Introduction to Mindfulness

Join guest instructor Sheela Singla for an introduction to mindfulness and mindfulness meditation practice.  Sheela is currently in training with UCLA Mindful Awareness Research Center to become a certified mindfulness teacher.

You may ask: What is mindfulness?  One definition of mindfulness is paying attention to our present moment experiences with kindness, curiosity, and non-judgment. Another quality of mindfulness is acceptance of things as they are right now.

Why should we practice mindfulness? Mindfulness meditation practice has many benefits, including increased kindness toward oneself and others, increased emotional regulation, and increased attention regulation.

Why should we care about things like emotion regulation? What is that anyway?  Emotional regulation means that we work with our negative emotions, like anger, fear, and sadness so that we can understand their true nature and thereby handle them with more ease and well-being. We are also able to do things in our lives that address the causes of these negative emotions with less harm and more kindness to ourselves and others.

Ok, I think emotional regulation is something I’d like to learn how to do. How do I practice this?  Sheela will teach you a mindfulness practice called RAIN that can help with working with negative emotions and allow more positive emotions, like joy, to arise.

This session is open to adults age 18 and up.  Registration is not required.