FOCUS: MEN’S THRIVABILITY
quality is a survival mechanism that allows us to learn from past mistakes, consolidate past success, and consider future consequences to specific action or inaction. But it can also engage us in some unpleasant emotions such as anxiety, worry, and regret.
PHYSICAL SENSATIONS AND OUR EMOTIONS Every thought creates sensations in the body, and these sensations are subjectively interpreted as emotions. For example, the sensation of a churning tummy may be interpreted as fear whether there is an actual threat or only a perceived one. These emotions are triggered by the activity of the mind. So, recalling a difficult conversation with a colleague two days ago or anticipating a challenging presentation next week may produce the same stress response as if the threat were real and present. Men often have a harder time than
women at identifying subtle physical sensations (interoception). One of the benefits of mindfulness training is that it enhances connections in the part of the brain responsible for interoception (the insula). This means that the more a person practises mindfulness, the better he gets at sensing his body’s response to thoughts. And the better he is at sensing his body’s reactions, the more control he has over his response to these sensations. For example, anger may be felt in
the abdomen, chest, hands, jaw, neck, etc. Worry, fear, anxiety, or overwhelm will all feel differently in the body, and may be located in other places. Mindfulness training allows us to view these reactions with non-judgmental curiosity, rather than getting caught up in the thoughts that caused them in the first place. This allows the thought to settle, and as the thoughts settle, so do the sensations/emotions. When we learn to return our attention
to what is actually present, feelings of stress are reduced. We learn to shift the attention from our thoughts (which are always in the past or future) to the present moment experience (which is located in the body).
68 SEPTEMBER | OCTOBER 2017
SHIFTING TO THE PRESENT MOMENT: AN EXERCISE Next time you feel like you’re being pulled in too many directions, try this focus exercise: 1. Sit comfortably with both feet on the floor and hands resting on the lap.
2. Either close your eyes or defocus them on a spot a few meters ahead of you.
3. Take in the sounds around you and notice how your brain identifies and gives a label to every sound you hear. Remember that these labels are just thoughts and are determined by language and culture. The sound is real but the label isn’t.
//WHEN WE LEARN TO RETURN OUR ATTENTION
TO WHAT IS ACTUALLY PRESENT, FEELINGS OF STRESS ARE REDUCED.//
4. See if you can notice the sounds without labelling them. The sounds are neither good nor bad, they’re just sounds. If you feel irritated or soothed by sounds, it’s not the sounds that are irritating or soothing, but your thoughts about them. So let the thoughts go and take in the raw quality of the sounds.
5. Notice thoughts that arise in the mind, perhaps about the sounds, perhaps about other things.
6. Every time you notice these thoughts, see if you can return your attention to your sense of hearing, feeling the quality of each sound in your ear, noticing judgments that arise in the mind and letting them go. No amount of judging will change the sounds that are there.
7. Repeat this process for five minutes, noticing every time the mind wanders to thoughts and gently returning your attention to the sounds.
How do you feel? More relaxed? All you’ve been doing is getting out of your head and into your body, specifically into your sense of hearing. This takes practice, so don’t be
disheartened if you find it difficult the first few times. You may remember the difficulty of riding a bike or playing a musical instrument the first time you tried. Practice made it easier.
RETURNING THE BODY TO THE PRESENT MOMENT Mindfulness is the training of getting back into any of the five senses in your body: seeing, hearing, smelling, touching, or tasting. And this practice of returning your focus to your body shifts the mind from thoughts that contribute to unpleasant emotions to the safety of the present moment. The body can only be in the present, not the past nor the future. Studies show that engaging in such
focus exercises enhances blood flow to the pre-frontal cortex (PFC), an area of the brain concerned with concentration, decision making, and impulse control. Increased blood flow equates to greater use of that region of the brain, and we know that when we increase use of any part of the brain it builds more neural networks. Interestingly, this effect is found to
be greater in the left PFC than the right. The left PFC is known to be associated with an increase in positive emotions. So mindfulness exercises change the structure of the brain in a way that can enhance the quality of your life and your happiness, reducing stress and gaining clarity of mind. As a 21st century man who finds
himself juggling a dozen priorities at the same time, would a happier, more focused brain enhance your life? l
Connect with other readers & comment on this article at
www.livingnow.com.au
Judith is a practitioner at the Elevate Sydney Clinic and is the Founder and Principal of Mind Coaching Australia.
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