Douglas Johns, LCSW
Portland, Oregon
503-252-3739
Mindfulness & Meditation ~ Portland, Oregon
Douglas Johns, LCSW
Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction classes are forming now for spring 2014. Click this link for information.
Mindfulness and meditation can be thought of as two aspects of the same experience: Intentional Awareness. John Kabat-Zinn defines Mindfulness as, "Paying attention, on purpose, to the present moment, nonjudgementally." Mindful awareness has scientifically demonstrated many beneficial outcomes including increasing confidence and calm, improving attention, and healing disease. Mindfulness can be practiced anywhere.
Meditation is the formal practice of mindfulness. In what's often called 'sitting meditation' we pay attention to the present moment for an extended period of time. To assist us, we incorporate a specific object of attention or meditation. Some meditations use a "mantra"; a word or sound on which we focus the mind. In mindfulness-meditation we often utilize the breath as our object of meditation. We simply pay attention to the direct physical experience of breathing without judging the experience. We observe breathing just as it is, in the present moment, without changing or modifying our breathing. This is a state of non-doing. Just bare attention. For more specific information on meditation, please click this link.
All of us possess awareness. Through mindfulness-meditation we strengthen and deepen the muscle of awareness just as we strengthen our physical muscles through exercise. Strengthening mindfulness allows us to respond to emotional, psychological and physical experiences more creatively and resiliently. Paying attention, in this particular way, becomes a way of being in the world, like having strong arms and legs. Please call me with any questions at 503-252-3739.