Mindfulness: A Practical Guide to Finding Peace in a Frantic World

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The first step to regaining control over your life is learning to notice when your mind has begun to subvert itself and slip into unconsciousness. This is done by first training it to focus on one single thing at a time and then gradually learning how to move this ‘spotlight of attention’ around as you wish. If you have practised mindfulness in the past, particularly if you have read our previous book, Mindfulness: Finding Peace in a Frantic World, or taken a course based on it, you will have learnt to do this with a simple breathing meditation. The following meditation may therefore seem familiar but there are many subtle but crucial differences. These will deepen your experience and understanding. This is the kernel of what we want to share with you through our new book Deeper Mindfulness: it has, for us, become a treasure trove of new insights from the most ancient of Eastern traditions, as well as modern psychology and neuroscience. They have transformed our understanding of meditation and we hope that they will do the same for you, too. You’ll find written instructions here (they’re worth reading to familiarise yourself with the technique). A person whose mind isn’t wandering, isn’t meditating….. A: Of course, this is entirely down to your own preference. People can get a huge amount of value from simply following the programme in the book by themselves. A typical mindfulness exercise "consists of focusing your full attention on your breath as it flows in and out of your body. Focusing on each breath in this way allows you to observe your thoughts as they arise in your mind and little by little let go of struggling with them.

Lifeischaotic, but if you follow the mindfulness meditations in this programme you will become more resilient and less anxious, and develop the courage necessary to make difficult decisions, create new ideas and to follow them wherever they should lead. This book walks you gently through the beautiful, messy process of being human, and teaches you how and why all can be well’ Sir Kenneth Branagh. Meditation enhances brainfunction. It increases grey matter in areas associated with self-awareness, empathy, self-control and attention. 4 It soothes the parts of the brain that produce stress hormones 5 and builds those areas that lift mood and promote learning. 6 It even reduces some of the thinning of certain areas of the brain that ‘naturally’ occurs with age. 7

Mindfulness and MBCT Key Resources

Zeidan, F., Martucci, K. T., Kraft, R. A., Gordon, N. S., McHaffie, J. G. and Coghill, R. C. (2011), ‘Brain mechanisms supporting the modulation of pain by mindfulness meditation’, Journal of Neuroscience, 31(14), pp. 5540–8. The third step of the Breathing Space is like the broadening base of an hourglass. In this, you open your awareness. In this opening, you are opening to life as it is, preparing yourself for the next moments of your day. Here you are, gently but firmly, reaffirming a sense that you have a place in the world – your whole mind–body, just as it is, in all its peace, dignity and completeness. The Peace in a Frantic World Course contains shorter weekly sessions (90 mins) than MBCT/MBSR (2-2.5 hours) and shorter daily home practices (about 20 mins per day, 6 days a week - compared to 45 mins per day, 6 days a week). Mindfulness Meditation Can Reduce Physical Pain by 90 Percent, Week Two of Our Course Shows You How See ‘Depression in adults: The treatment and management of depression in adults’, NICE clinical guideline 90, issued October 2009; Ma, J. and Teasdale, J. D. (2004), ‘Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy for depression: replication and exploration of differential relapse prevention effects’, Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 72, pp. 31–40; Segal, Z. V., Williams, J. M. G. and Teasdale, J. D. (2002), Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy for Depression: A New Approach to Preventing Relapse (New York: Guilford Press); Kenny, M. A. and Williams, J. M. G. (2007), ‘Treatment-resistant depressed patients show a good response to Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy’, Behaviour Research and Therapy, 45, pp. 617–25; Eisendraeth, S. J., Delucchi, K., Bitner, R., Fenimore, P., Smit, M. and McLane, M. (2008), ‘Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy for treatment-resistant depression: a pilot study’, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, 77, pp. 319–20; Kingston, T., Dooley, B., Bates, A., Lawlor, E. and Malone, K. (2007), ‘Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy for residual depressive symptoms’, Psychology and Psychotherapy, 80(2), pp. 193–203.

Mindfulness is co-authored by Professor Mark Williams of Oxford University, co-developer of MBCT and inspiring meditation teacher. This book provides an extremely effective and elegant mind-body approach to healing . . . Highly recommended’ Jon Kabat-Zinn, PhD, author of Full Catastrophe Living and Coming to Our Senses Consider the following aspects of learning in a teacher-led group environment and whether these would help you to maximise the value of the course: The Relentless Pace of Life can Stifle Creativity and Undermine Happiness and Wellbeing – But it Doesn’t Have To Be this Way… Designed specifically to help ordinary people who are struggling to keep up with the demands of the modern world. As Mark Williams writes in the book, this will help you ‘understand where true happiness, peace and contentment can be found’ and teaches you ‘how to free yourself progressively from anxiety, stress, unhappiness and exhaustion’.Others may find that they develop a much richer and practical understanding of mindfulness by committing themselves to a structured process of learning that supports them from the beginning of the course to the end – and beyond.

The official App based on the international bestselling book Mindfulness: Finding Peace in a Frantic World by Oxford University’s Professor Mark Williams and Dr Danny Penman.

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Learning with and from other people – One thing that surprises most people who attend a course is how powerful it is to learn mindfulness alongside other people. Hearing others speak of the stress arising from common problems (busy and uncontrolled thoughts, the strain of personal or professional commitments, the demands of a world requiring us to be constantly switched-on) helps us recognise the common burdens of human existence and pressures we all share. This can lighten the sense of being alone and alienated in the problems we face and help us shift toward a healthier perspective in which we can learn, even laugh, and let go of certain things. The mutual support of a group environment can be more inspiring and influential to your learning than ‘going it alone’. There are moments in life that decide your fate. They ripple into the future and dictate how you experience the world in the moments that follow; either positive and uplifting, dark and chaotic, or flat and dull. A soothing companion to guide you through stressful times. Thoroughly researched and a joy to read. If you are looking for the practical steps that will help you feel calm, that work even when the world continues to storm around you . . . buy this book Dissolve anxiety, stress and unhappiness, enhance your mind and unleash your creativity with these simple exercises. And with each little moment of mindfulness, discover a happier, calmer you. It really is as easy as breathing…

It is paying full conscious attention to whatever thoughts, feelings and emotions are flowing through your mind, body and breath without judging or criticising them in any way. Its impact is twofold: first and foremost, it’s a meditation that’s used to punctuate the day, so that you can more easily maintain a compassionate and mindful stance, whatever comes your way. In essence, it dissolves negative thought patterns before they gain control over your life – often before you’re even aware of them. Secondly, it’s an emergency meditation that allows you to see clearly what is arising from moment to moment when you feel under pressure. It allows you to pause when your thoughts threaten to spiral out of control, by helping you to regain a compassionate sense of perspective and to ground yourself in the present moment. FW draws on the proven and effective curriculum of MBCT while making it accessible to all of us and of practical use in our everyday lives by developing skills for supporting top performance and improved mental health. You are the observer of your thoughts. It’s a subtle distinction that’s only perceived with practice. The ‘Finding Peace in a Frantic World' Course (FW) has been developed to teach simple and powerful mindfulness practices to people aspiring to break the cycle of stress, unhappiness, anxiety and mental exhaustion. It promotes taking control of one’s well-being and happiness in a practical and proven way and re-discovering an authentic enjoyment of one’s life.One of the great ironies of mindful awareness is that it often seems to evaporate just when you need it the most. When you’re becoming increasingly burned out, you tend to forget just how useful it can be for dealing with the feelings of being overwhelmed by the world’s seemingly relentless demands. When you’re becoming angry, it’s difficult to remember why you should remain calm. And when you’re anxious or stressed, you feel far too rushed to squeeze in a twenty-minute meditation. When you’re under pressure, the last thing your mind wishes to be is mindful – tired, old thinking habits are infinitely more seductive. Meditating in midst of the Coronavirus pandemic is not easy. It can be particularly difficult because many traditional meditations rely on the breath as an anchor, or focal point, for your attention. So the breath becomes the place you return to when the mind inevitably wanders. Life has a nasty habit of getting in the way of mindfulness – so try this meditation to soothe your frayed nerves Thousands of peer-reviewed scientific papers prove that mindfulness improves mental and physical wellbeing while also enhancing creativity and decision making. Here are some of the main findings: Relieve Pain, Reduce Stress and Restore Wellbeing With Week Three of Our Mindfulness Meditation Course