Sandra García: «In meditation we immerse ourselves in a subtle mind»

Meditation is a reality that has been present for millennia in many cultural practices both in Asia and outside of it. However, it is meditation linked to Buddhism and Hinduism that has deeper roots, and today, far Losing importance due to the secularization of society, it continues to be used even outside of religious contexts.

In fact, meditation is increasingly valued in the field of psychotherapy. Thus, We have interviewed the psychologist Sandra García Sánchez-Beato, who integrates meditation into her work both in helping her patients and in the training programs that she promotes through his project "Awakening".

• Related article: "What is Mindfulness? The 7 answers to your questions "

Interview with Sandra García Sánchez-Beato: this is the 'Despertar' project

Sandra García Sánchez-Beato is a General Health Psychologist and she has been practicing meditation for decades and integrating this element in her way of offering therapeutic support. In this interview he tells us about his project "Awakening: Psychotherapy, Mindfulness & Dharma".

How did the idea of ​​creating the Despertar project come about?

The idea has been the result of a personal and professional process. I have been working as a psychotherapist for more than 15 years and more than 20 practicing the path of meditation within Buddhism, especially Tibetan Buddhism. In all this time, I have realized that they are two powerful complementary paths.

From clinical psychology we approach the nuclei of conflict looking for the root, understanding our history. We incorporate resources into our clinical sessions helping our patients to compensate and manage their emotional world and different personality structures. We really get significant results that help us feel better and find a different way to live. We manage to enhance the best of ourselves and live with well-being. However, we are unable to eradicate the root of suffering.

It is as if we were rowing from one side of a shore to the other, contemplating different landscapes but without getting anywhere. We relieve symptoms and compensate for many tendencies, but it is not a path that helps us free ourselves from suffering.

From meditation, we immerse ourselves in a subtle, spacious, luminous mind and without any obstruction. At least we begin to savor it and peek into a feeling of fullness that fills everything. From that spaciousness we can begin to observe that mental processes are not solid, their nature is inherently empty of an existence of its own. We begin to discover that our reality is not as solid or fixed as we think. It is constantly changing, and that transience gives us a feeling of lightness and freedom if we integrate and understand it. As we delve into this path, we come to realize how important it is to let go of self-grasping and transform emotions into primordial wisdom.

We start a path with a new route. And both help us to go beyond what is established.

The Awakening project was born with the intention of offering these two integrated paths. We provide a roadmap for those who want to venture to awaken their hearts to their true nature and begin to live in a different way until finally releasing the suffering.

How do the classes take place?

Currently, the classes are adapted to the online and presenline format. Live sessions where you can interact with teachers or professors and also memberships or recorded sessions where the student can access at their own pace without the need for schedules. When the health situation allows it, sessions and face-to-face activities will also be offered.

In Awakening, Mindfulness is given a lot of importance. Why is Mindfulness a Helpful Resource?

Mindfulness is the first step to transform our mind. We have to be vigilant of our processes as a way of self-knowledge. Mindfulness brings us to the present moment. So we can start from where we are. Whatever place it is.

After that step, we can go further. Practitioners have to know that the path to be explored is much longer. Mindfulness is the first step, but from our Awakening project we want to offer much more for those interested in deepening.

Do you think that by offering online training options it will be more accessible to people in general? Have we already reached a point where most people see learning without attending classes as a viable option?

Online training frees us from the limitations of space and time. The meetings are open to everyone and that is very enriching. It makes it easier for people from different countries or cities to participate, which would otherwise be impossible.

Even so, from Despertar we also want to resume face-to-face activities when the health situation allows it. The energy of the group when practicing meditation or sharing an activity is enhanced. We are relational beings and meeting other people with whom we share interests and points of view is something very enriching and nurturing that we cannot give up. Our intention is to facilitate meetings and retreats when possible.

In Awakening you also have the participation of teachers of Tibetan Buddhism. Why do you think it is important to have their experience?

I am very fortunate to have a teacher and great spiritual friends of Tibetan Buddhism. They have a great experience in the spiritual path because they have already traveled it and they have a mastery that we do not have. On the spiritual path we are all learners, like children in kindergarten. That is why we need the figure of a qualified teacher.

If it takes us years to learn worldly knowledge in college and university and we go from the hand of teachers, how can we not need the guidance of teachers who have walked the spiritual? This is a more complex path and it also has its dangers and risks. The spiritual teachers guide us to go through it and not fall into wrong practices or confuse our minds. We can do it on our own, but we will advance faster if they teach us and accompany us. It's like with studies. We can be self-taught, but if we have a good teacher we advance much faster.

An important point is knowing how to choose qualified teachers. There are false teachers who can harm us more than help us. In Awakening we have the blessings, collaboration and advice of masters of the Shangpa lineage Kagyü and Dagpo Kagyü (S.S. Karmapa lineage) of Tibetan Buddhism, belonging to the Dag Shang community Kagyu. A great honor and a great opportunity for everyone who practices with us.

What are the next goals you plan to achieve through Awakening?

Awakening has just been born with force and among our objectives is to establish and promote our platform. Create a meeting point for those who decide to improve our lives and start a path towards the awakening of our hearts. Generate synergies, create a community of sympathizers and practitioners of meditation or contemplative sciences. Encourage accompaniment with highly qualified and experienced professionals in the world of meditation, who provide resources and support to different groups. Always from the knowledge base of psychotherapy, under the light of awareness and the practice of meditation.

For this we will provide alternatives, courses and workshops of interest: mindfulness for different groups, workshops on leadership Compassionate, Programs on Compassion, Emotional Awareness, Acceptance and Commitment, Dharma, Conscious Body, Psychotherapy, Education aware... We will create spaces to address and explore different topics of practice and study.

We have other projects that we will progressively share and adapt to the needs that we feel are emerging among our students.