The Yoga and Mindfulness Therapy Workbook

• Finding tips that will aid you in taking your first steps on the journey to successfully bringing yoga and mindfulness into your practice and your life

INTRODUCTION

Yoga and mindfulness offer a way, a set of practices that you can easily incorporate into your life. When the famous existentialist Jean-Paul Sartre said that existence precedes essence, he meant that what you do and how you live shape what you become. Yoga and mindfulness share in this understanding, and take it one step further, by providing things you can do to foster your well-being. The practices engage your body through postures and breathing and activate your mind through different forms of meditation and mindfulness. As you step on this path and follow the way, you invite your mind-brain-body system into a healthy lifestyle. You literally initiate a process that will rewire your brain, balance your nervous system, clear your thoughts, and calm your emotions.

The tips that follow will answer some of your questions and guide you as you begin. Trust the process and step confidently onto the long-traveled therapeutic path of yoga and mindfulness practice!

The Man Who Finally Found Peace

Ron was a middle-aged man who came to see us for therapy to deal with constant feelings of anxiety. He was one of those tall, barrel-chested men with a commanding personality. Most people would never suspect that he was uncomfortable because he radiated confidence. And yet, therapists with some psychodynamics under their belt would recognize that what he actually felt was quite the opposite. As he confided to us, what he really experienced was insecurity, not confidence. He had achieved acclaim in his career as a researcher at a university, but he never felt satisfied. The more glowing the acclaim he received, the more he felt he needed. He told us, “Perhaps if I could get another award or a better review, I will finally feel okay.”

We taught him a yoga and mindfulness meditation. He learned to withdraw his attention from the stream of inner ruminations and create quiet moments. We discussed the idea of craving and how it leads to suffering. As he meditated regularly, he began to realize that he had been caught up in external rewards and had lost his original reason for even becoming a researcher: his love of the truth. He thought about the yamas and niyamas, which helped him to reclaim his ideals. He brought mindfulness to his daily life and was able to direct his efforts away from craving for recognition and toward wholehearted engagement in his research. In quiet meditative moments he became comfortable with who he was, just as he was. By the end of his therapy, Ron had learned that searching outside himself would never stop his anxiety—he had found his peace within.

HOW TO BEGIN

Tip 1: Learn by doing. Yoga and mindfulness are skills that you practice regularly, so the best way to make them a part of your life is to experience them for yourself. Therefore, don’t just read the exercises—do them. The learning takes place through doing it.

Tip 2: Begin with what is easy. Experiment with a wide variety of methods to find which ones feel natural to you. As you do them, you will become aware of your tendencies and talents. Keep in mind that everyone has different tendencies. Try different methods to find which works best for you. You will discover that some of the meditations we offer are easy for you, while others seem difficult. People vary quite a bit in what exercises work for them at first. When we teach yoga and mindfulness in our seminars, we find that typically half of the participants find it easier to be mindful of their body, for example, through breathing or by paying attention to sensations, while the other half find it easier to be mindful of inner experiencing such as visualizing a color or a picture. Later, as you build a skill, you will be able to perform meditations that were initially more difficult for you.

Tip 3: Practice makes perfect. Like learning any new skill, you will improve with practice. You probably can remember when you first learned how to ride a bicycle—you had trouble balancing, and the bike would wobble. But as you practiced more, you discovered a way to ride that allowed the bike to move smoothly and steadily. You gained confidence and a kind of sixth sense. Eventually, you didn’t have to think about it; you found yourself just riding. Similarly, with yoga and mindfulness, at first, you make deliberate efforts that may feel awkward and difficult, but eventually you develop instincts for it, and your practice becomes effortlessly centered in the moment.

Tip 4: Start with something concrete. Clearing away thoughts can be difficult to do in the beginning. The monkey mind, as the Buddhists like to call it, just keeps jumping around from thing to thing. You can quiet your monkey mind by focusing on one simple thing, such as posture or breathing. We have found that clients have an easier time when they are given something concrete to do. This focus acts as a springboard to other experiences.

Tip 5: Let new schemas emerge. Look at the squares. As you gaze at them, do you see the squares pointing in one direction? Then, as you shift your attention, can you see the squares switch directions? Both images are there all the time, but your attention tends to look at one or the other. Meditation is like looking at the spaces between, the emptiness that is always there. In fact, in Zen temples, the monks often chant, “Form is emptiness and emptiness is form.” This idea is a cornerstone of Zen meditation. In every moment you can shift your gaze from what is to what is not, from activity to nonactivity. And in these quite spaces between, you discover your deeper nature.

WHERE TO PRACTICE

Tip 6. Be comfortable where you are or make it so. The most important consideration in choosing a context for your practice is to feel at ease there. Think of it as a place apart—a sacred space or sanctuary. There are no prerequisite conditions. Consider a place where you feel comfortable, or create one.

Tip 7: Foster the meditation habit with a context. You may think of habits as something negative, behaviors that you want to change or lose, such as smoking or nail-biting. But habits per se are not necessarily negative. Exercise and healthy eating are examples of positive habits. And now, you can cultivate a new healthy habit: meditation. Context can help to reinforce a habit, which is why therapists counsel substance abusers to avoid the places where they typically use drugs or alcohol. You can enlist context to enhance a healthy meditation habit. Return to the same place each time for meditation. Habit and consistency help to set the mood, and like a conditioned response, a meditative response will become easier to bring about.

Tip 8: Make your meditation place simple. The atmosphere of the place for meditation can be very helpful especially when you are first beginning: With experience, you will be able to find inner peace in varied environments. But in the early phases of practice, some settings will prove more conducive to the experience than others. Begin by setting up a peaceful place to meditate. It may be a quiet room or even just a corner in your house or office. Zen temples tend to have a simple, open space that creates an atmosphere of sanctuary. Traditionally, the walls and floors had very little decoration, except for a single statue or picture that symbolizes meditation. Sometimes a single flower, a simple plant, or a calligraphic scroll is hung on an empty wall. Seating is usually simple, with a cushion placed on the floor. This atmosphere gently invites a meditative experience. You can create this kind of atmosphere in a corner of your office or home. Make the lighting subdued, not too dark or too bright. Engaging the sense of smell with a subtle incense or fragrant plant may also be helpful. Place a pillow on the floor for sitting and/or a mat to lie down on. Keep decorations simple, but try to add an aesthetic touch to provide a beautiful point of interest.

Tip 9: Meditate in nature. Traditionally, nature has been an inspiration for meditation. Meditation done outdoors, at a park, in the woods, or perhaps in a tranquil garden can help to bring about a feeling of oneness with nature. Water can also have a calming influence. If you have ever listened to the sound of the waves, a bubbling brook, or a waterfall, you have felt water’s soothing effects. And water’s reflective beauty can captivate your attention.

Tip 10: Meditate in a group. Frequently people find it easier to practice yoga and mindfulness with others. The commitment and momentum of a group practicing together can carry you along. You might like to experience a meditation group at a Buddhist, Daoist, or Yoga center. These institutions offer brief hour-long meditation classes and weekend retreats. Or you might prefer to practice with your family, partner, or friend.

TIMING

Tip 11: Everyone has a minute. We all complain that our lives are so hectic and busy that we could not possibly imagine finding time to practice yoga and mindfulness. But you may be surprised to discover that meditation can be done in as short a period as one minute and still bring positive results. The amount of time to devote to your practice depends on the needs and the situation. Beginners might start with as little as one or two minutes a day. Surely you can spare a minute or two for your own well-being!

Tip 12: Start with what you can manage. If you are suffering from psychological disturbance, begin with a short amount of time for each exercise, even as little as a minute or less. One ADHD businessman jumped from one thing to another. He told us that he had never been able to focus on only one thing, and so he had learned to do three or four things at once. But he felt at a disadvantage when he needed to meet deadlines, and he sincerely wanted to learn how to focus selectively, on one thing at a time. We started him with 10 seconds. This may not seem like much to you, but for him, being able to maintain mindful attention for 10 seconds was a milestone achievement. With practice, he was able to extend the amount of time he focused on each thing he did. Keep in mind that activating inner processing does not rely upon clock time the way conscious cognition does. Sometimes the deepest meditative experience occurs in a flash. Then again, an insight may evolve over many months of practice.

Tip 13: Repeat the exercises often when working on a problem. Practice regularly, at least several times per week. When working on bringing about change, meditate several times each day. Start with a duration of time that you can complete comfortably, even just one minute, but do it several times each day. Regular intermittent practice keeps bringing you back to mindful awareness. We have often found that frequent shorter sessions are easier than trying to maintain one long meditation session. But once again, be willing to individualize your practice to fit your personality, your situation, and your problem.

PRECAUTIONS

Tip 14: Take precautions when performing the body postures. If you are elderly, on medication, or recovering from a medical condition, check with your physician to make sure that yoga and mindfulness practice is safe for you. You may also want to have someone else nearby when you practice the exercises on your own.

Tip 15: Eyes can be opened, closed, or half-open. Eye positions vary with the type of meditation tradition you practice. One way is to keep your eyes fully closed. Sometimes you might prefer to keep your eyes half-open. Another method is to fix your gaze on one point with your eyes open. Experiment with these different ways. We will advise using one method or another at times, but for therapeutic purposes, work with whatever feels most natural for the particular meditation. If you have difficulty focusing, closing your eyes may help to lessen distractions. But if you feel afraid or dizzy when you close your eyes, feel free to keep your eyes half-open or fully open.

GENERAL ADVICE

Tip 16: Commit yourself to the process. As we mentioned in the introduction, yoga and mindfulness doctrine teaches that you can shape your life by what you do and how you live. So, literally doing the exercises, even if you are feeling emotionally uncomfortable, starts a process of change. Both yoga and mindfulness traditions ask practitioners to take a vow that they will be sincerely committed to the process. Taking a vow helps give direction and purpose to the journey. Make a vow now, a promise, that you will do some yoga and mindfulness practice each day, even if for only for a minute or two at a time. Make your vow doable for you, but be sincere in your efforts. You may not feel like practicing every time you make the effort, and that is to be expected. Don’t chastise yourself if you have trouble sometimes. Remember that you are walking a path. Sometimes the terrain is smooth and sometimes it may be rocky. But as you travel along, you will learn more about traveling itself, and the journey will become easier. Keep your faith in yourself and in the process, and you will succeed. “If a snail sets out for Mount Fuji, surely he will get there” (ancient Japanese proverb).

Tip 17: Remember to take an inward glance regularly! With your sincerity as a resource, take your first steps on the path. This involves remembering to practice, not just during your session or present time, but also at random times during your daily routine. You may be pleasantly surprised how your yoga and mindfulness deepens and grows.

JOURNALING

We encourage you to keep a journal as you go through this workbook. Keeping a journal will add another dimension to your awareness, which is always helpful! Reflect on these questions in your journal:

1. How do you usually begin something new? Consider how to use your typical way to help you implement yoga and mindfulness into your life.

4. If you are new to yoga and mindfulness, what do you think is reasonable to expect from it? Now that you have been given an introduction, what do you think it will probably be like?

5. If you already practice yoga and/or mindfulness, note some of your experiences. What have you learned about yourself from the practices?

CHAPTER 2

Tips for Bringing Yoga and Mindfulness into Your Therapy

IN THIS CHAPTER