Download Report

3. Recognising Worry
Teachers’ Notes
© Mindfulness in Schools Project
Lesson 3 – Recognising Worry
Objectives
For pupils to understand that:
• The mind habitually interprets and ‘tells stories’ about what is happening
•
We can get stuck in our heads and ‘ruminate’ or ‘catastrophise’
•
Such rumination is not only ‘stressful’ – it affects our bodies and behaviour, from
sleep and sport to spots and studies
•
Practices like the 7-11 and Beditation help us deal with this by switching us from
‘thinking’ mode to ‘sensing’ mode
Lesson Flow
Scenario
John was on his
way to school
A simple exercise that shows
how quickly our mind ‘fills in the
gaps’ – often inaccurately.
A scenario illustrating
how our mind tells
stories and can create
anxiety from nothing
Use a simple scenario that the
class relates to in order to show
that whilst the mind might think
it knows what’s happening, that
might not be true.
Let’s see a classic
example of
rumination in action
Notice how Woody Allen’s
thoughts run wild with fear and
exaggerate everything. His
behaviour changes too.
Beditation
Let’s try ‘Beditation’, a useful
way of taking the mind out of
ruminative cycles by directing it
towards what is actually
happening, not what it thinks
might be happening.
Home Practice
The Beditation sound file
Resources
Film clip
Access to sound file (CD’s / emailed links)
© Mindfulness in Schools Project, 2013
2
Today we’re going to look at the issue of worry, and how we
can learn to deal with it skilfully.
First, though, I’d like to hear how your FOFBOC/ Anchoring
home practice went.
What sorts of things did you notice?
What did you write down?
As I mentioned, today we’re going to look at the habit of
worrying. We’re going to examine some of the tricks that
our minds play on us that cause us to worry more, and we’re
going to look at some of the things we can do to deal with
this habit.
Hands up if you sometimes worry about things. Keep your
hand up if this habit of worrying gets you down and
sometimes gets in the way of you enjoying life.
What kind of things do you think people of your age and
stage might worry about?
© Mindfulness in Schools Project, 2013
3
A lot of you may be able to recognise this pattern:
The mind tells stories
We worry
We don’t sleep well
Now, it’s really important to think carefully about the first
point, because that’s where this pattern starts.
© Mindfulness in Schools Project, 2013
4
What does the word “compulsive” mean? [Addicted, can’t
resist, habitual, forced to.]
In this context, it means that our minds are addicted to
telling stories about what’s happening to us, what might
happen in the future, what other people think of us, what
sort of a person we are etc. etc. Our untrained minds find it
very hard not to do this.
Many of these stories are fictions.
Some are pleasant. [CLICK]
Some are unpleasant. [CLICK]
What do you think the word ‘Catastrophising’ means?
[Turning events or anticipated events into catastrophes when
they don’t need to be; assuming the worst is going to
happen.]
© Mindfulness in Schools Project, 2013
5
To illustrate just how quickly the mind steps in to tell stories
based on small amounts of evidence, we’ll do an exercise. I
am going to show you a series of sentences, where each
one follows the one before. I won’t say anything, I’ll just click
through them one at a time. What I’d like you to do is
observe where your mind goes after it sees each statement?
Simply notice your own response to each sentence as you
read them one at a time.
Slowly click through the stages of this story, giving the pupils
time to absorb each stage before the next one appears.
What did you notice as we went through the stages of this
story?
What can this tell us about how our minds tend to work?
The point of this is to show how the mind compulsively
interprets and ‘tells stories’. Something happens and then
we tend to add to it. We interpret things and trust our own
interpretations as if they were facts. But they are not. Our
thoughts are not necessarily facts. What our mind tells us
cannot always be relied on.
© Mindfulness in Schools Project, 2013
6
Describe a scenario which might prompt the mind to ‘interpret’
a particular event. For example:
You’re on your way home. Walking in the other direction on
the other side of the path or road, you see someone you
know really well. You smile and wave. They walk straight past
you, looking straight ahead, not saying anything...
Other scenarios might be:
•
Someone doesn’t reply to a friend request on facebook.
•
Someone doesn’t reply to a text.
You could even brainstorm other possibilities with the class.
Try to find something that will resonate with your kids.
Discuss:
• What would you think and feel if this happened?
• What stories would your mind tell?
• How do you think the mood that you happened to be in
when this occurred might affect the flavour of the
thoughts, feelings and stories?
The point is that the mind compulsively tells stories and our
interpretations can really take hold of us. Something happens
and we tend to add to it, and different people in different
moods will make different interpretations.
© Mindfulness in Schools Project, 2013
7
We can see that what we’re likely to do when something like
this happens is to get into a state that we could call OVERTHINK.
This is when our mind is running away with us as we think
anxiously or angrily about what might be the reason for
someone behaving like this.
Our thoughts speed up, fuelled by our emotions, and they
tend to become very repetitive.
The more we’re in over-thinking mode, the stronger these
thoughts become.
© Mindfulness in Schools Project, 2013
8
A word that’s often used for the experience of over-think is the word
RUMINATION.
This word comes from what cows do as they digest grass. They chew the
grass, and then swallow it, then bring it back up and chew it again, and
swallow it again, and bring it back up again and so on…
In what ways is this similar to what our minds do with their worries and
obsessions? Hear their responses.
We have a thought, a worry, a fear, an anxiety, and we just won’t let it
go. We keep chewing on it. “Why did s/he ignore me? It must be
because I made that joke. I wish I hadn’t said that. S/he didn’t text me
back. I bet s/he just took my number because s/he had to. Why do I
always get it wrong when I’m with girls/boys?” and so on and so on.
If possible, give one personal example of recent rumination. You could
ask them to do the same. Make the point that this is an experience that’s
familiar to everyone.
If there’s time, you could ask them to answer the question in the Student
booklet – “What have you been ruminating about recently?” It’s
probably best not to ask them to share this out loud with the rest of the
group.
So, we INTERPRET, we RUMINATE, and we CATASTROPHISE, and it’s no
wonder that we get stressed and we can’t sleep properly!
© Mindfulness in Schools Project, 2013
9
The stories that our minds tell are ultimately just thoughts,
and we can see that thoughts, emotions, body sensations
and our behaviour or actions are all related, and all affect
each other.
They can work together in a negative feedback loop that
drives us further into worry, stress, obsession, anger and all
the other unpleasant emotions that can make our lives
difficult. This increasing stress can interfere with our sleep
patterns, affect our digestion, make us constantly anxious
etc. etc.
If we take the example of the scenario that we used just
now, we can see that our THOUGHTS about what happened
(e.g. why the person ignored us, or didn’t answer our text)
can lead to feelings of anxiety or of anger [EMOTIONS], and
this would tighten our stomachs, make our breathing more
shallow, lead to tension around our heads, and a tightening
of our fists [BODY SENSATIONS]. This in turn might lead us
to get angry or irritated with the next friend that we meet or
with someone at home, and/or we might avoid going to
some event that the person who ignored us was also
attending. [ACTIONS / BEHAVIOUR]
© Mindfulness in Schools Project, 2013
10
Here as an example of all of these is a clip from a film by Woody Allen.
See if you can spot when he is INTERPRETING, RUMINATING and
CATASTROPHISING.
Show Woody Allen clip from Hannah and her Sisters 00:28:34 – 00:30:38
[1:44 mins]
What did you notice about how his mind was operating? How was he
interpreting, ruminating and catastrophising [assuming the worst is
going to happen]?
Notice how he tries to make things better by doing deals with himself,
by trying to solve the problem in his head. He’s trying to sort it out by
analysing it, but by doing this he just makes it even worse.
Notice how his rumination gets even worse when he’s thinking about it
in bed. Has anyone else experienced that?
Remind them that Woody Allen is a comedian here, parodying his own
paranoia! Take care, though, and be sensitive. Before the course began
you should have checked the records of the kids you are teaching for any
significant personal information. This should tell you whether anyone
has a close relative who has cancer, or has a medical issue themselves.
What’s more, if they do find a strange lump in their bodies they SHOULD
tell someone about it! This is not a criticism of going to the doctor, it is
an observation of how we can very quickly and very easily end up
thinking the worst.
© Mindfulness in Schools Project, 2013
11
Over-thinking is a bit like a snowball gathering speed as it
goes downhill.
© Mindfulness in Schools Project, 2013
12
We can even feel chased by our obsessive, repetitive, storytelling thoughts! It feels like they’re going to squash us!
© Mindfulness in Schools Project, 2013
13
One tactic you can use to
counter this is a 7/11,
which we did in the
introductory lesson. This
practice can be a great
help at any time, but
especially if we’re lost in
rumination, worry or
another intense and
difficult emotion. It’s a
really good way of “Unworrying”!
You start, as with a FOFBOC, by feeling your feet on the
ground…and then expanding to feel all the sensations of the lower
half of the body. Then, during the length of your in-breaths you
count up to 7, in your head. During the following out-breaths, you
count up to 11.
You may have to speed up the counting in order to get to 7 or 11 by
the end of the in-breath or out-breath.
What this exercise does is to take your focus away from the worry
and to place it on the counting and the sensations of breathing. It
may also have the additional effect of lengthening both your inbreath and especially your out-breath. This will have the automatic
effect of calming you down, slowing your heart-rate and taking you
more in the direction of emotional balance.
Does anyone have any questions about this practice?
Let’s try it out…
Practice 7/11
How was that? What did you notice happening in your body and in
your mind? What happened with your breathing?
Remember:
•
Make it clear that the counting does not have to be in rhythm.
Just fit the numbers to your natural breath.
•
They may find it easier to do the 7-11 on every other breath,
rather than every one. Kids sometimes feel a pressure if they
have to do too many in a row.
•
There is no need to be in a different posture.
•
You could add gesture to the 7-11, with the hand in front of the
body rising (palm upwards) on the in-breath and going down
(palm downwards) on the out-breath.
© Mindfulness in Schools Project, 2013
14
We saw how for Woody
Allen, things got even
worse when he went to
bed.
This is often the case, as
when we’re in bed
there’s nothing to
distract us and we are
left alone with our
thoughts.
Rumination prevents relaxation, and we either can’t get to sleep, or we wake in
the night or early in the morning and lie there worrying, or we have unsettled
sleep and difficult dreams because our minds and bodies are in the habit of
worrying rather than relaxing.
There’s another mindfulness practice to do that can really help with this. It’s
called ‘Beditation’ and it’s a version of a FOFBOC that involves scanning
through the whole body when we’re lying down.
There’s a sound file for you to use when doing Beditation at home. However,
let’s practise it here now…
Beditation Practice
[See back of booklet for further guidance on running this.]
Encourage the pupils to find a place on the floor where they can lie down,
preferably out of reach of each other. They’re probably going to be most
comfortable if they lie on their backs for this exercise. You can use the following
script to guide the exercise:
Beginning by lying on your back with your face upwards, and your arms by your
sides so that your hands are relaxed with palms down. Allowing your eyes gently
to close if you feel comfortable doing this.
Now taking a few slow, long, deep breaths and on each out-breath feeling
yourself relaxing into the ground and allowing all tension to drain away down
your arms and legs and out of your body.
Feeling the full length of your body as it lies on the floor. See if you can spread
your attention evenly across your whole body so that it’s not congregated just in
the top half. It may help to move your feet and hands a little to draw attention
right down your legs and arms. As you let them be still again, allowing your arms
and legs to have their natural weight and to relax.
© Mindfulness in Schools Project, 2013
15
Sense if you’re holding any tension in your body: in your jaw or tongue, in your
neck or your shoulders, in your chest or your belly. If you notice tension in any of
these places, you can practise breathing into them, consciously drawing your inbreath into these places and then on the out-breath really allowing the tension to
drain away. The intention is to relax as fully as possible – to allow the texture of
the body really to soften and let go.
If you’re noticing that your mind is very active with thinking, take your attention
down into your feet. Really pay attention to all the sensations that you feel in
your feet, almost as if you’re listening to them. Noticing the sensation of the soles
of the feet…of the heels…and of the toes. Being interested in how feet feel from
the inside.
And now, expanding your awareness to include the lower halves of your legs…and
then your knees…and the top halves of your legs. Feeling what it’s like really to let
your legs go so that you’re not holding any tension in them at all.
Now doing the same for your hands and arms: beginning by feeling the sensations
in your hands, allowing your mind to explore all the different sensations that
you’re feeling. Then extending this awareness into your arms…first the lower
halves, and then the top halves… Allowing your arms to be heavy – really letting
them go.
Next bringing your attention into your breathing. Allowing yourself really to
appreciate all the movements that make up your breathing: the expansion and
stretching, and the letting go and collapsing. Allowing your out-breaths to be long
and full.
And now feeling the sensations of your whole body as it lies here on the floor,
breathing. Can you feel how breathing is something that your whole body does?
How there’s a wave of energy that passes through your whole body as you breathe
in, and then a general sense of collapsing and letting go as you breathe out?
See if you can stay with the full cycle of one breath after another. Each time you
notice that your attention has wandered, bring it back to the sensations of your
body lying on the floor and breathing.
When I ring the bell, allowing your eyes to open. In a moment, I’m going to be
inviting you to get up. When you do this, please do so by rolling over onto one
side and gradually making your way up from there, as this is better for your backs
than sitting straight up.
Ask them either to sit round in a circle on the floor or to go back to their seats.
How was that? What did you notice? Did you feel that might help you to relax and
to sleep?
© Mindfulness in Schools Project, 2013
16
If there is time after the Beditation now is a good moment to introduce
the idea that there are two modes of mind:
So what were we actually doing during that exercise?
Well, think of it as switching from a Thinking mode of mind to a Sensing
mode of mind. We spend a lot of our day ‘Thinking’ [CLICK]… thinking
conceptually: analysing, labelling, judging, setting goals, planning,
comparing, remembering, reflecting. This is an amazingly useful mode of
mind but spending TOO long in this mode of mind may lead to worry
and anxiety. It also means we forget to fully experience, to savour, to
enjoy what is actually happening because we’re too busy thinking about
stuff.
What we were doing in the Beditation was switching into the Sensing
mode… [CLICK] we were shifting our attention away from conceptual
thought and into actual physical ‘embodied’ experience… things that are
really happening, right here, right now… into the rich tapestry of
sensations in our breathing bodies. This can be really nourishing. It’s like
we’re changing gear and bringing ourselves home to the reality of now.
We spend a great deal of our day in Thinking mode, with maybe a bit of
Sensing [CLICK]. With mindfulness you’re learning how to spend more
time here [CLICK], where you switch into the Sensing mode, where you:
a) Take a break from the stress of your chattering ‘monkey-mind’
b) Learn to train your attention – to bring the puppy mind to heel
c) Savour what is actually happening from moment to moment
© Mindfulness in Schools Project, 2013
17
Home practice: Daily Beditation. Read the instructions in the
Student Booklet, and check that they’ve all understood.
REMIND THEM HOW TO FIND THE SOUND FILE.
Read text from slide.
Even when drowsy, keep returning your attention.
Let your mind rest in the sensations of your breathing body
as it relaxes on the bed.
Sleep well!
© Mindfulness in Schools Project, 2013
18
Tips For Running
Beditation In The
Classroom
• Give the pupils all of the instructions before asking them to move onto
the floor. Explain the whole process first and say to them only to move
“When I give the word, but not until I give the word”.
• Tell them to put bags and chairs on the desks; demonstrate the posture
(standing up!); take any questions; make sure everybody understands
what they’re about to do and only THEN, get them to move onto the
floor in total silence.
• If it is a mixed class then divide the genders. One half of room boys, the
other half girls.
• Think about recommending comfortable and appropriate clothing as they
will be lying on the floor.
• Some teachers say their classroom floors are too grubby for this exercise.
If so, hoover or clean it if you can. Or have a set of yoga mats. Or go to the
gym. It would be a real shame not to do the Beditation. If worse comes to
worst you could just repeat the FOFBOC, but it’s not the same.
• Pupils could put their shoes or bags under their heads to act as a kind of
pillow.
• Safety - tell them not to have their heads by any doors that might be
opened by someone coming into the classroom.
• Try to encourage them to stay awake and say that if they feel sleepy they
should try opening their eyes.
• Don’t lie down yourself! Either sit amongst the pupils, or stand, or even
wander around the classroom so that you can go over to anyone being
silly, or snoring, and deal with the situation discreetly.
• Try running the enquiry with the pupils still lying down, or having made
themselves comfortable. Alternatively, encourage them to return to their
seats, also in silence, and then do the enquiry.
© Mindfulness in Schools Project, 2013
19
© Mindfulness in Schools Project