Mindful In May 2022 | Day 3 - Mind Life Project

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DAY 3: Dr Elise Bialylew interviews George mumford

Mindfulness for high performance

Video Objectives

In this video you’ll learn:

The definition of mindfulness.
About a transformational personal story from drug addiction to teaching meditation to world class athletes.
The five spiritual superpowers and how to bring them into your life for greater flourishing.

About George Mumford

George Mumford’s deeply moving personal story is unforgettable. An aspiring basketball player at the University of Massachusetts, injuries forced Mumford out of the game he loved. The medications that relieved the pain of his injuries also numbed him to the emptiness he felt without the game and eventually led him to heroin. After years of making meditation on and off the cushion the center of his life and getting clean, Mumford enrolled in Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn’s Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction program and collaborated with him to create the Inner-city Stress Reduction Clinic in the early nineties. When Michael Jordan left the Chicago Bulls to play baseball in 1993, the team was in crisis. Coach Phil Jackson, a long-time mindfulness practitioner, contacted Dr. Kabat-Zinn to find someone who could teach mindfulness techniques to the struggling team—someone who would have credibility and could speak the language of his players. Kabat-Zinn led Jackson to Mumford and their partnership began. Mumford has worked with Jackson and many of the teams he coached to become NBA champions. His roster of champion clients has since blossomed way beyond basketball to include corporate executives, Olympians, and athletes in many different sports.

Prefer to listen, rather than watch? Click the play button below.

[accessally_missing_any_tag tag_id='895' comment='MLP22']Want to read the transcript from this interview? Mind Life Project members receive access to interview transcripts and 6 months of mindfulness support, live meditations, and more.

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[accessally_has_any_tag tag_id='895' comment='MLP22']Mind Life Project Bonus Content:

Click here to download the transcript for Dr Elise Bialylew's interview with George Mumford.[/accessally_has_any_tag]

Your meditation for today

Meditation for deep sleep By LIsa Abramson

Called an inspiration by Oprah, Lisa Abramson is an executive coach, mindfulness teacher, author and mom of two girls. She teaches overachievers how to develop a resilient mindset and create success that’s sustainable. She’s helped more than 15,000 people increase their mental resilience through her online programs and has shared her insights at TEDx, Google, Microsoft, Cisco, The Stanford Graduate School of Business and in Forbes, NPR, The New York Times, Health, Fast Company, and more. Lisa has delivered over 8 million minutes of calm around the globe through her guided mindfulness meditations.

Counting The Breath: A 12 Minute Meditation with Elise Bialylew

Bonus: This meditation is available for you to download and keep.

Download this meditation

Enjoy access to the Mindful in May meditation library here

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MINDFULNESS OF THE BREATH

How was your mindfulness practice yesterday?

If you found your mind wandering or it felt like your thoughts just wouldn't stop, don't worry.

Mindfulness isn't actually about "stopping your thoughts" - it's about recognising what's happening from moment to moment within your body and mind, and not getting so caught up and hijacked by the wanderings of the mind.

Today I would like to introduce the breath meditation to our practice.

Remember, if you’re new to mindfulness, it’s a skill that requires training, so if you found it difficult to settle the mind and body in your first meditation, give yourself time and be patient.

An untrained mind gets caught in inner and outer distractions, which means we end up with little control over what we are paying attention to. We can easily get caught up in anxious thinking about the future, or obsessive thinking about past regrets – we are complete victims to our mind's distractible nature.

The initial stages of meditation are about training our mind by placing our attention on a specific object.

We started by focusing on the bodily sensations and today we will move on to focusing on the breath – training our attention to stay there, even if it’s just for a few seconds at a time.

Over time and with regular practice, you’ll discover that just as going to the gym strengthens your physical body, training your mind through meditation builds your psychological and attentional capacities.

Enjoy today’s breath meditation and stay accountable in your practice by letting the Mindful in May community know you’ve done it and sharing your observations in the Facebook group.

Today let us know:

What did you notice about the breath today during your meditation?
What did you notice about your mind and your attention today when practising?

Download your Mindful in May digital meditation journal HERE to keep track of your daily meditation. Please download and save your journal to fill it in.