All tagged meditation

Testing the Waters

Testing the Waters

Karen Bulmer
Mind/Body Tools, Window of Tolerance, Nervous System

It’s true: Getting in touch with what is really going on for you — the bodily sensations that usually fly under the radar, the thought patterns that repeat so faithfully that we take them to be who we are — can be overwhelming. And not just in a “How fascinating: I had no idea I was so judgemental!” kind of way, but in more of a “I literally feel like I am drowning/I think meditation might be causing a panic attack” kind of way.

If this is you, fear not. You aren’t broken or doing it wrong. You’re not “too stressed to meditate” or doomed to remain at a distance from your embodied experience. But, your nervous system might, for any number of reasons, be on high alert and you may have to begin by taking a “touch and go” approach.

What mindfulness is (and what it is not...)

What mindfulness is (and what it is not...)

Karen Bulmer
Mindfulness

In Part 1 I threw around terms like "mindfulness", "yoga", and "meditation" as if they were all the same thing. But they're not. I'll devote this post to describing what mindfulness is as well as dispelling some common myths about mindfulness. 

In a nutshell, mindfulness is a particular way of paying attention. It is the capacity to purposefully bring your awareness to your present moment experience with an attitude of openness, curiosity,  and non-judgement. Let's break that down a bit:

How I got hooked on mindfulness

How I got hooked on mindfulness

Karen Bulmer
Mindfulness

Hello and welcome to Let's all meet in child's pose, a blog about the connections between music and mindfulness. I'm glad you're here.

So far, writing a blog is weird. Where do you start? I read a lot of blogs and I know that how I start will absolutely not matter once I get going. After all, nobody goes to a blog, starts at the first post, and then proceeds to read all the posts chronologically...right? But still, I feel compelled to set up some sort of context. So, I'm starting with a 3-part introductory series. Here, in Part 1, I'll briefly chronicle my own introduction to mindfulness and how it has changed my relationship to music practice and performance. Part 2 will provide a quick overview of mindfulness, describing what it is and what it isn't. Part 3 will explore how mindfulness works and why it might be useful for musicians. What happens after that is anyone's guess.