stress management using mind-body bridging debra disney, msed, lcpc counselor
TRANSCRIPT
Stress ManagementUsing Mind-Body Bridging
Debra Disney, MSEd, LCPCCounselor
Participants will be able to:
1) Describe the brain’s role in stress
2) Apply Mind-Body Bridging to reduce stress
Mapping
TITLE
Think of something unpleasant that has occurred in the past week.
If the memory of that event were a short story, what would the descriptive title be?
Write that title in the oval. This is for your eyes only.
Mapping
I do not have
enough money for
my bills this month.
1st Map
I do not have
enough money for
my bills this month.
Scatter your thoughts and feelings anywhere outside of the oval.
What if we lose our house?
I have too many bills
I’ll never be able to retire.
My spouse spends too much money.Feelings: Angry,
scared, sad, guilty
Mapping
I do not have
enough money for
my bills this month.
What if we lose our house?
I have too many bills
I’ll never be able to retire. My spouse spends
too much money.Feelings: Angry, scared, sad, guilty
Adjectives to describe the tone of what I wrote: Negative, scattered
Words to describe body tension: tight chest, rapid breathing
Adjectives to describe the tone of what I wrote:
Words to describe body tension:
Mind-Body Connection When the mind has scattered thoughts The body tends to feel tension (warning lights) We tend to not be functioning at our best
What are your warning lights?
2nd Map
Same “title”
COMING TO YOUR SENSES
• Touch• Sound
• Scent • Sight• Taste
• Breath• Movement
Dance between thoughts and senses
•Thoughts will ariseo Label them as thoughtso No judgment
•Senseso Gently come back to hightening
your awareness of the sense of the present moment
o No judgment
Observe senses, with no judgment
2nd Map
Same “title”
Scatter your thoughts and feelings.
2nd Map
Same “title”
Adjectives to describe the tone of what I wrote: ______________
Words to describe body tension: ___________________
Compare the Two Maps
• Similarities or differences in the tone of what you wrote?
• Similarities or differences in the level of body tension while you wrote?
• Based on the 2nd map, how might your level of functioning change?
Map 1 When the mind has scattered thoughts The body tends to feel tension We tend to not be functioning at our best
in contrast
Map 2 When the thoughts are not as scattered The body tends to feel less tension We tend to function better.
Did I specifically ask you to calm down or relax?
During the step called “coming to your senses” what do you remember me asking you to do?
Go back to the initial situation you were remembering.
If you had used the technique of “Coming to Your Senses” when that situation first happened, do you think your level of functioning might have been better?
IDENTITY-SYSTEM (I-System)
• Evolved for helpful reasons• Helps us to identify with who we are as
individuals o to identify with being a part of a familyo a religiono a cultureo a nation
• It helps us to create our individual identity
IDENTITY-SYSTEM (I-System)
When the I-system is overactive• it becomes a commotion machine • the source of all human angst
• falsely identify with thoughts/feelings that separate us from others
• limits our awareness of our connection with others• creates anxiety• disrupts the harmony and balance of the mind-body
connection
Wellspring of
HealingPower
GoodnessWisdom
TRUE SELF
Identity System overactive
Existing day-to-day •busy head and tense body•very limited way of seeing the world
Natural functioning •connected to our own inner wellspring of health and well-being
Goal: Rest the I-systemNot a goal: Getting rid of the I-
system
Without the I-system:• humans would lack self-interest• no direction/no drive
Deb’s words: Emotional Driver Thinker Driver
Neuroscience: Default Mode Network Natural Free Functioning
Dr. Block’s: Overactive I-system I-system at rest(Map 1) (Map 2)
Who Is Driving the Bus?
• Prefrontal Cortex – Thinker Driver
• Limbic System (with Amygdala) – Emotional Driver
When is the Emotional Driver in charge?• Feeling of fear, danger
• Chased by lions/tigers/bears• Taking a test, arguing with loved ones, etc?
What happens?• You sense danger• Adrenaline rush• Body agitated• No time to think• Amygdala hijack• FIGHT/FLIGHT/FREEZE• No access to rational thought
Emotional Driver or Thinker Driver
Mind/body connection:• Look for the early warning signs your body gives to you.• What are the signs YOUR body gives to you, to warn you that you are
on the path of the AMYGDALA HIJACK? • Headache? Stomach in knots? Fast breathing? Muscle tension?
A foundational factor in stress management is to find what works for
you to keep the THINKER DRIVERin the driver’s seat.
(Be aware of physical signs of hijack)
Calm body leads to a calm mind.Calm mind leads to a calm body.
One of the best ways to quickly achievea calm body/mind is to
“Come to Your Senses”
StressfulChallenges
Self Power
(True self connected to Wellspring of Healing, Power, Goodness, and
Wisdom)
Identity-System isoveractive and is “driving the bus”
Self Power is “driving the bus”
(I-system is at rest)
Bridging Tools1.Thought Labeling
Original thought: “That shouldn’t have happened.”
becomes
“I’m having the thought that shouldn’t have happened.”
2.Coming to Your Senses (sensory awareness to rest the I-system and rediscover True Self’s connection to the Wellspring)
3.Mapping (drawing the oval, scattering thoughts, to reveal the I-system)
REQUIREMENTS
How I think my world should be
How I think my world should be
I should have more time with my children
I should have more time to myself.
I shouldn’t have to work so hard.
I should make more money.
Look at each thought, one at a time. Consider the possibility of that not happening.
Is there any body tension you feel when you think of that thing not happening?
“++” - A lot of body tension“+” - Some body tension
If there is no body tension, no plus sign.
Please repeat this for each item.
How I think my world should be
I should have more time with my children
++
I should have more time to myself.
I shouldn’t have to work so hard.
+I should make more money.
++
Mind-Body Connection When thoughts are “REQUIREMENTS” (mental rules) The body tends to feel tension (warning lights) We tend to not be functioning at our best
Is your thought an EXPECTATIONora REQUIREMENT?
Body tension is the warning light
How I think my world should be
I should have more time with my children
++
I should have more time to myself.
I shouldn’t have to work so hard.
+I should make more money.
++
We all have natural expectations about how the world should be.
“I would like to have enough money for my bills.”
I would like to have enough money for my
bills.
Self Power
(True self connected to Wellspring of Healing, Power, Goodness, and
Wisdom)
Identity-System isoveractive and is “driving the bus”
Self Power is “driving the bus”
(I-system is at rest)
I would like to have enough money for my bills.
Wellspring of
HealingPower
GoodnessWisdom
TRUE SELF
Identity System overactive
Existing day-to-day •busy head and tense body•very limited way of seeing the world
Natural functioning •connected to our own inner wellspring of health and well-being
• It is not what happens to us that causes the most stress.
• What a person believes about stressful events is more powerful than the existence of the stressful event.
(Blauer-Wu, 2002)
Event Happens
Beliefs
(Expectations
Or Requirements?)
FeelingBehavior
Hot Peppers Story
Step 1: Awareness that I’ve turned a preference into a requirement.
How do I know that I’ve turned a preference into a requirement?
Body tension and a cluttered mind alert me to that.
Muscle Tension
HeadacheMuscle Aches
Tightness
Clear Headed
Flexible RelaxedCalm
Cluttered thoughts
Step 2: Use Bridging Tools
• Thought Labeling• Coming to My Senses• Mapping
Discussed brain’s role – thinker driver vs emotional driver
Applied Mind-Body Bridging Tools• Thought-labeling• Coming to Your Senses• Mapping (to reveal the Identity System)
It is not what happens to us that causes the most stress. What we ________ about what happens to us tends to cause the most stress.
A foundational factor in stress management is keeping the _____________ driver in the driver’s seat of the brain.
The early warning signs that alert us to the fact that we are on the path to an emotional hijack:
• Different for each person
If the emotional driver starts hijacking the bus, some effective ways to let the thinker driver back in the driver’s seat is to
1) Label your __________.2) Come to Your ____________.
3) Befriend your Identity System by Mapping.
Calm body leads to a calm _______.Calm mind leads to a calm _______.