“Letting go of the tendency we have to want things to be different, allowing things to be as they are and allowing yourself to be as you are…” Jon Kabat Zinn on the mindfulness.
I began a meditation practice almost two years ago. I had always been curious about meditation but I had been experiencing, at the time, I downturn in my business and I was generally pretty freaked out on life. I equated downturn in my business to my own identity. Less revenue, Lisa sucks. That’s the event that finally got me to get started and I haven’t looked back since.
The idea is to focus on your breath and when you find your mind wandering, you make a mental note of thinking, or hearing, or whatever. And when you get specific on the noting, you start to say things like “planning” and “remembering” and “worrying.” The idea isn’t to stop the thinking, it’s to be aware of it. That’s where the mindfulness comes in. Get it? And when you keep doing that, when you keep noting what your crazy head is doing, you start to see patterns. And you learn a shit ton about yourself.
I found a pattern where I waste my time thinking about the future “planning” and then look back on my life and think “Hey, have I been properly enjoying my life?” Constantly, I plan. What am I going to do today to get to my goals? And each day, I have more on my list than I can accomplish so I am constantly short on time. What if I were able to actually enjoy this ordinary Thursday in November for once and not feel rushed?
I am pretty excited to present to you this week’s conversation with Janet Curry.
- How a meditation practice helps us with our day to day anxieties.
- What makes it so powerful, scientifically.
- Take a look at meditation through the lens of trauma and depression.
- For those wondering what a practice looks like, she does a brief guided practice.
- Other ways to practice mindfulness if meditation just isn’t for you.
Janet Curry is the founder of Stillpoint Counseling and Mindfulness Training in Durango Colorado. She is a certified Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) teacher and licensed professional counselor. She has not one, but two masters degrees: One in Mental Health Counseling from Seattle University and the second in Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy from Oxford University. Janet is one of the first 130 (MBSR) teachers around the world who has been certified by the University of Massachusetts Medical School’s Center for Mindfulness (CFM) in Medicine, Health Care, and Society. In 2017, she was one of 30 Certified MBSR teachers around the globe to complete the CFM’s year-long inaugural ‘Train the Trainer’ program. The CFM is where MBSR began, and is the oldest, largest, continually running MBSR clinic and teacher training organization in the world. Also – she is a fully trained EMDR provider and has completed the Certificate Program in Traumatic Stress Studies with the Trauma Center at Justice Resource Institute. Trauma treatment is an area of personal passion and expertise.
In other words, Janet knows her stuff! And I’m so excited to have her on the show. With that, let’s listen in and gear up for what’s next:
Where to Find Janet
- Stillpoint Mindfulness– to learn more about one on one counseling, group courses and CDs to purchase
Resources and Links:
- Full Catastrophe Living – by Jon Kabat Zinn
- Happiness is an Inside Job – By Sylvia Boorstein
- Kristin Neff – TedX Talk – The Space Between Self-Esteem and Self Compassion
- Meditation Studio – where you can find Janet’s guided meditations
How to Listen to Podcasts
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See you next week!
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