First Class on Zoom 6/24 (Make Up class for Sunday 6/22)
ARTICLES RE SELECTED RESEARCH STUDIES & APPLICATIONS OF MBSR
1. "All in the Mind? Mindfulness Exercises Can Be as Effective as
Anxiety Drugs, Study Shows" - published in JAMA Psychiatry, Washington
Post, Miami Herald. Randomized, clinical study conducted by Georgetown
University. MBSR vs. Lexapro, popular anti-anxiety medication which has side
effects.
LINK: https://pages.pagesuite.com/5/a/5a3d145a-2d6d-4252-a5b9-7dddb15fb85c/page.pdf
2. "Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Is as Effective as an Antidepressant Drug for Treating Anxiety Disorders," Randomized, clinical trial conducted at Georgetown University Medical Center published in JAMA Psychiatry.
3. "Mindfulness, Meditation, Wellness & Their Connection to Corporate America's Bottom Line," with Duke University of Medicine, World Health Organization, American Academy of Family Physicians, Stanford's Graduate School of Business, etc., etc.
HuffPost, Arianna Huffington
LINK: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/corporate-wellness_b_2903222
4. "A Class Act: How Mindfulness Is Helping to Transform Schools," Aetna Health Resources and Articles -15 public schools in Florida participate in Mindfulness funded by Aetna
LINK: https://www.aetna.com/health-guide/mindfulness-transform-schools.html
5. "Role of Mindfulness in Reducing the Adverse Effects of Childhood Stress and Trauma," NIH, PubMed Center, Feb. 28, 2017
LINK: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5368427/
6. "Integrating Mindfulness Training into K-12 Education Fostering the Resilience of Teachers and Students," Springer Science, Researchers from universities, colleges, Harvard Medical School, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, et al. participated
7. "Daily Meditation May Work as Well as Popular Drug to Calm Anxiety, Study Finds," NPR article
Second Class Sunday - 6/29
HOME PRACTICE
Remember: if you don't have much time, the priority always is to do the daily practice! The other items can be educational and helpful, but if you have to choose, "do the daily practice!"
1. Practice the Body Scan (Workbook, Chapter 1) every day this week and do your best to complete it. Practice offering yourself Lovingkindness if you are having difficulty and reflect on your "intention." See if you can gently encourage yourself to "stay" with the practice -- just as you would encourage a curious, wandering puppy you love to "stay" during training.
Do your best to let go of thinking and focus on "feeling" sensations and the breath as you move through the landscape of your own body with curiosity, interest and kindness. See if you can practice being "aware," acknowledging your direct experience in the moment,
and then continuing on with the practice.
The Body Scan helps us to establish a deeper "connection" with the body -- whether pleasant or unpleasant. There is nothing to achieve, not even relaxation. Whether the experience is "pleasant" or "unpleasant," simply register what it is, and then continue on with the practice
or go back to the breath in the belly if any sensation becomes too strong.
See if you can begin asking yourself questions: Am I being judgmental? Am I being curious? Am I expressing lovingkindness?
2. Fill out the Record Form (Workbook) every day after the Body Scan so you have a record of your experience.
3. Complete the "Pleasant Events Calendar" (Workbook) - briefly record one pleasant event daily as shown on the form. See if you can acknowledge the good and the beauty in your life!
4. Do your own 10-min "Awareness of Breath" meditation
every day like we did in class. Simply observe and explore the felt
sensations and the quality of your own breath for 10 minutes.
5. Be mindful of one routine activity -- choose one and do it every day: showering, listening, speaking, brushing your teeth, or eating.
LINK to Workbook:
Workbook / Chapter 2
NEXT SUNDAY: Dress for Mindful Movement Practice. You can choose to do the movement either on the floor or in a chair.
Remember: Always listen to the wisdom of your own body and "never" do anything that doesn't feel right for you. There
are adaptations and approaches if & when you choose not to do a
particular movement about which we will talk on Sunday.
Please bring your own beach towel to cover the mat.
AWARENESS & FLOWAWARENESS:As Jon Kabat-Zinn says, through mindfulness meditation we cultivate an awareness that can become more and more stable and vivid, especially the more we practice with wise effort and intentionality. This awareness can rest in a non-conceptual direct knowing of any or all aspects of human experience, beyond thinking, without separation or identification.“Awareness is not the same as thought. It lies beyond thinking, although it makes use of thinking, honoring its value and its power. Awareness is more like a vessel which can hold and contain our thinking, helping us to see and know our thoughts as thoughts rather than getting caught up in them.”"FLOW" or the "ZONE" - From an old article in which JKZ talked about the "zone" or "flow":We all have moments in which we are fully involved in what we’re doing. Athletes describe this as being in the zone; artists describe it as finding their muse or creative energy. The Hungarian psychologist Mihály Csíkszentmihályi coined the term "flow" to describe these moments of full involvement. At these times self-consciousness drops away and we’re free from our judging mind — we are fully engaged. We are alert, awake, and attentive. You can identify flow experiences with a simple checklist:
FLOW CHECKLIST
• You lose awareness of time.
• You aren’t thinking about yourself.
• You aren’t distracted by extraneous thoughts.
• You’re focused on the "process" rather than only on the end goal.
• You’re active.
• Your activity feels effortless even if it’s challenging.
• You would like to repeat the experience."Most athletes have no control over the zone," said Jon Kabat-Zinn who has trained Olympic athletes. "If you want to put yourself in the zone with any regularity, the best way to do it is to train yourself mentally using meditation."
The feelings that you have when you're in the "zone" are the same ones that occur naturally in meditation, according to Kabat-Zinn. "When you meditate, it's not that you're trying to cultivate these feelings, it's just that you can't help but develop them."
May we be healthy, happy, safe, and filled with loving kindness,
Valerie
Valerie York-Zimmerman
MiamiMindfulness.com
ijourney@att.net
MiamiMindfulness.com
ijourney@att.net
305-968-0534
Third Class / Sunday 7/25
7/13/2025
HOME PRACTICE
1. Alternate between the Body Scan and the Floor Yoga every other day. Do the formal practice daily!
It is better to do what you can daily rather than skipping it "until you have more time."
Do your best to zoom into each area of the body without trying to do anything or make anything happen. Just tune into "felt sensations" in the body or whatever your "felt experience" is with a kind attitude. Notice if you feel any sensations -
tingling,
throbbing, pulling, twisting, hot, damp, whatever is arising in your
"awareness." Or notice you do not feel any sensations.
Whatever your experience, simply noticing and acknowledging without any judgments. While doing Floor Yoga, move slowly,
keep breathing and move with awareness, curiosity and kindness.
2. Practice Sitting Meditation "every day for 20 min." focusing on Awareness of the Breath, other physical sensations, and awareness
of the whole body. If you don't have time for an extra 20 min., add 20 min. of the Sitting Meditation and reduce the time of the alternating Body Scan and Floor Yoga by 20 min.
3. Complete the Record Form each day after your practice.
4. Review illustrations of Stress Reaction Cycle and Responding vs. Reacting provided in Chapter 4 of the Workbook:
LINK to Workbook:
5. Complete the "Unpleasant Events Calendar" See Workbook. Record one unpleasant event daily.
6. FYI: Illustrations for the Standing Mindful Movement are included in Chapter 4 of the workbook in case you want to explore it.
6. Notice your automatic habitual reactions and behaviors during the week without being judgmental or trying to change them.
May we and all sentient beings be healthy, happy, safe and filled with lovingkindness,
Valerie
Valerie York-Zimmerman
Founder and Senior Teacher
MiamiMindfulness.com
ijourney@att.net
MiamiMindfulness.com
ijourney@att.net
305-968-0534
Sunday 7/20/2025
HOME PRACTICE
1. Every other day "alternate" entire Guided Sitting Meditation with another practice (you pick one!):
Body Scan or Floor Movement or Standing Movement.
(example:
1st day: Sitting Meditation; 2nd day: Floor Movement; 3rd day: Sitting
Meditation; 4th day: Body Scan; 5th day: Sitting Meditation.
LINK to my Guided Sitting Practice audio:
LINK to my Standing Yoga Practice audio: (See illustrations of postures in last week's Workbook Chapter):
3. Fill out the Difficult Communications Calendar and read the Communications Section (see Workbook).
LINK to Workbook Chapter 5:
4. Bring awareness to moments of "reacting" and explore possibilities for "responding" with greater mindfulness and creativity in your daily meditation practice and in everyday life.
5. See attached below: Stress Reaction Triangle and Stress Response Triangle for another way of seeing how we react vs. respond.
May we and all sentient beings be healthy, happy, safe, and filled with lovingkindness,
------------------------------
MBSR Class 6 Home Practice & Workbook
Aol/Old Mail
Valerie York-Zimmerman
From:ijourney@att.net
To:Valerie York-Zimmerman
Cc:ijourney@att.net
Mon, Jul 28 at 9:52 AM
Dear Friends,
HOME PRACTICE
1. Alternate Guided Sitting Meditation with either (pick one): Body Scan, Floor Movement, or Standing Movement everyday.
Do your best to stay with the practice as long as you are able. Remember, lovingly training a wandering puppy.
2. Complete the Record Form each day after you practice.
3. LINK to Chapter 6 Workbook:
4. Communication Style and Behavior: Focus on awareness during difficult communications with others. See if you can
"step back and witness how you react and behave" during difficult communications. Do you notice your patterns in difficult communications with others?
5. Aikido Video: like the Aikido activity we did in class, another way of seeing how to work with difficult communications is through
this video, "Conflict, Creativity & Compassion: Aikido Principles in Work and Life," by Judy Ringer. Learning to work with
difficult communication is a life-long practice. By "turning toward," we are dismantling our conditioned patterns of reactivity.
Aikido is about "respecting" and "joining the energy." It renders an attack harmless without harming the attacker. You can learn
to "step in and move from resistance to connection." Are you becoming aware of your resistance? Watch the first 19 minutes.
LINK to Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gnZa1W52I58
Valerie
Valerie York-Zimmerman
MiamiMindfulness.com
ijourney@att.net
MiamiMindfulness.com
ijourney@att.net
305-968-0534
---------------------------
Valerie York-Zimmerman
From:ijourney@att.net
To:Valerie York-Zimmerman
Mon, Aug 4 at 11:56 AM
Dear Friends,
Please
be sure to bring a pillow and/or blanket next week if you need them for
lying down practice. I will bring one mat for everyone.
HOME PRACTICE
1. No recordings this week. Practice one or more of the formal practices on your own every day for 45 min. (Note: if this is too difficult, alternate between using the recordings and self-guidance every other day.)
2. LINK to Chapter 7 Workbook:
3. Practice informally when you are not doing the formal practices being as aware and awake as possible throughout the day.
4. Shifting gears: R -- N -- F. Reverse = "Reacting" - Neutral or Centered = "Choosing" - Forward = "Responding."
5. Life-style choices: notice the choices you are making. Are they "nourishing"? Or are they "limiting"?
6. LINK to 2.43 min. Happify video "Why Mindfulness Is a Superpower": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w6T02g5hnT4
7. Prepare to Briefly Share your experience, just as it was, next week in our closing circle. For instance:
How do you feel about the program ending?
What have you learned, if anything?
Did the program meet your expectations?
What is Your Plan to keep deepening your awareness, daily practice of mindfulness, and lovingkindness?
Please be prepared to stay just a few minutes longer if we need to.
May we and all sentient beings be healthy, happy, safe, and filled with lovingkindness,
Valerie
Valerie York-Zimmerman
MiamiMindfulness.com
ijourney@att.net
MiamiMindfulness.com
ijourney@att.net
305-968-0534
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