The Power of Meditation

Recently, I had the opportunity to attend Dr. Dan Siegel’s seminar “How Psychotherapy Works.”

It was a fascinating day in which you learned about the intersection of psychology, neuroscience and mindfulness meditation in mental health.

Below are the key take-aways from Dan Siegel’s talk:

Mindsight = the special kind of attention that allows you to see the inner workings of your own mind. It helps you to become aware of your thought processes without being swept away by them. It enables you to turn off the autopilot of (previously) ingrained behaviors/responses. In other words, it helps you “name and tame” your emotions vs. being overwhelmed by them.

For those of you who are familiar with mindfulness meditation, Mindsight is essentially the state of awareness that one obtains from the practice of mindfulness meditation.

However, as Dan explained, he had developed Mindsight without any knowledge of mindfulness meditation at the time. It just so happened that the Mindsight and mindfulness meditation overlapped and the subsequent research in support of all the benefits of mindfulness meditation, is in support of his research as well.

Mind = an emergent self-organizing process that regulates energy and information flow. The mind is both embodied (within us) and relational (between us).

Integration is (mental) health; linkage of differentiated parts. This may be achieved through mindsight, or mindfulness meditation practiced on a regular basis. Dan has a “Wheel of Awareness” meditation tool that we may use for this purpose available for free at www.drdansiegel.com.

*Mindsight: The New Science of Personal Transformation – shows us how to help others monitor their minds and achieve mindsight.
*The Mindful Therapist: A Clinician’s Guide to Mindsight and Neural Integration helps learn how to monitor our own minds and self-regulate.

When integration is impaired, you lead a life that is either rigid or chaotic. In other words, it is either rather stuck and dull or explosive and unpredictable. You can also become imprisoned in various behavioral ruts such as anxiety, depression, obsession and addiction.

Conversely, with integration, harmony and well-being emerge, as well as the “open plane of possibility.” Integration is a process by which differentiated elements are linked together into a working whole. This, in turn, leads the mind to have increased flexibility and adaptability.

The ability to see the mind first develops based upon your early interactions with others, primarily through communication with your parents and caregivers.

When those adults are in tune with you, that is, they reflect back to you as a child, an accurate portrayal of your internal world/emotions, you will come to sense your own mind with clarity.

However, when those early caregivers provide unresponsive, distant or confusing responses, their lack of attunement is likely to lead to you having a cloudy/distorted mindsight lens.

Regardless of how attuned our parents or caregivers were to our emotional world, neuroscience has definitely shown that we can grow these new connections throughout our lives (not just in childhood) via mindsight because the brain never stops growing in response to experience.

In sum, developing the skill of Mindsight changes the physical structure of the brain, leading to a healthier, more integrated structure that leads to better mental health. In addition, neuroscience confirms that mindfulness meditation activates the brain circuits that are responsible for our resilience, well-being, as well as our feelings of empathy and compassion.

As much as regular practice of mindful meditation is important for obtaining and maintaining integration in the brain, it is not the only component one needs for a healthy mind.

Thoughts and emotions will come up as a result of practicing meditation; one becomes aware of previously ingrained habits and “shoulds” from one’s childhood. Sometimes facing these past memories and emotions and moving forward require the assistance of psychotherapy.

Furthermore, aside from meditation (or “time in”), Dan recommends that we engage in the other 6 servings of the Healthy Mind Platter to help our brain function at its best.

In other words, he suggests that we incorporate each of the following activities or “mental nutrients” into our daily routine: time in, sufficient sleep, physical activity, focus time, down time, play time and connecting time.

Engaging in the Healthy Mind Platter — > enables our brain to coordinate and balance its activities –> strengthen our brain’s internal connections and our connections with other people –> Greater Health and Well-Being

What are your thoughts about meditation and/or the Healthy Mind Platter? Do the potential benefits of time in and the other “mental nutrients” make you want to start engaging in these activities yourself and/or incorporating these components in your work with clients? 
 
Reference:
Siegel, D., How psychotherapy works seminar, March 31, 2012.
Siegel, D., (2011). Mindsight. New York: Bantom Books.