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mind wanders toward misgivings or social stressors just redirect it back to your present |
experience what you are seeing hearing and feeling right now Dont even anticipate future |
moments be content in the one that you are in presently This present instant is the only |
PROGRAM PEACE Self Care Exercises to Reprogram Your Mind and Body |
time that you will ever have for peace Keep reminding yourself to already be whole content |
and happy within it |
As we discussed in Exercise notice the pain you feel within your body in the present |
moment Acknowledge its intensity and location nonjudgmentally and with nonresistance |
Dont let the discomfort make you irritated with the present or push you out of the present |
Next try to find pleasure in the present moment It is there Start training your mind to |
notice the faint impressions of pleasure so that you can develop the capacity to dwell |
within them |
In therapeutic settings mindfulness has been shown to alleviate stress and accentuate self |
efficacy and confidence Consistent mindfulness has even been shown to increase gray matter |
in brain areas involved in subduing emotions including those that inhibit the amygdala Peer |
reviewed articles published in a wide variety of established scientific journals have yielded data |
evincing that mindfulness techniques have demonstrated substantial clinical benefits for |
individuals suffering from a variety of mental and physical disorders Meditation training is used |
to palliate anxiety fibromyalgia chronic pain cardiovascular disease addiction bipolar |
disorder insomnia intractable depression and many others For these reasons substantial |
US federal funding has been used to produce mindfulness programs and workshops in schools |
prisons hospitals military bases and veterans centers |
Thinking Activity What Would You Like to Think About |
We are free to think about whatever we want to We only have to realize this freedom What |
would you like to do with your thoughts and inner voice For the next two minutes turn your |
thought to whatever you choose Dont concern yourself with worrisome inane things and |
dont allow your past thoughts and default network to determine where your mind goes |
next When you know you have made a contentious or unproductive association cut the |
chain Go back to the last branch and pick up where you left off Take responsibility to |
censure edit and rewrite the endless string of associations How can you use your thought |
constructively What are some positive questions you can address Imagine what you are |
going to do tomorrow to make your day more productive Continually ask yourself the |
magic question How can make this better |
Living in the moment is what dominant mammals do They are not bothered by past |
failures or worries about the future They are not concerned that things will suddenly go wrong |
They believe that they have what it takes to handle any situation or confrontation They trust |
that their instincts and first reactions will solve any problem The winners mindset is |
meditative in this sense As a winner approach everything in your life confidently as if you |
intend to succeed before you even start |
Chapter Think Peacefully |
Anxiety Increases Mental Focus but Only in the Short Term |
When you relax you lose a degree of mental speed and intensity This is because during stress |
brain chemicals such as dopamine noradrenaline and cortisol accelerate the brains processing |
speed On the order of seconds to minutes they can improve performance on a variety of |
mental tasks Everyone knows this implicitly and many people are afraid to relax because |
they dont want a lapse in their processing ability However on longer periods from hours to |
months these same chemicals wreak havoc on mental function When stress hormone levels |
remain high for several days the brain starts to remodel its architecture compromising |
concentration learning and memory |
As we have discussed the most potent source of stress for primates is social conflict |
Mammals that are socially stressed release stress hormones that preside over a host of |
negative neurobiological alterations The birth of new neurons neurogenesis is suppressed |
connections between neurons dendrites atrophy neural learning synaptic plasticity is |
impaired and cell death apoptosis increases As illustrated in the figure below the brain |
cells of socially defeated mammals show significant deterioration |
Illustration A The neuron on top is a normal neuron from a tree shrew It has expansive connections to other |
neurons B The neuron on the bottom comes from a tree shrew that has been exposed to days of domination |
by a member of its species The reduction in dendritic branching is quite apparent These changes can be reversed |
if this shrews stress hormone levels are reduced |
Two of the most pivotal brain areas for highlevel thought the prefrontal cortex and |
the hippocampus are damaged the most in humans and other mammals by the stress hormone |
cortisol Stress is physically destructive to the brain cells in these areas The damage reduces |
learning ability problem solving creativity impulse control and long and shortterm |
memory Like muscle cells brain cells perform well under acute stress but falter under |
chronic stress |
Anxiety and nervousness create a distracting form of mental noise People with anxiety |
disorders exhibit slower reaction times in complex cognitive tasks which is thought to derive |
from noise in the individuals information processing stream Stress causes attentional deficits |
and instability in basic cognitive operations When you meditate try to quiet this mental noise |
with proper breathing zero reactivity and nonjudgmental awareness of the pressure on your |
mind to keep switching between neurotic thoughts and impulses |
PROGRAM PEACE Self Care Exercises to Reprogram Your Mind and Body |
Contrasting with the cell damage done to higherorder processing areas brain cells in the |
amygdala and the brains fear centers are strengthened by cortisol and chronic stress This |
heightens fear learning and intensifies fearful memories have written articles about how |
these detrimental brain changes may be adaptive for wild mammals allowing them to switch |
from a controlledattentive processing strategy to an automaticpreattentive one Becoming |
disinhibited impulsive and opportunistic in an adverse prehistoric setting may have been |
adaptive In modern times however the cognitive repercussions of excessive stress not only |
decrease our quality of life but also impair our ability to function professionally |
Mental Relaxation Leads to Mental Clarity in the Long Term |
After years of stress my mind was always racing could tell that my thoughts were |
fragmented became all too aware that chronic stress was causing not only problems at work |
and in my relationships but also mental illness My working memory declined steeply and |
began to experience perceptual aberrations It got so bad that even experienced minor |
auditory hallucinations You can read more about these experiences on my blog |
felt that being on constant high alert was protecting me but it was maiming me As you |
allow yourself to relax you may feel in your gut that you are not vigilant enough or notice that |
your response times are delayed For years was afraid of becoming too calm was worried |
that wouldnt jump to the right conclusion or be able to talk fast enough to communicate |
properly could tell that using adrenaline spikes helped me find words speak quickly and put |
together complex sentences was afraid that being calm would make people think was dim |
witted or discourteous One of the biggest steps toward becoming stressfree was realizing that |
dont need fevered anxiety to keep me alert or friendly |
Thinking Exercise Falling Asleep Among Friends |
Take an extreme example of relaxation sleepiness Most of us dont allow ourselves to be |
sleepy around others was so socially hypervigilant that was completely unable to fall |
asleep or even become drowsy even in the company of friends If you work on being able to |
feel tired or even fall asleep right in front of other people you will reduce your social |
hypervigilance The next time you are among friends or family try to nod off It proves to |
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