Week 8 Mindfulness and Flow Flashcards
What is Mindlessness?
Habitual, passive, mind-numbing, short term stress relief, distractions, out of sync with surroundings, boring, empty, autopilot
Absence of mindfulness
Leads us to be out of sync with our surroundings
Not paying attention to our situation - just checking out
Not necessarily a bad thing - sometimes our brains need a break
But if we do this habitually - might be missing out on a part of the human experience
What is mindfulness
Intentional and effortful
Present moment awareness/ momentary awareness
Nonjudgmental - notice you are having that thought and you learn to let it go
In sync with surroundings - paying attention to our sensory experience
Search for optimal experience -
Undervalued in north america - become more mainstream, but compared to east asia - undervalued
Amy Wrzesniewski - how do people function optimally at work?
Found that ⅓ of hospital cleaners considered their work a calling
They did whatever they could to make the health care experience for staff and patients
Vigilant about sanitation
Changing pictures in rooms for long term patients
Everyday they found new ways to improve the environment
Ellen Langer - Novelty at a residential care facility
Langer and Rodin 1976 - examined the effects of perceived control
One group were given a pep talk about making decisions and given a plant
The second group were given a talk about how the staff would help them
They were also given a plant and told the staff would look after it
Over 3 weeks the self-decision group were more alert and happier - they found novelty everyday as their plants and lives changed
Greater mortality in the second group -: Only half as many people in the group encouraged to make choices had died, relative to the group encouraged to take advantage of staff support
Mindfulness as a State of Mind
Western and buddhist mindfulness conceptions
Western - independent, external awareness
Buddhist - one component on the road to enlightenment, introspective
THREE requirements of being mindful - drawing novel distinctions:
- Overcome the desire to reduce uncertainty in daily life
- Override a tendency to engage in automatic behavior
- Engage less frequently in evaluations of self, others and situations
Mindfulness as a state of mind
Bishop and colleagues
Self-regulated attention - current personal experience
Emotional openness: acceptance and appreciation of internal experiences
Mindfulness Qualities
Nonjudging, nonstriving, acceptance, patience, trust, openness, letting go, gentleness, generosity, empathy, gratitude, lovingkindness
Jon Kabat ZIn Definition
Mindfulness means paying attention in a particular way, on purpose in the present moment and non-judgmentally
Medical doctor
Creator of the centre for mindfulness in medicine, health care and society at the university of Massachusetts Medical School
Student of Zen buddhist teachers
His practice of yoga and buddhism led him to integrate their teachings with science
He teaches mindfulness, which helps with stress, anxiety, pain and illness
Creator of mindfulness-based stress reduction
The Benefits of Mindfulness
Kabat-Zinn’s work:
Increase in hardiness and coherence (meaning-making
The Benefits of Mindfulness
Decreases in automatic thinking
Stroop test: Red
China, participants were involved in an 8-week course involving mindfulness as a component. Participants who were involved in the mindfulness training were better able to resist automatic responses on the Stroop color test and other memory tasks.
The Benefits of Mindfulness
Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy
Reduction in depressive relapse, sexual dysfunction, social anxiety, stress
The Benefits of Mindfulness
Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction
Psychiatric diagnoses, depression, anxiety, somatic complaints, sleep, positive self feelings, PTSD
The Benefits of Mindfulness
Benefits for children - mindful parenting
Interaction with compassion
“moment-to-moment awareness” (p. 255) of the parent–child relationship with the goal of interacting with more compassion toward our children
children start to internalize as well, as they have more exposure to mindfulness techniques through watching their parents cope with difficult situations.
The Benefits of Mindfulness
Benefit for couples conflicts
Higher positive affect during conflict - keep big bad feelings away
Problem solve and work towards a goal
Better conflict resolution
Better at adapting and changing direction
The Benefits of Mindfulness
Helpful for coping with stigma
Gener-noncomfortiming individuals in singapore - reduce depression, anxiety lower wellbeing - mindfulness appeared to moderate the connections found between gender nonconformity and depression
parents of children on the autistic spectrum - trait mindfulness - protect these parents from the depression, anxiety, and other negative emotions that might be felt as a result of stigma
The Benefits of Mindfulness
Mindfulness based therapies and treatments
Not always accepted by all cultural groups
Difficulty allowing issues about prejudice or discrimination to surface - brings stress
The Benefits of Mindfulness
Increased ability to multitask
Increasing our cognitive flexibility
Neurobiological Findings Mindfulness
Better spatial abilities regardless of gender
Increased ability for awareness and potential increased neuroplasticity in the brain
emotional regulation is thought to occur in two distinct ways.
A “top-down” approach to this is where cognitive reappraisal of a situation occurs to modulate the emotional impact of the stimulus; this contrasts with a
“bottom-up” approach in which the base reaction to the stimulus is modulated without the need to cognitively reappraise and use higher-order functioning
Cultivating Mindfulness
Mindfulness-inducing techniques tend to spur positive changes
Native American tradition
Counselling students
Native American traditions (specifically Cherokee), the practice of ayeli is described as a “centering technique” - become more mindful
—involves both breathing and meditation techniques that allow participants to sit in the moment and to allow balance and integration to assist them in increasing personal wellness.
—A large part of this technique involves orienting oneself to value relations to other things.
Counselling students - mindfulness increased self-reported abilities as counsellors
Cultural intelligence
the ability to interact effectively with people who are culturally different
Mindfulness is key ingredient
Achieve positive cross cultural interactions - being aware of ones own biases and views
Cultivating Mindfulness
Can be taught to children
Self regulation, problem solving, calmness
Books videos
Great results - better self regulation, problem solving, think creatively
Flow: In Search of Absorbtion
Flow experiences observed throughout time
Mihaly csikszentmihalyi
flow : state of engagement with activity and lack of self-consciousness
persisted single-mindedly, disregarding hunger, fatigue, and discomfort—yet rapidly lost interest in the artistic creation once it had been completed
Cognitive science of flow studied under attention
Gratification from experience
Ability to be challenged leads to flow experience
The Flow State
Two conditions of flow
- Perceived challenges or opportunities that stretch
- Clear proximal goals and immediate feedback
