#745 Key Principles & Aspects of MBSR

a     making the experience a challenge rather than a chore and thus turning the observing of one’s own life mindfully into an adventure in living rather than one more thing one ‘has’ to do for oneself to be healthy.

b     an emphasis on the importance of individual effort and motivation and regular disciplined practice of the meditation in its various forms, whether one ‘feels’ like practicing on a particular day or not.

c     the immediate lifestyle change that is required to undertake formal mindfulness practice, since it requires a significant time commitment (in our clinic 45 minutes a day, six days per week minimally).

d     the importance of making each moment count by consciously bringing it into awareness during practice, thus stepping out of clock time into the present moment.

e     an educational rather than a therapeutic orientation, which makes use of relatively large ‘classes’ of participants in a time-limited course structure to provide a community of learning and practice, and a ‘critical mass’ to help in cultivating ongoing motivation, support, and feelings of acceptance and belonging. The social factors of emotional support and caring and not feeling isolated or alone in one’s efforts to cope and adapt and grow are in all likelihood extremely important factors in healing as well as for providing an optimal learning environment for ongoing growth and development in addition to the factors of individual effort and initiative and coping / problem solving.

f     a medically heterogenous environment, in which people with a broad range of medical conditions participate in classes together without segregation by diagnosis or conditions and specialization of the intervention. This approach has the virtue of focusing on what people have in common rather than what is special about their particular disease (what is ‘right’ with them rather than what is ‘wrong’ with them), which is left to the attention of other dimensions of the health care team and to specialized support groups for specific classes of patients, where that is appropriate. It is in part from this orientation, which differs considerably from the traditional medical or psychiatric models, which orient interventions as specifically as possible to particular diagnostic categories, that the generic and universal qualities of mindfulness-based stress reduction stem. Of course, stress, pain, and illness are common experiences within the medical context, but beyond that, and even more fundamentally, the participants share being alive, having a body, breathing, thinking, feeling, perceiving, and incessant flow of mental states, including anxiety and worry, frustration, irritation and anger, depression, sorrow, helplessness, despair, joy and satisfaction, and the capacity to cultivate moment-to-moment awareness by directing attention in particular systematic ways. They also share, in our view, the capacity to access their own inner resources for learning, growing, and healing (as distinguished from curing) within this context of mindfulness practice.

       quoted from: Jon Kabat-Zinn. “Mindfulness Meditation. What Is It, What It Isn’t, and It’s Role in Health Care and Medicine.” in Ishii Y, Suzuki M, & Haruki Y eds. “Comparative and Psychological Study on Meditation.” Eburon, 1996. 

Abbey Bookshop, Paris   https://abbeybookshop.wordpress.com/about/

 

#656 Suffering - Results Guaranteed

     “We can guarantee ourselves suffering when we cling to a desire for things to be different than they are. We can practically define suffering by saying that it is clinging to that desire. 
      Things are not different than they are. They are as they are.

      Wanting things to change is not the same as putting out the effort and determination to bring about change.”

        The author and his wife barely survived a fiery plane crash, and underwent a long, painful period of rehabilitation for extensive burns and other injuries. He wrote the book “Through the Flames” chronicling their journey. 
       Allan Lokos “The Miraculous Body” Shambhala Sun, May 2015.

studio11photography.blogspot.com

#574 Trying Really Hard and Feeling Frustrated?

     Life can be chronically, irritatingly frustrating - particularly for those of us who put an awful lot of time, effort and gut-wrenching desire into our work. We know we're putting more and more into it, yet the "returns on investment" are pitiful. We assume, that if we set our mind on a goal, any goal, with enough determination, sacrifice, effort, smarts etc, it's simply a matter of time before we achieve it. Then, and only then, will we gain worthiness, approval, respect, admiration, security, peace, and yes - even love. At some future point, but certainly not now, we're much too busy now, we will earn happiness.

     I have direct experiential awareness of this scenario, but fortunately, I'm less & less trapped in it. It's sad but interesting to see friends and colleagues in this same boat. Why do we strive so hard? Why are we so "driven"? Are you stuck in this mud up to your eyeballs?
     The two Nasrudin stories below may shed some clarifying perspectives:

       A man noticed Nasrudin intently inspecting the ground outside his door. 
       “Mulla,” he said, “what are you looking for?”
       “I’m looking for a ring I dropped,” Nasrudin replied.
       “Oh,” the man replied as he also began searching. “Well where exactly were you standing when you dropped it?”
       “In my bedroom,” Nasrudin replied, “not more than a foot in front of my bed.”
       “Your bedroom?!“ the man asked. “Then why are you searching for it out here near your doorway.
       “Because,” Nasrudin explained, “there is much more light out here.”


       One day, Nasrudin began talking to a man from another town. The man lamented, “I am rich, but I am also sad and miserable. I have taken my money and gone traveling in search of joy-but alas, I have yet to find it.” 
       As the man continued speaking, Nasrudin grabbed the man’s bag and ran off with it. The man chased him, and Nasrudin soon ran out of the man’s sight. He hid behind a tree, and put the bag in the open road for the man to see.
       When the man caught up, he located the bag, and his facial expression immediately turned from distress to joy. As the man danced in celebration of finding his bag, Nasrudin thought to himself, “That’s one way to bring joy to a sad man.”  

       Both Nasrudin stories from: http://www.rodneyohebsion.com/mulla-nasrudin.htm

Tribute to the Group of Seven

#573 Wise Effort in Meditation - Effortless, Instant

     "The next time you sit in meditation, notice how often you get lost in thought. What causes that drift into thinking? Did you deliberately try to lose yourself? If not, then getting lost in thought was not your responsibility.
     Now notice when you have awakened out of thought. You may take credit for waking yourself up, but the noticing you are no longer lost in thought occurs after having awakened out of it. 
     You cannot take responsibility for losing yourself or waking back up. What really happens is a mystery.

     The less we do to establish or cultivate awareness, the more it reveals itself."


       Rodney Smith. Awakening. A Paradigm Shift of the Heart. Shambhala, Boston, 2014.

#514 Surviving - OR - Thriving in your Studies?

     It's well known that most of our stresses today, are misinterpretations of threats to our egos, as if these were threats to our actual lives. Extreme examples: one man looks at another man, or another man's girlfriend, "the wrong way", causing (at times lethal) confrontation; paralyzing anxiety over writing "high-stakes exams" eg fellowship, board or bar exams; cyber-bullying tragically leading, in some cases, to suicide. We routinely take some things way too seriously; while at the same time, we pay too little attention to things that actually matter. How we direct our attention & energy can make the difference between barely surviving & thriving.
     For students it's very important to realize that excessive stress also negatively impacts judgment & memory. While studying, if you're worried about doing badly in a subject, you likely waste huge amounts of time & energy listening to negative self-talk. Stress also interferes with your ability to remember the material, so the efficiency of your studying is greatly reduced. Then, while writing the exam, if you're stressed, your judgments eg choices you make on a multiple-choice exam, are negatively impacted. See: http://mindfulnessforeveryone.blogspot.ca/2014/02/490-safe-learning-environment.html
     Not well known is the fact that the opposite of fear-based stress is love. See: http://mindfulnessforeveryone.blogspot.ca/2012/06/140-love.html How much effort did it take for you to learn all sorts of information about your favorite sport or hobby? None - it certainly didn't feel like work! How difficult is it for you to remember all this info? Easy, effortless! 
     To the extent you're able to bring about liking or even loving the subject that you're studying, you eliminate all the self-defeating, energy-draining barriers that keeps the information from going deep into your memory banks. If you don't find the subject itself inherently likeable, can you see how much good will come from knowing it? Now, what you study, will behave EXACTLY like all that information about your favorite sport or hobby. You are learning to open up, & welcome in information. Once it's deeply within "the marrow of your bones", it's readily retrievable & appropriately applicable in any context (test or real-world eg clinical application).
     Learn to become aware of self-talk, thoughts & moods. If they're not helpful, learn to let them go & switch over to ones that work for you! YES YOU CAN!

IlanS   www.dpreview.com

#440 Effort & Inhibition May Differ in Different Contexts

     "According to attention restoration theory (ART), directed attention is voluntary, central to maintaining focus, controls distractions through inhibitory mechanisms, and requires effort. It is vulnerable to fatigue and becomes less effective with sustained use, leading to reduced ability to focus attention, increased performance errors, and heightened irritability. When directed attention fatigue occurs in response to intense and sustained mental effort, individuals experience a condition commonly referred to as mental fatigue."

       Felsten G. Where to take a study break on the college campus: An attention restoration theory perspective. Journal of Environmental Psychology 2009; 29(1): 160-167.

     Acceptance and displacement differ qualitatively from inhibition. The effort used in meditation to stabilize attention is again qualitatively different from how we normally conceive of effort. If "effort" is not expended on things like "inhibition," maybe "fatigue" is not an issue at all in mindfulness. Mindfulness may even be energizing.
     See: http://mindfulnessforeveryone.blogspot.ca/2013/11/435-right-effort-does-not-take-but.html

Greg Burke   www.dpreview.com

#364 Being your own Trainer, Sports Psychologist & Life Coach

     The will to repeatedly put a little bit more quality, a little bit more intelligence - the "right effort" into each activity - to behave mindfully - comes from deep within us. This will is referred to as "heart", "spirit", "character", "intestinal fortitude" or "show us 'what you're made of'". If we learn to consistently dig down deep to manifest that "little extra", we are training ourselves to become progressively stronger, more competent, and more resilient. We transform ourselves into an elite individual, a champion in our chosen field of interest. In other words we intentionally remodel "what we're made of" - our mind, body & emotions - physically & functionally, for the better. Also, we become a fine personal trainer, sports psychologist & life coach to ourselves.

     "Water boils at 100°C, not at 99°C. That 1° of intensity makes all the difference. Workouts are similar ... If you aren't getting results, up the intensity!"               encouragement handwritten on Dalplex exercise room board

     “I’ve always believed that if you put in the work, the results will come. I don’t do things half-heartedly. Because I know if I do, then I can expect half-hearted results. That’s why I approach practices the same way I approached games. You can’t turn it on and off like a faucet. I couldn’t dog it during practice and then, when I need that extra push late in the game, expect it to be there.”         Michael Jordan, NBA MVP 1988, 1991, 1993, 1996, & 1998.
     See also: http://mindfulnessforeveryone.blogspot.ca/2013/06/348-heart-of-mindfulness-practice.html
     and: http://healthyhealers.blogspot.ca/2013/06/basic-essential-life-skills-need-to-be.html

alan-tunnicliffe   www.dpreview.com

#350 Conditioned Reflexes, Autopilot AND Conscious Awareness, Mature Judgment

     During meditation, as loud self-talk settles down, we gradually notice that a much quieter self-talk continues unabated. Also, despite our efforts to let go of thinking, we notice that we're periodically whisked off by a train of thought - one that may not even be particularly interesting. Patiently, peacefully, seamlessly we turn attention back to the here-and-now.
     It takes moderate effort to remain alert, conscious of what precisely is going on in our mind-body moment-by-moment. Monitoring posture, muscle-tone, breath and mind requires moderate effort. Not enough effort, and we go on autopilot or night-time sleep. Too much effort, and we go into striving, doing mode, trying to force something that isn't real, isn't helpful.
     We gradually learn not to take conditioned habits so seriously. Conditioning turns out to be a sadly simple affair as we come to appreciate it in greater detail - with frightening similarity to a drunk's predictable behavior. Sadder still is remaining on conditioning's autopilot.
     Meditation literally allows us to objectively, directly see our (primitive) conditioned reflexes AND gives us the choice, the freedom, the opportunity to try something infinitely better. In "observer-self" we are simultaneously conscious of conditioning AND the creative freedom to choose differently, consciously, wisely. Awareness increasingly stabilizes so we can live in an increasingly mature, evolved, wise manner.

Rick Wianecki   http://photography.nationalgeographic.com/photography/

#168 Effort in Moderation - Right Effort

     "Following your breath is not effortful. When you find yourself making an effort, you are adding to something that is already complete. Try giving your focused, alert awareness 50 percent less effort. The effort is brought simply to the intention and action of becoming still, so that the silt may begin naturally to settle in the stillness of the mind, like water becoming clear. Coming home is letting go, allowing resistance to drop away as it softens in the mind of breathing. Is it effortful to let go? Letting go is already dropping effort." 

        Murphy S. Upside-down zen. Finding the marvelous in the ordinary. Wisdom Publications, Boston, 2006.    - a truly wonderful book - highly recommended


     “Remember, this is not a mental struggle – it is not about thinking differently; rather it comes from getting out of our heads and into our bodies – that is, into the physical experience of the present moment.”                  Ezra Bayda

Photo: Alessandra Meniconzi    www.smithsonianmag.com