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Anthony Quintiliani, Ph.D, LADC

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December 31, 2020 By Admin

Tips on Practice During These Troubling Times

Tips on Practice During These Troubling Times

Some people are religious, and I am sure turn to those sources for support and hope. Others are spiritual, and I hope also pursue those sources for emotional stability and closeness to the “their” divine. Other people may  be Agnostic or Atheist; I am certain such people also find ways to cope and move on during these very bad times. Let’s take a moment to examine some aspects of using religious belief to deal with “the terrible.”  We will end with brief sage advice from Pema Chodron on how to turn your world around.

Religion – Buddhism and Others

Much of this post is based on the work of Jack Miles. Miles is a Pulitzer Prize winner and a religious scholar. Personal understanding of what religion means is at the core of differential practices. We recognize that religion is separate from the typical activities and beliefs of secular experience. In the ancient past, however, such separation between religion and secular life was far less clear; in fact in those times religion entered many aspects of secularism as a norm. In the end, of course, what matters is what is helpful to the individual person. The reinforcement of feeling better is a powerful motivator. So, religious or not it may be important for you to at least visit your spiritual or religious self to find “the way.” Remain there a while until you obtain some of what you need. I am sure your deep and personal beliefs about the Divine will help you in one way of another. Or, perhaps, you simply need more support for the Self and its many adventures.

Now let us consider a few thoughts from Pema Chodron, one of the most popular world leaders in contemporary Buddhism.  In this post I will refer to specific steps she recommends (without much detail). If you want to learn more read one of her many books or refer to Prajna/Shambhala publications on this topic. First, for positive emotional transformation to occur we need to know and understand to some degree what our emotions and related experiences are. Furthermore, we need to learn through regular practice how to remain there and not  escape from the suffering and pain. Humans desire happiness and dread suffering; however, we will experience both in our lives. There is no escape from suffering, and sometimes happiness may require some mindful effort and skillful means. Second, we must discover, learn about, and use various tools and processes to engage our emotional lives successfully without increasing fearfulness. This is where daily meditation practice may come in. It is when we have the courage to engage in meditation dealing with our pain an suffering that new, important insights may occur.  It also may make us more brave. Third, since bravery and courage are required to do deep work on your emotional realities, we need to remain motivated for the path and our struggles on it. This is very important when we engage in meditation about our most serious personal suffering. If we are serious about our practice, and we continue to do it regardless of the many challenges that exist, then we may experience emotional transformation and positive changes in our mind, body, life. Here is where our spiritual practices may blossom.

For more information refer to Jack Miles book, Religion as We Know It: An Origin Story. See also Pema Chodron’s online teachings, Turn Your World Around. This is a Prajna/Shambhala Publication.

Anthony R. Quintiliani, PhD., LADC  

From the Eleanor R. Liebman Center for Secular Meditation in Monkton, Vermont and the Home of The Monkton SanghaChiYinYang_EleanorRLiebmanCenter

Author of Mindful Happiness  

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Filed Under: Buddhism, Featured, Jack MIles, Pema Chodron, Practices Tagged With: JACK MILES, MINDFULNESS PRACTICE, PEMA CHODRON

December 20, 2015 By Admin

Happiness – Guided Imagery of Your Life –

Mindful Happiness – Happiness – Guided Imagery of Your Life

This experience will include guided imagery and multi-sensory memory of happy experiences in your life.  At time, shadow experience may pop up, in which a happy memory has an unhappy mindfulhappinesscomponent.  Your mindful concentration will be needed to remain on track with only the happy aspects of the memories you select.  If you experience a shadow, place it in a soft box (in your mind) so you can visit it later. Some people have suffered a great deal and may have some challenges keeping pleasant memories separate from unpleasant memories.

Do your best!  Let’s begin!

  1. Place yourself in a comfortable posture sitting in meditation or lying on your back with arms by your sides.
  2. Take a few calm, deep, slow meaningful breaths until you feel your body relaxing. It may help to complete a quick body scan, releasing into the universe any tension your discover in your body here and now.
  3. Now focus on relaxing your mind. Just keep returning attention to your breath and relaxed body.
  4. Begin with the first happy memory you can remember – most likely from early childhood. Focus cognitively first. Then add each of your sense doors to the memory back there then: see it, hear it, feel it (sensation, emotions), smell it, and taste it.  Using your mind’s eye place yourself in the original physical context of the memory – be with it back there then. The most important things are to see/hear things as they were back there then, and to FEEL your sensations and emotions associated with the memory (people, places, things, experiences). Start with the feelings. Get the most out of this experience.
  5. Now repeat the above procedure with a positive memory during your elementary school years.
  6. Now do the same in your middle school years.
  7. Yes,. repeat the same procedures for your high school years.
  8. One more time – in your college years or the years immediately after high school.
  9. Pick your most meaningful happy memory of all and do the same procedure with it.
  10. Simply be with the feeling of this work – and notice the powerful impact of positive emotions associated with happy memories. Allow it! Let it be! Benefit from it!
  11. For ongoing happiness practice, practice the process noted here as a meditation

For more information refer to Quintiliani, A. R. (2014). Mindful Happiness… Shelburne, VT: Voices of Vermont Publications.

By Anthony R. Quintiliani, PhD., LADC

From the Eleanor R. Liebman Center for Secular Meditation in Monkton, VermontChiYinYang_EleanorRLiebmanCenter

Author of Mindful Happiness  

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Filed Under: Activities, Featured, MIndfulness, MIndfulness Activities, Practices Tagged With: DR ANTHONY QUINTILIANI, MINDFUL HAPPINESS, MINDFULNESS PRACTICE

March 30, 2015 By Admin

How to Improve Mindfulness Skills

Tips for Improving Your Mindfulness Practices

The following practices may improve your mindfulness skills.  It all depends – it all depends on whether or not you will do regular, daily practices.  If you desire to improve your mindfulness skills, consider following the tips noted below.  Most of the practices below involve sitting meditation.  Likewise, regular practice of these suggested skills may produce brain plasticity, which makes them easier and easier to do over time.  Enjoy!

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1) Sit in meditation for five to ten minutes and simply notice the condition of your mind.  It is calm and quiet? Is it active and emotional?  Does if go back to the past over and over again?  Does it zoom into the future?  See how long you can stay in the present moment just observing the quality of your mind state.

2) Spend longer and longer sessions practicing paying and holding attention on one thing.  See how easy or difficult this is for your mind to do.  Remember you are in charge of your mind; you do, however, have to take that responsibility and act on it.  Use your executive mind to guide the quality of your mind states. For example, just pay attention to a neutral object.  Then shift to a negative or unhappy topic or memory. Last, shift attention and control to a positive, happy topic of memory.  See how long you can focus attention and return it.  See what emotional conditions arise from the causes of neutral, suffering and happy objects or memories.  The goal is to build attentional power – to be able to pay attention for longer periods of time.  Whenever your attention wonders off, gently bring it back to the focus of attention you selected.  Do not evaluate your practice. As you improve your attentional capacities, you may notice that your emotional tolerance for negative experiences and memories expands. Radical acceptance is a process.

3) When you are practicing mindful meditation, use your senses more.  Move among the senses from one to another. Remember that in most mindfulness traditions, the mind objects – your mental content and thoughts – may also be considered as a sixth sense.  Notice differences in the quality of your awareness as you move from one sense object to another. Notice what sensory channel is easier or more difficult to use.

4) Practice often with your breath as the focus of attention.  Many variations of breath meditation have been presented on this site.  Pick one you do well, and practice it for longer periods of time.  Pick one you have problems with, and also practice for longer periods of time.  I recommend you look up and practice diaphragmatic, square, and three-part breathing.

5) Practice mindfulness by first paying attention to the open field of awareness around you.  No evaluations, just attention in the present moment to whatever you encounter in your experience and its environment.  Then shift to a more single-pointed focus of attention.  Do this for a while; eventually you may enter into concentration meditation.  Concentration meditation is beyond mindfulness; it deepens in attention and intensity, but still requires mindfulness to get started.

6) Do a body scan as your meditation, and pay very close attention to the aspect of neuroception (also called interoception). What does it feel like to pay attention to  moving awareness on and in the body, up and down the body?  This is great practice for improving mindfulness skills as well as achieving a relaxed state.  If you do this practice for a long period, you may need a blanket to remain warm.  You may become so relaxed that your entire mind-body system slows way, way down.

7) Radical acceptance practice is another way to improve mindfulness capacities.  Just sit and see what happens.  Do not try to control anything. If/when something unpleasant arises, just sit with it in radical acceptance.  This sit with what is real in the moment.  Just be with it.  Notice!

8) Compassion practice as part of mindfulness training can be very helpful.  Sit in meditation and do loving kindness.  Instructions for loving kindness (if needed) can be found on the site map on topics.  As you practice loving kindness, do your best to spend longer times doing it.  Notice the flow of gentle/kind energy.  Think loving kindness in your words. Feel loving kindness in your heart-mind. Experience loving kindness in equanimity – if you can reach it.

I hope all these wonderful practice help you to become more proficient in your mindfulness and meditation practices.  Practice does make almost perfect!

For more information refer to Gilbert, P. and Choden (2014). Mindful Compassion: How the Science of Compassion Can Help You…Oakland, CA: New Harbinger Publications, pp. 158-276.  See also Germer, C. (2009). The Mindful Path to Self-Compassion…New York: Guilford Press, pp. 129-192, 254-267.

By Anthony R. Quintiliani, PhD., LADC

From the Eleanor R. Liebman Center for Secular Meditation in Monkton, VermontChiYinYang_EleanorRLiebmanCenter

Author of Mindful Happiness

CLICK HERE to Order!

Mindful Happiness cover designs.indd

Filed Under: Activities, Featured, Meditation, MIndfulness, MIndfulness Activities, Training Tagged With: DR ANTHONY QUINTILIANI, MINDFULNESS PRACTICE, MINDFULNESS TRAINING

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