Developing Mental Resilience to Cope with Life Experiences (‘Dis.tress')? BL, Singapore, June 2009

“I AM NOT OK.” – MENTAL DIS…TRESS…OUR HABITUAL REACTION TO LIFE’S EVENTS

External negative ‘events’ – Instinctive reaction – Fight or Flight Survival of self and others (Basic)

DIS…tress – Agitation of mind (psychological) Emotional agitation (emotion - a mental and

physiological state associated with a wide variety of feelings, thoughts, and behaviour)

Internal negative ‘events’ – Habitual reaction Unable to Battle or Flee ‘the exhaustion funnel’

“Slight pain we can endure but we hope that severe ones will be brief.”

WORRY AND ANXIETYSOURCES OF DIS…TRESS

Worrying: Is ‘mind-made’. Is a lasting preoccupation with past or future negative

events: Reliving the past – remorse, lamentation – diminished self-

esteem Living out a future – anxiety and fear – confusion

Can create emotional dis…tress: Extreme ambiguity creates intolerable anxiety (a defused

feeling) We develop ways to alleviate anxiety:

Technology – overcome nature (harnessing for benefit of all) Law and rules – relationship with people (values and ethical

bahaviour) ‘Religion’ – relating to transcendental forces (virtuous and

wholesome mind)

OUR EXPERIENCE…SHOT BY AN ARROW

Experience –

*Labels and Concepts – Coloured by our: Views and perceptions, and Intention

“Men decide far more problems by hate, love, lust, rage, sorrow, joy, hope, fear, illusion, or some other inward emotion, than by reality, authority, any legal standard, judicial precedent, or statute.” Cicero

Events

Interpretation*

Habitual ReactionEmotions

Romancing the

Emotions

THE PATH TO MINDFULNESSEXAMPLE OF HABITUAL REACTION TO

PROBLEMS

Emotions & Mood

i.e. Grief, Fear and Anger

Anxiety

Dissatisfaction

Despair

SYMPTOMS OF

STRESS

HABITUAL REACTION

Our Habitual ways of solving problems invariably end up making

things worse. E.g. suppressing, finding distractions etc.

Compulsive

Behavior

Addiction

Obsession

Life was to be searched or nothing!But it was

the fear that it was

nothing that drove me forward.

Every encounter

was an encounter

with myself.”- John Le

Carre-

MIND-BODY INTERDEPENDENCE…BEING A LIFEGUARD

Experience – It is both mind and body: Sustaining Well-being –

An undefeated mind, and In the pink of health

Responsibility – Mental development Physical health Well-being - Both… with an open heart (motivation)

BARE ATTENTION…AN ELEPHANT?

Consciousness –

Feeling (pleasant, neutral, unpleasant) ------------------------------------------------------ Perception (coloured by views) Mental volition (reactive or responsive) Consciousness

“All action is of the mind and the mirror of the mind is the face, its index the eyes.” Cicero

THE PATH TO MINDFULNESS

Emotions & Mood

i.e. Grief, Fear and Anger

Anxiety

Dissatisfaction

Despair

SYMPTOMS OF

STRESS

HABITUAL REACTION

Our Habitual ways of solving problems invariably end up making

things worse. E.g. suppressing, finding distractions etc.

Compulsive

Behavior

Addiction

ObsessionSTOP!!

TOOLBOX: MINDFULNESS – A PARTICULAR FORM OF AWARENESS

OBJECTIVE: “SETTLING THE MIND IN ITS NATRUAL STATE”

APPROPRIATE RESPONSE…HAVING A RIGHT TEACHER

Meditation – An endogenous body-mind approach for developing personal resilience. Calm abiding – composing the mind:

Chatter Sloth

Introspection – insights of nature, relationships and self: Attachment Aversion Self-doubt

Establishing right mindfulness – Mindfulness is mental state, characterized by calm awareness of one's body functions, feelings, content of consciousness, or consciousness itself. It is appropriate attention, and involves the qualities of being: Mindful (keep remembering) Alert (clearly knowing) Ardent (effort with skill)

“A mind without instruction can no more bear fruit than can a field, however fertile, without cultivation.” [Cicero]

THE PATH TO MINDFULNESSEXAMPLE OF HABITUAL REACTION TO

PROBLEMS

Emotions & Mood

i.e. Grief, Fear and Anger

Anxiety

Dissatisfaction

Despair

SYMPTOMS OF

STRESS

Suspend judgement temporarily

Open-Mindedn

ess

Compassion for

Self

Patience

Engage wholeheartedly in the practice with gentle persistence.

A TASTE OF MINDFULNESS How?

It is purely experiential (just being), and Being engaged in introspection (going ‘inside’).

Function: To disengage the pattern of mental activity

(processes) by severing the link between - Mood (mirage-like) and negative feelings Unpleasant emotion and depressive state of mind (illusion-

like)

A Taste of Mindfulness

CHANGE IS POSSIBLE – PROCESS WORK…FROM HABITUAL REACTION TO APPROPRIATE ATTENTION

Developing mental resilience and overcoming mental rigidity through: Mindfulness cultivation

Meditation on the Four Virtues: Loving-kindness, compassion, appreciative joy and equanimity Attenuating self-centered-ness (‘I’) -

Attachment Aversion

Managing polarities: ‘Yin and yang’, ‘chi’, ‘prana’ Realign and unite body, mind and spirit – eg yoga, tai chi, TCM

HINDRANCES TO CONCENTRATION

Overcoming the five hindrances to developing appropriate attention: Sensual desire (attachment, obsession)

Ill will (aversion, lacking goodwill)

Sloth and torpor (dullness, apathy)

Restlessness and anxiety (out there)

Doubt (causality, present moment)

THE BENEFITS OF MINDFULNESSA PROCESS CHANGE

i.e. feelings, thoughts,

behaviour and attitude

DEVELOP RESILIENCE AND WELL-

BEINGi.e. confidence,

good health, etc.GRADUAL CHANGE FROM HABITUAL

BEHAVIOUR

CULTURAL ORIENTATION[RICHARD E. NISBETT]

EAST Self-control

Family and friends Member of collective

social network Harmony Holistic - Senses and

interdependence ‘Tao’ and change Logic - Linear and

either/or

No mind - analogue

WEST Control of others and

environment Plays and poetry Individual talent and

agency

Liberty Atomized - Form/ideas

and reality based on attributes

‘Soul’ and static Logic - Cyclical and

both/neither Mind - digital

MINDFULNESS TAKEAWAY

2.BODY ACTIVITY

Eating mindfully3.

MINDThoug

hts using

analytical

approach

4.INTERDEPENDEN

CY

1. BODY SENSATIONSScanning and Breath

MINDFULNESS TOOLBOX

“Simplicity is the most difficult thing to secure in this world. It is the last limit of experience and the last effort

of genius.” [George Sand]

EQUANIMITY……WHAT IS THE TASTE OF SALT?

To have evenness of mind under stress A habit of mind that is only rarely disturbed under great

strain To be free of emotional and mental agitation by an effort of

will or as a matter of habit To be cool and steadfast under strain

"I am angry and resentful, because I feel rejected, offended, betrayed, sidelined, outcast, annihilated...... unloved and unappreciated. "

[Ayya Kema]“A life of peace, purity, and refinement leads to a calm and untroubled old age.”

[Cicero]

HOW DO I KNOW I AM MAKING PROGRESS?

Taking responsibility for one’s own

deeds(accountability)

Being free of fear

(selflessness)

OUR DAILY LIFE… FREE TO DECIDE…AN OSTRIDGE

Body – Seeing, listening, smelling, touching, tasting Driving, teaching, authoring, movie making Walk, jog, swim, sport, rock climb, yoga, tai chi, silat,

pilates Read, music, paint, sew, cook, parenting, care-giving, acts

of charity A small act of random kindness

Speech – In conversation

Mind – Aspiration, thoughts and intention

Rest and sleep – Does the mind ‘rest’ in sleep?

RISK CONSIDERATIONS ‘Flooding’, or the experience of emotions that are too

difficult to process on your own

Skills in attention and concentration can lead to an over-developed competitive and materialistic drive

Introspective skills can lead to a tendency to withdraw from life experience (cynical and aloof) as opposed to fully engaging in it

Suppression of difficult emotions as opposed to awareness of them can be a byproduct of a misunderstanding of the process of mindful awareness

[Susan K Greenland]

CLINICAL INTERVENTIONS INCORPORATING MEDITATION

Some well-known techniques to reduce pain, stress and social anxiety

disorders, regulate emotions, and increase well-being: Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction, Jon Kabat-

Zinn (30 years) A technique combining mindfulness practice and yoga to

reduce stress (emotional) and chronic pain Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy, Segal,

Teasdale, Williams A method of psychotherapy which blends features of cognitive

therapy with mindfulness techniques to help prevent relapse into depression

Dialectic Behavioral Therapy, Marsha M. Linehan A method that combines standard cognitive-behavioral

techniques for emotion with concepts of mindful awareness and acceptance to help borderline personality disorders

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Hayes, Strosahl, Wilson

A clinical practice incorporating mindfulness techniques

EMOTIONAL REGULATION AND SELF PROCESSING

Some Research Findings of Clinical Interventions Incorporating Mindfulness:

Enhancement of emotion regulation – cognitive, attention (alerting, re-orienting, executive control), distraction

Enhancement of Self Processing – reduction in neural bases of analytic/narrative self – Analytic/narrative self – past- future oriented, fixed self-concept (conceptual notion), rumination Experiential self – present moment focused, continuously changing experience of self, reduced over-generalized memory, i.e. reduced depression (over-coloured past experiences – lose specificity), and anxiety[Watkins and Teasdale]

Neural synchrony of brain systems (considered by some to be the neural correlate of consciousness)