Vinland is expanding opportunities for its clients and staff members to practice mindfulness-based meditation. This effort is made possible by a series of grants from the Trust for the Meditation Process, a charitable foundation supporting contemplative practice among Christians and encouraging dialogue among all contemplative traditions. Expanded opportunities include a four-part video series, an eight-week Mindfulness in Motion program, and certified adapted yoga classes. Vinland continues to offer mindfulness meditation groups to chemical health clients and residents at LivingWorks’s lodges. In an effort to encourage individual practice, clients can borrow guided meditation CDs and portable CD players to practice mindfulness on their own. Mindfulness fits well within the complementary care programming offered in Vinland’s chemical health program. Vinland is grateful to the Trust for the Meditation Process for their continued support of our adapted mindfulness meditation program.
What Is Mindfulness?
Mindfulness is a form of meditation that focuses on simply paying attention, without judgment, to what is happening with your mind and body in the present moment. An individual’s ability to “come back” to the present moment over and over again changes the mind’s relationship to stressful thoughts and body sensations. This practice offers a way for people with chemical use disorders to improve their ability to recognize stress reactions in the body and cope with their feelings in a new way.
Web Series
This spring, Vinland will launch a web-based video series as a resource for clients to continue their practice after leaving Vinland. The first two videos in the series will provide an educational overview about how the brain works, how addiction affects the brain, and the benefits of meditation. The final two videos will be guided meditations.
Mindfulness in Motion
Last summer, Vinland Chemical Health Case Manager Tom Beckers was invited to attend a training course for Mindfulness in Motion (MiM) at the University of Minnesota’s Center for Spirituality & Healing. MiM is a research-based program that offers pragmatic resiliency tools easily implemented in the workplace to reduce daily stress and increase productivity and work engagement. Participants learn mindful awareness principles that are the key to embodying the benefits of mindfulness. The eight weekly sessions emphasize bodily relaxation with soft background music as well as discussion of mindful awareness of cognitive habits. Several Vinland staff members recently completed a MiM program facilitated by Beckers offered on-site at Vinland’s main campus. Staff members are able to incorporate what they learn in the MiM program into their counseling groups and their daily lives.
Made Possible By
A charitable foundation supporting meditation and contemplative prayer Learn more about the Trust for the Meditation Process online at www.trustformeditation.org.
