Meditation & Mindfulness Instruction

Dr. Terracciano provides instruction for:

• Individuals, couples, groups, and organizations
• Mental health professionals seeking instruction to develop their personal mindfulness practice
• Mental health professionals seeking consultation on how to incorporate mindfulness into psychotherapy

How do I know if meditation or mindfulness-awareness training is right for me?

• Do you tend to over busy yourself in ongoing activity?
• Having difficulty creating moments for relaxation, stillness, and quiet?
• Is life passing you by, as if going through the motions of an endless series of to-dos?
• Do you often feel bored, finding your life is not stimulating enough?
• Do you get caught up reviewing past events, fretting about the uncertain future, or predicating happiness on attaining long-term goals?

If you've answered yes to any of these questions, meditation or mindfulness-awareness instruction and training can be very beneficial. While Dr. Terracciano is trained in evidenced-based mindfulness mental health treatments, he also offers these practices to anyone interested in the transformative potential of mindfulness in daily living. By cultivating your present moment awareness, you can enhance the vibrancy of momentary experience, release the grip of conditioned reactive patterns, allow greater flexibility in responding skillfully to the unfolding circumstances of your life, and promote ease amidst difficulty.

What Is Mindfulness & Meditation?

While there are many ways to answer this question, Stephen likes to draw upon Jon Kabat-Zinn's definition:

"Mindfulness means paying attention in a particular way: on purpose, in the present moment, and nonjudgmentally."

Meditation, or formal mindfulness practice, usually involves stepping out of our ordinary routine specifically to practice mindfulness. Mindfulness-awareness typically refers to applying the formal practices of meditation into the fabric of our everyday activities. In these formal and informal practices you will deepen your capacity to:

• be intentional about which aspects of experience you want to be paying attention to
• recognize when the mind drifts from intended focal points
• return your awareness to intended aspects of experience
• relate to your experiences with the attitudes of acceptance, kindness, compassion, non-judgment, and curiosity

While mindfulness instructions are generally clear and direct, the process is far from simple. The mind has a tenacity to approach mindfulness in much the same way we approach our daily lives — with strivings to craft experience, attach to pleasure, and avoid pain. When working with Stephen, beginners can prevent common pitfalls that undermine the essence of mindfulness, while experienced practitioners can identify drifts from mindfulness and re-invigorate ongoing practice.

After an initial consultation to identify needs, and in partnership with clients, Dr. Terracciano astutely selects suitable exercises to harmonize one's formal and informal practices. Some types of meditation and mindfulness techniques to be learned include:

• Concentration, breath-focused meditation
• The Body Scan, mindfulness of body sensations
• Walking meditation and other forms of body-in-motion awareness
• Mindfulness of thoughts, emotions, body sensations, sense perceptions and urges
• Lovingkindness and forgiveness meditations
• Compassion-focused meditations, including Tonglen
• Choiceless awareness
• 3 Minute-Breathing Space Meditation