Physical Processing & Neuroscience

     "primates have a distinct cortical image of homeostatic afferent activity that reflects all aspects of the physiological condition of all tissues of the body. This interoceptive system, associated with autonomic motor control, is distinct from the exteroceptive system (cutaneous mechanoreception and proprioception) that guides somatic motor activity. The primary interoceptive representation in the dorsal posterior insula engenders distinct highly resolved feelings from the body that include pain, temperature, itch, sensual touch, muscular and visceral sensations, vasomotor activity, hunger, thirst, and 'air hunger'. In humans, a meta-representation of the primary interoceptive activity is engendered in the right anterior insula, which seems to provide the basis for the subjective image of the material self as a feeling (sentient) entity, that is, emotional awareness." 
     Craig AD. Interoception: the sense of the physiological condition of the body. Curr Opin Neurobiol 2003; 13(4): 500-5.

     Anxiety sensitivity (AS) ... is the fear of arousal-related sensations, arising from beliefs that the sensations may have harmful physical, social, or psychological consequences. AS is composed of 3 (or 4) dimensions: 
• fear of physical sensations, 
• fear of cognitive dyscontrol,
• fear of publicly observable anxiety reactions ±
• fear of respiratory sensations. 

     AS is a potential common vulnerability factor in PTSD & chronic pain.
     "Interoceptive exposure (IE) is among the most effective methods for decreasing AS. IE involves exposure to feared bodily sensations through harmless, brief exercises (e.g. repeatedly hyperventilating). Through repeated exposure to these sensations, patients learn that the sensations do not lead to catastrophic outcomes, and thus their AS abates." 
       Wald J et al. Posttraumatic stress disorder and chronic pain arising from motor vehicle accidents: efficacy of interoceptive exposure plus trauma-related exposure therapy. Cogn Behav Ther 2010; 39(2): 104-13.

     "Approaching the pain itself, wherever it is most prominent in the body, with bare attention, open-heartedness, and alert interest even for very brief moments, if that is all that we can muster in any moment, can be profoundly healing, restorative, and illuminating. And if practiced over days, weeks, and months, potentially it can make a difference in the quality of your life for years and years going forward. What we are talking about is really befriending your experience at the level of the body and at the level of the mind and heart, and seeing what unfolds.”                           Jon Kabat-Zinn 
       Gardner-Nix, J. “The mindfulness solution to pain. Step-by-step techniques for chronic pain management.” New Harbinger Publications Inc, Oakland CA, 2009.

Photo: Janolus   www.dpreview.com

 

Samsara AND Enlightened Behavior

     The bible says that the poor will always be with us, yet advises giving to the poor. Even more striking is the Bodhisattva vow:
     "Beings are numberless, I vow to free them;
     Delusions are inexhaustible, I vow to end them;
     Dharma gates are boundless, I vow to enter them;
     The Buddha way is unsurpassable, I vow to attain it." 

     Interestingly, problem-focused thinking (which rarely works) is about trying to quickly, definitively fix what's perceived as being broken - eg eliminate poverty by "declaring war" on it. Solution-focused thinking (which does tend to work) is all about fostering small, incremental improvements.

Photo: rok urankar   www.dpreview.com

We can't afford to Freak out or be Overwhelmed when there's Real Danger

     A few times I've been in life-or-death situations, as when I was driving on the highway during a winter storm with my wife and (at the time) young sons. Our car suddenly did three 360° spins on a busy highway. Everything occurred in slow motion, silence - no self-talk, complete calm, as I tried to slowly correct for the spin with my steering. It was only after the car came to a complete stop, safely off the road, that fear / anger arose - "what if ...?" Our sons burst out laughing in the back seat, thinking I'd just pulled off a great Dukes of Hazard stunt. Meaningless things - like Halifax drivers who only signal to celebrate the completion of a turn - still bother me.
      I've also seen a number of people who tend to behave badly, become really centered and wise when they're in serious trouble eg diagnosed with cancer, or when a loved one dies. Then after they get over the traumatic event, they're back to being their "old selves".
     Hard times do seem to bring out the best in us. Ajahn Chah reportedly would ask his students: "Are you suffering?" and when they said they were, he'd laugh and say "Good!" I'm convinced he did this out of "grandmotherly love."

See also: http://healthyhealers.blogspot.ca/2012/12/if-i-cant-live-fully-now-then-when.html

Siobhán Gallagher

What Do I TRUST ???

     What do I trust? is a fundamentally important open question to ask. Our self-concept and worldview are based entirely on our current most reliable information / paradigm about what is true, trustworthy, reliable (in this shifting, changing, uncontrollable world).
     What do you trust? a Rolex? a yacht? a Mercedes (German-built of course)? being right while everyone else is wrong? a 10-million-dollar bank account (in Switzerland)? a special diet? another special diet? a really, really special diet? working harder, smarter, longer & longer & longer? a respected well-paying profession? special people to work with? much more special people to work with? washing your hands till they're really, really, really clean? a magic spell to let you live for 100 disease-free years? MANY people chase after at least some of these 'magic potions' COMPULSIVELY for a LIFETIME. "And how's that working for you?"
     What if someone told you (gently) that what you're betting your life's happiness on is complete & utter crap? Would you let go, re-evaluate & formulate a more reasonable paradigm? Or do you "pride" yourself for hanging on to your opinions, right or wrong, like a bulldog? Do addicts drop gambling, booze, or cocaine based on the heart-felt advice of loved ones, counsellors, physicians?
     Do you truly trust anyone? Has your basic goodness / sanity / Buddha-nature recognized the very same perfection in another person? If yes, then that person is trustworthy - at least as much as you are - which is shy of 100% isn't it? Because there's dukkha - unsatisfactoriness, imperfection - in ALL PHENOMENA, including you & me - despite our core of perfection.
     At some point, some (but not all) of us eventually learn that staking our "one precious life" on transient crap ... is crap.
     This is serious. Our hair IS on fire - life is fleeting. What do I trust? Who am I? What's going on here? - critical open questions to orient oneself in a world of addictive distractions.

We All Live in Deep Time

     "Lately I have been thinking about the past, the long long past. Each life comes out of it, and, at the end, each life returns to it. When you forget this - when you think your life is just your own little life - you can feel very lonely and lost. But when you remember it, your life takes on a great weight and a great meaning. You do what you do not only for your life but for the lives that have gone before and for the lives that will come. This means we all live in deep time. 

     The older I get the more I appreciate my parents, my grandparents, and the many generations that have gone before. And the more I appreciate my teachers, and their teachers, and the teachers who have gone before.  The Dharma is a precious thing. It's not for us - we experience it for a minute, and then we pass it on to others who will experience it for a minute and pass it on. It's the passing on, in time, through time, as time (the Dharma may be nothing other than time) that really counts. That counts now, as we live this life with its full power."                   Norman Fischer

http://www.everydayzen.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=303&Itemid=38

 

Dukkha - AND YET - All Manner of Things Are Well ...

     Near the end of my professional career, I'd like to be taking it easier at work, sorting through my large collection of clinical cases and putting them into a suitable format to serve as teaching material, writing a few papers for publication - essentially summing up my career. Instead, I'm taking on more and more routine tasks. Part of the reason for this increased busyness is serious illness of some of my colleagues, forcing them to retire prematurely. So I'm "sharing the load".
     I feel fortunate being able to help, rather than having to retire early. Soon enough, I'll be the one who can no longer provide help. Then I hope to have enough humility & wisdom to accept help gracefully - something with which I, like most health-care professionals, have minimal experience or skill.
     This is a unique part of life, when one's fully aware of life's fragility, yet healthy enough - ever so briefly - to have agency. 

     "Once you feel in your bones and throughout your awareness the emptiness of your mind, you are at peace. Even when problems and difficulties arise, there's still the thread of peace woven in at the heart of them."      Norman Fisher 
       Shambhala Sun January 2013   http://www.shambhalasun.com/

Photo: RuthC   www.dpreview.com

 

Congruent Healing Metaphors Transform

     "At the heart of any healing practice are metaphorical transformations of the quality of experience (from feeling ill to wellness) and the identity of the person (from afflicted to healed). 

     metaphorical thinking conjoins sensory, affective and motivational levels of representation in ways that can help account for psychophysiological effects of symbolic interventions. Imagine a hierarchy of mental representational ‘spaces’ in which the lower levels correspond to the processing done by phylogenetically older parts of the brain involving sensory qualities and basic motivational valences, whereas other levels or layers correspond to representations of experience in terms of emotional states and more abstract conceptual structures. Metaphors transform our perceptions and representations by moving them through sensory, affective and abstract conceptual spaces. According to how this movement occurs within these independent spaces, any communication gives rise to multiple interpretations.These hierarchically stacked levels of meaning are text and subtext, literal and metaphorical strands of meaning in communication and action. Importantly, these multiple levels of interpretation go on in parallel and may reinforce each other, giving experience profound depth and resonance, or contradict each other creating complex experiences of irony, ambivalence and ambiguity."

       Kirmayer LJ.  The cultural diversity of healing: meaning, metaphor and mechanism. Br Med Bull 2004; 69: 33-48.

Photo: Bill Bentley   www.dpreview.com