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Introduction to Mindfulness - Dean Amory

Art and Benefits of Mindfulness Meditation

Art and Benefits of Mindfulness Meditation

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<strong>Mindfulness</strong> Meditation<br />

Therapy (MMT):<br />

Outline By Peter Strong, PhD<br />

<strong>Mindfulness</strong> Meditation therapy (MMT) can be defined as: the direct<br />

application of mindfulness <strong>to</strong> the present felt-sense of an emotional<br />

complex.<br />

Direct Application of <strong>Mindfulness</strong><br />

“Direct Application” means that the individual trains <strong>to</strong> establish and<br />

sustain a quality of relationship with the inner experience of an<br />

emotion, called the <strong>Mindfulness</strong> Based Relationship. The quality of<br />

the MBR is the key fac<strong>to</strong>r that will determine the successful outcome<br />

of MMT.<br />

<strong>Mindfulness</strong> describes direct attention and awareness that is best<br />

described by the term engaged presence. When we are mindful, we<br />

are fully awake and aware of what is happening as it is happening,<br />

without any thinking about the experience or any emotional reaction<br />

<strong>to</strong> the experience. We simply "sit" with the experience and observe it<br />

with a keen interest as we might have when listening <strong>to</strong> a favorite<br />

piece of classical music. But mindfulness also has a quality of<br />

engagement in which we investigate the structure of the experience.<br />

All mindfulness involves moving beyond the superficial and initial<br />

appearance of experience and uncovering the finer and more subtle<br />

inner structure of experience. When we listen <strong>to</strong> an orchestra with<br />

this sense of rapture and keen interest, we are likely <strong>to</strong> become aware<br />

of individual instruments and gain a new appreciation of the piece of<br />

music that exceeds our previous experience. When this kind of<br />

mindfulness is developed, then every time we listen <strong>to</strong> the music we<br />

always discover it anew, even though we have heard it a thousand<br />

times. This is the kind of attitude and approach <strong>to</strong> experience that we<br />

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