Williams and Penman (Week 1) 3686 pgs

Our minds have a bottleneck in the so called working memory that allows
us to keep only a few simple things in them at any one time, 959/3686
If we repeat something more than a couple of times, the mind links together
all of the actions needed to complete a task in a brilliantly seamless manner,
966
Tuning into the breath can be an important antidote to the natural tendency
toward believing that we have to be in control. Attending to the breath
reminds us that at the core of our being, something is happening that
depends very little on who we are or what we want to achieve, 1110

Gunatarana Ch. 4/5 896 pgs

Be gentle with yourself. Be kind to yourselfinvestigate yourself. Question

everythingdont believe anything because it sounds wise, 169
When we mindfully watch our bodily sensations, we should not confuse them
with mental formations, for bodily sensations can arise completely
independent of the mind 172
As our insight becomes sharpened, we become more and more aware of the
fact that all aggregates, mental and physical, are cooperating, and that none
can exist without the others. We can truly understand the meaning of the
famous metaphor of the blind man who has a healthy body and a disabled
person who has good eyes.
When the mind is united with the breath flowing all the time, we will naturally
be able to focus the mind on the present moment. 244

Germer Ch. 6 2096 pgs

We each have our own standards with regard to punctuality ectwherever

your bar is set, are there any patients with whom the bar is a bit lower?
Becoming aware of those individuals whose appointment time we might more
readily shift, or with whom were comfortable being a few minutes late,
focuses our attention on those less than caring behaviors, enabling us to
bring more wholehearted attention 699
Ethical conduct is not something we engage in because it is somehow right in
itself...a meaningful ethical system divorced from the grounding of our
experience of suffering and happiness is hard to envisage (p.147) the Dalai
Lam (1999) p.751

Williams and Penman (week 2)

The body is acutely sensitive to even the tiniest flickering of emotion that
move constantly across the mind. The body often detects our thoughts
almost before weve consciously registered them ourselves and frequently
reacts as if they are solid and realBut the body does not just react to what

the mind is thinking it also feeds back emotional information into the brain
that can end up enhancing fears, worries, and general overall angst and
unhappiness. The feedback loop is a dance of phenomenal power and
complexity that is only now beginning to understood, 1242
In 1980, psychologist Gary Wells and Richard Petty had participants nod or
shake their head while doing an unrelated exercisethe nodders elicted
positive responses to neutral stimuli afterwards while the shakers elicited
negative responses 1242
For if mind and body are one, then to treat the body as somehow separate
from us is to perpetuate a profound sense of dislocation , right at the heart of
our being. IF there is one thing that we need to learn in order to bring peace
and ease of being into our lives in the midst of a frantic world, it is how to
come home to this part of ourselves that we have ignored for too long.
1266
Doing mode of mind is showing up and trying to reassert its authority, trying
its best to intervene to help you out in the only way it knows. So if you find
yourself feeling restless, agitated, bored, sleepy or avoiding a part of the
body that you do not like, here is an opportunity to recognize this for what it
is, and to begin, gradually, turning toward it rather than away from it. Or, if
you find yourself in autopilot, as you mid wanders to the past or future, you
can acknowledge this, seeing where your mind went and coming home
againand againThe going away and the coming back can turn out to be a
wonderful practice at making the elegent shift from Doing to Being. 1445

Gunaratana Ch. 6-7

Buddhist practice has always recognized that the mind and body are tightly
linked and that each influences the other. Thus, there are certain
recommended physical practices that will greatly help you master the skill
Meditation does not mean siting in lotus position. It is a mental skill. 256/893
In the beginning, you will probably feel a bit odd to sit with a straight back
an erect posture is very important. This is what is known in physiology as
position of arousal, and with it goes mental alertness. 260/893
The first question we might have is why use any focus of attention at
all?...The mind is tricky. Thought is an inherently complicated procedureOne
thought leads to anotherThere is a difference between being aware of
thought and thinking a thoughtIt s primarily a matter of feeling or texture. A
thought you are simply aware of with bare attention feels light in textureIt
arises lightly like a bubble, and it passes away without necessarily giving rise
to the next thought chainConcentration is one of the tools needed to be
able to see the difference.

Germer Ch. 10/13

Our capacity for symbolic, anticipatory thoughtis ill suited to coexist

without mammalian flight-or-fight system. Rather than our transition to
walking upright, it appears that this evolutionary accident is responsible for
the epidemic of chronic back pain as well as a host of other
psychophysiological change brought about by the fight-or-flight system can
cause or exacerbate a stress-related symptom if the system remains
continuously active. 1085/2096
Mindfulness practice, by altering our attitude toward pain, can help muscles
relax and also influence our experience of pain by changing our relationship
to it. 1101/2096
By brining attention to the present moment, anticipatory anxiety is reduced.
It has often been observed that even in terrible situations, our fear is of the
future. 1128/2096
When we are unable to acknowledge or tolerate a thought or feeling, our
fight-or-flight system reacts to the threat of it emerging much as it reacts to
external dangers. Since life experiences continuously trigger disavowed
cognitions and affects, our flight-or-fight system is frequently on overdrive.
Its thus no surprise that increasing affect awareness can help to free some
people of chronic back pain. 115/2096
Many of [childrens] thoughts and feelings are expressed nonverbally,
through play and body gestures. Mindfulness practice by the psychotherapist
facilitates communicating with children, because mindfulness enhances
nonverbal awareness. Moments of mindfulness are instantaneous, preverbal,
preconceptual moments of clear seeing. 138/2096
Mindfulness enables the therapist to be compassoniatly engaged yet
disentangled from the patients experienceThe process is subtler with
children than with adults, because interactions with children are less verbal
and stuctredit requires greater refinement of our attention.
The space of play is intimate and immediate. In play, children explore,
recreate, redo, and rework overwhelming life events and unbearable
emotions into experiences they can assimilate. While playing, kids can be big
and powerful, they can control their world, and they can design the game so
they always win and never get left out or lose. Children can create healing
distance fromtraumatic events by having them happen to others, and by
controlling their outcome. 1442/2096
Work is doing with an eye to the future, and play is being- spontaneous,
wholehearted activity in the present moments. 1448/2096

Williams and Penman (week 3)