Calming the Rush of Panic (20 page)

When despair for the world grows in me

and I wake in the night at the least sound,

in fear of what my life and my children’s life may be,

I go and lie down where the wood drake

rests in his beauty on the water,

and the great heron feeds.

I come into the peace of wild things

who do not tax their lives

with forethought of grief.

I come into the presence of still water.

And I feel above me the day-blind stars

waiting with their light. For a time

I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.

Resources

Mindfulness Meditation Audio CDs by Bob Stahl, PhD

To purchase or listen to a sample of the following CDs, visit
www.mindfulnessprograms.com/mindful-healing-series
. You can also purchase all except the last three at Amazon.com. All CDs published by Bob Stahl, PhD, in 2005.

Opening to Change, Forgiveness, and Loving-Kindness

Working with Chronic Pain

Working with Neck and Shoulder Pain

Working with Back Pain

Working with Insomnia and Sleep Challenges

Working with Anxiety, Fear, and Panic

Working with High Blood Pressure

Working with Heart Disease

Working with Headaches and Migraines

Working with Asthma, COPD, and Respiratory Challenges

Body Scan and Sitting Meditation

Lying and Standing Yoga

Impermanence and Loving-Kindness Meditation

DVD by Bob Stahl, PhD

Mindful Qigong and Loving-Kindness Meditation
(available at
www.mindfulnessprograms.com/mindful-healing-series
). 2007.

Books by Bob Stahl, PhD

A Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Workbook
(co-authored with Elisha Goldstein, PhD). Oakland, CA: New Harbinger Publications, 2010.

Living with Your Heart Wide Open: How Mindfulness and Compassion Can Free You from Unworthiness, Inadequacy, and Shame
(co-authored with Steve Flowers, MFT). Oakland, CA: New Harbinger Publications, 2011.

Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Programs

Mindfulness-based stress reduction programs abound throughout the United States as well as internationally. If you’re interested in joining a program near you, check out the regional and international directory at the Center for Mindfulness at the University of Massachusetts Medical School’s website:
http://w3.umassmed.edu/MBSR//files/05/79/61/f057961/public/searchmember.aspx
.

Mindfulness Books

Analayo, B. 2002.
Satipatthana: The Direct Path to Realization
. Birmingham, UK: Windhorse Publications.

Boorstein, S. 1997.
It’s Easier Than You Think: The Buddhist Way to Happiness
. San Francisco: HarperOne.

Brach, T. 2003.
Radical Acceptance: Embracing Your Life with the Heart of a Buddha
. New York: Bantam.

———. 2013
True Refuge: Finding Peace and Freedom in Your Own Awakened Heart
. New York: Bantam.

Brantley, J. 2007.
Calming Your Anxious Mind: How Mindfulness and Compassion Can Free You from Anxiety, Fear, and Panic
. Oakland, CA: New Harbinger Publications.

Chödrön, P. 2000.
When Things Fall Apart: Heart Advice for Difficult Times
. Boston: Shambhala.

———. 2007.
The Places That Scare You: A Guide to Fearlessness in Difficult Times
. Boston: Shambhala.

Dass, R., and S. Levine. 1988.
Grist for the Mill
. Berkeley, CA: Celestial Arts.

Epstein, M. 1995.
Thoughts without a Thinker: Psychotherapy from a Buddhist Perspective
. New York: Basic.

Flowers, S. 2009.
The Mindful Path through Shyness: How Mindfulness and Compassion Can Help Free You from Social Anxiety, Fear, and Avoidance
. Oakland, CA: New Harbinger Publications.

Flowers, S, and B. Stahl. 2011.
Living With Your Heart Wide Open: How Mindfulness and Compassion Can Free You from Unworthiness, Inadequacy, and Shame
. Oakland, CA: New Harbinger Publications.

Goldstein, J. 1983.
The Experience of Insight: A Simple and Direct Guide to Buddhist Meditation
. Boston: Shambhala.

———. 2003.
Insight Meditation: The Practice of Freedom
. Boston: Shambhala.

———. 2003.
One Dharma: The Emerging Western Buddhism
. San Francisco: Harper.

Goldstein, J., and J. Kornfield. 2001.
Seeking the Heart of Wisdom: The Path of Insight Meditation
. Boston: Shambhala.

Gunaratana, B. H. 2002.
Mindfulness in Plain English
. Boston: Wisdom Publications.

Hanson, R., and R. Mendius. 2009.
Buddha’s Brain: The Practical Neuroscience of Happiness, Love, and Wisdom
. Oakland, CA: New Harbinger Publications.

Kabat-Zinn, J. 1990.
Full Catastrophe Living: Using the Wisdom of Your Body and Mind to Face Stress, Pain, and Illness
. New York: Delta.

———. 1994.
Wherever You Go, There You Are: Mindfulness Meditation in Everyday Life
. New York: Hyperion.

———. 2005.
Coming to Our Senses: Healing Ourselves and the World through Mindfulness
. New York: Hyperion.

———. 2012.
Mindfulness for Beginners: Reclaiming the Present Moment—and Your Life.
Boulder: Sounds True.

Kornfield, J. 1993.
A Path with Heart: A Guide through the Perils and Promises of Spiritual Life
. New York: Bantam.

———. 2000.
After the Ecstasy, the Laundry: How the Heart Grows Wise on the Spiritual Path
. New York: Bantam.

———. 2008.
The Wise Heart: A Guide to the Universal Teachings of Buddhist Psychology
. New York: Bantam.

Levine, N. 2003.
Dharma Punx: A Memoir
. San Francisco: HarperCollins.

———. 2007.
Against the Stream: A Buddhist Manual for Spiritual Revolutionaries
. San Francisco: HarperCollins.

Levine, S. 1989.
A Gradual Awakening
. 2nd ed. New York: Anchor.

Rosenberg, L. 1998.
Breath by Breath: The Liberating Practice of Insight Meditation
. Boston: Shambhala.

———. 2000.
Living in the Light of Death: On the Art of Being Truly Alive
. Boston: Shambhala.

Salzberg, S. 1997.
A Heart as Wide as the World: Stories on the Path of Lovingkindness
. Boston: Shambhala.

———. 2002.
Lovingkindness: The Revolutionary Art of Happiness
. Boston: Shambhala.

Santorelli, S. 1999.
Heal Thyself: Lessons in Mindfulness in Medicine
. New York: Three Rivers Press.

Segal, Z., M. Williams, and J. Teasdale. 2002.
Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy for Depression: A New Approach to Preventing Relapse
. New York: Guilford Press.

Siegel, D. 2007.
The Mindful Brain: Reflection and Attunement in the Cultivation of Well-Being
. New York: W. W. Norton.

Stahl, B., and E. Goldstein. 2010.
A Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Workbook
. Oakland, CA: New Harbinger Publications.

Thera, Nyanaponika. 1973.
The Heart of Buddhist Meditation
. Boston: Weiser Books.

Thich Nhat Hanh. 1996.
The Miracle of Mindfulness
. Boston: Beacon.

———. 2005.
Being Peace
. Berkeley, CA: Parallax Press.

Books to Move You into the Heart

Berry, W. 1998.
The Selected Poems of Wendell Berry
. Berkeley, CA: Counterpoint Press.

Faulds, D. 2002.
Go In and In
. Kearney, NE. Morris Press.

Hafiz. 1999.
The Gift
. Translated by D. Ladinski. New York: Penguin.

Kabir. 2004.
Kabir: Ecstatic Poems
. Translated by R. Bly. Boston: Beacon.

Lao-tzu. 1944.
The Way of Life
. Translated by W. Bynner. New York: Penguin.

Oliver, M. 1992.
New and Selected Poems
. Boston: Beacon Books.

Rumi. 2001.
The Soul of Rumi
. Translated by C. Barks. San Francisco: Harper.

Ryokan. 1977.
One Robe, One Bowl
. Translated by J. Stevens. New York: John Weatherhill.

Stafford, W. 1998.
The Way It Is
. St. Paul, MN: Graywolf Press.

Walcott, D. 1987.
Collected Poems
. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

Welwood, J. P. 1998.
Poems for the Path
. Mill Valley, CA: Author.

Whyte, D. 1994.
The Heart Aroused
. New York: Bantam Doubleday.

Meditation Timers

You can download free meditation timers from the Insight Meditation Center at
http://www.insightmeditationcenter.org/meditation-timers/
.

References

Berry, W. 1998. “The Peace of Wild Things.” In
The Selected Poems of Wendell Berry
. Berkeley, CA: Counterpoint Press.

Center for Mindfulness in Medicine, Health Care, and Society. N.d. “Major Research Findings.”
http://www.umassmed.edu/Content.aspx?id=42426
.

Chah, Achaan. 1985.
A Still Forest Pool: The Insight Meditation of Achaan Chah
. Compiled by J. Kornfield and P. Breiter. Wheaton, IL: Quest.

Covey, S. 2008. Foreword to
Prisoners of Our Thoughts: Viktor Frankl’s Principles for Discovering Meaning in Life and Work
, by A. Pattakos. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler.

Davidson, R. J., J. Kabat-Zinn, J. Schumacher, M. Rosenkranz, D. Muller, S. F. Santorelli, F. Urbanowski, A. Harrington, K. Bonus, and J. F. Sheridan. 2003. “Alterations in Brain and Immune Function Produced by Mindfulness Meditation.”
Psychosomatic Medicine
65 (4): 564–570.

Faulds, D. 2002. “Allow.” In
Go In and In
. Kearney, NE: Morris Press.

Hölzel, B. K., J. Carmody, M. Vangel, C. Congleton, S. M. Yerramsetti, T. Gard, and S. Lazar. 2011. “Mindfulness Practice Leads to Increases in Regional Brain Gray Matter Density.”
Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging
191 (1): 36–43.

Lao-tzu. 1944.
The Way of Life
. Translated by W. Bynner. New York: Penguin.

Miller, J., K. Fletcher, and J. Kabat-Zinn. 1993. “Three-Year Follow-Up and Clinical Implications of a Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Intervention in the Treatment of Anxiety Disorders.”
Gen. Hosp. Psychiatry
17: 192–200.

Sharples, B. 2003.
Meditation: Calming the Mind
. Melbourne, Australia: Lothian.

Welwood, J. P. 1998. “Unconditional.” In
Poems for the Path
. Mill Valley, CA: Author.

Bob Stahl, PhD
, is the founder and director of the mindfulness-based stress reduction programs at Dominican Hospital, O’Connor Hospital, and El Camino Hospital. Bob serves as a senior teacher for Oasis, an institute for mindfulness-based professional education and innovation. Bob is the guiding teacher at Insight Santa Cruz and visiting teacher at Spirit Rock and Insight Meditation Society. He is coauthor of
Living with Your Heart Wide Open
and the
Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Workbook.
Stahl lives in Santa Cruz, CA.