Videos

[Gareth]

Hi everyone,

These are exciting times for EM! I met with the web developer Aaron last weekend, and we had a great time chewing the cud about EM. We've been having a really encouraging amount of traffic on the main site, and with a bit of intelligent management we can increase those numbers too.

A great idea that we had over the weekend was that of video testimonials for mindfulness. These would be short snappy little testimonials from people stating how mindfulness helps them. I am going to kick it off with one of my own. We thought that about 3-5 minutes would be best. What do you think?

If you want to do one for yourself then we would be more than happy to share it.

[FeeHutch]

It is a great if slightly daunting idea.
Despite pointing cameras at other people for a number of years I am not very comfortable with having one pointed at me.
I'll give this some thought but probably decide to feel the fear and do it anyway
Is setting up an EM YouTube channel worth some thought? It would be an easy way of collating videos from us and sharing others we like...

[barbs55]

Yes great idea, and I agree with Fee about putting them on Facebook too. I would also be a little reticent but willing to give it a go! Different ages etc to show how mindfulness is for everyone.
I made a video for a kids story I wrote, and got someone to film it on a video camera, and it was much better quality than using a webcam, and you do need the quality for YouTube. That was only a minute and a half but felt like loads of time! We may need someone who knows about this stuff to advise us on video quality and ideal length. I think short, punchy videos are more effective than a long ramble. The one that Vidyamala posted about her book is good quality and just under 3 minutes long. Can we found out from her how she made it?
https://vimeo.com/72639523#

[FeeHutch]

The ones on Headway are all under about 4 minutes and attention grabbing but relaxed too

[BioSattva]

It's a good idea. I hate speaking on video too, but I would probably also pluck up the courage.

[Cheesus]

Maybe you could write out a few questions that people could read and answer? It might be a bit easier to get some structure like that, and the videos could take on a more of an interview type feel. For example you could do things like: what led you to mindfulness? How has mindfulness impacted your life? Has mindfulness impacted your relationship with yourself/others?

Just a thought

[FeeHutch]

Good plan (batman) and I think those 3 questions are pretty good, they cover everything I would want to know watching the videos I think

[Alison]

Hello, I'm Alison - I'm an old friend of Gareth's and have been keen to get him to post a video of himself talking about mindfulness for a while. I gave him a nudge about it when we met up last weekend. Although I know he is a bit reticent about it too, I know how passionately and eloquently he talks about what mindfulness has done for him and I think it would be great for him to share that - and to have others share their experiences.

I'm not yet a mindfulness practitioner - although I do yoga and Gareth assures me that that counts! I got involved with EM as Gareth asked for some help on the look of the new site and I was keen to help the site move forward visually - I really think video content would be a good way to do that. So the idea was to have different video series posted on a regular basis. The first "series" would be good to do a "my mindfulness story" but later series could include "tips and tricks", "guided meditations", etc - whatever people are interested to watch.

I think the Facebook and YouTube ideas are excellent to grow the idea too.

Having a structure by answering the questions as suggested by cheesus is a good way to keep all the videos in line and I would agree that 2-3 minutes would be ideal.

I'm aiming to film Gareth's contribution in the next couple of weeks - only by dint of having a relatively decent camera - I have no idea about filming. If anyone has tips on filming, please let us know!

[JonW]

You omitted to mention Gareth's film star looks. I'm now rectifying this.

[Gareth]

Alison is a best friend of mine from university, which all seems like it happened in a different life now. It's so good to have her helping out here! Alison designed the look of the new site, and she has an artistic eye that I could only ever dream of.

It is indeed a fantastic idea about the videos. In fact I got on with it straight away. I wrote this the other day - what do you think?

Hi, my name is Gareth, and I set up the Everyday Mindfulness website because mindfulness meditation changed my life so much, and I wanted others to experience some of the peace that mindfulness has given me. We recently had a great idea in the forum to start a series of short mindfulness videos, where ordinary people tell how mindfulness helps them in their life. I thought I would kick off the series with my own mindfulness story, so here it is.

I was diagnosed with MS a few years ago, which was a horrifically stressful time in my life. All my dreams about the future were suddenly taken from me in one go; emotionally I was a wreck. After a while, I decided that I didn’t want to be a victim any more, so I looked at some lifestyle changes that would help me manage the disease; one of these lifestyle changes was meditation for stress relief. I had no idea how to meditate, so I read a book by Jon Kabat-Zinn, the pioneer of secular mindfulness meditation, and this booked changed everything.

I began to meditate and slowly but surely, I began to feel better. The more that I meditated the more peaceful I became. You see, mindfulness meditation is about cultivating the ability to be more in the present moment, because that is what we are practising when we meditate.

Most of the agony with MS comes from the future with thoughts like: “if MS takes my eyesight, then I won’t be able to see my children growing up” or from the past with thoughts like “I can’t go out and enjoy the countryside like I used to.” These days, I am so much more aware when these stories are starting in my head, and I intentionally pull myself back to the present moment, because there is never any stress in the present moment. In the present moment, things are generally OK. The cumulative effect of not telling myself these stories is a profound effect on my wellbeing: my body is fundamentally broken, but I don’t think that I have ever been any happier. My whole way of thinking has changed for the better, this is without doubt due to mindfulness meditation, and I am a very lucky man to have found it.

If you want to share your own story about mindfulness, then please come to our site and introduce yourself. We will be more than happy to share your story.

It's short and sweet, but that's what we want from the videos. I'll put my film star good looks to use and get this on video soon.