Yesterday is history,
Tomorrow is a mystery,
But today is a gift,
And that's why it is called the present.
Kung Fu Panda
LESSON ONE: FIRST STEPS IN FOCUSSING ATTENTION
OUR ATTENTION IS LIKE A PUPPY
The faculty of voluntarily bringing back a wandering attention, over and over again,
is the very root of judgment, character, and will. . .
An education which should improve this faculty would be the education par excellence.
But it is easier to define the ideal than to give practical instructions for bringing it about.
William James, 1890
LESSON THREE: RECOGNISING RUMINATION AND RETURNING HOME TO OUR BODY
RUMINATION
Between stimulus and response there is a space.
In that space is our power to choose our response.
In our response lies our growth and our freedom.
Victor Frankl
LESSON FIVE: SLOWING AND SAVOURING ACTIVITIES, INCLUDING WALKING
We explore different ways of MOVING MINDFULLY by sensing rather than thinking in our movements
We take these practices in our daily activities and we extend them to routine tasks like brushing our teeth, showering, getting up etc…
We discover the joy of slowing and savouring what we do.
LESSON SIX: STEPPING BACK FROM THOUGHTS THAT HIJACK YOU
If you want to get rid of something, you must first allow it to flourish.
Lao-tzu, The Tao Te Ching
LESSON SEVEN: ALLOWING, ACCEPTING AND BEING WITH DIFFICULT EMOTIONS
LESSON EIGHT: LOOKING BACK AND MAKING IT PERSONAL
This is a REFLECTION AND REVIEW time.
We write a letter to ourselves about what we have learned and how we are going to keep mindfulness in our lives.
The third certainty of life, after death and taxes,
is that nothing will work out the way you want.
Life is fully as bad as you think it is.
Choose to live joyfully anyway.
Jonathan Lockwood Huie