Professor Mark Williams – An Introduction to Mindfulness
Professor Mark Williams – An Introduction To Mindfulness
Professor Mark Williams is Emeritus Professor of Clinical Psychology at Oxford and was also the Director of the Oxford Mindfulness Centre until his retirement in 2013.
Professor Williams, along with colleagues John Teasdale (Cambridge) and Zindel Segal (Toronto), developed Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy for prevention of relapse and recurrence in major depression. He is also co-author of the best selling book ‘Mindfulness: Finding Peace In A Frantic World.’
In this interview Mark elegantly answers the question ‘what is mindfulness?’ He also leads 2 simple introductory practices for beginners and talks about why mindfulness is so effective for the treatment of depression relapse.
In this interview you’ll also discover…
- The difference between mindlessness and mindfulness.
- Why mindlessness often gets us into so much trouble.
- The cutting edge research on mindfulness for depression (Mark is one of the world premiere researchers in this field).
- The ‘breathing space’ mindfulness practice, which is great to use in times of stress and difficult emotions
- How to use ‘habit releasers’ to bring more mindfulness into daily life.
- An experience of the ‘body scan’ mindfulness practice.
Listen to the audio version here
Show Notes
Join the The Mindfulness Summit Journey here
Come and join the community discussions at any time on our Facebook page
Check out Melli’s blog, events and retreats at MrsMindfulness.com
More about MBCT (Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy)
Check out Marks books ‘Mindfulness: Finding peace in a frantic world’
More about the Oxford Mindfulness Centre
Audio
Video
Transcript
Download Mark Williams audio interview
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Download Mark Williams audio meditation
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Download Mark Williams breathing space meditation
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Download Mark Williams video interview
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Greetings to all from North Carolina, USA. Great first session!
What do you recommend I say to a client who sees mindfulness practice as only a way to ignore the problem or feeling they are experiencing? ie: i am not a good person, i am angry at my spouse, my depression is horrible etc…
Dear Kristin
It is really hard to persuade people to practice mindfulness if they don’t want to use this approach to the suffering in their lives. Indeed, I may suggest that mindfulness practice may not be for them at the moment. If they want to get a sense of what it is all about, Jon Kabat-Zinn’s Full Catastrophe Living is a great place to start. He talks clearly and compassionately about turning towards your pain, rather than ignoring it or hoping it will go away. This can be very scary though.
Warm wishes
Mark
Namaste! Thank you for this wonderful idea and putting it all together! It was a pleasure being present together with you and Mark during the first day interview. Thank you very much! Love and light!
Greetings from Coral Springs, FL!
She really needs to mute her microphone when the speaker is talking like someone else said. Very annoying.
What is the Twitter Hashtag? Can I suggest #MSummit if we need one?
Hi from Rosario,Argentina!!!
Hi Nanci! I am from Argentina as well. In case you want to be in touch, this is my website
http://www.themindfullab.com
Saludos!
I bow with gratitude to a wonderful job. Thanks a lot
Just finished watching Mark Williams. Very grateful for his guided practices, and feeling quite calm as a result. Appreciate greatly his comments at the end regarding caregivers for the elderly, as this is my area. I constantly struggle with how to calm the direct care workers so they are mindful and do not treat residents as assembly line goods. Rather difficult for them when they have eight hours to work and ten to twelve residents to completely care for. A comment of the format: I find the split screen distracting. I wanted to focus on Mark Williams, but found I could not fully do so without covering Ms Bailey’s side of the screen. I have to be truthful in saying that I found her repeated head-bobbings and “mmmm-hmmmms” quite annoying. Covering her up like a parrot was most helpful.
In Puebla, Mexico, I am so glad to join so many interested in mindfulness. Great interview, Thanks Mark!
Hello from Karlstad, Sweden. Thank you so much for this amazing summit! !
Hej, från Stockholm ????
Hi everyone from Warsaw, Poland. Thank you so much for this great summit.
Greetings from Glendale, Arizona. I feel very fortunate to be here with all of you and taking this incredible journey together. I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that I am also the Chairman for Mindfulness First, a 501(C)3 that teaches children, in school, how to be mindful. Cheers!
Greetings from Salt Lake City, Utah, USA <3
A big autumn-golden hello from the country-side of Switzerland!
I am soooo moved and thankful to be part of this coming month and it almost brings tears to my eyes that there are so many mindful and sincere human beings on this planet.
Thanx Melli for organising this do – I just love your Australian accent and authenticity*
I second that, from an amber-tinted West Virginia! 🙂
Nice to see the continued growing awareness of what has become known as the mindfulness movement. I hope more people become aware of themselves today.
Greetings from Detroit MI, USA. Looking forward to this jumpstarting my meditation practices again.
Just watched this amazing talk. Thank you Melli for putting this summit together. If the rest of the month is as good as this it is going to be truly life changing. I loved learning that I need to be kind to my mind when it starts to wander. I am guilty of treating it like the naughty little child! I loved the 2 guided meditations as well. Bring on Day 2!
Thanks Kate
You could even have a “be kind to my mind” day from time to time.
Warm wishes,
Mark
Hi everyone I am excited and blessed to be part of this summit too. I am from Camden area,NSW, Australia.
Great to be here! Hello from Omaha Nebraska USA! Appreciate the discussion with Mark Williams!
I am greatly looking forward to this mindfulness summit. Hello everyone and best wishes to you!
I have not been able to make mindfulness a regular practice. Well, we will see what happens with this summit experience and other things I am doing to incorporate mindfulness into my daily life. Besides loving everything in the Mark Williams interview, I especially liked what he said about habit releases. Habits can stunt growth, joy. Being aware of habits and consciously changing them every now and then is a practice in mindfulness; it’s being playful, which has many advantages psychologically and spiritually.
Thank you, Melli and Matt, for putting out there this wonderful event.
Hello, tuning in from Scotland. I am looking forward to listening, watching and meditating after I finish work for the day. I’m sure it will be an enlightening and meaningful month 🙂
Hello from NewJersey
More greetings from New Jersey; loved the Hokusai!
Hi, listening from the UK here. I am about to do my daily walk so the audio version to download is ideal as I can listen while I walk. Perfect 🙂 Thank you for the summit !
Really enjoyed the first day of the summit – Mark was a great first speaker – I’ll definitely be checking out his book! 🙂 xxx
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Hello to all and Thank You for providing this seminar. Checking in from Raleigh, North Carolina USA
Hello everyone! I’m following from Santiago, Chile. I’m a mindfulness instructor, and finishing my Phd thesis on Mindfulness and Parenting. I really enjoyed Mark William’s interview. Thank you so much for this generous oportunity.
Thank you for this First Day Lesson. It was great !!
MUCHAS GRACIAS from JAPAN
Hello from Melbourne Australia. A very interesting interview with the Professor. I will be checking out his works. Thank you for great program!
Hi from Windsor, Ontario. Just listened to the first interview..wonderful piece. It’s so great that for a month we can just stop in and get educated, inspired, have a sense of community all in 1 spot. The group of speakers that we will all get to listen and participate with is remarkable. I am excited for October! Thanks mindfulness summit!
Hi Everyone from Cape Breton Island, Canada’ Looking forward to this 31 days of Mindfulness being shared around the world
It says October 2 in fact it is October 1 for another 12 and 1/2 hours lol
I got the sense that mindfulness is a process (the mindful meditative exercise itself—perhaps of 15 to 45 minutes daily) which produces an outcome (awareness of our internal and external world—hopefully for the full day in a regimen of daily meditation). I said this because I have noticed that many practicing people do really get to be aware of their internal worlds while meditating and for a period after that, but they nevertheless crumble into their habitual “mindlessness” state afterwards and for the rest of the time, and I imagine rest of their lives.
This phenomenon reminds me of people who feel spiritual relief with communion every Sunday, and then go back to their habits during the rest of the week.
Am I the only one to notice this?
Now I am going back to follow Mar’s guiding exercise.
Great start to a month if mindfulness. Many thanks.
At last mindfulness is on a platform…great idea and practices.Thank you.
Welcome every one!!! Listening from Spain. Nice first video.
Many thanks
Greetings from Santa Rosa, CA. Its an honor to be part of this community. Looking forward to listening to day 1.
Namaste,
Wow. Just wow. How transformational just this very first interview has been for me. I can’t even imagine what a different space I will be in by the end of the 31 days. With deep gratitude, I thank you for putting this out there, raising awareness, and teaching this invaluable life tool. Xx
hey! looking forward to mindful october, from Paris with love
hi. wondering if all the videos are over an hour long like this one. Please clarify. thanks.
Great start! Use of Technology is an A+, Mark Williams video is an A+ (love the 3-minute breathing space and the Habit Releasers), Hokusia quotes are an A++. Great reminders on how to gently and carefully return the wandering-mind back to the breath and to the process! Day one ROCKS!
Hi enjoyed the first day . Thank you
. Thank you, Very Much enjoyed this session
Hello from Iceland! Loved the first day –and was very aware throughout the first session how little attention span, how mindless I can be! It will be an exciting journey. Thank you, Mark and Melli for the 2 guided practice exercises –so important for someone just beginning! XO e
I am from Spain and I am looking forward to learning about mindfulness as much as I can. Thank you very much for this wonderful idea. Blessings !!!
Hello I’m Michael, logged in from Tennessee, These are great ways to work with our Veterans. I am a veteran myself and mindfulness instructor and also am a Buddhist monk for 13 years in the tradition of Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh.
Hello everyone, thank you to my friend Beth for letting me know about the Summit. Looking forward to it!
Just watched the first day. That was just wonderful! I am ready for my job interview today with being mindfulness in my back pocket and feeling calm after the mediations. Thank you and I am looking forward to the rest of the Summit.
Good morning everyone! I’m listening in from Kingston, Ontario, Canada. It’s a pleasure to be participating in this seminar with all of you people from all around the world!
thankyou for an informative but enjoyable first session,such an interesting interview. I must admit to feeling sleepy during the meditative part I am listening in England.
Hello Everyone:
What a wonderful way to live.! I am Cecelia from New York City; I just finished a 5 day Living Freedom Workshop in San Miguel de Allende with Diamond & River Jameson and Summer. I learned so much how to live freely and enjoy live. I can’t believe that my niece Kristen Just emailed me this challenge .. It could not have come at a better time. I feel so good now. And when life hits me I will have options to deal , feel and accept what challenge comes before me.