What to Expect
Here you will find an overview of what to expect in your first and subsequent mind-body medicine sessions.
Your first mind-body medicine session...
During your initial Mind-Body Medicine session, we will primarily focus on getting to know one another. We will discuss your current experiences, home life, community, support systems, workplace, and family, as well as any physical health issues you may be facing — this approach reflects the holistic biopsychosocial model of health.
Most importantly, this conversation will be held within a meditative container. Based on your previous meditation experience, we will meditate together for varying lengths of time. We can sit together for several shorter meditations while you gain comfort and experience with the practice, or we can sit together for longer. My experience shows that meditating with others can enhance your practice and help you deepen your meditation more rapidly than practicing alone.
The goal of our sessions together is to establish a foundation for healing and to empower you, the client, with tools to enhance your overall health and well-being. With this in mind, together we will explore a pathway that suits your meditation temperament and agree on outcomes that you may like to achieve. Or, if you do not have specific "goals" in mind, that is also perfectly fine, we can simply sit together in meditation.
Second and subsequent sessions...
Within the second and subsequent sessions, we will agree upon a programme and map out a meditation journey that will support your growth. This programme may be continuing 1 on 1 sessions, attending group sessions or a combination of both. Depending upon your situation and prior experience, practices may include (but are not limited to):
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Visualisation
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Walking or moving meditation
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Focussed attention style meditation
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Compassion practices (Metta Bhavana/Loving Kindness)
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Thong Len
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Breath work and pranayama
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Open monitoring
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Energy body practices
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Mantra Chanting or Sound Meditation
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Ayurvedic Marma Point/Touch Meditation
How Long Will This Take?
Mind-Body Medicine is not a panacea, nor is it a “quick-fix”. It is expected that to make lasting change in your life, you will need to commit to the journey for a year or longer, whether that be in session or otherwise. However, it is likely that once you have made the commitment to change, you will enjoy the practice so much you won't want to stop!