goals for the third evening

to appreciate that our lives are largely constructed of what we pay attention to

to see that the fish-hooks approach can help disentangle us from unhelpful mind states

to be clear about the specific practice you are to work on for the rest of the week

limits of consciousness

at most 7 bits of information at once - eg. 7 different sounds, visual stimuli, nuances of emotion or thought

1/18 second chunks, so 126 bits/second we need to allocate about 40 bits/second to

understand the words another person is saying 16 hours per day for a 70 year lifetime is equivalent

to a total of 185 billion bits of information

we are limited to:

attention, intentions & priorities

the 185 billion bits of information - or whatever our personal allocation - determines the content and the quality of our lives

information enters consciousness because of biological and social programming or

because we focus attention on it by revising our social programming and by

deciding how to focus our attention we hugely influence the content and quality of our lives

how birds see the world

Gary Larson

our attitudes colourthe world we see

if a pickpocket meetsa saint, all he sees are

his pockets

for the man who wears shoes, the

whole world is covered with leather

four aspects of helpful inner focus

reducingnegative

states

nourishing positive states

exploring &

processing

encouragingmindfulness

focus also involves mindfulness

mindfulness

fish hooks, metacognition flow,

acceptancetolerance, mindfulness

researchers in this area of “mindfulness” include Linehan (DBT), Wells (metacognition), Csikszentmihalyi (flow), Hayes (ACT), Kabat-Zinn (mindfulness), Teasdale (MBCT)

applications have included depression, anxiety, personality problems, chronic

pain, skin disorders, other physical

symptoms, & general wellbeing

savouring, mindfulness & flow

flowfocus on

the activity

savouringfocus on the positive

mindfulnessfocus on the present

deliberate, non-judgemental attention to what is happening

in the present moment

full immersion in what one is doing with loss of self-consciousness

focus on positive experiences in past,

present or future

eating a raisin

simple activities like eating, walking, hearing, seeing

are often opportunities to “come to our senses”

try eating a raisin or other simple food slowly and

awarely - wake up to what is often partly automatic

this exercise is an lovely illustration

of savouring, flow & mindfulness

gratitude, appreciation, & specials

these exercises helps remind us that “small is beautiful”

use the record sheet to jot down three “specials” you have been particularly grateful for and appreciated today

this is good for our mood & wellbeing it is also a lovely way of getting

snapshots of someone else’s day try describing/exchanging “specials”

with a partner, friends or family

attention & self: a two way street

attention shapes the self and is in turn shaped by it Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh Matthew 12;xxxiv

the flow of energy through a system serves to organize that system Buckminster Fuller