Information for Beginners
Benefits of Mindfulness Practice
Mindfulness practitioners report a wide-range of benefits, including reduced stress and anxiety, greater ability to concentrate, more control over negative thoughts, and greater resilience in responding to negative situations. Full Presence Mindfulness is designed to offer those same benefits, but the main focus is on giving you the tools to deepen your understanding of who you are.
What to Expect from your first Full Presence Mindfulness course or workshop
Full Presence Mindfulness practices draw on your own experience. You will be introduced to breathing practices and contemplations focused on the senses. Some practices may be done while you are out and about; others are quiet sitting or simple movement practices. No particular sitting style is required – most of us sit in chairs.
Classes tend to be interactive and invite discussion, whether they are live or online via Zoom. While recordings are usually available, we encourage you to attend sessions live with your classmates. There are very few reading assignments and your “homework” is usually experiential.
Relationship with Buddhism
Full Presence Mindfulness, like many other secular mindfulness approaches, was founded by a Buddhist practitioner. FPM is based on the Time, Space, Knowledge vision (TSK), an approach developed for the modern mind by a Tibetan lama, Tarthang Tulku. However, FPM and TSK are not the same as Buddhism. There are no religious elements in any of the practices and no set of beliefs or dogmas. Full Presence Mindfulness is all about free and open inquiry.