#92 Psychological flexibility

     Psychological flexibility is defined as “contacting the present moment as a conscious human being, and, based on what that situation affords, acting in accordance with one’s chosen values. … (It) guides people in persisting with or changing their actions, in accordance with the values-based contingencies that they contact, when they are willing to experience the present moment.”
     Bond FW, Hayes SC, Barnes-Holmes D. Psychological Flexibility, ACT, and Organizational Behavior. Journal of Organizational Behavior Management 2006; 26(1-2): 25-54.

     “Psychological flexibility spans a wide range of human abilities to: recognize & adapt to various situational demands; shift mindsets or behavioral repertoires when these strategies compromise personal or social functioning; maintain balance among important life domains; and be aware, open, and committed to behaviors that are congruent with deeply held values.”
     Kashdan TB, Rottenberg J. Psychological Flexibility as a Fundamental Aspect of Health. Clin Psychol Rev 2010; 30(7): 865-878.

     “The world is too dangerous for anything but truth and too small for anything but love.”                      William Sloane Coffin

Photo: Steve Macek   www.dpreview.com

 

#187 Psychological flexibility = Mature EVOLVING Human Being?

     "Psychological flexibility (is) the ability to act effectively in accordance with personal values and goals in the presence of potentially interfering thoughts and feelings."
       McCracken LM, Gutierrez-Martinez O. Processes of change in psychological flexibility in an interdisciplinary group-based treatment for chronic pain based on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. Behav Res Ther 2011; 49(4): 267-74.

     Don't we expect any mature civilized human being to behave according to core human values and responsible long-term goals (for self & society), regardless of his/her past or present, internal or external circumstances?

     Psychological flexibility is the combination of 1) acceptance, 2) cognitive defusion, 3) present moment awareness, 4) self as context, 5) values, and 6) committed action.
          Thompson M, McCracken LM. Acceptance and Related Processes in Adjustment to Chronic Pain. Curr Pain Headache Rep 2011; 15: 144–151. 

     Each one of these is cultivated through mindfulness practices.

Fig 1. from Thompson & McCracken 2011

#759 Savoring Mindfully

     Positive psychology defines "savoring" as "the process of learning to focus attention on positive events to increase one's sensitivity to naturally rewarding experiences, such as enjoying a beautiful nature scene or experiencing a sense of connection with a loved one." Garland EL et al. "Mindfulness-Oriented Recovery Enhancement for Chronic Pain and Prescription Opioid Misuse: Results From an Early-Stage Randomized Controlled Trial." Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 2014; DOI: 10.1037/a0035798

     This differs from how I use the term mindful savoring in teaching MBSR, the central focus of which is seeing the full scope of reality clearly, as it actually is. My use of this term overlaps with the definition of "connoisseur," and may best illustrated thus:
     A wine expert (sommelier) can "blind taste" a variety of wines and with great accuracy, provide details of the type(s) of wine, type of grapes, country of origin, perhaps even the specific vineyard and year of harvest, and how well this particular vintage/winery combination represents the region. With great enthusiasm, a wine connoisseur can provide considerably more details than this, and yet actually consume little if any wine (they usually spit it into a special container), and unless the wine is actually spoiled (eg "corked"), will not indicate whether or not s/he personally "likes" or "dislikes" it. 
     Mindful savoring is based, first & foremost on intimacy - a profound openness to & interest in, a kind of love if you will - an open mind & heart - toward all wines & wine-making in general. This is qualitatively different from rigid, reactive, black-&-white judgments / personal preferences ("I hate this" - or - "I crave this").
     The important mindful aspects of savoring: non-judgmental, open / transpersonal (vs narrow / personal) awareness & psychological flexibility (vs rigidity).

     Consider the effect on your quality of life were you to mindfully savor the innumerable people & phenomena you encountered - the richness of the infinite variety of experiences is unimaginable. 

     In contrast to mindful savoring, aren't we more prone to rigidly identify with our preferences? How unlikely are we to meet people / phenomena that we rate amazingly desirable ("must haves") or that we rate terribly undesirable ("must avoids") - very seldom, right? But don't the vast majority of people / phenomena fit in between - the vast numbers of "neutrals" we hardly notice or even try to avoid, having judged them "boring"? (Remember the "inn-crowd" in high school?)
     To the extent that we fail to mindfully savor, our life is dull & frustrating,filled with wanting, striving, waiting & disappointment.

     Psychological flexibility paves the way towards de-armoring, knowledge about & intimacy with ourself, others & life in general. Rigidity, the opposite of psychological flexibility, is an armored dead-end: https://mindfulnessforeveryone.blogspot.com/2013/01/261-psychological-rigidity-i-will.html

    
     

#262 Psychological Flexibility & Flowing with - OR - Rigidity & Crashing against

     The present moment constantly presents us with new challenges and creative opportunities IF we're awake to appreciate them. To be awake, we must be aware AND accepting. A great deal of flexibility is required to constantly accept new challenges, for these challenges are indifferent to our personal preferences. See: http://www.johnlovas.com/2014/04/reality-entitlement.html
     Reality flows, constantly changing, like a river picking up an infinite amount of new stuff from the air, shore, and riverbed, and likewise leaving behind an infinite amount of old stuff. Each of us is somewhat like a cup of water in this massive, rapidly flowing river of life. 
     Other analogies: being a musician in a large orchestra; being a cell in a complex multicellular organism; driving a car during rush hour traffic ("you're not stuck in a traffic jam, you are the traffic jam").
     Clearly we need to be consciously aware of the reality in which we're intimately interwoven. We're completely immersed in and entirely dependent on this one complex ecosystem, which in turn depends on each one of us. Being an intelligent, informed and decent citizen - "team player" - is absolutely NATURAL. Being otherwise eg selfish, thief, liar, counterfeiter, vandal, etc while common, is COMPLETELY UNNATURAL.
     Moment-to-moment we choose, mindfully or mindlessly, to flow with or crash against reality. Each choice impacts everyone, everything, forever - how could it possibly not?

     Humor: "In the 60's, people took acid to make the world weird. Now the world is weird and people take Prozac to make it normal."           Anon

See also: http://mindfulnessforeveryone.blogspot.ca/search?q=Psychological+flexibility

Tamer by Kristiina Lehtonen   http://www.kristiinalehtonen.fi/index_en.php

#627 Foolish Behaviour & Identity

     Some of our behaviors obviously run contrary to our own long-term interests. And yet we cling tightly to our self-sabotaging behaviour patterns!
     How many times have you heard someone point out another's repeated self-defeating behaviour, only to be answered immediately with a defensive angry outburst: "but that's who I am!!"
     Most of us identify with our behaviour patterns, including those that are seriously damaging. Why? Because the pattern of our self-talk, thoughts, & behaviour is perhaps the most stable of all phenomena. Everything changes, but we can pretty well fossilize a rigid personality for life - at a huge cost to our quality of life. So we pretend that our own foolish behaviour patterns are "solid & reliable" in an otherwise mysterious, constantly shifting, evolving universe.
     We can do much better than that. We can constantly monitor our own self-talk, thoughts, speech & behaviour to see if these are appropriate & beneficial to the present moment and for our own & others' long-term happiness. If not, we can accept it, let it go, and choose to think, speak or act more wisely.
               If it's not helpful, do less of it;
               If it's helpful, do more of it.
     This is mindful practice and it's result: psychological flexibility. Psychological flexibility permits steady gradual evolution in consciousness, and thus wiser thoughts, speech & behaviour. 
     One's identity is neither solid, nor unchanging - it can & should evolve, throughout life, and not be held down in dysfunction. Advice during meditation about letting go of words and images, and remaining appropriate to the task in front of us, applies equally to "self-image". Many wise people have advised that we forget "the self" and concentrate on being kind. Of course this does not endorse self-neglect or self-abuse. However, being overly concerned about the 'self' guarantees suffering, while helping others consistently brings happiness & joy.

Halifax colors

#597 Flow with - OR - Rigidly Oppose Life ?

     Mindfulness practice gradually leads us to experience life as a constant flow of energy. With psychological flexibility, whatever comes up becomes "workable". We learn to live in a peaceful, synergistic, collaborative relationship with people & nature.

     This comes about naturally as we learn to let go of psychological rigidity: black-or-white thinking, judgmentalism, dogmatism - fear-based reactions of a reified ego against a presumed hostile universe - see: http://www.johnlovas.com/2014/11/painful-mistaken-identity.html At some point, most people come to realize that the old caveman stance simply doesn't work.

Fiona Wiseman   https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.706893482727591.1073741831.100002208364263&type=1&l=3362c32dc6

#456 Awakening to Things as They Are

     We progressively awaken to the moment-to-moment reactions we have to life by noticing how each reaction is preceded by a felt physical sensation. Two amazingly frequent sensations:
     1) closing off, tightening / hardening of the body - particularly the heart-mind - towards stimuli that we negatively judge. This is aversion or hatred - a rigid, adversarial reaction.
     2) aching hunger - particularly in the gut - towards stimuli we judge to be enticing, desirable. This is craving or clinging - a wanting, wishing, pining away for, desperately desiring to keep reaction.
     In aversion / hatred we're running from / fighting off stuff, in craving / clinging we're running after / desperately hanging-on to stuff, based on the fundamental misunderstanding: that things as they are, are unacceptable. 
     And how actually are things as they are? Fluidly changing, ephemeral - far more like inner transient energies than solid external chunks of matter, that can either be accumulated in our bedrooms, or hauled far away to be buried.
     These are not dogma, simply observations at a given stage of mindfulness meditation practice. From a Western psychological perspective, it represents a normal, healthy shift from rigidity towards psychological flexibility & accepting reality.

St. Andrews by John England   http://www.fogforestgallery.ca/bios/bio_england.html

#181 Healthy Psychosocial Maturation, Evolution of Consciousness - Why We Practice Mindfulness

     The purpose of mindfulness practice is to grow in wisdom. It's an intentional journey of learning and understanding. Mindfulness practice provides ideal conditions for our consciousness to mature, evolve:

• from stuck in the past & future toward dynamic presence 
• from self-centered reactivity toward altruistic response to others’ needs 
• from “I can’t handle this” toward increasing abilities to manage complexity, ambiguity & difficulty (ie real life) with competence & composure
• from rigidity & cynicism toward psychological flexibility, acceptance, humor & joy 

Lake Winnipeg, Gimli, Manitoba

#564 Curious, Open - not Gullible

     Mindfulness is not about dogmas, nor any other form of rigidity.

     "... challenge all teachings ...
     There's a lot of baloney out there. Years ago, a wonderful Hindu teacher ... said, 'The longer the beard, the bigger the fake.' And he, himself, had a beard that almost touched the floor.'"
       Larry Rosenberg. Three Steps to Awakening. A Practice for Bringing Mindfulness to Life. Shambhala, Boston, 2013. 

     Mindfulness is about trying practices found to relieve suffering and bring about peace and joy, and seeing what effect these may have on your life.
     If these improve the quality of your life, do them more. If, after a reasonable trial period, they don't, make sure you're doing them properly. If you're still getting nowhere, try something else. You may (or may not) return to mindfulness practices at a later point in life.
     An excellent approach to statements that seem novel or difficult to understand, is to let them sit, in the back of your mind, as open questions. Their meanings may gradually unfold by themselves.
     Research shows that being open and curious (psychological flexibility) has many, profound benefits over it's alternative (rigidity). 

     See: http://mindfulnessforeveryone.blogspot.ca/2012/01/18-normal-human-development.html

#120 Openness (Quality 6)

     "Openness = Seeing things as if for the first time, creating possibility by paying attention to all feedback in the present moment."

       Cardaciotto L. Assessing Mindfulness: The Development of a Bi-Dimensional Measure of Awareness and Acceptance. PhD Thesis, Drexel University, 2005.

dspace.library.drexel.edu/retrieve/4264/Cardaciotto_LeeAnn.pdf

     "Beginner's mind", "porousness" and "psychological flexibility" are other terms for openness. Mindfulness training involves gradually letting go of armor - physical, intellectual etc. This requires trust of course. And our bodies have memories too, so there's quite a lag period between when the mind and body are ready to let go of some old wound.

     "Carl Rogers defined fully functioning people as 'allowing awareness to flow freely in & through their experiences.'”
       Walsh R, Shapiro SL. The Meeting of Meditative Disciplines and Western Psychology - A Mutually Enriching Dialogue. American Psychologist 2006; 61(3): 227-39.

Jon Kabat-Zinn "The Healing Power of Mindfulness - Part 3" at Dartmouth College (27min)

#15 Welcome changes

     We'd like to change circumstances to suit us, but controlling situations and others is rarely possible. Nevertheless, it takes us perfectionists a long time to let go of the illusion of control. The rigid attitude: "to be happy, I must have these, but must avoid these" causes frustration and unhappiness for all concerned.

     Learning to feel peaceful, "at home" in this world, comes with a shift in perspective, in attitude. With patient training, rigidity gradually evolves into psychological flexibility.

     Terry Dobson's story - "A Soft Answer" - illustrates this beautifully: http://easternhealingarts.com/Articles/softanswer.html

     Simon & Garfunkel performing "I am a rock": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ptddLe1IXaA&feature=related

#392 BOTH Anxious, Confused, Reactive - AND - Calm, Clear-minded, Wise

     We gradually let go of rigid black-or-white dualistic thinking as we become aware of infinite shades between extremes. As we broaden our intellectual & emotional horizons (gain psychological flexibility), we increasingly appreciate our own & others' weaknesses AND strengths.
     Seeing another's weakness opens our hearts to fellow human beings who, like all of us, are carrying heavy burdens.
     Seeing another's strength inspires us, knowing that we ourselves also have at least some of that very same capacity.

     Wisdom involves clearly seeing & compassionately accepting imperfection, while at the same time, resting in awareness & nurturing inherent wholeness. See: http://mindfulnessforeveryone.blogspot.ca/2013/09/393-awareness-acceptance-dwelling-in.html

     "Therapeutic presence is the atmosphere for attending to the person's pain and vulnerability, while engaging their inner resiliency and wholeness."
       Palmer PJ, Zajonc A. The heart of higher education: A call to renewal. Transforming the academy through collegial conversation. Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, 2010.

  Muck AND Beauty

#409 Quick Simple Categories versus Reality

     Many of us are more comfortable making quick either-or-judgments than exploring subtle shades of gray ie we tend to see things as either black or white. We quickly conclude that we like or dislike something, can or can't do a task, etc. Dichotomous thinking is our default autopilot mode. We may even identify with such ambiguity intolerance - "that's me, that's who I am, always was and always will be."
     Gradually we learn that virtually nothing is black-or-white. Extremes are perhaps only concepts, with infinite real shades of gray in between. Even two apparently polar opposites can be present and true at the same time eg we each have a number of subpersonalities, one of which may resemble a vulnerable child, and another a wise grandparent. Clearly, concepts and models of reality are but very rough sketches. Our growing psychological flexibility allows us to break free from the corner we may have boxed ourselves into, and to increasingly embrace reality as it is. We begin to realize that ambiguity intolerance is an adaptive over-simplification of an enormously complex, constantly changing world. And we ourselves are infinitely more complex than a pattern of likes and dislikes. 

#241 Disengaging from the Mind's Momentum & Unnecessarily High Cortisol Levels

     On getting out of bed in the morning, I can feel my brain revving up - getting all the balls I'll be juggling during the day up in the air above my head.

     The biochemical mechanism behind this is the cortisol awakening response (CAR) - "the sharp increase in cortisol release observed over the first 30 min after awakening. ... the cortisol rise after awakening reflects the anticipation of the day’s demands."

     Most of us do not face real danger in our daily work - we artificially create stress by magnifying insignificant things out of proportion & by "multitasking" ie failing to focus our whole mind-heart-body on completing each task - one at a time.
     Now I know that I have a choice first thing in the morning: 1) to become one with (cognitive fusion) speeding-up thoughts OR 2) see them as just thoughts (not reality itself) from an objective, observer perspective (cognitive defusion).
     Most of my life I've gone with #1 by default, but I no longer want to be swept away by the momentum of stressful busyness. Now I'm able to choose #2! It's like putting my foot on the clutch, and disengaging from a revving engine. It's quite obvious, and quite wonderful! On the rare occasion when there's something truly stressful coming up in my day, then I focus on meeting that challenge, so more cortisol is appropriately released.
     "a flexible adaptation of the CAR to situational demands was associated with positive states & traits (ie low stress, low neuroticism & high happiness). Conversely, a loss of flexibility - which resulted in a level of arousal that was either too low or too high compared to environmental demands - was associated with negative states & traits."

       Mikolajczak M et al. Cortisol awakening response (CAR)'s flexibility leads to larger and more consistent associations with psychological factors than CAR magnitude. Psychoneuroendocrinology 2010; 35(5): 752-7.

Photo: grantbush   www.dpreview.com

#261 Psychological Rigidity - "I have always ... I will never change!"

     "Although the term rigidity may be somewhat out of vogue among personality and social psychologists today, we continue to see considerable interest in a range of highly related personality variables, such as flexibility, need for closure, and openness to experience. Indeed, every major personality inventory contains a dimension similar to rigidity. ... Social psychologists have always been interested in behavior change. As presented in the following review, rigidity is the tendency of an individual not to change.
     On the basis of our definition of rigidity, the tendency to develop & perseverate in the use of mental or behavioral sets, the present review of the literature supports the following major conclusions:

• Rigidity is related to age in a curvilinear manner. Between the ages of 5 and 18 rigidity decreases; between the ages of 18 and 60 rigidity is fairly stable; and from age 60 on rigidity increases in a linear fashion.
• Although rigidity is found to be generally positively related to authoritarianism, the basic effect is moderated by stress, whereby authoritarianism is a stronger predictor of rigid behavior under stressful conditions than it is under relaxed conditions.
• Rigidity is negatively related to intelligence when people of average and above average intelligence levels are compared.
• It is inconclusive whether people with mental retardation differ in rigidity from people without mental retardation.
• Men tend to be more rigid than women.
• OCD is positively related to rigidity.
• Schizophrenic people are more rigid than nonschizophrenic controls and nonschizophrenic siblings. This effect is reduced, but still significant, when medication is administered."

        Schultz PW, Searleman A. Rigidity of thought and behavior: 100 years of research. Genet Soc Gen Psychol Monogr 2002; 128(2): 165-207.

Dan Siegel MD