Dear Gregg,
Thank you for this blog. I have been mulling over this distinction all week, and am still stuck a bit and seeking greater understanding
about where the mind-body connection comes into play? I wonder, could you explain a bit more about the physiological impact (nervous system and vagal tone regulation) of a practice like CALM MO? That might not be the purpose of this blog in particular, yet
it seems very relevant to our ongoing discussion.
I am still navigating the distinction between “psychological mindfulness” and “meditation-based mindfulness”, and am struggling to identify
if it is a nominal distinction that helps clarify orientation towards a practice, or an intrinsic distinction that highlights a core difference in approach that is necessary for proper use of the framework. I am also wondering if perhaps there may be different
ways that people orient themselves to CALM MO, or approach it, with varying levels of effectiveness?
Two key terms are coming up for me in reflecting on this: allostasis
and interoception- https://www.psychologicalscience.org/observer/interoception-how-we-understand-our-bodys-inner-sensations:
“The core task of a brain working in service to the body is allostasis: regulating the body’s internal systems by anticipating needs and preparing to satisfy them before they arise. Interoception — your brain’s representation of sensations from your
own body — is the sensory consequence of this activity, Barrett says, and is central to everything from thought, to emotion, to decision making, and our sense of self” (Kim
Armstrong).
You write: “CALM-MO enters the mindfulness space more via the justifying mind. That is, it is more located in the self-conscious narrator,
and uses insight-based reflection to cultivate a set of attitudes and ways of responding (i.e., Curiosity, Acceptance, Loving-compassion, and Motivated toward valued outcomes). It is also based more on logic and adaptive analysis than embodied experience,
and focused more on reflective responsiveness instead of mindless reactivity.”
I am curious about the concept of “mindless reactivity” and wonder about the mechanism of change that transforms a mindless reaction into
a mindful response. To me, the mechanism is not solely based in logic and analysis, but also requires some element of body-based mediation. Logic can help frame someone’s response, offer reflection and insight about why someone is behaving the way they are,
but is not always enough to prevent future mindless reactivity. The practices that I have seen work to prevent habits of “context rigidity” or unconscious reactions based on past experiences, is to rewire the mind-body connection that mediates the nervous
system response so that insight can prevail over a physiological sympathetic nervous system override of our prefrontal cortex, allowing for a pause and reflective response before a mindless reaction occurs. APS president Lisa Barrett states that
“Your body is part of your mind, not in some gauzy mystical way, but in a very real biological way…This means there is a piece of your body in every concept that you make, even in states that
we think of as cold cognition.”
I wonder if those who resonate more with a logical approach can utilize CALM MO from a place of logic and analysis, while those who are
drawn more to an embodied and feeling-based approach could utilize CALM MO from a place of interoception and a felt-sense process? Could we design such a study to measure the effectiveness of varying methods of utilization? Maybe the tool itself is not a one-size
fits all, but could be adapted to where an individual may best resonate culturally, developmentally, experientially, etc...
When I practice CALM MO, the way I am best able to do so is if I turn it into an experiential and embodied practice (with the support
of focusing my cognitions and thoughts on the process itself as Cole aptly described). I have found difficulty practicing CALM MO without the experiential use of interoception, or the ability to sense what is going on in my body. Without interoception, I am
unable to become aware enough of what is going on in my body and mind to have genuine curiosity. If we are emotionally flooded, anxious, or physiologically agitated/tense, then our level of “curiosity” will be mediocre at best. To me, experiential embodiment
is necessary to cultivate fertile grounds for interoception that allows me to tap into curiosity of what is happening in the physical body, emotional body, and mental body. Without this, my ability to be curious will be limited to primarily the dominant justifying
narrative that I can grasp in that moment, and not the inherent connection between my justification system and my body-based responses to a momentary event/trigger/belief/etc. Often we may not even have access to clear cognitions or insight when in a state
of heightened arousal. For example, those with childhood trauma may not carry the language, cognitions, memory, or logic to understand a potential physiological response to a trigger. However, attuning to the body in such a moment, could help evade a forced
narrative and instead allow for physiological mediation to calm the state of arousal.
As I get curious, I attune my awareness to the body and the breath, allowing me to relax the body, observe the breath, and find my “center”
as Vervaeke coaches, so that I can see/feel/observe more clearly what the dominant narrative and thought process currently is, with non-attachment and non-reactivity. From this place, which is highly embodied and experiential from my perspective, I can then
begin to tap into the concept and felt-sense of “acceptance” and “loving-compassion.”
Positive and compassionate thoughts can reflect an embodied state of love or induce a moment of pause that changes my physiological response,
but I have not generally experienced loving-compassion to arise from a cognitive process alone. It is, at least for me, the type of deeply embodied and felt-sense experience of goosebumps arising from a stunning sunset, a flow of energy across the whole body
at the sound of a delightful melody, a flutter of the heart at the hum of a baby sleeping or puppy breathing, the deep silence and pause between heartbeats, or the softening of a previously unconsciously tensed muscle with an exhale or smile (just as some
examples). All of these to me feel intrinsically linked to a process that has the capacity to rewire our mind-body connection like CALM MO and other metacognitive practices. I think it is the connection between our physiology (enteric nervous system, autonomic
nervous system, etc), our neurochemistry, and our phenomenological self, that makes a process like CALM MO successful at breaking a maladaptive cycle of subconscious/mindless reactivity.
I think the blog is very well-written and clear. It is a helpful distinction that I think the field does need support in making at this
time. I am just intrigued by the mind-body connection and the role of psychology as a field and practice in that conversation.
thanks and looking forward to learning more,
Kacey
Hi Gregg,
Thank you for writing this and sharing it with the group. I found this clarification particularly helpful in the discussion (and in reviewing now).
I was able to successfully apply this psychological mindfulness to some anxieties I was having about my job, direction in life, and future earlier this week. Stepping back and observing my situation
objectively really helped calm some of the fear and worry that I was experiencing, and helped me to reframe the concern in a more adaptive light, as I saw that the anxiety was a reflection of my fear of the difficulty of what I am trying to achieve. I held
a "CALM-MO meditation" for myself, and, although I only set the timer for 10 minutes, I ended up spending about 17-minutes examining and re-assessing my situation in-line with the prescribed CALM-MO principles. Notably, while this was a meditation, I wasn't
using it to direct my attention toward one neutral stimulus, or withdrawing my attention from any particular incoming stimuli (as I have been practicing for 3 years), but, instead, I was using the time to think through my concerns and reframe them through
a CALM-MO perspective.
Best,
Cole Butler
TPAC Project Coordinator
University of Maryland
2103W, Cole Field House | College Park, MD 20742
tel 301.405.6163
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