A new year, brings new mindfulness programs for 2019 When we sing “auld lang syne, my dear” to bring in the New Year, we are essentially cheering to days gone by, which is why we sing the song to remember the good times. The song is a Scots-language poem written by Robert Burns in 1788 and set to the tune of a traditional folk song – now world famous. A rhetorical question is asked at the beginning of the song: should old times be forgotten? […]
Contrary to common belief, meditation is not a solitary activity........
The importance of finding new connections rather than solving problems.
Awareness into deeper unconscious energy with Mindfulness Meditation An important rule in proper meditation is to relinquish control of one’s limbs, because the brain uses movements of arms and legs to express restlessness, discharge nervous energy and avoid the deeper awareness of painful subjective experiences. Without even noticing, we wiggle, jiggle, shake and scratch, not realizing how deeply we interfere through arm and leg movements with the penetration of our attention and awareness into deeper unconscious energy flows that drive our suffering. […]
A few thoughts about spirituality from a mindsight perspective. A friend of mine sent me the above picture of Northrop Frye with the following email: ‘Good morning, Stephane. Hope all is well with you. I was on campus of Victoria College at U of T yesterday (my Alma Mater) and noticed this fine gentleman sitting on a bench. Made me think of you.’ […]
Seeking treatment for mental health through psychotherapy. The Ontario government’s proposal to limit OHIP funding for psychotherapy has sparked worry and outrage. Two recent articles in The Globe And Mail by Norman Doidge (April 6, 2019) and Ari Zaretsky (April 22, 2019) have addressed the issue from different perspectives. What follows is a short summary blog about this topic. Please also refer to my other more comprehensive blog entitled ‘In Ontario, a core psychiatric treatment is endangered’. […]
Without access to long-term, intensive psychotherapy, psychiatrists cannot do the job they are specially trained for, and patients, our citizens, suffer immensely. Imagine suffering from a heart disease and being told that treatments for severe heart problems are not covered by OHIP. The Ontario government proposes to reduce funding for the most effective and powerful treatment available to address dysfunctions of one of our most important organ systems – the mind. If uninformed administrators have their way and your mind is in pain – depressed, sad, anxious, angry or stressed – you will be out of luck as OHIP may not cover one of the main available treatments many need – intensive long-term psychodynamic psychotherapy. […]
Awareness, Surrender and Meditation. In my previous blog ‘The core secret of mindsight – Get out of your own way’, I explored the notion of doing less to gain more, a fundamental principle in mindsight training. In this blog we are exploring three pairs of opposites students often confuse with each other, and that can get in the way of our getting out of our own way. The three pairs of opposites are ignoring versus suppressing or pushing away, surrendering versus giving in, and faith and belief. […]
Consciousness and Mindsight Does this sound familiar? You consciously decide to have a snack and you go ahead and have one. You then decide to put on laundry, and you go down to the laundry room to do it. It then occurs to you that it’s a good idea to get married to your partner, and you arrange to do so. And by the way, it’s time to buy a house, and off you go and look for houses. Finally, you decide to watch some TV and there you go, watching it. This is more or less how your day unfolds, just with many more decisions you believe having consciously made. But is that really what goes on? […]
The tangible truth of reality lies in human suffering, and its exploration leads to the discovery of the truth about the universe. Humans have conquered the world thanks to their ability to create and believe in fictional stories, which bring them together under one imaginative umbrella and motivate them to act in support of the story. Our stories make it possible for thousands of people to rally behind them. […]