31May '11

Chapter 2: Awareness & our Spectrum of Perception

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What are our modes of operation and how can awareness help us to spot automatic thoughts?

(Our community is due to spammers and inactivity closed right now, but I will revive GoMindful.com in the future again.)

Get to know the state of being (broad awareness) and the state of doing (typical “work mode” concentration). Learn why the state of being matters so much and most of us are much more trained to remain in the state of doing. Both states have their advantages and in the upcoming practical lessons in this chapter you will learn how to train your state of being and become more aware of what’s going on in and around you.

Essential Knowledge in this Lesson:

Sate of being = state of broad awareness that helps you to become more aware of what’s going on inside and around you.

The state of being helps you to see your thoughts just as they are. Instead of identifying with your thoughts you take a step back and observe your thoughts passing by. By doing this you experience the impermanent nature of thoughts and are able to spot common thinking patterns that might lead to negative emotions or reactions. This is a great way to uncover automatic thoughts and identifying them is the first step to change them.

Sources:


Brown, Kirk Warren; Ryan, Richard M. (2003). The benefits of being present: Mindfulness and its role in psychological well-being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Vol 84(4), Apr 2003, 822-848.

Zindel V Segal; John D Teasdale; J Mark G Williams (2002). Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy for depression : a new approach to preventing relapse. New York [u.a.] : Guilford Press, c 2002.