Mind Your Life: How Mindfulness Can Build Resilience and Reveal Your Extraordinary

216 Pages·2017·2.4 MB·English

by  Meg Salter

Advance praise for Mind Your Life
“The mainstreaming of mindfulness has become something of a fad.
Unfortunately, many authors in that genre know much more about the
mainstream than they do about the deep end of what mindfulness practice
can deliver. Not so with Meg. She has practiced intensely for many decades.
And she has personal experience of how a mindfulness practice can provide
the ‘big guns’ that deliver the goods when all else fails.
“In this book, you will find evidence-based coaching strategies to help
you turn good intentions into a sustainable practice. You will also find
simple guidelines for customizing that practice using elements of Unified
Mindfulness—a system widely respected for its comprehensiveness and
conceptual clarity.”
Shinzen Young
“My curiosity about meditation and mindfulness practices had been
growing but Mind Your Life really provided the impetus and skills for
incorporating it into my daily life and realizing the benefits. A great
practical guide.”
Scott Whitbread, partner, Stroud International
“A refreshingly practical and no-nonsense take on mindfulness, behaviour
change and resilience, written by a life coach who understands the
professional and family commitments of our busy modern age. Smart,
scalable, with the potential to help a great many people.”
Jeff Warren, meditation teacher and author of The Head Trip: Adventures on the Wheel of
Consciousness
“Meg generously shares real-world wisdom in an inspiring and pragmatic
way that coaches can use immediately with their overwhelmed clients.”
Jill Malleck, Epiphany at Work, Integral Master Coach™ and OD Consultant
“Mind Your Life draws upon Meg’s engaging personal journey to present a
thoroughly modern approach for bringing the benefits of mindfulness
practice to anyone. Accentuated with numerous intimate anecdotes, her
approach distills the essential methodologies of contemporary researchers
into a comprehensive system that is manageable, personal and ready to
work for you.”
Scott Nelson, CEO of noosworx
“No two people are alike. No two coaching programs are alike. Why should
a path to greater mindfulness be any different? Mind Your Life offers a
pragmatic approach to mindfulness that meets you right where you are!
Useful. Relevant. Great variety of practices!”
Joanne Hunt, co-founder, Integral Coaching Canada®, Inc.
“Meg Salter has written a book that explores not just how to start a
mindfulness practice but how to keep it going over the ebbs and flows of a
lifetime. The stories of ordinary heroes help make it real and achievable.
The steps and practices that Salter shares to help you bring mindfulness
into your daily life are simple, for adults and children alike.”
Kate Kerr, president of Wake Up Kate & mindfulness educator
The fruits of meditation, including this book, are dedicated to
my daughters, Jacqueline Grandy and Claire Grandy, and to
the memory of my brother John M.C. Salter
Copyright © 2017 by Meg Salter
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval
system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior written
consent of the publisher or a licence from The Canadian Copyright Licensing
Agency (Access Copyright). For a copyright licence, visit
www.accesscopyright.ca or call toll free to 1-800-893-5777.
MegaSpace Press
Toronto, Canada
www.megsalter.com
Cataloguing data available from Library and Archives Canada
ISBN 978-0-9959368-0-5 (paperback)
ISBN 978-0-9959368-1-2 (ebook)
Produced by Page Two
www.pagetwostrategies.com
Cover and interior design by Peter Cocking
Ebook by Bright Wing Books (www.brightwing.ca)
Integral Coaching®, Integral Coach™, Integral Master Coach™ are registered
trademarks in Canada of Integral Coaching Canada Inc. and licensed to Meg
Salter.
Table of Contents
1. Cover
2. Title Page
3. Advance praise for Mind Your Life
4. Copyright
5. Dedication
6. Contents
7. Special Recognition
1. Additional Thanks
8. Introduction
9. [ 1 ] My Own Story
10. [ 2 ] Stories of Ordinary Heroes
1. Nicola: Beyond Stress Reduction
1. How did you start and then continue mindfulness?
2. What has been the impact on your life?
3. What advice would you give to others?
2. Alex: Recovery from PTSD
1. How did you start and then continue mindfulness?
2. What has been the impact on your life?
3. What advice would you give to others?
3. Barbara: Navigating a Business Setback
1. How did you start and then continue mindfulness?
2. What has been the impact on your life?
3. What advice would you give to others?
4. Brian: Equanimity or Death
1. How did this most recent phase of your meditation practice start?
2. What has been the impact on your life?
3. What advice would you give to others?
5. James: Coping with Compassion Fatigue
1. How did you get started again in meditation?
2. What has been the impact on your life?
3. What advice would you give to others?
6. Lara: Navigating Underemployment
1. How did you start and then continue with mindfulness?
2. What has been the impact on your life?
3. What advice would you give to others?
11. [ 3 ] Changes to Brain and Body
1. Rewires the Brain for Focus and Happiness
2. Reduces Stress and Improves Well-Being
3. Fosters Empathy and Positive Relationships
12. [ 4 ] Building the Muscles of Resilience
1. Mindfulness as a Resilience Booster
2. Resilience Muscles for Recovery
1. Resilience Muscle #1: Ability to Persist Through Obstacles or
Failures
2. Resilience Muscle #2: Ability to Stay Focused Under Pressure
3. Resilience Muscle #3: Ability to Handle Unpleasant Feelings
4. Resilience Muscle #4: Ability to Stay Connected with Others
5. Resilience Muscle #5: Sense of Self-Efficacy
3. Resilience Muscles for Adaptation and Growth
1. Resilience Muscle #6: Looking At Versus Looking Through
2. Resilience Muscle #7: Process of Personal Change
13. [ 5 ] Mindfulness as Attentional Transformation
1. Your Two Selves
2. The Challenges
3. The Transformations
1. Are You Functioning More Effectively in Life?
2. Do You Notice a General Relief of Personal Suffering?
3. Do You Notice a General Increase in Personal Fulfillment?
4. Do You Know Yourself at a Deeper Level?
5. Are You Becoming More Caring and Connected?
4. Anchoring Your Motivation
1. Your Mindfulness Topic Statement
5. Practice: Deep Listening
1. BASIC INSTRUCTIONS FOR MINDFULNESS PRACTICE
14. [ 6 ] The Unified Mindfulness System
1. Three Attentional Skills
1. Concentration
2. Sensory Clarity
3. Equanimity
4. Three Types of Practice
2. Sitting Practice: Time, Place and Posture
1. Time
2. Place
3. Posture
15. [ 7 ] Practices to Appreciate Self and World
1. Feel-See-Hear
1. FEEL-SEE-HEAR TASTE TEST
2. Noting
3. Feel-See-Hear Practice
1. FEEL-SEE-HEAR PRACTICE STEPS
2. General Grid of Sensory Experience
3. A Short Note about “Gone”
4. Just Feel: Focus on Somatic Experience
1. JUST FEEL PRACTICE
5. Just See: Focus on Visual Experience
1. JUST SEE PRACTICE
6. Just Hear: Focus on Auditory Experience
1. JUST HEAR PRACTICE
7. Note Everything: Focus on Everything
1. NOTE EVERYTHING PRACTICE IN FEEL-SEE-HEAR
8. Example of a Feel-See-Hear Practice Session
16. [ 8 ] Practices to Appreciate Patterns in Self and World
1. Detailed Grid of Sensory Experience
2. Focus Out
1. Feel Out
1. FEEL OUT PRACTICE
2. See Out
1. SEE OUT PRACTICE
3. Hear Out
1. HEAR OUT PRACTICE
4. Focus Out on All
1. FOCUS OUT ON ALL PRACTICE
5. Create Mindful Moments with Focus Out
3. Focus In
1. Feel In
1. FEEL IN PRACTICE
2. See In
1. SEE IN PRACTICE
3. Hear In
1. HEAR IN PRACTICE
4. Focus In on All
1. FOCUS IN ON ALL PRACTICE
5. Unpacking Emotions with Feel In
4. Focus on Rest
1. Feel Rest
1. FEEL REST PRACTICE
2. See Rest
1. SEE REST PRACTICE