Mindfulness: What is it and what does it do? 16 | Learning to BREATHE

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Learning To Breathe Foundation Course

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Welcome!
Course Plan

Why Is Mindfulness So Popular? 2
Mindful Marketing 3
Stress Reduction 4
Stress In Adults 5
Stress In Teens 6
Student Wellbeing 7
Does Mindfulness Live Up To The Hype? What Research Shows 8
Stressed Unemployed Adults 9
Adults (18-75) with anxiety disorders 10
Epigenetics 11
Evidence from recent meta-analyses show MBIs are effective 12
Teacher Well-Being 13
Teacher Program Results After 8 Weeks 14
Mixed Results for School Interventions 15

Mindfulness: What is it and what does it do? 16
The world of contemplative practice 17
Tree of Contemplative Practices 18
Mindfulness: Often Misunderstood and Misapplied 19

Identify Roots of Stress 21
Think of a time you felt (perceived) stress 22
What does perceived stress do to the body? 23
The Brain's Role 24
Effects of Chronic Stress/ Allostatic Load 25
Genetic and Epigenetic Effects 26
Stress is a Potent Source of Epigenetic Programming 27
CTRA: An ancient response to stress 28
What is the CTRA? 29
Social Determinants of Health 30
What Perceived Stress Does to the Mind 31
Perceptual Narrowing 32
The Default Network 33
Wandering Mind = Unhappy Mind 34
Brain-Based Mechanisms of Maladaptive Stress-Reactivity 35
Stress & Emotions 36
Changes in Emotional Reactivity 37
Distress Tolerance 38
Distress Intolerance 39
It’s all connected 40
Stress (Distress) and Interconnected Networks 41
Standard Stress Management 42
So what is Mindfulness? It’s more than you think 43
Mindfulness offers a fundamentally different way to deal with stressful experience. 44
Mindfulness: A Mind/Heart Skillset 45

Mindfulness: How do we practice? 46
Family of Mindfulness Practices 47
Let’s Practice 48
Focused Attention 49
Open Attention 50
Compassion 51
Acceptance / Attitudes 52
Reflection 53

Nuts and Bolts of Learning to BREATHE 54
Intervention and Prevention 55
L2B Goals 56
Conceptual Model 57
Sequence of L2B themes 58
BREATH 59
L2B Session Structure 60
How can you teach the 6 themes in 12 sessions? 61
Features of L2B, 2nd Ed. 62
Before Program Implementation 63
Moving to Mindfulness 64
Pedagogy: Guided Discovery 65
Example: Transitions for B Theme 66
Trauma-Informed Adaptations 67
Diversity and Inclusion 68
Age: What’s the best fit? 69
Stages of understanding mindfulness in adolescence 70

B Theme 71
Three Main Executive Functions 72
Executive Function Tasks: L2B v Control 73
Focused Attention 74
The B Theme in 4 parts 75
B Sequence expanded 76
Setting the Stage 77
What Mindfulness is and what it isn’t 78
What Mindfulness is and what it isn’t 79
Experimenting with Mindfulness 80
Experimenting with Mindfulness 81
Practice – Body Scan 82
Practice: Short Body Scan 83
Attention Shift 84
Home Practice 85
Mindfulness in My Life 86
3-Minute Body Scan 87
Suggestions for Between Sessions 88
Final Reflections and Practice 89

R Theme 90
Adolescence (12-24): A Period of Rapid Brain Maturation 91
But some thoughts are sticky. What’s the problem? 92
Portrait of an Inner Distressing Event 93
Which one describes your thinking? 94
Mindfulness shifts our relationship to thoughts 95
I AM NOT MY THOUGHTS 96
Teaching Mindfulness of Thoughts: An Important Ingredient 97
The R Theme in 3 parts 98
1. Introduction and Recap 99
2. Exploring Thinking 100
2. Exploring thinking 101
2. Exploring thinking 102
3. Practice 103
Home Practice 104
Practice: Mindfulness of Thoughts 105

E: Emotions 106
Is there something special about adolescent emotional experience? 107
A Protracted Period of Brain Development 108
Developmental challenges to emotion regulation 109
What’s the problem with adolescent distress/discomfort 110
How effectively do adolescents cope with distress? Why is this important? 111
Low Distress Tolerance and Avoidance in adolescence is related to many harmful behaviors 112
L2B, Attention Reorienting and Amygdala Reactivity 113
Top-Down + Bottom Up Optimization Processes 114
The E Theme in 3 parts 115
Introduction & Recap 116
Exploring Feelings (Emotions) 117
Exploring Feelings (Emotions) 118
Exploring Feelings (Emotions) 119
Practice: Mindfulness of Emotions 120
Other Practices- “Finding the Feeling” 121
Home Practice 122
Tips to Take Away 123
Let's Practice Mindfulness of Emotions 124

A Theme 125
Sensitive Period of Development = Window of Maximum Plasticity 126
Another Sensitive Period: Development of the Social Brain 127
Malleability: Bringing Experience into the Brain 128
The onset of many disorders in adolescence 129
This is your brain on stress! 130
Is Stress-Free The Goal? 131
Can moderate stress promote the development of future coping skills? 132
The A Theme in 3 parts 133
1. Introduction & Recap 134
2. Exploring stress (the unpleasant) 135
2. Exploring stress (the unpleasant) 136
2. Exploring stress (the unpleasant) 137
2. Exploring stress (the unpleasant) 138
What's The Best Balance? 139
What Happens When We Practice Mindfulness? 140
Memo from the Body-Mind: Content in Memo 141
3. Practice 142
3. Practice Mindful Walking 143
Invitation to Home Practice 144
Final Reflections and Practice 145
146

T Theme 147
Can We Change/Train Habits Of Mind and Heart? 148
The Brain 149
Can mental practice change the brain? 150
THE PLASTIC HUMAN BRAIN CORTEX 151
What about practicing emotions? 152
Images from Paul Ekman studies 153
Practicing certain emotions can lead to mindlessness and increased stress 154
Images from Paul Ekman studies 155
Are only "positive emotions" allowed? 156
Practicing Emotions in L2B: Acceptance, Gratitude, Kindness and Compassion 157
The T Theme in 3 parts 158
1. Intro Practice and Recap 159
2. Cultivating Well-being 160
2. Cultivating Well-being 161
2. Cultivating Well-being 162
3. Practice 163
3. Practice 164
Let's Practice 165

H Theme 166
The H Theme in 3 parts 167
1. Intro, Recap and Practice 168
2. Practicing and Moving Forward 169
2. Practicing and Moving Forward 170
Mindful Beading 171
2. Practicing and Moving Forward: Mindful Quilt 172
Mindful Quilt 173
‘Stress Island’ – Surrounded by Mindfulness Practices 174
3. Closing Practice 175
Tips To Take Away 176

E Theme 177

A FINAL PRACTICE

Mindfulness: What is it and what does it do? 16

So what is mindfulness and what does it do?