So, I’m looping back to the Mindfulness Module. It has three parts – Wise mind, What skills, and How skills, and all three parts will help us apply the other three DBT modules. Last time, I explained the usefulness of Mindfulness as being in the present moment. I also explained about the wise mind being a combination of the logical and emotional minds, a combination of both black and white, but not gray.

“What skills” are the actions for Mindfulness, and they include:

Observe
Describe
Participate

Thinking is a behavior, and action, and the “What” skills are about helping us practice thinking and taking control of the mind, such that we don’t get caught by the moment, experience a negative reaction, possibly based on something from the past, or leave the situation prematurely. Controlling the mind allows us to enjoy the moment instead of letting the moment control us.

The first, Observe, seems like it would be easy, but in the days of multitasking is not as easy as it sounds. To observe is to step back, notice sensations through all the senses, neither push thoughts away or hold on to them, and focus only on the present moment.  When, not if, the mind wanders distracted by sounds and sights around us, we bring it back to the moment. When, not if, the mind worries about the past or the future, we bring it back to the present moment.  This takes a lot of practice!

With lots of practice, one can eventually get to the point of enjoying each moment without a constant stream of chatter, such as preoccupation, daydreaming, or rumination. We can focus on a conversation and really enjoy time with a friend.  We can take a walk and not arrive having missed the beauty of the outdoors because we were preoccupied. We can read a news article, a book, or even the scripture without getting to the end and realizing we were just looking at the words without comprehending.

The second, Describe, is all about acknowledging.  As thoughts come and go, label them.  “I have this thought…” “My stomach muscles just tightened.” “That’s the feeling of anxiety.” Each one comes, is labeled, and let go again. Only things that can be observed through the senses are the focus; if it can’t be observed, it can’t be described.  The most difficult part here is to keep to the facts, and not allow opinions to get in the way and become part of the describing.

Again, with lots of practice, we can observe and describe without getting caught up in judgment either of ourselves or of what’s happening.  We slowly lose that negative soundtrack in our minds. We’re able to see what it true. I’ve found that this is not easy!  And I’ve not spent enough time practicing; that’s for sure!

Once the moment is observed and described, we can act. The third, Participate, is about becoming one with whatever you are doing.  Throw yourself into the action of the moment. Forget yourself. Do what is needed in the situation, acting from the Wise Mind.  Go with the flow.  The hardest part here is to not be self-conscious.  It’s really about enjoying life fully.

This is the first module in the DBT instruction.  There are three parts to it.

1. Wise Mind
2. “What skills”
3. “How skills”

First, an explanation of mindfulness itself – the definition of Mindfulness found on the Linehan Institute website is long and complicated.  Boiling it down, it basically means “engaging all your senses to pay attention to the moment you are presently living.”  To be mindful, one must control the mind instead of being controlled by it, bringing it’s focus back to the present when it wanders to the past, future, or other distractions currently happening.

At Timberline, we did mindfulness exercises every day. I’m not sure if I referenced this before, but so many people that focus on the past are depressed, and so many people that focus on the future are anxious.  This was the principle reason we practiced mindfulness – to bring our minds into subjection in order to focus on the present and live fully in it.  Usually mindfulness exercises were just a couple of minutes, with the primary focus to be on how well we could bring our minds back to the exercise when we were distracted.  It’s not a matter of whether or not we’ll be distracted; with the way our minds function, we will be distracted.  And it wasn’t supposed to be about how well we completed the exercise.  After every mindfulness exercise, we each shared how easy it was for us to notice distraction and bring our mind back.

Here are a few examples followed by potential distractions…

• Write the ABCs with your nondominant hand. (Noticing how messy the letters were)
• Close your eyes and count a minute – one one thousand, two one thousand, etc. (Focusing on miscounting)
• Trace the fingers of one hand with a finger of the other hand, inhaling as your finger moves up toward the fingernail and exhaling as it moves down into the valley between fingers. (Moving the finger while thinking about other things instead of noticing how it feels)
• Close your eyes and speak each distracting thought aloud to a partner – I’m noticing a door closed. I’m noticing the ticking of the clock. I’m noticing someone coughed.
• Choose two words to repeat in your mind, while inhaling on one and exhaling on the other. (Focusing on breaths and forgetting to say the words; distracted by outside sounds and forgetting to say the words.)
• Using the five senses to describe our surroundings.

By doing simple exercises like these, we train the mind to notice the present moment instead of thinking about other things.  After a while, it’s supposed to carry over into every day life, such that when we’re walking down the street or having a conversation, we are fully present, paying attention to that one activity.  It’s supposed to help us be better listeners, be calmer, happier, and enjoy life more.

Now, just a little about the first section of mindfulness – Wise Mind. Back when I first started posting, I explained about the brain having two halves and how one is more logical and one is more emotional.  When the two are working together, it’s called Wise Mind.

The way it was explained to us at TK, was that both sides are important, and we are using both sides all the time; it’s just a matter of what percentage each one is being used.  The ideal is not to take black and white to make a gray.  The Wise Mind is not gray, but both black AND white.  When you have a piece of white paper with black ink on it, it’s discernable. Both black and white are necessary, because if the black and white were stirred together like mixing paint, the gray would make the printed information useless.

In order for us to see that both sides are necessary, we talked about the pros and cons of each one.  Each side is necessary (pros) and too much of each side upsets the balance (cons).

• Rational Mind – pros: Learning, analysis, facts, structure, control, risk management, thinking things through
• Rational Mind – cons: Too much control, numbing, lack of empathy, too safe
• Emotional Mind – pros: Empathy, connection, enjoyment, impulsive, fight or flight for protection
• Emotional Mind – cons: Impulsive, chaotic, can’t process, don’t listen well

It will take a couple of posts to explain each DBT module, so please check back!