Mindsight Digital Journal, Issue No. 3, September 2016

Transcription

1 Topic The Wheel of Awareness and Integration of Consciousness, by Daniel J. Siegel, M.D. In this 90- minute video, Dr. Dan Siegel explores that nature of consciousness and integration as the basis of well- being. Join us for a deep dive into The Wheel of Awareness - a practice that integrates the five senses, connection to the body, mental processes and subjectivity, and relationships. Learn to use consciousness and intentional energy flow to live with more balance, flexibility, and presence. 1

2 Applications for all Professionals and General Interest A. The Wheel of Awareness & Integration (00:54-19:59) Integration is the differentiation and linkage of parts of a system such as our mental lives, as we will soon explore and it can be functional or structural in nature When a system is integrated, harmony, flexibility, and balance emerge; when a system lacks differentiation, chaos, rigidity, or both emerge; in the context of the mind as a self-organizing process, integration optimizes the system and is the basis of well-being The Wheel of Awareness practice differentiates the process of knowing from the known, and then the knowns from one another, and this integration of consciousness cultivates change as we systematically link differentiated parts with the focus of attention and adaptively flow through peaks of certainty, plateaus of probability and the open plane of possibility The hub represents knowing The rim represents the known The spoke represents attention directing energy and information flow Dr. Siegel s Wheel of Awareness Practice is available at: B. The Mind & Mindsight (19:59-39:52) The mind includes consciousness, subjectivity, and information processing, and has one facet that can be defined as the embodied and relational, self-organizing emergent process of a complex system that regulates the flow of energy and information Interpersonal Neurobiology is a multi-disciplinary field based in consilience or universal findings found across frequently independent fields of science Subjective experience can be understood as the felt texture of lived life that you become aware of through consciousness 2

3 The Three Components of Mindsight Insight: Reflecting with self-awareness by focusing attention on the internal, subjective world of the mind Empathy: Feeling the inner experience of another within one's own mind; forming a mental map of another; feeling felt by someone else is the foundation of a supportive relationship Integration: The differentiation or specialization, and, ultimately, linkage of systems including the brain and interpersonal relationships; without integration, chaos, rigidity, or both emerge, resulting in a state of mental dysfunction; with integration, harmony emerges with flexibility, adaptability, coherence, energy, and stability C. Neuroplasticity & The Wheel of Awareness Practice (39:52-57:56) When we engage in the Wheel of Awareness Practice, we stream energy in a way that differentiates and links our mental life and likely also parts of our brain as we experience integration within consciousness Where attention goes, neural firing flows, and neural connection grows. Synaptic Modulation (Synaptogenesis) Epigenetic Modulation (Epigenesis) Neurogenesis Myelinogenesis Changes in Neural Function and Structure The formation and modulation of neural synapses; Neurons that fire together, wire together The alteration of the control of gene expression in this case via experience and learning that involves laying down of non-nucleic acid molecules (histones and methyl groups) on top of genes (which are comprised of DNA chains of nucleic acids) The generation of new neurons from neural stem cells that divide and can create new neurons early in life and especially in the hippocampus throughout the lifespan The laying down of a myelin sheath around interconnected nerve fibers, leading to increased firing speed and enhanced coordination of neural firing D. Mindfulness and Presence (57:56-1:20:56) When we intentionally fill awareness with the unfolding of moment-to-moment experience, we realize that mental experience is not permanent and not the totality of reality; thoughts and feelings come and go 3

4 Time can be viewed as a mental construction that describes the subjective experience of the awareness of change; the arrow of time is the directionality of change (future, present, past) In mental activity, we create symbolic representations with specific neural patterns, which we call information; information context and the meaning of a symbol, as well as the whole of energy and information flow depends on CLIFF factors: Characteristics of Energy Change C L I F F Contours Location Intensity (Amplitude) Frequency Form E. Practice in Daily Life (1:20:56-1:35:14) Creating time for mindfulness practices like the Wheel of Awareness can be challenging, but mindfulness practices make you more efficient throughout the day Through mindfulness, we strengthen those parts of our brain and mind that support emotional regulation, ability to make conscious choices, insight, and empathy, bringing more balance, harmony, and well-being into daily life 4

5 Annotated Bibliography of Books Referenced and for Further Reading 1. For All Professional Groups, Parents, and General Interest a. Blackburn, E. & Epel, E. (2017). The telomere effect: The new science of living younger. New York, NY: Grand Central Publishing. A magnificent tour through the exciting world of telomerase and the practical ways we can use our minds to help improve the health of our bodies and our relationships with each other, and our selves. b. Davidson, R. & Begley, S. (2012). The emotional life of your brain: How its unique patterns affect the way you think, feel, and live and how you can change them. New York, NY: Penguin Group. An accessible overview of Richard Davidson s research projects and his view of how the mind can be trained to improve many aspects of life. c. Fredrickson, B.L. (2013). Love 2.0: Finding happiness and health in moments of connection. New York, NY: Penguin Group. Expanding the notion of love to include what this leader in the field of social and positive psychology calls positivity resonance, this book offers an uplifting and practical guide to increasing the quality of one s relationships in the world. d. Hubel, D. H. & Wiesel, T.N. (2005). Brain and visual perception: The story of a 25- year collaboration. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. The 1980 Nobel prize winning team reveal their relationship and how they unveiled that power of experience to shape cortical architecture. e. Iacoboni, M. (2009). Mirroring people: The science of empathy and how we connect with others. New York, NY: Picador. One of the pioneers in the study of mirror neurons in human beings explores how our social brains enable us to communicate with one another. f. Kabat- Zinn, J. (2012). Mindfulness for beginners: Reclaiming the present moment and your life. Boulder, CO: Sounds True. Exploring the fundamentals of meditation, this book provides an excellent introduction to not only the practice of mindfulness training but the ways of being mindful. g. Kornfield, J. (2012). Bringing home the dharma: Awakening right where you are. Boston, MA: Shambhala Publications. The dharma means the ways of the mind, the truths about life, that we cannot only learn but also practice in our daily lives and this book reveals how to bring this truth home. a. Levitin, D.J. (2007). This is your brain on music: The science of a human obsession. New York, NY: Penguin Group. b. Siegel, D. J. (2016). MIND: A journey into the heart of being human. New York, NY: W.W. Norton. *To be publically released November 1, An exploration of what the mind is, how we as a human species have somehow academically often confined the mind to the head, and how a fuller definition of the mind as an embodied and relational process can widen our discussion of not only what the mind may actually be, but may also reveal how we can cultivate a healthy mind in our individual and collective lives. c. Siegel, D. J. (2008). The mindful brain: The neurobiology of well- being. Sounds True. This is an audio recording of an overview of what being mindful may be all about, as seen from a newcomer s point of view distinct form the book of the same name! d. Siegel, D. J. (2007). The mindful brain: Reflection and attunement in the cultivation of well- being (Norton Series on Interpersonal Neurobiology). WW Norton & Company. As a newcomer to the field of mindfulness, the author (me) provides an inside view of what being in a week- long silent retreat was like and what the interpersonal neurobiology perspective might offer in trying to make sense of mindful awareness. e. Siegel, D.J. & Hartzell, M. (2004). Parenting From the Inside Out. New York: Penguin. Dan works here with Mary Hartzell a preschool director to explore how the attachment research findings that the best predictor of a 5

6 child s attachment is actually the parent s self- understanding can be applied to change one s own attachment state of mind no matter the reader s age. f. Stapp, H.P. (2011). Mindful universe: Quantum mechanics and the participating observer (2 nd Ed.). New York, NY: Springer. An excellent and accessible text that is both a useful introduction and a deep dive into the ways in which consciousness and intention shape energy patterns in the world. g. Wilson, E.O. (1998). Consilience. New York, NY: Knopf. This book proposes that we can understand more if we find the universal overlaps or consilience among usually independent pursuits of knowledge. h Further Reading For Mental Health Professionals, Educators, Executives, and Coaches a. Benowitz, L. I., Bear, D. M., Rosenthal, R., Mesulam, M. M., Zaidel, E., & Sperry, R. W. (1983). Hemispheric specialization in nonverbal communication. Cortex, 19(1), The importance of non- linguistic ways we communicate with each other, dominant in the right hemisphere. b. Brown, K.W., Creswell, J.D., and Ryan, R.M. (2015). The handbook of mindfulness: Theory, research, and practice. New York, NY: Guildford Press. c. Epel, E. S., Blackburn, E. H., Lin, J., Dhabhar, F. S., Adler, N. E., Morrow, J. D., & Cawthon, R. M. (2004). Accelerated telomere shortening in response to life stress. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 101(49), An early study revealing how scientists discovered the important role the ends of our chromosomes, our telomeres, and telomerase, the enzyme that repairs them, play in our well- being and how these are challenged by stress (and later we d learn reversed with mindfulness practice). d. Farb, N. A., Segal, Z. V., Mayberg, H., Bean, J., McKeon, D., Fatima, Z., & Anderson, A. K. (2007). Attending to the present: mindfulness meditation reveals distinct neural modes of self- reference. Social cognitive and affective neuroscience, 2(4), An excellent example of disentangling the components of mindfulness, revealing the two streams of sensation and observation, which we can view as the differentiation of mindfulness that then becomes part of the integration as we link these together. e. Fonagy, P., & Target, M. (1997). Attachment and reflective function: Their role in self- organization. Development and psychopathology, 9(04), One of the original papers on the importance of reflecting on the mind of the child in the attachment relationship now called by Fonagy and colleagues, mentalization. f. Germer, C.K., Siegel, R.D., & Fulton, P.R. (2013). Mindfulness and psychotherapy (2 nd Ed). New York, NY: Guilford Publications. Explores both the direct and indirect ways mindfulness can enhance the experience of psychotherapy for both client and therapist. g. Hebb, D. O. (2005/1949). The organization of behavior: A neuropsychological theory. United Kingdom: Psychology Press. A classic original book that had the message, though not specifically stated and instead coined by Carla Shatz later on as a paraphrase of Hebb, that neurons which fire together, wire together and the origin of the term, the Hebbian synapse. h. Hölzel, B. K., Carmody, J., Vangel, M., Congleton, C., Yerramsetti, S. M., Gard, T., & Lazar, S. W. (2011). Mindfulness practice leads to increases in regional brain gray matter density. Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging, 191(1), Anatomical changes are now known to be important results of mindfulness meditation practice supporting the notion mentioned earlier that where attention goes, neural firing flows, and neural connections grow. 6

7 i. Kafatos, M.C. & Nadeau, R. (2013). The conscious universe: Parts and wholes in physical reality. New York: Springer. A fascinating exploration of a quantum physics view of how the act of observation alters the probability function of energy. j. Langer, E.J. (1998). The power of mindful learning. Cambridge, MA: Perseus Books. Noticing distinctions and avoiding premature closure of perception is explored in this seminal work on the power of this form of mental receptivity to create not only more enjoyable and lasting learning, but also well- being. k. Majdan, M. & Shatz, C.J. (2006). Effects of visual experience on activity- dependent gene regulation in cortex. Nature Neuroscience 9: Epub 2006 Apr 2. An example of how energy streaming into the nervous system the basis of experience activates genes that catalyze the growth of neural connections. l. Rosenkranz, M. A., Davidson, R. J., MacCoon, D. G., Sheridan, J. F., Kalin, N. H., & Lutz, A. (2013). A comparison of mindfulness- based stress reduction and an active control in modulation of neurogenic inflammation. Brain, Behavior, and Immunity, 27, Researchers reveal how the control group matters in careful studies, this revealing how physiological measures may reveal more than self- reports for meditation studies. m. Shatz, C.J. (1990). Impulse activity and the patterning of connections during CNS development. Neuron, 5(6), The neuroscientist who actually coined the term neurons that fire together, wire together as a paraphrase of Donald Hebb s original proposal from 1945 that was later called the Hebbian Synapse. n. Siegel, D. J. (2007). Mindfulness training and neural integration: differentiation of distinct streams of awareness and the cultivation of well- being. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, 2(4), A discussion of the Farb, et al, paper described earlier that dives deeply into how their findings can be seen as empirical support for the integration of consciousness at the heart of mindful awareness. o. Siegel, D. J. (2012). Pocket guide to interpersonal neurobiology: An integrative handbook of the mind. New York, NY: W.W. Norton & Company. A non- linear (and playful!) book that enables readers to explore the field of interpersonal neurobiology by flowing through passages and passions at their own discretion, the Pocket Guide provides a journey into IPNB in which the topic of the mind and the process of reading are parallel experiences. p. Siegel, D.J. (2010). Mindsight: The new science of personal transformation. New York: Bantam/Random House. This overview of applying interpersonal neurobiology to various clinical situations covering the domains of integration and how to apply the Wheel of Awareness in clinical practice. q. Singer, T., & Lamm, C. (2009). The social neuroscience of empathy. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1156(1), Leading researchers reveal ways of studying the nature of empathy, and later in their work, compassion. r. Teicher, M. H., Andersen, S. L., Polcari, A., Anderson, C. M., & Navalta, C. P. (2002). Developmental neurobiology of childhood stress and trauma. Psychiatric Clinics of North America, 25(2), A summary of the neurobiological impact of abuse and neglect on the developing brain. 7