Mindfulness Practice PDF

Mindfulness Practice A. Mindfulness, awareness and acceptance B. Calm-abiding practice 1. Effects of mindfulness on attention 2. Relationship between attention and happiness C. Mindfulness practice 1. Insight 2. Acceptance and transformation 3. Open, non-judgmental awareness D. Mahamudra Mindf...

Mindfulness Practice A. Mindfulness, awareness and acceptance B. Calm-abiding practice 1. Effects of mindfulness on attention 2. Relationship between attention and happiness C. Mindfulness practice 1. Insight 2. Acceptance and transformation 3. Open, non-judgmental awareness D. Mahamudra Mindfulness ✧ Mindfulness is a popular and evidence-based method for cultivating greater self-awareness and enhancing physical and psychological wellbeing ✧ Exactly how effective mindfulness is though in promoting psychological and neurological changes associated with happiness is controversial ✧ Reason probably has to do with fact that there are an enormous number of different ways to practice “mindfulness” ➜ These differences will almost certainly affect outcomes ✧ Thus a thorough understanding of mindfulness and different mindfulness practices is key to a fair evaluation of research in this field − This lecture will focus on traditional mindfulness practice o Research in this area seems quite solid, as studies are largely brain-based with matched controls and large effect size − The following lecture will discuss research on mindfulness therapies and adaptations of traditional mindfulness practices o Research findings in this area are more controversial Awareness and Acceptance All traditional mindfulness practices, as well as mindfulness therapies, share a common aim of cultivating an attitude of awareness of the present moment with acceptance • This is an attitude that extends toward whatever is arising at the moment, including thoughts, feelings, and experiences of contact with the outer world • The aim is in line with the psychoanalytic view that it is primarily experiential avoidance that causes distress Neuropsychological evidence that awareness/labeling of negative emotions actually reduces their intensity: Ø fMRI study by Lieberman, Eisenberger, Crockett et al. (2007) • Participants were shown frightening faces/faces expressing strong emotions and asked to choose a word that described the emotion on display • Controls were asked merely to identify the gender of the people in the photos ➜ Labeling the fear-inducing object - Reduced activity in the amygdala, the seat of fear and other negative emotions - Increased activity in parts of the prefrontal cortex (right ventrolateral and medial PFC) involved in vigilance and discrimination, relative to controls ☞ Naming the emotion transformed the images from objects of fear to objects of scrutiny, potentially resulting in a more effective response Ø Study on spider phobia (Kircanski, Lieberman, & Craske, 2012) • Researchers recruited participants who had a spider phobia and exposed them to spiders • Four experimental conditions that differed in their instructions for what to do with the anxiety 1) Label the anxiety felt about the spider 2) Reappraisal: think differently of the spider so that it feels less threatening 3) Distract from the anxiety elicited by the spider 4) No specific instruction (control) • Later (on Day 2 and Day 9), participants returned to the lab and were again exposed to spiders to test the long-term effects of their emotion manipulation ➜ Those who had been assigned to labeling their emotions had lower physiological reactivity to the spiders, as measured by skin conductance responses ➜ Within the affect labeling condition, participants who verbalized a larger number of fear and anxiety words had even fewer skin conductance responses Awareness and acceptance can thus serve to defuse negative emotions Unfortunately though, being accepting and nonjudgmental is easier said than done because of our natural human tendency to avoid painful experiences ➜ It is very difficult, if not impossible, to force ourselves to fully experience situations and emotions that we deem (or fear) to be painful • Traumatic experiences are a classic example of this • However, even in ordinary life, we are constantly dissociating from painful situations and emotions – or ones that we think may potentially cause pain − This may range from actual pain-inducing experiences to insights that might cause us to feel bad about ourselves ☞ There is a limit to the extent to which we can force ourselves just to “be with” our anger or sadness or fear Meditation is a technique that can help resolve this problem of experiential avoidance Step One in mindfulness practice is to engage in focused meditation because 1) It is very difficult to be aware of ourselves and our surroundings if we are afflicted by “monkey mind” ➜ Focused meditation allows us to calm monkey mind 2) Focused meditation ultimately enables us to connect with the “suchness” of experience, which produces a sense of general “Okness” Focused meditation is just calmly abiding, with the object of concentration – not obsessive glomming • There should be a relaxed connection with the object • The aim is to “be present with the object,” not to lock onto it and grip it like a dog, or to concentrate on it the way you might concentrate on memorizing the details of an image • As the meditation develops, allow your perception of the object to change as you are present with the object on more and more subtle levels… - The focus becomes just stillness itself, rather than the physical object - You find that there is something in you that is imperturbable and open, fundamentally calm - Developing one-pointedness of concentration enables you to find one-pointedness in yourself, the non-moving mind, which resolves all things « Stilling the eyes is a way of stilling the mind ☛ 1) Calm Abiding Practice 1. Find a quiet place and sit in a comfortable position with your spine straight. You can sit cross-legged or in a chair. 2. Tilt the chin very slightly down but do not allow the head to loll forward. Place your hands comfortably on your lap. 3. Take a few deep breaths. 4. Collect your attention, and begin to move it slowly down your body. Notice the sensations in each part of your body. Relax any tensions, particularly in the face, neck and hands. 5. Direct your gaze softly downwards or close your eyes if you wish. 6. Focus on an object (e.g., a bit of the wall in front of you, a statue, a sound like “Om”) or on the breath. 7. Be fully present with the object of your attention. If you are focusing on the breath, don’t gloss over the inhalation and say, “OK, well, this is the inhalation part” – that’s just labeling it. “Be with” each in-breath for its full duration and with each out-breath for its full duration, as if you were riding the waves of your own breathing. Seek nothing. No “next”! 8. Integrate your whole body in the experience. Meditation is state of full body awareness. 9. If your attention wanders (and it will!), simply release the thought and focus back on the object of your attention. 10. After a while, you can try noticing the distractions and acknowledging it with a simple word, e.g., thinking, wandering, hearing. Meditation Q & A 1) If one has a physical condition that makes sitting uncomfortable, is it OK to meditate while lying down or standing up? • Yes, and in fact, depending on the physical condition, that might be highly advisable • There are four standard meditation positions: sitting, lying down flat on one’s back, standing, and walking 2) Can focused meditation produce negative effects? • In general, focused meditation is considered a safe practice, but there are large individual differences in how people respond to any practice, so use good judgment and stop and seek help when necessary • Also, in particular, for those with trauma or abuse histories (or “fear types”), even basic meditation practices can can lead to intense, and possibly uncomfortable emotions - In those cases, when doing focused meditation, it is recommended that one direct attention to an external object or the feet, rather than the breath, as the latter may trigger too many memories and emotions 3) How do I find time to meditate?! v There is never enough time to do everything but there is always enough time to do the most important thing. – Brian Tracy • If you find yourself saying that you do not have time for 5 minutes of meditation but you just spent 20 minutes – or 2 hours – that day mindlessly surfing the internet, watching YouTube, or doing social media... ➜ Your agitated monkey mind has taken control – probably because you are stressed and desperately trying to obtain relief v That mind is invested in keeping you agitated, but don’t fall for it – it’s a trap!! − It’s important to recognize that, but also not to beat yourself up for it − Remember there is no such thing as failure, only feedback Ø Lurid example of the agitated mind and how it causes us to be unable to sit alone with our thoughts and emotions • Participants were asked to sit in a chair, without a device or a book and without falling asleep, for 6 to 15 minutes • They were given the option to self-administer mild electric shocks rather than just sit alone with their thoughts ➜ 67% of men and 25% of women did just that! (Wilson, Reinhard, Westgate, et al., 2014) 4) I find myself feeling really frustrated with monkey mind when I meditate. What to do? • Meditation takes practice and repetition - Beginners usually can only “quiet” or “still” the mind for no more than a few seconds at a time - If your mind never wanders, you would not have to practice mindfulness! ☞ Every time you’re able to catch your mind wandering and bring it back to the object of concentration, you’ve actually succeeded ★ On the other hand, if after several days of practice, your mind just doesn’t seem to be settling, you could also try • Exercising vigorously before doing sitting practice • Doing yoga or tai chi or walking meditation instead 5) What am I supposed to do when I’m engaged in calm-abiding meditation practice? • Notice the thoughts, then release them, and go back to the object of attention. Don’t beat yourself up for having thoughts, but don’t follow them either. • Don’t try to achieve a different level of thinking or stop your thoughts. • When you are able to still your mind to a certain extent – to just be with the object in calm abiding presence, you can simply rest in that awareness. Just be. Meditation Positions Cross-legged positions • This is the most stable posture for meditation • Choose a cushion that is the right thickness to support you Full-lotus and half-lotus positions - Excellent for establishing stability of body and mind - Gently cross your legs by placing one foot (for the half-lotus) or both feet (for the full-lotus) on the opposite thighs Full-Lotus Half-Lotus ☞ Important: If you would like to learn lotus position, it is highly recommended that you find a qualified meditation teacher or yoga instructor who can teach you how to do that properly - Sitting in lotus isn’t just a matter of forcing your legs into a certain position. Your hips need to rotate in a certain way to avoid injuries in the long run. - From my personal observation, rates of knee and back problems among long-term meditators in meditation groups in the US seem to be much higher than the norm - So please be very careful – it would not be fun to spend the last twenty years of your life in serious pain! ➜ Meditation is about cultivating peace, joy, and nonviolence, not enduring physical strain or injuring our bodies Other cross-legged positions Burmese position - One foot rests behind the other Simple cross-legged - Requires less flexibility than traditional positions Kneeling posture - May be preferable if you aren’t very flexible or are a bit overweight - Body weight is supported by a meditation cushion Sitting in a chair - You need to sit upright without slumping your shoulders. You should have your back erect, not leaning backwards fully. - Place the hands on your thighs with the palms down. - The feet should be flat on the floor in a comfortable position. If the chair is too tall and your feet don’t reach fully the floor, you might need something that will support your feet. A big hardback book can help or a cushion placed on the floor so that you can step on it. Mudras Mudra: A symbolic or ritual gesture principally performed with the hands and fingers that assist in focusing attention and energy • The meaning of these hand positions vary in the different traditions of Buddhism • In general, palms up positions promote opening to receiving while palms down positions promote grounding or gathering of internal energy Eyes Open or Eyes Closed? Advantage of meditating with eyes closed: • Easier to tune out distractions and stay focused, so may be easier to go more deeply into meditation, especially for beginners Advantage of meditating with eyes open: • Easier to generalize meditation experience/apply meditation insights to everyday life Intention Traditionally, at the beginning of each formal sitting session, practitioners would bring to mind “the three jewels” • Spiritual teachers or guides • Truth – reality itself and accurate descriptions of it • Good company - This includes all those who have applied the teachings and gotten some level of results ➜ It’s about putting yourself in the mindstream of these spiritual teachers and aspirants v It can also be helpful to remind yourself that you are doing this for the benefit of all beings The importance of breathing • Traditionally, the breath was a common object of concentration • Whether or not you are using the breath as your object, breathing and awareness of your breath are very important! • Diaphragmatic breathing, marked by expansion of the abdomen, rather than the chest, can be highly effective in reducing stress and negative mind states ☛ Notice the next time you feel stressed. Take a few deep breaths. You’ll feel better immediately. • There is a particular type of breathing that is associated with the aliveness and centeredness that characterizes deep meditative states − When you are in a deep meditative state, you can use the breath as a kind of anchor Effects of Meditation on Attention Attention: ability to focus on one thing and ignore others • In many ways, being able to screen out distractions provides the building blocks for happiness since failure to selectively attend can make it impossible to sustain positive emotions, be tuned in to environmental context, etc. Selective attention Ø Study on meditation practitioners who completed a 3-month mindfulness retreat (Lutz, Slagter, Rawlings et al., 2009) • Retreatants were tested before and after the retreat • During the retreat, each person logged in more than 12 hours of meditation a day, or 1000+ hours over the 3 months • Controls were meditation novices who practiced 20 minutes per day Method: • In lab, tones of high and low pitch were played through earphones • Participants were asked to only press a button under particular conditions, such as whenever they heard a high-pitched tone or only when they hear a high-pitched tone in, say, the right ear • Participant’s score was number of correct minus incorrect button presses Results: • Variability in meditation practitioners’ response time fell by 20% after retreat, whereas that of controls actually increased • Meditators also showed greater reduction in reaction time overall than novices though this difference did not reach significance • In addition, brain activity was recorded using EEG during selective attention task − What jumped out was a measure called phase-locking, evident in the retreatants post-training − This is a pattern of electrical activity that reflects the degree to which brain waves (in prefrontal only) become entrained or synchronized to external stimuli − It happens only if the brain is not a jumble of mind-wandering and thoughts – or dissociating from the present moment − These effects were associated with o Enhanced activity in the anterior insula o Greater functional connectivity between the insula and neurons in the vmPFC and pgACC ★ This type of entrainment and neural synchrony (which is associated with high gammawave activity) might be the brain signature of what the meditation practitioners themselves report experiencing during meditation: • A reduction in mental elaborations which results in … • A change in the quality of moment-to-moment awareness, bringing with it a vast panorama of perceptual clarity v “It is as if a mental fog lifts, one that you did not realize had been impeding your perception” Ø Variation of selective attention task using magnetoencephalography (MEG) (Kerr, Jones, Wan et al., 2011) • Participants underwent 8-week training in Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) • In lab, asked to focus on either their hand or their foot Results: • When participants focused on their foot, alpha waves, which reflect cortical idling, increased in the part of the somatosensory cortex devoted to feeling the sense of touch on the skin of the hand • Control group showed no such increase ➜ Mindfulness meditation minimized activation in regions that were not relevant to the object of attention − That is, mental training helped the brain to reduce background chatter and focus on selected information Ø MRI study on long-term meditators (10,000-54,000 total hours of practice) and controls during calm-abiding meditation practice (Brefczynski-Lewis, Lutz, Schaefer et al., 2007) • Used dot on ceiling of MRI tube as object of concentration Results: • Anterior and posterior attentional networks were activated, including dorsolateral prefrontal, superior frontal sulcus, intraparietal sulcus and visual cortex • Expert meditators had more activation in attention regions than novice meditators as a whole • However, meditators with the most hours of meditation experience (37,000+ hours) actually had less activation of attention networks than even the novices • The graph looked like an inverted U: activation rose as the number of hours a meditator had practiced rose, but then fell as the number of hours of practice increased beyond 25,000 or so • Proposed explanation: A dedicated amateur cyclist will pump harder and faster than a bicycling novice while getting up a steep hill – reflecting greater muscle capacity – but a Tour de France-caliber cyclist will ascend the same hill almost effortlessly ➜ The most experienced meditators were able to maintain their focus and concentration with even less effort than the controls Activation in concentration meditation block vs. resting state block for A: Expert meditators B: Age-matched novice meditators C: T-test subtraction of expert meditators Red hues reflect greater activation in experts vs. novices Blue hues reflect greater activation in novices vs. experts But maybe the expert meditators thought this was a silly exercise and just weren’t focusing at all… Ø So follow-up study was conducted in which researchers would pipe 2 seconds of sound into headphones every 6-10 sec, either: • Something neutral, such as ambient noise recorded in a bustling restaurant • Something pleasant like a baby cooing • Something disturbing such as a woman screaming Results: • Upon hearing the sound, novice meditators showed − A reduction in activity in attention regions − An increase in activity in regions associated with unrelated thoughts, daydreams, and emotional processing – the latter probably a reflection of their annoyance at having their concentration disrupted • Expert meditators showed no such increase in distraction-related regions ➜ Provided strong evidence that the brain’s attention systems can be trained − Also suggests that advanced levels of concentration can keep emotional reactivity in check Relationship between Attention and Happiness ✧ Above studies indicate that meditation training can enhance the ability of the prefrontal cortex to boost signals it wants to attend to and attenuates signals it wants to ignore − Davidson found that people differ by a factor of thirty in the level of activity in their prefrontal cortex (Davidson, R., 2012) ✧ Why is this important? − As mentioned, the ability to focus attention provides the building blocks for other components of happiness, such as the ability to sustain a positive outlook − In addition focus of attention may be more directly related to happiness, conversely, mind wandering may be associated with dysphoria… Ø Study in which 1000 people were texted at random times throughout the day (Killingsworth & Gilbert, 2010) • As soon as participants received text, they had to answer 3 questions 1) What are you doing right now? 2) Where is your mind right now? Is it focused on what you’re doing or is it focused elsewhere? 3) How happy or unhappy are you right at this very moment? Results: • Average American adult spends 47% of waking life not paying attention to what they’re doing • When they were not paying attention, they were significantly less happy v “A wandering mind is an unhappy mind” Mindfulness as a Two-Part Process ✧ However, use of calm-abiding practice (focused awareness) to stabilize the mind is only the first step in mindfulness practice ✧ This first step is what make the second step – mindfulness or awareness of the present moment with acceptance (open monitoring) – possible because… − It connects you with the suchness of things, with the ground of reality, which imbues all things with a sense of “Okness” − This causes the sense of judgment to naturally drop away, and there is a cognition that everything is exactly as it should be v Whatever is felt is meant to be felt, and whatever is thought is meant to be thought ♫ “There is no where you can be that you were not meant to be” ♬ ☛ 2) Mindfulness • When a thought arises, note - How it manifests in your body - How it manifests in your energy (i.e., emotionally) - Whether it is a positive, negative, or neutral thought • You can also try noting more specifics about the thought, e.g., whether it is about wanting, grasping, anger, fear, etc., as well as the kind of self the thought is associated with ★ Traditionally, students would begin mindfulness only after they had stabilized their mind with extensive calm-abiding practice (typically 6 months – 2 years) ☛Mindfulness Meditation 1. When your attention is relatively stable on the object of attention, try shifting your awareness to the process of thinking itself. Watch thoughts come into and leave the field of your attention. 2. Try to perceive them as “events” in your mind. 3. Note their content and their charge while, if possible, not being drawn into thinking about them, or thinking the next thought, but just maintaining the “frame” through which you are observing the process of thought. 4. Note that an individual thought does not last long. It is impermanent. If it comes, it will go. Be aware of this. 5. Note how some thoughts keep coming back. 6. Note what feelings are associated with different thought contents. 7. If you get lost in all this, just go back to focusing on the object. v Important: this exercise requires great concentration and should only be done for short periods of time, like two to three minutes per sitting in the early stages. ☛ Mindfulness: Working with Difficult Emotions 1. Start with calm-abiding meditation. 2. Now if there's something difficult that's happening for you – a difficult emotion, or a physical sensation that's hard, let your attention go to that. It may be an aching in your shoulder or back, or a headache, or it could be a sense of sadness, or anxiety, or anger. • Where do you feel that sensation in your body? • Where do you feel that emotion in your body? Notice it, just notice it for one moment. Tap into it, feel it. Make sure to breathe. 3. And now return your attention back down to the object of concentration and the centered stillness. And just let yourself stay there for a moment. Feeling it, sensing it, relaxing, maintaining the mindfulness, yet giving yourself a break from what could be potentially overwhelming to feel. 4. And now once again return your attention to that part of the body that feels unpleasant – the body ache or pain, or the emotion, the sensations of the emotion in your body, the vibrations in your chest, or the clenching in your belly, or the tightness in your jaw. Just notice, and breathe, and let it be there. Let whatever is there, be there. 5. And then bring your attention again back down to the feeling of centeredness. Relaxing, staying present and alert, feeling the safety, the connection in that place. 6. Now let yourself stay connected to this place, but see if you can cast what we might call a sidelong glance at the difficult area in your body. Is it possible to still feel connected to you body in the area that feels good, and yet know there's something going on that feels unpleasant, and just let it be there? Keeping maybe 75% of your attention on the part that feels peaceful and at ease, still breathing, casting the sidelong glance at this difficult area, noticing what happens to it. Is it growing or shrinking? Is it changing, shifting into something else? Become aware of whatever it is it's doing, relaxing, breathing. (Adapted from MARC UCLA guided meditations) ☛ Guided Meditations There are many websites and apps now with guided meditations • Some of these have practices that are empirically validated and others don’t • Here are a couple of websites with evidence-based practices: − UCLA Mindful Awareness Research Center (MARC) https://www.uclahealth.org/marc/body.cfm?id=22&iirf_r edirect=1 − Ronald Siegel, assistant clinical professor of psychology at Harvard Medical School https://drronsiegel.com/recorded-meditations/ ☛Using Mindfulness to Work with Negative Emotions If you are in an overall relatively positive frame of mind and the emotion is not very strong: • Try to experience the emotion fully in your bodyenergy-mind, that is, focus on the energy and physical sensations of the emotion, but do not let yourself get caught up in the content, in the story associated with the emotion • Initially, you should only try to do this very briefly − This practice is not about analyzing thoughts or emotions − If you are still thinking about the emotion or the situation that caused the emotion 30 seconds later, STOP (this is important – you can harm yourself!) Once you have substantial meditation experience, when you experience a negative emotion, you can • Look straight at the emotion and let it dissolve or “liberate” as it arises • You can instantaneously see the various factors that caused the emotion to arise Mindfulness gives us insight into the narrative we have about ourselves • Rather than holding beliefs (e.g., “I am worthless”) to be a true description of who we are, we see the narrative as a constellation of thoughts • This can foster more breathing room and lead to increased well being • It’s not so much about changing the narrative, but rather about changing our relationship to it ★ Your ordinary mind cannot do this: remember that meditation is not done with the ordinary thinking mind • When we think, we just stay caught in our own conceptual systems, our own habitual ways of looking at things ➜ Meditation accesses a deeper mind with much greater awareness that is able to solve problems more effectively Meditation Q & A 1) I find myself feeling really frustrated with monkey mind when I meditate. What to do? • Try sensing what that frustration feels like in your body and fully integrating with it • If you are able to just be with what is – even if it’s monkey mind – that will produce great meditation! 2) When I am “just sitting,” am I supposed to try to notice everything around me (sounds, sensations, emotions, etc.) or to try to empty my mind? • Neither… If you are sitting and you have a thought, experience an emotion, or notice a sensation, be aware of it, but try not to let your “My mind is especially mind elaborate on it, to run with it empty today.” - If you are agitated, then that’s part of the sitting practice, no problem. If you are bored, same thing. If you feel a sensation, you are aware of that too. But you try not to get caught up in lots of abstract thoughts (e.g., I feel anxious. I should be doing homework, rather than meditating. I’m not going to get it all done in time. What if I get a “C” in that class?...) - You try to let some of that go, so you can “just sit.” You sit without a goal beyond what that sitting is at that time. 3) Can I listen to music while meditating? Music helps to make me feel calmer, so seems that would be helpful. • Music may help you get into a more relaxed frame of mind, so if you’re in the “wrong” frame of mind, it can help get you started with meditation • However, it would probably be a good idea to try turning if off after a while because there are two types of calm… - The first – which is what most people think of as calmness – is a condition, and as such, you need circumstances to be right to produce it, e.g., sufficient sleep, time to relax, pleasant environment, comfortable sensations, etc. o For that, music can definitely help - But the calm that is the goal of meditation is a different kind of calm that has to do with willingness to simply be there with whatever is present, calmly abiding with it o This type of calm stems from a connection with the ground of reality and would be present whether the music is “good” or “bad” o Music will not necessarily help with developing this second type of calm, and may in fact detract from it 4) During sitting practice, is it OK to synthesize a thought or “process” issues? • It’s OK, but it’s probably not really meditation • In order to make that a part of meditation, you first need to stabilize the mind, so you can access a deeper mind and gain new insights Ø As Einstein said, “We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them” – we need to access a different kind of mind 5) I don’t seem to be getting any great experiences or insights from meditation. Is it just not working? • Initially people are more likely to have insights after than during a meditation session, but if you had not meditated, you would not get those insights as much ➜ Practice helps your mind focus and stabilize, and that’s what allows you to get the insights Mindfulness and Acceptance There is a common assumption in our “psychologically-oriented” society that it is necessary to “work through” or “process” our feelings before we can take action Ø Ex: We assume that we must “overcome” fear to dive into a pool, or develop confidence so we can make a public presentation Mindfulness, on the hand hand, focuses on acceptance of reality as it is, which includes accepting our feelings and thoughts without trying to change them • It holds that it is not necessary to change our feelings in order to take action - In fact, oftentimes it is not possible to change our feeling, and our efforts to do that actually makes us feel even worse - On the other hand, action-taking often leads to a change in feelings ☞ Feelings are acknowledged, but constructive action is no longer put on hold in order to process or cope with symptoms or feelings - When we are absorbed by what we are doing, we are not anxious or depressed because our attention is engaged by activity - On the other hand, when we try to “understand” or “fix” or “work through” feelings and issues, we become trapped in an unhealthy self-focus Acceptance and Transformation Making peace with where we are • Feeling and accepting our negative emotions allows us to transform those emotions • On the other hand, ignoring, repressing, denying, or even trying to change negative emotions ties up our energetic resources and actually makes real change much more difficult v “What you resist, persists” • This is the underlying premise of mindfulness practice and, as discussed earlier, it is also supported by neuropsychological research (Lieberman et al., 2007; Kircanski et al., 2012) Self-Acceptance and Self-Improvement Motivation ✧ But if I accept myself fully, won’t that undermine my motivation to try hard and improve? ✧ Actually, it’s just the opposite: beating up on yourself results in a less effective response − If an experience is painful, we tend to avoid looking at it, so we don’t learn from it − The attempt to suppress the negative thoughts and emotions saps our psychic energy − Feeling bad about ourselves causes us to engage in more unhealthy habits Ø Self-compassion study (Breines & Chen, 2012) • Participants were told that the purpose of the study was to understand the relationship between test performance and personality • Took a difficult test (a 10-item version of the GRE antonyms test) • Then given an opportunity to study a list of words and definitions that would be on a subsequent 10-item antonyms test for as long as they wanted − Self-compassion group: saw an additional statement embedded in the instructions that read, “If you had difficulty with the test you just took, you’re not alone. It’s common for students to have difficulty with tests like this. If you feel bad about how you did, try not to be too hard on yourself.” − Self-esteem control condition saw an additional statement that read, “If you had difficulty with the test you just took, try not to feel bad about yourself—you must be intelligent if you got into Berkeley.” Results: • No one guessed the hypothesis that viewing test failure in a certain way might affect study time or effort • Self-compassion increased study time, which in turn predicted higher test scores, though it did not directly lead to improved performance Open, Nonjudgmental Awareness ✧ Mindfulness practice is about developing greater awareness ✧ Taken to higher levels, this can produce states of great bliss − If we fully connect with the “suchness” of things in our body-energy-mind, we find a ground which holds everything and gives rise to a sensation of great bliss in the center of the body « This takes the truism that true happiness must come from within to a whole new level! − The experience of bliss in turn makes it possible to connect even more fully with the suchness of things, to be even more inclusive… ✧ The above is accompanied by a transformation of perception ☞ The big secret is that enlightenment is right here right now − You see that everything is perfect just as it is o You don’t need to change anything bad into anything good or to “fix” yourself in any way o Ironically, this actually makes it easier to effect changes because your energy is no longer all tied up in beating yourself up Obstacles to open, nonjudgmental awareness: • Mental elaborations stand in stark contrast to the kind of open, nonjudgmental, direct awareness described above − As Rick Hanson points out, most of the negative emotions we feel do not come from actual aversive events, but from our reactions to them Ø Suppose you’re walking through a dark room at night and stub your toe on a chair o Right after the first stab of pain comes “Who moved that darn chair?!” o This then continues to elaborate, maybe moving to the person whom you think moved the chair and all the evil things they have done to you • In addition, attachment to/obsession with particular outcomes prevent us from experiencing the kind of open, nonjudgmental awareness associated with deep meditative states Research on Open, Nonjudgmental Awareness Open, nonjudgmental awareness or mindfulness: reflects the ability to take in signals from the external environment, as well as thoughts and feelings popping up within our brain, without getting stuck on any one stimulus to the detriment of others (Davidson, R., 2012) Ø You are aware of a mild pain in your lower back but are able to simply notice it without your thoughts getting hijacked by it Ø You feel a pang of worry about being late for a meeting because the elevator is broken, and you simply tell yourself, “Hmm, I feel myself getting stressed out,” but do not panic as you look around for the stairs • Someone who is skilled at this seems to have a kind of inner magnet that keeps his focus where he intends, rather than getting pulled about mercilessly by events • One way to measure this sort of ability is with the attentional blink test Attentional blink study (Slagter, Lutz, Greischar et al., 2007) in which participants were tested before and after they completed a 3-month mindfulness retreat at Insight Meditation Society Method: • Nonjudgmental awareness was measured using attentional blink paradigm • Based on idea that if one stimulus hijacks our attention, we won’t notice other stimuli that occur just a fraction of a second later • A stream of letters are flashed onto a screen, one after another, ten per second: C, P, Q, D, K, L, T, B, X, V, etc. • But every now and then a number appears, as in C, P, Q, D, 3, K, L, 7, T, B, X, V • The task is to indicate when a number interrupts the stream of letters • If the second number follows the first within about half a second or less, most people notice the first number (the 3) but literally do not see the second (the 7) • The reason seems to be that when a number shows up, the excitement they feel causes their attention to blink ➜ The extent to which people are able to minimize this “blinking” reflects a quality of emotional balance and equanimity Results: • Retreatants, unlike controls, showed a marked decrease in attentional blink and a 33% greater detection of second targets • ERP data indicated lower levels of brain activation in response to the first number and that this was correlated with a higher rate of detecting the second number − Nonjudgmental awareness and better performance on attentional blink was associated with a P300 event-related potential (positive EEG response that occurs 300 msec following event) that was neither too strong nor too weak ➜ Being able to focus attention in a calm, abiding manner without too much arousal or excitement maximized performance on the task ☞ Open, nonjudgmental awareness implies a balance, so you do not get stuck on an engaging stimulus but are instead open to all stimuli Furthermore, follow-up study found • Significant improvements in attentional performance that correlated with alterations in brain activity were maintained 3 months after the end of formal meditation practice ➜ Mental training can result in durable neurobiological changes “Don’t aim at success – the more you aim at it and make it a target, the more you are going to miss it. For success, like happiness, cannot be pursued; it must ensue, and it only does so as the unintended side effect of one’s personal dedication to a cause greater than oneself … Happiness must happen, and the same holds for success: you have to let it happen by not caring about it.” (Victor Frankl) “You never find happiness until you stop looking for it” (Zhuangzi) ★ “No preference” – the willingness to fully experience what is there – is an idea that is emphasized in Zen • Reflects the type of open, nonjudgmental awareness discussed above in which one lets go of excessive attachment or aversion • Can be a doorway to great meditation experiences This ability to be fully present in the moment is probably associated with a couple of neural correlates of long-term meditation practice • For longtime meditators across many traditions, activity in the main nodes of the “default mode network” or DMN (medial prefrontal and posterior cingulate cortices) quiets down, suggesting less rumination about ourselves and our place in the world (Brewer, Worhunsky, Gray et al., 2011) − DMN has also been found to be associated with ruminating about the past, worrying about the future, thinking about what other people are thinking − Meditators show reduced activity in their DMN when meditating, as well as when they are not meditating • In addition, functional connectivity analysis revealed stronger coupling in experienced meditators between the posterior cingulate, dorsal anterior cingulate, and dorsolateral prefrontal cortices (regions previously implicated in selfmonitoring and cognitive control) − Again, this was the case at baseline, as well as during meditation Mahamudra One other more direct method of connecting with the ground, with reality, is the practice of mahamudra • Many, if not most, of the expert long-term meditator practitioners who have participated in Western research studies (Brefczynski-Lewis et al., 2007; Lutz et al., 2004) would have engaged in this practice to a greater or lesser extent Mahamudra • Refers to ultimate reality, which is also known in traditional contexts as the nature of mind; also refers to the practice aimed at accessing that mind v Things simply are known by this mind – there is no perceiver perceiving an object separate from oneself • When a thought arises, try to see where it came from; when it disappears, ask yourself where it went - In that brief moment when your mind is not encumbered by discursive thoughts, contemplate its nature - In that instant when past thoughts have fallen silent and future ones have yet to emerge, you can perceive a pure and luminous consciousness ☛ Mahamudra Meditation 1. First establish a state of tranquility using calm-abiding practice 2. Then try to look directly at the nature of that mind which is generating that tranquility or stillness Ask yourself these questions: - When you look at that which is still or at rest (e.g., gaps in between thoughts), does it have a form or not? That is to say, does it have some kind of shape? If it has a shape, what shape does it have? If it does not have a form and therefore has no shape, what characteristics does it have? - How do thoughts arise? Do they arise somewhere? And what do they arise from? And then while thoughts are present, while they abide, where do they abide? How do they abide? What does it mean that they abide? When thoughts disappear, do they actually end or cease? If so, where and how? What exactly does this disappearance of thoughts consist of? - When thoughts arise, do they arise inside your body and, if so, where? Or do they arise outside your body and, if so, where, and exactly what is it that arises when we say, thoughts arise? (Continued on next slide) 3. Then work with a variety or succession of thoughts, rather than one thought, allowing or causing a series of thoughts to arise, and looking at their nature in sequence 4. Having recognized that a thought has arisen, simply look directly at its essence or its nature - This is different from following the thought – that is, allowing that thought to produce a further thought – or analyzing the thought by examining its content - Simply look directly at the thought itself, rather than at the content of the thought v When you are looking at the nature of mind, that which is looking at the nature and that nature that is being viewed should not be experienced as separate (From Pointing Out the Dharmakaya) Note that there actually are no “correct answers” to the questions posed in #2 above, e.g., “Do the gaps in between thoughts have a form or shape?” “How do thoughts arise and where do they disappear to?” • Focusing on those questions is simply a way to help you access a nonconceptual reality that cannot be described verbally Video References Videos excerpted from: • All You Need Is Love - 1s Preview https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t5ze_e4R9QY • How mindfulness changes the emotional life of our brains: Richard J. Davidson TEDxSanFrancisco https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7CBfCW67xT8 • The “Attentional Blink” Test https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MH6ZSfhdIuM