Mindfulness & Families
Mindfulness is a form of intentional and compassionate attention. It is a foundation that supports us to be with and be curious about whatever arises in the present moment with openness, discernment, and non-judgmental awareness. More than just a stress reduction technique, mindfulness helps us create a more compassionate, kind, and wise relationship to our lived experience in all of its complexity. Mindfulness asks us to stay with what we are experiencing, and to patiently attune to the sensations, emotions, and thoughts of our bodies, hearts, and minds without attachment or judgment. As we begin to develop a deeper capacity to be with and relate to our internal experience with more gentleness and ease - rather than giving in to our habitual behavioral or emotional reactions - we can open to new possibilities of being and relating to ourselves and others. Mindfulness is a relational practice that supports us to show up in our lives and in our relationships with courage, authenticity, and loving-kindness. At its core, it is a path to healing and liberation.
Families, however defined, are important sources of love and support, attachment, attunement, and joy. Families are also places of relational complexity and intimate relationships often push us beyond our preconceived capacities to love. In our families and intimate relationships we experience our deepest bonds that can both sustain and lift us, and also cause great discomfort and pain through the challenges they can bring. Because these bonds are so deeply meaningful, they can also be the most activating of our survival strategies -- those habituated, reactive emotional and behavioral patterns that no longer serve their original purpose. Additional contexts, such as intergenerational legacies, intersectional identity, culture, systemic oppression, life transitions, and/or financial instability also shape subjective experience and impact family dynamics. It is important for these parts of ourselves to be shared and witnessed alongside trusted and significant others within the therapeutic space.
The Mindful Families Project (MFP) framework is constructed from the wisdom teachings of Indo-Tibetan Buddhist psychology, family systems therapy, trauma therapy, somatic mind & body practices, anti-oppressive praxis, and applied NeuroAesthetics. It is by design, integrative, collaborative, and dynamic to meet the specific needs of each client.
Families, however defined, are important sources of love and support, attachment, attunement, and joy. Families are also places of relational complexity and intimate relationships often push us beyond our preconceived capacities to love. In our families and intimate relationships we experience our deepest bonds that can both sustain and lift us, and also cause great discomfort and pain through the challenges they can bring. Because these bonds are so deeply meaningful, they can also be the most activating of our survival strategies -- those habituated, reactive emotional and behavioral patterns that no longer serve their original purpose. Additional contexts, such as intergenerational legacies, intersectional identity, culture, systemic oppression, life transitions, and/or financial instability also shape subjective experience and impact family dynamics. It is important for these parts of ourselves to be shared and witnessed alongside trusted and significant others within the therapeutic space.
The Mindful Families Project (MFP) framework is constructed from the wisdom teachings of Indo-Tibetan Buddhist psychology, family systems therapy, trauma therapy, somatic mind & body practices, anti-oppressive praxis, and applied NeuroAesthetics. It is by design, integrative, collaborative, and dynamic to meet the specific needs of each client.
