Mindfulness Group 2

The Emotional Experience of the Brain

Today, we will become curious scientists and learn about the way our brains experience emotion.

Review:

 Mindfulness is not a state that you are in where there is no judgment and you are always present. It is the process of
noticing when you are not and bringing yourself back.
 The DBT core Mindfulness skills are the “what” skills and the “how” skills.
 The “what” skills include: Observe, Describe, & Participate.
 The “how” skills include: One-mindfully, Non-judgmentally, and Effectively.
 Mindfulness Challenge Homework: Intentionally change one habitual behavior.

Metaphor for the mind: Doggy Mind/Monkey Mind

Doggy mind runs after the bone and monkey mind swings from tree to tree!

Have you ever noticed how Brutus will run ceaselessly after a bone? Doggy minds can be like this, running
after every thought, impulse, and aversion. Any thought will ensue a chase from our minds.

The monkey mind is active, restless, and wild swinging from thought to thought to thought.

Whatever mind you identify with, these restless and distracted minds are common when beginning mindful
practices. It is important to realize we aren’t trying to leash or cage the doggy mind/monkey mind. The goal of
mindfulness is not to eradicate thinking, rather the goal is to become observers instead of engaging. Think of it
this way, if you feed and give attention to a stray animal it will keep coming back! If you simply observe the
animal without following along and engaging, its visits will diminish and it will move on. Same with your
thoughts!

Food for Thought: Emotions when left alone, and not suppressed or enhanced, typically last between 5-20
seconds. If you could train your mind to simply observe the emotion, then you would only have to endure the
unpleasant emotion for 5-20 seconds. When you think about the painful emotion over and over, you could
stretch those thoughts from 20 seconds to 20 minutes to hours, days, months, or years. Learning to observe
and let go would lessen your emotional suffering. Buddhist meditators believe the origin of suffering is
attachment instead of letting go. Most of us hold on to emotion, react to the emotion, and suffer from it.
Learning to attend to your mind by watching and noticing is the first step in learning to let go.
Mindfulness Group 2

Neurobiology of BPD

Areas of the brain most affected by BPD

Prefrontal Cortex & Amygdala

Helpful functions of the Amygdala

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Helpful functions of the Prefrontal Cortex (PFC)

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Example of over-active Amygdala: Your significant other says they will be home at 7pm and instead is stuck
in traffic and arrives 15min late. You begin getting upset and with each passing moment you become angrier
and angrier until they arrive home and you blow up on them.

If you stood back and thought about it, you would likely see that reaction as an overreaction. This is due to
your Amygdala creating powerful emotions and what feels like a justified behavioral response in that moment .

Example of Prefrontal Cortex regulating the Amygdala: You are at a family birthday party and your sibling
is walking and talking at the same time and accidentally spills punch all over your brand new outfit. Almost
simultaneously your amygdala processes it and you become angry. Then your Hippocampus kicks in and you
remember how you have had to deal with their lack of awareness over the years and you get angrier. You want
to blow up on them. At that moment, your PFC starts up and you can see the potential consequences of
blowing up. You will possibly ruin the party, your sibling or other family members may avoid interactions with
you in the future, and your time at the party will also be ruined. You can be mad at your sibling, and that would
be normal! It would be more effective for everyone if you waited to talk to them privately, later.

These exchanges in your brain happen almost instantly and usually without us noticing. You can
see how life might get messy if our PFC isn’t working as strongly or efficiently in regulating the
Amygdala. The good thing is, we can practice new ways of thinking and reacting which will over-time
train our brains to regulate our emotions more effectively.
Mindfulness Group 2

Mindfulness Homework Challenge

This week, take time and notice your surroundings and emotions. Put a descriptive label to each thing you notice
using just facts. Example: The surface of the table is hard. The table is made of dark brown wood. It is cold to my
touch, then warms as I leave my hand on it. When describing an emotion, use labels such as “I feel sadness”. If
you notice a judgment about what you are describing or feeling, just notice its presence without attaching to it
and redirect your attention back to the present moment.

Observation__________________________________________________

Description of Observation__________________________________________________________________________

Judgments? YES / NO Able to Redirect to Present? YES / NO

Observation__________________________________________________

Description of Observation__________________________________________________________________________

Judgments? YES / NO Able to Redirect to Present? YES / NO

Observation__________________________________________________

Description of Observation__________________________________________________________________________

Judgments? YES / NO Able to Redirect to Present? YES / NO

Observation__________________________________________________

Description of Observation__________________________________________________________________________

Judgments? YES / NO Able to Redirect to Present? YES / NO

Observation__________________________________________________

Description of Observation__________________________________________________________________________

Judgments? YES / NO Able to Redirect to Present? YES / NO