March 2010 – Page 5 – Mindfulbalance

Wider applications of mindfulness

March 14, 2010June 3, 2010 Karl DuffyLeave a comment

The preventative effect of mindfulness training for individuals who face extreme stress, such as firemen, soldiers and trauma surgeons, has been examined in a recent study by cognitive neuroscientist Amishi Jha of Penn University and Elizabeth A. Stanley of Georgetown University.

They provided mindfulness training to U.S. Marines before deployment to Iraq in a training program called Mindfulness-based Mind Fitness Training (MMFT™), which aimed to cultivate greater psychological resilience or “mental armor” by bolstering mindfulness. The study found that the more time participants spent doing daily mindfulness exercises, the better their mood and working memory – the cognitive term for complex thought, problem solving and cognitive control of emotions.

The study also seems to point towards the fact that sufficient Mindfulness practice may protect against high-stress challenges that require a tremendous amount of cognitive control, self-awareness, situational awareness and emotional regulation.

Our findings suggest that, just as daily physical exercise leads to physical fitness, engaging in mindfulness exercises on a regular basis may improve mind-fitness,” Jha said.

“Working memory is an important feature of mind-fitness. Not only does it safeguard against distraction and emotional reactivity, but it also provides a mental workspace to ensure quick-and-considered decisions and action plans. Building mind-fitness with mindfulness training may help anyone who must maintain peak performance in the face of extremely stressful circumstances, from first responders, relief workers and trauma surgeons, to professional and Olympic athletes.”

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/179294.php

Freedom then and freedom now

March 13, 2010June 3, 2010 Karl DuffyLeave a comment

Last Sunday was the Third Sunday of Lent and the reading told of the story of Moses in the desert. In fact, the 40 days of Lent is really a period of reflection about the desert. The Readings in the Divine Office follow the Book of Exodus, recounting the tale of the People of Israel as they left the familiar place of Egypt to spend 40 years wandering in the desert.

Like all the parts of the Scripture, this can be understood on different levels. The heart of the Judeo-Christian belief is one of escape from slavery to freedom. Originally it had a political sense. However, over the centuries since that story was first told, “Egypt” has ceased to be just a country; indeed, the Hebrew word used – “Mitzraim” – means “a narrow place.”

So getting free from Egypt means moving out from the “narrow places” in our lives, the places where we have gotten stuck, to a wider place, a place where we are have greater freedom and greater potential. So often we get stuck in situations that trap us, and prevent us from reaching our full happiness. Or maybe we repeat narrow emotional patterns learnt in early childhood, which limit our view of our own capabilities. So, when difficulties arise, we adopt a narrow or smaller view of ourselves, and see ourselves as weak or insufficient. We can see ourselves as the cause of the problem or as the weak and vulnerable victim. We quickly feel, when something seems wrong, that the source of wrong is me. And in some circumstances this can lead us to settle for less than what we really deserve and we choose situations which match our narrow sense of what we deserve.

It is significant that the core message of the Judeo tradition is that freedom is possible, that we can more into a more expansive spacious place, that we can move towards a fuller fulfilling of our needs. The starting place is to step out into unfamiliar teritory even if the familiar seems safer. Sadly people often prefer the familiarity of troubled relationships, dispiriting jobs or the script of society, rather than taking the risk when it presents itself. It is also hard to face the inner work required to leave the narrow places of our ideas which worked for one part of our life and risk taking on new ideas which will lead to a wider place. It may involve leaving things that once seemed important to become a more integrated, more fulfilled whole.

Each thing has to transform itself into something better,
and acquire a new destiny.

Paulo Coelho

Shaky ground

March 13, 2010June 8, 2010 Karl DuffyLeave a comment

Sometimes we are made realize that the ground we stand on is not very sure. A visit to a hospital brings that home. There we see people in different stages of pain and despair. And seeing that can cause fear to arise in us as we are reminded of our own weakness and limitations.

All illness can remove the masks which we like to keep on when we are healthy. We like to show our strong side and our independence. We like to think that our value comes from what we achieve when we are strong. However we cannot always be strong. At times we fail. We let people down. Illness forces us to realize that basing all our worth on what we can achieve will ultimately let us down.

The world breaks everyone.
Afterward, some are stronger at the broken places.

Ernest Hemingway

Ups and downs

March 12, 2010June 12, 2010 Karl DuffyLeave a comment

We can notice our mind changing hundreds of times in the day, from liking to disliking, being content to being unhappy, calm to agitated. We can start the day being nervous about an upcoming meeting. Then find ourselves delighted as the meeting goes well, leaving us feeling very positive about ourselves and the future. Then afterwards we can get into a misunderstanding with a friend or colleague after which we find ourselves feeling very negative about ourselves and about the future. Up and down, down and up.

The mind can move quickly from being spacious to being narrow when it encounters something which is negative. However, what we label as “negative” often just means that we think that reality will not fit into the way that we want, or we can’t have something we think we need. We find that the mind contracts and feels tight, and then normally starts immediately to work on a story to defend that tightness, exaggerating negative aspects of people or situations, or other objects of our bad feelings. If we are focused on other people, it normally starts with statements about other people – “They are in the wrong, they cannot listen” and then moves on to statements about the future – “There is no point trying, this will never work out”

If we can become aware of this dynamic, the heart can move from its defensive pattern to pausing, then to being open and appreciative. The normal sequence for these changing mind states goes something like this: “This is the way I want things”….. “I like it”…. “If I cannot have it like this, I am sad, I am angry”….and then through practice….”this moment is just like this”. This pattern is the same whether the matter is great or small, although the intensity can vary hugely. It can sometimes flare out strongly as jealousy or anger if we allow ourselves be convinced that we are missing out on something that we really want.

In the end, we quieten down in two steps. The first is that the mind stops struggling with reality and says, “I wanted something different, but this is what I have.” The second is when we can rejoice in the new situation and be genuinely happy that it has turned out like this, for ourselves or for other people. One of the greatest antidotes for the feeling of hurt is to cultivate positive feelings or blessings towards others. This works against the mind’s tendency to think that someone else’s joy is actually taking away from our joy. Instead, we find that when the mind is relaxed, it does not feel needy, and does not need to defend itself.

We have two kinds of fears. One is a fear that whatever is going on is going to go on forever. It’s just not true – nothing goes on forever. The other is the fear that, even if it doesn’t go on forever, the pain of whatever is happening will be so terrible we won’t be able to stand it. There is a gut level of truth about this fear. It would be ridiculous to pretend that in our lives, in these physical bodies, which can hurt very much, and in relationships that can hurt very much, there aren’t some very, very painful times. Even so, I think we underestimate ourselves. Terrible as times may be, I believe we can stand them.

Because we become frightened as soon as a difficult mind state blows into the mind, we start to fight with it. We try to change it, or we try to get rid of it. The frenzy of the struggle makes the mind state even more unpleasant.

The familiar image is a children’s cartoon character, like Daffy Duck, walking along freely and suddenly stepping into toffee. In a hasty, awkward attempt to extricate himself, he might fall forward and backward and eventually be totally stuck in the toffee. The best solution would be the nonalarmed recognition, ‘This is toffee. I didn’t see it as I stepped into it, but I felt it after I got stuck. It’s just toffee. The whole world is not made out of toffee. What would be a wise thing for me to do now?’

Sylvia Boorstein, It’s Easier Than You Think