Mindfulness Programs in Mexico

Steve Shealy, Ph.D., a Tampa, Florida based clinical psychologist, mindfulness meditation and yoga teacher will offer two complementary programs in August in San Miguel de Allende. The first, Mindfulness Meditation Beyond the Cushion: An Integrated Practice, will be offered at The Meditation Center of San Miguel (Callejon Blanco 4), August 3 – 5. The following weekend, August 11 – 12, he will offer Mindfulness and Emotional Healing, a therapeutic application of this powerful form of meditation, at LifePath Center. (Recreo 80). While the retreat at the Meditation Center provides a marvelous foundation for the workshop at Lifepath, each is a stand-alone program. No prior meditation experience necessary to benefit from either.

Mindfulness, a core practice common to all traditions of Buddhism, may be defined as bringing clear, non-judgmental awareness to one’s experience of the present moment. This may be contrasted with moving through life on autopilot, being blindly pulled along by conditioned reactivity to the steady stream of thoughts, emotions and physical sensations that move through the mind and body.

Mindfulness has been propelled into popular discourse in part by Jon Kabat-Zinn’s development of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) programs. MBSR has been offered in various settings around the world and has a solid base of empirical support for clinical conditions ranging from chronic pain, anxiety and depression to breast cancer, eating disorders and substance abuse. Those who complete 8-week MBSR programs commonly report reduced physical pain and emotional distress, increased awareness, more harmonious relationships and greater peace and overall well-being.

One of the most profound fruits of Mindfulness Meditation practice and one that contributed to the development of Mindfulness-Based Psychotherapy is the ability to open without resistance to physical and emotional discomfort with compassion and gentle curiosity. Discomfort associated with conditioned patterns or “schemas” can sabotage one’s best intentions and, until brought into awareness and skillfully addressed, can have a strong negative impact one’s thoughts, beliefs and actions. One learns through mindfulness meditation practice that there is no need to suppress or unskillfully express the energies associated with these schemas, no matter how uncomfortable they may appear at first glance. One can simply open to them with an attitude of compassionate observation and allow these energies to move through the body/mind. As this old repressed energy is the fuel driving the schemas, its release can lead to greater freedom from emotional distress (e.g., anxiety, depression, panic, confusion) as well as the associated unskillful habits and addictions that frequently result from attempts to escape this distress.

Mindfulness Meditation Beyond the Cushion: An Integrated Practice will use MBSR as its framework for the cultivation of an integrated mindfulness practice, extending one’s practice beyond the sitting cushion into the activities of daily life. The primary focus will be on sitting meditation, walking meditation and mindful Hatha yoga. Clear, progressive instructions for these and other meditative practices (e.g., eating, speaking and listening meditation) will be combined with experiential exercises and interactive discussion periods. This retreat supports the Meditation Center of San Miguel as well as the teacher and is offered on a Dana (generosity) basis. For more information or to register for this retreat, please visit the Meditation Center of San Miguel at http://www.meditationsma.org/

Mindfulness and Emotional Healing will include basic instruction and practice in mindfulness meditation in the cultivation of non-judgmental awareness. With this foundation, conditioned emotional energies can then be identified, released and a new level of emotional freedom realized. The fee for this weekend workshop is $125 US or $1375 pesos and includes 3 training CDs and light vegetarian lunches. To register for this workshop, please visit LifePath at: http://www.lifepathretreats.com or call 888-667-3873.