Brains On Purpose™

How do you listen attentively? Well, first you grab a paint brush, a pencil, or a piece of chalk

Being able to draw well can be somewhat like attentive and complete listening. For many people, learning a certain kind of drawing helps them to be better listeners. A receptive state that enables this kind of drawing, once learned, can be transferred to listening.

Good news: (Almost) anyone can master this state.

Today I will recommend two books to help you practice being receptive in drawing. In a later post, we will look at how to transfer that receptivity to situations in which you want to listen deeply. However, many of you probably will be able to transfer the skill as soon as you use it during drawing.

The first book is Your Artist's Brain: Use the right side of your brain to draw and paint what you see - not what you think you see. Don't worry. Despite the title, the author Carl Purcell does not include much of the inaccurate left brain/right brain "science." From the book:

I initiated a seven-year search to discover which functions of the brain artists use when drawing and the causes of the more common problems experienced by my students. I discovered that the right tools for drawing (and painting) are present in everyone's brains but we have other mental processes that subvert the activity of drawing.

The second book is a classic: Zen of Seeing: Seeing/Drawing as Meditation. The author Frederick Franck writes:

It is in order to really see, to see ever deeper, ever more intensely, hence to be fully aware and alive, that I draw what the Chinese call 'The Ten Thousand Things' around me. Drawing is the discipline by which I constantly rediscover the world.

I have learned that what I have not drawn I have never really seen, and that when I start drawing an ordinary thing, I realize how extraordinary it is, sheer miracle.

One might paraphrase the two authors and say:

• The right tools for listening are present in everyone's brain but we have other mental processes that subvert the activity of listening.
• Listening is the discipline by which I constantly rediscover the world.
  

Both drawing and listening can be vehicles for mindfulness and discovery, and I have found that the underlying state for one can be a door to the other. Moving easily between the vehicles will be the focus of another post later this month.

 

Do you think fast or slow? Typically most of us are fast most of the day

That I have not yet mentioned one of last year's books is surprising. I thought I had recommended it to you, but noticed this evening that I haven't. It was for me a must-read, so my omission is not minor. Below I link to an interview of its author Dr. Daniel Kahneman which may help you decide if you want to read Thinking, Fast and Slow.

From "The Truth About How We Think" (Gallup Management Journal):

Thinking, Fast and Slow explains that people use two methods of thinking -- System 1 and System 2. System 1 is fast, automatic, and context oriented. It accepts as true whatever seems coherent to your worldview at the moment. If you're worried about your work performance and your boss walks by looking angry, for instance, System 1 will tell you that your boss is mad at you.

System 2 is slower, deliberative, and analytical. System 2 would tell you that your boss' commute is an hour long on a heavily congested road, and his drive might have been horrible that morning. The problem with System 2 is that

Time to revisit the benefits of seeing red: Why mediators must be acutely aware of their own comfort with conflict

It has been a long while since I last posted about the value of getting angry. For a review of some of the emotion's benefits, please read these past posts:

 

• Good brain, bad brain? Bring it all to the negotiation table
• Anger—your inner fiend or your friend? Or both? What's the role of emotion?
• Grit your teeth and bear it: Get angry for all the right reasons

I was reminded today of the plus side of getting a bit heated when reading "Anger Gives You a Creative Boost" (Scientific American). From the article:

Perhaps, in some contexts, feeling angry [is] actually beneficial. This counterintuitive idea was pursued by researchers Matthijs Baas, Carsten De Dreu, and Bernard Nijstad in a series of studies  recently published in The Journal of Experimental Social Psychology. They found that angry people were more likely to be creative – though this advantage didn’t last for long, as the taxing nature of anger eventually leveled out creativity. This study joins several recent lines of research exploring the relative upside to anger – the ways in which anger is not only less harmful than typically assumed, but may even be helpful (though perhaps in small doses).

Of course, the benefits of anger are not universal; they are situational and more true for some people than for others. Nevertheless, in some situations, good, clean anger can be honest, productive, and aligned with one's most deeply held values.

I don't know why, in some circles, anger is nearly always shunned or considered unskillful communication. Give me a little

Excerpt from ARE WE BORN RACIST? leaves out one key to lessening in-group/out-group response

It is not news that our reactive brains respond in predictable ways to those we see as different from us. Those ways are not the same as how we respond to members of our in-groups. You can read about some of that research in this excerpt (AlterNet) from Are We Born Racist?: New Insights from Neuroscience and Positive Psychology.

Unfortunately the role that self-awareness, attention, mindfulness, can play in facilitating a person's being more reflective, less reactive, when interacting with those different from him or her is not mentioned. With training in self-awareness, attention, mindfulness, we do not need to be slaves to our brains.

As we have often pointed out here, there are those in the science community who do think we are clueless, helpless, hapless slaves. From "Missing Persons" (The Catholic Thing):

Many scientists have for some time denied the old view of what really distinguishes human beings: that we have the ability to know the truth and the freedom to choose right and wrong. It’s odd that modern science – which has given us so much knowledge about the world and useful technologies in medicine and other fields – should deny our ability to know and will. But no small segment of modern scientists regard the human capacity for knowing not, as in the past, as a kind of miracle, something of a different order than everything else we observe in the universe. For them, human knowledge is merely a kind of higher evolutionary reaction to stimuli. Indeed, if you look at the statements of some neuroscientists, they have started to call it a “folk view” that we know things and can act freely. For them, it’s determinism all the way down. We dummies – the non-neuroscientists – just don’t know it yet.

What we each think about determinism and reductionism, whether or not we think we can override our brain to be in alignment with our values, is important. It affects how we see the rights and responsibilties of our clients, and more important, what, in our own behavior, we believe we can and cannot change. Even if we are born racist, I believe we have the power to overcome reactive responses. Do you?

Sure, our brains may react and act up in ways that our reflective mind may find upsetting, even horrifying. Through self-awarensss and attention training, by increasing mindfulness skills, our reflective minds can steer. Remember: "The brain puts out the call, the mind decides whether to listen."

Interview of neuroscientist Kevin Ochsner on how habits are formed and methods to change them

In this interview, Dr. Ochsner covers several topics. He contrasts habits with thoughtful, mindful action. He explains that the latter is associated with the prefrontal cortex. He says habits are like a dog and you have to keep training to teach new tricks. Feedback, to be effective, should be immediate, specific, and positive (not elicit the fear response). Click now to listen to the rest of what Kevin has to tell us about routinized habits, thoughtful behavior, and methods for change.

From the TotalPicture Radio Web site:

Today, we discuss his brain research on how automatic and controlled processes interact in producing emotion and emotion regulation, self-knowledge, feelings of social exclusion, attributions about other individuals, placebo effects and automatic behavior and how we can use this information in leadership development. Kevin's presentation at the NeuroLeadership Summit focused on the steps we need to take to change behavior, and why negative feedback triggers counterproductive results.

In the interview, Ochsner describes the five methods of emotion regulation developed by Stanford's James Gross, which I have blogged about here in the past: Regulating in-the-way emotions in conflict resolution.

 

Come hear my keynote & breakout on neuroscience of conflict resolution at this state ADR conference

I'll be presenting the keynote address at the annual Colorado Statewide ADR Conference. In addition to the keynote, I will also be presenting one of the breakout sessions at this 4th annual conference titled "Evolving Frontiers of ADR." The event, to be held in Denver, is November 4. The early-bird registration ends October 21.

My topic: "The Mind and the Brain: 21st Century Insight for the ADR Professional."

Click to read the brochure with all the details [pdf].

I hope to see some of you there.

4 steps to changing your brain, your unwanted habits, your stress level

Dr. Jeffrey Schwartz is one of the the pioneers in the treatment of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). In his book Brain Lock: Free Yourself from Obsessive-Compulsive Behavior, you may read about his four-step method of treatment and learn how they can change your brain.

Early next year, a new book he and Dr. Rebecca Gladding are writing will be available. For those of us who want to make positive changes in our lives—and brains, this book will be a valuable tool and guide because the the authors have broadly expanded the use of the four steps beyond the realm of OCD.

For a brief taste of the new book, I recommend that you read an interview of Jeff by Dr. Elisha Goldstein about how to use the four steps to reduce stress. An excerpt from this just-posted interview:

Elisha: In your book Brain Lock you present a four step process for working with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) that has gained prominence and is being used by therapy centers around the world. Tell us a bit about this 4 step process and why it works?

Jeff: The four steps came out in brain lock published in 1996. I have a new book that’s going to be out in the beginning of 2011 and the co-author, Rebecca Gladding, is former Chief Resident in Psychiatry at UCLA and now UCLA faculty. In this new book we apply these same 4 steps in OCD to a much broader application and really use it as a means for stress management.

I’ll give you both versions.

First step is the same in both, Relabeling. There’s been great work by Matthew Lieberman OF UCLA on the tremendous power of labeling on emotional faces and other things to manage Amygdala hyper-responsiveness, in other words to manage fear and stress responsiveness. This research says if we put a label on our emotion, we can help manage our response to it. So Step 1 is Relabel.

Step 2 is called Reattribute ... .

Click to read the rest of the interview.

Our hidden brain: How much of an influence does it have on our decisions?

For those of you always happy to learn more about the decision-making process (isn't that true of all conflict professionals?), here's a new book for you: The Hidden Brain: How Our Unconscious Minds Elect Presidents, Control Markets, Wage Wars, and Save Our Lives.

Right now you can click to listen to an NPR interview of the author Shankar Vedantam; it is the 11:00 segment.

And here are two reviews and an excerpt for you below.

From The Washington Post's review of the book:

In "The Hidden Brain," Vedantam reviews this new science and applies it speculatively to practical circumstances in which our subconscious leanings might mislead us. How investors choose stocks, how soldiers obey leaders in battle, how spouses respond in arguments -- these consequential behaviors can be shaped by automatic mental routines that preempt our reason. ...

From the book review "The Out-of-Sight Mind" (New York Times):

Invisible forces that control our behavior have inspired our best story tellers, from Euripides to Steven Spielberg. Whether we’re yanked around by jealous gods, Oedipal urges or poltergeists, the idea that we feel powerless to direct our own actions has a visceral appeal, one exploited by Shankar Vedantam in “The Hidden Brain,” his exploration of the unconscious mind.

Most previous popular treatments of subliminal forces haven’t been data driven. Vedantam, who until recently wrote

Retreat: "Zen Brain: The Self and Selflessness in Neuroscience, Buddhism, and Philosophy" (plus some neuroscience articles)

From the Upaya Web page for the retreat:

Buddhist practice involves the cultivation of the realization of selflessness and interdependence and, as well, powerful insights into how we create the illusion of a separate and unchanging self. In recent years, philosophy, cognitive science, and neuroscience have contributed new and important perspectives on these core teachings of Buddhism.  In this retreat, prominent scientists and scholars will explore Buddhist, philosophic, and neuroscientific perspectives on the self and selfless, and the implications of these areas for Zen practice. We as well will look at how we apply the research in neuroscience in the areas of identity, causality, and mental function.  Talks, discussions, and explorations with participants are embedded within Zazen practice throughout each day.

Some of the links found at the Web page (all pdf):

• Suggested reading list
• "Metamemory Experiments in Neurological Populations: A Review" (Neuropsychology Review)
• "Attention regulation and monitoring in meditation" (Trends in Cognitive Sciences)
• "Alterations in Brain and Immune Function Produced by Mindfulness Meditation" (Psychosomatic Medicine)
• "Attending to the present: mindfulness meditation reveals distinct neural modes of self-reference" (SCAN)

Details about the instructors are found at the Web page. Their names and topics:

Being strong and silent, or meek and mild, may turn you weak and wild

Is it good to suppress or hide your feelings? Perhaps sometimes, but certainly not always, because voicing them seems to activate the brain's braking system and calm down the emotional response. I have blogged about labeling the affect in the past, but was reminded of that process's value when reading the article "The Brain’s Braking System (and how to ‘use your words’ to tap into it)" [pdf].

In the article, neuroscientist Matt Lieberman takes a look at self-control of several kinds: emotional, motor, perspective-taking, cognitive, and financial. He says all these kinds of self-control involve the same part of the brain, the right ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (RVLPFC), which he calls the "brain's braking system." An interesting point: Because of the RVLPFC commonality, when we engage in one kind of self-control, that braking system may cause other kinds of self-control to kick in, too.

Lieberman then writes that naming your feelings (labeling your affect) can regulate your emotions.

The affect labeling data suggests that putting feelings into words is a form of emotion regulation. The problem with this account is that affect labeling does not feel like emotion regulation. When you try to suppress your emotions you know you are doing it – it is quite conscious. Although people sometimes put their feelings into words in order to generate new insights and improve their emotional well-being, we often put our feelings into words without any expectation that mere affect labeling will have an emotional benefit.

Can you improve your ability to put feelings into words in order to regulate them? Although more research is being done by Lieberman, results so far seem to indicate that practicing mindfulness meditation can make that ability sharper. Another good addition to the growing list of benefits of mindfulness

He concludes:

We have ... demonstrated evidence suggesting that putting feelings into words serves as an unexpected

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

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.