Hello Folks,
I posted a brief valued routine on YouTube. You can use the viewer below, or go directly to the YouTube site at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=incBy1VQWcA
Take Care,
Kevin
Showing posts with label stress. Show all posts
Showing posts with label stress. Show all posts
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Friday, September 11, 2009
The Matrix: The Psychological Flexibility Warm Up
Enhancing Psychological Flexibility: The Warm Up
First we will do a little stretch of the mind, nothing complicated, just a stretch. For this exercise I will use a writing pen, but if you don't have a pen handy, any little object will do.
The first thing to do is experience the pen through your five senses. So hold it in your hand and look at the pen. Really experience it through your sense of sight.
Next hear the pen. Click the pen or tap on it to make some noise. Really experience the pen through your sense of hearing.
Next feel the pen through your sense of touch. Run your finger over it and really get the feel of it.
Next smell the pen. Bring it up to your nose and give it a sniff.
Next, well, if you are intimate with your pen, then you can taste it. If not then smell it hard and sense the taste though your smell.
That is experiencing the pen through your five senses.
Now set the pen down. You will now experience the pen in your mind. So you "see" the pen in your mind. Then you "hear" the pen in your mind. Then you "touch" the pen in your mind. Then do the smell and tast in your mind. Finally, notice any other mental experiencing of the pen.
Question: Is there a difference between those two ways of experiencing (5 Senses and Mental)?
Who is noticing that difference? Or if you are noticing they are the same, then who is noticing the sameness?
You probably said "me," or "I" am noticing.
We will always use this basic stretch of noticing the difference between 5 senses experiencing of the world and mental experiencing of the world. Think about it: When you came out of the womb you started experiencing the world through your five senses. Then your mind went to work on learning about mental experiencing. That basic 5 senses experiencing to mental experiencing has been with you all along.
Next recall how it feels to move TOWARD something that is important to you. Maybe it was family, work, or school. Simply recall that feeling of moving toward something important to you.
Then recall how it feels to move AWAY from an unwanted mental experience like fear, sadness or anger. Simply recall that feeling that you get when you pull the covers over your head, or you did not go out, or maybe you did not pick up the phone in order to avoid having one of those mental experiences.
Again, who is noticing the difference between moving TOWARD and moving AWAY?
Yes, it's "me" or "I" doing the noticing.
The diagram below includes the me/I circle in the middle.
This is basic stretch. The fine print in the lower right says Kevin Polk, Ph.D., Jerold Hambright, Ph.D and Mark Webster. We came up with the Matrix for a presentation.
I will get to more about that presentation in later blogs, but the main thing to remember is that in the center of the Matrix is psychological flexibility. That is, if the ME or I in the middle has the choice to be noticing 5 senses experiencing, mental experiencing, choosing to move toward or away. As we go further and further into the blog, you may notice your psychological flexibility increasing.
Remember, start with five senses experiencing, then move to mental experiencing, then toward and away moves. That's the basic stretch.
Next we will continue the "stretching."
Flexibly Yours,
Kevin
Kevin L. Polk, Ph.D.
Psychological Flexibility Blog and Podcast
www.drkevinpolk.com
Note: I am a clinical psychologist, so I must say this stuff is in no way meant to replace treatment. If you think you might me having significant problems, please seek professional help.
The first thing to do is experience the pen through your five senses. So hold it in your hand and look at the pen. Really experience it through your sense of sight.
Next hear the pen. Click the pen or tap on it to make some noise. Really experience the pen through your sense of hearing.
Next feel the pen through your sense of touch. Run your finger over it and really get the feel of it.
Next smell the pen. Bring it up to your nose and give it a sniff.
Next, well, if you are intimate with your pen, then you can taste it. If not then smell it hard and sense the taste though your smell.
That is experiencing the pen through your five senses.
Now set the pen down. You will now experience the pen in your mind. So you "see" the pen in your mind. Then you "hear" the pen in your mind. Then you "touch" the pen in your mind. Then do the smell and tast in your mind. Finally, notice any other mental experiencing of the pen.
Question: Is there a difference between those two ways of experiencing (5 Senses and Mental)?
Who is noticing that difference? Or if you are noticing they are the same, then who is noticing the sameness?
You probably said "me," or "I" am noticing.
We will always use this basic stretch of noticing the difference between 5 senses experiencing of the world and mental experiencing of the world. Think about it: When you came out of the womb you started experiencing the world through your five senses. Then your mind went to work on learning about mental experiencing. That basic 5 senses experiencing to mental experiencing has been with you all along.
Next recall how it feels to move TOWARD something that is important to you. Maybe it was family, work, or school. Simply recall that feeling of moving toward something important to you.
Then recall how it feels to move AWAY from an unwanted mental experience like fear, sadness or anger. Simply recall that feeling that you get when you pull the covers over your head, or you did not go out, or maybe you did not pick up the phone in order to avoid having one of those mental experiences.
Again, who is noticing the difference between moving TOWARD and moving AWAY?
Yes, it's "me" or "I" doing the noticing.
The diagram below includes the me/I circle in the middle.
This is basic stretch. The fine print in the lower right says Kevin Polk, Ph.D., Jerold Hambright, Ph.D and Mark Webster. We came up with the Matrix for a presentation.
I will get to more about that presentation in later blogs, but the main thing to remember is that in the center of the Matrix is psychological flexibility. That is, if the ME or I in the middle has the choice to be noticing 5 senses experiencing, mental experiencing, choosing to move toward or away. As we go further and further into the blog, you may notice your psychological flexibility increasing.
Remember, start with five senses experiencing, then move to mental experiencing, then toward and away moves. That's the basic stretch.
Next we will continue the "stretching."
Flexibly Yours,
Kevin
Kevin L. Polk, Ph.D.
Psychological Flexibility Blog and Podcast
www.drkevinpolk.com
Note: I am a clinical psychologist, so I must say this stuff is in no way meant to replace treatment. If you think you might me having significant problems, please seek professional help.
Welcome to the Enhancing Psychological Flexibility with the Matrix Blog
Welcome to the Psychological Flexibility Blog
Psychological Flexibility, like physical flexibility, is important for all things mental. In short, the more psychological flexible you are, the more likely you are to figure out what works for moving you toward where you want to go in life.
There are no set rules to practicing psychological flexibility. If there were, then that would not be very flexible. The whole idea is to stay loose. However, this is staying loose with a mission; and the mission is your life. What you want it to stand for in the end when someone needs to write something about you for a eulogy or a tombstone.
However, if you get to thinking a lot about your eulogy or tombstone, that's a recipe for not being flexible. As I said, it's about staying psychologically loose, and there are no hard and fast rules to it, except one:
The Rule of the Mind: If you don't want to think about something, then you will think about that something. The more you try to not think about that something, the more stuck you will become in a cycle of trying not to think about the thing that you just thought about. So at times on this blog you will hear me refer to the Rule of The Mind and how it can get us stuck.
I truly have no idea where this blog will go. I am a clinical psychologist who practices mostly in the trauma field. That is, I help folks who have gotten stuck in thinking about trauma memories. It's from working in that field for over 20 years that I have gotten a bit of a feel for moving toward psychological flexibility. However, psychological flexibility, just like physical flexibility, is a fleeting thing. If you don't stretch often, you get stiff. As much as anything this blog is my own efforts to stay psychologically loose.
I welcome comments from anyone with an interest in this area. This blog is for everyone; all humans that might need a bit of loosening up at times.
The reason is simple: people who are psychologically flexible are more likely to be creative and discover what works to move them toward what they value. I have faith that if people move toward what they value, then that's a good thing for us all.
In my next post I will present to you the basic "psychological stretch" that I use when I make presentations to people. For now I plan to open every blog with that "stretch." However, in the spirit of staying loose, I will probably change that. We will see.
Next: The Stretch
Later
Kevin
Kevin L. Polk, Ph.D.
The Psychological Flexibility Blog and Podcast
www.drkevinpolk.com
Hello, I am Dr. Kevin Polk. While I am a clinical psychologist, this is not a "clinical" blog. Rather it's about training, psychological flexibility training. If you have stumbled upon this blog looking for professional advice, please make a personal contact with a professional.
Psychological Flexibility, like physical flexibility, is important for all things mental. In short, the more psychological flexible you are, the more likely you are to figure out what works for moving you toward where you want to go in life.
There are no set rules to practicing psychological flexibility. If there were, then that would not be very flexible. The whole idea is to stay loose. However, this is staying loose with a mission; and the mission is your life. What you want it to stand for in the end when someone needs to write something about you for a eulogy or a tombstone.
However, if you get to thinking a lot about your eulogy or tombstone, that's a recipe for not being flexible. As I said, it's about staying psychologically loose, and there are no hard and fast rules to it, except one:
The Rule of the Mind: If you don't want to think about something, then you will think about that something. The more you try to not think about that something, the more stuck you will become in a cycle of trying not to think about the thing that you just thought about. So at times on this blog you will hear me refer to the Rule of The Mind and how it can get us stuck.
I truly have no idea where this blog will go. I am a clinical psychologist who practices mostly in the trauma field. That is, I help folks who have gotten stuck in thinking about trauma memories. It's from working in that field for over 20 years that I have gotten a bit of a feel for moving toward psychological flexibility. However, psychological flexibility, just like physical flexibility, is a fleeting thing. If you don't stretch often, you get stiff. As much as anything this blog is my own efforts to stay psychologically loose.
I welcome comments from anyone with an interest in this area. This blog is for everyone; all humans that might need a bit of loosening up at times.
The reason is simple: people who are psychologically flexible are more likely to be creative and discover what works to move them toward what they value. I have faith that if people move toward what they value, then that's a good thing for us all.
In my next post I will present to you the basic "psychological stretch" that I use when I make presentations to people. For now I plan to open every blog with that "stretch." However, in the spirit of staying loose, I will probably change that. We will see.
Next: The Stretch
Later
Kevin
Kevin L. Polk, Ph.D.
The Psychological Flexibility Blog and Podcast
www.drkevinpolk.com
Hello, I am Dr. Kevin Polk. While I am a clinical psychologist, this is not a "clinical" blog. Rather it's about training, psychological flexibility training. If you have stumbled upon this blog looking for professional advice, please make a personal contact with a professional.
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