I've just had what feels like a mindfulness sabbatical. After 6 years of teaching MBSR I've had  2 terms off.  While taking a break, I've been immersing myself in the wonderful world of mindfulness podcasts.

I have listened to some wonderful talks and have been refining my thoughts on teaching MBSR in Sydney, Australia in 2019.  Most of the presenters talk about the overlap between contemplative buddhist informed ideas, western psychology and neuroscience.

​Many of these podcasts have been thought provoking and I thought I'd share some of my favourites with you.

"Even before smartphones and the Internet, we had many ways to distract our selves. Now that's compounded by a factor of trillions."  Jon Kabbat-Zinn

Thich Nhat Thahn says, "We are very good at preparing to live, but not very good at living. We know how to sacrifice ten years for a diploma, and we are willing to work very hard to get a job, a car, a house, and so on. But we have difficulty remembering that we are alive in the present moment, the only moment there is for us to be alive".

I’m always struck by how our devices have somehow crept in and often taken the place that should be held by an intimate other in our lives. Our phones live right next to our beds at night,get checked in with many, many times a day, and we miss them, sometimes desperately when they are not there.

Humans are experts at making judgments. Our smart brains are always making decisions. 6.30 am- yes time to get up. Should I go to the gym - No, it’s too comfy in bed. Should I do some morework on that presentation? Yes, I’m worried others will be critical. What do I need to do to make it perfect it?
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We make judgments all of the time. Our lives depend on them. While they are an essential decision-making tool judgments can get out of control if used in unhelpful ways. I got it wrong, I'm such an idiot! What will they think of me…I  had better work non-stop! In our mindfulness practice, we attempt to cultivate a non-judging attitude. Why and what does this mean?

“Instead of fixating on the peaks of civilisation, we need to pay attention to the foothills’ ... Fans Wels, a Dutch biologist

Do you remember Week 4 in MBSR when we talked about how the design of our human brain  leaves us prone to stress?  In the compassion course, we go into more detail on our brain by learning about our 3 emotional regulation systems, the safety system, the drive system and the soothing system.  The course focuses on how we can can compassionately care for ourselves by getting to know all 3 systems and learn to intentionally activate the soothing system.
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But first a quick,  recap on the story of our 'Triune brain'…Our species evolved over millions of years, and much of the structure of our brain evolved in pre-human existence.  Our current brain  has  'old' reptilian and mammalian parts and a 'new' homo-sapien section.