Mindfulness: What Is It? (Even if you dont know please post so we can help grow the forums accordingly)

[blondguy]

Hi Everybody

This is only the basic dictionary definition...

"Mindfulness is a state of active, open attention on the present. When you're mindful, you observe your thoughts and feelings from a distance without judging them good or bad. Instead of letting your life pass you by, mindfulness means living in the moment without judgement"

• Please be as blunt you wish....If you dont have an idea about mindfulness it would be great if you could let us know
• If mindfulness hasnt worked/or is too broad a concept for you it would great if you can let us know your thoughts too
• If mindfulness has helped you, please help others to help themselves by posting how you have embraced this mindset

It goes without saying that the forums are a judgement free zone and I really hope that everyone can jump in and have their say

Your input is highly valued no matter how you respond to this topic. There are no experts here...New Posters are Most Welcome!!

My Kindest Thoughts

Paul

[Flick_SnotGrass]

Hey blondguy, you just made my day!, thanx, Flick

[Flick_SnotGrass]

Dear All,

Flick SnotGrass here,

Been thinking about this Mindfulness Thread and 'Brian'...my Brain....popped this into my conscious awareness this mourning for you all,

Hey thanks Brian, give yourSelf a GOLD STAR Kiddo.

"You are not wearing a theory" by Flick SnotGrass

You are not wearing a theory...

No, you are wearing a real, three pound lump of meat.

That three pound lump of meat, between your ears, is creating 'You'.
I know it sounds funny but it's true!
Your Brian, oops sorry, Brain AT THIS VERY MOMENT, is decoding these funny symbols, we call 'the alphabet' and, using blazingly fast sub neural netwroks, puts my meaning together for 'You' so 'You' can follow my ramblings.
With me?
'You', your conscious appreciation of the world, and 'I' are clever illusions ... persistent and compelling illusions but illusions nonetheless, created by your Brian.
I have known this FACT since 1973.
In 1973 I was a member of British Aircraft Corporation's Human Factors Department in Filton, England and together with the Burden Neurological Institute we glued electrodes on the heads of fighter pilots while they flew aircraft attack simulations, and we used the brain output called the CONTINGENT NEGATIVE VARIATION, CNV as a signal to fire the fighter pilot's air to surface missiles. A very early Brain Computer Interface....more on that another day.
The CNV occurs about 250 mS BEFORE the pilot knew it was time to pull the trigger. Got some funny reactions too, "Oh I SAY!! How Do you chappies do that?'
SO ~ 'Your' Conscious Mind lags about a quarter of a second behind the instant of NOW.
'You' can begin to use this FACT to talk more meaningfully with your very own three pound lump of meet.

Here's how to start learning how to say 'Hello' to your Brian.

Ready?

OK.

~ Close your eyes.

~ Take three very long deep breaths and let them out real slow [feel for the 'Relaxation Reflex']

~ NOW ROLL YOUR EYES UP TO THE TOP OF YOUR HEAD UNTIL YOU FEEL A LITTLE BIT OF EYESTRAIN, then relax your eyes and keep your eyes closed.

~ Breathe

~ Say 'Hello' out loud to your Brain.

And wait....

Do this exercise just as you are about to fall asleep and you will begin to get insights about how 'You' and that three pound lump of meat you are wearing, can get along better, clean out the mental rubbish, rearrange the furniture and start to feel a bit better about 'YourSelf'

This is the Eye Roll Technique ~ it is VERY powerful.

In-Joy,

Flick SnotGrass

[MarkJT]

Flick, going to have to put an alert in my phone to remember your exercises of a morning. Have forgotten three days in a row. Bugger.

I am completely fascinated with the brain and have been told so much about trauma and what it does but have not yet been able to retain any of it.

That is so cool the work you were doing back in the day. Imagine what they are doing now!

What is your fave mindfulness technique?

Mark

[Flick_SnotGrass]

Hey Mark,

Yes it takes a bit of practice to get the habit started..."Just keep swimming swimming swimming...just keep swimming....

Yes Brain Computer Interfaces have come a very long way since 1973...I always keep an eye on military research in this field because they are often ahead of the pack [they have to be.] An area DARPA has made a lot of progress in is tDCS, transcranial Direct Current Stimulation...not for everyone but I and some of my clients like to use this 'electroceutical' for various tasks.

Mark you asked "What is your fave mindfulness technique?"

I like to play games with my Brian and 'mindfulness' is a bit like Waking Up from the trance you were in just before you remembered to remember. I've discovered its a handy skill to practice [yes it takes a bit of effort to remember].

I get bored very easily so I change my Brian Games often...yesterday I counted down one unit from 100 everytime I remembered to remember to 'Wake up'...got down to 84.

When I 'Wake Up' I like to see if I can catch what Brian/I was thinking about just before I/we 'Woke Up' .... if I was thinking of something glorious we get a Gold Star if I was running a misery tape I take a breath, look at my hands, see there are no holes, have a chuckle at oursElves and see how many seconds I can remember to be remembering.

It's fun.

Basically I like to vary my routine so my Brian games are fresh and interesting....last week I moved some of the art around the house ~ that always wakes you up a bit with the surprise "Hey where did that come from...oh yes..its ours" 🙂

Its a bit like debugging the wiring 🙂 sometimes think too.

Beautiful day and the Ozzie birds are singing their little hearts out..so lucky.

Have a somewhat significantly above average day 🙂

Flick SnotGrass

[Flick_SnotGrass]

Mark,

There are a bunch more Brian techniques on short 120 second videos on The Brain Reprogramming Doctor's website.

Moi

[Ggrand]

Hello Blondguy, Flick, Mark and everyone else on this thread.

I have searched the threads to find the right one to post this in.

As a few of you seem to know how the brain works I though I would ask it here

I have a question. Is Anger a part of frustration, hate disappointment? or is it a completely isolated emotion

I ask because with my entire life's journey I have never been "allowed" to show, feel or act on anger " I've had to throw it out the window , hide it, suppress it " if you can understand that. and have never really had to deal with it openly " I got really good at not caring about my emotions" Now there's no one here to hide it from I'm having a hard time dealing with it

The last 3 days I've had anger towards any and everything. I think what started it was "slipping backwards yet again".

Sorry if I have strayed a bit off topic but with anger, it seems impossible to do mindfulness.

So another question if I may, Why can we not use mindfulness when we seem to need it most to bring us back from over exaggerated emotions, why does mindfulness only seem to work when we are nearly calm.

Ok that was 2 questions.

Kindness only

Karen.

Your thoughts would be much appreciated.

[Just Sara]

Hi Karen, lovely to meet you;

I haven't posted on this thread for a while, but was drawn here today by Brian. (Thanks Flick!)

As with you, anger wasn't tolerated in our household growing up. But when it did rare it's ugly head, there were often dire consequences. I cope so much better these days due to self assessment, insight and wisdom learned thru recovery.

As for being mindful when angry, there's probably no point as the horse has already bolted. Learning to identify when it's immanent though is much more productive and this is where mindfulness comes into play. Others may want to elaborate?

You've given me an idea for a new thread. As this is more about mindfulness, I'm going to create one on anger as it's a really important and common issue for people suffering MH responses. Thankyou for bringing it up Karen. 🙂

Much appreciated and hope I can help in the near future;

Sez

[Flick_SnotGrass]

Hi Karen and Sez,

ANGER ~ great topic.

Nice thoughts Sez...you could die in our house too if you showed anger and temper....slightly more than a clip round the ear.

I'll give you my two Centavos worth but this is a big topic but for now see if you can find my "You are wearing a three pound lump of Meat, not a Theory" post, I put it somewhere here on BB it'll help show you where I am coming from.

In brief, for now you ask...
"Is Anger a part of frustration, hate disappointment? or is it a completely isolated emotion"

Anger is part and parcel of your FIGHT~FLIGHT~FREEZE Self Protection circuitry.

Your FIGHT~FLIGHT~FREEZE Self Protection circuitry is designed to save you from danger.

Colloquially we call this 'The Fear Response'.

FEAR is our primary emotion and we respond to the prick of fear in various ways, these are our emotional REACTIONS, often mislabeled as 'emotions'.

You do need to acknowledge your bodily sensations like your fear response, the 'trick' is to learn ways to update and upgrade our responses to Fear ~ so we don't go off on automatic so much.

Quick tip: Ask Brian tonight [or Esmeralda 🙂 ] for some AWARENESS about this whole topic of your:

(A) secret ANGER responses....

(B) your run away responses and

(C) your frozen in the headlights responses.

Brian is creating the sensations and emotional reactions you are consciously experiencing.

More later,

Flick SnotGrass

[blondguy]

Hi Karen...Flick..MarkJT....Sara...and any new posters too!

You have asked an excellent question pertaining to anger....

There are great posts above where anger is concerned....

This is only my 2cents worth after 30 years of anxiety followed by depression...

In my own circumstances Anger (frequent) is one of the branches that grow from a 'tired mind'.

Karen mentioned "my entire life's journey I have never been "allowed" to show, feel or act on anger " I've had to throw it out the window , hide it, suppress it "

You and I have a lot in common Karen....seriously. This is exactly the same way as I was brought up...Showing anger was not on. The problem then arises that we cant blow off steam (vent) and let go of the built up feelings we have had. Then this becomes a habit and we become used to suppressing our anger which is a major pain which can sometimes lead to various degrees of ongoing stress/anxiety/depression

Just from my experience....the first time I felt better was after 13 years of chronic anxiety and burst into tears in front of my mental health worker when he was pressing all my 'uncomfortable buttons'....I felt like crap at the time in my early 30's but felt such sense of relief after a couple of days after crying as much as did

I hope some of this has helped even a little Karen

My kindest thoughts for you (great post/question too)

Paul

[Just Sara]

Hey again Flick; (Sorry to hijack your thread for a mo Paul)

As I've created a new thread on Anger, I think everything you guys have written will fit nicely into that topic. It'd be great if you could copy/paste your posts to that thread and continue there?

What you've bought up Flick about reptilian/primal/rational Brian responses is right up my alley. I'll also have a look-see at your '3 pound lump of meat thread' (or 1.4kg for those converted) Ha ha ha...

Thanks Paul for allowing me to advertise my new thread on here. 🙂

Sez