psyc 164

MINDFULNESS

DO YOU EVER…

• Walk, bus, bike or drive somewhere and when you reach your destination, have no idea how you got there?

• Take a long time to get to sleep because as soon as you lie down your mind starts to “chatter” about the events of the day or what you hope to accomplish the next day?

• Sit down to eat, then look down to realize your plate is empty and you don’t remember eating?

• Try to anticipate how certain events are going to play out before they happen? Create imagined conversations with partners, family, friends or co-workers;

worry about how your boss is going to react to your request

for a shift change; worry about how you’re going to

perform on a test, or find time to write the paper that is due?

• Spend time thinking about past conversations? What you may or may

not have said, what the other person said, reliving arguments or

emotionally charged events?

• Feel tense, stressed, exhausted or drained at the end of the day?

• Assume how another person feels, or imagine that another person is

angry or disappointed with you?

• Multi-task so that you don’t remember any single event that you accomplished?

WHY IS THIS PROBLEMATIC?

• Our body is experiencing the present, while our mind is

in the past or future – it forces a disconnect.

• Body reaction to stress: HPA axis

• Body’s design for homeostasis – effects of mindlessness

on that

• Is this a real or perceived threat? Brain can’t tell

difference.

• Effects of disconnect over time…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aNCB1MZDgQA

WHAT IS MINDFULNESS?

• MINDFULNESS is paying attention in a particular way: On purpose , in the present moment

and non-judgmentally. – Dr. Jon Kabat Zinn

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_h-Zn9pKAU

• Increases awareness and skillful handling of mental processes

that cause emotional distress or behavioural dysfunction

• The idea is to quieten your body and mind, pay attention to your

body and allow thoughts to come and go without attaching to them

• This allows you to become more aware of the sometimes harmful

chatter that is happening covertly and allows you to work

on minimizing its impact.

A FIVE MINUTE PRACTICE

• Diaphragmatic Breathing

• Body Scan : Paying Attention to each body part, adjusting so maximally

comfortable

• Guided 5 minute mindfulness session.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y1dmKZg13Yw

JOURNALING