5. Deepening and Silent Practice:

           Deepening and Silent Practice:

• Sessions have been organised to last about two hours but they can be organised as a whole day workshop. The length of the session will obviously determine which practices are included or left out as a normal session will not contain as many practices as a session lasting a whole day.
  
  
• The workshop day session of guided practice is an opportunity to immerse ourselves more deeply into the mindfulness practices we have been building up over the past weeks. Much of the session will be spent in silence so we can deepen our experience of the practices, the spaces between them and explore the impact of being in silence while we are together as a group.
  
  
• The workshop is an opportunity to spend time with ourselves in a nourishing way, without our usual agendas and responsibilities. It is a protected time to be away from our diary of things to do, our mobile phone, our work or other demands. The structure of the session will be spacious and laid out for you, as we simply move from one practice to another, taking away the need to make decisions about what we need do next and allowing our mindfulness practice to be relatively seamless. Throughout the session, we will be practicing as a group, and even though we will not be communicating in the usual way, we will be supported by the group.
  
  
• We invite you to come with your curiosity and openness and simply drop into the present moment, allowing the session to unfold in its own way. We will be moving through the guided practices in silence, taking silent mindful breaks, eating in silence and being together in silence. At the end of the session, we will have an opportunity to reflect and to share our experiences in the group.
  
  
• As usual, bring comfortable clothes that are suitable for the mindful stretching exercises, perhaps with some extra layers of clothing or a blanket in case of changes in temperature.
  
  
• When we spend time in silence as a mindfulness practice, we have an opportunity to observe our experience more deeply. We have a chance to notice our reactions, our thought patterns and emotional responses. We can pay more attention to our body sensations, and the way the body moves as it goes between tasks. We can notice more clearly how the mind seeks out distraction. Watch out for the temptation to read any notices on the walls or the labels on food packets! We would like to encourage you to stay away from all reading, if possible, during the session.
  
  
• In addition, we invite you to practice silence without making eye contact, but without shutting out your awareness or needing to stay apart from the group. Our focus is, therefore, a little more inward, so we can pay close attention to our mindfulness practice and whatever comes up for us as the session unfolds.