<div dir="ltr"><span id="gmail-docs-internal-guid-5f175a61-134b-712d-041d-58ed8ff39c87"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"><font size="2">Hello gang,</font></span></p><br><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"><font size="2">Thank you for attending the second Mindfulness and Computing workshop. It was great to take the group through our ‘Encountering Computers With a Fresh Perspective’ day.</font></span></p><br><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><font size="2"><span style="font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">For anyone who missed this night and would like to stay caught up, we did some mindful walking, did a guided meditation, and watched this video on </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxwn1w7MJvk" style="text-decoration-line:none"><span style="font-family:Arial;background-color:transparent;text-decoration-line:underline;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">The Rubber Hand Illusion</span></a><span style="font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">. We did some exercises aimed at learning how to distinguish between ‘the observer’ or ‘watcher’ inside every person and other sensations. One exercise was to mindfully write while seated at a computer. </span></font></p><br><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><font size="2"><span style="font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:700;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Goals for the day:</span><span style="font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"> With gentle awareness, watch and identify your sensations and feelings. Do not try to own or judge feelings or sensations. Instead, let them flow through you. As you watch your feelings, gently focus on who, or what, is watching the feelings.</span></font></p><br><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"><font size="2">Discussion topics that came up: </font></span></p><br><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"><font size="2">One question that came up is:</font></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"><font size="2">What is the self? Is the self located in our bodies?</font></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"><font size="2">When we talk about developing awareness of feelings vs. the ‘self’, naturally philosophical questions come up about the nature of self and consciousness and where they are located.  Ruminating on this question is interesting, but for the purposes of this workshop on mindfulness, we encourage participants in the workshop to consider ‘the observer’ more as an anchoring, non-judgemental awareness that mindful practitioners can return to when reaching for mindfulness or meditation.</font></span></p><br><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"><font size="2">Kindness:</font></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"><font size="2">One participant commented that a major take-away for the day was our emphasis on kindness. The word “observe” has a kind of ...coldly analytical feel to it. But in a mindful practice, inquiring with kindness is essential in order to observe more intimately, gain clarity, and experience a more full awareness of the present moment.</font></span></p><br><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"><font size="2">The homework for next time is to do some mindful walking for 5 minutes a day every day or to write mindfully for 5 minutes.</font></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"><font size="2">Here is a link to Rez's mindful walking instruction:</font></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ieuiRN9DP0" style="text-decoration-line:none"><span style="font-family:Arial;color:rgb(66,133,244);background-color:transparent;text-decoration-line:underline;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"><font size="2">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ieuiRN9DP0</font></span></a></p><br><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"><font size="2">Next Tuesday's topic:</font></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:700;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"><font size="2">Living Bravely with Uncertainty</font></span></p><br><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"><font size="2">Looking forward to seeing you next Tuesday!</font></span></p><br><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"><font size="2">Thanks always,</font></span></p><br><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial;background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"><font size="2">-Emily and Rez</font></span></p><div><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Arial;background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"><br></span></div></span><div><br></div>-- <br><div class="gmail_signature">__________________________________<br>Emily Schleiner<br><a href="http://cordial-emily.com" target="_blank">cordial-emily.com</a><br></div>
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