I’d like to emphasize that mindfulness cannot be cultivated from discussion or thinking alone. It must be developed in the same way one learns a musical instrument – one ungraceful and arduous step at a time. Also as with studying an instrument, the most reliable way to practice it well is to study with a well-trained and experienced teacher – and practice it daily – until your skill with it has developed to the point where you don’t need to talk about it any more.

1. Mindfulness Isn’t Enough

2. Talking about mindfulness is a little like reading a label on a prescription bottle without taking
the medicine, and expecting it to work anyway.
When therapists come to our workshops and classes on integrating mindfulness with
psychotherapy, the most common difficulty we notice them having, is that they see mindfulness
as a philosophy or accessory to add to their toolbox. Some have a sense that because of their
intense training in the realm of feelings and emotions that they know what mindfulness is
without achieving the same intense training for it.
Alarmingly, more and more therapists who might have taken a 3 hour seminar with some
authority figure for a few Continuing Education Units are already promoting themselves as
“Mindful Therapists.”As a composer, I can tell you that having read a few books on music and
taking a class or two did not make me a composer. The same holds true for mindfulness.
Yoga and Fertility
Mindfulness Isn’t Enough

3. Although helpful, mindfulness isn’t developed by talking about it or reading books on it any
more than our muscles would be strengthened by reading about weight training. Only through
skillful and intensive practice is mindfulness cultivated – and like developing muscles in the
body, there are definite exercises that cultivate mindfulness. If you are familiar with MBSR, you’ll
get a glimpse of the kind of effort and patience it takes to develop this quality of mind.
Although in extremely capable hands, the academic world has newly acquired the concept of
mindfulness directly from a 2500 year old Buddhist tradition. A development, I believe, will
ultimately be one of the most profound changes in the world of mental health since Jung – I
applaud their efforts – yet it has far to go before it becomes a holistic system rather than the
flavor of the day.
Yoga and Fertility
Mindfulness Isn’t Enough

4. I’ve taught as an adjunct teacher at the Mindful Awareness Research Center at UCLA and I can
tell you that many skilled and long-term practitioners of mindfulness who are trained at
providing a teaching that is connected to the core of where these teaching came from are facing
difficulties. Painstakingly, they continue to attempt the transition from a 2500 year old Buddhist
model to a secular medicine/psychology model (while simultaneously doing their best not to
alert the “religion police”) and it’s a tremendously difficult and worthwhile task that may take
many years to bring to a worthy standard.
Until then, the effects of such an approach may be diluted. This is because the concept and
practice of mindfulness is plucked out of a rich, integrated “system” of training for the heart and
the mind – and the rest of the elements in that system are absolutely essential for mindfulness
to function in any real and sustainable way and serve the goal of our long-term happiness and
well-being.
Yoga and Fertility
Mindfulness Isn’t Enough

5. In many cases, important aspects for successful learning of Mindfulness have not yet been
clarified, such as the fact that, first and foremost, mindfulness is a constant practice that must
work in unison with qualities such as concentration, energy, kindness and ethical behavior if it is
to work properly. Or that mindfulness is a path to what the Buddha calls “the end of suffering.”
So, we begin our Integration courses for our therapists with this emphasis: If you want to
incorporate mindfulness into your life and your professional practice, learning about acquiring
the skill of mindfulness alone isn’t enough. For example, without enough concentration,
mindfulness is very much like a ship without a rudder. Without compassion, and ethical behavior
(lack of greed, hatred and delusion), mindfulness quickly goes awry.
Then there is this thing called practice – doing it – and the only way to do it is through
consistently practicing the exercises for the mind which develop it via mediation and in daily life.
Yoga and Fertility
Mindfulness Isn’t Enough

6. I’d like to emphasize that mindfulness cannot be cultivated from discussion or thinking alone. It
must be developed in the same way one learns a musical instrument – one ungraceful and
arduous step at a time. Also as with studying an instrument, the most reliable way to practice it
well is to study with a well-trained and experienced teacher – and practice it daily – until your
skill with it has developed to the point where you don’t need to talk about it any more.
I offer these thoughts for your reflection – please take what you find truthful and beneficial and
leave the rest.
*(paraphrasing the Buddhist meditation master, Ajahn Cha)
Yoga and Fertility
Mindfulness Isn’t Enough

7. Contact No. : 818-453-0640
Email ID : info@perfectlyhere.org
Address : 19100 Ventura Blvd #5, Tarzana, CA 91356
Website : perfectlyhere.org
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www.perfectlyhere.org