Mindfulness - The key to self management
Jul 03, 2015
Mindfulness -
The key to self management
How do we make choices ?
• What to eat, drink ?
• What to wear ?
• What to do ?
• What to say ?
How do we make choices ?
• To increase pleasant feelings and
avoid unpleasant feelings ! –
pleasure pain principle ……
Freud !!
• Instinctive behaviour …
evolutionary programming of human
brain!
Pleasure – Pain principle
• A great impediment in facing life as
we grow up !......
– Increasing addiction among youth
– Inability to face unpleasant situations
… road rage, aggression, violence
=>Lack of self control
– Inability to distinguish between
“pleasant” and “good”
Traditional approach of self control
• Moral Education
• Limitations of didactic approach
• Example from Maha bha rata
जानामि धिमि न च ि परवति जानामि अधिमि न च ि तनवति
Mindfulness -- the key to self management
• Need for addressing the root
cause
• Root cause of lack of self control:
– instinctive tendency to seek
pleasant feelings [craving] and
avoid unpleasant feeling [aversion]
How do feelings arise ?
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Modes of Interaction with the world
Human
being
Mind
Mindfulness -- the key to self management
• People react differently to stimuli
– we react to feelings, not external
objects reaction => either of craving or
aversion
– role of perception, past conditioning
• Self management =>
• reducing the influence of pleasure-
pain principle & avoid instinctive
reaction
• responding to the stimuli wisely
Mindfulness -- the key to self management
• Training of Mind
– understand feelings are impermanent
– not to react to feelings:
–Neither run away nor run after feelings
just observe them with equanimity as
these change in their natural course
–Creating a space for wise
response
• Need for practical training
Mindfulness -- the key to self management
• Practical Training
– Benefits of using bodily sensations as an
anchor for training the mind
– Strengthening the mind to develop the ability
to feel subtle sensations
• Vipassana meditation
• Systematic scanning of the body to ‘feel’
the bodily sensations and training the
mind not to react to them.
• Using breath as an anchor to raise concentration … Ana pa na meditation
Meditation process in nutshell
Select object of
meditation
Notice any
reaction --
Relax
Noticing
attention has
wandered
Attention wanders
Return the
attention to the
object
• Moment by
moment
• Open Curiosity
• Non-judgmental
• Non -reactive
Let us practice for a few minutes
Benefits of Practice
Let us see the feedback from a school
Benefits of practice • Increase in concentration & efficiency
• Ability to resist temptations, distinguish
between ‘urgent’ and ‘important’ ; and say NO
• Ability to face ups-downs of life
• Proper self-appraisal- knowledge of strengths
and weaknesses
• Improvement in relationships
International Acceptance of
Mindfulness practice in
Education
Thanks !! Any Questions ?