Month Five

MONTH FIVE

An interview with Gregory Kramer

Mindfulness for deepening your relationships and communication

Welcome to MONTH FIVE

Listening is a magnetic and strange thing, a creative force. The friends who listen to us are the ones we move toward. When we are listened to, it creates us, makes us unfold and expand.

~ Karl Menninger

So much of our lives are spent in communication with others. Conversations can be a great opportunity to practise being mindful. Our lives run at such a speed, with competing forces pulling our attention in all directions, that bringing full attention to someone is a truly rare and precious gift. By being mindful in our conversations, we open ourselves up to greater empathy and insight into the unique perspectives of other people in our lives. It’s a challenging practice, but one that can deepen and enrich both our personal and professional relationships.

Today you’ll hear from a truly inspiring teacher who shares perspectives on how to bring mindfulness into our relationships and communication. We all have different natural ways of being in communication and it’s worth taking some time this week to become aware of your own patterns. Are you someone that tends to talk more or listen more?

On a ten day insight dialogue retreat with Gregory, I had some big insights into my own style of communicating and discovered that for me, generosity looked like offering people I was in conversation with more space to talk. For others who were more introverted, they discovered that in fact sharing their perspectives and talking was the generous act that countered their natural tendency to stay quiet.

As you move through your week, bring more mindfulness (present moment awareness) to your own urges and habits in conversation, and experiment with trying new ways of interacting. If you tend to be a talker make more space. If you tend to be more of a listener recognise that sharing your perspectives is actually an act of generosity.

Use the Facebook group to share what you notice in this experiment in mindful communication and of course let us know how your meditation practice is going. You can also share mindful moments from your daily life to anchor you to more presence and gratitude.

In this video you’ll learn:

  • The innovative mindfulness practice that Gregory created called “insight dialogue” that helps deepen our relationships and improve our communication
  • The six steps to bringing mindfulness into communication for greater quality relationships (both personally and professionally)
  • How mindfulness can support better leadership (whether you’re a leader at a company or in a family)
  • How mindfulness supports greater creativity

About Gregory Kramer

Gregory Kramer, is a meditation teacher, author, and director of the Metta Foundation who has been teaching meditation since 1980. He developed the practice of Insight Dialogue and offers retreats internationally. Gregory is the author of Insight Dialogue: The Interpersonal Path to Freedom, Seeding the Heart: Practicing Lovingkindness with Children, Meditating Together, Speaking from Silence: the Practice of Insight Dialogue, and Dharma Contemplation: Meditating Together with Wisdom Texts.

Dr. Elise Bialylew

Our upcoming LIVE CALL

Join our live guided online meditation with Dr. Elise Bialylew, along with an interactive Q&A session.

Join the session on Zoom here: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81381381693

BOOK OF THE MONTH

This month, as part of the Mind Life Project book club you’re invited to read Why has Nobody Told me This Before by Dr Julie Smith.

A simple, positive, practical toolkit for better mental health, from clinical psychologist and TikTok star Dr Julie Smith.

Drawing on her years of experience as a clinical psychologist, Dr Julie
Smith’s first book is a must-have handbook for instantly better mental
health.

Filled with secrets from the therapy room, Why Has Nobody Told Me This
Before? offers simple advice, effective strategies and powerful coping
techniques to help readers stay positive and resilient no matter what life
throws their way.

Written in short, bite-sized entries, in Dr. Julie’s warm and informal style,
a reader can turn straight to the appropriate section depending on the
challenge being faced - and immediately find tools to help. From managing
anxiety, dealing with criticism or battling low mood, to building self confidence, finding motivation or learning to forgive yourself, and much more, this book tackles everyday issues that affect us all and offers easy, practical solutions that might just change your life.

Download the bookclub reflection guide here where you can record your biggest takeaways.

As you take notes feel free to share them in the Facebook group as a way of integrating your learning and having discussions with others in the group. Remember to use the hashtag #bookclub so we can all find each others reflections.

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