Press Play to learn more about what’s ahead in this session.
Applying Your Attention Skills to Different Experiences
You have been building up a skill in your daily mindfulness practice on general stimuli such as food, the body or the breath. You might even say that it is like building up the mental muscle of attention. In this session, we will start to use this muscle to deal with more taxing or challenging experiences–just the kinds that in the past may keep symptoms of depression around or have increased your risk of depression’s return.
Introducing a Difficulty into the Practice
Read about the exercise and press Play when you’re ready.
Before You Begin
Adopt a posture that lets you sit comfortably and with stability.
If you are sitting on a chair, move forward so your back is not resting on the chair, or place a pillow behind your back.
Place your feet flat on the floor.
Straighten your spine and relax your shoulders.
This exercise will take about 30 minutes.
Audio Player
00:00
00:00
Use Up/Down Arrow keys to increase or decrease volume.
What Did You Notice?
Because much of the work in learning how to be mindful involves paying attention, it is often helpful to become curious about the practices we do together. As you bring your attention back to the screen, jot down your responses to the following questions. Feel free to provide as much information as you like, as there are no right or wrong answers.
- What was your experience of inviting a difficulty into the practice?
- This response will be reviewed and graded after submission.
- What did you notice happening to your body?
- This response will be reviewed and graded after submission.
- What was your experience of breathing into the part of your body that was most tense or uncomfortable?
- This response will be reviewed and graded after submission.
- Is there something in this practice that may be helpful to you in reducing lingering symptoms of depression or staying well over time?
- This response will be reviewed and graded after submission.
Introducing a Difficulty into the Practice in an MBCT Group
Click on the questions to hear from each group member.
