Full transcript
0:01Hello and welcome to our first webinar
0:04partnership with alumni affairs and
0:08alumni the alumni association and the
0:10mindful awareness research center. I'm
0:12Diana Winston. I'm the director of
0:14mindfulness education at our Mark
0:17Center, mindful awareness research
0:19center, and I'm happy to be here with
0:21all of you to offer some tools
0:24for dealing with mindfulness
0:26for sorry, for using mindfulness to help
0:28us deal with difficult times.
0:31Um what I'm going to do today is like
0:33it's just going to be an overview of
0:35what mindfulness is and some of the
0:38science behind it. So you can see how
0:40it's affecting our physical and mental
0:42health.
0:43And then and then we'll do some
0:45practices. So we'll start with the
0:46science and then we'll do a couple of
0:47different practices, practices that you
0:49can implement right away, practices that
0:52you can take home with you,
0:54keep home with you.
0:55And really ways of using mindfulness to
0:59support you during these times. And then
1:02I'll leave you with some resources.
1:04So I'm going to get started just by
1:06shifting over to a short PowerPoint to
1:10give you some information about
1:13Hold on, 1 second.
1:16Um
1:18about mindfulness.
1:21So here we go. Here we go. So
1:22introduction to mindfulness in an
1:24anxious age.
1:26Mindfulness is paying attention to our
1:29present moment experiences
1:31with openness, curiosity,
1:34and a willingness to be with that
1:36experience.
1:37So I'm giving you the definition right
1:39now in case some of you are not really
1:40clear about it, but it's really about
1:42how do we live in the present moment? So
1:45much of the day we're not in the present
1:46moment. Our minds are lost in the past
1:48and the future and that's where a lot of
1:51the fear resides. The anxiety right
1:54resides in our future worries and
1:56concerns and the things that we replay
1:59and the ruminations. And we're going to
2:01talk about how to bring our attention to
2:04the present moment for more health and
2:06well-being.
2:09So, this practice originated in the
2:11monasteries of Asia.
2:13Um but now we've seen it it was on the
2:15cover of Time magazine in the last
2:17number of years and you may have seen
2:19this.
2:20Um Don Draper Meditates.
2:23Um but mindfulness is now spreading. So,
2:26it started out in these monasteries, but
2:29now it's spreading to many many sectors
2:31of society. And we're seeing it in the
2:33workplace and we're seeing it um in in
2:36education, higher education and law,
2:39with first responders in mental health,
2:41in health care, and much more. And it's
2:43very exciting for me having observed
2:45this. I've been
2:46practicing this for about 30 years. And
2:49so, to now see the many many parts of
2:52our society that are saying, "Wow,
2:54mindfulness is really helpful." and are
2:56integrating, incorporating it in
2:58creative ways, it's just really um it's
3:00wonderful for me to see over these
3:02years.
3:05So, um so mindfulness, what can it do
3:08for us? We know it's going out in the
3:10world. You've probably heard it. It's
3:12kind of a big buzzword. People are
3:14practicing it. Mindfulness has all sorts
3:17of potential for reducing stress and
3:19anxiety, improving attention,
3:22cultivating self-awareness and
3:23self-regulation, improving
3:25relationships,
3:27and it's a helpful self-care tool. And I
3:29know right in this moment, we need all
3:32the self-care tools we can get.
3:34And what I want to say right away that's
3:36important is mindfulness may not be for
3:38you. It it's not for everybody. Just
3:41like one medication is not going to be
3:42helpful for every single person.
3:44Mindfulness is something that some
3:46people are very drawn to, find it to be
3:48extremely helpful, and use it and
3:51practice with it. Others try it and they
3:54say, "Mhm, it's not my thing." So, it's
3:55fine. As we're exploring it today, if
3:57you feel very um
3:59if you're uncertain about it or you
4:01know, I'm going to I'm going to give you
4:02tools to keep going with it if you want
4:04to, but as I said, it's not for
4:06everybody.
4:09And then as long as you do something
4:12that right now, particularly in these
4:14times, as long as you are doing
4:16something that supports you with
4:18self-care, that is the most important
4:20thing, whether it's mindfulness or not.
4:24So, to talk a little bit about the
4:26research, um
4:28the research is growing. It's very
4:29promising. There's a lot to do. There's
4:32a There's probably about 6 or 7,000
4:34studies in mindfulness right now, which
4:37is wonderful as well, but there's many
4:40more studies to be done and years and
4:42years of work and research that we will
4:44uncover more and more benefits of it. In
4:47the meantime, we've seen that
4:48mindfulness can help with chronic pain,
4:51with insomnia, IBS, irritable bowel
4:53syndrome, cardiovascular health, and
4:56then with mental health concerns like
4:57anxiety, depression, and um attention.
5:00I'll cover some of this right now.
5:02So, looking at how it can impact um
5:07my uh health conditions. So, these are
5:09conditions connected to inflammation,
5:11and mindfulness has been shown to
5:13positively impact genetic markers of
5:16inflammation. So, as we can see, the
5:19earliest studies that look at healing
5:21show that when we're under stress, our
5:23cortisol level rises, there's an
5:26inflammatory response, and our immune
5:28response is depressed. And I'm guessing
5:30right now, that's what's happening for
5:32most of us.
5:33Meditation practices, and I'll talk
5:35about the difference. People ask the
5:37question between meditation and
5:38mindfulness. I'll get there in a little
5:39bit, but
5:40let's just say a lot There's lots of
5:42meditation types, and many of them have
5:45the result of decreasing cortisol
5:48levels, reducing the inflammatory
5:50response, and boosting the immune
5:52system.
5:56So, this was an early study done um
5:59in the late '90s, and it's just I just
6:01love it because it's one of the first
6:03time showing the impact of mindfulness
6:06on a health-related
6:07health-stress-related condition. So,
6:10this is for people with psoriasis.
6:11Psoriasis, as we know, is that itchy
6:13skin condition. The typical treatment is
6:16almost like a tanning bed. You put your
6:18your body in UVB light, like the like
6:21it's shown in the image. And so, what
6:23they had people do is they had them
6:25meditate along with it, practicing
6:28mindfulness along with the typical
6:29treatment, and then the control group
6:31did um just um did the regular
6:33treatment. The people who practiced
6:36mindfulness, their skin cleared twice as
6:39fast. So, it took them 30 days for their
6:41skin to heal instead of 60 days in the
6:43control group.
6:45So, again, this is an early study. It
6:46has been um replicated, and it's
6:49interesting to just see that the
6:52mind-body connection, and why this is
6:54important, and how especially right now,
6:58having um
7:00less stress in our mind is going to
7:02impact our bodies.
7:06So, mindfulness is also helpful for
7:08mental health. And there is a whole
7:11cycle of anxiety and depression. I'll
7:13talk more specifically about anxiety,
7:16but just to say one of the things that's
7:18happening when we're anxious is there's
7:20a lot of anxiety going on in our
7:23in our body, [clears throat] perhaps a
7:24lot of anxious feelings, and then we
7:25start thinking about it and trying to
7:27figure it out and solve it in order to
7:29soothe the feelings. And then that leads
7:32to more anxiety um
7:34more anxiety sensations in our body,
7:36which leads to more thinking, um trying
7:38to soothe it. So,
7:40one of the things that mindfulness has
7:42shown to do is it can impact this cycle
7:46of of thinking by teaching us to come
7:49back to the present moment, to not be
7:52lost in these
7:57thoughts of the future that are often
8:00catastrophizing thoughts. And so, I'll
8:02I'll say more about this coming up, but
8:04just to say anxiety just to say
8:06mindfulness has been helpful for working
8:09with with anxiety. And there's over 50
8:12studies showing that right now, and
8:13actually I believe that's increased
8:14since
8:15since then. There are There's quite
8:17robust research showing the impact of
8:20mindfulness on anxiety.
8:23Because it's so helpful, it's been
8:25incorporated into a variety of clinical
8:27treatments like mindfulness-based
8:29cognitive therapy, and that's primarily
8:31for depression, also being used with
8:33anxiety, acceptance and commitment
8:35therapy used for
8:37anxiety, dialectical behavioral therapy
8:40using
8:41used primarily for borderline
8:44personality disorder. But you don't have
8:46to have a particular clinical diagnosis
8:48to do this practice. In fact,
8:51being anxious because we're in extremely
8:55challenging times, mindfulness can be
8:58very very useful.
9:00And by the way, it's very normal if
9:03you're feeling anxiety right now.
9:05Anxiety, doomsaying, you know, our minds
9:08go in all different directions,
9:11and we some of us are in fear, and some
9:14of us are in denial, and some of us are
9:16are
9:17feeling grief, and I just just want to
9:20recognize that it's it it's an
9:23appropriate response that we're having
9:25these feelings. Now, what we want to do
9:27is learn how to handle them so that
9:30we're not overwhelmed by them, but not
9:32to think that there's something wrong
9:34that you're having these feelings. It's
9:35appropriate.
9:38This is a study done in that 2011
9:41looking at the impact of mindfulness on
9:45happiness
9:47and how being in the present moment
9:49makes people happier. So this what what
9:52they did was they had about 2,500 people
9:55and buzzed on their smartphones at
9:58various times in the day and they were
9:59asked three questions and the questions
10:01were, "What are you doing?
10:02Is your mind on it? And how are you
10:05feeling?"
10:06And so or how's your mood? And so what
10:07they found when they looked at the data,
10:09the first thing they noticed was
10:1149.6% of the time we're not in the
10:14present moment.
10:15That sounds about right. About half the
10:17time. Where are we when we're not in the
10:20present moment? Well, we're thinking
10:22about the past
10:24or replaying it it or planning for the
10:27future.
10:29What they saw with this study is that
10:31our minds tend to go to three different
10:33areas fairly equally. One area is
10:35pleasant things when we're not in the
10:37present moment. Another area is
10:38unpleasant things and a third area is
10:41neutral things. So oh, I have to do the
10:43laundry or something, you know, just
10:44neutral things.
10:45Um
10:47So when our minds are wandering and
10:50we're not in the present moment, but we
10:52are thinking about something pleasant,
10:54that's fine. If you just had um
10:57some enjoyable food or something and
10:59you're just replaying that, you're
11:00thinking about, "Oh, that chocolate chip
11:01cookie was great." You're feeling pretty
11:03good. But the other two-thirds of the
11:05time people reported not feeling good.
11:08And that when our minds go to these
11:10places two-thirds of the time, we are
11:13reporting unhappiness. But if people
11:15were taught to come into the present
11:17moment,
11:19to be present even if their tendency is
11:21to go into the past or the future, they
11:23reported being happier.
11:26Even if they were doing things they
11:27didn't like.
11:29So let's say you don't like to wash the
11:30dishes, but you wash it with presence,
11:33with awareness, and you notice your mind
11:35going off into scary thoughts, you bring
11:37it right back to the feel of the water
11:39on your hand or your feet on the floor,
11:41or the sound of the birds. Maybe you can
11:44hear it, maybe you can. Um
11:47then people reported happiness.
11:52Just a few more studies and then in a
11:54moment we're going to get to the actual
11:56practice. This was a study done at the
11:58University of California in Santa
12:00Barbara looking at people
12:02taking the studying for the GREs, the
12:05graduate record exam. So it was with
12:07college students. And what they did was
12:10they had them go through a course of
12:11mindfulness about 6 weeks. And at the
12:14end of that study, at the end of the
12:16study they compared how they did on the
12:18exam. And what they found was a 16
12:20percentile point boost on the um
12:25on the
12:26uh
12:27people on the reading, excuse me, the
12:28reading portion of the GRE. So this is
12:30interesting and and and let's think
12:32about why.
12:35If you're reading something that's
12:37interesting to you, that you like, it's
12:39very easy to stay present, to stay
12:42mindful, to pay attention.
12:44But if you're reading something that is
12:45boring or dense, it's really easy for
12:48your mind to wander.
12:50So when people were taught to pay
12:51attention, to come back to the present
12:53moment, um well, let's just say this,
12:56our whole lives we tell our children and
12:58we have been told pay attention
13:01but no one really tells us how to pay
13:03attention.
13:04So mindfulness is this invitation to pay
13:07more attention. And when we learn that
13:09skill, people's ability to be mindful on
13:12these reading exams improved.
13:15So mindfulness, we also did studies at
13:18UCLA looking at adolescents with ADHD,
13:22attention deficit hyperactivity disorder
13:24or or the hyperactivity, at UCLA and we
13:27did adolescents and adults and found a
13:29significant improvement in what's called
13:32conflict attention. Conflict attention
13:35is when you're paying attention to one
13:36thing, let's say you're noticing my
13:37hand, and then all sorts of things are
13:39distracting you, right? Conflict, it's
13:42very hard if you have ADD, but people
13:45improve their ability to stay aware of
13:48my hand, or of what they were focusing
13:50on, and I'll show you as we continue on,
13:52well, you'll understand how to how we'll
13:54learn that through mindfulness.
13:59Mindfulness is also helpful for it has
14:02an impact on our brain. And so this is
14:04interesting because um
14:07this these studies compare advanced
14:09meditators with people who are the same
14:12age range, because I'm not sure if you
14:14know this, as you age, your brain thins
14:18out. Did you know that? If not, now you
14:20have something else to worry about. It's
14:22called age-related cortical decline.
14:25What they did in this study is they
14:27compared advanced meditators. These are
14:29the people who've been in caves for 30
14:30years or something, and they studied
14:33their brains practicing mindfulness
14:35regularly, and they noticed that, as you
14:37can see in this slide, or it's probably
14:38a little hard to understand, but but
14:40basically, the prefrontal cortex and the
14:43insula cortex were impacted. The
14:45prefrontal cortex is is an um
14:48and this is thickness, so the blue dots
14:51were thicker in the meditator, and this
14:53and the I don't know if you can see the
14:55bottom, but this is age over time, and
14:57this is people who don't meditate, the
14:59red dots.
15:01The prefrontal cortex stayed um
15:05was thicker. It had more neurons there.
15:07Why is this important? This is important
15:09because
15:10we want to the prefrontal cortex is what
15:13we think of as the CEO of our brain.
15:16Right? It's responsible for executive
15:18functioning, for delayed gratification,
15:21for working memory, for impulse control.
15:24All of these things are so important and
15:27and um and it also is connected to how
15:30we regulate and manage our emotions.
15:33So, you And just to say very briefly,
15:36they that was done with advanced
15:38meditators. They did more studies
15:40looking at novice meditators and found
15:43similar changes in different parts of
15:45the brain that are listed here in people
15:47who had just practiced 8 weeks, 27
15:49minutes a day on average.
15:53We can change our brain.
15:55I know this is sort of a odd slide, but
15:58the scientists used to think that what
16:01we that we were stuck with what we got.
16:03Once we hit about 25, that was it. The
16:05brain stopped developing. Now, that
16:06science has long ago been been
16:08disproven, but so we know that our brain
16:11continues to change over time and age
16:14depending on what we do with it. So, if
16:17you think you're someone who doesn't
16:19have very good attention, you can
16:20actually you develop it. If you practice
16:23it, you can create new neural pathways
16:26to improve your ability to to pay
16:29attention, for instance.
16:33I think that's the last one just to say
16:35that some studies show that mindfulness
16:38creates more prosocial behavior, more
16:40altruism. And I bring this up in these
16:43kind of peculiar times where we're
16:45wondering, you know, are people going to
16:47be at their best? And this study had
16:50people coming um coming in a stance who
16:52had gone through a 6-week mindfulness
16:54program ostensibly to be tested on how
16:57their um you know, how they the results
17:00of the study, but actually the real test
17:02was in the waiting room. They had two
17:04people sitting in chairs, a third chair
17:07unoccupied that the subject went to sit
17:09in, and then a person showed up with a
17:11leg um in a cast. And the question was
17:15was the mindfulness person going to give
17:17up their chair.
17:19And as you can see by the the slide, um
17:2250% of the people did in the first study
17:25that they did with it compared to 16% in
17:27the control group, 37%
17:30in this uh compared to 14%. So, this is
17:32interesting, right? This is interesting
17:34just to see that
17:36uh we have the capacity it mindfulness
17:40can build kindness, compassion. And
17:42again, to remember about all of the
17:44research that I've just gone over with
17:46you,
17:47it's um
17:50it's just the beginning. There's so much
17:51more to do. It's very promising. But
17:54what's most important is how it impacts
17:56us. The research is exciting, but let's
17:58see about like how it how it it affects
18:01ourselves personally.
18:03So, I'm now going to Oh, oh, I forgot to
18:06mention. We've done a lot of studies at
18:08UCLA. And I just I'll just quickly
18:11mention them. Some with children, some
18:13looking at
18:14insomnia, one of our really wonderful
18:17studies looked at insomnia improvement
18:19of insomnia
18:20in the improvement of insomnia
18:22in uh symptoms in older adults. We're
18:25doing some for We've done one for years
18:27and looking at younger breast cancer
18:29survivors. We're doing one for
18:31Alzheimer's caregivers. And there's So,
18:33there's a lot of studies going on in our
18:35center at UCLA right now with the
18:37Cousins Center for
18:38Psychoneuroimmunology.
18:41Okay. Mindfulness.
18:43Paying attention to our present moment
18:45experiences
18:47with openness, curiosity, and a
18:49willingness to be with that experience.
18:53Much of the time we're lost in the past
18:55or the future.
18:57So, we've been talking about this the
18:58whole time, right? And I know right now
19:01we're going into
19:03how long is this going to last? What's
19:05going to happen to my family? Economic
19:07worries.
19:09Um
19:09health worries. This is happening all
19:12the time. I'm wondering if this looks
19:14familiar to you and perhaps this this is
19:17this seems mild compared to what's
19:19happening right now.
19:22I often tell my students one thing that
19:24I say is very important, which is never
19:27believe anything you think in the middle
19:29of the night.
19:31It's always distorted, right? It's
19:32always a little bit odd um or distorted.
19:36So, mindfulness we are we're lost in the
19:40past, lost in the future can bring us
19:42into the present moment.
19:45Mindfulness also counteracts
19:47automaticity. So, the sense of like
19:49going through life, I don't know, the
19:50robot's the best image, but the sense
19:53that we're we're constantly, you know,
19:56just going through the day and we don't
19:58have time to appreciate our day or and
20:00it we miss our lives. You know, you ever
20:02get in the car and get out of the car
20:04and have no idea what happened in
20:06between?
20:07Well, this is this is very very common,
20:11right? And what many people are saying
20:14right now that I find quite interesting
20:16is how
20:18because our lives are so slowed down and
20:20all our demands are you know, are
20:22limited in a certain way. Although
20:24this is not to say we don't have huge
20:26amount of dealing with kids and work and
20:28you know, all of that, but people are
20:30talking about slowing down. We're not
20:32rushing to get anywhere these days. And
20:34so, people have said to me, I sat in the
20:36garden and I just appreciated the birds
20:39for the first time in years or I'm
20:42walking down the street and neighbors
20:43are waving at each other and I'm
20:45noticing the sky in a new way and
20:48that is mindfulness, right? That's when
20:51we're showing up for our life, when
20:52we're not being on automatic pilot.
20:55People who practice mindfulness
20:57regularly
20:59report regularly report more gratitude,
21:03more ease, more well-being.
21:05So, more appreciation of life.
21:09It's also something we already know and
21:12experience. And I want to just really
21:15impart this to you because it's not some
21:18mystical thing. Yes, it came to us from
21:20the Buddhist countries of the East, but
21:24it is something that is part of what it
21:26means to be human.
21:28And so, if you think about children and
21:30how children are in some ways, little
21:32kids are so fully in the moment, right?
21:35They're just They're just really present
21:39and
21:40I remember when my daughter was little
21:42and we'd be walking down the street and
21:44I'd be asking her to come and hurry up,
21:46hurry up. And she wanted to look at
21:48everything and just really show up for
21:50life.
21:51Well, I have news for you. We were all
21:54like that.
21:55But what happened? We, you know, we had
21:58our difficulties in life, things
21:59happened, we grew up, we got educated,
22:02we had other priorities.
22:04And mindfulness in some ways is really
22:06just giving us tools and skills to
22:08return to something that we already
22:10know, something about who we are that's
22:13part of what it means to be a human
22:15being, this capacity to be present and
22:18connected and at home
22:20inside ourselves. And that we can find
22:23that even in these challenging times.
22:28I know it feels impossible right now.
22:30It's sort of It's just This It feels
22:33beyond the scope, like how can I manage
22:35my anxiety? How can I find a place of
22:38ease? But what I am telling you is
22:41there is a peace that is available
22:45inside us that's not dependent on the
22:48conditions of our outside experience,
22:51that it comes from within. You know,
22:53it's an inside job. And so, tools like
22:56mindfulness and other types of
22:58meditation and other things will be
23:00helpful for you in these times.
23:04Okay.
23:05So, I'm going to um
23:09I'm going to just
23:10uh
23:11Hold on. One last slide. Okay. We're I'm
23:14going to stop the share and come back on
23:16for you all.
23:18And
23:21[sighs and gasps]
23:21what I'd like to do now is simply to
23:23practice together. So, I want to offer
23:25you a basic mindfulness practice, the
23:29foundational practice that I teach for
23:32um every everybody when they're getting
23:34started.
23:35And this is just a it's an emphasis on
23:39focusing our attention, learning to
23:41focus our attention, learning that when
23:43our attention wanders away into the past
23:46or the future, into spacing out, or
23:48whatever happens, that we can come right
23:50back. And so, we just keep doing this
23:52again and again, and I'll be guiding you
23:55through this meditation.
23:58So, if you wouldn't mind, just I
24:01hopefully you're in a comfortable
24:03posture. You can settle back.
24:05Uh if maybe you're on the chair, you
24:07could be on a couch, bed, on the floor.
24:11Wherever you feel you want to be right
24:13now for the next about 10 minutes.
24:21So, you can
24:23if you're sitting up in the chair, just
24:25encouragement is to have your back
24:28somewhat upright. You don't have to be
24:29rigid or tight, but um upright is good.
24:34And um your hands can be resting
24:36wherever they're comfortable.
24:41My eyes are closed right now, but you
24:43don't have to meditate, practice
24:46mindfulness with your eyes closed. You
24:48can keep them open if you wish.
24:52Most people prefer to close their eyes,
24:53but if you want to open them, you could
24:55just just have them looking downward,
24:57not all around the room.
25:04And let's begin with a few deep breaths.
25:11And as you take these deep breaths,
25:13I just invite you to settle in.
25:21Dropping whatever has been causing you
25:26uh causing you a lot of agitation. If
25:28that's possible, just almost imagining
25:30putting it aside just for right now. May
25:32not be possible, but just
25:36coming into this present moment.
25:49We can feel our feet on the floor.
25:53I encourage you to feel your feet. Like
25:57really just notice. Notice the feeling
26:00of your feet as they touch the floor.
26:02Maybe they're on your bed or something,
26:04but where do you feel the feet in
26:06connection with something solid?
26:12And
26:13you're in a room.
26:16So, imagine that although we don't feel
26:19it, but the earth is below.
26:23And the earth is holding and supporting
26:25us.
26:28And you can just feel there might be
26:31some tingling or warmth or heaviness or
26:33hardness.
26:35Just to feel what is present.
26:47Let yourself be held by the ground. And
26:51I just want to say that anytime you
26:54are feeling a little anxious or
26:57overwhelmed, just come back to your
26:59feet. Come back to your feet. Feel your
27:01feet supported on the ground.
27:09And we can notice our legs.
27:12Our legs make contact with the chair or
27:14the couch or the bed.
27:20Feeling the weight, the pressure.
27:26Also feeling the support here.
27:29If you're seated,
27:30how the seat of your chair or the
27:32furniture is holding you.
27:38Can notice the back of your body. Like,
27:41do you feel your back makes connection
27:43with the furniture?
27:47Or whatever it is.
27:51Some people may be sitting cross-legged,
27:53and I really don't feel that that is
27:55necessary to meditate. If you like it
27:57and you want to try it or do it,
28:00that is absolutely fine. But just keep
28:03it keep it um
28:05whatever's going to be comfortable for
28:07you right now.
28:09Supportive.
28:11Bring your attention to your stomach
28:12area.
28:13Is your stomach tense or tight?
28:18And if it is, see if you can take a
28:21deeper breath.
28:25So, the science shows that how heavy
28:28importance
28:30of
28:31breath,
28:33of breath awareness,
28:36of helping us to relax ourselves and
28:42relax the nervous system. So, just
28:44allowing a breath or two, but not too
28:47many, just a few.
28:50Especially if you're noticing tension,
28:52tightness.
28:57And bring your attention to your hands.
28:59What do you notice there? Tingling,
29:02warmth,
29:03coolness.
29:08Let your hands be soft.
29:15And notice your arms
29:18and shoulders.
29:21Softening your shoulders.
29:29Notice your chest and throat.
29:35And face.
29:38Softening your facial muscles.
29:47Soft jaw.
29:51And then notice your whole body present.
29:54Just your whole body present.
30:01Now, let's turn our attention to sounds.
30:05So, turning your attention to the sounds
30:07around you in the room, wherever you
30:10are.
30:14Listening to the sounds
30:16as they come and go.
30:20As if you're listening to music that you
30:22really enjoy. Just bringing this
30:24curiosity, this openness.
30:42People think you have to be in a
30:43completely quiet place
30:46to practice mindfulness, but actually
30:49no.
30:50It's fine to do it
30:52in sound, in a noisy place,
30:55or even with just the normal ambient
30:56noise, because we can listen to the
30:58sound.
31:01See if you can listen to the sound
31:03without getting lost in a story about
31:06it. I like it, I don't like it.
31:11What is it? Just listening.
31:27Now turn your attention away from the
31:30sound back into your body
31:32and notice
31:34where you feel your body breathing.
31:41Where do you feel your breath moving
31:43through your body?
31:50Is your abdomen rising and falling? So
31:53just bring your attention to your
31:55abdomen area.
31:56Can you feel the rising and falling of
31:59your abdomen?
32:02So at this point, let your breath be in
32:05its own natural rhythm. No need to
32:07lengthen it.
32:11Just noticing the breath rising and
32:13falling, expanding and contracting.
32:18And you should be breathing in and out
32:20through your nose.
32:29And then shift attention to your chest
32:31area.
32:34Can you feel your chest rising and
32:37falling.
32:39Expanding and contracting
32:42with each breath.
33:01And now shift your attention to your
33:03nose.
33:05Can you feel the air moving through your
33:07nose?
33:09Through your nostrils, tingling, warmth,
33:12coolness,
33:13slight movement.
33:29What's helpful with this meditation is
33:32to find something to focus on.
33:35To pick something that feels the most
33:38obvious or the clearest, so you can
33:40choose your breath,
33:42in your abdomen, your chest, or your
33:44nose.
33:46Or if you like to listening to sounds,
33:48which we did before, you can do that.
33:51So choose whichever was felt the most
33:55interesting to you.
33:57And they all work equally well, so just
33:59pick something.
34:06And now we're going to begin the process
34:09of paying attention
34:12to the present moment,
34:14breath after breath,
34:17or sound after sound.
34:22One breath ends,
34:24the next breath begins.
34:38Sounds coming and going.
34:43Just pick something if you can't decide.
34:50Now as you do this, what's likely going
34:52to happen, and it's probably happening
34:55for most of you,
34:57is your attention will start to wander.
35:01Thoughts will come in and grab you,
35:03planning, imagining, worrying,
35:06remembering.
35:08Or you might just sort of drift off and
35:10kind of space out.
35:13When this happens, you're not doing
35:16anything wrong.
35:18It's completely normal. It's what our
35:20minds do.
35:23So when you notice your attention has
35:25been pulled away,
35:26there'll be a moment that you notice it.
35:29That's actually a moment of mindfulness.
35:31You can say a soft word in your mind,
35:34like thinking or wandering,
35:38and then gently redirect your attention
35:40back to your main focus.
35:44And then you just keep doing it, coming
35:45back again and again. Every time your
35:48attention wanders, you just bring it
35:50back. Come back to what it was you were
35:52paying attention to.
35:57You may have to do this dozens and
35:58dozens of times.
36:02And that's how we train our attention.
36:10As you're doing this, other things may
36:12happen. So maybe you're noticing the
36:16breath and sounds will happen outside,
36:18or you'll feel sensations in your body,
36:21maybe even uncomfortable sensations like
36:23pain.
36:25Or you might have an emotion arise
36:29or some particular thinking that really
36:31grabs you.
36:33So, if it's all in the background, just
36:35let it stay in the background.
36:39Maybe you're getting sleepy or restless.
36:43But, if it becomes really obvious and it
36:46pulls your attention away
36:49from your focus,
36:51then notice it for a little bit. Include
36:53it. Oh,
36:55there's some discomfort here.
36:57Just being present with it in a kind
36:59way.
37:00Or listen to the sound for a moment.
37:03But, then just keep coming back to your
37:05main focus. Keep coming back.
37:09So, I'm going to be quiet for about
37:12I'd say 2 minutes
37:14while we practice this on our own.
37:17See what happens.
39:51Now, let's bring our attention back into
39:54our bodies
39:55and just to notice how your body is
39:58doing
39:59as we end this meditation.
40:05Notice if you feel more
40:07peaceful, at ease, calm.
40:11Also, notice how your mind is
40:13and your emotions. Are you feeling more
40:15present, more connected? And you may or
40:17may not be.
40:19So, if you are, really enjoy that
40:21quality of
40:23peace or ease.
40:27And if you're not,
40:29notice how you are doing,
40:32letting whatever is here be here.
40:36And this too is mindfulness, being
40:38present with
40:40what is.
40:51So, let's notice our feet for a moment.
40:54Feel the support of your feet on the
40:57ground.
40:59And then whenever you're ready,
41:02you can open your eyes
41:04or end the meditation.
41:08And just kind of noticing, maybe looking
41:11around the room, wherever you are, to
41:14orient yourself and come back.
41:24So, thanks for practicing with me.
41:28I want to um
41:30address what I think are some of the
41:32most obvious
41:33uh or not obvious, but the the most
41:35predominant questions that people have
41:38when they first practice mindfulness.
41:41And um one of them I'm guessing, some of
41:45you got sleepy.
41:47And the reason I'm sort of joking is
41:48because a lot of people get sleepy when
41:50they meditate. And just to know, it's
41:52really, really normal.
41:54Uh
41:55probably, especially now, we're not
41:58getting enough sleep and we're stressed
42:00out. And so, this is an opportunity to
42:04um
42:05have a little bit of a rest. It's not
42:07the worst thing.
42:08But we can practice that we can open our
42:11eyes if you notice you're getting
42:12sleepy. You can even stand up and
42:15continue the meditation.
42:17And I'm going to give you suggestions
42:19for practicing at home so we'll talk
42:21about ways that you can
42:24you can we
42:25I suggest that you practice at a time of
42:27day you're least likely to be sleepy.
42:30But I used to teach mindfulness
42:34I used to lie in with when I had an aunt
42:36who was in her 80s who would come to my
42:38classes and she had trouble with
42:40insomnia symptoms but she said she got
42:42the best sleep of the week in my class.
42:45Which I thought wasn't too bad.
42:48So some of you might have experienced
42:49sleepiness and some of you might have
42:50experienced the opposite and that
42:53opposite is your minds were all over the
42:56place and your body might have felt kind
42:57of
42:58you didn't know if can I stay? Can I sit
42:59here? If you're experiencing that again,
43:02completely normal. This is what happens.
43:07We have human minds that have been
43:08trained for 20, 30, 40,
43:1170, 80, you know, however many years to
43:14be distracted. So when we teach
43:16ourselves to come to the present moment,
43:18it's not the first thing we're going to
43:20do. We're going to continue to be
43:21distracted and additionally
43:24we are humans are biologically wired to
43:27search for threats. It's how our species
43:30survived.
43:32I was teaching mindfulness meditation in
43:35for a couple of months ago in the Museum
43:38of Natural History.
43:40I was invited for an event they had
43:42there and I was in the dinosaur room
43:45teaching and so I looked up and I told
43:47everybody everybody look up and we could
43:49see the dinosaur skeletons and I say
43:51this is why your mind is wandering.
43:54You're escaping these guys.
43:56So um
43:58so it's normal but here's the good news.
44:00Remember that neuroplasticity slide?
44:02Right?
44:03If you practice it, it gets easier. Just
44:06like anything. If you practice an
44:07instrument musical instrument, if you
44:09keep practicing, it will get easier to
44:11do. The same with the mindfulness. It
44:14improves over time.
44:18Um
44:19and some of you might have may have
44:21experienced feeling pretty calm and
44:23relaxed and this was helpful. And so,
44:26I'm just going to encourage everything
44:27we learn here today, take it home with
44:30you.
44:31Um and I'll I'll talk about how to
44:33develop a practice at home.
44:36Some of you might not have felt that,
44:37might have felt more anxious. And so,
44:39there are a couple of things mindfulness
44:41you can
44:43you don't have to do a long amount of
44:45mindfulness. You could just spend,
44:47you know, a minute or two. And if the
44:49minute or two is calming, but beyond
44:51that it feels too much, that's fine.
44:52Just start where it's easy.
44:55There's also ways of bringing
44:56mindfulness into your daily life that
44:58I'm going to share with you that may be
44:59helpful for those of us who thought,
45:01"Ooh, I actually didn't feel more calm."
45:04But in the long run, if you practice it,
45:07you will learn tools for being present
45:10with whatever you're experiencing, even
45:12the difficult emotions.
45:15And there's a lot of it's not um
45:18it's not immediately obvious how to do
45:19it. I'm going to give you a little bit
45:20today, but but over time as we build
45:24that capacity to be present with
45:26ourselves, just that returning to the
45:28present moment, when the emotions arise,
45:31we can also give attention to it. So, if
45:34let's say there's some anxiety arising,
45:36we can notice what's happening in my
45:38body. My heart is racing. My stomach is
45:41clenched. My jaw is tight.
45:43Okay, being present with that and
45:45breathing and sensing.
45:48This skill is incredibly important
45:50because right now,
45:53and sorry, what I didn't say is as we
45:54breathe and sense, we calm down a little
45:58bit. The breath helps us calm down. We
46:00make space for it instead of running
46:02away from it or trying to distract
46:05ourselves, and it slowly it slowly
46:07there's more ease that's brought into
46:09our body and mind. This doesn't happen
46:11overnight. This doesn't happen with, you
46:14know, my first day of practicing
46:16mindfulness. It takes time.
46:19So, right now, it's really important
46:23that we develop practices to help us
46:25when our minds get out of control into
46:28the fears, the worries, the doom saying,
46:31etc. But, let me just say this, the
46:33beginning of it is starting with a daily
46:35practice, and I really recommend that if
46:38you like doing this, and of course it's
46:40for people who want to do it. If you If
46:42you don't want to do it, it's not going
46:43to work.
46:45To practice with it um
46:47on a daily basis if you can, and I like
46:50to start people with 5 minutes a day.
46:53Everybody has time for 5 minutes.
46:55I think. Maybe not, but 5 minutes it's
46:58just we're just asking um a little bit
47:00of time. One, it's very nurturing for
47:03ourselves, right? It's so important for
47:05ourselves. It's not just about um
47:09you know, oh, I better do this in order
47:11to have skills so that I can handle
47:13life. That's a big piece of it, but it's
47:15also it's good for us to do this.
47:18So,
47:20practicing on a daily basis, doing it at
47:22a time of day that's going to work in
47:23your life. I know that everybody's lives
47:26are really different. So, um some of us
47:29it'll be in the morning before anybody
47:31else is up. Some of us it might be late
47:32at night, um at the middle of the day,
47:35but just to give it a try
47:38when you know you're going to have some
47:40time that you can be with yourself for
47:41the 5 minutes, and then you can increase
47:43it to 10 minutes, 15 minutes, and more.
47:46I'll give you a resource at the end. We
47:47have an app, um UCLA mindful app, and it
47:51has 5-minute meditations. It has
47:533-minute meditations. It has
47:56uh many many longer much longer ones on
47:59it as well, but there's short ones and
48:01some guided practice on how to do this.
48:05So, um I'm going to go back to my screen
48:07share and
48:10um
48:11oops
48:13my screen share. Hold on. Sorry, give me
48:16a moment.
48:19Hm.
48:23Should be
48:24Ah, sorry.
48:32Not sure why it's not happening.
48:35I was waiting for something with
48:36technology to mess up.
48:39Here.
48:42I think you're seeing my I think you're
48:43seeing my screen. Can one of the um one
48:47of the
48:49people running this tell me that it's
48:50okay?
48:52All right.
48:59Okay, hold on. Let me find out. Give me
49:001 second.
49:03See the mindfulness survey. Yeah, we
49:05don't want that. All right, if I can't
49:07get it to work, I'm going to
49:12uh
49:14stop the share and I'll just keep
49:15talking about it. Okay.
49:25Okay, give me 1 sec.
49:32Now you can see it. It looks good?
49:35Okay, great. So, mindfulness.
49:40All right, here we go.
49:42Sorry, everybody. There are many types
49:45of meditation, right? And this is
49:47important. People were asking me,
49:48"What's the difference between
49:49mindfulness and um
49:52between mindfulness and uh uh
49:55other types of meditation. There's many
49:57types of meditation just like there many
49:59types of sports. So, there's hundreds of
50:00types of sports. There's dozens and
50:02dozens and dozens of types of
50:04meditation. Mindfulness is one of them.
50:07And mindfulness and different
50:09meditations, they're all great. They
50:10cultivate different things. Mindfulness
50:12is the one that's gained a lot of
50:13popularity right now and is the people
50:16are really enjoying it, but of course
50:18you may have other types of meditation
50:20that work for you. That's great.
50:22Um
50:26So, it's mindfulness is cultivated
50:28through a meditation practice just like
50:31we did.
50:32But also it's a
50:37it's a quality of attention that can be
50:40developed at any moment. So, this is
50:42what's really important during these
50:44times right now is that we
50:47can bring mindfulness on the spot when
50:51we need it. So, now you've seen what it
50:53is. You have a practice to cultivate it.
50:55But now what we want to do is how do we
51:00how do we use it in the course of the
51:02day because it's a quality of attention
51:04that can help us especially when we go
51:07into the worst case scenarios of that
51:10happen in um
51:12in our in our daily life.
51:14So, um
51:16so, I'm going to offer you an acronym
51:19and that acronym is something that I
51:21think it's quite helpful because being
51:24mindful isn't too hard. I hope you've
51:26seen that. What's difficult is
51:28remembering to be mindful.
51:31So, this acronym is stop and it stands
51:33for stop, take a breath, observe, and
51:36proceed.
51:38And so, if at any point you want to
51:40remember to be mindful or you want to be
51:41mindful or you notice that your mind has
51:44got off into worst case scenarios or
51:47your um
51:49you know, you're about to yell at your
51:50kids because you've been sitting in the
51:51house with them for days and they're
51:53driving you insane, or um any of that.
51:57At any moment, we can remember to stop.
52:00And all we do is we just remember to
52:03just stop whatever's
52:04just stop very gently for a moment. Take
52:07a breath, or take several breaths, and
52:09as you take these breaths, it's inviting
52:11in a little calm.
52:13And then observe what is happening
52:16inside me. Okay, my heart is racing, my
52:20stomach is clenched, I'm thinking about
52:23the future, I'm making myself feel bad.
52:26Okay,
52:27coming back to this present moment.
52:32Taking more breaths and proceeding. So,
52:34it's just in a simple way, it's just
52:35stop, take a breath,
52:37observe what's happening, and then
52:39proceed. And so, we can remember to
52:42stop. One of the things that I have
52:45noticed for me is
52:48when I when my mind goes into those kind
52:51of scenarios, is how do I it it's so
52:55important just to not let myself keep
52:57going there. One of the examples I'll
52:59often talk about is like our minds are
53:01like a train. So, um so, our minds are
53:05like the train a train, and we're
53:08we're getting on the train and we're
53:10going like 20 miles, 30, 50 miles down
53:13the track, and suddenly we realize, oh,
53:15we've been on this train.
53:18And so, what we invite you to do is just
53:22get off the train. When you realize
53:24you're on the train, can I get off the
53:26train? Can I stop, take a breath,
53:28observe, proceed, or maybe not even get
53:32on the train in the first place. This is
53:34an interesting question, an interesting
53:36possibility. Maybe can't don't get on
53:38the train, stay at the platform.
53:41And this is what we can learn with
53:42mindfulness.
53:44One of the things I've been doing is
53:46when I notice my mind going into
53:49difficult places,
53:51I just pause for a moment and take a
53:53breath and I'll say,
53:56"How am I now? How am I now?"
54:00And for the most part, now is kind of
54:04okay. It's not
54:06I mean, for I'm currently at this
54:08moment, my health is okay, my family is
54:11stable enough right now.
54:13So, I just take that moment and pause
54:15and maybe I'll I'll look at the sky or
54:18I'll look at something beautiful or I'll
54:20just take a moment to pause and
54:22appreciate. How am I now?
54:25So, we can include that with stop and I
54:27want to try it with you right now.
54:30Um
54:32Okay, hold on. Just double-checking.
54:35Okay.
54:36So, wherever you are,
54:41don't know what's happening in your mind
54:43or where things are going, but I just
54:45invite you to
54:47stop and take a breath. And your eyes
54:50can be open or closed. It's up to you.
54:57[sighs]
54:59And now let's observe what's happening
55:01inside me.
55:03My heart's racing, my stomach is
55:06clenched,
55:08there's heat in my face,
55:12or maybe not. Maybe I'm just peaceful
55:14right now. Just to observe for a moment.
55:18And then proceed.
55:20And here we are, proceeding. One more
55:23time, we stop. We're in the midst of
55:25life. We stop, we take a breath.
55:32And just observe. How am I now? How am I
55:36now?
55:39Okay, there might be a lot of activity
55:40in my body and mind,
55:43but I can be okay.
55:45I can be okay.
55:50I can come back to the present moment.
55:53Feel your feet on the floor. Come into
55:56this present moment.
56:01And proceed. And we proceed with more
56:04awareness and more kindness.
56:10So, this is a practice you can do for
56:1310 [clears throat] seconds in the middle
56:15of your day.
56:16This is a practice that anybody can do
56:19to bring in mindfulness, and you can
56:21couple it, if you want, with doing the
56:23meditation practice.
56:27So, that's really this is very much an
56:30introduction to mindfulness. I wanted to
56:32get you just to have a sense of what are
56:34the practices that are
56:36like what are practices that are
56:37available right here and now for those
56:39of you who are just starting out, what
56:41the science looks like, so you can see
56:43that it is something that it might be
56:46worth pursuing.
56:47Um, and I want to leave you with a set
56:50of resources, so that you can keep
56:52going. Now, I know I received a lot of
56:54questions, and I got probably about 200
56:57questions plus, and I obviously did not
57:00answer them. I hope I answered a lot of
57:01them through the presentation that I
57:03did.
57:04Um,
57:05but there were questions about working
57:07what can we do with our children, and
57:09there were questions about, um,
57:12you know, I'm on the front lines, how
57:14does this apply? And I actually think it
57:15does. Our children can practice stop. We
57:19can be I'm not going to answer these
57:21questions, it's beyond the scope, but
57:23but just to say all of these tools can
57:25help us in whatever situation we're in.
57:29Because we're in tight quarters for some
57:31of us with other people and we need to
57:33manage our emotions. So, can we stop?
57:36Can we breathe? Can we practice more and
57:38more peace and well-being in our lives?
57:42And this is so important.
57:45We So, we can be models of
57:49uh of peace in the midst of the day, you
57:51know, in the midst of our our lives that
57:53we're trying to create for our families
57:55and for each other.
57:58So, I'm going to um just give you a
58:01couple of resources
58:04to continue on.
58:06Um this is just a little bit about our
58:08center which is at UCLA where we foster
58:12mindfulness education that through I'm
58:15sorry, mindful awareness through
58:16education and research to create a more
58:19compassionate society. And it's really a
58:21vision of radical accessibility,
58:23bringing our practices to all regardless
58:26of background and means.
58:30Our center um
58:33has lots of different public programs.
58:35It trains teachers. We do research. We
58:39have online education and I want to
58:40share that particularly right now
58:42because this is when we need it. We have
58:45a free drop-in every Thursday at 12:30.
58:49I teach at the Hammer I was teaching at
58:51the Hammer Museum and we're now turning
58:53that into a virtual drop-in. So, 30
58:55minutes of meditation, please join.
58:57We're going to be offering a lot more of
58:59those coming up. Just to say there's
59:01tons of great resources out there. That
59:04is not what UCLA is offering, but you'll
59:06Here's the UCLA ones. We offer online
59:09classes, mindful awareness practices. We
59:12have a basic one to give you much more
59:14depth as um
59:16into what I did today. That'll give you
59:18more depth. It's over 6 weeks.
59:20We have other topics. I wrote here
59:22turning obstacles into allies, opening
59:25to forgiveness, working with difficult
59:27emotions and cause cultivating positive
59:29emotions.
59:30We're starting this week. We have online
59:33mindfulness home retreats that support
59:36to do a mindfulness retreat in your
59:38home. Now, I know some of you have
59:39experience and this might be or even you
59:41just want to try it. A day I mean we
59:44have a lot of time on our hands some of
59:45us. So,
59:47a day of or two or three of practice and
59:49that's all on the Mark website. We have
59:52the UCLA mindful app and I mentioned the
59:54resources on our website.
59:57That's our app available wherever.
1:00:00Um my two books right here fully present
1:00:04and the little book of being which has
1:00:06lots of short practices that um you can
1:00:10do just in the midst of your day.
1:00:15And then that's the website for our
1:00:16center and
1:00:18all these resources are available to you
1:00:21and hopefully there'll be more more
1:00:23opportunity to partner with alumni um
1:00:28with with the alumni affairs and with
1:00:30all of us to
1:00:32develop more for you and this is just a
1:00:34taste of mindfulness and I just really
1:00:36want to
1:00:37take this last one minute. Let me double
1:00:40check my time. Oh, it's time. It's time.
1:00:43But let's just take one last minute
1:00:45to take a breath together.
1:00:49And just I want to um invite you to
1:00:52offer some kindness to yourself
1:00:55in whatever way makes sense to you.
1:00:59Just imagine how can I be kind to myself
1:01:02in these times? Right this moment, how
1:01:06can I be kind to myself?
1:01:08We're going through a lot.
1:01:13And we can imagine the kindness coming
1:01:15out from us out into the world.
1:01:20And that we're sending kindness
1:01:22compassion and care and resilience
1:01:26resiliency to so many people
1:01:29who need this in these times.
1:01:35Thank you for joining me today and I
1:01:37wish you the best. Take care.