Principles for Managing the Mind
Foundational Tools for Working With the Mind
There are several foundational techniques that can help you enter a more receptive state of mind before using the other tools in this program. These techniques involve approaching your experience slowly, gradually, gently, and with lightness. They also involve imagining and mentally rehearsing new ways of thinking, feeling, and responding.
Imagery and mental rehearsal can engage many of the same psychological and neural processes involved in attention, emotion, movement, and lived experience. When practised comfortably, these methods may support reflective awareness and help you relate differently to automatic thoughts, feelings, beliefs, and impulses.
Continually monitor how each exercise feels and adjust it accordingly. The aim is not to force your mind into a particular state. Instead, you are learning to create conditions that support attention, emotional regulation, learning, and change.
Whenever possible, practise these principles within a real or imagined situation in which you would actually use them. Learning is more likely to transfer into daily life when it is connected to the relevant sensations, emotions, actions, and context. Otherwise, what you learn may remain primarily conceptual.
Think of this process as tending a garden. You cannot force a plant to grow by pulling on it. You can, however, create conditions that support its growth. In the same way, these tools are intended to help you cultivate conditions in which new patterns of thinking, feeling, and behaving can gradually develop.
Practise the experiential exercises so that you become familiar not only with the ideas but also with how they feel. Over time, these principles may become habits of mind that influence how you direct your attention, respond to your experience, and support psychological change.
Some exercises in this chapter may resemble exercises in the following chapter on stress regulation. The distinction lies primarily in their purpose. The exercises in this chapter are intended to help you create favourable conditions for using the program’s tools. The exercises in the stress-regulation chapter are intended more specifically to help you manage your level of physiological and emotional arousal.
Although some techniques overlap, the chapters remain separate because they include different exercises, applications, and intended outcomes.
Slow
This principle involves applying personal-development practices slowly and comfortably. When you think, move, breathe, or shift your attention, experiment with doing so at a slightly slower and more manageable pace.
Slowing down can create space to notice what you are experiencing and to respond more intentionally. It may also help reduce unnecessary tension and make it easier to use reflective and executive capacities.
The goal is not to make every action unusually slow. Rather, it is to discover a pace that helps you feel present, comfortable, and engaged.
Exercise
Gradually slow your breathing to a pace that feels comfortable. Continue for approximately 10 seconds.
Notice how the slower breathing feels in your body. Adjust the pace and depth from moment to moment so that you are not straining or forcing the breath.
Notice any comfortable, pleasant, or soothing sensations that arise as you breathe. Stay with one of these sensations for approximately 10 seconds.
Slowly move or shift part of your body at a pace that feels comfortable and relaxing. Remain aware of the movement as it unfolds in the present moment.
Notice whether the slower movement produces any pleasant or relieving sensations. Stay with these sensations for approximately 10 seconds.
Take a slow, comfortable breath and allow the exhalation to occur gradually.
Bring your attention to the sensations within your body for approximately 10 seconds.
Notice tactile sensations, such as the feeling of your clothing, the chair beneath you, or your feet against the floor.
Become aware of the sounds around you for approximately 10 seconds.
If your eyes are closed, open them when you are ready. Choose something neutral or pleasant to look at and allow your gaze to rest softly upon it for approximately 10 seconds.
Return to your usual breathing if you feel uncomfortable, light-headed, or short of breath.
Well done. You may pause, take a break, or continue with your day before beginning the next exercise.
Feeling Good
Feeling good involves noticing what feels comfortable, enjoyable, relieving, or satisfying as you apply the program’s concepts and techniques. This provides useful feedback about whether an exercise needs to be adjusted to better suit you.
You may need to modify aspects of the exercises so that they fit your needs, abilities, circumstances, and preferences. That is not a failure to follow the program. It is part of learning how to use the material effectively.
As you read this section, experiment with slowing your reading slightly. Notice whether a slower pace helps the material feel more comfortable or easier to absorb.
It may also be helpful to distinguish between comfort that supports well-being and comfort that functions mainly as avoidance. For example, moving quickly from one activity to another may temporarily distract you from emotional discomfort. Although distraction can sometimes be useful, it may not provide the same kind of deeper satisfaction as engaging in something that is enjoyable or meaningful in itself.
Your body can provide information about how you are responding. Notice your breathing, muscular tension, posture, impulses, and general level of activation. These signals are not always perfect indicators of what is best for you, but they can provide useful information as you decide how to proceed.
Exercise
Make yourself as comfortable as reasonably possible while sitting, standing, or lying down.
Move or adjust your body if doing so feels helpful.
Throughout the exercise, lightly focus on supporting physical comfort rather than achieving a particular result.
Allow your breathing to become slightly slower than usual. You may gently count from one to five as you breathe.
Breathe in a little more deeply than usual, but only to the extent that this remains comfortable.
Allow your exhalation to be slightly longer than your inhalation. Do not force or strain the breath.
Notice whether there is any sense of comfort, relief, warmth, softness, or ease.
Return to your normal breathing whenever you need to.
Well done. You may pause, take a break, or continue with your day before beginning the next exercise.
Linger
The next process involves gently lingering with a pleasant, comforting, or meaningful thought, feeling, sensation, image, or other mental experience.
The purpose is not to cling to the experience or prevent it from changing. Rather, it is to remain with it long enough to notice its qualities and allow it to register more fully.
If your mind is racing and no pleasant experience arises naturally, you may intentionally bring to mind a calming or enjoyable image, sensation, memory, or imagined experience.
Exercise
Gently become aware of your body. Maintain a light sense of embodied awareness throughout the exercise.
Take a slow and comfortable breath. Allow yourself to exhale gradually.
Recall a pleasant or neutral scent that you have experienced before. Examples might include lavender, mint, jasmine, fresh rain, coffee, baking, wood, or another scent you enjoy.
You do not need to imagine the scent vividly. A faint impression, memory, or sense of it is enough.
As you remember the scent, remain lightly aware of your body.
Notice any sensations, emotions, images, memories, or impressions that arise.
Gently linger with any pleasant, comforting, or interesting aspect of the experience for at least 10 seconds.
Allow the experience to change naturally without trying to hold it in place.
Well done. You may pause, take a break, or continue with your day before beginning the next exercise.
Gradual
Apply the principles and interventions in this program gradually. Attempting to create immediate or dramatic change can produce tension, frustration, or discouragement.
New learning generally requires repetition and time. Rather than forcing your mind to respond in a particular way, focus on creating conditions that allow different responses to emerge and become more familiar.
Think in terms of cultivating growth rather than mechanically fixing something.
Exercise
Gently become aware of your body and maintain a light sense of this embodied awareness.
Move or adjust your body to become more comfortable.
Allow your breathing to slow slightly.
Experiment with making your breathing smooth, even, and rhythmic without forcing it.
Notice the continuously changing sensations of breathing within your body.
When you notice that your mind has wandered, allow the thought, image, or feeling to remain for a moment without struggling against it.
When you are ready, gradually and comfortably return your attention to your breathing and body.
Repeat this process whenever your attention wanders. Wandering is not a mistake; returning is part of the practice.
When possible, notice something intrinsically pleasant or satisfying about breathing.
As you exhale, notice whether you experience any sense of release or relief. Remain with this for approximately five seconds.
As you inhale, notice whether you experience any sense of replenishment, openness, or gentle expansion. Remain with this for approximately five seconds.
There is no need to manufacture pleasant sensations. Neutral awareness is also valuable.
Well done. You may pause, take a break, or continue with your day before beginning the next exercise.
Breathe More Slowly, Deeply, and Rhythmically
Slow and rhythmic breathing can help support physiological regulation, particularly when it is practised gently and comfortably. It may help reduce excessive arousal and create a state that is more conducive to attention, reflection, and learning.
The aim is not to take the deepest possible breaths. Breathing too deeply or quickly can cause light-headedness or discomfort. Allow the breath to remain easy and natural.
Exercise
Slowly and comfortably breathe in at a pace that feels manageable.
Allow your breathing to develop a gentle rhythm.
Count the length of your breaths if doing so helps you maintain a comfortable pace.
You might begin by inhaling for a count of four, pausing briefly if comfortable, and exhaling for a count of six.
The exact numbers are not important. Adjust the rhythm to suit your body. You do not need to hold your breath.
Continue for several breathing cycles.
Notice any calming, pleasant, or relieving effects in your body.
Remain with these effects for a few moments. Noticing the benefits of an exercise can make it easier to remember and repeat.
Begin with a few cycles and gradually increase the length of the practice if it remains comfortable. You might eventually practise for several minutes.
Return to your normal breathing if you become uncomfortable, dizzy, anxious, or short of breath.
Excellent work. You may pause, take a break, or continue with your day before beginning the next exercise.
Relax
Supporting physical relaxation can make it easier to work with your thoughts and emotions. The following exercise is intended to help you notice and gradually release unnecessary muscular tension.
Relaxation does not need to be complete. Attempting to force yourself to relax can sometimes create more tension. Even a small reduction in tension can be useful.
Exercise
Bring your attention to one area of your body at a time.
Notice the level of tension in that area without judging it or demanding that it change.
Slowly move, stretch, or adjust that part of your body in a comfortable manner if doing so feels helpful.
As you exhale, gently allow a small amount of tension to release.
Notice any change, even if it is slight.
Attend to sensations of relief, warmth, heaviness, softness, ease, or increased space.
Allow yourself to experience any pleasant sensations as they occur.
Remain with them for approximately 10 seconds or longer.
Lingering with enjoyable or relieving aspects of the exercise may strengthen your motivation to practise it and help the experience become more familiar.
Well done. You may pause, take a break, or continue with your day before beginning the next exercise.
Present-Moment Awareness
Present-moment awareness can provide a useful reality check when your current surroundings are sufficiently safe. It can help you distinguish what is happening now from what your mind expects based on previous experiences.
Planning, imagining, remembering, and fantasizing can also be adaptive. The goal is not to remain focused on the present at all times. Instead, develop greater flexibility in deciding when to engage directly with your current experience and when to think abstractly, remember, imagine, or plan.
Present-moment awareness may also support changes in emotional learning. When an old expectation or belief becomes active while you simultaneously encounter a new and different experience, the new information may begin to influence how the old learning is understood. This process should be approached gradually and, when difficult memories are involved, under the guidance of a qualified mental health professional.
Remaining aware of your body can make an imagined or present experience feel more immediate and embodied. However, do not force yourself to focus on bodily sensations if doing so increases distress. You may instead focus on a neutral object, sound, or feature of the environment.
Exercise
Gently become aware of your body and maintain a light sense of embodied awareness.
Move or adjust your body to become more comfortable.
Allow your breathing to become smooth and unforced.
Notice your body as it changes from moment to moment.
Choose something neutral or pleasant to look at.
Observe it for approximately 10 seconds. Notice its shape, colour, texture, movement, distance, or other qualities.
Remain lightly aware of your body as you look.
Notice any pleasant, interesting, or neutral aspect of the experience. Stay with it for approximately 10 seconds.
Become aware of the sounds around you. Choose one that feels calming, interesting, or neutral.
Listen to it for approximately 10 seconds while remaining lightly aware of your body.
Notice any pleasant or neutral aspect of hearing the sound. Stay with it for approximately 10 seconds.
Become aware of any scents in your environment. If no scent is noticeable, you may remember or imagine a familiar one.
Notice the scent or imagined scent as it occurs within your present experience.
Remain lightly aware of your body and stay with any pleasant or neutral aspect of the experience for approximately 10 seconds.
Notice a tactile sensation that you are already experiencing, such as your feet on the floor, your hands touching one another, or your body resting against a chair. You may also hold an appropriate object.
Attend to the tactile sensation for approximately 10 seconds.
Remain lightly aware of your body as a whole and notice any pleasant, interesting, or neutral aspect of the experience.
Gently return your attention to your body as a whole for approximately 10 seconds.
Move or adjust your body to become comfortable.
Take a slow, comfortable breath and allow yourself to exhale gradually.
Well done. You may pause, take a break, or continue with your day before beginning the next exercise.
The Mind’s Eye
Bring your attention to what is arising within your awareness. This may include a complete or partial image, a bodily sensation, a felt sense, an emotion, an impulse, an inner voice, or a nonverbal understanding of what you are experiencing.
Becoming aware that you are aware is sometimes called metacognitive awareness. It can help create a small amount of psychological distance from an experience, making it easier to observe and respond to it rather than reacting automatically.
Not everyone visualizes clearly. Some people experience vivid mental images, while others experience vague shapes, spatial impressions, bodily sensations, words, or simply a sense of knowing. All of these are valid ways of experiencing the exercise.
Exercise
Gently and lightly become aware of your body.
Breathe slowly and comfortably, taking your time as you inhale and exhale.
Bring your attention to what is arising within your awareness.
Notice whether it appears as an image, partial image, felt sense, emotion, thought, impulse, sensation, or nonverbal understanding.
Become aware that you are observing this experience.
If an image or spatial representation is present, allow it to appear within your mind’s eye.
If visual imagery does not arise, attend instead to the felt sense, bodily sensation, emotion, words, movement, or general impression connected with the experience.
You may gently invite an image, shape, colour, location, distance, or spatial representation to emerge, but do not force one.
Continue breathing comfortably as you observe.
Notice and soften any unnecessary muscular tension. Slowly move or adjust your body if this helps.
Begin by practising for approximately 20 seconds to one minute.
Gradually increase the duration only if the exercise remains manageable and useful.
If distress increases, return your attention to a neutral feature of the room, your feet against the floor, or another grounding sensation.
Well done. You may pause, take a break, or continue with your day before moving on to the next exercise.