from 21st June 2018

john kabat-zinn founder taking the buddhist teachings into a secular way in what we now call mindulfulness:
“mindulfulness means paying attention in a particular way; on purpose, in the present moment and non-judgementally”

mind-power/thinking
mindfulness and meditation
affirmations and gratitudes
journaling – unpack the day or a thorny topic which you’re hung up on
paying attention to how I’m feeling / EQ

ginny chequer:
(7 habits) between stimulus and response there is a space, in that space is choice and with that choice is freedom

that gap is the space for mindful, thinking improvements to better ourselves our lives

to utilise that gap, you have to find it, access it >> mindfulness/meditation etc

compelling science, 800 studies show it as a technique to improve brain focus

mindfulness is about managing our attention and attention is our gateway to awareness

typically mind wanders 53% of the time, auto-pilot
sometimes it serves us, unconscious

but we don’t have awareness, presence
examples, meetings, eating

attention systems:
focus – eg. breath
open awareness – use the focus and stability which focus gives to increase our mind-power and thinking skills, enabling choice and intelligent actions

3 main areas improve

  • improve cognitive skills, strengthen PFC – more focus and clarity for longer
  • strengthens emotional regulation and amygdala schrinks
  • well-being, helps us to stay in the present
    too much focus on the future – is where anxiety shows up
    too much focus on the past – is where depression shows up
    —> can get into mental health issues

lower stress also helps improve memory and anti-aging

reptiliean brain – spinal chord into back of the head – survival, unconscious brain

top of brain – limbic system – amygdala – reactions based on fear/immediate response / intuition part of the brain doesn’t use language, just feelings, emotions and sensations – fight/flight
with mindfulness, we are better able to downplay/notice the emotional reactions eg. notice the split second gap between the stimulus and reaction rather than jumping to a flight/fight response
with mindfulness – can train amygdala’s speed and reaction – can notice our emotions and de-regulate its effect

neo-cortex – wrapping around the rest – cognitive brain
including pre-frontal cortex – is slow, gets tired – is usually behind what is happening in the emotional brain

practice (neil truncik)

1) shift attention to the body (top of hourglass)
general scan of the body. eg. starting with eyes. notice what is happening
2) gather focus to the breath (narrow part of hourglass)
follow the breath and bring attention back if the mind wanders

3) expand focus to the whole body and breath, notice thoughts and sounds (bottom of hourglass)
open awareness to the whole body and what is going on there

3 steps – can do quickly in 30 seconds, 3 minutes or 30 minutes
doing it at transition points through the day is good
with eyes open very briefly, if only 10s or stressed, just focus on the breath!

topic

good rituals

  • using non-dominant hand for something/different – you realise how much of the time you are on auto-pilot
  • choose your distractions carefully, take control of devices, not the other way round, set a timer for focus activity
  • take breaks or pauses during transitions
  • regularity, is a muscle, needs exercising

resources

jive site

books

‘One Second Ahead’ – hougaard & carter – written by potential project head
‘Finding Peace in a Frantic World’ – mark williams & danny penman – includes audio – this is a book which Katie later gets recommended

also
‘The Miracle Morning’ by Hal Elrod (you can also watch him lecture on youtube, including the audiobook) – use this later and Eve really likes, was ok for a while
‘Frazzled’ by Ruby Wax

recommendations

  • as with all personal developments, show by example, not by lecturing! (source: webinar with john kabat-zinn – not to share, just be a role model), just live it

applications
as applied to the body be aware of the physicality of your body – what you’re eating and what you put in
drink plenty of water!

brain development of neural pathways was typically known in phases
0-7
7-14
14-25
now this general knowledge is not fully right and we can change these

what’s fired together gets wired together – we can’t easily override an existing path, but we can create a new neural pathway and develop it so that it is more dominant than the old one

  • this re-wiring takes time!
  • can be so transformative to well-being and mental health