Fresh by Naomi Shihab Nye
To move
cleanly.
Needing to be
nowhere else.
Wanting nothing
from any store.
To lift something
you already had
and set it down in
a new place.
Awakened eye
seeing freshly.
What does that do to
the old blood moving through
its channels?
As I prepare to offer the 8 week MBSR (Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction) Course this summer, I find myself continuously returning to the benefits of the Mindful Practice and why the 8 week course commitment makes a difference. And then this poem showed up in a list serve I subscribe to and I thought “That’s it!” – FRESH.
It seems like such a simple word. My online dictionary had some interesting definitions to share. New. Different. Not faded or impaired. Not canned or frozen or otherwise preserved. Bright or healthy in appearance. Not salty. Presumptuous. Impudent.
The word implies a newness. Almost a sassiness or rawness. And the next word that jumped into my head was Perception. Mindfulness brings a freshness to the Perception of our lives. Just what does that mean? The truth is that our reality is made of the memories and experiences of our past. We are born fresh and over time we ripen. We are frozen, canned, preserved, faded, impaired. We get salty. And we don’t even notice – it happens so gradually. Like drops filling a bucket of water, we become our life’s experience and if we never sit down and reflect, we don’t even know it.
We shape ourselves to fit this world
And by the world are shaped again (David Whyte)
So why bother? What’s the advantage to checking in and noticing how we feel? What we think? It seems easier to carry on as we always have. And that is our choice.
However. We do have a choice. We can choose to notice and instead of the world and our experiences sculpting us – we can become the sculptor. And that’s where Mindfulness comes in.
The fact that our brain is neuro plastic means we have a responsibility to keep it healthy, just as we do to our bodies. If we smoke and eat junk food, we get sick. If we acquiesce to the Auto Pilot world of stress and mindlessness, we get sick too. But just as leafy green vegetables nourish our body, meditation nourishes our mind. Changes it. Makes it more efficient and less reactive. Returning to the anchor of the breath is like lifting weights to tone the body. Toning our mind is a choice – an option – and an evolutionary challenge. But it takes work and commitment, and that’s where the 8 Week MBSR Course comes in.
There’s no crash course, no cramming for awakening to our lives. We can read the research and get excited about it. We can understand how and why meditation changes the brain, but until we actually sit down and meditate – nothing changes. Neuro plasticity means the mind is plastic – it takes the shape of the container it is offered. Plastics can be rigid or elastic. Force needs to be applied. Plasticity also insinuates adaptability to change. And its not necessarily easy and doesn’t necessarily result in happiness. In fact, at first, some students experience an increase in suffering due to their increased awareness of what is really happening, which settles down into freedom and choice with daily practice and commitment. Small changes do occur with only a little practice – that’s a proven fact – but committed practice is a doorway to a level of awareness that isn’t available otherwise. Mindfulness refreshes our being – by noticing and choosing instead of staying on the hamster wheel. Mindfulness Meditation gives us the opportunity to revitalize our view of life. And it doesn’t happen overnight.
The 8 week course is the industry gold standard. It’s offered all over the world and the training is governed by what MBSR calls Standards of Practice. The focus is educational and a disciplined effort on the part of individuals is essential. Potential students must apply to participate – and commit to a daily practice regimen of 45 minutes/day for the duration of the course. The approach focuses on what we have in common – regardless of our life experience – and exemplifies how our humanness unites us. This sharing (called Enquiry) during an MBSR course is essential.
In addition to formal meditation, the course will include mindful movement, mindful walking, group exploration of Mindfulness concepts and pair sharing. I am honored to bring this course to Milwaukee.
Fresh.
… To lift something
you already had
And set it down in
a new place.
Awakened eye
seeing freshly.
What does that do to
the old blood moving through
its channels?
Are you ready to freshen up your point of view? Try Mindfulness.