Videos & podcasts
Mindfulness - Community
The term 'mindfulness' is increasingly slipping into everyday language. This maybe reflects a growing awareness, but also contributes towards confusion about what is being referred to when we about speak about 'mindfulness'.
So, what is mindfulness? Often phrases like ‘intentionally paying attention’, ‘awareness of present experience’ form part of a response. These do reflect some aspects of mindfulness, but can also be misleading if our understanding stops at that point.
It is remarkably difficult to describe mindfulness, and mindfulness based approaches in a concise way. In this video clip Professor Dennis Noble interviews Professor Willem Kuyken, Head of The Oxford Mindfulness Centre, exploring the question: What is mindfulness?
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Why is there so much emphasis within mindfulness on practice? In this video Willoughby Britton talks about how our brain changes with experience and how we get good at what we practice. She discusses how the most powerful way to change your brain is not medication, but behaviour, specifically mental habit. After watching this video, useful questions to consider may be what mental habits are we practicing, and what might a regular mindfulness practice offer?
We hope some of the files, links in this section and across this app, will support you to explore this.
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Connectedness and a mindful response to racial violence
Why do we practice mindfulness? Not simply to get better at mindfulness, but perhaps to develop wiser and more helpful ways of responding difficulties that arise, both internal and external. The formal practices of mindfulness are important, they support us to build our skill, like going to the gym, or building in specific training to develop and maintain a level of fitness. That ’fitness’ doesn’t disappear once we leave the gym, we feel it in other activities we partake in. As Jon Kabat-Zinn often notes, the real practice is your life. We miss a critical element of mindfulness if it stays ‘on the mat’. The integration of informal practices during the initial 8 week course encourages us to begin to explore and bring mindfulness in to our day to day life, how we connect and respond to the world we live in.
Recent events, and the reactions being played out across the US and the world since, can bring up many difficult thoughts and emotions. Racism, injustice and inequalities in society can fill us with feelings of guilt, despair and hopelessness. Mindfulness can’t fix social injustice, but perhaps it can help us to become aware of where our attention is drawn to, unconscious bias and the narratives that attach to this. Maybe through this process help us to confront and respond to these issues with honesty and clarity.
In episode 252 of the 10% Happier podcast, “You Can't Meditate This Away" (Race, Rage, and the Responsibilities of Meditators), presenter Dan Harris speaks to meditation teacher Sebene Selassie about mindful responses to questions of race and racism.
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Experience of a solo retreat
What happens to the mind if you sit in solitude and do nothing for 24 hours? Mark O’Connell describes his experience of a ‘solo retreat’ in a forest, a 24 hour period spent in isolation with nothing to distract him but nature and his thoughts. Although this article (Read here, or listen as a podcast) isn’t about mindfulness as such, it touches on themes familiar to mindfulness practitioners: the rich inner life of the mind that sometimes reveals itself unexpectedly when we move from ‘doing’ to ‘being’; our uneasy relationship to the passage of time; and our connectedness to the external world - nature, people, even cherished objects. The article was written before the Covid-19 lockdown, but perhaps it resonates with what many are going through right now. Sometimes enforced isolation and removal from the habitual flow of everyday life can create a space through which we catch occasional glimpses of a rich way of experiencing the world which although always available to us, is usually hidden.
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Healing From Within
Healing the Mind: Bill Moyers.
Documentary about an early mindfulness course in 1987 with Jon Kabat-Zinn, for people with illness and pain, interviewed by Bill Moyers.
Cultivating Mindfulness in Difficult Times
This powerful talk was offered by Jon Kabat-Zinn prior to the Covid pandemic, but seems so pertinent to now. Jon Kabat-Zinn sensitively covers so much in such a short time, (20 minutes): what is mindfulness, our sense of wanting to turn away from aspects of ourselves, how interconnected we are, to mention just a few. What catches your attention? What does it say to you?
‘How can we keep from falling prey to the divisions and dualisms that define today's political discourse? In his December 2018 presentation at New York City's Lincoln Center, Jon Kabat-Zinn offers guidance—with humor and optimism—for responding mindfully to the fear and uncertainty of difficult times.’ (2019, Omega Institute)
Pausing, noticing and being curious of our day-to-day experience, and within formal mindfulness practices, offers a space for us to become aware of how we relate to our experience, to notice reactivity. As we gradually see more clearly the patters within our mind, we can consciously choose to cultivate certain helpful attitudes, nurturing these like seeds.
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Overcoming Objections to Self Compassion
A common pattern we observe is a high level of self-criticism, as well as concern that being more compassionate towards our self could lead to self-indulgence and self-pity.
Psychologist, Professor Kristin Neff, is recognised internationally as an expert on compassion, in this 12 minutes video she speaks about this and barriers to self-compassion. If you often notice self critical thoughts we would urge you to watch Professor Neff as she discusses this.
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'The only way we can make the most of our lives is to make the most of our moments.'
Cleo Wade
When you are next outside, pause, look closely at any trees and plants you pass, can you see the new growth and buds, notice how this changes over the next few days and weeks?
The spring equinox in the Northern hemisphere is when the earth tilts on its axis towards the sun and the days become longer than the nights, the winds warmer, and plants begin sprouting. There can be a sense of new beginnings and hope – something many of us are grateful for at the current time. Here is a link to a beautiful 6-minute video, ‘A Grateful Day’ by Br. David, which despite being recorded 14 years ago, celebrates a timeless message. We hope it supports and inspires your mindfulness practice in whatever form that takes.
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Resilience
When facing the same challenges, why do some people become more vulnerable and others more resilient? Is there a way to nudge people along this continuum to encourage development of more qualities that promote wellbeing and flourishing? Professor Richard Davidson has asked these questions throughout his career. This has led him to explore how mindfulness changes the emotional life of our brains, and what we know about the brains of individuals showing more resilience than others. He discusses this in this thought provoking Ted Talk (approx.17 min).
Richard Davidson is a psychologist and neuroscientist by training. He is the William James and Vilas professor of psychology and psychiatry at the University of Wisconsin-Madison as well as founder and director of the Centre for Healthy Minds. His research is focused on the neural bases of emotion and emotional style and methods to promote human flourishing, including meditation and related contemplative practices.
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Human Nature
It is not unusual to hear human nature portrayed as selfish and power hungry. Have you ever heard comments about Darwin’s ‘survival of the fittest’ made to justify behaviour? These comments miss an important observation Darwin made. He noted that the strongest instinct that humans have is sympathy. Within his view of evolution he noted that ‘communities which included the greatest number of the most sympathetic members, would flourish best’. In this short video clip ( approx.. 4.30 minutes), Professor Dacher Keltner, Berkeley, University of California, discusses this, and how we are hard-wired to be kind. With the current pandemic triggering so many challenges and worry for us we found this a helpful reflection.
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How has someone seeing ‘the goodness in you’ affected your life?
Tara Brach and Jack Kornfield hold PhDs in Clinical Psychology and teach meditation internationally, we have posted links to resources they have generously and freely offered previously (check 17/01/21 below for more resources from them). This week we are posting a link to access 3 short videos from them exploring awareness, compassion and mindfulness (approx 6 minutes).
Please note that these videos share a webpage of a longer paid for course. We only post suggested web links to free resources. We have checked that the link to ‘Access my free teachings’ on the webpage will give access to the short videos and does not commit you to the paid for course.
After listening to the first short video clip, of Jack Kornfield speaking about ‘seeing goodness’, take a moment and reflect, noticing what is present for you.
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Intent
When we practice mindfulness we shape the future step by step with our intentions. Spending time becoming aware of our intent, as well as creating space to consciously cultivate and nurture it, is important - It is like choosing to plant a seed and creating the conditions for it to grow. If we do not do this, the seed may struggle to sprout and flourish.
We can not force the seed to grow. Even those who are green fingered gardeners among you know that we need to be careful of how we attach to the outcome. Often there can be factors that influence how that seed may sprout, or not, that are out with our control.
What is within our control? Bringing awareness to the process of cultivating that seed, observing, being open to learn from experience, and doing our best to gradually shape conditions as best we can.
When we set an intent, it can be helpful see it as a seed, approaching the process of cultivating it in the same way.
In this link (11 minutes 40 seconds), Matthieu Ricard talks about ‘how our state of mind can override our circumstances, whether good or bad. It can be our best friend or our worst enemy. He believes that mindfulness and compassion can help to overcome ‘ill-being’ in the mind and have long-lasting effects.’
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Waiting
Sometimes it has felt like there was a lot of ‘waiting ‘ in 2020, for an infection curve to flatten and drop, for local contact restrictions to change, to return to work or for a break from work, to connect with aspects of how our life was pre-Covid, for the green shoots of recovery to flourish.
Waiting can feel frustrating, we want to just ‘get on with things’, but ‘waiting’ is not doing nothing. Waiting is not a static process. As we wait things change internally and externally, different emotional tones continually arise and pass.
Auguste Rodin, a French sculptor said: “Patience is also a form of action.” This resonates for us in the midst of winter here in Scotland, with Covid cases increasing, as well as continuing national restrictions placed on activities to keep us safe and protect the NHS.
Yet, within these short, cold, dark days we are moving in to the light both seasonally as days slowly lengthen, and metaphorically as we gradually access vaccines and patiently wait allow them to offer another layer of protection.
Sometimes ‘waiting’, although challenging, may be the most sane thing to do.
Mindfulness can be perceived as something passive and only inward looking, but mindfulness has two parts, mindful presence and mindful response. If we can recognise this, if we can recognise 'waiting' and 'patience' as also a form of action, how might we helpfully cultivate these ‘actions’ within our life? Are there opportunities to home our perceptions, observational skills, and our responses in meaningful ways?
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Vidyamala Burch is the founder and co-Director of Breathworks. She is known for her pioneering work on mindfulness- based and compassion-based approaches to living well with chronic pain, illness and stress. We really like the way she explains how mindfulness can support us when we are facing something that is causing us physical and /or emotional difficulty, which seems particularly pertinent at the current time.
Here in Scotland, as we edge towards a potential second wave of Covid infections, and face the challenges and difficulties associated with this, we wanted to offer these two clips. In the first, she speaks about approaching her own experience ‘one moment at a time’ ( Approx. 3 minutes) and shares some insights from this . In the second clip, she discusses turning towards difficulty ( approx. 10 minutes).
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Sometimes it has felt like there was been a lot of ‘waiting ‘ in 2020, for an infection curve to flatten and drop, for local contact restrictions to change, to return to work or for a break from work, to connect with aspects of how our life was pre-Covid, for the green shoots of recovery to flourish.
Waiting can feel frustrating , we want to just ‘get on with things’, but ‘waiting’ is not doing nothing. Waiting is not a static process. As we wait things change internally and externally, different emotional tones continually arise and pass.
Auguste Rodin, a French sculptor said: “Patience is also a form of action.” This resonates for us in the midst of winter here in Scotland, with Covid cases increasing, as well as continuing national restrictions placed on activities to keep us safe and protect the NHS.
Yet, within these short, cold, dark days we are moving in to the light both seasonally as days slowly lengthen, and metaphorically as we gradually access vaccines and patiently wait allow them to offer another layer of protection.
Sometimes ‘waiting’, although challenging, may be the most sane thing to do.
Mindfulness can be perceived as something passive and only inward looking, but mindfulness has two parts, mindful presence and mindful response. If we can recognise this, if we can recognise 'waiting' and 'patience' as also a form of action, how might we helpfully cultivate these ‘actions’ within our life? Are there opportunities to home our perceptions, observational skills, and our responses in meaningful ways?
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When we practice mindfulness we shape the future step by step with our intentions. Spending time becoming aware of our intent, as well as creating space to consciously cultivate and nurture it, is important - It is like choosing to plant a seed and creating the conditions for it to grow. If we do not do this, the seed may struggle to sprout and flourish.
We can not force the seed to grow. Even those who are green fingered gardeners among you know that we need to be careful of how we attach to the outcome. Often there can be factors that influence how that seed may sprout, or not, that are out with our control.
What is within our control? Bringing awareness to the process of cultivating that seed, observing, being open to learn from experience, and doing our best to gradually shape conditions as best we can.
When we set an intent, it can be helpful see it as a seed, approaching the process of cultivating it in the same way.
In this link (11 minutes 40 seconds) Matthieu Ricard talks about ‘how our state of mind can override our circumstances, whether good or bad. It can be our best friend or our worst enemy. He believes that mindfulness and compassion can help to overcome ‘ill-being’ in the mind and have long-lasting effects.’
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Recently there have been signs of glimmers of hope that vaccines may offer some protection against Covid in the future. However, at the moment we still all need to work together in changing our behaviour to protect each other. This leaves us still continuing to try to find ways to live with the current challenges Covid brings. For many of us the supports we might draw on in difficult and uncertain times are not available e.g. social contact, a hug from some one we trust, being able to engage in previously enjoyed activities safely.
In this short video ( Approx 8 minutes), Dr Theresa Dahm, South Warwickshire NHS Foundation Trust discusses how our emotion systems may have been affected by changes COVID 19 has brought.
Does what she is discussing resonate for you?
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------"It is said that the darkest hour of the night comes just before the dawn."
-Paul Coehlo
During 2020 over the festive period in Scotland, and across the UK, changes were made contact rules. It was understandable that some people felt caught up in the disappointment of the loss of some of their plans for the season, particularly spending time with people they cared about.
During the festive season the shortest day and the longest night fell in Scotland. As the light began to grow again we sharing this uplifting video (approx. 11 minutes) to cultivate gratitude and offer hope, even when things are feeling quite tough.
‘Kristi Nelson was diagnosed with Stage IV cancer when she was 33 years old. In the 27 years since, she has lived into all that is possible when we take nothing for granted. In this beautiful short film by award-winning photographer and filmmaker Doug Menuez, Kristi shares her personal story of grateful living .’ Shared by Gratefulness.org on December 07, 2020
After listening to this video, we invite you to spend a few moments just sitting, feeling your breath and noticing what comes in to awareness. In amongst all the changes we all have been adjusting to this year, in this moment, what are you grateful for?