Blue Cushion

Blue Cushion Blue Cushion offers mindfulness and compassion courses to the general public and schools in Fife and beyond by a fully trained practitioner. Why Blue cushion?

My name is Christine Carson. I have been practising mindfulness for nearly seven years. In this time I have completed a Masters degree in mindfulness (MSc) with Aberdeen University and teacher training to teach both an eight week mindfulness course (MBLC) and an eight week compassion course (CBLC) with the Mindfulness Association. http://www.mindfulnessassociation.org/

I am also trained to delive

r the .b mindfulness in schools course for 11-18 year olds. https://mindfulnessinschools.org/

I am a member of the Mindfulness Association (M.A.) and will be on the newly created UK listings of mindfulness Teachers at the end of the year. Mindfulness is a training not a therapy. For me, the training and continual practice is one that allows me to live more fully, enjoyably and with a greater degree of kindness to oneself as well as others. Our world, more and more, is being perceived and experienced as increasingly complex and overwhelming. This sense of
overload can prevent us from really living and enjoying life. Mindfulness training can bring perspective as we learn how the mind works and how to work with the mind. Essential, however is an attitude of kindness and open curiosity. The mind can be like an unruly puppy and will only respond well to kindness, care and constant nurture. My research focussed on the impact of mindfulness and compassion training in the primary school classroom. I discovered how quickly and effectively very young children, if resourced, can gain insight into their own processes. This was shown not just in terms of their health and well being, but also in relation to their learning processes. Carol Dweck and her work on "Growth mindset" has laid the ground in Scottish Education for an understanding of the brain's plasticity. No longer do we need to believe that the brain or our intelligence is set in stone. The brain's natural plasticity means It can be shaped and reshaped. As Dweck discovered, mindset is key to whether that change may happen. Mind may indeed be the block for change to happen. In education we want brains to be fully developed, however we seldom teach about how to develop the mind, the key to shaping the brain. Mindfulness training offers a way of beginning to work with the mind that shapes the brain. The .b mindfulness in schools course is an introduction to the mind and how it works for young people. It is fun, interactive and engages the young people with games, experiments and inquiry. Paul Gilbert (2010) Talks of us having three emotional regulatory systems.

1. Flight or flight (red cushion). We need this system to keep us safe in times of danger.

2. Drive system (Yellow cushion). We need this to get what we need physically as well as emotionally. It keeps us wanting to survive.

3. Self-soothing system (blue cushion). This system calms us and keeps everything in balance. The world we live in often finds us going between feeling overwhelmed and anxious ( flight/fight) or seeking happiness or contentment in 'being better', 'better than others or 'getting more' (drive). As a culture we often confuse the self-soothing system with the other two by instead finding refuge in 'keeping safe' or 'wanting something more'. The drive and the flight/fight systems release hormones and natural chemicals that keep us in a constant state of stress or dissatisfaction. Gilbert (2010) states that it is only the self-soothing system that can truly bring us into balance. Blue cushion therefore represents training that works with the self-soothing systems we have in our bodies. This has shown to have many benefits e.g. better immune systems, less lapses into depression and enhanced experience of living. In terms of education this training has impacted positively on executive functioning, self-regulation, deep learning, creativity, better transfer of skills from one area of the curriculum to the next. For further information contact me on:- [email protected]

It occurred to me that tonight, particularly if you are Scottish, that we talk about the 'bells'. Where will you be for ...
31/12/2019

It occurred to me that tonight, particularly if you are Scottish, that we talk about the 'bells'. Where will you be for the 'bells', what did you do for the 'bells'. The bells mark the passing of one year and the bringing in of the next. They are met with count downs, dancing, fireworks and the clinking of glasses.
It is right and good to mark this moment of aliveness.

This year it occurred to me that bells have taken on another meaning. The sounding of the bell signifies the beginning of a practice that generates compassion for myself and for the world. Nurturing compassion within and then allowing it to flow outwards to all beings. Each strike of the bell is an extending outwards of sound energy to the universe. We can control very little in this life, but we can make decisions about how we use our energy, even if our energy feels small and in short supply. Compassion needs only a small spark to begin something quite beautiful.

In the midst of grief, loss and concern for our planet, may each of the bells tonight send out the energy of compassion to meet the suffering of our world.

With every strike of the 'bells', I offer this wish for friends, family and all sentient beings ... may you be well, may you be happy and may you live this life with ease.

Read by Thich Nath Hanh, chanted by brother Phap Niem. The creators of this audio track were Gary Malkin, the composer/arranger, producer, and collaborator M...

09/04/2018

ourscreen | Imagine. The cinema is yours

A rare chance to see this amazing mans story. We need 36 more people to make it happen in Dunfermline.
14/03/2018

A rare chance to see this amazing mans story.
We need 36 more people to make it happen in Dunfermline.

ourscreen | Imagine. The cinema is yours

11/12/2017

A nonprofit called Turnaround for Children helps schools meet the needs of children facing poverty and adversity.

In the time of silent remembering, I noticed that the silence also contained the possibility of being re-minded.… re-min...
12/11/2017

In the time of silent remembering, I noticed that the silence also contained the possibility of being re-minded.… re-minded of mystery, of beauty, connection to the ancient, the intangible and the vast untapped possibility of human beings to bring about good.

A moment…and another moment. In stopping we may discover that there is no stopping. Only the constant movement of loving...
11/11/2017

A moment…and another moment. In stopping we may discover that there is no stopping. Only the constant movement of loving, non loving and choosing.

11/11/2017
11/11/2017

New research sheds light on how changes in brain structure, stress physiology, attention and social behavior vary by type of mindfulness practiced.

26/10/2017

Information, advice & guidance event... MiSP has developed these free sessions to support anyone interested in finding out how to bring mindfulness to their school. The session will last for 2.5 hours and cover: What is mindfulness? Why mindfulness is beneficial to both teachers and students - hear…

26/10/2017

This course is an introduction to the foundations of Mindfulness, which is suitable for beginners and for those who already have a Mindfulness practice. Part...

23/10/2017

“Mindfulness is not a little stress reduction for your own betterment. It is using the opportunity of the human lifetime to contribute to beauty in the world.” In 1979 Jon founded the Stress Reduction Clinic at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, where he developed an 8-week course that…

23/10/2017
10/09/2017

When we use mindfulness to get rid of stress, we’re no longer being mindful. Try this practice for being with and reimagining stressful moments.

04/09/2017

Narrated by Benedict Cumberbatch, 'Walk With Me' is meditation on a Zen Buddhist monastic community, who have dedicated their lives to master the art of mindfulness with their world-famous teacher Thich Nhat Hanh. Walk with Me will be released into cinemas worldwide in the Fall this year

As the blue sky allows us to see the constantly changing and passing clouds… so it is with the mind. Awareness acts like...
17/07/2017

As the blue sky allows us to see the constantly changing and passing clouds… so it is with the mind. Awareness acts likes the sky and reveals the content of the mind… thoughts arising and passing… heavy thoughts full of rain… light thoughts full of fun… thoughts that join up and create pictures and then stories… yet all is just like passing weather… changing from moment to moment in constant flow, nothing permanent.

The gift for today.
16/07/2017

The gift for today.

Friendship with one's self is all important, because without it, one cannot be friends with anyone else in the world. --Eleanor Roosevelt

05/07/2017

The brain uses a quarter of the body's entire energy supply, yet only accounts for about two percent of the body's mass. So how does this unique organ receive and, perhaps more importantly, rid itself of vital nutrients? New research suggests it has to do with sleep.

30/06/2017

“It can hurt to go through life with your heart open, but not as much as it does to go through life with your heart closed"
James Doty M.D.

09/06/2017

Saturday 10th June
Mindfulness retreat day
Dunfermline FireStation Creative

A day of silent practice to bring a bit of balance to busy doing lives.

Bring yoga mat, blanket and lunch

05/06/2017

Poet and teacher John O’Donohue writes that we are so busy managing our lives that we cover over this great mystery we a...
01/06/2017

Poet and teacher John O’Donohue writes that we are so busy managing our lives that we cover over this great mystery we are involved in.

It’s not hard to see how we habitually navigate the stressful days: worrying, figuring, planning, and tensing against what’s around the corner. During these moments of trying to control what’s happening, we’re not fully connected to our hearts and our aliveness.

I’d like to share a transcript (as well as audio/video) from a recent talk I gave that explores how we can shift the pattern of anxious managing by bringing a compassionate, witnessing presence to our inner life.

Summer is coming and it’s a wonderful time to practice relaxing the "over-controller.” In the space that opens up, we discover afresh the love, truth and creativity - this great mystery that is always living through us.

Tara Talks - Reflection: Pausing Just to Be - with Tara Brach In the space between the thoughts, when we are not activated in doing, the light of the univers...

09/05/2017

Learn how to embrace everyday experiences and use them to “take in the good” and create beneficial, LASTING change in your life.

07/05/2017

The most deeply grooved pathways in our mind are those that lead away from the present moment. By intentionally directing the mind to what is happening right now, mindfulness deconditions these pathways and awakens us to a fresh and intimate sense of being alive. Just as a clear pond reflects the sky, mindfulness allows us to see the truth of our experience. -True Refuge

A wonderful opportunity that changed my life forever.
01/05/2017

A wonderful opportunity that changed my life forever.

This course introduces the three elements of the Programme: mindfulness practice, the study of mindfulness (and associated concepts) and the relevance of min...

14/04/2017

Most brain activity is lightning fast and forever outside of awareness. The slower stuff that we call thoughts and feelings is just the observable tip of an iceberg of lightning quick electrical, chemical - and possibly quantum - activities.

25/02/2017
18/02/2017

You sit down with your boss for your annual review. Despite mostly positive feedback, a single criticism lodges in your head and leaves you feeling lousy all week long. Sound familiar?

08/02/2017

New research shows that mindfulness brings benefits for children. Along with improving students' sleeping habits, it also helps to boost concentration and lower disruptive behaviour.

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