A Mindful moment

[JonW]

Just thought I'd share an experience I had this morning.
I was setting off to my Brighton-based mindfulness group session. I'd left my spaniel, Banjo, in the care of my house-mate who said she was dropping my dog off with my friend, Richard, for the morning.
En route to my session, I received a text from Richard which read, "Hi Jon, I've hit your dog."
I realised I had no credit on my phone so needed to find a shop and top up in order to call Richard and find out what had gone on.
Two months ago, before I started practicing mindfulness, I'd have been in a state of total panic. Why has Richard hit my dog? What has he hit my dog with? A stick? A car? Why is Richard texting me this insensitive message, knowing how much I love my dog?
Being mindful, I took a few gentle breaths and started calmly thinking the situation through. Richard, I reasoned, is an animal-lover like myself. He would never hit my dog. Besides, Banjo is usually impeccably behaved. There would be no reason to hit him. Also, Richard is a very careful driver and the idea of him running over Banjo in his car is preposterous. Besides, in the unlikely event that Richard had hit my spaniel with his dog or his car, he wouldn't send me a text like that.
Finally I found a shop and topped up my mobile. I spoke calmly to Richard. The conversation went like this.
Me: Richard, how's it going?
Richard: All good, thanks?
Me; How's Banjo?
Richard: Banjo's fine.
Me: Erm, if you don't mind me asking, why did you message me to say you'd hit him?
Richard: I didn't. I texted you to say, "I've got your dog."
A lesson in the perils of predictive text. And, for me, a lesson in mindfulness.
I told the story at my mindfulness class and it seemed to go down very well.
Thanks for listening, Jon

[FeeHutch]

I'm glad Banjo is alright.
I think that is a really good example of using mindfulness to notice where your thoughts went, not allowing yourself to get caught up in what might have happened and focusing on what you needed to do.
I hope your class went well too.

[JonW]

Thanks FeeHutch.
The class was, as ever, a joy.
As much as I love meditating at home, I find the group scenario even more pleasurable. It seems to add another layer to the experience. It helps that I have a fab teacher.

[FeeHutch]

I have only attended one class so far. There was a Mindfulness taster day at the local Buddhist center a few months ago and I really enjoyed it for the most part. I certainly found it a different experience to meditating alone and some of the discussion about various types of practice such as the body scan or 5 minute breathing space was very interesting.

With any learning experience the quality of the teacher is very important too.
Fiona

[Steve]

Jon

That is a brilliant example of choosing to respond rather than react. I often jump to conclusions on the basis of my interpretation of events only to find that my automatic reaction involved a misinterpretation because of my 'coloured' viewpoint. You could have taken the message at face value but instead you chose to think about it, gather more information and then respond and in doing so avoided a lot of angst.

I found attending classes great - it is different meditating as a group; there is some sort of invisible support or shared feeling among the group. I also found discussion with the others, and the teacher, enlightening and helped me learn much more from both my experience and that of others.

Steve

[JonW]

Thanks Steve.
It stuck me as particularly interesting as I was on my way to join my mindfulness group.
I'll be sorry when my eight-week course ends as it's been hugely beneficial to me. I'm thinking about a retreat at some stage but I'm wary of rushing things along. I'd be interested to hear from anyone who has been on a mindfulness retreat.
Thanks in advance, Jon

[Steve]

Jon

Some classes organise 'ongoing practice' sessions after the course has finished - these can be good to help you keep practising. if one isn't offered, try suggesting one or organise an informal one with some of the other participants.

I've been on a a couple of mindfulness days (series of different meditations sessions throughout a day, usually all with no talking (except by the leader and when the day has finished)) but I've not been on a retreat (yet). These are all great but the real challenge is to integrate mindfulness into your everyday life (which I still find challenging). Formal practice sessions help develop your practice but you'll benefit even more if you can transfer the skills to everyday life.

Steve

[JonW]

That's good to know, Steve. Thanks.
I'm finding it surprisingly easy to integrate mindfulness into my everyday life. Maybe that's because I work from home 95% of the time. I'd maybe find it more challenging in an office situation.
My friends were surprised when I started practicing. Now they tell me how relaxed I see. "Comfortable in my own skin," as one pal put it. That's nice to hear after a lifetime of feeling terribly anxious.
Jon Kabat-Zinn is a hero to me.

[rara]

"Like"

[Gareth]

This exactly the kind of Everday situation where mindfulness is so powerful. By being mindful, you stopped your body undergoing a lot of stress. Multiply this out over every day of your life, and you are talking about a LOT of stress prevented. This can only be a wonderful thing for your wellbeing. Keep practising whenever and wherever you can; I think you will find that these benefits only accrue over time.

This thing can really help people folks.

Gareth