Reflective Learning Journal, Practice Logs & Posts

This reflective learning journal discusses mindfulness techniques, helpful strategies, practice experience, and working with client-based interventions. It also includes 8 separate home practice logs and 3 discussion board posts.

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Reflective Learning Journal, Practice Logs
& Posts
Mindfulness Practice Log
Your Name: ________________________________ / Date________________________
Time of Day: _________________ / Length of time practiced_________________

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PART A
Description: Which mindfulness technique did you practice and how did you practice it?
Mindfulness Exercises that Worked
I often wondered how leaders managed to tackle numerous challenges and still remain
composed. Like most people, I get stressed because of workload. When I started learning about
mindfulness, I came across a scholarly analysis of a number of mental problems (Baer, 2014, p.
5). That is when I learnt some tactics on how to manage my mental state. Acceptance and
Commitment in mindfulnes makes sense when dealing with personal challenges. I attempted
mindfulness through this approach to social media and realized that it worked. Looking at the
2016 US elections and reactions on social media about political candidates, I decided not to be
judgemental about anything that I read. In the words of Ruth Baer, mindfulness is the
nonreactive approach to events or emotions (Baer, 2014, p.10). In my opinion. Hillary Clinton
played a good role as a leader by remaining calm in the midst of abusive language and images
displayed by Donald Trump on social media. I was not sure I would do the same in her situation.
Mindfulness on social media is a major concern raised by many people. In this case, Acceptance
and Commitment Therapy makes more sense to me because I realize that tough people often try
to find solutions to emotionally conflicting situations. I went to sleep thinking about other
scholars ideas especialy Sarah Raymonds mindful movement, self exploration and how to alighn
my intentions with designated values (Hayes, Strosahl, & Wilson, 2012). This proved relaxing
and effective in creating a balance.
Helpful Strategies
In the next morning, I woke up listening to a video on guiding the mind towards relaxation
through resistance (The Mindful movement, 2012). To start off, I took a deep breath and decided
on being intentional about remaining calm. I made a mental resolve to love, be compassionate
and patient (Hayes, Strosahl, & Wilson, 2012). This behavior had to have consequences such as
avoidance of what was bad out of willingness. It meant that I had to also avoid “liking” or
following content online. This was to be done every time I logged onto social media whether
Facebook, Instagram or Twitter. I controlled my mind so that every time I thought of social
media, I switched to positivity while blocking out negativity. I put a reminder in my mind
through a one minute mindfulness activity in which I allowed myself to breath, think and connect
with my thoughts. I would close my eyes and hold my breath then go through a process of
eliminating negative thoughts and embracing positive ones (Grossman, Niemann, Schmidt, &
Walach, 2004). In this school of thought mindfulness involves stress reduction through
meditation and is effective for alleviating psychiatric disorders.

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Practice Experience
a) Struggling with Suppression and the use of Compassion
Losing my laptop and phone made me feel empty but I decided to administer compassion by
listening to other people’s problems. Through self-awareness I tried self-awareness by focusing
on my values and remaining committed to what was good (Kashdan, Ciarrochi, & Harris, 2013).
This experimental avoidance moment through administering ACT therapy brought happiness in
my mind and suppressed my own anxiety and stress (Harris, 2009: Germer & Neff, 2013). I
recalled the practice log featured on 17th April 2018 in which loving kindness and meditation
emerged as important techniques for blocking negativity. I focused on a central idea and allowed
my internal elements to prevail. I could feel the air and I breathed in an out paying attention to
the sensations.
b) Potential benefits
I gained more mindfulness muscles through the cognitive therapy exercises for values such as
patience and emotional stability (Baer, 2014, p. 14). The light exercise reminded me of the
Buddhist approach of the light related experiences for neurobiological benefits. I tapped into
multiple senses and was able to exercise my mental senses (Lindahl, Kaplan, Winget, & Britton,
2014, p. 8). This process made me feel less judgmental about issues and I accepted the mental
conditions. Paying attention to breathing meant having the intention to think positively and not
rushing anything. I learnt the value of flexibility in the thinking process paving the way for a
better attitude.
Improvement for next Practice
My next experience was on 8th March at 3.45. To improve on this practice, I tried enhancing
concentration by switching off the lights, changing my breathing space and taking breaks from
lectures. I was practicing tried Ruth Harris approach to midfulness which dictates an openess,
warm, curiosity and flexibility based approach (2009). Instead of avoidance, I tried acceptance
through adoption of a receptive approacch to experiences. My idea was to notice changes
through distructed thoughts and return to focus (O'Donoghue, 2016). Instead of the breathing
exercises, in this case, I used defusion process of intervention by separating the listener and the
mind so I went out for relaxation after lectures.
Lessons Learnt
Reflecting on the foundations of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy to Applied Behavioral
Analysis of consequences, I made conclusions about the human response to issues through

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Relational Frame Theory (RFT) which captures empirical research on the effectiveness of
mindfulness therapies (Boudreraux, 2017). On 17th March, I recalled the factors contributing to
acceptance and avoidance, the effect of movement in shaping emotional sensations and the use
of facial expressions for awareness. I realized that the thinking process produced mental distress
conditions such as relapse. This is the basis for transpersonal concepts which give way to wider
research in Psychology (Shauna & Linda, 2009).
Observations: Current feelings, thoughts and sensations
As I recall lessons from Week 7 which focused on mechanisms for mindfulness movement such
as strategies for creating balance when walking, I adopted a new routine (Alsubaie, et al., 2017).
On 7th April, I tried involving my body in the relaxation process. That is why on 21st May, I
improved my spatial environment to support self-awareness. I also realized that different times
determine whether meditation is successful or not. I understood why most people choose
mornings and evenings for physical exercise. No wonder I experienced difficulties trying to relax
during lectures. It was clear that following all strategies was not going to be a walk in the park.
Best Mindfulness practice
Self-care was the best practice because it proved relaxing and it enhanced confidence. I learnt
how to notice aromas, control my feelings, avoid distresses, and notice visual elements as well as
natural tendencies. The replies I got from posts opened my eyes to people’s experiences. It was
interesting to note that emotional wellbeing was evident through a smile. People go through
distressful moments, loneliness and grief because they do not have mindfulness skills. This is not
a subject taught in schools so many people suffer in silence (Germer & Neff, 2013).
Least mindful Practice
The least interesting because it involved delving into the mind of other people. On 1st August I
carried out self-assessment and realized how irrational I get when I am thinking. I tried to apply
concepts from Rush & Sharma (2017) on mindfulness and stress and meditation. In my blog post
2a) I noticed that some people were creative about their approach to mindfulness. Tapping into
positive energy during daily activities is part of self-care. A body scan, meditation and question
and answer process worked for me but may not be easy to administer on other people. In my
opinion, mindfulness through images would work for other people but not on my case.
Working with client based interventions
On 30th May at21:22 I received a response to my third post. It supported my interest in self-

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compassion. It gave me ideas on how to reason with the client by supporting mindfulness
practice and management of daily stressors. I decided to apply a non-judgmental attitude when
dealing with clients (Rosenbaum, 2013). I encouraged a shift from the distressful and slowing
down during meditation. The method and process are important elements when making informed
decisions (Hayes, Strosahl, & Wilson, 2012). I focused on attention and was more in tune with
emotions. Present moment awareness also made me more attentive to issues.

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Part B
Submit your completed Mindfulness Practice Logs & Post 3+3 discussion board comments
8 separate HOME practice logs are completed accurately and in detail (about 1 per week)
along with the 5 separate practice logs from CLASS (you completed the first one in week 1)
3 posts on the discussion board: Entry 1 14th April 8:52
Today’s mindfulness activity was on attention and intention in the present. I was able to connect
with my senses. I decided to apply self-care techniques to boost my moods because if I was alert,
I could easily support my clients (Shapiro, Brown, & Biegel, 2007). Acceptance and
Commitment Therapy helped me to overcome the influence of the social contruct. I decided to
take note of all my activities in order to connect with the right energy flow (Shapiro, Brown, &
Biegel, 2007) Entry 26th April 23:49
I remained focused to paying attention to the inner and outer moments. Applied Behavioral
Analysis I offered psychotherapeutic treatment to myself. Though emotional engagement I
suppressed emotions to come up with a solution for the root causes (Goldin, Kateri, Ramel, &
Gross, 2008). Entry 3 May 27 23:12
I borrowed ideas from Gotink, Meijboom, Vernooij, Smits, & Hunik (2016) on using a
systematic approach to intervention. Though I was overcome by health challenges and life
events, I delved deeper by offering concrete solutions through the Mindfulness Based Stress
Reduction ( MBSR) for resistance (Rush & Sharma, 2017). I experienced less fatigue, less
confusion and more concerntration in group bonding by applying unconditional acceptance.
Comment on 3 other posts throughout the course - no specific word count or format required
Week 1 Cognitive Control strategy
My colleagues post was concerned about the emotional regulation using voluntary suppression. I
liked this approach because everyone needs the ability to manage stressful situations. This post

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considered time management as a root cause of stress in contemporary society. This is a
scientific approach that supports the use of methods when addressing mindfulness (Grossman,
Niemann, Schmidt, & Walach, 2004).
Week 4 Physical and Psychological conditioning in Mindfulness Stress Based Conditioning
In this post, it was evident that stress from the surrounding environment is as manipulative as
inner built stress (Alsubaie, et al., 2017). The post looked at peoples surrounding for factors such
as sound, air, and activities. It was evident that the interpersonal functioning of an individual
depends on both the physical and the psychological factors. It was clear that people react to
facial expression, words and body movement. The sound of good music moves people to
movement. However, this post did not highlight scientific techniques with concept analysis of
why the solutions were effective.
Week 6 Mindfulness for students
This post was practical because it was able to identify a client’s condition through listening. The
post discussed meditation as a strategy used in different ways. Among this is meditation through
walking which is holistic because an individual unwinds by tapping into nature. In this post I
would add self-awareness to overcome limitations of attention regulation (Hölzel, Lazar, Gard,
Schuman-Oliver, Vago, & Ot, 2011)

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Bibliography
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Baer, R. A. (2014). Introduction to the core practices and exercises. In B. Ruth, Mindfulness
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Goldin, P. R., Kateri, M., Ramel, W., & Gross, J. J. (2008). The neural bases of emotion
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Shauna, S. L., & Linda, C. E. (2009). The art and science of mindfulness: Integrating
mindfulness into Psychology and the helping professions. APA.
The Mindful movement. (2012). Guided meditation and relaxation for deep sleep and
confidence. Retrieved from YouTube: https://youtu.be/pdIxHiUjg40