Our website dedicated to mindfulness www.mindfulnessatwork.org

The main source of inspiration for our mindfulness practice is the method that Jon Kabat-Zinn has developed, so called Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR). Jon is an American medical doctor who has opened one of hte firt clinic in the medical environment dealing with stress and using mindfulness excercises to support the patients in their medical treatments. his books are outstanding to accompany collective or personal practice. he has also developed a range of quality meditation CDs.

What is mindfulness?

Many traditions around the world have developed practices that can be hosted under the umbrella of mindfulness. It ranges from mediation to contemplation, from body postures to slow motion sequences of physical practices, without forgetting a wide range od breathing techniques. Mindfulness is more than a concept or a practice, it is an attitude towards life, a way of being present and of attending wahtever one does, from dressing up in the morning, eating, speaking with fellow human beings as well as meditating. It encompasses the endless list of actions that we undertake almost continuously.

Why having dedicated time to practice it?

While it is true that mindfulness is an atttiude towards life and that any moment can be lived mindfully, it is nevertheless of great support to have dedicated time to reinforce the strength of mindfulness in our lives. the more we experience it int he context of dedicated practice the more we ncrease the chances to live mindfully outside these moments. 

What form can the practice take? 

The practice can vary. It can be guided or not, individual or collective. One can meditate while sitting. lying, standing or walking. All these forms are complementary. The sitting meditation has an important place. What matters is to adopt a posture that embeds dignity and wakefulness.

Is there an object to meditate upon?

What we call an object is the support towards which one direct his attention during meditation. it varies from concetratingon the breathing, on a particular sense like hearing or choosing words or pictures to focus on. One can also focus on a specific body part or ont he body as a whole. Of course, choose to focus on nothing at all is also an option. No matter what is the chosen center of attention, it is meant to only serve the purpose of being able to return to it every time one is noticing that the attention has been drifting away.

Is meditation about 'not thinking'?

No! As a matter of fact, it is said that in any given day, a person has between 45'000 to 60'000 thoughts. Quite many opportunies to be carried away from the present moment and not to live one's life but to think it! Many persons hwo have tried meditation and given up on it say that they could just not stop thinking. Actually, meditation is more about bringing focus and at time reach this one moment where the mind is clear of thoughts than fighting desperately about the presence of thoughts in the mind. Mindfulness helps to increase the awareness about our thoguhts and possibly help to be detached from them. The thinking process is different from the thoughts that arise from the thinking process. It is one thing to be thinking and it is a different one to be caught by the content of the thoughts generated by the thinking process. One may observe a thought without starting an inner discussion with or about it. Mindfulness is the instant of awareness just before the mind start to produce or formalise in words what's happening. This is the clap of two pieces of wood, jut after the briain has signalled to the hands to clap the pieces of wood together and just before the brain has put in words the information just received fromthe ears of what they have just heard.

Our website dedicated to mindfulness www.mindfulnessatwork.org