Well woman mindfulness talk 10/03/18
Lara Kain, PA-C, MPAS
info@larakain.com
WELLWOMEN TALK
Introduction
Thank you so much for coming tonight to learn more about how mindfulness can help you find peace amongst the chaos of life. My name is Lara Kain and I am a teacher and healer. I have been practicing psychiatry for 17 years as a physician assistant and I am a transformational life coach. In both of my jobs I integrate my medical experience with my trainings as a holistic health coach, Breathwork facilitator and energy healer. I am very passionate about working with people who are ready to take control of their health and their lives through self accountability and diligent introspection. I will be starting a free meditation class in December. It will be on the second Monday of each month in my space in Ghent, and beginning in 2018 I will be offering an eight week Radical Reframe Program that will explore the teachings and exercises found in my book, Radical Reframe, Change the stories that Shape Your Life, and take you deeper into your own personal exploration and transformation.
Start with standing up and stretching
What is mindfulness?
Jon Kabat Zinn – Mindfulness means paying attention on purpose, in the present
moment, with non-judgment
Ellen Langer – Mindfulness is the process of actively noticing new things, relinquishing
preconceived ideas and beliefs and then acting on new observations
Polar Bear Study…
Awareness vs Mindfulness
Our minds are wired to repress redundant sensory information to make room for processing. This is helpful because we are inundated with hundreds if not thousands of bits of information every second, so this has been a survival instinct as we can only hold about 10-12 bits of data in our awareness at a time. A great example of this is when we wake up in the morning we are aware of our clothing for about 5 minutes and then the sensation of our clothing blends into the background unless something is really bothering us, like a tag or a too tight waist line. Then we do something to make it more comfortable, forget about it and go about our lives. The problem with this habituation is that our minds go on automatic pilot. They will check out and just go on scan mode and pop into action if they see some disturbance or possible danger. If we do not consciously work to stay present, our attention will perpetually be drawn to the next danger or bling. Like a cork caught in the currents of water, our awareness will follow the stream. This is what advertisers are banking on, an open mind that is not thinking for itself.
As with the polar bear, it doesn’t matter if you agree or don’t agree with the marketing, the point is, once the idea has permeated your mind, it is unconsciously planted there and we have a hard time getting it out of our consciousness. Hefty, Hefty, Hefty…or Where’s the Beef?
Generally we all are only 40-50% present to what is going on in the moment. We are usually half here and half somewhere in the future or the past, thinking about something we had said earlier that we regret, or something that we forgot, or what we might have for dinner, weekend plans, the phone conversation we just ended. The most pressing thing that prevents us from being present these days is our phone. I recently read a study that said the average person will check their phone 6-8 times and hour, even when there has not been an indicator that someone has called or texted. And these “checks” are often followed by random and aimless wanderings into Facebook or email. Can anyone relate to that?
First exercise – Awareness of Room Posture, neighbor, sounds, scents, emotions
Take a minute to close your eyes and be aware of the room. The sounds in the room, scents, see if you can feel the person sitting on either side of you. Can you hear their breathing? Can you hear your own breathing? What noises are there in the room that you did not notice before? Can you sense the chair you are sitting on? How does your body feel? How is your posture? Can you relax any parts of your body that might feel tight right now? Your shoulders? Your hips? Can you sit up a little, straighten your back? How are you feeling right now? Sad, tired, content, happy? Where are your thoughts wandering? Can you bring yourself back to being mindful of your body?
Asthma Story
Let’s take that example of eating and look at it a bit further. When we are purposefully aware of eating, we are consciously being aware of the process of eating. We’re deliberately noticing the sensations and our responses to those sensations. We’re noticing the mind wandering, and when it does wander we purposefully bring our attention back.
When we’re eating unmindfully we may in theory be aware of what we’re doing, but we’re probably thinking about a hundred and one other things at the same time, and we may also be watching TV, talking, or reading — or even all three! So a very small part of our awareness is absorbed with eating, and we may be only barely aware of the physical sensations and even less aware of our thoughts and emotions.
The mindlessness of our daily lives, who has ever…
driven somewhere and arrived at their destination and don’t remember the route?
sat down for a meal and finished it without remembering eating it
been asked what they did over the weekend and can’t remember a single thing to report?
talk about memory and behaviors
Emotions too often are reactive and without mindfulness, are based on past experiences. We will default to past, often learned, reactions if we are not conscious of the emotions arising, know how to manage them and then consciously act according to how we want to respond
Road Rage-a tragic consequence of mindless living
Current political environment not being able to listen to the other side or hearing
a differing opinion
The Nervous System and Mindfulness
Autonomic Nervous System
Sympathetic-fight or flight, automatic pilot ↑Heart Rate ↑Blood Pressure ↑Muscle
Tension ↓Executive Functioning ↓Rational thinking
Parasympathetic – rest and digest, relaxation ↓Heart Rate ↓Blood Pressure ↓Muscle
Tension ↑Executive Functioning ↑Rational thinking
When we are not present the body goes into a low level of alertness, looking for anything that could be dangerous or cause us harm, and if we have had trauma, the nervous system is preprogramed to go on alert and overdrive.
Breath Mindfulness- close your eyes and notice your breathing
Pervasive curiosity…
Being curious gives us permission to open up to an experience, whether joyful and painful, with an open mind to fully embrace the situation. This moves us out of our knee jerk reaction of avoiding what we don’t like or perceive as painful. With a heart full of compassion, we can be curious about any situation, and really try to understand all componentsI would argue curiosity and kindness are the antidotes to judgment and other harsh evaluations we may direct toward ourselves or others and it is a quality that can be developed.
Curiosity can be used as a way to inquire into our experience—the joyful and painful alike. Curiosity may allow us to begin to level the playing field of our lives so we don’t have to excessively privilege one experience over another. Curiosity or interest can thus lead us to mindful investigation and exploration, coming to fully know experience as it is
Roxanne’s story with the smoothy
Continuously being open to the experience
Noticing what is different about this experience
Would you rather be happy or right?
What would you do if you had millions of dollars in your back account right now?
What do you desire most in your life?
What is your greatest strength?
I believe the path to a happy life is through knowing ourselves and then exploiting our strengths, through self introspection and surrounding ourselves with a supportive community.
Counting Breath
Balance your inbreathe and out breath using the same count…whether a 2 or a 3 or a 4 count, it does not matter, the point is to get your breathing balanced and your mind occupied with keeping count. I have a counting breath video on YouTube, just search my name, Lara Kain.
TORCH Center for Wellness