ROdown Blog
A project to help us all chill: Mindfulness training via ReachOut.com
The Inspire Foundation has teamed up with Orygen Youth Health (University of Melbourne) and Monash University to bring this wonderful tool for mental balance and wellbeing to ReachOut.com
Mindfulness training involves instruction in a really simple method of meditation where people learn to practise focussing on their breath and body sensations. Apart from learning the method over a few weeks some discussion is held in a group about the relationship between how you use your mind and how things can stress you out. Gradually you learn that the ability to direct your attention to your body at will helps you get in touch with a sense of the present moment as you go about your daily life. Wouldn't we all like to stop ruminating and worrying so much when it doesnt actually help fix what were ruminating or worrying about? It's thought that this can help us to not stress ourselves out unnecessarily so we might not end up getting depressed or panicky.
The research team has some ideas of how we want to run the mindfulness training and how we should measure whether it is working. But we want to understand your ideas about how this program could be best presented to young people. In the next month, we're going to ask for people to join a focus group in Melbourne or for those living outside of Melbourne contribute online or talk to us over the phone to give us ideas.
After that (from Jan next year) we'll be hoping to get some ReachOut.com members involved in producing some video and audio content. The whole project should be lots of fun and a great chance to create something thousands of people will benefit from.
Once we've got people's input about the program design and recorded the content, we will send out a call for people to actually give it a go. This is likely to be in the middle of 2010.
Unfortunately since the whole project is being run on the smell of an oily rag, movie vouchers and reimbursement for transport is all the material incentive we can provide. But...the real incentive is not material of course: the chance to make a difference and learn something along the way!
Does this sound like something you might be interested in helping out with? If so, please email Kaveh Monshat on k.monshat@unimelb.edu.au
If youve heard of mindfulness or meditation what do you think of it as a concept for young people and for ReachOut.com? Make a comment below!
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11 Comments
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Elise177
over 1 year ago
Reply ReportThere should be another one held close to Port Macquarie..
Sounds very benificial :)
Monkey91
over 2 years ago
Reply ReportI love mindfullness so much, it helped me so much and still is helping, very cool. :)
Alphabet
over 2 years ago
Reply ReportMindfulness is an awesome, i found it really good to help stay in the present. This sounds really exciting and so useful.
Antria
over 2 years ago
Reply ReportHaha lol, sure. Though I'm sure someone could say that in a more articulate way. I sent you an email by the way :-)
Kaveh
over 2 years ago
Reply ReportBrilliant! Couldn't have said it better myself... could I quote you in future? :)
Antria
over 2 years ago
Reply ReportHaha, it is so true, it seems like it should be simple - but when you do it it seems really complicated, until you realise it actually is simple.
Kaveh
over 2 years ago
Reply ReportHi everyone,
I'm the person running this project. Thank you for your encouraging and positive comments. I'm so glad to hear about so many of you having given mindfulness a go and finding it helpful.
So simple and sensible and yet it can be quite a journey to get a handle on it... or at least realise that you've not been "doing it wrong"!
I'm looking forward to getting your help in designing the mindfulness program for ReachOut.
Don't worry if you live in QLD etc. You can contribute on the special web forum we'll set up or choose to have me call you and "interview" you on the telephone.
Feel free to send me an email on k.monshat@unimelb.edu.au to register your interest.
Cheers,
Kaveh Monshat
Cassie :)
over 2 years ago
Reply ReportI started doing mindfulness with my psychologist a couple of months ago actually. It's worth giving a go and people may find that it helps with stress, depression or anxiety :)
Becks
over 2 years ago
Reply ReportMindfulness is an amazing technique. I learnt it in DBT a few years ago, and while initially I thought it was a load of crap, since finishing the group, it has become such a worthwhile technique, and something which I've grown rather fond of! Haha. So yeah. =)
I really look forward to this group happening!
Becks
mazzman
over 2 years ago
Reply Reportholy flipping cool!!! this is SO exciting!!! will be so great to have members of the RO community going through these sessions and then putting together content that we could all make use of!
I LOVE mindfulness! I'm hopeless at meditation but find mindfulness to be something that i can manage to do (a little!) easier! Cant wait to see all this come together!
Antria
over 2 years ago
Reply ReportYay! I have been doing mindfulness training through a group at uni for one hour a week since the beginning of this year. I honestly feel like it has made a big difference to my life - in terms of my ability to be present in my life. I feel like I am less caught up in my head and more able to slow my thoughts down and move back from them and not get so stuck.
I like the incidental everyday type of mindfulness the most.
I'd love to be involved but living in Qld., so not sure to what extent that will be possible :-)