alive session 2

Session 2

The healing power of awareness


Our mind has two ways of working:-

• The Doing Mode

• The Being Mode


Our mind has two ways of working:-

• The Doing Mode

• The Being Mode

Remember:

Sad emotions are not the problem.

They are normal and natural

BUT they are meant to be temporary.


So if we find that they linger, get worse, drag us down then there is something else going on….


So if we find that they linger, get worse, drag us down then there is something else going on.

The problem is not the initial emotion of sadness. The problem is what happens next…….


So if we find that they linger, get worse, drag us down then there is something else going on.

The problem is not the initial emotion of sadness. The problem is what happens next…….

Negative emotions are signals to our mind that something is wrong.

The mind then tries to solve the problem. To avoid or eliminate it.

The process shuts off when the situation ends.

This is called aversion.


This is the Doing mode of mind -

Analysis, problem solving, judgment, comparison.

We want to close the gap between the way things are and the way we think they should be.




We want to close the gap between the way things are

and the way we think they should be.

This usually works very well in helping us to achieve our goals in everyday

situations and in solving work-related technical problems.




We want to close the gap between the way things are

and the way we think they should be.

This usually works very well in helping us to achieve our goals in everyday

situations and in solving work-related technical problems.

When we use it in our “internal world” it’s a disaster!!!

We can’t “problem solve” out of a sad mood. It gets worse. Because we can’t

“problem solve” out of it, we have just made the gap between the way things

are and the way we think they should be, even BIGGER…


The DOING MODE’ is actually making the problem worse. So we put more energy into problem solving……



Because, despite our efforts, the problem gets worse instead of better, we start to ruminate



Because, despite our efforts, the problem gets worse instead of better, we start to ruminate

Rumination

Self –focused, self-critical, frame of mind, where we become fruitlessly preoccupied with the fact that we are unhappy and with the causes, meanings and consequences of our unhappiness.


We think it will help BUT Rumination is part of the problem, not

part of the solution


We think it will help BUT Rumination is part of the problem, not

part of the solution

It’s like trying to make a wound better by rubbing it with a sharp knife!!

We are just using the wrong tool.


GREAT NEWS: There is an alternative.



The “BEING MODE”. AWARENESS.




Remember we don’t just think about things, we also experience them directly through our senses.




Remember we don’t just think about things, we also experience them directly through our senses.

MINDFULLNESS: is the awareness that emerges through

paying attention on purpose,

in the present moment, and

non-judgmentally

to things as they are.


Mindfulness will allow us to:-



• Get out of our heads and learn to experience the world directly, experientially, without the relentless commentary of our thoughts




• See our thoughts as mental events that come and go, instead of treating them as facts





• Start living right here in each present moment






• Disengage the autopilot in our heads







• Sidestep the cascade of mental events that draws us down into depression







• Sidestep the cascade of mental events that draws us down into depression

• Stop trying to force life to be a certain way because we’re uncomfortable right now


The rest of this program helps us learn how to cultivate mindfulness.



• It is a skill.



• It is a skill.

• It can be learned and practiced.



• It is a skill.

• It can be learned and practiced.

• It can profoundly change your life……

alive session 2

Health & Medicine