A set of Guided Meditations, narrated by Mark Williams, cover all the practices used in Oxford’s MBCT eight-week programme.
These can be purchased by download from Apple Music, or Amazon (profits help support The Oxford Mindfulness Foundation).
They consist of:
- Body Scan – used daily for the first two weeks. The instructions teach us to shift attention throughout the body to explore directly sensations in the body, without having to change them or achieve any special state.
- Stretch and Breath – used during Week 3 of the programme (on alternate days). A sequence of five simple standing stretches bring body sensations into focus during each movement, and is followed by a sitting meditation with focus on sensations of the breath.
- Yoga – used during Week 3 of the programme, alternating with the Stretch and Breath. Simple stretches starting from a lying posture allow participants to explore sensations of the body in movement and stillness, and to explore the how the body has limits that can be respected without judgement and self-criticism.
- Sitting meditation – used daily from Week 4 of the programme. Instructions invite us to focus on the breath, the body, sounds, thoughts and feelings. We learn to see our thoughts and feelings from a new perspective, relating to them just as we relate to sounds, and discovering that thoughts often come and go like clouds in the sky.
- Exploring Difficulty – used from week 5 of the programme. Instructions invite us to notice when difficulty arises, and turn our attention towards its effect on the body. If no difficulty occurs there is guidance on how we may experiment with bringing a small difficulty to mind and sensing the effect on the body without having to immediately change it.
- Combination CD – used daily in any combination from week 6. It contains
- a three minute meditation (‘breathing space’),
- a 10 minute sitting,
- a 20 minute sitting, and
- a 30 minute period of silence with bells at 5,10, 15, 20 and 30 minutes.