Mindsight: The New Science of Personal Transformation

This is the essence of mindsight: We must look inward to know our own internal world before we can map clearly the internal state, the mind, of the other. As we grow in our ability to know ourselves we become receptive to knowing each other. And as a "we" is woven into the neurons of our mirroring brains, even our sense of self is illuminated by the light or our connection. With internal awareness and empathy, self-empowerment and joining, differentiation and linkage, we create harmony within the resonating circuits of our social brains.

…taking responsibility for one's own mind can lead to liberation of the self, and to the ability to offer nurturance and love to the next generation.

What was your childhood like? What was your relationship like with each parent—and were there other people with whom you were close as a child? Whom were you closest to and why? I’d ask you to give me several words that described your early relationship with each parent or caregiver, and then I’d ask for a few memories that illustrated each of those words. The questions go on: What was it like when you were separated, upset, threatened, or fearful? Did you experience loss as a child—and if so, what was that like for you and for your family? How did your relationships change over time? Why do you think your care-givers behaved as they did? When you think back on all these questions, how do you think your earliest experiences have impacted your development as an adult? And if you have children I’d ask you these questions: How do you think these experiences have affected your parenting? What do you wish for your child in the future? And finally, when your child is twenty-five, what do you hope he or she will say are the most important things he or she learned from you? That’s essentially it.

In general, our windows of tolerance determine how comfortable we feel with specific memories, issues, emotions, and bodily sensations. Within our window of tolerance we remain receptive; outside of it we become reactive.

El mindsight nos permite sentir y dirigir el flujo de energía y de información. Ésta es la definición más básica, la verdad más profunda, la imagen más completa. Por medio del mindsight podemos percibir y conocer la regulación (mente), el compartir (relaciones) y los mecanismos neurales mediadores (cerebro) que se hallan en el núcleo de nuestra vida. «Nuestra vida» significa la del lector y la mía. El mindsight trasciende los límites superficiales que nos separan y nos permite ver que todos somos parte de un fluir interconectado, de un todo más grande.

en el cerebro no hay músculos, sino grupos diferenciados de neuronas llamados núcleos, partes, áreas, zonas, regiones, circuitos o hemisferios. Y de la misma manera que podemos activar los músculos flexionándolos voluntariamente, también podemos «flexionar» estos grupos de neuronas centrando la atención en ellos para estimular su activación. Se podría decir que utilizar el mindsight para centrar la atención de una forma que integre estos circuitos neurales es una especie de «higiene cerebral».

La apertura se refiere a ser receptivos a todo lo que se presenta ante nuestra conciencia y a no apegarnos a ideas preconcebidas sobre cómo «deberían» ser las cosas.

The problem is, you can’t eliminate bad feelings and keep the good.

The mind is like the ocean. And deep in the ocean, beneath the surface, it’s calm and clear. And no matter what the surface conditions are like, whether it’s smooth or choppy or even a full-strength gale up there, deep in the ocean it’s tranquil and serene.

John O’Donohue, captured the essence of this emergent flow when he said that he’d love to live like a river, carried by the surprise of his own unfolding.

We want to believe health and youth can belong to us forever; we want to deny the reality of transience in our lives.

In some areas these checklists have dramatically reduced human error and the resulting complications, including death.

While many different animal species have nervous systems that enable anticipation of events—for example, learning that a flashing light is associated with a reward in a conditioned learning experiment—planning for the future seems to be a prefrontal invention.

In my mind I’m driven by mirror neurons. Can’t you just see intention Can’t you just feel emotion. Ain’t it just like history to sneak up from behind ’Cause I’m driven by mirror neurons in my mind. There’s a holy host of others gathered between us. Maybe we’re on the dark side of the road And it seems like it goes on and on forever. You must forgive me ’Cause in my mind I’m driven by mirror neurons.

naming an affect soothes limbic firing. Sometimes we need to “name it to tame it.” We can use the left language centers to calm the excessively firing right emotional areas.