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In your bonus materials, you received a short introduction to what mindfulness is. In this lesson, I want to recap some of the important points, and explain how mindfulness is the foundation of the practices you will learn in this class.
Mindfulness
Mindfulness is present moment awareness. It is paying attention to what is actually happening right now. So often, our “awareness” of the present is really the story we are telling ourselves in our heads — it’s a lot of interpretation and judgment.
With mindfulness, we “drop the story” and attempt to see clearly, attending to reality the way raw video footage would. It’s almost as if we live our lives as the narrator of a documentary film — constantly adding our commentary to what is going on. When we practice mindfulness, we practice really seeing, without the voice-over to filter our experience.
Our present moment awareness includes both our internal and external worlds. We can be mindful of what is happening around us — what we see, hear, smell, feel, and taste. In this way, mindfulness is very much a sensory experience; in fact, Jon Kabat-Zinn describes it as “coming to our senses.” We use that phrase to describe a moment of waking up, of seeing clearly, of gaining insight. It’s a great description of what is happening when we practice mindfulness.
We can also be mindful of our internal experience. A lot of mindfulness practice involves paying attention to thoughts, observing the arising and passing of thoughts as events in consciousness and becoming familiar with the patterns of the mind. We will primarily be exploring this practice in our final week when we turn to mindfulness of emotions.
Mindfulness of our internal experience also includes awareness of our bodily state and our internal sensations. We were taught in school that we have five senses… but did you know we really have eight? (And I’m not talking about anything woo-woo or extrasensory!)
You Have More Sense(s) Than You Know!
In addition to the five senses you learned about in school, you also have:
- vestibular sense: our sense of our body’s position in relation to gravity (supports balance and concentration)
- proprioception: our sense of bodily position in space (this is what allows you to close your eyes and still be able to touch your finger to your nose… unless you’ve been practicing mindful drinking)
- interoception: our sense of the physiological condition of the body’s internal organs and viscera, such as feelings of cold or warmth, hunger, pain, etc. (usually these physical sensations inform our emotional state — more on this in later weeks)
For many of us, we generally engage the world with, and are aware of, our external sensations; we are not as “practiced” in tuning into the body’s internal signals. Therefore, it is this component of mindfulness, our awareness of the internal states of the body, that we will focus on in this course.
Mindfulness Changes Your Brain
Research tells us that a mindfulness practice — setting aside specific moments during the day when we deliberately focus our attention (on the breath, for example), activates the insula. The insula, among other things, is responsible for our awareness of the internal state of the body. It’s also involved in emotion and self-awareness.
In this first week, we will be practicing exercises that train our attention to focus on our breathing. As we are doing this, not only are we becoming more consciously aware of our body… we are strengthening the part of the brain that supports that awareness!
In the famous phrase of modern neuroscience, “neurons that fire together, wire together.” The more we activate a particular neural pathway in the brain, the more likely that pathway is to continue to fire. Attention and awareness, then, are like muscles — the more we exercise them, the more we strengthen them.
“Research has shown that the more a person is aware of their own body, the more their insula lights up in an MRI. The more active their insula is, the more empathic they are to other people, which is the foundation of compassion and lovingkindness.”
Drs. Rick Hanson and Richard Mendius
As you work through the various practices and guided meditations this week, you are changing and strengthening your brain! You are beginning the transformation toward making attention and awareness your “default mode,” as opposed to distraction and worry.
Throughout this course, you will be cultivating your awareness of your breath, your body, your emotions, and your movement…. and you will also learn how this embodied presence will in turn strengthen your resilience to stress!
And that’s what we’re turning to in the next lesson…
I love my mindfulness and stress reduction with a HUGE dose of science and research… and I hope you do, too! In the video below, I explain the brain science, nervous system architecture, and stress-response research that inform the practices we will be using in this class. Enjoy! Summary of Key Points In essence, our nervous system must do two things: Our brain and nervous system are generally pretty accurate (think of how often your “gut instincts” have been correct), but sometimes they are a bit overactive in detecting problems … and then we live in a perpetual stress response. The Polyvagal Theory referenced in the video proposes, as psychiatrist Stephen Porges states, that our “physiological state limits the range of behavior and psychological experience.” If we are activating the sympathetic nervous system in response to a real or perceived threat, our behavioral repertoire is limited, and we will generally revert to “auto-pilot” (and often “reptilian”) responses. STRESS can be defined as a state in which homeostasis has been disrupted and behavior becomes disorganized. What we experience physically as stress are the shifts in the nervous system in response to stressors (increased heart rate and breathing, muscle tension, inhibition of digestion, etc.) Stephen Porges adds that the defining characteristic of stress, however, is not simply the stress response itself, but our “physiologic state of vulnerability” — meaning the strength and resiliency of our parasympathetic nervous system. The parasympathetic nervous system is responsible for the “rest and digest” mode — slower heart rate, slower rate of breathing, reduced muscle tension, a “resting” of the vital organs, resumption of digestion, and the general growth and restoration processes of the body. The Two Branches of the Autonomic Nervous System If we can strengthen what is called “vagal tone” (explained more in the next video) by learning practices to engage the parasympathetic nervous system and bring the “rest-and-digest” mode back online, we can increase our stress resiliency. So let’s practice! Continue to the next lesson…
“We are taking in the infinite with each breath. All the stars, everything in the known universe, have contributed to the air that we breathe.” Risa Kaparo, Ph.D., Awakening Somatic Intelligence Mind-body practices almost always begin with the breath. The breath is always with us, but how often are we aware of it? Day in and day out, we are carried along with the gentle rhythm of inhalation and exhalation. When we need a moment of calm, we can return to the breath. We cannot breathe in the past or in the future. We can only breathe NOW, in this present moment. In many traditions, the breath is linked to the soul or life energy. The word “respiration” clearly links breath and spirit. Whether you attach a sacred meaning to the breath or not, it is a powerful tool for connecting with your body and calming your mind. I particularly like that in the medical literature, the in-breath is “inspiration,” and the out-breath is “expiration.” I like to imagine that with the in-breath, I am taking in new energy, and on the out-breath, I am releasing that which I no longer need. As I shared in the previous video, the breath is also one of the only life-maintenance activities over which we have a significant amount of control. We may not be able to consciously control our heart rate or digestion, but without any formal training you’ve probably been able to change your own breathing patterns many times during your life. You’ve probably noticed that different emotional states have different breathing patterns. When we are relaxed, our breathing slows, and tends to be “deeper” — from the belly or diaphragm. When we are tense or scared, our breathing rate increases, and it tends to be more shallow and concentrated in the lungs and upper body. In a particularly fascinating study, researchers taught participants different patterns of breathing — one associated with states of happiness, and one associated with states of sadness. But they didn’t tell the participants what “style” of breathing they were learning; they just thought they were learning a “technique.” Sure enough, people who were taught “sad” breathing ending up feeling sad; those taught “happy” breathing felt happier! Simply breathing “happily” makes you happy. This brings us to a core theme of this course: our body is constantly sending information to the brain about how we feel. We can alter our mind state through our body and breath! This is particularly helpful because mind-based, cognitive strategies don’t often work when we are stressed out. We probably KNOW we don’t need to worry…. or that our concerns are unfounded…. but we still get anxious. When these top-down strategies don’t work, we can turn to the “bottom-up” strategies of the body. In this lesson, I am going to share with you several different breathing exercises that you can use to calm down and reduce stress. The first one is Coherence, or Resonance: You can find a “coherence clock” for timing the breath here. (It is also the same type of breathing that the Apple Watch iOS 3 includes, and that the Fitbit Charge 2 has). Belly Breathing/Diaphragmatic Breathing Have you ever watched a baby breathe? They breathe with their WHOLE body. You notice this especially in the belly — there’s no “sucking in” the gut. Babies let their bellies get big and full when they inhale. Take a moment right now to notice how you breathe — does your belly expand with the inhale? For many of us, it doesn’t; in fact, sometimes we breathe in a way that the belly actually contracts with the inhale, and the in-breath is confined mainly to the nose and lungs. This creates a shorter, more rapid breathing pattern associated with states of anxiety or anger. In his book Body Sense, psychologist Alan Fogel says “many people hold unnecessary tension in the diaphragm and other breathing muscles, which leads to compromised breathing and ultimately impacts health and well-being.” During normal breathing, the diaphragm moves downward on the inhale to increase lung capacity, and then it relaxes upward on the exhale to expel the air. There can be great variation in adults in how much the diaphragm actually moves with each breath (between 2.7 and 7.5 inches); for many of us, we don’t fully engage the diaphragm and thus do not fully experience the benefits of deep breathing. “When our whole organism is moving in response to the breath, a ‘sponge-like’ squeeze of all the lymph nodes occurs, circulating the fluid. Deep breathing thereby prevents congestion and activates the immune system. It delivers nourishment to the cells so they can regenerate and eliminate wastes, preventing toxins from being reabsorbed into the system.” Risa Kaparo To practice diaphragmatic breathing, lie down on your back with your knees bent. Place one hand on your belly and one hand on your chest. As you breathe in through the nose, notice the rise of the belly against your hand; your hand on the chest should not move much. Then, on the exhale, engage your stomach muscles so that they fall inward. (Risa Kaparo says it should feel “as if you were exhaling from your kidneys.”) Allow a brief pause, if possible, between the in-breath and out-breath, and between the out-breath and the next in-breath. This type of breathing, with a longer exhale than you may be used to, is the “secret” to deep breathing. Risa Kaparo, in Awakening Somatic Intelligence, says, “No amount of efforting during the inhalation will produce deep breathing. The only way to substantially deepen your breathing is to exhale completely…. The way you can fill the rest of your lungs is by causing them to empty.” Paradoxically, this type of breathing may be difficult at first, and involve “efforting,” but practicing it for a few minutes a day will help it become more automatic for you. In the Guided Meditations section of this week’s lessons, you will find additional exercises for working with the breath.
This week, I am honored to have my dear friend, Stephanie Sprenger, as our featured guest instructor. Stephanie is a board certified music therapist and has been in practice for fifteen years. Speaking and, by extension, singing, is the breath made audible, and it can be a powerful component of your mindfulness practice. When we sing, we take a short inhalation and a long exhale… which means singing is a form of deep belly breathing! The neuroscience research behind music and stress reduction is fascinating. Studies show that the neural circuits in the brain that evaluate risk also react to certain frequency bands of music. Low frequencies (think deep drumbeats) signify danger; high frequencies (think screams or cries) activate concern and empathy. And, not surprisingly, the frequency band that elicits neither a sense of doom or urgency is… the frequency band of the human voice. Most music duplicates this soothing frequency band (especially classical music). In addition to touch, the voice is one of the primary ways that we calm and nurture infants. Think of the universality of lullabies and the lyrical speech patterns of “motherese”; music seems to be in our genes! Research shows that music can alter our physiology. Depending on the music we listen to, our heart rate can slow down (or perhaps speed up, if you’re a heavy metal type), and then we relax, we smile, and we even look better! In this lesson, Stephanie Sprenger shares her knowledge of music therapy with us and how it has helped her in her own life. She also has a fantastic lesson for us on reducing our stress through music! Music Therapy I love music therapy because it combines research and science (music therapy, particularly neuro-music therapy, is actually a heavily research-based field!) with some of the touchy-feely aspects of music, such as “music is a universal language” (which it definitely is!) Music is unique in that in is one of the few activities that engages both sides of the brain at the same time; it is actually a “whole brain” activity. I won’t get into the science too much, but in addition to being a fantastic, enjoyable leisure activity, our brain actually benefits greatly when we are listening to and performing music. One of the foundational principles of music therapy is that music is a structured reality, and it is also both relaxing and energizing, depending on how it is used. Music therapy is used in hospital settings to help regulate the respiratory and heart rates, blood pressure, etc., of patients as well as to help them cope with stress. Music therapy can be used in physical rehabilitation to achieve physical therapy and occupational therapy goals. Unlike regular verbal interaction, music opens up memories that have been blocked or long-forgotten. I’m sure we’ve all experienced that flood of emotion that happens when we happen to hear a song we haven’t heard in years, one that may trigger either extremely pleasant or difficult memories. Music can truly be a portal or a time machine in that sense. In my own wellness practice, I sometimes listen to music during my meditation practice, and I also sing and play instruments to alleviate stress and cope with difficult emotions. There are days when simply sitting down to the piano, choosing which song would be the perfect outlet for my anger/frustration/sadness, and singing it with my whole heart is enough to experience catharsis and return my breathing and heart rate to normal. Music, the Body, and Stress Music brings us into our body. We can regulate our body rhythms to music by breathing to relaxing music or moving to energizing music. Syncing up our body to music is a practice that forces us to become instantly present and in tune with our physical selves. Both listening to music that we carefully choose (based on our own preferences and needs in the moment) as well as singing or playing music of any kind are excellent methods of stress relief. If you don’t happen to play an instrument, try drumming along to music you really enjoy. My brother has a special room in his basement for dancing and listening to music and it is full of percussion instruments that his guests—both musical and non-musical—love to pick up and jam along with to music. I have learned that I need music in my life. Singing, listening to music, and breathing/meditating to music give me something that I literally cannot get anywhere else. I feel connected to my mind and body when I practice. I feel it brings me closer to who I truly am, and finding a practice that delivers real joy into our lives is a gift. I have a tendency to get flustered, anxious, and distracted, and I become very emotionally reactive during these times. Music instantly defuses me; it slows my breathing, floods me with endorphins, and forces me (gently and lovingly!) back into my body and out of my busy mind. It is structured reality; while your mind may drift in some ways while listening to music that makes you feel nostalgic, there’s no way to listen to music and not have a present-moment experience. It is very grounding for me in that way, and actually making music vs. just listening to it is extremely cathartic to me. Music, Life, and Practice Like any practice, I go through phases where I lapse or get lazy! Sometimes I notice a stress build up or a bad mood that I can’t shake, and I’m reminded that relief is as easy as returning to my practice. I am the master of creating play lists that meet my emotional needs, and sometimes simply allowing myself the joy or catharsis of listening to these carefully selected songs and either breathing, meditating, sitting outside in nature with my earbuds in, or singing along, is all I need to restore myself to balance. Other times I need to get out my guitar or sit down to the piano and pick up long-forgotten songs to play and sing to truly re-balance my body. It sounds over-simplified, but having a good “shower-singing session” or belting along to the play list I know will charge me up for work in the morning is often all it takes to wake up and calm my body. We aren’t all trained musicians, but everybody can experience the physical, emotional, and mental benefits of singing along (loudly and enthusiastically!) to our favorite songs in the shower or car. I also find that when I select the perfect workout play list—with songs that fire me up and also have desirable tempos for exercise—my workouts are much more productive and I finish them feeling more satisfied. It’s almost like participating in a physical and spiritual practice at the same time. I’m a big fan of incorporating carefully selected music into our exercise practice—whether it’s dance, yoga, or working out at the gym. I am the mother of two young girls; getting out of the house with them in the mornings is stressful and challenging to say the least. I often rely on listening to music on our drive to school to balance out the negative experience of rushing out the door (or forgetting lunchboxes, shoes, scrambling to eat breakfast). There was one morning that took this struggle to a whole new level, and I will never forget it: The girls and I were getting ready to go on a ten-hour road trip by ourselves, and although the details have been fuzzy, our departure from the home was chaotic, stressful, and extremely unpleasant. As I drove us out of town on the freeway, I cried and cried. I felt like a failure, and like I had already ruined our trip before it began. My confidence and self-esteem were at an all-time low in that moment; I felt I had let us all down. I grabbed my iPod and found the playlist I had created especially for this trip and found a song that made me feel like me. It reminded me of who I was pre-kids, the tempo was upbeat, and it was a song I loved to sing along to (It may or may not have been “Like a Prayer” by Madonna… 😄). I even had a good cry while I was listening—sometimes that release is what we need. After that song and a few extras, the physical exertion of singing had returned my breathing and heart rate to normal, the “happy chemicals” were flowing again, and I felt myself calmed and at peace once again. I’m not sure I could have gotten there without music. A Music Therapy Lesson for YOU For this lesson we’re going to brainstorm ways to incorporate music into your mind-body practice. Maybe you want to use it at the end of the day to unwind and visualize the upcoming day in a positive, inspiring way. Maybe you want to create a movement/dance/exercise practice that you can set to music. Perhaps you want to try music for working with stress and anxiety. So start your brainstorming, and get to creating, listening, playing, and journaling. I can’t wait to learn more about the role music plays in your lives! Isn’t Stephanie amazing?!?! In addition to her music awesomeness, Stephanie is also a freelance writer, editor, and mother of two young girls. She is a co-editor of The HerStories Project, a writing and publishing community for women, and one of the producers of Listen to Your Mother Boulder. You can learn more about Stephanie’s writing on her website, stephaniesprenger.com, and her music therapy practice at musicwithmissstephanie.com.
She primarily works with young children and families, but she has also practiced music therapy in a mental health facility and she regularly incorporates music into her own life and wellness practice.
Mindfulness, as I’ve stated, is both a formal practice and a way of being in the world. Throughout this week, I encourage you to practice mindfulness in both of these ways:
- Bringing awareness to your body state, your breathing, your senses, or your thoughts at various times during the day (perhaps choose a common activity during your day, such as turning on a light switch, checking your phone, getting into your car, etc., as your signal to do a quick check-in)
- Setting aside time for formal practice (I recommend starting with just five minutes a day — set a timer and practice coherent breathing, belly breathing, or use one of the guided practices below)
For me, the best time to meditate is in the morning… but find the time of day that will work best for YOU. Perhaps it’s during your lunch break, while the kids are napping, in the car before leaving work, or right before bed. I encourage you to find a time of day that’s consistent, as this makes it easier for meditation to become a habit.
Below you will find two guided meditations. The first is a basic introduction to mindfulness of the breath. The second one has a bit more “silent time” (and less narration), and is a basic introduction to meditation practice.
Remember, each time you practice, each time you deliberately focus your attention on the breath and the body, you are strengthening the neural pathways in your body for focus, concentration, and relaxation!
Click here to download Introduction to Mindfulness of the Breath.
Click here to download Introduction to Meditation.
Use the space below for any comments or questions you have about the course! Happy practicing!