Mindfulness

Artificial Flow-State

• Focus on the task
• Awareness of everything
• Skill

Training

• "Refocus" is the "work"
• Fixation vs focus
• Time

Mindful Living

• Seated training
• Walking/Driving
• Performing

Mindfulness is not...

Mindfulness is not...

• calmness
• positive thinking
• a trance-like state
• a blank-mind

Mindfulness is...

• awarness of your experiences
• conciousness of your moment-to-moment
• recognition of thoughts as objects
• seeing your emotions crave reaction
• ...but don't require reaction

Mindfulness in Life

Standing up for the present

• Where is your mind?
• Where is experience?
• Performance

Transferable Skill

Take the meditation exercise into the real world. Be mindful during an activity.

Dish washing

• Senses are internal
• Focus is flowing
• Awareness is broad

Washing a Dish

Choose a relatively quiet moment to select a dish and place it in an empty sink. Just look at the dish for a moment and become aware of the color, shape, and texture of the dish. You may become aware that other thoughts come into your mind while performing this exercise. This is inevitably going to happen because numerous thoughts come and go in our head all day, every day. Simply notice them, notice the tendency to fight them, and let them be. Gently bring yourself back to the task of focusing on the physical aspects of the dish.

 

Now, pick up the dish and allow comfortably warm water to pass over it. Notice the sensations of the water, its temperature, and the feel of the dish as the water passes over it. Once again, you are likely to notice a variety of thoughts unrelated to this task. If so, please notice without judging them as good or bad, right or wrong, but simply an activity in your mind that comes and goes like waves intermittently hitting a shore. The specific thoughts you are having do not matter, just your ability to notice and focus on the feelings and sensations that the water and the dish create. Allow yourself to feel the sensations in more and more detail. In this way, you continually strengthen your concentration.

 

Now, wash the dish with whatever mild detergent you normally use and become aware of the additional sensations of smell and touch that emerge from this activity. As you continue to mindfully wash this dish, notice any external sounds and any internal thoughts as though they are simply words or symbols on a ticker tape and gently bring your attention back to the task of washing the dish. Having a variety of thoughts is normal; be patient with yourself. The fact of the matter is the mind will always tend to wander. Remain in the moment with washing the dish and you will increasingly enhance your attention.

After about 5 minutes, wipe off the dish, and stop the water.

Seated Training

Meditation :)

Difficulties

• Remaining on task
• Drifting thoughts
• Distractions, boredom

Difficulties = Normal

Overcoming them

• Notice distractions and refocus
• Don't feel frustration or defeat
• Sitting & thinking is not mindfulness

Overcoming = Training

Habits

Seated Training

as close to daily as possible

Schema

A rule we follow.

• Help us define reality
• Inhibit us

Rules about yourself

• "I'm so unmotivated or lazy."
• "I hate running."
• "I'm bad at learning languages."

Rules about other people

• "Clean your room" Ugh mom is so annoying
• "I love you, honey" Ugh mom is so annoying

Mindfulness

Create distance between what is, and what your mind says it is.

Mindfulness
Awareness
Acceptance

What is your schema?

Cognitive Fusion

Creating something which does not exist

Coffee challenge - Before, During, After

Cognitive fusion

You experience physical reactions to internal states.

By paying attention, you make them into reality.

The difference

between what is and what your mind says it is.

"Dang it's so cold I'm going to freeze to death."

What is your

cognitive fusion?

Mindlessness

The present moment

Where does all human activity occur?

Self-awareness

Only from enhanced self-awareness, or mindfulness, is it possible to choose how to respond to a challenge, instead of being driven by internal states.

Being vs Doing

The first step, mindfulness, is the practice of being. Afterwards we will move towards doing.

Mindlessness?

Do an automatic activity. Try to practice mindfulness. Being 100% in the present moment, mindful versus mindless.

What was it like to be mindful while active? How would you describe it? What did you learn?