Chris Barker Mindfulness

A self-critical mind?

• “Wasted day, didn’t get anything done…”
• “Taking forever, still got 101 things to do…”
• “I just want to sit down but I cannot stop…”

The left-pre frontal cortex, the part for the brain responsible for planning, problem solving and judging can keep us locked in this ‘driven-doing’ mode:

• Constantly reminding us of what we’ve still got to do – even in the middle of the night!
• Trying to solve emotions such as anxiety and low mood like an algebra equation – making it worse!
• Judging ourselves against a perfect model – leaving us feeling frustrated and inadequate!

Believe it or not, the left pre-frontal cortex is just doing its job. The same as the heart, the lungs, blood etc. Society places such value and financial reward on us as human-doings, rather than human-beings, no wonder this doing mode of the brain can take over!

An active left pre-frontal cortex is a vital tool, but what would it be like to have a volume control: tune in and listen when needed, turn down the volume when not, a bit like a radio on in the background. Mindfulness is the volume control.

https://www.healthelearning.online/courses/Mindfulness-Bitesize

This link allows you to learn mindfulness@home – pace yourself through an 8-week e-learning course. It covers all the key principles and practices of an 8-week mindfulness course, giving you back the volume control over your mind!

Paddling or Swimming?

For me as a child it was Polzeath in Cornwall: the opportunity to take off shoes and socks, roll up trousers and splash about in the rock pools or small inland seas we had created with our buckets and spades… paddling at its best!

As time progresses, we are encouraged to go a little bit deeper, but only with the safety of a teacher or lifeguard. At primary school we had an outdoor pool and I remember how cold it was as we splashed and gasped across the 5m or so to the other side. Most of all, I remember the mangle we used to squeeze the water out of our swimming trunks! Many years later, I was a lifeguard and trained swimming teacher myself.

Like paddling and swimming, mindfulness also works on a continuum between having a little bit of fun from time to time, right through to a learnt daily practice with proven health benefits.

If we go paddling, which doesn’t require much preparation or prior learning, we enjoy the moment, have a little fun until something else catches our attention. Walking through the aisles of the local supermarket, I often see ‘Mindful colouring books’, ‘Mindful’ sewing’ and speak to people who use ‘Mindfulness Apps’ on their phones. All of these are great for short, unplanned moments which can bring a momentary escape – just like paddling.

However, if you want to go swimming, to be safe you need to learn how to do it properly. A non-swimmer wouldn’t just wade into the water and set off hoping to emerge the other side! Even those who can swim a bit, would do so with a lifeguard present. Some may choose to do this daily, knowing the health benefits of a regular practice – this is mindfulness. A structured, evidence-based, daily workout for your mental health.

I no longer teach swimming and my lifeguard qualification has lapsed. I do still teach mindfulness and I have kept my qualifications and national registration up to date. So, if you would like to go ‘swimming’ rather than ‘paddling’, if you would like to develop a daily mindfulness practice to benefit your mental health as opposed to paddling around with the alternatives – please let me know.

www.chrisbarkermindfulness.com

Turn it up to Eleven!

‘Turn it up to eleven’, coined in the 1984 movie This Is Spinal Tap, where guitarist Nigel Tufnel shows off an amplifier whose volume k***s are from zero to eleven, instead of the usual zero to ten.

Nature has a wonderful way of turning its volume up to eleven to attract our attention!

Recently I witnessed a stunning sunrise with a wonderful array of rose pink and burnt orange hues which illuminated the scattering of clouds in the sky. Fields were submerged under a cotton wool blanket of fog, pierced only by the treetops and church spires.

Accompanying this was a cacophony of birdsong which brought an energy to the moment. It was difficult, if not impossible, not to become entranced by it! Any thoughts, worries or concerns temporarily lost to a carefree moment in the day.

The great thing about taking a mindful moment is that we don’t always need nature to turn the volume up to 11: we can choose to do this ourselves. We simply need to have an ‘intention’ to bring our ‘attention’ fully into a moment of our choosing.

• Can I savour the aroma, taste and heat of a warming hot drink?
• Walking along a pavement, can I notice all the greenery, the tiny cracks in the tarmac and walls where plants have found a place to root?
• Closing my eyes for 30 seconds, can I become aware of the sounds around me?
• The feel of the fabric of clothing on my skin, how does it change as I move?
• Where in my body do I notice the start of this next in-breath?

Stunning sunrises and other magnificent moments in nature might be few and far between. But knowing we can turn our attentional volume up at any moment of our choosing to give us the same opportunity to pause and connect. Any thoughts, worries or concerns temporarily lost: a carefree moment in the day.

Chris Barker Mindfulness updated their address.

Play Attention!

‘Pay attention, Jenkins!’ often followed by the board rubber flying across the classroom was a regular occurrence during my English lessons as a child.

Playing with attention has a very different feel: it is light and fun. It can bring a sense of curiosity, perhaps even a feeling of excitement at what we might discover as it is with children as they explore the world around them.

So, the invitation is to play with your attention in this moment:
• Sounds – that come and go, peak, and fall or simply are just ‘there’…
• Sights – objects, spaces between objects, reflections, shadows, shapes…
• Grounded – feet on the floor, heels, toes, balls of the feet, arches…
• Fabric on skin – feeling tight or lose, smooth or textured, warming or cooling…
• Breath – tight and restrictive, or natural and free-flowing, or something else…

Working through this checklist, in this moment, can take 30 seconds to 3 minutes or longer if you wish. Become aware of how you feel afterwards – any different from before?

Feel free to play with one or all of these ‘sense stores’, once a day or several times a day, indoors or outdoors… your choice: an opportunity to play with attention, to be curious – the way it is with children.
www.chrisbarkermindfulness.com

My Knight in Shining Armour

Freshly ground coffee… mobile phone charged… pickup after school noted… walk the dog… brush my teeth… Simple, yet essential parts of my morning routine, I thank you.

The thanks go to the Pre-Frontal Cortex (PFC) - part of the ‘new brain’ that our human ancestors never had. This executive control centre allows us to see good and bad; to differentiate between better and best; to project the consequences of our actions so they are socially acceptable. And helps us learn from our mistakes. Surely our Knight in Shining Armour… or is it?

According to the Office for National Statistics approximately 1 in 6 people in the UK experienced some form of depression during the summer of 2021. Surprisingly, despite all of its good work, it may be the PNF that is to blame.

As the executive control centre of the brain, it controls what is going on. It takes present information and memories of previous situations to model constantly what our immediate and distant future could look like. For example, if I leave for work now, I should be on time today. It can even navigate unpredictable events like a traffic jam by finding a different route or phoning ahead to say I will be late.

However, the PFC also tries to apply its logic to our emotions: happiness, guilt, shame, anger and fulfilment, for example. Its role is to keep us safe now and in the future. Accordingly, it focuses on the emotions that threaten us, like guilt, shame and anger; these can stick in our attention like Velcro! Joy and fulfilment don’t threaten us, so these easily slip from our attention like Teflon. This leaves us with a negative attentional bias.

In using logic to try to solve the puzzle of the guilt, shame or anger in the same way as trying to navigate a traffic jam, the PFC gets stuck in a loop! Some emotions cannot be fixed, they are simply felt as pleasant, neutral or unpleasant. Trying to fix some emotions is like trying to put back together a broken egg – impossible!

Undeterred the PFC re-runs the memories of guilt, shame and anger, looking for clues about how to solve them. The emotional discomfort returns with each vivid memory. This is rumination. We also project into the future: what circumstances may recreate these troubling emotions? This is anxiety.

These unhelpful thought patterns create unhappiness, low mood and, if sustained, depression. So, is the PFC really the villain of the story? If so, what to do?

Mindfulness develops metacognition. This is the ability to step back and see our thoughts as they arise for what they are. This enables us to see rumination as rumination and anxiety as anxiety. We can then act by breaking the chain of thoughts that would normally come next.

NICE has approved Mindfulness as a treatment on the NHS for low severity depression and recurrent depression which is as effective as prescribed medicines. It is equally helpful for people who do not have a clinical diagnosis, but regularly experience anxiety, rumination or low mood, before it becomes more serious. It could be our Knight in Shining Armour!

Please get in touch if you would like to find out how mindfulness could help you or somebody you know.
[email protected]

One of my friends has had his Facebook hacked and the hackers have tried to access my page.

If you receive any unusual posts from me or any 'messenger' which I never use, please treat as an attempted fraud.

I will not post anything for the remainder of this week.

Sorry this has happened and I hope it has not affected you.
Chris.

The Teenage Brain Explained…

Neuroscientists have found that there is an accelerated production of brain cells around the age of 13.

The re-wiring of the brain that takes place during this period can see a deterioration in the functioning of Pre-Frontal Cortex. Executive functions such as judgement, and decision making deteriorate temporarily. There is an increased reliance on the Amygdala, part of the ‘old brain’ known as the fight, flight or freeze reaction.

The teenage brain also experiences a reduction in the ability to recognise facial expressions and other forms of non-verbal communication. Craving new experiences can lead to increased risk taking. There may also be a movement towards independence from the family unit and a new inter-dependence with others: seeking a new tribe to identify with. ‘Belonging’ can become a priority, amplifying FOMO (fear of missing out).

The physical and hormonal changes of puberty can bring extremes of emotion as well as a short-term reduction in physical coordination. Life for a teenager can seem tough! While adults may view their teenage years through rose-tinted glasses, reminiscing about the music, films and fashions of their youth, teenagers can’t access this: they’re still living it!

Mindfulness can’t provide this insight for teenagers, but it can develop self-regulation and metacognition, which are important for a teenagers’ life chances. The Sutton Trust’s ‘What Works in Education’ research for the government, names these two skills as the most effective interventions that accelerate learning in students

Teaching and Learning Toolkit | EEF (educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk).

What makes someone successful? At Harvard University in the USA, they tracked a 1,000 people from birth to the age of 32 looking for an answer. It wasn’t their race, the neighbourhood they grew up in or how much money their parents had. It wasn’t their IQ or their grades, it was self-control. This is what mindfulness offers.

Being a teenager can be exciting, new opportunities co-exist alongside increased risks. One way to help teenagers to navigate the turbulence their body, brain and emotions are experiencing is to offer them mindfulness. It may not suit everyone, and some may baulk at the idea, but, when the time is right, the skills explored through mindfulness will be available to support them.

To find out more about Mindfulness courses for Teenagers, please get in touch using the website below.
www.chrisbarkermindfulness.com

Savour, don’t waver!

A country walk in the crisp autumnal air, kicking through fallen leaves of auburn, gold and amber, complete with a flask of hot chocolate. Sitting on a bench watching the curls of steam arising from the shiny silver cup, the aroma awakening the taste buds, rich, creamy and sweet…mmm!

How often do we pause to fully enjoy the hot drinks that we make ourselves each day?

How often is our attention drawn to a screen as we mindlessly sup away at the tea or coffee that we have made ourselves in order to ‘take a break?’

As a child, I remember my Nan making endless cups of tea: the ritual of the whistling kettle, tea leaves, teapot, strainer, a few leaves always escaping into the bottom of the cup!

My Nan would sit, become still and bring her full attention to the tea she was drinking. It was a real break in her day, a way of momentarily slowing life down.

So the question is, next time you make a hot drink for yourself to ‘take a break’, will you commit to this? Will you allow yourself to become still, to savour the flavour, aroma, warmth and sight of your drink.

Or will you waver, and concede your attention to a screen or other distraction? Maybe even answering an email, or doing a little chore, speeding life up, the very opposite of your intention to slow life down momentarily.

Will you savour or will you waver?

www.chrisbarkermindfulness.com