Overview of Book: The Middle Path
Week One: Introduction -The practice of mindfulness and altruism
• An understanding of the overview of the program and its goals.
• An understanding of the participant’s role in co-creating the success of the program.
• A set of agreements that encourage safety and participation.
• Practices to begin the process of developing skills in mindfulness and altruism.
Week Two: Agreements we can actually keep
• An understanding of the session and its agreements.
• Creating working agreements that are not goals, commitments or reasons to feel guilty when not kept.
• A set of working agreements that encourage progress, measurement and integration with the rest of your life.
• A plan for getting started.
• A plan for resetting agreements when they are broken or forgotten
Week Three: Becoming a change master-learn to dance on Jell-O
• An understanding of the role that stress plays in over consumption so that you are empowered to deal more effectively with stress and its consequences.
• An understanding of the mind and how it relates to stress and change.
• A process for adapting in a healthful manner to stress.
• A plan for coping with stress so that we do not have to over consume to cope.
Week Four: Take back your senses- mindfulness of the body and senses
• An understanding of the way that the body can be a joy and pleasure so that we feel motivated to become healthy and happy with our bodies exactly as they are.
• A process for distinguishing between pleasure and indulgence.
• A plan for turning the anger and frustration we feel currently about our bodies into acceptance.
• A program for re-experiencing our senses and bodies in a mindful manner.
Week Five: Coming out of our isolation, shame and loneliness into community
• An understanding of the way that over consumption of food, obesity and problems with weight can be shame inducing so that we can break the pattern of self- hatred.
• An understanding of the cultural criticisms of obesity and weight problems so that we can stop taking this personally.
• A plan for becoming a part of a community for support.
• An understanding of the relationship between giving to the communities supported by the charities and our own healing
Week Six: Making the effort to be happier and why should I?
• An understanding of the way that habits can sabotage our intent to change and also be the foundation of new healthy behaviors.
• Several tools for addressing change for the better and making it stick.
• A plan for implementing mindful observation of negative habits while making new positive habits.
Week Seven: Our True Self
• An understanding of how our habits of seeing ourselves developed so that we may expand our perception of who we are, which is integral to our success.
• A definition of self that is based upon the strengths, gifts and talents all of which are needed by you and the communities you are a part.
• A process for becoming aware of our strong, authentic selves that is sustainable.
Week Eight: Community, Continuation, and Completion
• Crafting a specific personal program.
• A program that is alive in day-to-day life.
• A plan for continuing studies and experiments to add to your current toolkit.