#234 Shared World of Deep Meaning AND Multiculturalism

     Based on our experience in fifteen 8-week MBSR workshops, with attendees from a wide range of cultures, ages, and educational backgrounds, it's abundantly clear that mindfulness welcomes all to meet in a "shared world" of deep meaning. Mindfulness may well be the Esperanto - the common language - of deeply meaningful connection. As human beings we're all wounded, in need of healing from each other; AND we're all healers through listening deeply, being fully with each other.
     Anything less than such a deep human-to-human connection (see quote below), is a barrier to meaningful communication between individuals, cultures, religions etc (eg doctor-patient, peace talks).

     "Most analyses of traditional healing systems involve situations in which patients and healers share a similar cultural background. In multicultural societies, sufferer and healer may live in different local worlds and may not share the same notions of the roles of patient and healer, the appropriate place and time for healing, the meaning of symbolic acts, and the expected outcome. Where a shared world cannot be assumed, patient and healer must go through prolonged negotiation to define the parameters of an effective clinical encounter. Even when patient and healer find common ground, their co-constructed understandings of illness and healing may run into conflict with larger institutional contexts and the social world. The clinical encounter is embedded in social structures, which may give it unintended meanings and consequences."
       Kirmayer LJ. Asklepian dreams: the ethos of the wounded-healer in the clinical encounter. Transcult Psychiatry 2003; 40(2): 248-77.

Paul Hannon   http://paulhannon.com/

#233 Number of Hits & Meaning?

     A recent editorial had the promising title "Information is not knowledge, knowledge is not wisdom, wisdom is not truth." The abstract indicated the author would describe "the evolution of concepts related to knowledge." 
       Benjamins VR. Information is not knowledge, knowledge is not wisdom, wisdom is not truth. International Journal of Human-Computer Studies (2012), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhcs.2012.10.005 

      Instead, it listed the numbers of hits a series of terms generated on Google. The quantity of anything - be it hits, "likes", or Facebook "friends" - should have no bearing on the quality of your life. Numbers lack inherent meaning.

      "Man's search for meaning is the primary motivation in his life."      Viktor Frankl

Fall in Nova Scotia

#232 Cultivating the "Wisdom to know the difference"

       “Compassion’s way is the way of letting go, of loosening our grip. … We can only become compassionate toward our life and toward those around us when we are no longer preoccupied with trying to control the uncontrollable.
     Acknowledging the inevitability of change does not mean mere passivity or resignation however. We can still ‘row, row, row’ our boat, but gently rather than frantically. We are honest about what we can control and what we can’t, and our efforts are directed toward what’s possible, not what’s impossible.” 
       Magid B. “Ending the pursuit of happiness – a Zen guide.” Wisdom Publications, Boston, 2008.  

     "oncologists ... who saw their role as both biomedical and psychosocial found end-of-life care very satisfying. But those 'who described a primarily biomedical role reported a more distant relationship with the patient, a sense of failure at not being able to alter the course of the disease and an absence of collegial support' ..."
       Jackson AV et al. A Qualitative Study of Oncologists’ Approaches to End-of-Life Care. J Palliative Med 2008; 11(6): 893-906.

Brody JE. "Aiding the Doctor Who Feels Cancer’s Toll" NY Times Nov 26, 2012
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/11/26/aiding-the-doctor-who-feels-cancers-toll/ 

Paul Hannon   http://paulhannon.com/

#231 Practice, Distractions, Letting go, Accumulating

     It's somewhat surprising that even among those who complete and seem to benefit from an 8-week MBSR course, the question arises: is there a follow-up course containing 'new' information? The implication being that now they 'get it' and unless there's something new and different to stimulate (distract) the mind, they'd be bored.
     One of the reasons that we sit still, silently, for up to 50 minutes at a time is precisely to let go of distractions - habitual busyness, so we can clearly study the mind.
     Fortunately, people do take the 'same' MBSR course several times sequentially, and progressively deepen their practice and understanding each time. In fact MBSR facilitators could never teach the exact same course twice because the depth of our understanding is also progressively increasing with daily practice.
     In reality, we're only able to hear or appreciate what we're ready for. As we mature psycho-spiritually, we actually appreciate things as if we heard them for the very first time. So 'beginner's mind' is really a way of avoiding 'premature closure' - the common tendency to catch the drift of a theme and immediately 'shut down', because one (mistakenly) assumes one already 'knows all about it'.
     We can spend all of our waking hours these days reading the flood of scientific and other papers and books on mindfulness should we wish to simply accumulate knowledge. No matter how much we read about mindfulness - but don't practice it - we know NOTHING about it. More importantly, such scholars derive NO benefit in terms of decreasing their own suffering, or improving their quality of life.
     Those who teach mindfulness MUST have a deep ongoing personal practice, guided by wise teachers, if they are to truly help themselves & others. "See one, do one, teach one" is just plain wrong when it comes to being a guide to an immensely deep, broad, way of life.

     Practice refers to the discipline of cultivating a crucial capacity of mind, such as wisdom or concentration. Practices are rehearsals of desired qualities, which eventually become spontaneous, natural ways of being.” 
       Walsh R. “Essential spirituality. The 7 central practices to awaken heart and mind.” John Wiley & Sons Inc, NY, 1999.

Photo: giants   www.dpreview.com

#230 First we Must have Self-compassion

     "To be able to forgive others, we first need to hold the wound inside of ourselves with compassion - compassion to our own sense of woundedness.
     If you see a little dog and you bend over to pet it, but suddenly it leaps at you and bares it's fangs and is about to bite you, then you go suddenly from being friendly to being angry and alarmed. But then you notice that underneath the leaves, the dog's leg is caught in a trap. Again your mood suddenly changes and all of a sudden it's 'Oh, you poor thing' because - and this comes from wisdom - you see how this behavior was coming out of suffering. That is really the dynamic of forgiveness.
     First we need to see for ourselves, when we act in ways we don't like, if we can deepen our attention and see our own hurts and fears underneath our behavior. It's not that we want the behavior to go on, but we hold ourselves with the kind of compassion and understanding that actually frees us, that allows us to have more intelligence and creativity as we move on. This is the alchemy of self-forgiveness, to contact our own vulnerability and hold ourselves with kindness requires an actual offering to ourselves of forgiveness."   Tara Brach PhD

The Compassionate Brain with Dr. Rick Hanson
Session 3: Cultivating a Forgiving Heart 
live.soundstrue.com/compassionatebrain

Michael Wood   http://miksang.com//michael_wood.html

#229 Mindfulness - NOT JUST a goal-oriented therapy

     “Mindfulness is significantly altered in both intent and method when it is separated from its spiritual *** origins and applied in clinical contexts such as psychotherapy and behavioral medicine. The shift from a spiritual to clinical framework requires a consideration of what mindfulness methods are intended to do and how they intend to do it. More specifically, when a clinician conducts guided mindfulness meditation (GMM) and then encourages the client to carry on practicing the core elements of that process, what personal, interpersonal, and contextual factors influence the degree of benefit derived by the client?”

       Yapko MD. Mindfulness and hypnosis. The power of suggestion to transform experience. WW Norton & Co, NY, 2011.

 *** spiritual, in the context of mindfulness' origins, has nothing to do with dogma, and everything to do with skillfully reducing suffering and improving health and quality of life - much like modern health care itself. The real distinction is between the short-term, specific goal-orientation of therapy eg remove something from one's life - like fear of flying, versus the broad, deep life-transforming aims of Mindfulness (MBSR) as taught by Jon Kabat-Zinn's team at UMASS.

See also: http://mindfulnessforeveryone.blogspot.ca/2012/10/210-why-mindfulness-meditation.html 

Andre Gallant   http://www.andregallant.com/

#228 The Power of Attention, Intention - every Thought, Word & Deed

     “Our attention / intention and every word we say to ourselves and others serve as virtual posthypnotic suggestions that alter our perceptions of reality – and thereby reality itself – for good or ill. It is exciting for me to realize that much of the world is out of touch with the power we all have to create the kinds of realities we desire, but that this does not have to be so. We can actually change reality, each and every one of us, and shift our consciousness and the consciousness of the whole planet to a higher level.”              Lama Surya Das

Yapko MD. Mindfulness and hypnosis. The power of suggestion to transform experience. WW Norton & Co, NY, 2011.   

Fall in Nova Scotia

#227 Suffering CAN lead to Meaningful Integration

     "Suffering begins with a perceived threat of destruction and ends either when the threat has passed, or a sense of integrity is otherwise restored."
       Cassell EJ. The nature of suffering and the goals of medicine. N Engl J Med 1982; 306(11): 639-45.

     Research shows that “some emotions … will be painful and unpleasant but will promote healing. This makes it impossible to separate positive and negative emotions as if they were healthy and unhealthy, respectively. Assuming that unpleasant or negative emotion is unhealthy overlooks the primary function of emotions as being adaptive. … none of the affective-meaning states are inherently pathogenic. However, getting stuck or persistently ‘repeating’ any one of these components will cause emotional disorder … a healthy self-organizing trajectory reaches its completion as a meaningful, emotionally differentiated, and integrative experience. However … it may begin as a sense of intense, poorly regulated, and ill-defined global malaise.”
        Pascual-Leone A, Greenberg LS. Emotional processing in experiential therapy: Why 'the only way out is through.' Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology 2007; 75(6): 875-887.

Photo: Sudeep Mehta   www.dpreview.com

#226 Liberative perspective on Adult Development

     “It is difficult to summarize succinctly the liberative perspective (on adult development) because it encompasses such a diversity of developmental pathways, from coping with stress to meditation. However, the function of liberative development is to reduce conditioning (or hyperhabituation or mindlessness, to use different theorists’ terms) derived from external and internal sources. Adult development is thus not merely a product of biology and social adaptation, but also involves individual choice & personal commitment to change. Indeed it should be viewed almost as the antithesis of childhood development. Throughout childhood and adolescence, one develops complex schemes and habituates to specific stimuli, until advanced levels of biological, cognitive, and social / emotional development are reached – physical maturation, abstract thinking, and autonomy. The liberative perspective requires that, for optimal adult development to occur, the individual must deconstruct the existing framework or at least not be constrained by expectations about how one should act or feel. Ideally, one returns to a state of receptivity or child-like openness to experience.”

         Levenson MR, Crumpler CA. Three Models of Adult Development. Human Development 1996; 39: 135-49. 

Photo: senn_b   www.dpreview.com

#225 Forgiveness, Justice, Vengeance, Grief

     "Everyone who loses somebody wants revenge on someone ... But in Africa, in Matobo, the Ku believe that the only way to end grief is to save a life. If someone is murdered, a year of mourning ends with a ritual that we call the Drowning Man Trial. There's an all-night party beside a river. At dawn, the killer is put in a boat. He's taken out on the water and he's dropped. He's bound so that he can't swim. The family of the dead then has to make a choice. They can let him drown or they can swim out and save him. The Ku believe that if the family lets the killer drown, they'll have justice but spend the rest of their lives in mourning. But if they save him, if they admit that life isn't always just... that very act can take away their sorrow."
     "Vengeance is a lazy form of grief.”

       Silvia Broome in the movie: The Interpreter (2005)

At Eternity's Gate   Vincent Van Gogh

#224 What are we waiting for - Perfection ???

     "Perfectionistic people often assume that a flawless arrangement is waiting to be discovered. A more realistic view is that it is impossible to balance work and family life in a way that pleases everyone. The only hope is compromise. There is no magic. Each member of the marital dyad must make compromises in the direction of meeting the needs of the other person. These compromises provide a flawed but workable solution. Even more important, they require a process that is critically important in maintaining a viable marriage. As long as each member of the couple is negotiating with one another, the marital relationship is existing in the present instead of being postponed.
     The wisdom of living in the present has been known for centuries.*** How easily we overlook the observation of Epicurus (341-270 BC): 'The fool with all his other thoughts, has this also: He is always getting ready to live.'"

        Gabbard GO, Menninger RW. The psychology of postponement in the medical marriage. JAMA 1989; 261(16): 2378-81.

*** actually, over 2,000 years

Photo: Mandy Mojica   www.dpreview.com

#223 Mindfulness, Time Affluence, Commuting, Quality of Life

     "Mindfulness is (a) personal circumstance which enhances individuals’ mental health, positive social engagement, and adaptive behavioral regulation. Mindfulness is defined as a present-oriented, open, and nonjudgmental expression of conscious awareness. Unique among other theories of awareness such as self-concept and integrative awareness, mindfulness is associated with monitoring and observing moment-by-moment sensory and psychic events. Further, those who practice mindfulness remain detached from identity concerns, seeking instead to accept experiences as they arise. Therefore, it is reasonable to expect that mindfulness is related to peaceful, restorative experiences within the context of the work commute, which can be labeled commute attunement. Mindful travelers are likely to ‘attune to’ their commuting experience; for example, they report feeling relaxed and content while traveling to work and are more capable than less mindful travelers to cope with potential sources of commute-generated stress and agitation.

     Furthermore, mindful cognitive states coordinate and interact with other perceptions and needs. Relevant here is recent research ... which suggests that thoughts relating to feeling one has sufficient time to engage in activities that are personally meaningful and growth-promoting, can enhance the salutary effects of mindfulness. Such time-related perceptions represent a construct known as time affluence. Individuals with high degrees of time affluence report abilities to perform tasks in a leisurely manner and to deeply reflect upon life experiences. In addition to time affluence, mindful states have greater probability of expression when psychological needs such as competence, or feelings associated with performing activities with skill and aptitude, are satisfied. Therefore it is likely that greater levels of time affluence and competence are apt to facilitate increasingly robust expressions of mindfulness. Further, past work indicates that satisfaction across life domains is frequently fortified by greater levels of time affluence, competence, and mindfulness."

        LaJeunesse S, Rodriguez DA. Mindfulness, time affluence, and journey-based affect: Exploring relationships. Transportation Research Part F: Traffic Psychology and Behaviour 2012; 15(2): 196-205.

Photo: Clint Dunn   www.dpreview.com

#222 Physically processing emotions - Mindfulness meditation's systematic desensitization

     Staying with (acceptance of) the unpleasant physical sensations of emotions such as fear, AND witnessing it objectively (a process Western psychology calls cognitive defusion) is how we "physically process" or work our way through difficult emotions in mindfulness practice.
     Amazingly, we learn this powerful, far-ranging skill during mindfulness meditation by simply sitting still - when our nose tickles, when our feet want to move, and even when we want to get up and end the sitting prematurely. We're fully aware of the physical feeling, without words or stories, we examine it with curiosity, accept it fully, and stay with it, observing how it arises, remains for a while, changes, and disappears from whence it arose, without us ever having to react. (Psychiatrists & psychologists use similar concepts - systematic desensitization / graduated exposure therapy - to treat phobias & other anxiety disorders.)
     We learn in a very direct experiential manner how we can intentionally “outgrow” the clutches of fear, anxiety, chronic pain, etc. All that we fear, worry about, or are otherwise imprisoned by, can thus "lose their solidity." We are no longer fused with these transient energies (phantoms) passing through the mind.
     We remember "the story", but it's no longer "my drama," for the emotional charge progressively dissipates. We free ourselves. Our mind-heart becomes relaxed, free, open. We come home to the stillness and silence of our center.

     See: http://www.johnlovas.com/2012/12/physical-processing-neuroscience.html

Henri Rousseau (1844–1910) - "Fight Between a Tiger and a Buffalo"

#221 Ego Defended Suffering; Undefended Authenticity & Joy

     We've all experienced a wide variety of fears: hearing a strange noise when alone in a house; walking into an exam less than adequately prepared; feeling ignored by people we care about; being insulted or made fun of; an impending medical or dental appointment; having a nightmare; and the list goes on and on. What do all of these have in common? These all pose a threat to our self-concept - our unique, fictional idea of who we assume we are - ego.
     To the extent that identity is fused with self-concept ie "I am my self-concept", we suffer. What does this suffering feel like? Just recall any of the situations above: basically the fight, flight, freeze response - the reptilian reaction to threat to survival: physical tightness, increased heart rate, racing thoughts etc - an adrenalin rush, like too much caffeine. Yet it's usually only the ego being threatened - a fictional concept. For many of us, the ego is constantly under attack and constantly being defended - relentless stress & suffering - over an idea!
     It's essential to recognize and make use of the fact that a quiet ego - "(hypo-egoic state) is responsible both for the sense of well-being that tends to accompany many positive psychological experiences (such as flow, meditation, and transcendence) and for prosocial beliefs and actions ..."
         Leary MR, Guadagno J. "The role of hypo-egoic self-processes in optimal functioning and subjective well-being." (Chapter 9) in: Sheldon KM, Kashdan TB, Steger MF. eds. "Designing positive psychology: Taking stock and moving forward." Oxford University Press, NY, 2011. 

     How can we avoid a lifetime of self-inflicted suffering? As soon as we feel the old caffeine-rush sensation of the ego trying to defend itself, we can kindly accept our brain stem trying to help, and abort this defensive mission. The healthy adult alternative to armoring ± counterattack involves learning to let go of tension in various parts of the body, learning to accept ourselves and others as we / they are, learning to listen with an open mind, asking questions with real interest and concern. All of these gradually, progressively lead towards an undefended state, where we find authenticity and joy.

Fall in Nova Scotia

#220 How's work working?

     We often hear how people dislike their jobs, and can hardly wait to go home for the day, weekends, holidays, and count their days until retirement. This attitude is 'celebrated' in many songs:

"Everybody's workin' for the weekend
Everybody wants a new romance
Everybody's goin' off the deep end ..."

-

"Workin' 9 to 5
What a way to make a livin'
Barely gettin' by
It's all takin'
And no givin' ..."

     The implication, for many, is that who they are at work is phoney, and they can only "be themselves" and "really let loose" when away from their boss and work environment. This is a sad situation for everyone - worker, co-workers, boss, as well as those who end up using the services or products of such workplaces. Such fear-based relationships to external authority figures leads to cynicism, 'presenteeism', moral decay, burnout, depression / anxiety, job loss, and even suicide.
     Mature adults know what changes need to be made in their workplace to make it humane and productive, and they go about making it happen. They never give up trying to find ways of improving, whatever system they're a part of, from the inside. 
     Passive-aggressive adversarial relationships with places of employment are sadly common, and self-defeating. Adults can and must do better - for their own and everyone else's quality of life. To flourish, adults must live authentic, undivided lives. 

See also: http://mindfulnessforeveryone.blogspot.ca/search?q=anomie
and
http://mindfulnessforeveryone.blogspot.ca/2012/03/83-undivided-life.html

Fall in Nova Scotia

#219 Coaching ourselves

     Mindfulness practice is about awareness & acceptance of whatever the present holds out to us - embracing it, and ourselves, with eyes wide open, just as it is, and as we are.
     This is done patiently, gently, at the pace that works for us as individuals. We work at the pace that best works for ourselves in order to make steady lifelong progress. We learn when to ease up and when to work a bit harder. We can and need to become our own best life coaches.

     Life Coaching Courses: http://www.canc.ca/Courses.html

Montreal, Province de Quebec

#218 Mindfulness - coming out of trance

     Many have claimed that “we’re all in a trance most of the time.” In clinical hypnosis workshops we learn firsthand what trance looks and feels like. In mindfulness meditation, we have glimpses, brief at first, of what clarity or being out of trance feels like. So consciousness does not have to be limited to trance-like states. Experiencing the clarity of mindfulness requires that we intentionally rewire our brains, because by default, we have all been seamlessly slipping into trances throughout life. Mindfulness is intentional training to come out, and remain out of, trance.

     Mindfulness involves intentional alert moment-to-moment awareness of, and appropriate interaction with, whatever the present moment holds. 

     Mindfulness is not goal-directed. One does not practice mindfulness in order to achieve something, get somewhere else, or become something different. Mindfulness is a process - like sobering-up, as well as a state of being - like sobriety.

Photo: BBrooks   www.dpreview.com

#217 Worrying is Painful; Reality is Workable & leads to Happiness

     Recently, Dr. Ian Lyons at UWO's Numerical Cognition Laboratory, demonstrated that among those who fear math, anticipating having to do math in the future activates the same part of the brain that indicates visceral pain. However, when actually doing math, these same people do not experience pain.
"Pain By Numbers" - on CBC Radio's "Quirks and Quarks", Nov 3, 2012
http://www.cbc.ca/player/Radio/Quirks+and+Quarks/ID/2299909815/

     For some time we've known that vividly imagining the sight, sound, taste, feel etc of any activity - be it eating a delicious, cold, crisp, sweet & sour lemon meringue pie, or imagining being cornered, alone, in a dark alley by a gang of knife-wielding robbers - causes physiologic responses as if the event were actually happening. This is the basis for "going to a happy place" via hypnosis, but also for causing ourselves tremendous suffering of depressive wallowing and anxious catastrophization.
     Thinking of real or imaginary, past or future events, can indeed elicit powerfully painful or somewhat pleasant physiologic responses. However, the response to mindfully experiencing what the present moment actually holds may be surprising.
     Being mindfully engaged in the present moment, regardless if the particular activity would conventionally be considered pleasant, neutral or unpleasant, is agreeable, in fact more agreeable than going to one's "happy place".
         Killingsworth MA, Gilbert DT. A wandering mind is an unhappy mind. Science 2010; 330(6006): 932.
 
     It's becoming clear that letting go of the past, letting go of attempts to micromanage the future, and putting our whole energy, mind, heart & body, into what we're doing right now is best - "Just Do It!"

Between Domaine de Grand Pré Winery and The Olde Lantern Inn, Nova Scotia

#216 Ego-gratification or Awakening - What are YOU training for?

     “In the West, our ideal of a whole person is someone who is adjusted, creative, not destroyed by passion and addiction, and successful by some worldly standard. … an alternative ideal (is) a person who does not cling like a magnet to collective, unconscious values. This person realizes that the satisfaction of the ego, known to us as success or self-esteem, does not offer the deep tranquility and the liberation from craving that quintessentially we yearn for. This awake person knows that being in tune with the law of one’s nature, which is not separate from the law of community and the law of the natural world, is the best definition of happiness.”
     Moore T. Original self. Living with paradox and authenticity. HarperCollins, NY, 2000.

Montreal, Province de Quebec

#215 Whose side are you on - Anger or Wisdom?

     Normal human maturation involves transitioning through various stages throughout life. These psychological developmental stages are well described, but not generally well known or understood. "Black & white thinking" (rigidity & ambiguity-intolerance) and tribalism (identifying completely with a particular group, very closely linked to self-centeredness) are characteristic of adolescents and pre-adolescents. Unfortunately, some people never mature beyond these stages.
     Typical examples of such arrested development are found among gangs, "empire builders", and other cults. "You're either with us or against us" is a typical sentiment, and violent crime & other extreme adversarial measures are not only condoned, but advocated to promote the "in group" at the expense of "outsiders". Of course, members of these groups are "cognitively fused" - identify completely with the group's thoughts & emotions ie are "zealots", "true believers", "brainwashed", with trance-like adherence to "group-think", devoid of individual objective perspective or morality - "my (insert tribe) - right or wrong". The 1998 movie, "American History X", starring Edward Norton, is a powerful study of cults (see trailer below). The 2012 movie, "The Master" is also insightful.

     The classical “Greek view (is) that wisdom is a marriage of knowledge and virtue (and) that folly is a product of ignorance about what matters in life and how to solve life’s problems.”
     Ferrari M, Potworowski G, eds. “Teaching for Wisdom: Cross-Cultural Perspectives on Fostering Wisdom.” Heidelberg: Springer, 2008.

      “There exist within us … latent but unexplored creative capacities, depths of psyche, states of consciousness, and stages of development undreamed of by most people.”
       Walsh R, Vaughan F eds. Paths beyond ego. The transpersonal vision. Penguin Putnam Inc, NY, 1993.

     “The challenge is, can we live more consciously? In a sense, mindfulness and mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) are really about the art of conscious living. … Our work in MBSR is based on the conviction that … we have infinitely more capacity and dimensions – and I emphasize the plural – that we usually simply ignore. Even the educational system emphasizes only certain aspects of development, such as critical thinking, but it doesn’t emphasize somatic experience or intuitive experience or the cultivation of compassion or, for that matter, self-compassion or empathy and all sorts of other aspects of being human – including perhaps the most fundamental of all – awareness itself, which is an innate capacity we share by virtue of being human.” Jon Kabat-Zinn
       Gazella K. Bringing mindfulness to medicine: An interview with Jon Kabat-Zinn, PhD. Adv Mind Body Med 2005; 21(2): 22-7.