Introduction to Mindfulness - Dean Amory

The really dangerous space to get into is where you just react in the
absence of any awareness. When we react without thinking, it’s
generally because our feelings are pretty strong and we have little time
or capacity to think about what we’re about to do, and whether we
really want to act in a particular way.
Mindfulness introduces a pause between the stimulus and the
response; it creates a space where we can look at what’s happening
and make choices. We may choose to act in the same old way we
always have, but we may also choose to act in a different way and see
what happens. It’s up to me, but at least this time I am making a free
choice.
This same principle applies when painful or difficult memories are
triggered and we react against them and act in a destructive way
towards them. Mindfulness gives us the capacity to see what’s going
on and to hold our distress in awareness, until it begins to ease and
transform. Mindfulness buys us time and helps prevent us from
making the same old mistakes over and over. Mindfulness also has
power to transform negative emotions, not by pushing them away but
holding them gently in awareness, like we would a child in distress.
The session ended with a brief sitting meditation, after which Clive
read a poem by Rumi to settle everyone down before the group left
the session.
Post session team analysis:
This session made the team much more aware that this is a group of
people that carry a lot of inner tension and trauma. Many have had
experiences that they would prefer not to remember. Many have a
great deal of chaos in their lives, in terms of where they physically
live, economic pressures and stresses emanating from within their
extended families. For some, the desire to run away is very strong, an
understandable in many ways. Any kind of self-awareness training
with a group like this has to be carefully paced and carried out in
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