6 - Quieting the Mind During Difficult Times

Barbara Newell and Matthew Aldrich discuss methods for quieting the mind by quieting the body.  During these difficult times, somatic (i.e. body) quieting can be extremely effective in reducing the "noise" in our mind to allow us to be more mindful.  Barbara and Matthew also specifically discuss the body scan meditation which is a highly effective method for quieting.  A guided meditation is included at the end of the podcast.

Visit barbaranewell.com or thewaytowellbeing.com for more resources.  Also Barbara offers free initial consultations which can be booked here.

The Way to Well-Being is a collaboration between Barbara Newell, mindfulness + meditation teacher and a former Buddhist nun who trained under Thich Nhat Hanh, and Matthew Aldrich, mindfulness student.

This collaboration was born out of a desire to provide a more structured approach to developing long-term sustainable well-being through the cultivation of mindfulness.

As a newcomer to mindfulness, Matthew accelerated quite quickly and with relative ease in developing his meditation practice.  Upon reflection with his teacher Barbara, it became apparent that recent therapy focused on reducing emotional reactivity was extremely helpful and contributed to this benefit.  While Barbara had extensive experience and knew the immense benefit of addressing emotions in a mindfulness practice, she and Matthew noted that the traditional teachings were often missing or didn’t sufficiently explain the role of emotions.

While there are numerous books about mindfulness, the information can sometimes be conflicting, too conceptual, or just inadequate related to the actual implementation in a busy modern life.

It became apparent that a more structured approach with practical guidance and techniques could help numerous people find their way to well-being through mindfulness.

Transcript

spk_1:   0:07
Okay, Welcome to the way too well being. Podcast where we explore a structured approach toe wellbeing through the cultivation of mindfulness. This is Matthew Aldridge, and I'm a mindfulness student.

spk_0:   0:27
And this is Barbara Newell, and my mind Will knows, Teacher.

spk_1:   0:31
So today we're conducting this podcast remotely Eso Barbara is in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and I'm in Detroit Michigan s. So this is our first attempt at it, so we hope it goes pretty well. So this has been a pretty eventful week. And I know a lot of us are really stressed where anxious were very fearful, and our God cast last week talked about how to deal with the fear. However, one of the things that I often hear from people is Hey, I'm really anxious. I'm my mind is going a mile a minute. How do I even think about being mindful or meditative in that state? And so one of the things that we want to explore today is how do we calm or relax the mind and one of the things that I specifically wanted to talk about was this concept of semantic quieting. So what is somatic quieting? It's really a concept that has been introduced in cognitive behavioral therapy. And let's just point out somatic really means body. And so the whole idea here is how do we calm the body? And I think one of the key things to keep in mind here is that the mind is very much connected to the body. So, as you will personally know, if you're really stressed and anxious, your bodies can be tight. Um, maybe very uncomfortable. And so the idea here is there are ways to help us calm the mind by coming the body and the key thing that we want to explore from a personal perspective are What are those individual things that do that so personally for me, I had figured out that things like taking a nice warm bath is something that will can call me pretty well when I'm very stressed. Additionally, being in nature is one of the things that helps me. So, Barbara, with that, what are your thoughts on this?

spk_0:   2:52
That sounds very wise, what you've already explored and discovered for yourself, and I encourage all of us to do this. I think we may have touched on it briefly in the last podcast that one of the things that both mindfulness helps us do. And also mindfulness is helped by us. Doing is is learning and exploring and experimenting with what things have, what what activities have, what kinds of effects on our body and our mind. So it is really important. And this I think we also talked a little bit about resourcing it. This is a kind of body oriented resourcing that you're talking about, and it's so important, it's really fundamental. And actually, in most at least, most of the meditation traditions that I'm familiar with they will very often start with really getting to know that body mind relationship that you're talking about. Matt. Um, a common practice is often called the body scan. I don't love that phrase, even though it's the most common. And, yeah, most most often heard phrase. I don't love that phrase because that the word scan for me, it really has this feeling of skimming over the surface of something else like that. You know, the photocopier just kind of like zooming across something, whereas I feel this practice. Really. The point of it is that yes, we we go through the different places in the body and we can If we don't have a lot of time, we might just touch a few places in the whole body. Other times, if we have a little more time, it can be very profound and even transformative to really touch into many small places in the body. Different organs becoming aware of many areas that are often completely outside our consciousness. But our perceptible If we cultivate that skill of what's called Inter reception, it means that the sensory, the three ability to feel the sensations inside the body So I might call it something like, yeah, touching into the body or something like that

spk_1:   5:11
into the body, huh?

spk_0:   5:12
Yeah and yeah, reconnecting to the body, reuniting the mind and the body. Because, as we've said in another, another podcast, the body is always here and the mind just loves to travel. And we can get so engrossed in the computer or in our phone. This is so common that we can spend a couple of hours and as my teacher take home, used to say, we can actually forget that we have a body and there's something, you know, evil or shameful. about that. It's just that it does set up this this kind of division, and it's very, uh, well, for one thing, we can miss important information about what is going on their body. And secondly, at some point we start to feel ungrounded, kind of split off, little bit, ruthless, and that can lead to more anxiety.

spk_1:   6:01
Yes, yeah, in terms of the body scan, can you just give us a little overview of what that entails?

spk_0:   6:12
It's so simple. It doesn't take any any advance preparation. We simply up. We like to use a guided practice, some kind of audio guidance or weaken, Certainly do it on our own and just going through and touching into various parts of the body. And as I think I said last time, some parts may be unpleasant, even painful. Perhaps there's an illness in some parts of the body, and we don't, um, we don't have to run away from them. We don't have to judge them. And if that does come up, we can just practice mindfulness of our thoughts of our emotion, perhaps of worry or fear about those places where there's an unpleasant sensation or just a judging thought about the place. Maybe we think our stomach is too big, whatever it might be, staying aware of that and then just coming back once again to each place in the body. And as I said before, I think there are many, many places where the sensation is going to be neutral or even pleasant, and it's it's very It's very healing and transformative for us to re live, reconnect with with the whole field of the body by going through the places one by one, really touching into each place in a deep way and deep doesn't have to take a lot of time. But maybe a few seconds you known age place, and we start to remember that there's a whole integrated hole here and that that the healthy or the pleasant feeling places can help ground and even soothes and even in some way help to heal the places that are that are feeling painful or unwell.

spk_1:   8:16
Yeah, and I can tell you from personal experience. When I was first introduced to meditation, I did Ah, I think was about a 20 minute body scan and very much is concentrating on a part of the body in this particular guided meditation they had you breathe into that part and then breathe out and toward at the end of the session, I was knocked out. I was ready to go to bed. So it is. I can tell you personally. It is a very relaxing, ah, meditative practice, and it is even as much. I mean, for those of you that are not used to meditating, it's very easy because you're being guided to go through the process. And it's really just asking you to concentrate on a particular part of the body and really be aware of the sensations. Um, I think it's a very helpful tool. Honestly, if I have challenges with sleeping, it's one of the things that I will use to calm my mind. Um, so we are going to include a body scan meditation as part of this podcast. But before we go there, I did wanna highlight that in terms of trying to find your your thing that helps accomplish somatic quieting that helps you relax. Ah, it is. It's a personal process that you're going to have to go through, and I would encourage you to think about those instances where you just felt at ease. And what were the things that you were doing? For some people, it might be cooking for others. It might be walking in nature, hiking. Ah, going to the park, being with your dogs. I mean, I know in when I was in San Francisco, one of the most special experiences was going to Fort Funston with my dogs and letting them go off leash with a bunch of other dogs. And it was just such a pleasant experience. And I always came back refreshed. And so during periods like this, it really requires you to shut off the TV, shut off the news and go find that activity to bring down the ah, the noise, if you will, that's in your head right now. And then you can start to really consider other mindfulness or meditative practices that can help even take you further.

spk_0:   10:46
Yeah, that is beautifully said. I couldn't agree more, and, um, I would just add that when we're doing this body connecting our body awareness practice, or even when we're doing those things that you're describing that the things that we know we really enjoy. It's also a natural part of our mind that thoughts will come. We'll start toe ruminate about things that that's very natural. And so it's not a problem. It's not a reason to say, Oh, I can't do this. I'll never get this We just smiled to it and say OK, the mine's just going off again. I see you and, um, I promise, you know, I can do some constructive thinking about that later. Right now, I'm just gonna come right back to this body, and we do that over and over. And it is a practice, and it is a foundational practice of mindfulness and self care and just self understanding. Really, this is a health practice, so it's It's a really important practice, and not only does it help us to relax, it's also useful in many other situations. I think we've also touched on this briefly, Um, if we're in a conversation, or even if we are watching the TV for the third hour, touch in with the body, excuse me, touch in with the body and notice how what's happening. As I watched this the same half hour of CNN for the third time, you know my shoulders are tighter. Now, Um, my stomach is really clenching. So this this skill this, um you have this capability of touching and with the body, it's so important when we need to make a decision. When we're trying to decide between two things and it's it's not an obvious choice. We can actually visualize ourselves making one choice or making the other choice and watching what happens in the body. So it's It's a great, great practice, I would almost say, if you could only have one. It would be many other, you know, following the breath, which is also the bodily practice. And this one we're talking about now,

spk_1:   12:55
Yeah. I mean, I want to make a very important point from a neuro science perspective, which we often think our brain is predominantly there for thinking. The reality is our scene. APS is, I think, and I don't know the exact quote on this, but I think almost 2/3 of our brain is actually related to managing the body. So only a percent relatively, um, smaller percent is related to thinking, and they're all interconnected. Um, your body is there to tell your mind sometimes to do things. It's our emotions are very much, um a response of the body, very often looking at stimuli and saying, Oh, wait, wait, wait. This isn't right. There's been a significant change in stimuli and you'll have an emotional response that's all coming from the body so

spk_0:   13:50
happening in the body. Yeah,

spk_1:   13:51
yeah, and it's provoking a response in the mind. And so I

spk_0:   13:56
mean, think about it for a minute, like let's say you're so you're suddenly aware that you're angry. Well, how do you know? How do you know you're angry? Because something's happening in your body almost happens completely outside our consciousness. And this this practice is what helps us bring it into consciousness. And that's it's It helps us to make fewer mistakes, certainly in relationships and also just in our choices about what we eat. And this. We talked about what we consume with our eyes and our ears, because we become much more aware of things that are going on in the body before they have to get like this, something banging down the door. We see things coming much earlier, and we can we can redirect much sooner before damages is done.

spk_1:   14:43
Absolutely so, and one of the the key things to consider, um is exercise Qi Gong Tai Chee Anything that is actively engaging the body is gonna yoga is very helpful. Ah, in this process and again it's it's a feedback mechanism And I think part of the the idea I like to think about is we're trying to make ourselves whole. I think in Western society, we very much have disconnected from the body were very mind centric. And

spk_0:   15:21
so it's a we're remembering that we are whole.

spk_1:   15:24
Yes. Oh, that's a good point. Yes. And you know, being aware of the body and relaxing the body is is a process that's gonna help us relax as a person. So So with that Barbara, we wanted to get you to guide us through a body scan if you could

spk_0:   15:43
be happy too. So this is a guided practice of bringing the mind's attention to sensations in various places in the body in the present moment. And as you come into it, you may like to keep in mind that we're not striving to suppress the thinking mind or force it to stay focused on the body. We're also not trying to make these places relax if they're not ready to. We're simply turning the attention toward how it feels in these places of the body. Whenever we become aware that we've drifted off and thought, we simply acknowledge that without judgment and bring your attention back to whatever area of the body this recording is connecting to at that moment. So finding a comfortable position now mother sitting, standing or lying down, taking some moments to connect with your usual preferred anchor to the present moment. Such a cz, your breath in and out, or perhaps awareness of sounds coming and going. I'm just with a friendly curiosity now becoming aware of sensations in your two feet. And if in this place or other places in the body you don't notice much or even any sensation, that's okay. It's normal just turning toward and being open to any sensations that are present in your feet, perhaps sensations of pressure. Where your feet maybe meeting the floor texture of a sock or a shoe carpet or heard floor or any other surface they're resting on. Just noticing whether the sensation is neutral, perhaps pleasant or more unpleasant, just breathing with the sensations, bringing the attention now to the lower legs. Just taking a few breaths as you open to receive neutral, pleasant or unpleasant sensation in the lower legs. Unlike wise with the knees. If there are thoughts coming in, judgments are worries or any other thoughts, just acknowledging them and bringing the attention right back to the sensations in this moment, the thighs. This is just how it ISS in this moment, the buttocks and sit bones coming into the back body. Now the sacrum at the base of the spine, the lower back, unpleasant, neutral, pleasant, the middle, an upper back, perhaps noticing how the breath in and out effects the sensations here. Expansion, contraction. Bringing this kind, interested curiosity to the shoulders and how it is in the shoulders. What it feels like on the skin and inside the shoulders, bringing the attention to the upper arms, the elbows, the floor, arms and the wrists and sensing now into the hands. This is an area where it's often easy to feel sensations if we don't feel much sensation in other places. The skin is often quite sensitive on the hands, noticing the texture of what they're in contact with. Temperature cool, warm, perhaps different areas of the hands that are cooler or warmer than other areas and sensing inside the hands. If you notice any tingling or pulsing, if there's pain or discomfort or tension, acknowledging that very simply, or perhaps it's neutral or there's a pleasant sensation inside the hands alive nous softness, breathing and coming back through the arms now through the shoulders to the back of the neck. Perhaps you noticed some hair brushing against the neck for Coulier flowing or warm air. The scalp on the head, sensations on the skin of the face, sensations in the eyes in the nose, aware of the air, coming into the nostrils, perhaps a bit cooler and drier as it comes in, warmer on the exhale sensations in the jaw and inside of the mouth inside the throat, Sensing now into the breadth of the chest from the center of the sternum, all the way out to the creases where the chest meets the shoulders, just observing the movement of the chest with the in breath on the out breath, feeling it from the inside. I'm bringing attention now to sensations in the belly area, where we might often be unaware until something's really a problem and causing pain. Taking these moments now to sense into the stomach if it feels heavy with food, her perhaps light empty, even hungry, if it feels tight, are soft sensing now into the pelvic basin and the organs there and threw down to the perineum and the tailbone. Pleasant, neutral, unpleasant. Greeting the different sensations equally with this friendliness, this allowing and opening now to the field of sensations of the body as a whole as you breathe in. And now you may find that it is enjoyable just to be in touch with the sensations, even the ones that are less president. That sense of connection of wholeness is itself pleasant, unceasing. Now any active exploration and simply enjoying resting in this field of awareness, full presence, mind and body together. Thank you for taking the time to do this practice.

spk_1:   25:43
Thank you, Barbara. I think that's enough time for today. We very much appreciate you listening, and we hope you found this very helpful. For more information, feel free to visit our website at the weigh 12 being dot com and for more information on Barbara and how she can help you visit barbara Newell dot com, Thank you very much and have a wonderful day and be safe during these challenging times. We're trying to do our part to help. As a teacher, Barbara provides one on one personal coaching to help assess and advance ones mindfulness and meditation practices. She is now offering initial consultations for free. You can go to her Web site, barbara nool dot com, to immediately book a time. Sessions will either be conducted, be a telephone or video conference, were also exploiting virtual classes and meditation sessions. Visit the weight well being dot com or barbara Newell dot com to sign up for our newsletter to stay informed of these developments. Lastly, if you have any ideas of other ways, we can help please contact us at the email address Info at the way too well being dot com Thank you again for listening. We wish you only the best as we navigate this unique challenge