New for Lent and Easter 2025
'Growing in faith and hope and love.'
An 8-week, MiCL introductory course
Saturday 8th March–Saturday 27th April
10.30am-12.30pm, on Zoom
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To find out more, click here to access the course leaflet
To register or to enquire use this email link: micl2025@gmail.com
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Click here to access the news page and the MiCL 2025 programme of events and sessions.
Resources
Click the following titles for quick links to the various sections. The links will be underlined once that relevant section is working.
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Mindfulness Practices
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Loving-kindness and Gratitude and Self-compassion
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The Pause: Three Breaths and Three Minutes
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​​Mindfulness Apps
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Other on-line resources
For the extended body scan added 27th January 2025 click here.
Mindfulness Practices
Scroll through below to access a range of practices.
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The hope is to add new ones regularly.
Body Scan Practices
Body Scan practices from MiCL
Body Scan Short Practice (10 minutes)
Body Scan Practice (15 mins)
Short body awareness practice:
Feet, seat, hands, breath
(12 minutes)
Extended body scan — as requested, January 2025 (40 minutes)
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The two images mentioned in the session are available on the MiCL News blog (27-1-25).
Body Scan Practice: Liz Smith (15 mins)
I'm a paragraph. Click here to add your own text and edit me. It's easy.
Posture
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You are welcome to do the practice either sitting or to laying down. It can also be done standing or even while walking. But in the main it will be done sitting or lying down.
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If sitting is best t have the feet flat on the floor. The hands can rest gently in the lap. Some people find that to prevent the weight of the hands pulling the shoulders forward it helps to have a cushion of folded towel under the hands. It can also help to have a small cushion on the chair, this can help tip the pelvis slightly forwards, which in turn helps to keep the back straight.
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If you are lying down, you might want a cushion under your head or knees and you might want to cover yourself with a throw or light blanket.
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Attitude ...
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Some teachers explain that in the body scan we are looking to 'fall awake' rather than fall asleep. In other words, we are not looking simply to go woozy or to doze and drift.
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More detailed guidance on posture will soon be offered on a dedicated page.
(The reason for the delay with that is simply that is I'm trying to clarify copyright issues about the photos.)
Practices from various other teachers (more to be added soon) ​
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Click the underlined text to open the session in a new window
(Please let me know if you find any of the links are not working. Click this link to send an e-mail)
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20 minutes: Dave Potter, founder of Paulouse Mindfulness​
(Paulouse is the area in North-West America where Dave Potter is based.)
30 minutes: Dave Potter of Paulouse Mindfulness
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14 minutes Professor Mark Williams, Oxford Mindfulness Centre
Find many more sessions from Mark Williams here.
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Several sessions here from pioneer of mindfulness practice, Jon Kabat-Zinn. There is good written explanation at the same link.
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12 minutes: A short session. Calm voice, Irish, very gentle.
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30-minutes: Gill Johnson at the Oxford Mindfulness Centre. Excellent.
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35 minutes: Guided by me, Steven Underdown
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23 minutes: Body Scan with Loving-kindness, Steven Underdown
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You are welcome to do the practice either sitting or lying down. See the simple guidance in the box to the right.
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Click the PDF button to the right to access 'The Body Scan Meditation', by Jon Kabat-Zinn.
[© 2005 Jon Kabat-Zinn.]
It's from his book 'Coming to Our Senses', Hyperion Press, NY.
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Not ideal this one.
(But all things are possible!)
The 'Pauses'
Three-Breath and Three-Minute Pause
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Three-Breath Pause (introduction and guidance) 5 minutes
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Three-Minute Breathing space:
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Jon Kabat-Zinn 3-minute Breathing Space
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Mark Williams 3-minute Breathing Space
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Tamara Levitt, lead teacher at Calm
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Vidyamala Birch, founder of Breathworks Mindfulness, 3-minute Breathing Space
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Steven Underdown 3-minute Breathing Space
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Steven Underdown 4-minute Breathing Space
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The STOP practice (See also STOP section on core practices)
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Steven Underdown 24-minute guided practice
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Loving-Kindness Practices
Loving-kindness (To skip the introduction and jump straight
to the guided practice, start at 3 minutes 40 seconds.)
Kristin Neff: Self-Compassion Guided Meditations
Guided sessions below ... but please see the note in the box to the right ➜
• Self-Compassion for Caregivers [Video - 9 minutes]
• Compassionate Friend [18 minutes]
• Giving and Receiving Compassion [20 minutes]
• Affectionate Breathing [21 minutes]
• Compassionate Body Scan [24 minutes]
• Loving-Kindness Meditation [20 minutes]
• Self-Compassion/Loving-Kindness Meditation [20 minutes]
• Noting Your Emotions [18 minutes]
• Soften, soothe, allow: Working with emotions in the body, designed
especially for when we are struggling with a difficult emotion. [15 minutes]
• Self-Compassion Break [5 minutes]
The links to Kristin's guided practices were working when uploaded checked them early in 2025. But then, in April 2025 some of the links became unreliable and seemed only to work impermanently.
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However, for a similar selection of practices (and some extras) click here.
At the same link you will find access to a range of other self- compassion exercises and a very helpful section: 'Tips for Practice.'​
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Books
These days there are innumerable books on mindfulness. And new ones seem to appear every week. This is just a selection of recommended books. You certainly don't need to buy them all. here's a tip:
Many of the books are available on Kindle. And while you might prefer a 'proper' paper book, if something is available on Kindle you can usually download a free sample. That can give you a taste of the author's style and approach, and you might even find that the free sample includes a guided audio session or two.
Alternatively, you might check YouTube or on Google to see if the author has made any material available there. You'll find lots of guided sessions form mainstream authors and teachers. Again, my advice is to go 'mainstream'; that's because on YouTube and google you'll also come across quite a bit (far too much!) quirky and idiosyncratic stuff too.
When it comes to books and on-line resources, my advice would be the same: look to go 'mainstream'. In other words, go for something from a teacher who's well respected and experienced, someone with good qualifications.
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Most of these books recommended here will include links to guided mindfulness sessions. In the past, books about mindfulness often came with an audio CD. These days, they are more likely to include links to on-line guided sessions and resources.
Keep in mind that Amazon offers free samples of many of the books listed here. Usually they offer the first chapter or two.
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Audible also offers short free sections from their audio books.
These free samples give a chance to see whether we like the tone or character of the book.
My child, there is something else to watch out for. There is no end to the writing of books, and too much study will wear you out.
(Ecclesiastes 12:12 GNT)
There are lots of books on mindfulness. You don't need to read them all — or even to buy them all. (It's only mindfulness teachers who need to buy them all, or think they do.)
The books listed below are from well-respected teachers and are recommended by a wide range of mainstream mindfulness teachers. They are all books which I either know myself or which I know other people have found helpful.
Even so, I'm aware that sometimes the enthusiasm of the authors (and perhaps their publishers) means that they can perhaps suggest that we can expect progress to be quick and easy. There's no denying that many people have found that after only a few weeks practice, things do begin to change, and even to change dramatically. But it isn't like that for everyone. And it's not a problem if it's like that for you.
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If that's how it is for you (i.e., if you find that it's all a bit of a struggle), my suggestion would be to go easy on yourself and give things time. Maybe commit to three months practice — keeping things steady and gentle during that time. And then after three months, look back and see how things now look. You might find that, although life might not be going perfectly and you are aware that still have problems, maybe things are looking better, looking brighter.
Mindfulness:
A Practical Guide to Finding Peace in a Frantic World
Mark Williams and Danny Penman
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From Amazon: 'Authoritative, beautifully written and much-loved by its readers, Mindfulness: A practical guide to finding peace in a frantic world has become a word-of-mouth bestseller and global phenomenon. It reveals a set of simple yet powerful practices that you can incorporate into daily life to break the cycle of anxiety, stress unhappiness and exhaustion. It promotes the kind of happiness that gets into your bones and allows you to meet the worst that life throws at you with new courage.
'Mindfulness is based on mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT). ... MBCT is recommended by the UK's National Institute for Health and Care Excellence and is as effective as drugs for preventing depression. But equally, it works for the rest of us who aren't depressed but who are struggling to keep up with the relentless demands of the modern world.
'By investing just a few minutes each day, this classic guide to mindfulness will put you back in control of your life once again.'
Deeper Mindfulness
Mark Williams and Dr Danny Penman
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'Oxford Professor Mark Williams and Dr Danny Penman reunite to present a new eight-week guided meditation programme that takes mindfulness to the next level. Deeper Mindfulness reveals how the latest advances in neuroscience, combined with millennia old wisdom, can be used to transform your life.
'These discoveries open the doors to a deeper layer of mindfulness known as the 'feeling tone'. This sets the "background colour" that tinges your entire experience of life. It is also the tipping point from which you can reclaim your life in an increasingly stressful and chaotic world.'
Comes with CD or downloads and in several formats (e-book, paperback, audio-book, etc.)
New phone app linked with the book.
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Mindfulness: Finding Peace in a Frantic World using our new app.
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This app contains all of the meditations in the book plus other useful features that make following the 8-week programme even more convenient. The app will help you to meditate absolutely anywhere, allow you to 'daisy-chain' meditations and help you to monitor your progress as you move through the programme.
The app is free for the first ten days. Then, if you like, you can then pay a small fee (just the once). There are no subscriptions, ‘hidden’ on-going charges. the one-off charge for the app is £3.99.
Deeper Mindfulness is from the same team as Frantic World.
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It can be used either as follow-up to 'Frantic world' or as a first course.
Mindfulness for Dummies
Shamash Alidina
Since the late 1990s Shamash been teaching adults and children the benefits of mindful living.
Born and brought up in London, England in an Asian tradition, yet living in a modern western metropolis, he found that mindfulness made complete sense to him. 'I love the way mindfulness is steeped in ancient wisdom, and yet at the same time is grounded in solid western science.' Shamash believes mindfulness should be taught in a light-hearted and friendly way, ...
Many years ago I did some training with Shamash and I have long recommended his book.
I used to recommend it to students at the Brighton Medical School when I did some teaching there. These students were all exceptionally bright. I used to ask them not to take the title of the book too personally.
Full Catastrophic Living
Jon Kabat-Zinn
Mindfulness for Health
A Practical Guide to Relieving Pain,
Reducing Stress and Restoring Wellbeing
Vidyamala Burch and Danny Penman, forward by Prof Mark Williams.
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'An extremely effective and elegant mind-body approach ... highly recommended', Jon Kabat-Zinn.
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'In a world of much suffering this book is a gift of wisdom and practical help', Professor Paul Gilbert
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Both authors live with chronic pain and so speak from experience.
The book offers, 'Simple practices that you can incorporate into daily life to
relieve chronic pain and the suffering and stress caused by illness.'
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The book was winner of the Best Book (Popular Medicine) at the British Medical Association Awards 2014
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Mindfulness for Women
Declutter your mind, simplify your life, find time to 'be'
Vidyamala Burch and Claire Irvin
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'No matter who we are, or what stage of life we are at, we all long for similar things; to be happy, connected with others, in touch with a sense of calm and peace, vital, alive and joyful. And we long to be able to ride out the tough patches that hit all of us from time to time with some degree of grace and dignity.
'The good news is that we can fulfil these longings ... They are only a moment away, a breath away. We can learn how to be comfortable with our body, know and understand our mind, and love our heart.'
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In 2014 'Mindfulness for Health' won Best Book (Popular Medicine) at the British Medical Association Awards.
This workbook accompanies 'Breathworks Mindfulness for Health.' It is not expensive and might be useful for anyone doing the eight-week course from the book.
Click here for two-minute interview with Vidyamala Burch.
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Click here for a full 24-mnute interview on mindfulness-based pain managment.
Calm: Mindfulness for Kids
Activities to help you learn to live in the moment
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This is an excellent resource for children. All the basic mindfulness practices are covered. The advice is very sound and very well expressed.
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It's good value too. It can sometimes be found in the middle aisle of a budget supermarket or on discount shelves of a bookshop. Then it is even better value.
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From the introduction:
'Mindfulness is a big word for a simple idea — it is paying attention,
with care, to one moment at a time. ... This children's book teaches kids how to be mindful by focusing their thoughts and noticing the world around
them using fun activities.'
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I'm reminded of something CS Lewis and JRR Tolkien agreed on:
'A book that is good for children is simply a good book and will be good enough anyone, adults too.' Lewis and Tolkien were of course Oxford academics of the highest standing and yet also wrote children's books.
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And while an adult might not want to do all the 'fun exercises' in the book, the basic teaching and the practical advice is as good as any.
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Wynne Kinder, M.Ed.,
Consultant: Dr Lana Jackson
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Pub. Dorling Kindersley, 2019.
You can see these sample pages in more detail on the Amazon website.
Midfullness Apps
Calm
Calm has an enormous range of resources: courses, daily guided practices, relaxing music stories to help us get to slpp, stories for children too.
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It's an app I like very much and recommend
Headspace
Headspace is similar to Calm. personally I'm not so keen on its layout and graphics. nevertheless, year by year it adds new resources and introduces new teaches too. It is very popular.
Oxford Mindfulness Foundation
Founded by Mark williams, this organisation is changing. They were offering lots of free resources, all of a very high standard.
It seems that some of these have now moved to a different location. I'll update the links when things have settled.
Mindfulness: Finding Peace in a Frantic World
Professor Mark Williams
This a very simple but very impressive app from Mark Williams, one of the founders of the Oxford Mindfulness Centre and a pioneer in Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction. Most of the guided sessions are less than 10 minutes long.
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Here is what the app stores say:
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'Originally developed for a research programme at Oxford University, the app is available for both Android and iPhone/iPad. It contains all of the meditations from our bestselling book plus other useful features that make following the 8-week programme even easier and more convenient.
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'It will help you to meditate absolutely anywhere, allow you to 'daisy-chain' meditations and help you to monitor your progress as you move through the programme. It’s free for the first ten days. If you like it, you can then pay a small fee (just the once). There are no subscriptions, ‘hidden’ on-going charges, or adverts.'
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I've checked and it the only cost is a one-off payment of £3.99. Great app. Great price.
Included with the app is a neat, easy-to-use meditation timer.
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Bible Resources
The Bible is a foreign land ...
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The Bible, and most especially the Old Testament, come to us from a culture—indeed a whole range of cultures—quite foreign to us and in many ways very different from our familiar home-land. If we journey to this foreign land without an up-to-date guide book, maybe a phrase book, or better still an experienced, knowledgeable guide, we can quickly find ourselves utterly lost and quite possibly suffering extreme culture shock.
Many who venture into this foreign land neither knowing nor understanding this culture (and even dismissing it as primitive) flee, either in panic or disgust. Is this simply another version of imperialism?
Very likely some of those who stay will misunderstand or misinterpret what they experience and return home dangerously misrepresenting what they've heard and seen, possibly entrapping others in their own delusions.
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Is it too much to suggest that the unwary traveller needs to be alert?
The Bible Project
The Bible Project is a wonderful resource, It sets out to do something very special. It seeks to help us learn how to read the Bible; it is not trying to do that very different thing: telling us what the Bible says or means. (Which is something we perhaps find all too often in Bible guides and resources.)
Here is how the founders see their work:
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'We believe the Bible is a unified story that leads to Jesus.... This diverse collection of ancient books overflows with wisdom for our modern world. As we let the biblical story speak for itself, we believe the message of Jesus will transform individuals and entire communities.
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'Many people have misunderstood the Bible, seeing it simply as a collection of inspirational quotes or a divine instruction manual dropped from Heaven. Most of us gravitate toward sections we enjoy while avoiding parts that are confusing or even disturbing.
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'The Bible Project resources seek to help people experience the Bible in a way that is approachable, engaging, and transformative. They do this by showcasing the literary art of the Scriptures and tracing biblical themes from beginning to end. Rather than taking the stance of a specific tradition or denomination, we create materials to elevate the Bible for all people and draw our eyes to its unified message.'
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As part of their offering, Bible Project offers a wealth of short, animated videos (5 minutes or so), each exploring key biblical themes or explaining the structure and purpose of a particular book of the Bible or of the Bible as a whole. Bible Project also offers on-line 'classroom' study sessions. In January 2022 they released a wonderful app. This includes links to all their videos, etc, and also a guided 'journey' through the Old and New Testaments.
All the Bible Project on-line resources (and the Bible Project app) are offered completely free of charge. Their work is supported wholly by donations from their fans and supporters.
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Access all the resources, including the app, at this link.
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Or Click here for the Bible Project YouTube channel.
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Here is an example of their work: New Testament Summary: A complete Animated Overview. (8 minutes). It includes a brief but helpful overview of the Old Testament too. Try this for a more complete overview of the Old Testament: A complete Animated Overview. (8 minutes).
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The style of the animation in the New Testament Summary is the same as for the overviews of individual OT and NT writings, books or letters. I think these are all excellent and I always turn to them when in study times of prayer times we began on a new book.
Find them at these links: Old Testament Writings New Testament Writings
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I can certainly say that no other Bible resource has helped more to deepen and enrich my knowledge and understanding of the Scriptures. It has supported me in my own Christian journey, and at times has certainly challenged me too. (Steven)
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Click here for a link for an excellent sample Bible Project video. (It's less than a minute long). It gives an outline of the various sections of the Bible; it also gives an idea of what the Bible Project videos are like. They use a whole range of styles.
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Click the image below for a simply wonderful video on Genesis 1 and the Bible story as a whole. It might not be what you expect.
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Bible Project
Genesis chapter 1
The Bible Project studio and workroom
Tim Mackie, lead theologian (left), and Jon Collin, head of animation (right) met as students and founded Bible Project in 2004. Now the team of animators, web-people, and back-up team numbers over 50. The Bible Project videos are available in over than 50 languages. And everything is offered free of charge; it always has been. Everything is funded by supporters.
