#699 Humility & Mindfulness

     "Some people think that humility is thinking lowly of yourself; some people think it's not thinking about yourself. 
     But to me, the best definition of humility is radical self-awareness from a distance. Seeing yourself from a distance, and saying 'What's my problem?'.  ...
     Success is earned externally, by being better than other people.
     Character - that unfakeable goodness - is earned by being better than you used to be."

       from David Brooks' interview (below) by Judy Woodruff, about his new book: "The Road to Character." Random House, NY, 2015.

#696 Freedom

     “We are free when we are not the slave of our impulses, but rather their master. Taking inward distance, we thus become the authors of our own dramas rather than characters in them.”

        Huston Smith, Jeffery Paine. “Tales of Wonder. Adventures Chasing the Divine. An Autobiography.” HarperOne, NY, 2009.

#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.

#285 How my Heart Feels - Heavy or Open?

     Feeling "heavy-hearted" (closed- or hard-hearted or armored) is a common, lousy, oppressive feeling. All attention and worry is turned inwards. It's all about my story, poor me, what's going to become of me? Round and round the worried, anxious mind goes, what's going to become of me? Heavy, tight, claustrophobic, sickening, tiresome sensations, constant noisy self-talk, with a sense of being stuck, urgent flight or urgent chasing.
     Feeling "light-hearted" and "open-hearted" is less common, but we're all familiar with it. It's a care-free, happy feeling of everything somehow being the way it should be. The sense of self ("me, myself & I") is barely noticeable, the focus of attention is on everything else. A sense of stillness & peaceful silence dominate. It's partially the presence of one's chest being relaxed, open, radiating warmth, but perhaps more the relief from not feeling constriction, tightness and heaviness. Interestingly, traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) understands disease as constriction & blockage; and health as the free, unobstructed flow of energy. TCM and osteopathic treatment aim to release blockages, permitting the free flow of vital energy (qi).
     Mindfulness training also loosens & untangles our tight knots, by helping us accept our inner child's reactivity, and increase our skill in returning to our wise "observer-self" - our wise grandparent subpersonality, sitting on the bank of the river of our life, calmly, lovingly, seeing the big picture, allowing us to think, speak and act from this wise, mature perspective. 

     See also: http://mindfulnessforeveryone.blogspot.ca/2013/03/301-open-heart-energized-closed-heart.html

Photo: Steve McCurry   http://stevemccurry.com

#39 Observer-self

     We've all experienced moments of profound peace, silence and clarity - sometimes outdoors in nature, holding a loved one, or even at a time of life-threatening danger.

     Mindfulness training involves awakening to, and learning to spend more time - to rest - make ourselves at home in, this dimension of ourselves - "cultivating a certain kind of intimacy with the core of our being" (Jon Kabat-Zinn) - our observer-self.

     “Mindfulness is a key element … to establish a sense of self that is greater than one’s thoughts, feelings, & other private events. By practicing mindfulness … (we) learn to develop an ‘observer-self’ perspective, in which (we) can examine previously avoided thoughts & feelings in a nonreactive & nonjudgmental way. Adopting this observer perspective facilitates cognitive defusion, in which (we) learn to notice thoughts without necessarily acting on them, being controlled by them, or believing them.” 

     Dahl J, Lundgren T. “Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) in the Treatment of Chronic Pain.” in Baer RA ed. “Mindfulness-based treatment approaches: Clinician's guide to evidence base and applications.” Elsevier Academic Press, San Diego, CA. 2006. 

Photo: LincolnB   www.dpreview.com