Brains On Purpose™

Now you see my frown, now you don't: What you get is not always what you see

Not a day goes by that I am not reminded several times of the importance of being self-aware, as a mediator, as a party, as a citizen. Much goes on out of our awareness and the more we can expand our awareness, the less we will be influenced by the subliminal. Fewer influences will be subliminal because they will instead be in our conscious awareness.

A mediation with self-aware people in the room operating from their reflective minds will look and sound very different from one with reactive brains in participants' skulls. One reason is emotional contagion (about which I have blogged here before). A new study is a reminder of just how powerful emotional contagion can be.

Two people, because of damage to one side of their brains, were unable to process what they saw with one of their eyes. Nevertheless when their blind side was shown pictures of people looking happy or fearful, they still responded to the emotion. When shown fearful people, a frown muscle twitched and when shown a happy people, a twitch occurred in a smile muscle. Neuroscientist Christian Keysers, quoted in "Not blind to emotion" (Nature News), said, "This is interesting evidence that we can recognize the emotions

Watch a video: "The mind is not what the brain does"

In this video, Doctors Jeffrey Schwartz and Henry Stapp discuss the difference between the mind and the brain. Jeff, of course, is an expert in neuroplasticity and Dr. Stapp is a quantum physicist. Click for the video "The mind is not what the brain does."

Here is a review of the talk.

Upcoming event in Santa Fe, New Mexico, for sharpening your attention and performance

2009 Lawyer’s Retreat in Santa Fe

Genius is nothing but the power of sustained attention
                                         -- William James

Attention Pays:  From Reactive Brain to Reflective Mind

Friday November 13 - Sunday November 15

Registration Fee: $749.00
(Early bird $99.00 discount available
through September 30, 2009)
Register Now

Note (added September 29, 2009): Two ways to get significant savings on the fee until October 8. Click for details.

The Institute for Mindfulness Studies and Brains on Purpose invite you to participate in a weekend workshop in Santa Fe, New Mexico, developed for lawyers interested in developing:

their focus of attention,
and a deeper sense of well-being,
as well as achieving optimal performance
throughout their personal and professional lives.

Program Overview

What You Will Learn.  Our system will teach you practices that combine focused attention and mindful awareness to enable you to reach a new levels of mental clarity and resolve.  As a direct result, you will be less influenced by momentary distraction and more effective at accomplishing that to which you set your mind.

When all is said and done, the lawyer with a laser-like focus is a genius. Distraction does not penetrate their single-pointed concentration nor disturb the beam of their mental flashlight. Like a Samurai warrior, they place their attention where they choose, there it remains fixed, and they are prepared for anything -- harmony and war. 

What Science Will Illuminate.  Science is confirming what experience has long taught -- the development of expert levels of attention is possible and pleasurable.  In this program, attention mastery becomes your mental armor. And, because of the close connection between mind and body, you will explore the ways that the changes you experience improve your health, immune function, and reduces stress.

What Can Change. You have probably run into lawyers who behave like  zombies; they are reactive, a slave to knee-jerk responses, and always putting others on edge.  Perhaps from time to time you’ve noticed in yourself this behavior.  At other times you’ve found yourself acting like a warrior -- supremely confident, competent, and calm.

Journey to Santa Fe this November and reconnect with that Warrior.

Because of their reflective minds (as opposed to reactive brains), Samurai lawyers have many advantages not accessible to zombies.

•Sharp focus
•Equanimity
•Excellent client service
•Highly functional personal and professional relationships
•Precision alertness
•Achievement of goals
•First-rate memory
•Insight into the minds of others
•Awareness of options and choices
•Ability to choose the appropriate option for the situation

Join us in Santa Fe for a groundbreaking “recharge” (it’s really not a “retreat” because Samurai warriors seldom retreat).  You will:

•develop a laser-like focus of attention
•cultivate insight and penetrating awareness
•explore cutting-edge neuroscience.

A unique setting for a unique recharge.

Workshop Facilitators

The workshop will be conducted by Scott Rogers, M.S., J.D., director of the Institute for Mindfulness Studies and Stephanie West Allen, J.D., founder of Brains on Purpose and author of the syndicated blog, idealawg.

You can learn more about Scott and Stephanie by clicking here.

This event takes place at Ghost Ranch Santa Fe, only three blocks from the Plaza yet quiet and removed from the bustle, nestled in a secluded and beautiful setting.

Not only will you experience mind-enhancing professional development, we also will incorporate this unique setting into the program.

We will be in The City Different and the Land of Enchantment, a  setting and location that will enhance the experience and facilitate your learning.

To preserve the quality, space, and spirit of the recharge, we are limiting the number of attendees so we recommend registering soon.

You may register online by clicking here. You may also register by calling 786-239-9318, or faxing a registration form to 305-538-4676.  Group discounts are available.

The registration fee includes lodging and meals:

Meals include:

Dinner on Friday
Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner on Saturday
Breakfast and Lunch on Sunday

Lodging includes:

Rooms beginning with check in on Friday, November 13, 2009 through checkout approximately noon on Sunday, November 15, 2009. Rooms are double occupancy.  You may upgrade to a single room for an additional $50. per night.*

Click here to register:  $749.00.

Early Bird Registration (valid through September 30, 2009): $650.00.  Click here.

If you have questions, send us an e-mail by clicking here.

*If you choose to upgrade to a single room, please let us know in the comments field while registering.  A separate PayPal link will be sent to you to pay the difference.

Mindfulness for Conflict Resolvers: A class with Professor Len Riskin October 15 - 17

All the information is here.

"4 ways to keep your brain limber": People with rigid brains don't make good mediators

Of course, keeping the brain limber is very important for anyone who facilitates conflict resolution. Here's an article with some tips on how to attend to your brain so it does not get rigid. The four methods: insight, behavior, emotion, and focus. (The article includes a relaxation exercise I have tried in the past and appreciated.)

You will see that the article quotes Jeff. From "4 ways to keep your brain limber" (cnn.com):

Behavior: If a night out usually means dinner and a movie, buy tickets for a flamenco performance instead. Drive the slow, scenic road to work versus the highway. Take a class in a subject that interests you but has nothing to do with your job.

When you follow a routine, your brain can operate in low-energy mode, via relatively primitive structures known as the basal ganglia, says Jeffrey Schwartz, M.D., co-author of "The Mind and the Brain: Neuroplasticity and the Power of Mental Force."

In contrast, new activities engage the prefrontal cortex, an evolutionarily younger area that needs more energy to function. That's why breaking a routine may feel hard -- but if you push past that effort, Schwartz says, new experiences can help stimulate fresh states of mind that leave you feeling both more focused and energized.

Now go do something new.

Some brain-friendly ADR resources

LEADR's 10th ADR conference ended last Friday. Their site has links to podcasts by most of the presenters. In the past, I blogged here about a mediation artistry program: Professional Artistry of Mediation: Accessing more of your brain and the knowledge of your body. Click to read and hear about the LEADR program given by the same people, which this time they called "Artful inquiry: What does it mean to be an artful mediation practitioner?." In October, they will be presenting this program at the ACR annual conference, too.

In clicking through the programs, I saw some that appeared to be very interesting. (I also saw another misuse of the Mehrabian research; I have blogged at idealawg at least a couple of times on the Mehrabian myth.) Of course, there is a program on the brain. The conflict field is now being flooded with brain information; unfortunately some of it is reductionist pop neuroscience. In her podcast, the presenter says she has read some of Susan Greenfield's books so her approach is likely from a materialist viewpoint.

Click on over to listen to some of the podcasts. They are short.

On a somewhat related note, here are links to 50 Fascinating Lectures All About Your Brain.

Not guilty! I'm only a neuro-person and my brain made me do it

Not too long ago, I heard a presentation on the the brain and conflict resolution in which the speaker said dysfunctional brains are the cause of evil and crime. As regular readers know, I certainly do not agree with this reductionist view of human beings. So I was delighted to read a new paper by Professor Steven K, Erickson titled "Blaming the Brain." (Download here.) Excerpt:

People are more than their brains. Legal and social traditions have long held people accountable for their behavior under the presumption that most behavior is intentional and the product of conscious decision making. ...

Yet emerging conceptions of personhood generated by cognitive neuroscience suggests something very different than this entrenched view. Instead of people, cognitive neuroscience posits brains as the exclusive agents of behavior and suggests brains are incapable of blame because of their mechanical and determined nature. Minds and brains are held synonymous – thoughts, desires, and behaviors are regarded as no more than the yield of fixed neuronal tissue. ...

...

But there are problems with the neuro-person model. Despite the claim by neuroscientists that the mind is accessible, measurable, and predictable, there are good reasons for skepticism on all of these fronts. Cognitive neuroscience, like all fields of science, utilizes assumptions to generate its conclusions. Chief among these is that the complexity of the mind can be understood by examining localized areas of the brain which are presumed indicative of how people think.

Note: My recent post about locationism.

If you are interested in the mind and the brain, what makes people do what they do, and self-responsibility, I urge you to read the whole paper. Although Erickson is looking particularly at neurolaw within the criminal justice system, this paper is an excellent read for all of us.

Here are two posts from idealawg about neurolaw:

• Neurolaw another branch of neuromythology? Free will? Free won't?
• Neurolaw: Leaving out a big piece of the puzzle

Upcoming conference on culture and the brain

Clashing cultures can result in conflict. I have posted about culture before. Here's a Notre Dame conference that may interest some of you. From The Encultured Brain Web site:

The Encultured Brain conference will promote neuroanthropology, the integration of anthropology, social theory, and the brain sciences. As the first conference exclusively in this area, The Encultured Brain will provide a vision for the future of this line of integrative research, sparking conversations and establishing connections across disciplinary boundaries.

More here. Any of you attending?