#641 Learning to Intentionally Engage with what's Meaningful & Challenging

     • "How do we prepare students to cultivate their own inner resources of spirit and moral courage? 
     • How do we enable them to engage moral and social dilemmas with clarity about their own values . . . ? 
     • And, how, without proselytizing, do we foster students’ own development of character, conscience, and examined values?
 
     Contemplative exercises expand students’ learning from the conceptual faculty of mind to the contemplative (non-conceptual) dimension. In other words, (we can) learn to step back from mental-emotional-behavioral phenomena and 'watch' them unfold, as if from the observer standpoint. The goal is to observe one’s inner and outer activity without judgment. According to scientific research from the last twenty years, it is precisely this contemplative 'observer' faculty that has the power to bring about lifelong learning and shifts in consciousness.

     Contemplative pedagogy (eg Mindfulness) is not about a goal, an outcome, or even effort. It is about being alive to the lifelong path of self-evolution – thereby becoming a beneficial presence in the world, to all beings. Isn’t that what any effective pedagogy aims to do?"

       Fran Grace. "Learning as a Path, Not a Goal: Contemplative Pedagogy – Its Principles and Practices." Teaching Theology and Religion 2011; 14 (2): 99-124.

#557 "Getting It"

     Many of us assume that our very survival depends on automatically grabbing what we want, avoiding what we don't. See: http://mindfulnessforeveryone.blogspot.ca/2012/03/88-avoidance-approach-dichotomy.html Thus, our complex, highly evolved brain is allowed to function at the level of an amoeba's cell membrane.

     In meditation, we learn that our quality of life improves as we recognize, then progressively let go of addictions & aversions. We learn that our prefrontal cortex is highly competent to bring about long-term happiness for us as individuals, for our fellow human beings, other living creatures, and the environment. Our fabulous, underutilized brains & hearts are ready & eager to function at an infinitely higher level. All we need to do is, like a good gardener, provide the right conditions for our higher functioning to flourish.

#523 Benefits of Mindfulness

     "One of the greatest benefits of a powerful faculty of attention is that it gives us the ability to successfully cultivate other positive qualities. With the powerful tool of focused attention, we can uproot formerly intractable bad habits, such as addictive behaviors or harmful thoughts and emotions. We can use it to develop an openhearted stance toward others and, on that basis, experience profound insights into the nature of the mind and of reality, radically altering our relation to the rest of the world."

       B. Alan Wallace. "The Attention Revolution. Unlocking the Power of the Focused Mind." Wisdom, Boston, 2006.
       See also: http://healthyhealers.blogspot.ca/2012/06/sadness-and-lostness-as-mood.html 

Tiplea Remus, National Geographic   http://photography.nationalgeographic.com

#513 Well-worn Grooves & New Perspectives

     At some point, we recognize that we're "creatures of habit". Of course those who know us, are well aware of our patterns of speech & behavior. We tend to react in a typical, fairly predictable fashion, to many situations. It's as if the infinite numbers & varieties of stimuli that we perceive from outside & inside our skin boundary could only "push" one of a small number of possible "buttons".
     The instant we become aware of the repetitive pattern of our thoughts, speech or behavior, we become conscious or mindful - no longer fused with, or trapped in "the momentum of our life". But it's very common and seductively easy to remain in a trance- or dream-like momentum. Even those who have some knowledge of mindfulness retain a strong emotional bias towards leaving their lives, warts & all, in the same old well-worn groove. They strongly resist shifting to greater consciousness. This is VERY similar to a sleepy, grumpy person being unhappy that it's time to wake up, get out of bed, & face the new day. They do not appreciate attempts, no matter how gentle or well-intentioned, to get them up.
     To the extent that we identify with the part of us that is in that sleepy, semi-conscious dream state, we resist change ie resist waking up. Filling life with distractions & addictions helps keep us asleep & keeps our attention away from the sad fact that we're living "a life unexamined".
     If we learn to be our own excellent sports psychologist, life coach & trainer, we can live a progressively more conscious, evolved quality of life. To the extent that we get fed up with sleeping our life away, we intentionally, progressively wake up. This is why we participate in mindfulness training.

     Below is a very good, recent overview of mindfulness by Jon Kabat-Zinn speaking in London.

#436 Readiness for Change is Pivotal

     "According to the transtheoretical model of change, readiness for change is represented across a continuum, from 

          • precontemplation (denial or minimization of a problem),

          • contemplation (considering making change),

          • action (actively engaged in change), and 

          • maintenance (efforts taken to maintain changes already made)."

     This very recent study concluded that "most (current American) veterans presenting for Veteran Affairs mental health care services attend a limited number of visits. Those who report greater readiness for change attend a greater number of mental health visits in the year following intake. Motivational interviewing interventions implemented at entry into care may increase readiness for change and enhance use of needed mental health services."

       Jakupcak M. et al. Readiness for change predicts VA Mental Healthcare utilization among Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans. J Trauma Stress 2013; 26(1): 165-8.

     Readiness for change is, I strongly suspect, the single most important determinant re how much participants benefit from mindfulness workshops (not to mention the obvious: the quality & quantity of their participation). "When the student is ready, the teacher will appear."

     Intellectual curiosity can motivate people to register, but when not actually ready to change, their efforts may naturally be directed towards ensuring that conditions suit their status quo - they naturally identify with their preferences. Unfortunately, intellect is a very common wall or boundary between "self" and real life. Softening & dissolving boundaries is very important, at a healthy pace. For some of us, seeking the assistance of a mental health professional to help unblock natural healthy evolution is a remarkably wise choice.
       Wilber K. No boundary. Eastern and Western approaches to personal growth. Shambhala, Boston, 1979.

     When one is ready to change, one is open to trying new practices that are specifically designed to help participants experience & learn about their relationship to change itself. "Only have no preference" is a very useful koan or open question.

     Motivational interviewing is an evidence-based approach that's particularly effective in addiction work. Arguably, there are only quantitative differences between addiction to substances and the average person's clinging to the momentum of their sleep-walking life - or resistance to living a more consciously evolving life.

       May G. "Addiction and Grace. Love and Spirituality in the Healing of Addictions." HarperCollins, NY, 1988. 

     See also: http://mindfulnessforeveryone.blogspot.ca/2013/07/361-beyond-stress-management-resilience.html 

 

#417 Appreciating & Even Prioritizing QUALITY - Stillness & Silence

     How does it feel when we're about to do something that gives us a quick fix - like eating a chocolate bar (instead of a healthy snack) when we're hungry, or rushing a job to get it over & done with (instead of doing it with appropriate care)? Isn't there a building momentum to approach & complete the act, as if starting to descend from the highest point on a roller coaster, or as if pulled by a powerful magnet?
     When we're being self-centered, grasping for "short-term gains" - we're much like addicts reaching for their addictive substance of choice - big pull, brief elation, big let-down, and we're worse off, knowing we've just added to our own (plus likely our loved ones') "long-term pains".

     In contrast, how does it feel when we're about to do something that's not about us, but for the long-term benefit of others? When we're about to do the right thing? There's no momentum, no magnetic effect. We make wise, mature decisions from a place of stillness, a place of silence. We can feel this stillness.

     Isn't it sad that we become addicted to the "excitement" of brief highs, despite, & even because of their brevity, inevitability of crashing & other hangovers? Why does it take so long for us to let go of cheap thrills? We seem to have to gradually, intentionally learn to appreciate, and very slowly prioritize, peace & mature judgment.
     Quality is a very slowly acquired taste for most of us. Mindfulness practice is a direct way of increasing the pace of this critical - yet mysteriously avoided - experiential learning. Of course we still have prioritize this practice over our habitual momentum-driven distractions.

     See: http://www.johnlovas.com/2013/10/self-concepts-sense-of-momentum-or.html
     and: http://healthyhealers.blogspot.ca/2013/10/uncomfortable-being-still.html 

#389 Trance & Unfiltered Reality

     "People are not simply in or out of trance, but are constantly moving from one trance to another. We have our work trances, our relationship trances, and our parenting trances. Some of these states are useful and appropriate; others are not." Bandler R. Richard Bandler's Guide to Trance-formation: How to Harness the Power of Hypnosis to Ignite Effortless and Lasting Change. HCI, 2008.

     The first two sentences are supported by research:
     "studies on attentiveness show that people are only briefly and unpredictably attentive. Attention habitually diverts to unrelated thoughts and feelings, leaving any task at hand to be managed 'on autopilot.' These studies suggest that mindlessness ('mind wandering,' 'zoning out,' 'task-unrelated thought') is 'one of the most ubiquitous and pervasive of all cognitive phenomena' and that it often occurs unintentionally, without awareness, occupies a substantial proportion of our day, and leads to failures in task performance."        Lovas JG, Lovas DA, Lovas PM. Mindfulness and Professionalism in Dentistry. J Dent Educ 2008; 72(9): 998-1009.

     However, involuntary trance is no more "useful and appropriate" than being addicted to drugs or to any other constant filter between people and reality. I say 'involuntary', because clinical hypnosis is a powerful and very useful therapeutic intervention - as is the short-term use of narcotics for acute pain. But who (besides an addict) would normalize, or especially advocate, daily use of narcotics as a way of life?

     See also: http://mindfulnessforeveryone.blogspot.ca/2012/03/65-embracing-full-catastrophe.html
     and: http://healthyhealers.blogspot.ca/2013/04/fear-avoidance-ineffective-existential.html

Award-winning photo by Stuart Gibson