Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction - Home Practice Guidelines for Week 5
1. Practice without listening to any recordings or being guided through it for 10 minutes or more every day this week. Decide which of the practices you will do each time: a body scan, mindful movement, walking meditation, a seated meditation, or some kind of combination of these.
In each practice, notice when your attention wanders, and use your breath as an anchor to the present moment. It does not matter which practice you decide to do, what matters is practicing kindness towards yourself and noticing what is present in each moment of your experience. When you practice a seated meditation, you can allow your attention to rest on the breath, body sensations, sounds, thoughts and emotions, and/or all the sensations passing through your field of awareness while you remain in the background witnessing them all as they come and go. Set a timer so you will not have to check on the time. Make a note of anything that comes up for you during the practice. Noticing is the presence practice process.
End each practice with a few Loving-Kindness phrases* (see email)
There is also a full loving-kindness practice on the recordings page.
2. During the week, bring awareness to how you take care of your body and mind: what you choose to listen to through radio/podcasts, TV/netflix/movies, the internet, and news sources; what you choose to read/view (books, newspaper, email, social media); what you choose to eat to nourish your body; what you choose to do for physical exercise or relaxation, etc: what you do for social interaction with family/friends, and sleep habits. Below is a reflection to fill out and bring next week.
3. During the week, bring awareness to the stressors in your life, and how you might change a behavior to address one of them. Also notice a stressor you cannot change. Is there a mindfulness practice you can try to reduce your reactivity to it? Below is a reflection to fill out and bring next week.
4. During the week, bring awareness to moments of being with other people and how you are relating to them. Is it possible to extend more kindness towards people you know? Is it possible to extend more kindness towards people you don’t know? Is it possible to extend more kindness towards yourself?
5. During the week, see all communication as opportunity to practice mindful listening (instructions in the email). What do you notice?
6. Again, the most important home practice is to simply Pause throughout your day and take 3 Mindful Breaths. Ask yourself, what am I noticing right now? Notice whatever you find, not reacting, not changing, not judging, just accepting and experiencing all that is here right now.