house is empty of his energy, a whole raft of stuff – the messy stuff of mothering flooded through me and through the tears I just said YES to it all. Yes it’s a mess, yes I am sorry for myself and YES such joy that my boy is a man and he is able to leave, that he has the courage and strength to go off, he is alive he is well  – off into the world he goes and this is such a joy.

When I arose from my cushion, it had passed through – I felt elated for him. And for myself. Such joy and gratitude for his being. As Wordsworth said – the child is father of the man. I remember not understanding this in school. Now I understood it. My son is my teacher. For the last 21 years he has been the catalyst in my personal growth, through him, I have come to understand myself better, and through mindfulness –  he has had a mother who has been open (about being imperfect!) and curious about him and his needs – and floored him once by thanking him for being so difficult as it was helping me to look at my inner resistance. (How to disarm a teenager haha) – Mindfulness has helped me– deal with change  – accept my imperfections and the imperfections (perceived in) others…how to live well in the messiness that I am – and flourish.

He is so happy, I can hear it in his voice when he rings me. Elated with his courage with his freedom with his new found life. It allows me to rest in this joyous space. Mindfulness is a raft that we can jump into and trust to take us with the flow to where we need to go.

Weekly Challenge

This week it’s all about saying YES.

This week when you feel a resistance, a feeling that you may not like, a difficulty, can you jump into your mindfulness raft, chuck away the oars and say yes to whatever the life flow brings along? How does that feel to let go and say yes to whatever comes along? Really feel into the sensations in the body. What happens? Watch Fay Adam’s practice on Acceptance HERE

Please do write to me at membership@mindfulnessassociation if you have anything you’d like to share about your experience. I love to receive your messages.

Wishing you a peaceful week this week.

Warm Wishes,

Lisa

One of the best books I have read on the evidence base for meditation is ‘The Science of Meditation’, also published as ‘Altered Traits’ by Daniel Goldman and Richard Davidson (2017). Their advice is basically to choose a practice that suits you, stick to it and avoid Charlatans.

Choose a practice that suits you

The meditation practice that you choose depends on what you are hoping to get out of the practice. For example, a practice of attending to the present moment, such as focussing on the breath or body may be associated with increased attention, but not increased compassion or theory of mind. A practice of cultivating positive emotions, such as loving kindness, compassion and gratitude may be associated with improved attention and compassion, but not theory of mind. A practice of observing thoughts may be associated with improved theory of mind (Singer, 2018).

Davidson and Goleman (2017) describe at length how different types of meditation practice generate different results. To summarise, attention meditation may be associated with the mind becoming quieter, improved emotional regulation and reduced stress and anxiety. Loving kindness and compassion meditation may be associated with generating positive mood, generosity and empathy. Meditation which involves observing thoughts may be associated with improved meta-awareness enabling more mental activity to be noticed that was previously unseen as well as enabling awareness of mental activity without becoming swept away by it.

So you might want to choose a course of meditation which includes these three different components:

• attention meditation, eg. focus on breath and/or body awareness;
• loving kindness and compassion meditation; and
• meditation on thoughts.

Stick to it

The key premise of Davidson and Goleman (2017) is that a meditator experiences particular states of mind while they are practising. However, with long term practice (the longer the better) more of these states become traits, ie. they are experienced in our daily lives and become part of our personality. This is due to the well-established process within the brain of neuroplasticity.

Neuroplasticity has been studied rigorously in the field of neuroscience and provides evidence that the more you practice something, the stronger the brain networks that are involved become. The brain rewires in accordance with repeated experience, including experience during meditation. Research so far indicates that the key parts of the brain where neural pathways transform with meditation are: those for reacting to disturbing events, those for compassion and empathy, those for attention and those for supporting our sense of self.

The yogis from the East who commit to years of retreats demonstrate the most impressive changes, such as deep equanimity and selflessness, demonstrating remarkable human potential, as seen in the brains of Tibetan yogis. A strong commitment to long term daily meditation practice and regular meditation retreats generates the best results for us Westerners, if we are not able to devote years of our lives to cloistered retreats. Doing an eight week mindfulness meditation course and following short practices on apps, while beneficial are less impactful (Davidson and Goleman, 2017).

Avoid Charlatans

In the UK the British Association of Mindfulness Based Approaches (BAMBA) hosts a list of Mindfulness meditation teachers who meet the requirements of the UK Good Practice Guidelines for Mindfulness Teachers. All of the tutors employed by the Mindfulness Association are on this list and meet the BAMBA Good Practice Guidelines and all have a strong commitment to long term daily meditation practice and regular meditation retreats.

Before engaging in a meditation training find out about the qualifications, training and meditation practice of the teacher you will be working with. If your meditation teacher is from a spiritual tradition research the lineage of meditation teachers within which they have trained. Be aware that much of the media and marketing hype are far removed from what the research has so far established.

Conclusion

The good news is that research suggests that in general practising meditation promotes a healthy mind and body. The not so good news is that sustained practice is required for the most transformative results. Meditation is not a ‘quick fix’!

Written by Heather Regan-Addis

Heather Regan-Addis is a Founder Member and Director of the Mindfulness Association.

Heather delivers training for the Mindfulness Association on our two Post Graduate Master’s degree courses as well as on our regular courses in Mindfulness, Compassion, Insight and on our Teacher training programmes.

Heather will be delivering a taster session with Q&A  for the Master’s Degree in Mindfulness & Compassion (with Teacher Qualification) ONLINE on October 11th at 7pm. You are welcome to join.

References

Goleman & Davidson (2017) – https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/533719/altered-traits-by-daniel-goleman-and-richard-j-davidson/

Singer, 2018 –https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/what_type_of_meditation_is_best_for_you

The Mindfulness Association’s 8 week MBLC course includes all three components and our longer term training includes:

• Level 1: Being Present with a prime focus on attention meditation, but also introducing meditations on loving kindness, compassion and on thoughts;
• Level 2: Responding with compassion with a prime focus on compassion and loving kindness meditation; and
• Level 3: Seeing Deeply with a prime focus on meditation on thoughts.

Course: MIndfulness Level 2: Responding with Compassion

“If you want others to be happy practice Compassion. If you want to be happy, practice Compassion” ~ HH Dalai Lama

We can train in Compassion, and we start by cultivating a little kindness. towards ourself.

Join Kristine Mackenzie-Janson this Saturday for a free online taster session with Q&A at 7pm

“The practices given are lifelong tools”

This course starts with building self-compassion into basic mindfulness practice. Through compassionate imagery and mindful self-compassion, we cultivate positive emotions as a way of building up an inner resource, from which we can approach the difficulties that are part and parcel of being alive. We then approach the self-critic: that persistent inner voice that is harsh and condemning, and always finding fault in what we do.  What it would be like to cultivate an inner voice that is kind and supportive, and to live life from this place, rather than from a place of destructive self-criticism?

In the course of the journey we move from self-compassion towards compassion for others, exploring practices which help us find balance and perspective beyond our narrow preferences, generating love and friendliness to our inner and outer worlds, responding appropriately to pain and suffering while also appreciating the good things in our lives, integrating compassion into all that we do. As there is a strong emphasis on the experiential nature of the course, there are home practice suggestions between the sessions that include regular compassion practice and daily life exercises.

JOIN THE TASTER SESSION WITH THIS LINK

READ MORE ABOUT THE COMPASSION COURSE HERE

I like a glass of wine. Or two. And sometimes it’s three.

Mindfulness and wine. Hmm, not sure. This week I have decided to focus on wine, or I should say the lack of it, as my mindfulness practice. The Famous Buddhist art of Not-Doing! A great opportunity to watch that gap we talk about in Mindfulness Training. We notice how we feel somehow lacking in this moment. In my day to day it can be a very subtle thing, it’s a tricky elusive aspect of my habitual way of being, so taking something away that I know I will miss, will be excellent practice! I don’t really want to stop drinking wine. I really like it, but this week I will get to know that feeling intimately and feel into its stories a little.

Dukkha, is the Buddhist term for this sense of lack which manifests in all kinds of subtle ways, but this week, for me, a concerted effort to deal with just this one, winelessness!

Mindfulness has really helped me to notice my middle-aged urge for wine. Well that’s a start isn’t it? The seeing is the doing? no?

Rob Nairn says that the deeper levels of Mindfulness training when we get to insight training it helps us catch a whiff of these subconscious drives which can be very powerful. Along with attitudes, they are active just beneath our conscious awareness, and definitely are pulling the strings. Only a still mind, will catch these drives in action.

Rob asks, have you ever noticed that you set an intention to do something, and then before you know it, you are doing something else?  Not going for that run. Not hoovering and putting the washing away. Eating the whole packet of biscuits (used to be my favourite!) Having a third glass of wine when you said to yourself you would just have two? So the weak intention is easily overruled by subconscious drives.

The urge seemed to increase as soon as my youngest son passed his driving test and I was off the hook for taxi services, which happened a lot as we live in the middle of nowhere, and there is no public transport when a young person might need it. I really didn’t mind being a taxi driver after all it was my decision to live here, and I did feel responsible for his lack of social scene, so different from mine as I grew up in a big city. So that was fine. But the wine then became the after dinner ‘treat’ and rather than occasional it became possible to have my ‘nice glass of wine’, every evening.

Mindfulness has also helped me notice how my body is somehow involved in my decision making, something that I was oblivious to before. My body or some kind of energy within my body is demanding wine – and telling my head to go and get it! The unconscious part of me, just obeys this order from below. It might not be my body that’s demanding it but it feels like it.

So before my major intention setting, I had a minor intention to not drink wine every evening. I write ’wine’ on the shopping list (as if I need to actually write it on the list haha). There is an interplay here as I observe my planning. The body/urge now satisfied its request has been heard and is being put into action.

Mindfulness watches me buy the wine. Mindfulness watches me take it home. Later on, around Wine O’clock, Mindfulness is aware of the Urge for Wine, but only very rarely does it have the power to intervene. Mindfulness watches as I collect the bottle opener from the hook, noticing its beautiful shapes and craftsmanship (someone designed that!) Mindfulness takes me towards the bottle, notices I don’t need the bottle opener because it’s a screw top, opens the bottle and now my sound senses pick up the sound of the wine pouring into the glass, the glinting ruby liquid, the sense of satisfaction of the first sip. My body immediately relaxes, celebrates, and feels joy.

So I can be Mindful with all that. My ego likes to kick in here and hijack the scene by telling me how clever I am at Mindfulness. Good Job! Taste the wine! Tastes good doesn’t it? Notice how GOOD it makes you feel, says the character, similar to the inner critic but this time it’s the ‘inner wine taster’!

Mindful Observer is noticing that there’s a lot more going on underneath this neat exercise in Mindfulness that is not being addressed.

Mindfulness in itself is only the beginning of the journey. Mindfulness is only the first step towards a much deeper richer experience and understanding of myself, my thought processes, my habits, my attitudes, my subconscious drives. Once I had cultivated and stabilized my Mindfulness practice I practiced the compassion practices next. As we practice more and more we can start to encounter things about ourselves we may not entirely like. And then once we are fully equipped with a kind warm-heartedness towards ourselves we are ready for the insight practices where we can really get down diving into the undercurrent, and its underlying attitudes and the unseen forces at work beneath our behavior.

So this past 2 weeks, I have mindfully restrained. I connected with my motivation, for not drinking wine. Heath benefits! Better sleep, more energy, clear thinking, vibrant dreams – are major benefits of drinking rooibosh tea with almond milk, and fresh filtered water instead of wine. A slice of cucumber grown in the garden and a mint leaf makes the water taste a bit posh! I have enjoyed the evenings and have spent more time reading, researching and practicing. I’ve been much more productive.

I set my intention and held firm, reminded myself of my intention each day during my practice and as I woke up and as I went to sleep I reminded myself to stay with the sensations of any urges or feelings arising and be curious. Setting an intention is one of the first things we encounter when we begin our mindfulness training. Setting intention helps us to stay with the energy of the motivation, it is not goal driven, it is an intention to stay in the moment- only I find it to be a direct message delivered to the unconscious that somehow it goes in deep. We just need to consciously declare the intention to ourselves like a reminder to remember to be mindful, to re-mind ourselves and let it go.

I had just one evening where I felt the urge to be really strong in the body. I noticed it was triggered because my partner opened the wine and poured himself a glass.

It was a combination of seeing the bottle, and hearing the noise, that perked up my ears and triggered my urge.

I stayed with the sensations of the urge, so curious about it! how does this feel, this urge? Where is it coming from? My head or my body? It felt like a great dark hole like my whole body was a cavern that needed to be filled up. An empty ache. What am I filling up? What is empty?

I practiced and sat with the feelings that were arising. I have been working with a Mindfulness and Art Therapist (as part of my MSc Studies in Mindfulness research) and she had encouraged me to draw these feelings that were arising in an earlier session a few months ago. She taught me to stay with the feelings and to be aware of any images that came to mind. We did a kind of RAIN practice but with art materials. It was so interesting so I drew the feeling I had of the empty vessel floating but submerged. It took me to wonder about that emptiness, the void feeling. It echoed the feelings I touched on of no-feelings. Like I have been an empty vessel, numb of feelings, unaware of feelings, empty of feelings.

Having experienced alcoholism in my caregivers as a child I am very aware that that is not a route I want to go down. I wondered if there is a tendency to like wine, if it is a genetic predisposition. I know that as a teenager we were all drinking so much because we could freely express ourselves and it freed us up from our inhibitions and fears. As adults we can drink to numb feelings. I could get a sense that this was quite possible in me.

I did some research to amuse myself while I sipped my tea! I remembered a study about alcoholic rats I read once, maybe it has been disproved (I hoped!) So-called alcohol-preferring rats voluntarily consume much greater amounts of alcohol than do non-preferring rats. Scientists at the National Institutes of Health now report that a specific gene plays an important role in the alcohol-consuming tendencies of rats. (Zhou Z, et al. 2013) Oh dear. Then I find something even more scary – ‘Winefulness’ is being promoted as a thing! (by booze selling companies of course – jump on the bandwagon why not)…

 “Winefulness: be in the moment, feel calm and connected while drinking your favourite tipple” it went on to encourage mindful guzzling – oh dear that’s not good!

Finally I landed upon a health promoting site (Healthline) which emcouraged mindfulness when we are considering our relationship with alcohol:

• “Mindful drinking” is the practice of being aware of why and how much alcohol you drink.
• It often leads to healthier relationships with alcohol and less consumption.
• To practice mindful drinking, pause before each new drink and ask yourself whether it supports you.
• READ THE HEALTHLINE INFO HERE

And finally the scientific research: Just 11 Minutes of daily meditation can reduce alcohol consumption! After an 11-minute training session and encouragement to continue practising mindfulness – heavy drinkers drank less over the next week than people who were taught relaxation techniques, according to the study published in the International Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology.The mindfulness group drank 9.3 fewer units of alcohol (roughly equivalent to three pints of beer) in the following week compared to the week preceding the study, while there was no significant reduction in alcohol consumption among those who had learned relaxation techniques. Read the study HERE

So it’s been a really great week, and am now sleeping really well, with great dreams and am really feeling much more energetic. I have a new habit – an evening meditation practice and I will continue to work with the feelings arising and use my medittion practice to stay with the urges which suprprisingly are very short lived when faced head on and felt into. Feeling in to the sensations and offering myself self-compassion for any difficult feelings that arise help me to guide myself through any difficulty. Accepting the feelings, means that insights are more likely to arise. And insights lead to transformation.

I like the healthline guidelines. Heather Regan Addis and Ki James will be looking at our relationship with food, drink and exercise on their new Mindfulness Based Healthy Living Course. If the course is fully booked, look out for the next one coming up in January.

I’m looking forward to my new “Mindful Drinking” habit, and I’ll be giving the winefulness a miss I think!

Weekly Challenge.

This week try setting an intention to notice when you have an urge or a craving for something. Before you act on that urge, if you can, spend a moment feeling into the sensations of that urge. How is it manifesting in your body? What is it trying to say to you? If you feel like there’s an image there, maybe you could draw it. Offer yourself some self-compassion in that moment and stay with the feeling. Notice what happens. What normally happens when you get the urge?

How has mindfulness affected your eating and drinking indulgences? Do you have any tips for us? We’d love to hear them!

You can write to me at membership@mindfulnessassociation.net we always love to hear from you.

Warm Wishes,

Lisa

There is a Compassion Course  TASTER SESSION THIS SATURDAY with Kristine Mackenzie-Janson at 7pm  – the online course starts on October 9th

MINDFULNESS LEVEL 1 Weekend one with Kristine Mackenzie Janson is a great place to start your Mindfulness Training starting on the weekend of the 25-26^th September.

MINDFULNESS LEVEL 2: Responding with Compassion Our next Online Compassion Course Begins on October 9-10^th and is delivered over three weekends.

Mindfulness to Buddhism Retreat A 5 day Mindfulness to Buddhism retreat delivered by Choden and Alan Hughes will certainly take your practices to a deeper level. It starts on the 27^th October and is delivered on zoom.

POST GRADUATE MASTER’S COURSES Transform your life and your career at the same time! The University of Aberdeen course is available entirely online the other University of the West of Scotland is based in London. (Join Our open evening on October 11th)

There are different types of meditation and they work in different ways. However, the general principle, which we teach in our Level 1: Being Present Mindfulness course  is ‘energy follows focus’. Or as neuroscientist and meditation teacher Rick Hanson says, ‘neurones that fire together, wire together’ or in other words, the concept of neuroplasticity (Hanson, 2009).

Mindfulness meditation is a practice of setting an intention to be present, for example, focussing on the breath. Then after a while the mind wanders into thinking and this takes us out of the present. Our intention wakes us up and then we let the thinking be and return to the present by re-focussing on the breath. We do this over and over again and in this way we take our focus and energy out of the habit of thinking and place our focus and energy in to the habit of being present.

As indicated in my earlier blog on the default mode network, when we are not task oriented, this brain network activates and gives rise to self-referential discursive thinking. By consistent mindfulness practice, we take our focus and energy out of the default mode network. Then over time this network quietens down, because the brain rewires in accordance with repeated experience.

Kindness and compassion meditation is a practice of setting an intention to cultivate kindness and compassion. For example, we might imagine different groups of people and wish them well so as to generate a flow of kindness or we might imagine breathing in a compassionate colour as a way of generating a flow of compassion. When we become distracted we repeatedly bring ourselves back to cultivating the flows of kindness or compassion. With consistent practice we place our focus and energy into brain networks for kindness and compassion, which are then activated and energised and the brain rewires in accordance with repeated experience.

For the remainder of this blog I have focussed on the Altered Traits book by Goleman and Davidson and a summary of their findings is set out below (Goleman et al, 2018).

If you really want to know how meditation works, then this is the book to read.

Different meditation techniques work in different ways, so for example, breath focus meditation has the effect of calming the mind while kindness meditation has the effect of creating positive mood.

The main neural pathways meditation transforms relate to:

1. Those for reacting to disturbing events.
2. Attention.
3. Compassion and empathy.
4. Sense of self.

Training in attention meditation, such as breath awareness can improve the pre-frontal cortex’s ability to down regulate amygdala activation, so as to avoid emotional hijacking and so improve emotional regulation and impulse control and reduce stress. It also improves our ability to pay attention and not become so easily distracted, reduces attentional blink (tuning out briefly after spotting something) and increases working memory, so that more short term memory goes into long term memory.

Loving kindness meditation, which is a key part of the Mindfulness Association’s Level 1: Being Present Mindfulness course stimulates the parental care networks of the brain and overcomes the tendency to tune out of another’s distress and so enables us to respond with compassion. This type of meditation enables us to notice, empathise and actually help others in distress, as well as boosting good feelings, relaxation and generosity. Widening our kindness practice to different groups of people has been found to reduce unconscious bias.

Compassion meditation, which is the focus of the Mindfulness Association’s Level 2: Responding with Compassion course, has been found to energise and improve brain networks for happiness and joy, as well as increasing empathy.

The brain’s default mode network generates self-focussed mind wandering, which knits together the narrative of our sense of self and is often focussed on what is troubling us. The more we engage in this self-referential thinking the stronger our sense of self becomes. The whole point of spiritual training in meditation is to lighten the sense of self. In long term meditators the pre-frontal cortex inhibits activity in the default mode network and so begins to lighten our sense of self. Over time, self-focussed thoughts become less ‘sticky’ and thoughts, emotions and feelings are experienced as just passing mental events, as opposed to something personal, which needs to be engaged with, ruminated on and worried about.

The mechanisms discussed above result in two major benefits, a healthy body and mind. Although, their key premise is that short term practice has short term results and long term transformation is a result of long term practice. (Goleman et al, 2018).

Written by Heather Regan-Addis

Heather Regan-Addis is a Founder Member and Director of the Mindfulness Association.

Heather delivers training for the Mindfulness Association on our two Post Graduate Master’s degree courses as well as on our regular courses in Mindfulness, Compassion, Insight and on our Teacher training programmes.

Heather will be delivering a taster session with Q&A  for the Master’s Degree in Mindfulness & Compassion (with Teacher Qualification) ONLINE on October 11th at 7pm. You are welcome to join.

Heather will be guiding practices at the Free Members’ Retreat Weekend 24-26 September,

(You can join our membership for just £10 for 6 months to benefit from a whole weekend of practice.)

Join Us for Free Online Daily Guided Meditation practice every day.  at 10.30am( Monday-Friday) and 7pm every day to find out how meditation works for you!

References

Goleman & Davidson – https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/533719/altered-traits-by-daniel-goleman-and-richard-j-davidson/

Hanson, 2009 – https://www.rickhanson.net/books/buddhas-brain/