Formal & Informal Practice Work Together

Nobody practices mindfulness to get better at sitting on the cushion.

We practice meditation to build capacity for, and to bring ease to, our real lives. We practice to build the awareness to notice - to feel and know what we're feeling, to track activation, and what it feels like to pause in the face of an urge or an adrenaline rush. We practice to widen our window of tolerance so we can weather the storms with more kindness towards ourselves and others. We practice to have more access to choice and to be less at the mercy of our conditioned patterns and reactions.

And the truth is - we're always practicing SOMETHING.

Because at the most fundamental level, we're always either practicing (reinforcing) awareness or autopilot. We're either paying attention on purpose, to the present moment, non-judgmentally, or we're not.

"So I could be practicing mindfulness all day long?"

Theoretically, yes. But that kind of intention is rare, and it doesn't happen automatically. It requires both Formal and Informal Practice.

Formal Practice is the training ground where we set some time aside, stop everything else, find a comfortable, quiet spot, gather up all of our attention as best we can and practice noticing when it's escaped and then invite it back. Over and over and over. It's like practicing basketball drills in preparation for the big game, or repeating scales on the oboe to prepare for the Holiday concert.

Scales and drills generally don't apply in "real life"... until they do.

Until you need access to something because it matters and then you notice the difference between whether you've practiced formally or not. Think - when a client session or conversation suddenly goes sideways. Think - the messy, human moments where reactivity usually takes the wheel.

In those moments, in real time, when you call on what you'd been practicing formally (coming back to the breath, for example) and put it into action in real time, you are not only applying what you've learned, but extending your practice.

That's Informal Practice.

Neither more nor less important than Formal Practice, it too reinforces a pattern of paying attention, on purpose, to the present moment, non-judgmentally. Every time you take a breath when you notice your heart rate rising; every time you bring your attention back to the conversation you'd rather escape; every time you feel your feet on the ground during a stressful moment... you're training yourself to literally come back to your senses. You're training yourself to find ease in the midst of what would otherwise be chaos.

It's in the integration of formal and informal practice where mindufulness becomes less of a technique, and more of a way of being - with clients, with loved ones, even with yourself.

MBSR incorporates and integrates both - systematically, with support. It developsa reliable personal practice and brides it directly to your daily life and professional presence.

If you're curious about how this can deepen your life and your clinical work, check out MBSR for Clinicians and Coaches.