Tuesday, May 16, 2017

Learning about Mindfulness--are you appreciating the present moment?

photo credit:  Megan Kingsley Gale.  Olympic National Park
Are you able to stop and appreciate the present moment?  Enjoy that morsel of chocolate cake, revel in the warmth of the sunshine on your shoulders, or, without judgment, watch happy children run down a grassy hill?

It is very easy in our world and culture to get caught up in tasking and getting things done and oh-no! I'm running late!  It takes practice to slow down and enjoy the simple things in life.  Research has shown that the ability to do this, to slow down and be in the present moment (also known as practicing "mindfulness") leads to better health, greater resilience, and better decision-making skills.

To learn more about appreciating the present moment and practicing mindfulness, check out the links to the recommended resources below. Teaching mindfulness and basic breathing techniques is a tool in East Asian Medicine, which is the foundation of Integrative Medicine.  Jon Kabat-Zinn, PhD has some great easy-to-understand resources we've included in these packages.  Dr. Kabat-Zinn founded the mindfulness-based-stress-reduction (MBSR) programs that are in some hospitals.

[original post was 5.16.2017 and featuring a set of "perk packages" in our spring 2017 fundraiser. 
links updated 11.30.2018]

Here are some recommended starting reads:
  1. the book, Letting Everything Become Your Teacher:  100 Lessons in Mindfulness by Jon Kabat-Zinn
  2. the book, Mindfulness for Beginners: Reclaiming the Present Moment and Your Life by Jon Kabat-Zinn
  3. the book and audio CD, Sitting like a Frog: Mindfulness Exercises for Kids (and their parents) by Eline Snel--a great resource to share with your kids or nieces and nephews or grandchildren
  4. the audio CD, Mindfulness Meditation for Pain Relief:  Guided Practices for Reclaiming Your Body and Your Life by Jon Kabat-Zinn.  This is a great self-help resource for anyone who experiences chronic pain.

If you want to keep it to the practical basics:
  1. the book, Mindfulness for Beginners and
  2. the audio CD, Mindfulness Meditation for Pain Relief
These mindfulness packages make great gifts for yourself or a friend  The audio CD on mindfulness for pain relief is a useful home non-drug self-care resource to complement ongoing conventional care for your chronic pain.

If you purchase these items following the Amazon affiliate links above, a few pennies of each purchase go to supporting the Hospital Handbook Project work, which is supporting the movement of integrative medicine as part of modern medicine.

Contribute directly to the website if you want as much of your contribution to go directly to Project costs as possible.

Thank you for supporting this work and this community!


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