Thoughts & Ancedotes

Imagine a flowering plant. A baking cake. A rising stock price. A healing wound. Time passing can be a beautiful thing.

A film for parents and educators combining comic book animation, documentary footage, and classroom materials.

In the course of teaching Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction, I have had the opportunity to hear first-hand how participation in the program has had an impact on the lives of many people. I know from my own experience of mindfulness practice how powerful it can be, but I often struggle with how to put that into words that really capture the experience. Fortunately, every now and then, one of our MBSR participants articulates it so poignantly and eloquently that I get a new look at how this practice changes lives.

(Fair warning, I have previously refenced Caddyshack as a source of dharma teaching a few months ago, and today I will draw upon another Bill Murray 70s comedy, Meatballs, for inspiration. If you consider such pop culture references offensive, I invite you to turn to the more conventional items elsewhere on our blog. -SH) 

The following is a part of a series of informal conversations between Trudy Goodman, Ph.D., Elisha Goldstein, Ph.D. and Steven Hickman, Psy.D. about the relationship between mindfulness and hypnosis in psychotherapy and beyond. Enjoy!

Our colleagues Mark Lau and Andrea Grabovac have written a fascinating and groundbreaking paper introducing a Buddhist psychological model of mindfulness that we think is worth reading. Here is a brief introduction (and link to the full paper).

By Mark Lau, Ph.D. and Andrea Grabovac, MD, FRPCP

“I'm going to give you a little advice. There's a force in the universe that makes things happen; all you have to do is get in touch with it. Stop thinking...let things happen...and be...the ball.” – Ty Webb (played by Chevy Chase in the 1980 comedy Caddyshack)

It’s not every day that you find 80s screwball comedies referenced in articles about mindfulness, so you’ve got to give me credit for even trying. Hang in there and see if you find any wisdom in this silliness. Who says meditation has to be so serious, anyway?

I am sure to grow old.
I cannot avoid aging.
I am sure to become sick.
I cannot avoid sickness.
I am sure to die.
I cannot avoid death.
All things dear and beloved to me
are subject to change and separation.
I am the owner of my actions;
I will become the heir of my actions.

- Anguttara Nikaya

Perhaps the number one question asked by participants in MBSR or MBCT groups is: "Where can I go to continue to practice in a group?" The question behind the question is "How will I sustain the momentum I have built up over the past 8 weeks and continue to formally practice mindfulness?" We frequently suggest to our participants that they connect with each other to form small sitting groups. This article from mindful.org provides some nice guidelines for doing just that.

A colleague of mine emailed me yesterday to ask my advice. She had submitted a paper for publication in a respected scientific journal that looked at one particular aspect of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR).