Mindfulness - Peeling Away The Clouds Of Mystique Surrounding It

[Legend]

No all of my studying of the subject and from my mindfulness practitioners is that of observation and acceptance. Continue in the being mode.of mind and not the doing. So the doing would be trying to fix things where as in the being it is just complete acceptance. What you find is that when you completely accept a thought with no judgement it is stopped.in it's tracks and doesn't take you any further and you move on and focus on what you want to. In mindfulness yoy are completely in the present moment which is all we ever have. We don't have the past and we don't have the future it's all just projected in the mind so in mindfulness you are being aware of your moment you are in whether it is good or bad and yoy accept it fully. It kind of rids you of anxiety and fear and depression when you only focus on the now and nothing else. I totally agree with what your saying though. I think cbt is great I've only got 1 book on that right enough lol but I do think a combo of cbt/erp and mindfulness is great.

im learning to re mindfulness lyn . Thanks for that ,

[Guest Lyn77]

I'm still learning also...I think it's a kind of life long thing. Not something u can just do. Takes a lot of practice

[gingerbreadgirl]

Really interesting thread thank you

[Legend]

I'm still learning also...I think it's a kind of life long thing. Not something u can just do. Takes a lot of practice

heard this also , but i expect with good cbt , and butt kicking , maybe , just maybe not needed life long

[Guest ADD]

I'm still learning also...I think it's a kind of life long thing. Not something u can just do. Takes a lot of practice

Thanks for that. Cause I'm always thinking, it's not possible to have no other awareness in the background esp when there are intrusive thoughts that we can't control and those are not of what is happening in the moment or around us.

Though being aware of the senses and focusing on them does help to bring the mind to the moment and to calm the body. One of the best ones is sound and kinaesthetic cause we don't pay much attention to them, the background noises and the breeze etc. It's not that is bad to think and do other things as we need to for most tasks and abstractions, though it's more a meditative thing to bring calmness. Something to ground and recenter the mind. Natural environments are even better where it's calm, less people and the sounds and sights are of nature. That has a slower rhythm to it. A pace that feels to slow down time and slow down the mind!

As they say... come to your senses!

[daisy]

Thanks to all for explaining this,but my brain is so muddled I still can't really get to grips with it! I have so many things going on in my life and have to make some major decisions and also accept some things I can't change,I think I need to go on a course or something as I really can't get to grips with it.x

[Guest Lyn77]

8 week mbsr course is very.good for getting to grips.with it. It was created by Jon kabat zinn. Watch some of his YouTube video for some in sight x

[taurean]

I think the essence of mindfulness-based CBT is exactly the combination Lyn said.

But I stand with gingerbreadgirl in I can only be truly mindful when I have a peaceful mind- the mindfulness exercises my therapist taught me in therapy were fine but at that time I was consumed with repeating thought loops so couldn't get mindful then.I really worked them after I had been able to dumb down those repetitive loops.

Edited July 27, 2015 by taurean

[taurean]

Really glad I raised this topic.

As you will see on my signature block I am a devotee of mindfulness, and very definitely mindfulness-based CBT.

I know that in those periods when I am free of OCD mental chatter I can get truly mindful - just aware of all my senses purely in the here and now. And yes, it is Utopia. And yes it isn't easy because you have to "walk the talk" ( thanks to Legend and an assist from Caramoole for this great concept) first to get to that stage.

Daisy, you don't have to go on an 8-week course on mindfulness. As it happened I read the text book to that 8 week course - most of it is about learning to use your senses and relax and switch into being - acceptkng thiughts without interractng (CBT!).

I always recall a comment Ashley made. Books are full of prose on OCD, but if you've read several and combine the key bits from them, you'll get a good overall picture.

[taurean]

Good luck with the mindfulness everyone.

Edited July 27, 2015 by taurean

[taurean]

I think one role I can be useful at on the forum is "cutting to the chase" - removing any padding and filling, taking off layers and getting right to the core issues.(my business training).

Edited July 27, 2015 by taurean

[Guest Lyn77]

You don't have to go on an 8 week course that is true but I've read alot on my own but nothing compares to what I gained on the course.

You can still be mindful when you are full of anxiety it's about accepting the anxiety fully you can apply mindfulness to thoughts and feelings not only external.

[daisy]

Thank you Lyn and taurean,and to everyone else who has contributed x

[taurean]

I would imagine that the "Mindfulness For Dummies" book would give great pointers - the dummies series is in general very good. If there is a mindfulness book in the "Teach Yourself" series I am sure that would be good too. My copy of "Teach Yourself Cognitive Behavioural Therapy" by Christine Wilding by is a cracking book - absolutely brilliant folks. .

Just to come back on Lyn's comment. If you go on CBT therapy it is likeley to be over a good 8 weeks, so I don't have an issue with people goiig on a mindfulness course such as Lyn had - i am simply peeling away all the padding and going for the core.

And I do find it interesting her saying about the leaving the thoughts be - yes the book does say that, but I was unable todo it and get mindful.I had to really dumb down my thoughts (using CBT) until I could get mindful.

The book I waas referring to - which is in my hand now - is "MIndfulness - A Practical Guide To Finding Peace In A Frantic World" by Mark Williams and Danny Penman - based on the 8-week course. It is a good book if you want to get seriously into mindfulness, and comes with a free CD of guided meditations.

[daisy]

Thanks Roy they sound just what i need!

I really need something to help me motivate myself- still thats for another thread!

[Guest Lyn77]

I just don't understand how you can't be mindful while anxious. During the 8 week course we had particular sessions where we would be mindful of our thoughts. It showed me that mindfulness does not mean calming the mind it means becoming present and fully aware of whatever is going on in the mind. You can be mindful of anything whether it is painful or pleasurable the key is in not judging the experience

[taurean]

It's a matter of personal interpretation Lyn

For me, I am mindful when my brain and body are in tune with the universe and I really am just being, wherever I am - in the moment - and relaxed.

For me, being aware of thoughts and accepting and not engaging with them is standard CBT.

Edited July 27, 2015 by taurean

[taurean]

There are at least a couple of books on mindfulness in the "Teach yourself" series. I found in amazon" the mindfulness workbook" and "mindfulness made easy".

[taurean]

I am bringing this thread back up, potentially to a new audience. 

I particularly like what PolarBear said which runs very true for me. 

Since posting the thread I have, thanks to input from members, found a methodology which truly helps (for me) regarding the constantly -repeating intrusive thoughts I get in an OCD episode - and the mindfulness add on to my CBT therapy is working even better for that. 

CBT is absolutely brilliant for the treatment of OCD,  challenging thoughts, changing behaviours. 

Then for me, tagging on mindfulness - whilst necessarily using exposure and response prevention,and keeping exposure up to date - provides a double whammy to both defuse and ease away intrusions. 

For those not believing in how mindfulness may help as an add-on to CBT, I would simply say that keeping an open mind to new ideas gives us the best chance of finding the right package to suit our own particular needs. 

Mindfulness as a science has been around for millenia in helping people live their lives in a calmer more relaxed way.