Welcome back to The Gist. Recently we have been examining the writings of Jon Kabat-Zinn on the power of our senses and how they keep us grounded in the present moment. But it is easy for us to think of our senses, and in fact our whole body, as disconnected from our minds. Jon often refers to a funny quote from James Joyce's book the Dubliners where one of the characters Mr. Duffy is described as living 'a short distance from his body'. While funny, this statement isn't too far from the truth for most of us. We think of our minds as the command centre of our lives, with our bodies tagging along. But what if we could have a more integrated sense of self.
Psychiatrist and author Jud Brewer uses this notion of an integrated self in his practice. He encourages patients to let the body lead us back to our minds, to help us break through unhealthy behaviours and mental habits. He has worked extensively with people who have addictions of various kinds. He combines therapy with mindfulness by inviting patients to put their attention on their bodies when they feel addictive urges.
Jud gives the example of a patient who had a food addiction and would indulge in emotional eating. By asking her to eat more slowly and mindfully the next time she opened a bag of chips, his patient was able to better engage her senses. Remarkably she noticed that after the first few chips, her craving had started subsiding. She didn't even really want to eat any more, but usually did so habitually to feed her negative emotions until the bag of chips was empty. The chips, of course, were a distraction from having to deal with underlying difficult feelings. By helping patients see the link between their bodies and their behaviours, Brewer has been successfully able to change addictive patterns. If they can address the root cause of their negative habits, they can slowly learn healthier ones.
Brewer has also extended this approach to anxiety, which he sees essentially as an addiction, just one that's not linked to a physical substance. It is more a mental addiction, an unhealthy set of thought patterns that we engage in reflexively. Jud once again invites patients to pay attention to what is happening in their bodies when anxiety arises. Where in the body do they feel the anxiety most acutely - perhaps as tightness in the chest, or a knot in the stomach or as a racing heartbeat. By addressing these physical symptoms, patients can begin to slow down their anxious thoughts and create some emotional distance from them. With this distance comes a sense of awareness which allows patients to apply some critical thinking and make a connection between what triggered their anxiety and what behaviour ensued.
Once this understanding has been established they can work constructively with Brewer to choose a different response the next time - what he calls the BBO. The bigger, better option. By approaching their anxiety with curiosity and kindness, patients realize that they can get through the discomfort of an anxious feeling and make it through to the other side. Rather than giving in to a spiral of anxious thoughts, they can instead choose to engage in deep breathing, or self-care or go for a walk. Over time, the BBO starts to become their new habitual response to old triggers and hopefully their overall level of anxiety subsides. If you want to learn more about Jud Brewer's work and his methods you can pick up one of his books including 'The Craving Mind' and 'Unwinding Anxiety'.
So this week if you find yourself engaging in some habitual behaviours like addictive eating or reaching for another substance. Or if you are getting stuck in common thought patterns like ruminating about the past and obsessively worrying about the future try Jud's approach. Slow down, engage your senses, and bring your attention into your body. Bring curiosity and kindness to what is happening internally and notice any underlying
