In April 2020, I signed on for a Coursera workshop called De-Mystifying Mindfulness, as developed, and taught by Professor Chris Goto-Jones. I only did the first two or three weeks of study and struggled to complete it. I’m now returning to it alongside several other mindfulness courses I’m doing this year in 2022.
Module 2.0 - Introduction to the team and your class
2.4. Introduce yourself
Purpose: Become acquainted with the other people in your area and around the world who are taking this course. Get a sense of who they are and how you might be similar or different. Share some aspirations, hopes, and perhaps some fears too.
Task: Please introduce yourself by explaining things like:
Where you are from;
What is your background in relation to mindfulness;
Why you are taking the course;
What do you think you might do with the knowledge gained;
What kind of collaboration would you like to start with fellow learners, aside from a study-group;
Can you give an example of one hope and one fear you have about taking this course?
Respond: write a post of around 150 words, and also reply to at least 2 other students. Consider liking posts that are interesting to you, or replying to them directly.
Time: this exercise will take you 5-10 minutes for your post and another 10 minutes to reply to others.
From April 24, 2020: I’m Steven Lee, I’m from a small town called Williams Lake, British Columbia, Canada but I currently live in Surrey, our provinces second biggest city, about a thirty-minute drive south of Vancouver (when the traffic is good!).
When I was a teenager twenty years ago, I read Gary Zukav’s book THE SEAT OF THE SOUL where he discusses the importance of being aware of your ego and it’s emotions, what he terms as being the realities of the five sensory personality. He distinguishes this from the needs of our souls, which are the embodiment of love. As we become more aware of the needs and fears of our ego, we can make responsible choices about how we interact with the world around us. For Zukav it is all about aligning the needs of your personality with the needs of your soul. It has a lot of exceptionally innovative ideas that I loved but strayed from as I got lost in my fear. I reread that book in January 2020, and it sent me down a rabbit’s hole of sorts.
In the past I’ve been very self-critical, even doubtful of my gifts, and I’ve felt unworthy of praise and love on a very deep level even though I’ve always had a lot of love to give. On a blog I read this week, I read about the concept of imposter syndrome, and felt that concept resonated with me deeply. So, in 2020, in the last few months I’ve read Gary Zukav’s book, THE SEAT OF THE SOUL again, and I’ve read two books by Shannon Kaiser, THE SELF LOVE EXPERIMENT and JOY SEEKER. I’m now almost finished Meggan Watterson & Lodro Rinzler’s book HOW TO LOVE YOURSELF. Finally, I’ve been also ploughing through a lot by Thich Nhất Hanh, a Buddhist whose work and thinking developed the concepts behind an Engaged Buddhism, which refers to Buddhists who are seeking ways to apply the insights from meditation practice and dharma teachings to situations of social, political, environmental, and economic suffering and injustice. I’ve been following Russell Brand, Aaron Doughty, and Sri Akarshana among others on YouTube. I’ve had both traditional and spiritual counselling this year and I’m journaling and meditating. The meditation I’m finding hard at times cause my mind is always going. But I love how it can happen anywhere, I love walking meditation. Before self-isolation began, I had also gone to several sound healing meditations which have helped a lot. I was already taking some fine art like courses with Coursera and by chance I searched for terms on self-love, mindfulness, Buddhism, and other religions and found this course which I signed on for. So, I came to this because of a profound look at myself that I’ve been doing. And it all comes down to being mindful.
With the knowledge gained I hope to raise my vibration. I want to enjoy each moment using joy as the barometer of my happiness. And when I get down l want to be able to address it so I release that negative energy in a positive manner.
I’d like to develop a meaningful connection with at least one other learner on this journey we are undertaking. Where we become friends and can support each other’s growth during and after the course.
One hope I have is just the hope I’ll learn more but a fear I have is ill give up or become astray from this as sometimes with online courses I’ll sign up but then I’ll take a year to finish. And that’s okay. But this class is important to me so I’m going to commit now to dedicating time each week to pushing through.
2.5. Organize personal support
Purpose: Ensure that you have the necessary personal support for taking this course.
Task : Inform a friend or family member that you are taking this course, and ask them to be available to you should you need to talk with them about it. Perhaps you might invite them to take this course with you?
Respond: Take a moment to share your experience of asking for support with your classmates on the forum, and take advantage of that opportunity to offer (and ask for) support from this new community too.
Time: This should not take much time, but it's not something to rush. Think first, then act.
From April 26, 2020: I asked a friend online to help support me in moments where I might have difficulties while taking this program. I also invited her to take it too, even if it was just the free version. We recently took a journaling program together where we offered each other support and pushed each other to keep pushing forward with it even when we both fell behind.
She’s a good friend who has been supportive of me in the past. I’ve been sharing my journey this year on Instagram with a daily selfie project and I’ve not been afraid to document and discuss both good and bad days. She’s found my journey to be inspiring as it’s made her go back to therapy, which she had been doing but gave up on.
The only thing is I asked her this a few days ago but haven’t heard back. I think she will respond positively though. She has a kid and teaches so she’s just busy, but I expect to hear back soon. If by chance she can’t provide support as a sounding board of sorts, I do have others I can approach but she came first to mind.
Ultimately asking for support wasn’t too bad. I was slightly apprehensive because I don’t normally ask for help. I end up getting it but usually it’s indirect like someone offers advice in comments to an Instagram post where I tell a story of how I wanted to hit myself again, or how my last therapy session went, or how meditation felt good. Or they private message me. So, starting out by saying hey, I’m doing this thing and it could get personal and I may need someone to lean on, it was putting myself out there in a way I haven’t done. The directness of asking felt awkward, I even felt a fear of rejection. I was vulnerable. And I think that’s a good place to be in. Because I think the help when given will feel more earned, I’ll respect it more than I would if she just responded to another Instagram post where I say something like: “Today I’m struggling because a course I’m in challenged my perception of mindfulness because it made me question a close family relationship.”
I’ll let you guys know how she responds when I hear back from her.
2.6. How mindful are you?
At this early stage in the course, one completed a MINDFUL ATTENTION AWARENESS SCALE quiz through the University of Leiden. It was noted how:
This is just a general test to measure your current state of mindfulness. There is no wrong answer but it must be between 1 and 6, with a higher score equating to a higher degree of mindfulness. Please write down your score. At the end of the course you will be able to retake this test and compare the results.
The result of my quiz, as taken on September 10, 2022, was as follows:
Artifact 01 - Screenshot of my HOW MINDFUL ARE YOU course pre-test, taken on September 10, 2022.
Module 3.0 - Get the most out of this course!
3.4. Tell us your goals
Purpose: What do you hope to achieve during this course? What are the values that you are applying? When will this course be a success for you? Considering these questions will help you target the best study method for you.
Action: Write a post of 100 words, and also reply to at least 2 other students. Consider liking posts that are interesting to you, or replying directly to them. Perhaps you can find somebody to study together?
Time: this exercise will take you about 10 minutes for your post and another 10 minutes to reply to others.
From April 24, 2020: I am hoping to achieve a deeper understanding about mindfulness as a concept and a practice that I can apply to my life.
In terms of the values I bring, I come to this topic as someone who is a deeply empathic INFJ/INFP who has struggled with his own belief of himself for a long time. I’ve been very depressed again over the last year, feeling lost and alone and even experiencing moments of suicidal ideation including one moment where I did go looking for the tool I needed to carry it out. But when I couldn’t find this tool, I ended up on the phone with the suicide hotline. Ultimately, I’m a very honest and authentic individual with a lot of love for the world around me, even when I haven’t always had that same love for myself.
I’m not sure I’m in a place where I can say what success will look like. First, I obviously want to do well in this course and a key measurement of that will be that I will be more mindful and able to identify the positive and negative emotions that flow through me so I can make responsible choices that will help me make sure I impact the world around me in a positive manner. And mindfulness is at the core of that. I want to truly love myself, to be proud of myself and the work I do. But second, the reason I’m not as certain about what success would look like is because I am trying to be more mindful of the moment, I’m trying to worry less about the future by being in the moment and enjoying the process. I know I want to entrain a mindfulness practice into my life, so I’ve set this intention and now I want to trust that the universe will help me to achieve that as I work through this (I hope that makes sense).
Artifact 02 - TEDx Talks. “Self-Transformation Through Mindfulness.” YouTube, 24 Apr 2017.