Introduction to Mindfulness - Dean Amory

were encouraging and clearly indicate that further research in this area
is warranted.
Overall the participants appreciated those experiences of mindfulness
which were facilitated by different course exercises. As one
participant said: “He (TB) spoke of meditation, and the next thing he
hits the gong and you’re doing it. Because it can seem very fluffy and
intangible otherwise. Learning through doing makes it more
challenging in every way.”
From the earliest session, short simple introductory exercises were
used to keep the teaching sessions experiential and avoid prolonged
conceptual debate. Furthermore, the early sessions focused on basic
exercises that involved the body, as a way of helping people to
reconnect with their bodies and become thereby grounded in the
present moment. Exercises such as the body Scan and Hatha yoga
stretches were particularly successful in bringing participants into
mindful awareness of the present moment. Many identified yoga as
the most helpful aspect of the 8-week program, but it’s probably the
case that no one of theses exercises stands alone. The mix may be
critical, and the timing of how each exercise is introduced remains an
open and important question.
What was striking was that each participant reported that they were
practicing daily, - generally a 10- 15 minute sitting meditation - in the
follow up interviews.
What didn’t work well in this group was having participants do a long
body scan exercise early on. This was simply the result of our choice
to use Jon Kabat-Zinn’s pre-recorded 45 minute guided CD on body
scan. This is a very useful resource, but if we were to repeat this
course we would want to provide participants with a 15-20 body scan
exercise, preferably recorded by one of the group leaders.
Perhaps their practice could evolve in time into a longer, fuller Body
Scan.
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