Introduction to Mindfulness - Dean Amory

The rumination spiral to depression:
- It is not the mood that does the damage but how we react to it
(negative reaction starts the spiral: anxious about down mood, down
about stress; frustrated with failure to think our way out of suffering,
lost in memories or worries, etc.).
- Habitual ways to extricate ourselves from the downward spiral
actually fuels the pain we're trying to escape: trying to THINK our
way out of our moods, self-criticism: "what's wrong with me? I
should be feeling happy!"... The very act of focusing on this "gap"
takes us further away from how we want to BE...
The alternative to rumination: Mindfulness.
- Thoughts are ideas (creations of the mind) that come and go like
clouds, they are NOT facts or "me"-let them float by.
- Be here and now; STOP dwelling on the past or worrying about the
future
- Refrain from trying to fight against or flee from emotions (paper
tigers) we don't want to be feeling - WANTING things to be
different. Those who put more effort into keeping negative thinking
out of the mind end up being more depressed than those who do not
("it's ok, let if be").
Instead, focus attention on a single (neutral) object - the breath.
Every time the mind wanders, briefly note what is going on (e.g.
"worrying, worrying"), smile to yourself and go back to the practice.
There is no "bad" meditation, every mind wandering IS an
opportunity to practise!
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