Welcome to Wonderpool.
How are you doing?
This is day 12 of our Mindfulness in Isolation course.
We're here to keep you company and to help you use the time to get a new mindfulness habit going.
In the 1970s,
The Dalai Lama made a statement that made Western scientists laugh.
He suggested that thoughts could change the brain.
But science said that brain structure was fixed from adolescence.
And then,
In the late 1990s,
A neuroscientist in London discovered something peculiar about London taxi drivers.
Magnetic resonance imaging showed they had enlarged hippocampus.
The part of the brain associated with memory and learning.
And it turns out that memorizing the London street map was a task that changed the shape of a taxi driver's brain.
The term neuroplasticity was born to explain the brain's ability to change over time.
And today,
Anyone who suggested the brain was anything but changeable would be on the receiving end of a scientific chortle.
Mindfulness is a workout routine for your out of shape brain.
And just like your gym membership,
Every little bit helps,
But you'll see the best results if you make a habit and do it regularly.
So let's give this one a go.
Here's the simplest of the simple.
Delightfully simple.
Deceptively simple.
We're just going to focus on the breath.
Nothing but the breath.
To do this,
You have to really experience breathing.
Let breathing consume your attention.
You are just breathing.
When your mind wanders,
And believe me,
It will wander.
Just catch yourself and then refocus back on the breath.
Keep going.
Now here's the thing.
This is important.
The goal here is not to suddenly switch off all thoughts.
The goal is to practice focusing on something besides thoughts.
And then notice the thoughts,
Let them go and refocus.
Each time you come back to the breath,
That's a rep in this brain workout.
A mental press up.
Here's something to try.
Count your breath.
Say in your head,
One when you breathe in.
And one when you breathe out.
Then two.
And two.
Say if you can get to ten.
Over time you'll be able to go even longer.
But wherever you are,
This exercise provides valuable insights into the workings of your mind.
All we have to do is pay attention.
The beauty of this one is that you can do it anywhere,
Anytime.
Your breath is always here.
Ten breaths should take about a minute.
See how many times you can pop that little exercise into your day.
Boiling the jug.
Downloading a file.
On the toilet.
You get the idea.
Let's have one more crack at it.
Ten breath cycles.
Nice work.
You did yourself a good thing today by pushing play.
Take a second to thank yourself for this.
One day at a time.
Thanks for being here.
