Archive for Mind Training
Installing the “infrastucture” of wellness: experiments in deep work-life balance
Posted by: | CommentsNeuroplasticity and weight loss
Posted by: | CommentsIt is well known that the use of a particular muscle creates pathways in the brain. It has also been established that mental (e.g., visual) practice causes a similar rewiring in the brain’s network. Mental training has the power to change the physical characteristics of the brain itself.
This is called neuroplasticity. Scientists are also discovering that this kind of change can also occur even without input from the material world, i.e., thought itself can cause actual changes in the neuronal connections of the brain.
I think that this kind of mind training can alter the way we approach eating behavior itself, affecting and changing the brain-gut pathways, and the accompanying neurochemistry involved in satiety and hunger.
On one level, one can hypothesize that this is one reason why cognitive behavior therapy can work in correcting disfunctional eating behavior that leads to obesity. In addition, I think that manipulating the nutritional profile of the food itself (i.e., maximizing nutritional density per calorie) will also help in creating a “positive neuro-behavioral feedback loop” that can ultimately result in restoring the body back to a correct and healthy weight. Nutrition and mind training working hand in hand.
Setting the right motivation for eating
Posted by: | CommentsThe concept of “right mind” is probably one of the most important ideas that has helped me in my own path to wellness. Whenever I flounder (and that is quite often), I turn to this wise advice:
“The correct motivation for every action is essential. For instance, we should not eat merely to satisfy our hunger. Rather, by remembering that this action is also a method of helping other beings, we should feel that we are eating in order to maintain strength, prolong our life, and thereby be able to fulfill our aspirations of benefiting others. In this way eating becomes a part of spiritual practice. In fact, all daily activities can be worthwhile if we use them with a similar motivation.”
From Geshe Rabten’s Commentary on The Seven Point Thought Transformation by Geshe Chekawa (from the book Advice from a Spiritual Friend, by Geshe Rabten and Geshe Dargyey, translated and edited by B. Beresford).
The art of stopping when you’re full
Posted by: | CommentsHara hachi bu, translated from Japanese, this literally means “eat until you’re 80 percent full.” Okinawans, known for their health and longevity, are the acknowledged masters of this practice.
Okinawans eat 10 to 40 percent fewer calories than the average American. Two techniques to use: (a) eat slowly, perhaps by using your non-dominant hand to eat, and (b) stop when you don’t feel longer hungry anymore. Try waiting for 10 to 20 minutes, and then decide if you want to eat more. Studies have shown that many people can be satisfied after following the 80 percent rule, even though they end up ingesting less calories.
The easier way to manage calories is to eat more vegetables, both raw and cooked. I tend to follow this method, since I am used to eating large quantities of food. This is one habit that I hope to change in the long run. I think its much better to eat less food and have the stomach get used to a smaller volume of food.
Flipping the weight loss “switch”
Posted by: | CommentsFrames, according to linguistics and cognitive science pioneer George Lakoff, are “mental structures that shape the way we see the world.” To a large extent, frames depend on language. Trying to change means trying to change how people think, i.e., change their framing, which then ultimately determines how “facts” are processed.
Correct knowlege or information has to be processed first according to how they fit our frames, which in turn is really a “synaptic structure” wired into our brains. If the facts do not fit what’s already in there, they will not be heard much less absorbed or be the catalyst for instituting change.
The framing itself has to be changed, before behavioral changes can succeed. In addition, the very quality and quantity of the proposed change has a profound effect on whether the transformation occurs. Dean Ornish, in his work with cardiac patients, found that paradoxically, dramatic and comprehensive changes can be easier for people than gradual, incremental changes. The reason is that gradual changes often do not result in significant improvement, while sweeping changes can result in clearly beneficial changes (i.e., dramatically ‘feeling better,” which becomes a very effective reinforcement of behavior).
People who make moderate changes, according to Ornish, get the worst of both worlds in that they still feel deprived and hungry (and perhaps irritable) because they are not eating what they want, and they also are not getting the full blown benefits in terms of weight reduction or cholesterol and pressure reductions. The paradox is that sometimes big dramatic changes can be easier (and more effective) than small and gradual changes.
But it all goes back to how the anticipated change is “framed” by the individual. The confound is that other issues, such as feelings of self-efficacy, self-esteem, social support, and stress all play into how malleable and open we are to positive change.
The path to permanent weight loss starts with paying attention to the “why,” before we even focus on the “how.”
The food journal as mindfulness tool
Posted by: | CommentsAn important tool in changing behavior and reaching a weight or fitness goal (e.g., losing weight, getting stronger etc.) is the act of recording the behavior one wishes to change. This action forces us to observe carefully the phenomenon we are trying to manage and improve.
According to Daniel Kirschenbaum Ph.D., one of the foremost experts in the application of cognitive therapy to weight management, self monitoring is the single most important aspect of effective weight control: “The studies show that when people write down at least 75 percent of their eating and exercising behaviors they often succeed in losing weight and maintaining weight loss. Writing down very little of these critical aspects of weight control usually results in very minimal or temporary success.”
I think that learning this habit is so effective that the behavior of monitoring itself can be effectively used as an initial goal, rather than immediately adopting a weight loss goal in pounds. Only when the act of monitoring has become a habit can we then choose what weight goal to strive for. These are two discreet goals that can be “unlinked” and treated as organic (and sequential) stages in the change process. The information gathered from the monitoring process can then be used to strengthen the resolve to lose the weight and/or adapt a more nutritious diet. In most instances, the mere act of “neutrally” recording and paying attention to what we eat (without judgement) causes a positive change in our eating behavior.
