Chapter 19

Ten Paths to Further Study

In This Chapter

Tracking down mindfulness courses

Discovering respected mindfulness organisations and books

Finding suitable retreat centres

Exploring useful websites

So, you’ve begun the exciting journey into mindfulness and want to find out more. Well, you’re in luck. Mindfulness is a hot topic, and you can find all sorts of different resources to support your mindfulness practice. Browse through this chapter to see whether anything catches your eye.

Websites

You can find out just about everything you need to know about mindfulness on the Internet. The problem is there are so many different websites, it’s hard to know where to start. Here are a few to help you to begin mindfully exploring.

ShamashAlidina.com

If you like my approach in this book, you may enjoy spending a few minutes browsing my website and subscribing to my electronic newsletter. My organisation offers training and online teacher training in mindfulness. I also work with other experts in the field of mindfulness, offering their specialities to my electronic newsletter subscribers. My mindfulness courses are offered online or I can come and run a workshop or retreat near you if you or someone in your area invites me.

Visit www.shamashalidina.com to contact me, for training or for free resources, including:

• Online free 21-day online course in mindfulness
• Online eight-week mindfulness course
• Mindfulness teacher training online
• E-mail newsletters and ‘weekly wisdom’ e-mails when you subscribe

If you’re on Facebook or Twitter, have a look at my online community which will support and inform you with quotations, tips, offers and free resources that I add regularly. It’s a great way to remind yourself to be mindful. See www.facebook.com/shamashalidina or www.twitter.com/shamashalidina.

Greater Good Science Centre

The mission of The Greater Good Science Centre is to ‘study the psychology, sociology, and neuroscience of well-being, and teach skills that foster a thriving, resilient and compassionate society’. It sounds very grand, but the centre’s website is fantastic and the web pages are enjoyable to read.

Visit the centre at greatergood.berkeley.edu and browse through the core themes, which are: gratitude, altruism, compassion, empathy, forgiveness, happiness and, last but not least, mindfulness. The articles are well written and well researched.

Mindful.org

Mindful.org celebrates being mindful in all aspects of daily living. It’s an ideal resource if you’re interested in various forms of mindfulness practice. The website offers a range of stories, practical news, insights and tips.

Visit www.mindful.org and read sections on:

• Body and mind
• Love and relationships
• Home and work
• Mindfulness practice
• The science behind mindfulness

Books, Magazines and Films

I recommend that you continue to nourish your mindfulness practice with a range of different writers to help deepen your understanding of yourself. Here are some resources that I have enjoyed and still do.

Book: Wherever you go, there you are

This book by Jon Kabat-Zinn (published by Piatkus) is simple and easy to read, covering a wide range of topics on mindfulness. Kabat-Zinn developed the mindfulness-based stress reduction course detailed in Chapter 9, so he definitely knows a thing or two about mindfulness!

The chapters in this book are nice and short, so it’s ideal to pick up and read for a few minutes before or after doing a mindfulness meditation. The book is perfect for beginners and contains something for more experienced practitioners too.

Book: Peace is every step

Thich Nhat Hanh (pronounced Tik N’yat Hawn) is a Vietnamese Zen Buddhist monk, poet, scholar and peace activist. Nhat Hanh has written many books, and I particularly enjoyed reading this one (published by Rider).

The author begins the book with:

Every day, when we wake up, we have twenty-four brand new hours to live. What a precious gift! We have the capacity to live in a way that these twenty-four hours will bring peace, joy and happiness to ourselves and others.

Thich Nhat Hanh is probably one of the world’s most famous teachers of mindfulness. Because of his lifelong commitment and efforts for peace in Vietnam, he was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1967 by Martin Luther King, Jr.

You can find many gems in this book to help transform your daily life and achieve conscious awareness of, and gratitude for, what you do. The simplicity and poetry of Thich Nhat Hanh’s words make them a joy to read. The book is in short sections that you can read in a few minutes and then reflect on, – ideal before or after meditating to set you up for the day.

Book: Mindfulness – a practical guide to finding peace in a frantic world

This is currently a very popular book – in fact, one of the bestselling books in the world!

Co-authored by Professor Mark Williams, former head at Oxford University’s Mindfulness Centre, and Danny Penman, a journalist, this book details an eight-week mindfulness course for people suffering from the challenges of everyday stress. The book includes short mindfulness exercises, 10–15 minutes long, so it’s ideal if you lead a busy life and don’t have time for the longer mindfulness meditations.

Do take a look and see whether it appeals to you.

Magazine: Mindful

This is the only quality monthly magazine that I know dedicated to celebrating the ‘mindfulness movement’. Packed with well-written articles, the magazine contains ideas for applying mindfulness at home and work, as well as the latest research findings on mindfulness, fascinating interviews, recommended mobile apps and more.

Currently, both digital and print versions are available, so you can access Mindful wherever you are in the world.

DVD: Room to breathe

This documentary film is about the transformation of a struggling school in San Francisco as the students are introduced to the practice of mindfulness meditation. Stressed-out teachers face the option of either continuing the battle to gain the focus of frustrated students or trying to share the ancient practice of mindfulness to help develop the students’ ability to be present. Find out how a young mindfulness teacher from Berkeley, facing the students’ lack of discipline, lack of respect for authority and little interest in learning anything works through the challenge.

The DVD is particular interesting for anyone who works with children or has any interest in the power of mindfulness.

Retreats

You can deepen your experience of mindfulness by attending a retreat. Retreats offer you an extended period away from your usual environment and responsibilities – often in silence. In this setting, your mind has more time to settle, and through the practices of mindfulness meditation you gain insights and grow in wisdom as you meditate.

This sort of opportunity is rare, so if you get such a chance I encourage you to have a go. If you’re never spent a day not talking, why not try it out and see what happens? You may find it fascinating how your mind reacts to the experience. For many people, the experience is restful, energising and a bit like a mental detox.

Mindfulness-based retreat centres worldwide

The following retreat centres offer mindfulness-based silent retreats:

• Insight Meditation Society, Barre, Massachusetts, USA
• Spirit Rock, Woodacre, California, USA
• Insight Meditation Community of Washington, Cabin John, Maryland, USA
• Southern Dharma, Hot Springs, North Carolina, USA
• Boundless Way Zen, Worcester, Massachusetts, USA
• San Francisco Zen Center, San Francisco, California, USA
• Zen Center of San Diego, San Diego, California, USA
• Zen Community of Oregon, Clatskanie, Oregon, USA
• Karme Choling, Barnet, Vermont, USA
• Shambhala Mountain Center, Red Feather Lakes, Colorado, USA
• Gaia House, Devon, UK
• Amravati, Hertfordshire, UK
• Vipassana Meditation Centers (worldwide)

This is not an exhaustive list, but it gives you some ideas of places to look. Most of these centres are in the USA, but when you look on their websites you may find links to recommended centres near your country or even near where you live.

Vipassana Meditation Centers are located worldwide and are based on the SN Goenka tradition. In my experience, people tend to either love these centers or find them a bit too intensive. Check the website or speak to someone who’s been there to see whether it’s for you.

If you’re looking for a centre completely not associated with religion, get in touch with a secular mindfulness teacher like me. Many secular mindfulness teachers now offer retreats. The easiest way to find a such a teacher may be to search on the Internet for one in your area and then check the credentials and experience of the teacher on the associated website.

Check the timetables and schedule for the retreat. If you’re a beginner and think you may feel intimidated with a whole week or more, try to start with just a day or weekend retreat. And don’t feel you have to attend every meditation session: take some breaks if you need to, and go at a gentle pace rather than pushing yourself too much. It is a retreat after all, not a retorture!

Plum Village and related centers

Plum Village is a Buddhist retreat centre founded by Thich Nhat Hanh in southern France. I attended a retreat there and enjoyed the light-hearted atmosphere mixed with the incisive and fascinating talks by Thich Nhat Hanh every morning. The retreat was partly in silence, especially at meal times. Everyone seems to enjoy the silence. The summer retreats are also family friendly, so you can bring the kids along too!

Other retreat centres now follow the same approach. They are:

• Blue Cliff Monastery: In 80 acres of beautiful woodland, about one and half hours north of New York City, USA, this is home to 12 monks and 17 nuns, who welcome you to come and practise mindfulness with them.
• Deer Park Monastery: On 400 acres in the glorious mountains of southern California, USA, Deer Park is a place of serenity, home to 17 monks and 19 nuns. Visit and practise mindfulness there.
• Magnolia Grove Monastery: In Batesville, Mississippi, USA, more than 30 monks and nuns in residence, welcome visitors who wish to practise meditation and mindfulness with every breath and every step.

Check the respective websites to find out the best time to arrive and leave.

If you attend a summer retreat, here’s a typical schedule:

If that sounds appealing and you like Thich Nhat Hanh, look out for his summer retreat and book yourself in! Visit www.plumvillage.org or the websites of the other retreat centres for more details.