[dms-discuss] Mindfulness & Computing 3 follow up

[Emily Schleiner]

Hello gang,

Thanks for attending the third Mindfulness and Computing workshop. It was
great to go through our ‘Living Bravely With Uncertainty’ day.

This day we focused on the uncomfortable and muddy topic of ‘uncertainty’.
(Arg, that was a hard topic to focus on!) We did some mindful walking, did
a guided meditation, and watched this video on Pavlov’s dog experiment
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhqumfpxuzI>. We did some exercises from
the game Code Master <http://www.thinkfun.com/products/code-master/> in
order to pay close attention to our reactions while working through a
puzzle. We took a ‘mindfulness break’ during the exercise.

*Goals for the day:* Gently observe thoughts and reactions, especially at
times of uncertainty, like, for example, when encountering a new kind of
puzzle. Start to cultivate an attitude of compassion in response to
thoughts and feelings that come up during these times. Explore any strong
reactions with tenderness and curiosity.

*Discussion topics:*

*What is the connection between Pavlov's experiments and mindful awareness?*
There isn’t one right answer for this one, but one important take away that
we were aiming for as workshop leaders, was to bring up the point that
mindfulness practitioners are up against a *lifetime* of learned behaviors.
Cultivating a mindful awareness under the best of circumstances is a
profound challenge because of our ingrained reactions. Luckily cultivating
compassion slows down our reactivity enough so that we can make decisions
more mindfully.

*Reactions to puzzles:*
Hyper-focus, indecision, frustration, enjoyment, dismissiveness, anger,
boredom, etc. All reactions are valid. Any reaction can a jumping off point
to explore with tenderness and curiosity. Hopefully we can stay with our
reactions compassionately and see what happens next.

The homework for next time is to do some mindful walking for 5 minutes a
day, or to write mindfully for 5 minutes every day,.

Here is a link to Rez's mindful walking instruction:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ieuiRN9DP0

Here is a list of guided meditations that everyone can try on their own if
interested.
http://self-compassion.org/category/exercises/#guided-meditations

Next Tuesday's topic:

*Competition and Interdependence*

Looking forward to seeing you next Tuesday!

Thanks always,

-Emily and Rez

-- 
__________________________________
Emily Schleiner
cordial-emily.com
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