MPDR Archives Blog Post #288 - June 18, 2015

Step out of auto-pilot mode

and into this present moment

with 3 mindful breaths

image by M. Lee Freedman

"Trust:  Trust means resisting getting caught up in the reputation and authority of others. Instead, we are invited to honour our own feelings, intuitions and experiences.  While teachers and books can provide signposts, only you can take responsibility for knowing yourself.”

-excerpt from Foundational Attitudes of Mindfulness 

from the Mindfulness Hamilton website.  

If you are interested in reading the introduction and perspectives on the "foundational attitudes of mindfulness”, 

please click on this link: http://mindfulnesshamilton.ca/foundational-attitudes-of-mindfulness

Wishing you many moments of peace this evening 

Lee

M. Lee Freedman, MD,CM, FRCP(C)

http://mpdrarchives.blogspot.ca/

MPDR Archives Blog Post #287 - June 17, 2015

Enjoy 3 mindful breaths

image by M. Lee Freedman

"In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities; in the expert's mind there are few.”

- Shunryu Suzuki

Wishing you a peaceful sleep

Lee

M. Lee Freedman, MD,CM, FRCP(C)

http://mpdrarchives.blogspot.ca/

MPDR Archives Blog Post #286 - June 16, 2015

Pause

Be aware of the sensations

of breathing in and breathing out

for the following three breaths

image by M. Lee Freedman

“The Attitude of Patience"

The attitude of patience simply suggests that we understand and accept the fact that sometimes things must unfold in their own time. It’s an alternative to the mind’s restlessness and impatience. Mindfulness asks that you cultivate patience towards your own mind. It’s about not letting our desire for particular results or our need to rush in order to get to the next thing we want to do or place we want to be dictate or overshadow the quality of the present moment. Whatever you experience in the moment is your reality and if you are open to each moment, accepting it fully as it is, without trying to speed up the process, then you are being mindful.”

-Marguerite Louise

(excerpt from The Attitude of Patience): http://www.writeofthemiddle.com/mindful-monday-attitude-patience/

Link to 2 ½ minute video of Jon Kabat-Zinn discussing themindful attitude of patience  https://youtu.be/NkW27a8m1mY

Have a mindful day

Lee

M. Lee Freedman, MD,CM, FRCP(C)

http://mpdrarchives.blogspot.ca/

MPDR Archives Blog Post #285 - June 15, 2015

Pause for 3 Mindful Breaths

image by M. Lee Freedman 

"Today we talk about the seven attitudinal foundations of the mindful practice that, according to Kabat-Zinn, constitute the major pillars of mindfulness practice as taught in the MBSR. In his book Full Catastrophe Living, Kabat-Zinn describes each:Non-judging: Not getting caught up in our ideas and opinions, likes and dislikes.

Patience: An understanding and acceptance that sometimes things must unfold in their own time.

Beginner’s Mind: Seeing things with fresh eyes, with a clear and uncluttered mind.

Trust: Trusting in your intuition and your own authority.

Non-striving: Trying less and being more.

Acceptance: Coming to terms with things as they are.

Letting Go: Letting our experience be what it is."

-Therese J. Borchard 

excerpt from Non-Judging, Non-Striving and the Pillars of Mindfulness Practice: http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2014/04/12/non-judging-non-striving-and-the-pillars-of-mindfulness-practice/

This week, each daily reminder will include a link to a short video discussing each of these “pillars” or attitudes of mindfulness.

 Here is a link to a video discussing the attitude of non-judgment:  https://youtu.be/E3LH002aBXo

Wishing you moments of clarity and peace today

Lee

M. Lee Freedman, MD,CM, FRCP(C)

http://mpdrarchives.blogspot.ca/

MPDR Archives Blog Post #284 - June 14, 2015

Pause

Notice that you are breathing

When you inhale, notice you are breathing in

When you exhale, notice you are breathing out

Continue being aware of inhaling and exhaling for 2 more breaths

And Perhaps Choose to ... 

Continue with mindful awareness of breathing

for another minute

or 5 minutes

or 10 minutes

or longer

image by M. Lee Freedman

"What a thing it is to sit absolutely alone, in the forest, at night, cherished by this wonderful, unintelligible, perfectly innocent speech, the most comforting speech in the world, the talk that rain makes by itself all over the ridges, and the talk of the watercourses everywhere in the hollows!

Nobody started it, nobody is going to stop it. It will talk as long as it wants, this rain. As long as it talks I am going to listen."

—Thomas Merton 

excerpt from “Rain and the Rhinoceros” in Raids on The Unspeakable

Wishing you moments of peace and joy today 

Lee

M. Lee Freedman, MD,CM, FRCP(C)

http://mpdrarchives.blogspot.ca/

*Welcome to new recipients of Mindfulness Practice Daily Reminders*

As many of us have experienced, mindfulness is pretty simple, but not so easy and remembering to practice mindful awareness can be quite challenging. 

These daily reminders are intended to help us remember our intention to practice present moment awareness through formal and informal mindfulness practice.

Opening a reminder email represents a decision to pause, step out of automatic pilot mode and into the here and now by intentionally bringing attention to the sensations of three breaths. Then proceed with your day.

You may choose to treat this as an experiment by noticing if and how this brief pause impacts on the next moments of your day.

The second part of the reminder email consists of a quote, poem, image, link to article and/or link to short video relevant to the practice of mindfulness. The images included in the emails have all been created from my mindfulness practice with a camera. 

I suggest consciously choosing whether you have the time and/or the interest in reading/watching anything further, rather than automatically clicking on the link.  In this way you are practicing bringing mindful awareness practice into conscious decision making and action.

The mindfulness practice daily reminders that have been sent out since July 2014 are now archived on a blog called MPDR Archives.  Here is a link to the first entry that describes the history of and intention for the reminders.http://mpdrarchives.blogspot.ca/2015/01/welcome-to-archives-of-mindfulness.html.

Please feel free to share these reminders with others who may be interested.  If you know anyone who would like to be included in the list of recipients of the reminders, please ask them to email my assistant at drmlfreedman@hotmail.com.

Please let me know if you would like to remove your name from the email list at any time.

Lee

MPDR Archives Blog Post #283 - June 13, 2015

Pause

Be aware of the sensations

of breathing in and breathing out

for the following three breaths

Wishing you a mindful evening

Lee

M. Lee Freedman, MD,CM, FRCP(C)

http://mpdrarchives.blogspot.ca/

MPDR Archives Blog Post #282 - June 12, 2015

PAUSE for 3 mindful breaths

image by M. Lee Freedman

"Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could; some blunders and absurdities have crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; you shall begin it serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense."

—Ralph Waldo Emerson

Wishing you a mindful evening

Lee

M. Lee Freedman, MD,CM, FRCP(C)

http://mpdrarchives.blogspot.ca/

MPDR Archives Blog Post #281 - June 11, 2015

Pause 

come into the present moment 

by reallyfeeling the sensations 

of 3 or morebreaths

image by M. Lee Freedman

"Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it.” 

~ Confucius

Enjoy the beauty you may find by practicing mindful seeing

Lee

M. Lee Freedman, MD,CM, FRCPC

http://mpdrarchives.blogspot.ca/

MPDR Archives Blog Post #280 - June 10, 2015

Pause

Take a moment to step out of the auto pilot “doing mode” 

into simply being here and now 

by bringing awareness to the sensations of 

your next three breaths

 

image by M. Lee Freedman

“We’ve all heard the saying that in life there are ups and down and there is the classic eastern saying that life is filled with 10,000 joys and 10,000 sorrows. With this there’s the wisdom that all things come and go, but the brain has a funny way of amplifying the sorrows and minimizing the joys for good evolutionary reasons. Whenever the brain perceived something as “bad” it starts to worry about it. But often times there is no real utility to the worry, it only serves to dig us into a deeper hole and blinds us to the joys that might be waiting around the corner.”

-Elisha Goldstein

(excerpt from post 5 Steps to Worrying Less  To read the full post please click on the following link:http://www.mindful.org/mindful-voices/on-mental-health/5-steps-to-worrying-less#.VXeb5ufAndg.twitter

  

Have a mindful day

Lee

M. Lee Freedman, MD,CM, FRCP(C)

http://mpdrarchives.blogspot.ca/

MPDR Archives Blog Post #279 - June 9, 2015

Pause

Come into the present moment

by really feeling the sensations

of 3 or more breaths

image by M. Lee Freedman

“Establishing a meditation routine can be difficult. You’re busy! Who has time to breathe, let alone sit and breathe? But if you think the only way you’ll learn how to meditate is with a 25-hour day, think again"

“I have a really chaotic schedule so I do it whenever I can,” says Dan Harris, a correspondent for ABC News and the author of the New York Times bestseller 10% Happier. “I don’t freak out if I can’t fit it in but I do think it’s important to do something every day.” Harris has been meditating ever since he experienced a panic attack on air nearly a decade ago. He credits meditation with helping him control knee-jerk reactions to frustrating situations. Thanks to improved patience, Harris says he’s a better listener and is able to hold shorter, more fruitful meetings. Meditation, he says, is “fighting a lifetime pattern of letting your thoughts lead you by the nose.”

-Alex Orlov

excerpt from post:  7 Ways to Carve Out Time to Meditate 

To read the full post with ideas for ways to stay committed to a practice, please click on this link: http://dailyburn.com/life/lifestyle/how-to-meditate-dan-harris/ 

Wishing you many moments of mindfulness today

Lee

M. Lee Freedman, MD,CM, FRCP(C)

http://mpdrarchives.blogspot.ca/