 Mindfulness matters. Why? Because what we pay attention to shapes our brain. Oooo, that’s a bit scary. When the mind wanders, it’s not generally to the sweet things in life. More likely, it’s to thoughts like why your electricity bill was so high, why your colleague was rude to you today, or why your sister is being so difficult.
Mind-wandering is a fact of life. However, it has a downside. When we rest our mind on hurts, criticisms, worries or old problems, the brain gets shaped into reactivity and vulnerability. It can slip into a narrow focus on threat and loss more often than we like. It’s not our fault: that is what the brain is wired to do. Sadly, we are stuck with it… unless we do something to counter the hard-wiring such as installing the software of awareness and satisfaction: mindfulness. A mindfulness practice called ‘Savouring’ (or, Taking in the Good) teaches us and trains us how to rest the mind on good events, pleasant feelings, pleasures, inspiring intentions and both small and large achievements. In that way the brain is shaped in the direction of happiness, satisfaction, strength and resilience. Mindfulness matters, because what we pay attention to shapes our brain. The Savouring practice I’m offering this term in Kyogle, takes mindfulness to a whole new level. It is very rewarding! I promise you will find this practice really enjoyable. Personally, I have found it life-changing. WHEN: seven Monday evening starting 26th February TIME: 5.30-7.30pm WHERE: Seniors Hall, Bloore st, Kyogle (behind the pool) COST: $125 waged; $105 concession. Discount for returnees. EACH SESSION: Enjoy a guided relaxation to start the session. Plus short guided meditations, discussions, fun group interactions and my whiteboard explanations. Follow up emails each week revising the material. The possibility of a private fb group at conclusion of course to maintain the learning.
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 Yoga is a unique form of exercise with a multitude of benefits. I favour a gentle style of yoga that is nonetheless surprisingly powerful in its effect. Pain and strain is definitely not encouraged! My motto: “more ease, less strain”. Sometimes, by doing less we even receive more. How can simple movements be so effective? FLOW & STRETCH It’s all about flow and stretch. Slow and gentle yoga stretches encourage a flow of energy and nutrients in the body via the bloodstream. Circulation improves as muscles are stretched and bones strengthened. The strength training of yoga comes from using our own body as a resistance force, albeit in a gentle way. Yoga stretches build and define muscle, increase bone mass, develop lean tissue, speed up metabolism, help with weight loss and improve balance. Joints benefit from careful rotation using breath and awareness, as they depend on action for their nourishment. When muscles pull gently on bones it stimulates bones to increase in density, as bones are living tissue that thrive on movement and resistance. Posture improves from yoga instruction. Good posture gives us more energy and both reflects and creates how we feel. REST & RELAXATION The relaxation side of yoga is everyone’s favourite. Rests accompany all the yoga moves, in fact they are essential for yoga’s powerful effects. Due to the partnership of movement/rest and use of breath, yoga brings about a profound restoration of the nervous system in each session. Which is why yoga is famous for its calming effects. If you haven't tried yoga already, please give it a go! Don't be afraid: yoga will meet you body where you are. Shakti's classes at Kyogle Seniors Centre (behind the pool) are on Tuesdays. 4pm slow class and 5.30pm flow class Wednesday at Eden Creek Hall, Brown Knob Rd, Eden Creek, 5.30 pm Classes run for 75 minutes LIKE IT? SHARE IT! i love to hear from my readers, so go ahead and leave a comment
 It matters what we rest our mind on. When we rest our mind on difficult things- hurts, criticism, worries, or lack- the brain gets shaped in a certain way. It becomes reactive, vulnerable to the negative and zooms into a narrow focus on threat and loss. It’s not really our fault… it’s easy to get caught in a “what’s wrong” mind instead of a “what’s right” mind because our brain’s architecture is built that way. The brain will continue to follow the downhill course unless we step in and intervene. After all, we’ve inherited a nervous system built in the stone age, with its hard-wired negativity bias. It’s up to us to install the software for flourishing. The software is ages-old and never needs updating. It’s called Mindfulness. Yet mindfulness itself is subject to the negativity bias. Talk about a vicious circle! Vicious, when we end up beating ourselves up for not being mindful enough. When we end up feeling like a failure. SAVOURING PRACTICE Which brings me to the Knight in Shining Armor: savouring practice. I talked about the savouring practice in my last post. Savouring takes the ordinary simple moments of daily life as a basis for Mindfulness. We learn how to use those moments, in an embodied way, to counterbalance the inbuilt tendency of the brain to veer towards “what’s wrong”. It’s really enjoyable. Savouring, also known as ‘taking in the good’, turns our mind to the often-overlooked good events, feelings, pleasures, intentions and achievements. It inevitably nurtures qualities such as contentment, strength, joy and resilience. Savouring turns everyday experiences into lasting, beneficial changes in neural structure. Remember: what we pay attention to is what shapes our brain. Having pursued the Savouring practice over the last few years, I attended a 4-day webinar last year with the wonderful neuro-psychologist, Dr Rick Hanson. I’m looking forward to sharing these treasures with you. Knowing this stuff is one thing. Putting it into practice and sustaining that practice is another. Attending a weekly course in a supportive setting is an ideal way to get started. Seven Monday evenings
starting 26th February 2018 5.30 - 7.30pm at the Seniors Hall, Bloore st, Kyogle (behind the pool)  I’m really excited to be offering a brilliant new take on Mindfulness this term. It’s called Savouring. The Savouring practice takes mindfulness to a whole new level. It provides a sparkling incentive, an instant gratification: it is so rewarding! It gives us a really good reason to bother practising Mindfulness. I promise you will find this practice really enjoyable. Personally, I have found it life-changing. * In savouring, we take the small pleasurable experiences, the ordinary simple moments of daily life as a basis for Mindfulness. We learn how to use those moments to counterbalance the inbuilt tendency of the brain to veer towards the negative, unhelpful and fearful. Let’s face it. It can feel like an uphill battle to confront the inbuilt distractedness of the mind. The odds are stacked against us when it comes to mindfulness. It’s hard enough to change the habits we’ve created ourselves, let alone the default setting of the brain which developed over millions of years of evolution. Savouring can come to the rescue. I encourage you to give it a try. It is so worth it. WHEN: Tuesday evenings starting 26th February 2018
TIME: 5.30 - 7.30pm WHERE: Seniors Hall, Bloore st, Kyogle (behind the pool) COST: $125 waged; $105 concession. Discount for returnees. LIMITED NUMBERS! reserve your place with a $30 deposit DEPOSIT: NAB Shakti P Burke BSB 082 666 049332161  Sometimes life gets too busy. So busy that something has to give. Due to extra family responsibilities, I’m putting this monthly mindfulness blog on hold for now. With extra travelling and father-care, getting to my desk as often as I used to is a challenge! Meanwhile, my classes and workshops in mindfulness and yoga continue here in the Northern Rivers. And I’m putting time into creating an e-book version of my Beginners Yoga Guide. What fun! Stay tuned for the launch later in 2018. Thanks for your support … I’ll be back.  Want to know how Mindful listening practices could transform your classroom? It’s simple: The very act of mindful listening, or any sensory focus for that matter, strengthens attention. When children stop and focus intently on sensory input, be it seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting or touching, the focusing systems of the brain get a workout. The attention muscle grows.  MEDITATION IS A DEMOLITION JOB I remember, as a teenager, loving a phrase that described demolition work as “putting back the sky”. “Wow” crooned my impressionable teenage brain “that is cool”. To this day, I still like that phrase.  Ordinary life presents countless small opportunities to brighten up our mind. Even the most humdrum days will benefit from a mindfulness practice called ‘mind the gap’, tweaking life for the better.  Sometimes FRANTIC turns up, crashes into my life, my day, my hour. In his razzle dazzle helmet and coat of steel. I’m real! he shouts. I’m powerful. And I believe him.  |
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