Get Some Headspace: 10 minutes can make all the difference by Andy Puddicombe Page B
Book: Get Some Headspace: 10 minutes can make all the difference by Andy Puddicombe
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Authors: Andy Puddicombe
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albeit with a rather curious taste.
I quickly filled up the bowls and placed them outside each of the rooms, knocking just lightly to let them know that their lunch was ready. By now I’d started to calm down, but I knew what it was like to be in retreat, looking forward to your last meal of the day, only to be served something horrible. On the bright side, I realised it was only the second day of a week-long silent retreat, so I figured nobody could complain for another five days. ‘Who knows . . .’ I thought, ‘maybe they’ll have forgotten by the end of the week.’ But seriously, who was going to forget that? Having an upset stomach is no fun at the best of times, but having it in a silent retreat when you’re sharing one toilet between six other people is no fun at all.
It later transpired that in filling the jars of spices, somebody had accidentally mixed up the curry and chilli powder. So, rather than putting one level tablespoon of mild curry powder in the soup, I’d put two heaped tablespoons of chilli powder. Of course, in the big scheme of things no real harm had been done, but for me it epitomises the way we can sometimes plough through life, trying to get to the end of everything and not really paying attention to the journey. By taking the time to pause, and be curious, I could have so easily avoided the entire situation. Instead, I was so caught up in the pursuit of free time that I ploughed on through. Ironically, any free time I did have was then spent worrying about what I’d done. Sound familiar?
So, as you apply the instructions to your own meditation try, whenever you can, to apply this idea of gentle curiosity to whatever you’re watching in the mind. It will make more of a difference than you could possibly imagine.
Exercise 6: mental body scan
A great way of cultivating this quality of gentle curiosity is to apply it to physical sensations within the body. Put the book down again and gently close your eyes as before. Starting at the top of the head, mentally scan through your body all the way down to the tips of your toes. The first time, do it quite quickly, taking about 10 seconds to go from head to toe. The next time, take a bit longer, more like 20 seconds. And then do it one final time in a bit more detail, taking about 30 or 40 seconds to do it. As you scan down through the body, notice which parts of it feel relaxed, comfortable and at ease, and which parts feel painful, uncomfortable or restricted in some way. Try to do it without any judgment or analysis, but more with a sense of just building up a picture of how the body feels right now. Don’t worry if thoughts distract you every now and then – each time you realise the mind has wandered off you can gently bring it back to wherever you left off.
What the research shows
1 Medical professionals give their backing to mindfulness
In a recent study by the UK Mental Health Foundation, 68% of GPs agreed that it would be helpful for their patients to learn mindfulness-based meditation techniques – even for those without any health problems. The only difficulty is that most of these doctors said they didn’t know where to find the appropriate mindfulness resources – enter Headspace.
2 Meditation activates parts of the brain related to happiness
If you’re the kind of person who is very resilient and optimistic, then there’s a good chance that the front left -hand side of your brain is very active. If, on the other hand, you tend to get quite anxious and caught up in lots of negative thinking, then it will be the front right -hand side of the brain which is more active. Neuroscientists at the University of Wisconsin found that after just eight weeks of mindfulness practice, participants experienced a significant change in the activity from right to left, which corresponded with increased feelings of happiness and wellbeing.
3 Mindfulness reduces the intensity of negative emotions
Neuroscientists from
I quickly filled up the bowls and placed them outside each of the rooms, knocking just lightly to let them know that their lunch was ready. By now I’d started to calm down, but I knew what it was like to be in retreat, looking forward to your last meal of the day, only to be served something horrible. On the bright side, I realised it was only the second day of a week-long silent retreat, so I figured nobody could complain for another five days. ‘Who knows . . .’ I thought, ‘maybe they’ll have forgotten by the end of the week.’ But seriously, who was going to forget that? Having an upset stomach is no fun at the best of times, but having it in a silent retreat when you’re sharing one toilet between six other people is no fun at all.
It later transpired that in filling the jars of spices, somebody had accidentally mixed up the curry and chilli powder. So, rather than putting one level tablespoon of mild curry powder in the soup, I’d put two heaped tablespoons of chilli powder. Of course, in the big scheme of things no real harm had been done, but for me it epitomises the way we can sometimes plough through life, trying to get to the end of everything and not really paying attention to the journey. By taking the time to pause, and be curious, I could have so easily avoided the entire situation. Instead, I was so caught up in the pursuit of free time that I ploughed on through. Ironically, any free time I did have was then spent worrying about what I’d done. Sound familiar?
So, as you apply the instructions to your own meditation try, whenever you can, to apply this idea of gentle curiosity to whatever you’re watching in the mind. It will make more of a difference than you could possibly imagine.
Exercise 6: mental body scan
A great way of cultivating this quality of gentle curiosity is to apply it to physical sensations within the body. Put the book down again and gently close your eyes as before. Starting at the top of the head, mentally scan through your body all the way down to the tips of your toes. The first time, do it quite quickly, taking about 10 seconds to go from head to toe. The next time, take a bit longer, more like 20 seconds. And then do it one final time in a bit more detail, taking about 30 or 40 seconds to do it. As you scan down through the body, notice which parts of it feel relaxed, comfortable and at ease, and which parts feel painful, uncomfortable or restricted in some way. Try to do it without any judgment or analysis, but more with a sense of just building up a picture of how the body feels right now. Don’t worry if thoughts distract you every now and then – each time you realise the mind has wandered off you can gently bring it back to wherever you left off.
What the research shows
1 Medical professionals give their backing to mindfulness
In a recent study by the UK Mental Health Foundation, 68% of GPs agreed that it would be helpful for their patients to learn mindfulness-based meditation techniques – even for those without any health problems. The only difficulty is that most of these doctors said they didn’t know where to find the appropriate mindfulness resources – enter Headspace.
2 Meditation activates parts of the brain related to happiness
If you’re the kind of person who is very resilient and optimistic, then there’s a good chance that the front left -hand side of your brain is very active. If, on the other hand, you tend to get quite anxious and caught up in lots of negative thinking, then it will be the front right -hand side of the brain which is more active. Neuroscientists at the University of Wisconsin found that after just eight weeks of mindfulness practice, participants experienced a significant change in the activity from right to left, which corresponded with increased feelings of happiness and wellbeing.
3 Mindfulness reduces the intensity of negative emotions
Neuroscientists from
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