Recap of the program

Above all, we want to remind you of the overall intention and structure of this program. Perhaps you were drawn to the details of individual exercises during the past weeks, but they all form an interconnected whole, so it would be appropriate to summarize how the entire course has progressed.

• At the beginning, our goal was to help you recognize how the automatic mode of our mind manifests and, at the same time, teach you to be more mindful of these automatism. 
  • You learned to recognise how thinking distracts attention, how constant inner dialogue dulls our senses, and detracts from the present moment of life. 
  • You learned to return again and again to the present moment through the awareness of bodily sensations and contact with our senses during mindful eating. 
  • The core of these exercises was to learn to intentionally and kindly pay attention to a chosen object of meditation. By deliberately directing attention to the same stimulus, its stability is reinforced, and it gives you the opportunity to notice how your mind automatically fluctuates. Thanks to this, you discovered how our minds often try to solve things that they cannot solve and how this process is often in the background of our dissatisfaction.
• We learned to pay attention while speaking and listening in the 50:50 Awareness practice. We found our anchor, a place in the body where we feel settled and grounded, simply at home. Which one is yours? Perhaps it's the feeling of your feet touching the ground, perhaps it's the breath, or the awareness of the body as a whole. Maybe you also found that the anchor changes depending on how you feel or who you are currently communicating with. 
• We learned the 10 Fingers of Gratitude practice, which reminds us of everything we have to appreciate in life, even if they are just little things. 
• Whenever we choose, we can perform Random Acts of Kindness and brighten someone's day.
• We learned to take a pause in the Three-Step Breathing Space, thanks to which we recognize the four components of our experience and step out of the automatic functioning of our minds. It stabilizes our minds and helps us gain emotional distance in challenging situations. Mindfulness thus gives us the choice to find the most suitable response to the challenges of our personal and professional life.
• We learned to face difficult situations directly and recognize when it may not be the right time because we don't feel strong enough to deal with such a situation. We lean our minds toward qualities such as friendliness and kindness because it's a way to reduce emotional reactivity in the form of aversion and persistent negative thoughts.

If all this makes sense to you, a completely new approach to life opens up before you. You can start fully experiencing each moment, right now, and not postpone life to the future, as most of us tend to do. How many times do we say to ourselves, "Next week, I will finally get enough sleep," "When things settle down, I will have more time for my children," or "After the exam period, I will rest properly."

Friendly parachute

The practice of mindfulness brings us one great advantage, which we call the "friendly parachute," because when life brings us unpleasantness, it provides a smooth and secure landing. This parachute needs to be woven every day so that we have it ready when we need it. Just like in life, it wouldn't make sense to weave it at the last minute, but rather to create it gradually to ensure it is of high quality, strong, and well-assembled. During the first seven weeks, you wove such a parachute through the practices, and the eighth week is just as important as all the others combined.

Five tips for maintaining your daily Mindfulness practice

1. Practice every day for at least ten seconds
   • Consistency in practice is incredibly important. This keeps Mindfulness fresh, accessible, and ready for you whenever you need it most (just like having a parachute ready) – you never know when that will be! Internationally acclaimed meditation teacher Joseph Goldstein recommends that his students meditate every day, even if it's just for ten seconds.
2. If possible, practice at the same time and in the same place every day
   • This way, Mindfulness becomes your daily refreshing routine. Just like making your bed in the morning, you no longer have to think about whether to do it or not – you do it because it's something you do at that moment of your day.
3. See your practice as a way to nourish and satisfy yourself, not as an obligation to fulfil
   • Remember that sometimes you may not feel like practicing – distinguish whether it's laziness or physical fatigue; perhaps you genuinely need to rest. Maybe it's just about staying and being aware of your intention. Perhaps it's the realisation that mindfulness is not another self-improvement project but about cultivating kindness and self-care.
4. Consider the possibility of practicing with others
   • Regular group meditation, often called "group meditation," is one of the most effective ways to keep your practice vibrant and alive. We recommend signing up for the in-person subject at MUNI called Mindfulness for Life (aVLMD021). In this course, you'll have the chance to revisit many exercises you've learned throughout this program, all in a group setting and under the guidance of an experienced mindfulness teacher. It's an amazing opportunity to deepen your practice and gain further insights from them.
     
5. Remember that you can always start again
   • The essence of mindfulness practice is to let go of the past and start again in every new moment (as you have practiced many times by returning to your breath when the mind wandered). If you find that you haven't practiced for some time, instead of self-criticism or pondering why, simply start again, right here and now, maybe with the Three-Step Breathing Space.
     

Taken and adapted from Mindfulness for Life (Bernard, Cullen & Kuyken, 2020: 88).