Everyday Mindfulness

Hello everyone,

I finally got and started reading Full Catastrophe Living, just over a week ago. While I was occassionally doing Body Scans... as soon as i got the book, I was engaged! I read the first 150 pages within 2-3 days and was starting the MBSR program right away. It's just been over a week now of doing the body scan and sitting meditation daily.

My Anxiety was fairly intense 2-3 weeks ago. Vomitting daily, irregular breathing, dizzyness etc... The worst was in the morning! Getting out of bed was an extreme challenge! As of now, i've made some changes! I now get out of bed, have something small to eat, go for a swim to get some exercise and wake up. Then I shower, have have something small to eat again (1-2 pieces of apple with Almonds) and then the body scan. I eventually get to work and later in the day I'll do a sitting meditation, 10-15 minutes. I'm happy to say that there's certainly been improvement, but still a long ways to go. I'm also back onto a regular work schedule and incorporating Omega 3 and Dark Chocolate into my diet.

Initially when I did the body scans (Jon Kabat-Zinn guided), I could pick out my anxiety provoking thoughts/worries and set those aside and concentrate on my body. But lately, it seems almost like I'm dreaming, maybe even sleeping for an extremely brief moment. It feels great, but I feel its not challenging and retraining my mind. Does anyone have any tips on the Body Scan? For example, me trying to visualize my breath going to and from a part in the body is challenging... in simple terms, how do I achieve this? Any tips or pointers to improve my body scan to the best it can be would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Hi Pipskid,
Sounds like you have a flourishing practice going.
Re. the body scan. It's designed specifically for body awareness. When you bring your attention to any sensations felt in the big toe of your left foot, that's all you do.
Don't concern yourself with retraining the mind when you're doing a scan. Just focus on the body part that's being highlighted in the moment. That should be enough of challenge to be going along with.
Cheers,
Jon

Jon's advice might not be exactly what you asked for, but it's good advice nonetheless. I too would recommend that you don't concern yourself overly with 'retraining your mind'. That will happen inevitably, as long as you practice.

Drifting in and out of sleep-like and dreamy states is also natural, normal and need not be considered a problem. On the contrary, it just means you're deeply relaxed.

Visualising body parts and breathing into them is optional. If it's hard work, you need not bother. For some people, it's very helpful, for others it may be more effort than it's worth. If visualisations come naturally, you can go along with them. Otherwise, you can just focus on the sensations; of temperature, touch, weight, tension and so on.

Recently I've noticed I don't have the strong feeling of breathing into myself as I used to. I now also do it with my eyes open; I get so relaxed I fall asleep with every bodypart!

I don't worry about this at all. Things change in this existence, and so does my practice I suppose. Some sessions are great and give me tremendous clarity and peace, some are just plain relaxing. Sometimes even dull or distracted. I feel all of them have a place in the bigger picture and help me get better. It's truly a practice.