We travelled out to the UBC Liu Institute for three sessions of “Sit, Circle, and Explore” in November. We were hosted by UBC’s Masters Program for Public Policy and Global Affairs (MPPGA). We called it “MPPGA Mind 2018”.
We were given a fabulous location on the main floor of the Liu Institute with forest surrounding us on all sides. The Nitobe Japanese garden next door and Museum of Anthropology across the street.
I started the class, then we formed a circle for the sit & circle.
Slides & Scripts
In these classes I chose to develop the class’s script in slide form. But there were very few slides shown during the class. One of our learnings is that the spoken word and handouts are best. The “slide script” is good for developing timing, follow-up and sharing after class.
The main changes from previous sessions were the “Explore” sections. In each “Explore” we delivered the instruction in snippets, like a guided meditation. Then we did small group discussions, and then had an individual speak for each small group to the whole room. Also, in session #2 I added in “Warrior for the Human Spirit” meditation instruction “Touch & Let Go” and 5 slogans.
The “Touch & Let Go” is a meditation instruction for handling thoughts. When one notices that they have lost their focus and are off in a thought, then smile, then reach out & gently touch the thought (with one’s mind), and then let go. The approach is to develop gentleness towards the thought and oneself. It’s consistent with the “Warrior” theme of meeting everything with “Gentleness, Decency, and Bravery”.
The 5 slogans I chose were:
• First, be friendly to yourself,
• Don’t fix, don’t avoid, just be present,
• Come back again and again,
• Maintain your sense of humour, and
• Is it kind?
More
Also … there is more info here
https://hnorth.wordpress.com/mind-program/
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