Abdul Khaiyom, Jamilah Hanum (2020) Unleashing the potential of mindfulness in corporate management & education. In: International Mindfulness Conference 2020, Kuala Lumpur. (Unpublished)
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Abstract
As an educator who has been using mindfulness activities in most of my classes in the university, I was invited to share my experiences conducting mindfulness exercises among Muslim students in an Islamic environment. My experiences rooted from the exposure that I have with my parents who use mindfulness activities as part of the religious activities in the life. I observe that they conducted silent meditation (or probably some people love to call in Arabic term – Muraqabah) and focused on their breathing (or some people would like to call it Zikir Nafas, mindful breathing, or deep breathing exercises) and remember Allah. My academic and clinical interest in mindfulness develop when I did my PhD on Group Cognitive Behaviour Therapy for Patients with Anxiety Disorders. Part of the activities shared with patients are relaxation exercises, including deep breathing, progressive muscular relaxation, imagery relaxation, and autogenic training. These relaxation exercise have some similarities with mindfulness exercises and I found it was not helpful for patients, but also for me who was struggling to complete my PhD. Then, I continuously read and attend numerous workshops on mindfulness-based interventions (e.g., Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Dialectical Behaviour Therapy, and Mindfulness Self-Compassion). Due to these training, I invited all my students in class to conduct simple 3-Minute Mindful Breathing at the beginning of my every class. It has become a new ritual and tradition for me and my students. They enjoyed and find it beneficial for their mental and physical health. They shared that their attention increased, more ready to learn, and feel refreshed after the exercise. Some of them came back to me shared that they generalize the exercise in their everyday life and whenever they feel stressful they will STOP, SLOW DOWN, and BREATH. I further shared my personal opinion about mindfulness activities in Islam. I believe, mindfulness activities have been part of Islam and Muslim. For example, we have been taught and be reminded to be in the present and remember Allah while performing our solah. We call the term khusyu’. The struggle to be in the present and consistently remembering Allah is real, and the framework are similar to some other mindfulness exercises. Therefore, mindfulness exercises and meditation are not being owned by certain religion or faith. Many religion (e.g., Abrahamic religions) and faith (e.g. Buddhism & Hinduism) have mindfulness and meditation practices.
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