Reflection & Moving Forward: Completing Week 8 | Men’s Mindfulness Series

Today we’re reflecting on where you’ve been—and where you’re going next.

This week, I’ve created a guided reflection on the 8-week journey and how to make this sustainable. It’s 10 minutes of honest looking back and intentional planning forward.

Keep reading for the link.

This is Week 8. The final email in this series.

But it’s not the end. It’s a beginning.

What Changed (And What Didn’t)

2018. I burned out. Big time.

I couldn’t get out of bed. The daily energy had just gone. Totally.

I felt low. Depressed. Worthless. Pointless. Suicidal.

When I started to explore self-improvement as part of my recovery, I didn’t necessarily expect anything would or could happen.

I just wanted my life to be different. Just to be alive. To cope with each day. To be with my family.

What helped at the start was changing small things.

Resting. A lot.

I was lucky I could be signed off work, which gave me space.

I cut back on alcohol. Big time. But it took years before I saw it as a drug where the cons far outweighed the pros.

I started to eat more healthily. The right amounts. The right things. More often.

And I found mindfulness.

Where Mindfulness Shows Up

Mindfulness has sometimes been present during yoga. Playing the piano. Walking in a wood. Playing a board game with my kids. Having a drink at my allotment.

And sometimes it has not.

Doing work I realized was draining. Dashing about to “fit everything in.” Trying to “keep everyone happy.”

I don’t have it all right. None of us will.

But we can always move towards a better state.

The Non-Linear Journey

None of this has been linear.

I can think of three or four times since 2018 where I’ve approached the deeper levels of burnout. But not to the same extent.

The past year led to me gaining huge amounts of weight. Burning out—in a milder way this time. And having to stop work over the summer to recharge.

Paranoia reigned during that time. I was erratic. Unreliable. And really not a nice person to be around.

But I could see it this time. That’s the difference.

I could notice: “This is burnout again. I need to change something.”

And I did.

My Advice to Men

Just try something. Learn.

My simple meditations. Or from an app.

Find others who are trying similar things. What are they learning?

We often learn more from hearing someone else’s thoughts, and directing ours within those.

What matches? What is different? What seems more true for you?

That’s how you find your practice. Not by following a perfect system.

But by trying, noticing, adjusting.

My Daily Routine Now

Morning. 10 minutes. First thing.

Sitting. Watching dawn slowly come. Just observing. Breathing.

Sometimes my body will shake—trauma release from the previous day—if I feel safe and calm.

Then exercise. Then the day.

And sometimes? None of that. If I happen to oversleep.

Because we are not robots. Not human do-ings.

Just human be-ings. Trying our best.

The Journey: What We Covered

Let’s look back at where we’ve been:

WEEK 1: AUTOPILOT – Noticing when you’re not present, understanding the Default Mode Network
Read: https://mensmindgp.com/autopilot-mode-stress-mindfulness-week-1

WEEK 2: BODY AWARENESS – Reconnecting with physical sensations you’ve been ignoring
Read: https://mensmindgp.com/body-screaming-listen-interoception-week-2

WEEK 3: THOUGHTS AREN’T FACTS – Learning to observe thoughts without being controlled by them
Read: https://mensmindgp.com/thoughts-arent-facts-cognitive-defusion-week-3

WEEK 4: SITTING WITH DISCOMFORT – Turning toward difficulty instead of avoiding it
Read: https://mensmindgp.com/sitting-with-discomfort-body-scan-week-4

WEEK 5: THE POWER OF PAUSE – Creating space between stimulus and response
Read: https://mensmindgp.com/power-of-pause-stimulus-response-week-5

WEEK 6: SELF-COMPASSION – Treating yourself with the kindness you’d offer a friend
Read: https://mensmindgp.com/self-compassion-inner-critic-week-6

WEEK 7: INFORMAL PRACTICE – Bringing mindfulness into daily life
Read: https://mensmindgp.com/informal-practice-daily-life-mindfulness-week-7

WEEK 8: INTEGRATION – Making it sustainable
Read: https://mensmindgp.com/reflection-moving-forward-8-week-mindfulness-series/

That’s not nothing.

That’s a complete framework for relating to your life differently.

The Honest Truth

Let’s be clear about what mindfulness isn’t:

Mindfulness doesn’t:

Make your problems disappear
Prevent stress or difficulty
Turn you into a calm, zen person
Mean you never react or struggle
Fix everything

Life is still hard.

Work is still demanding. Relationships are still complex. Your body still gets tired. Your mind still generates difficult thoughts.

What changes is your relationship to all of it.

You notice autopilot sooner.

You catch stress earlier, before it becomes crisis.

You can sit with difficulty without being destroyed by it.

You pause before reacting.

You’re kinder to yourself when you struggle.

You’re still human. Just more awake.

What You’ve Actually Built

Over eight weeks, you’ve built real skills:

The skill of noticing – When you’re on autopilot, when you’re stressed, when you’re reacting

The skill of returning – Coming back to the present moment, again and again

The skill of allowing – Letting difficulty be there without fighting it

The skill of pausing – Creating space to choose your response

The skill of self-compassion – Being kind to yourself when it’s hard

These aren’t meditation skills. These are life skills.

They apply to everything:

Relationships
Work
Parenting
Decision-making
How you handle stress
How you show up when things are difficult

You’ve built capacity to be with your life as it actually is.

That’s what resilience really means.

The Sustainability Question

Here’s the critical question:

What practice will you continue?

Not “what should you continue.”

What will you actually do?

You don’t need to do all of them.

You don’t need to meditate for an hour every day.

But you need something.

Some anchor. Some practice. Some way of continuing to cultivate presence.

Options:

One formal practice per week (10-20 min body scan or sitting meditation)
Three anchor activities daily (morning, midday, evening)
The 3-minute breathing space when stress spikes
Five transition pauses throughout the day
Daily three-things gratitude practice
Weekly self-compassion check-in

Choose one. Commit to it.

Not because you should.

Because it helps.

Because you’re better with it than without it.

The practice that continues is the practice you actually do.

This Week’s Practice

Primary Practice: Reflection & Moving Forward (10 minutes)

This week’s meditation guides you through:

Reflecting on where you started
Noticing what’s changed
Choosing your sustainable practice
Making a commitment to yourself

👉 Listen to your free Reflection meditation on Insight Timer:
https://insighttimer.com/mensmindgp/guided-meditations/reflection-moving-forward-completing-the-8-week-journey

This is about honest reflection and intentional commitment. Not perfection.

Reflection Exercise: Answer These Questions

Take 10 minutes this week to write down:

Where was I 8 weeks ago? (emotionally, mentally, physically)
What has changed? (big shifts and small ones)
What practice resonated most with me?
What will I continue? (be specific: what, when, how often)
What support do I need to sustain this?

Write it down. Make it concrete.

Change One Thing Moving Forward

Make one specific commitment to yourself:

“I will [specific practice] [specific frequency].”

Examples:

“I will do a 10-minute body scan every Sunday morning”
“I will use the 3-minute breathing space when I notice stress building”
“I will be fully present for my morning coffee, my drive home, and walking through the door”
“I will practice the friend test when I catch harsh self-criticism”

Write it down. Tell someone if that helps.

This is your practice now. Not mine. Yours.

The Bigger Picture

This was never really about meditation.

It’s about how you live.

Being present for your actual life.

Not the life you think you should have. The one you’re actually living.

Noticing when you’re on autopilot.

Coming back to the present moment.

Being with difficulty instead of running from it.

Treating yourself with kindness instead of criticism.

These are life skills. They apply to everything.

The formal practice—the meditations—they train the muscle.

But the real practice is your life.

How you show up for your partner when you’re tired.

How you handle stress at work.

How you treat yourself when you make a mistake.

How you respond when things don’t go as planned.

That’s the work. And you’re doing it.

Final Words

You’ve completed eight weeks of practice.

That’s not the end of the journey. It’s the beginning.

You now have the tools.

You know how to notice autopilot.

You know how to reconnect with your body.

You know how to work with difficult thoughts and sensations.

You know how to pause.

You know how to be kind to yourself.

The question is: What will you do with these tools?

My hope for you:

That you continue. In whatever way works for you.

That you keep coming back to presence.

That you’re kinder to yourself than you were eight weeks ago.

That you live more of your life awake instead of on autopilot.

Thank you for practicing.

Thank you for showing up.

And remember: Every moment is a chance to begin again.

P.S. Eight weeks builds the foundation.

What you do next determines whether it lasts.

Don’t let this be something you did once.

Make it something you are.

References

Kabat-Zinn, J., Full Catastrophe Living, 2013 revised edition, Bantam Books

Goldstein, J. & Kornfield, J., Seeking the Heart of Wisdom: The Path of Insight Meditation, 1987, Shambhala

Salzberg, S., Real Happiness: The Power of Meditation, 2010, Workman Publishing

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7. EXCERPT (158 words)

2018. I burned out. Big time. Couldn't get out of bed. Felt low, depressed, worthless, suicidal.

I started exploring self-improvement not expecting anything would change. I just wanted my life to be different. To be alive. To cope. To be with my family.

Small changes: resting, cutting back alcohol (took years), eating better, finding mindfulness.

None of this has been linear. Three or four times since 2018 I've approached burnout again—but not to the same extent. This past year: weight gain, milder burnout, paranoia, unreliability. But I could see it this time. That's the difference.

Week 8 of our series: You've built real skills—noticing, returning, allowing, pausing, self-compassion. These aren't meditation skills. They're life skills.

The question now: What practice will you continue? Not should—will. Because the practice that continues is the practice you actually do.

This isn't the end. It's the beginning.

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Man reflecting on mindfulness journey at dawn - completing 8-week series and committing to sustainable practice

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