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Below you can find three recordings from session 4:

1) Introductory talk

2) Guided practice: Mindfulness of breath, body, sounds and thoughts

3) Talk: Mindfulness of thoughts and thinking

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In this session, we brought our mindfulness to thoughts and the thinking process and talked about how we tend to be very identified with our thoughts (and often glued to our beliefs) when it can be helpful not to take our thoughts as facts and practice taking more of an observer role, noticing thoughts arising and falling away - like all experiences, such as sounds or body sensations.

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10 Minute Mindfulness of Sounds | Insight Timer

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This practice focuses on mindful awareness of natural sounds to support development of focus, concentration and non-judgment.

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14-minute mindfulness of breath, body and sounds

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14-minute mindfulness of breath, body and sounds

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Mindfulness Of Breath, Body & Sounds | Insight Timer

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This is a helpful practice to calm the mind, cultivate focus, and ground you into the present moment. During the meditation, you are guided to bring your awareness to various sensory objects, in this case, the sensations of the breath, the body, and the sounds around you, as they arise and pass.

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Mindfulness of Sounds - A brief guided practice of listening to whatever is going on in our environments. Beginning with the breath and grounding ourselves, we practice the skill of expanding the container of our awareness to include sounds around us. Play around with trying this in different locations.

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Below you can find three recordings from our third session:

1) An introduction to mindful walking

2) A talk on Feeling tones (pleasant/unpleasant/neutral)

3) Guided mindfulness of sounds practice

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Session 3 - Moving from reacting to responding

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Session 3 - Moving from reacting to responding

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In this session, we explored how all experiences are interpreted by us automatically as either pleasant, unpleasant or neutral. This usually happens without reaching our awareness, but we can try to notice how this manifests in the body and gradually see if we can take more of an observer role rather than react on autopilot. Building our tolerance muscle to tolerate the slightly unpleasant in meditation can be helpful to be able to respond more wisely and with more freedom in daily life.

In terms of practices, we did a mindful walking and a mindfulness of sounds practice.

Home Practice

Informal practice: Bringing mindfulness to pleasant experiences in daily life and seeing if we can truly savour them, taking in the sensations in their fullness (e.g. the taste, smell, look and sound of delicious food as we're eating it).

Formal practice: The invitation is to practice mindfulness of sounds (which is a useful practice in its own right and good preparation for mindfulness of thoughts, our topic for next week). Of course, you can also experiment practicing mindful walking, e.g. doing a five-minute walking practice before a sitting practice or doing a walking practice in nature.

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Below you can find two recordings from our second session:

1) A guided body scan practice (that is often done lying down, but can equally be done sitting or standing)

2) A talk on Mindfulness of the Body, exploring how the body can act as a barometer if you pay attention to early signs of sensation and emotions as well as the body as our loyal home.

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All audio recordings produced and recorded by Linda Good · www.lindagood.com

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15-minute Body Scan (with background music)

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15-minute Body Scan (with background music)

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A great choice for beginners, this simple but gentle body scan meditation will leave you feeling soothed and relaxed.

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20-minute Body Scan (my personal favourite!)

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20-minute Body Scan (my personal favourite!)

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This is a 20-minute version of the Body Scan from Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR).

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Andrew has been working with individuals and groups for the last 26 years. He teaches relaxation, meditation, mindfulness, and coping skills. Andrew created the world's first meditation app in January 2009 and continues to work on his range of apps and online courses. He is also the wellness expert at the Mandarin Oriental in London.

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Andrew has been working with individuals and groups for the last 26 years. He teaches relaxation, meditation, mindfulness, and coping skills. Andrew created the world's first meditation app in January 2009 and continues to work on his range of apps and online courses. He is also the wellness expert at the Mandarin Oriental in London.

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Session 2 - The body as an anchor to the present moment

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Session 2 - The body as an anchor to the present moment

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In this session, we looked at the body as one of the foundations for establishing mindfulness. While the mind often goes into the past or future, the body is always in the present and can therefore anchor us to the present moment whenever we pay attention to the body. Can we bring an attitude of care and friendliness to the body, so we can connect to feeling present, alive and whole?

Home Practice

Informal practice: Bringing mindfulness to one of our daily activities, such as eating, brushing your teeth or taking a shower. Can we do some of this activity mindfully, with our senses open, taking in whatever can be perceived, e.g. taste, sounds, smells. Perhaps also noticing - does bringing mindfulness to the activity make it more pleasant or unpleasant?

Formal practice: The invitation is to practice the body scan, using one of the guided meditations below, which are of varying lengths.

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Below you can find two recordings from our first session:

1) A brief practice to establish mindfulness by paying attention to first looking at your hand, followed by feeling sensations in the hand

2) A talk on 'What is Mindfulness' followed by a ten-minute Mindfulness of Breathing practice.

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Common questions answered on meditation practice

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Common questions answered on meditation practice

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When starting to meditate, there are common challenges, such as feeling restless, sleepy or lost in thought. It's also very common for doubt to arise, e.g. to wonder if you are doing it 'right'. You may also notice that each meditation is different. The best advice is to trust the process and to treat it as an experiment.

There is no need to read about 'how to meditate', but if you'd like to read more about common questions asked about meditating, you can find a lot of information in this document (compiled by Tara Brach, one of my favourite meditation teachers).

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10-minute Mindfulness of Breathing guided practice

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10-minute Mindfulness of Breathing guided practice

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Mark Coleman guides a ten minute meditation on mindful breathing. A short practice to bring you back to the present moment, useful in times of stress.

Mark Coleman is a teacher at Spirit Rock and has taught insight meditation retreats since 1997. He is passionate about integrating meditation and nature. Through his organization Awake in the Wild he leads wilderness retreats and nature based meditation teacher trainings. Co-founder of the Mindfulness Training Institute, Mark also leads year long mindfulness teacher trainings. Author of four books, Mark's most recent is A Field Guide to Nature Meditation. He loves to hike, bike, and kayak.

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Mark Coleman guides a ten minute meditation on mindful breathing. A short practice to bring you back to the present moment, useful in times of stress.

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15-minute Mindfulness of Breathing guided practice

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15-minute Mindfulness of Breathing guided practice

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Dr. J. Greg Serpa, PhD - Clinician's Guide to Teaching Mindfulness

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Clinician's Guide to Teaching Mindfulness

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A different 10-minute Mindfulness of Breathing guided practice

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A different 10-minute Mindfulness of Breathing guided practice

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10 Min. Mindfulness of Breathing Meditation_CW2

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Christiane Wolf - Clinician's Guide to Teaching Mindfulness

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Clinician's Guide to Teaching Mindfulness

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10 Min. Mindfulness of Breathing Meditation_CW2

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6-minute Mindfulness of Breathing guided practice

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6-minute Mindfulness of Breathing guided practice

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This meditation invites the cultivation of a relaxed attention to your breath and your experience here and now.

An expert and author in the field of mindfulness and positive habit change, Hugh Byrne's mindfulness and meditation offerings are guided by the vision of helping people shift from autopilot toward behaviors that create greater happiness and freedom of the heart. Hugh has been practicing, teaching and guiding trainings, workshops, intensive retreats for 20 years within the U.S. and internationally.

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Short Mindfulness of Breathing Meditation | Insight Timer

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This meditation invites the cultivation of a relaxed attention to your breath and your experience here and now.

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In this session, we looked at what mindfulness is and what the benefits are of being mindful. We talked about informal practice (being mindful when we do our daily activities) and formal practice (meditation-style practices that allow us to really focus on our moment-to-moment experience).

Home Practice

The invitation is to keep practicing mindfulness of breathing, using one of the guided meditations below, which are of varying lengths (between 6 and 15 minutes). If there are days where you feel you can't fit in a formal practice, perhaps you can pay attention to feeling just a few breaths in your body.

Please remember that it is completely normal for the mind to wander and it's part of the practice to bring back the mind gently, yet firmly, to train your attention and awareness. Meditation can feel like really hard work at the beginning - but it does get easier with practice!

If you prefer practicing using your phone, you can download the 'Insight Timer' app for free where you can find tons of guided meditations, including the first two meditations below.

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One-minute Video: Why do we need mindfulness and what are the benefits?

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One-minute Video: Why do we need mindfulness and what are the benefits?

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Why do we need mindfulness and what are the benefits?

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Session 4: Wednesday, June 26, 11-12, Margaret Rooms 2&3