Be Still and Heal: Healing by stopping, calming, resting and looking deeply

Day of Mindfulness (one-day retreat)
for Health Care and Human Service Professionals
from 9:30 to 16:30 on Saturday Jan. 2,  2016
at Centre on Behavioral Health, The University of Hong Kong

CBH-DOM-2016-Jan-RegistrationForm-Final.pdf  Registration is on a first-come, first-serve basis. There are only 60 spaces available.

Dec. 7, 2015

Dear friends,

You are invited to attend a Day of Mindfulness (DOM) for health care and human service professionals, co-organized by HKU Centre on Behavioral Health and Plum Village Mindfulness Academy - Hong Kong. This DOM is part of our “Healthy Body, Healthy Mind” Initiative to integrate mindfulness practices to the physical and mental health fields.

The foundations of this initiative are the teachings and practices of Mindfulness based on the Discourse on Full Awareness of Breathing (Anapanasati Sutta) and the Disco on the Four Establishments of Mindfulness (Satipatthana Sutta), as taught by the Buddha about 2600 years ago. We also studied how the mind works, based on the teachings of Manifestation- Only Psychology, which was systematized in the 4th century by the Indian Buddhist monk and philosopher Vasubandhu of the Yogacara Buddhist School. Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh has used these teachings to form the foundation for meditation practices to help us nourish our body and mind, to develop insight and to help us transform pain and suffering into peace and happiness. Even though the teachings are from Buddhist tradition, the practices are non-sectarian and are open to people of all faith.  

In this DOM, we will look into how being still could help us heal. Our body has the capacity to heal, when it is given time to stop, to calm and to rest. Stopping, calming and resting begin with mindful breaths, bringing the mind back to the body, dwelling in the present moment so we can be aware of what’s happening in our body, feelings, perceptions, mental formations and consciousness. We will look into the five steps of healing via the art of stopping and looking deeply, as taught by Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh: recognition, acceptance, embracing, looking deeply and insight. Stopping gives us the chance to recognize, to accept, to embrace, and to look deeply into our difficulties. Insights arise when we look deeply into our feelings, perceptions, mental formations and see how we our consciousness process them. The insight of “being in the present moment” can help us overcome bad habits like gluing our eyes to the smart phone while riding escalators, which could cause injuries. The insight of impermanence can transform the pain and suffering while coping with the loss of loved ones.

In the day of mindfulness, we will learn the practice of going back to our breath, anchoring our mind in the in-breath and out-breath. We become calm and clear when the mind and body are together in one place, with the help of our mindful breath. We will practice listening to the bell, walking meditation, eating meditation, exercise meditation (mindful movements), and relaxing meditation (total relaxation) … We practice to stop, to slowdown the thinking in our mind via bodily actions.You can find more information about activities of past days of mindfulness at http://mindfulnessacademy.org/en/programs/health-care-dom

 A sample programme schedule for the Day of Mindfulness is as follow:

9:30                 Sitting and Slow Walking Meditation (indoor)

10:30               Lecture

12:30               Lunch

13:30               Total Relaxation

14:30               Group Discussion

16:00               Walking Meditation (outdoor)

16:30               Farewell

Location:        Centre on Behavioral Health, The University of Hong Kong
2/F, The Hong Kong Jockey Club Building for Interdisciplinary Research,
5 Sassoon Road, Pokfulam, Hong Kong

香港大學行為健康教研中心
香港薄扶林沙宣道5號香港賽馬會跨學科研究大樓2樓

Fees:               HKD200.00 per day (including light vegetarian lunch and tea)

How to register: CBH-DOM-2016-Jan-RegistrationForm-Final.pdf.   Registration is on a first-come, first-serve basis. There are only 60 spaces available.

For more information, please contact us at Centre on Behavioral Health, e-mail: bhealth@hku.hk, Tel: (852) 2831 5163.