How Mindfulness Changes The Emotional Life Of Our Brains-TED Talk*
By Redcoatlondongirl
Art graduate, Medical Student, UK
Reading Time:
2 minutes
I came across this TED Talk by Richard Davidson, a professor of psychology and psychiatry and wanted to share parts of it with you:
“Why is it that some people are more vulnerable to life’s slings and arrows and others more resilient?
And that question is still central to all the work that we do. And we’re particularly interested in how we can nudge people along this continuum to nourish and nurture the qualities that promote human flourishing.”
“So we’ve developed a framework for understanding a healthy mind, and this framework includes four pillars:
- The first pillar is awareness, and awareness includes the capacity to focus our attention, to resist distraction. It also includes a quality that psychologists and neuroscientists call “meta-awareness.” Meta-awareness is knowing what our minds are doing. And we have reason to believe that meta-awareness is crucial – actually, it’s necessary, we believe, for real transformation to occur
- The second pillar of a healthy mind is connection. Connection refers to those qualities which nurture harmonious interpersonal relationships, qualities like appreciation, like kindness, like compassion, having positive outlook
- The third pillar of a healthy mind is insight. And insight is about insight into the narrative that we all have about ourselves
- Finally, the last pillar of a healthy mind is purpose. And here, we’re talking about having a sense that our life is headed in a particular direction. And most importantly, it is about talking more and more of the activities in our lives as belonging to this sense of purpose”
“The wiring in our brains is not fixed; it’s adaptable. And we can harness the power of neuroplasticity to change our brain.”
“So we need to start someplace. I would recommend three minutes of mindfulness per day.”
“We can reduce healthcare costs, potentially, by cultivating well-being, as the connections that I’ve illustrated show. We can cultivate a strong sense of purpose, we can reduce distraction, and we can increase productivity and focus.”
*Full Talk on TED YOUTUBE