Developing Mental Resilience to Cope with Life Experiences (‘ Dis.tress ')?

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

2. “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.”

3. 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) Worry and anxietysources of dis…tress

4. 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

5. the path to mindfulness EXAMPLE OF HABITUAL REACTION TO PROBLEMS Anxiety Emotions & Mood i.e. Grief, Fear and Anger Despair Dissatisfaction SYMPTOMS OF STRESS 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- HABITUAL REACTION Our Habitual ways of solving problems invariably end up making things worse. E.g. suppressing, finding distractions etc. Obsession Addiction Compulsive Behavior

6. 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)

7. 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

8. the path to mindfulness OBJECTIVE: “SETTLING THE MIND IN ITS NATRUAL STATE” TOOLBOX: MINDFULNESS – A PARTICULAR FORM OF AWARENESS Anxiety Emotions & Mood i.e. Grief, Fear and Anger Despair Dissatisfaction SYMPTOMS OF STRESS HABITUAL REACTION Our Habitual ways of solving problems invariably end up making things worse. E.g. suppressing, finding distractions etc. Obsession Addiction STOP!! Compulsive Behavior

9. 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] appropriate response…having a right teacher

10. the path to mindfulness EXAMPLE OF HABITUAL REACTION TO PROBLEMS Anxiety Emotions & Mood i.e. Grief, Fear and Anger Despair Dissatisfaction SYMPTOMS OF STRESS Engage wholeheartedly in the practice with gentle persistence. Suspend judgement temporarily Patience Compassion for Self Open-Mindedness

11. 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

12. 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

13. 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)

14. the benefits of mindfulness GRADUAL CHANGE FROM HABITUAL BEHAVIOUR

15. 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

16. mindfulness takeaway “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] MINDFULNESS TOOLBOX

17. 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. " [AyyaKema] “A life of peace, purity, and refinement leads to a calm and untroubled old age.” [Cicero]

18. how do i know i am making progress?

19. 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?

20. 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]

21. 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-behavioraltechniques 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

22. 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)