In Today's Mindful Living Class...

We began the class with some mindful stretching, followed by a body scan and progressive relaxation. We then did 5 min of metta (loving kindness) meditation to focus the mind and ground ourselves, switching from that into breath meditation, as discussed in the Satipatthana Sutta's Mindfulness of the Body section:
Focus on in-breath and out-breath
Focus on quality of breath
Focus on breath and body
Focus on calming effects of breath

We then transitioned into a discussion of Mindfulness of the Mind, as described in the Satipatthana Sutta:

"One knows a lustful mind to be lustful, and a mind without lust (desire/greed/craving) to be without lust"

"One knows an angry mind to be angry, and a mind without anger (hatred/ill-will/aversion) to be without anger"

"One knows a deluded mind to be deluded, and a mind without delusion (confusion/distraction) to be without delusion"

These three emotions are called the three unwholesome roots which are the source of all other unwholesome mental factors. Paying attention to these can have a big impact on our personal lives, as well as the life of those we touch. When we become aware of the state of our mind, and the presence of these unwholesome roots, we can prevent acting out these negative emotions. As stated by the Buddha:

"We are what we think.
All that we are arises with our thoughts.
With our thoughts we make the world.
Speak or act with an impure mind, and trouble will follow you like the wheel that follows the ox that draws the cart."

"We are what we think.
All that we are arises with our thoughts.
With our thoughts we make the world.
Speak or act with a pure mind, and happiness will follow you like a shadow, unshakeable."

And all this begins with us being mindful of the state of our minds in every moment! To put this into practice, try becoming aware during the day of the background moods and emotions that are present. Identify if they are wholesome or unwholesome. Practice for short moments, many times during the day.

We then practiced Mindfulness of emotions such as anger, desire and worry, using visualizations to arouse these emotions and examining the state of our minds in the presence and absence of these emotions.

As usual, the best part of the class was the discussion time and comments and feedback from the meditators.