Topic Tuesday: NOW OPEN!!! Special guest - Mindfulness expert & psychologist Jordan from Mindfulgym!

[BeMindful]

Hi Jack,

I don't think that it is possible for everybody to experience the exact same thing when they are practising mindfulness. Mindfulness knows no language and we often find it difficult to describe an experience of mindfulness. I am also not sure that one standardardised exercise is enough to experience mindfulness either as most of my students will be drawn to different mindfulness techniques I am reluctant to make them practice the same one. There is a lot of research being completed on mindfulness which is great on one hand, however can be frought with methodological flaws!

[Jackson]

Jordan, your reply to NikNik drew a distinction between the thought and the reaction to a thought. Do you have an example of what is a thought and what is the reaction to it?

Cheers,

Jack

[BeMindful]

Hi Kenny, thanks for your contribution and your honesty. It is very hard to maintain a mindfulness practice living a conventional western lifestyle. I would suggest try some of the Mindfulness apps;

1. smiling mind

2. mindful.org

3. the mindfulness app

4. headspace (on the go)

5. mindfulness meditation from mental workout

[BeMindful]

mythbuster mindfulness

1. mindfulness is not sitting and 'meditating' it can involve many different activities

2. don't practice mindfulness technqiues expectation, otherwise you start judging yourself and your experience

3. anybody can practice mindfulness, you don't have to sit down, your body is not too broken

4. mindfulness is religious, mindfulness has been sited in texts over 5000 years ago (before buddhism and christianity) it is therefore not a religious concept

5. mindfulness has been found to be very helpful for anybody with a mental illness, if you have a mental illness there is nothing wrong with giving some techqniues a go under supervision

[BeMindful]

Sure thing Jack

event; whilst practising a sitting meditation I started thinking about work and how much catch up work I need to do, each time I thought about work I noticed the knot in my stomach became tighter and tighter

thought; work

reaction; stomach tensing

MICBT wants you to observe the knot in your stomach and sit with that, however it may feel. CBT wants you to change the thought of work stress into something more positive.

The differences between CBT, MICBT and mindfulness sometimes seem contradictory or too similar however after some careful research I am at peace with them!

[NikNik]

I'm not sure if you're able to answer this ... but how wide spread is mindfulness practice. Can people expect their psychologist to know about mindfulness?

You have mentioned some apps that could be helpful to practice mindfulness, do you have any other tips or suggestions on other avenues to get support in the practice of mindfulness?

[NikNik]

We have about 5 mins left everyone - so now's the time to ask any burning questions 🙂

[Alessandra1992]

ACT is also based on mindfulness so there are many psychologists who have trained in ACT.
I cannot speak highly enough of mindfulness. It is something that I can do anywhere, especially focussing on my breath.
There are lots of free mindfulness apps and soundtracks, the main thing is to give it a whirl, and it can be soooo peace inducing...

[BeMindful]

Hi NikNik

Most psychologists will know about mindfulness, however they have probably not had any formal training on it. In order to teach Mindfulness one must have a pretty good experience in mindfulness practice. Unfortunately there are not many people around with training. You could contact your local Buddhist centre which will have meditations and lectures. My studio, mindfulgym has a few website resources as well. Or if anyone is in Melbourne my studio is Mindfulgym look me up!

[BeMindful]

Thanks everybody who posted on the forum tonight! I had a really nice time answering your questions. Words from my mindfulness teacher to you all "practice, practice, practice all is coming!"