INTERRUPTER: Clockwork
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Your Stories
Friday, August 19 2011
When did you first start practicing mindfulness and why were you motivated to do so?
I first began practicing mindfulness based meditation in the academic environment at Lesley University. A tenured professor in the school of counseling psychology suggested that I enroll in a mindfulness-based course to add depth to my studies.
I had previously read articles that suggested mindfulness-based stress reduction as an effective remedy for chronic pain symptoms. Several years ago, I had a severe spinal cord injury and this injury has led to chronic pain. I was intrigued that mindfulness could be used as a self-healing modality and that I would be able to integrate this knowledge into my graduate education. It was an added bonus that I would be able to learn and use myself as a laboratory during this class and see if mindfulness-based stress reduction could help calm my body down, increase my immune system response and alleviate chronic pain symptoms.
posted by Mindful readers..., 4:21 pm
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Thursday, August 11 2011
When did you first start practicing mindfulness and why were you motivated to do so?
I started practicing several years ago after attending a workshop on social intelligence. The research presented on the effectiveness of mindfulness as a tool for well-being was so staggering that I felt like it just wasn’t an option not to take this on.
Did you take a class? If so, what sort of a class did you take?
I went to a retreat offered by Steve Flowers and Bob Stahl—Mindfulness for Health Professionals. It was life changing. I loved the retreat so much that I promised myself I would go back once a year. It’s ended up being 2-3 times a year ever since.
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posted by Mindful readers..., 4:38 pm
Friday, July 15 2011
When did you first start practicing mindfulness and why were you motivated to do so?
I began practicing several years ago as a means to cope with the acute and chronic stressors of police work, and life's journey for that matter. I had been reading a lot about yoga and its efficacy for preventing and healing lower back injuries (many police officers have lower back problems). I then began researching mindfulness as a tool for stress management and situational awareness (officer safety) for police officers. In short, the suffering of many police officers led me to research and then begin practicing mindfulness.
Did you take a class? If so, what sort of a class did you take?
I first, with some level of hypocrisy, referred several officers to take a formal class and then eventually, just last year, took an MBSR course from Brant Rogers at Yoga Hillsboro.
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posted by Mindful readers..., 4:34 pm
Monday, July 4 2011
When did you first start practicing mindfulness and why were you motivated to do so?
I began practicing mindfulness when I took an 8-week class not long ago. I had been having a difficult time getting over some things that had happened long, long ago and I was on the verge of going to the doctor to see about starting anti-depressants when I came upon a listing for a Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy course at InsightLA, headed by two therapists, Elisha Goldstein and Roger Nolan. I decided to give this a try— my last try before antidepressants.
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posted by Mindful readers..., 11:46 am
Monday, June 13 2011
When did you first start practicing mindfulness and why were you motivated to do so?
Koichi: Looking back, I started mindfulness when I started martial arts in my early 20’s. I studied Shorinji Kempo in San Diego and learned how to listen to my breath and pay attention to how my body moves when under stressful situations (like punches and kicks coming your way). I was motivated to be more aware to be able to be a more effective at sparring. My reasons for practicing mindfulness has expanded a little since becoming a new parent with Lisa.
posted by Mindful readers..., 1:16 pm
In this blog, practitioners share their experiences of practicing mindfulness, awareness, and compassion. To share your mindfulness experiences, click here to see the short questionnaire, and then email your answers to us at profiles@mindful.org.
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