mindfulness& movement
meaning and benefits
Mindfulness
Mindfulness is one of the two core components of the Institute. We provide Mindfulness experiences so we can wake up to live fully present to life.
Jon Kabat-Zinn, Founder of the Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction Program and creator of the Stress Reduction Clinic and the Center for Mindfulness in Medicine, Health Care, and Society at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, defines Mindfulness as:
“The awareness that arises from paying attention in a particular way: on purpose, in the present moment, and non-judgmentally.”
Diana Winston, Director of Mindfulness Education as UCLA Semel Institute’s Mindful Awareness Research Center, speaks about Mindfulness Awareness and like to define it as:
“Mindfulness awareness is paying attention to the present moment experiences with an openness, a curiosity and a willingness to be with what is.”
Maïté, Founder of the Institute for Integrative Mindfulness and Movement, defines Mindfulness as:
“The awareness that arises from paying attention intentionally to the inner and outer landscapes of the present moment experience through the cultivation of openness, inquisitiveness, kindness, and willingness to meet the unfolding of what is with non-attachment.”
Mindfulness has been practiced for millennia. To this date, the definition of Mindfulness is very much alive and continues to evolve among research scientists, academicians, and practitioners. More about Mindfulness and ways of defining Mindfulness can be found here.
The Institute's intention is to foster well-being in all society with Mindfulness because when one lives a life in awareness, one has the potential to cultivate well-being. Mindfulness can be practiced in formal ways through meditation, for instance, and in informal ways through the cultivation of paying attention to daily activities, for instance. In our Mindfulness experiences, we learn to turn off the auto-pilot mode, to get caught up in the past or lost in the future, to notice habits, and to live connected to the present moment.
Movement
Movement, alongside Mindfulness, makes the other core component of the Institute. In all of life, there is ever-present movement, even in the most subtle ways, even in the moments of stillness, whether the stillness appears to be physical, mental or emotional, there always is motion.
Movement is firstly defined in the Oxford Dictionnary as:
“An act of changing physical location or position or of having this changed.”
Movement is secondly defined by the Oxford Dictionnary as:
“A change or development.”
Movement shapes and changes our experiences being constantly here, within us, and around us, even when it is invisible to the eyes. Movement can be as subtle as the cycle of breath exchanging in-breaths and out-breaths, or as mysterious as the elements existing in the infinitely small and large worlds. Since there is a continuity of movement and therefore change in all life, the Institute offers Movement experiences founded upon mind-body practices. Our Movement experiences, whether we explore the practice of Pilates or another type of mind-body practice, are uniquely crafted to include any Principles of the Pilates Method due to their remarkable versatility into daily life functions. The Pilates Method is based on three Guiding Principles (Whole Body Health, Whole Body Commitment, and Breath) and six original Movement Principles (Breathing, Centering, Concentration, Control, Flow, and Precision). Our intention with our Movement experiences is to spread health and awareness through the simultaneous cultivation of mind-body practices and mindful-awareness in ways which can be transcribed into daily life.
INTEGRATIVE
Integrative is the approach in which the Institute provide experiences in which the two core components of Mindfulness and Movement come together and integrate
According to the Oxford Dictionnary, Integrative is defined as:
“The serving and intending to unify separate things.”; in medicine: “the combining allopathic and complementary therapies.”
According to the Macmillian Dictionnary, Integrative is defined as:
“The combining of two or more things to make them more effective”.
The Institute believes that the practice of Mindfulness and that the practice of any style of mind-body Movement can co-exist in symbiosis. When combined, the practices of Mindfulness and Movements are more effective to living a life in health and awareness, both becoming conducive of fostering well-being, and of advancing the possibility of adopting healthy active lifestyle. By "active", we refer to some extend to: "being active by moving", but more importantly to: "being responsive, rather than reactive, to conscious actions or non-actions through the cultivation of awareness". In this way, we can access the freedom of living healthy active lifestyle. We offer experiences where mindful-awareness cultivation and mind-body connection ride in tandem. Our approach is integrative in that our intention to: 1) facilitate applications of Mindfulness and/or Movement into specific domains of activity; 2) provide unique and creative experiences to unify Mindfulness and Movement together; 3) offer ways to continue integrating either Mindfulness and/or Movement into daily life.
benefits to integrative mindfulness and movement
A daily sustained practice of mindfulness and movement, in formal and informal ways, and in integrative ways, can improve:
- Attention, focus and productivity
- Brain functions and neural pathways
- Cognitive biases
- Emotion regulation
- Gratitude and appreciation toward oneself, others, and life
- Immune system
- Interpersonal relationships
- Pain level
- Physical and mental health
- Sleep
- Stress, anxiety, depression
- Self-esteem and compassion
- Resilience