As you know, part of the mission of my blog is to eat simply . . . locally . . . and mindfully. I’ve been thinking a lot about the mindfully part, so I jumped on the chance to participate in a virtual book tour with Dr. Ronald Alexander. While I haven’t read his book Wise Mind, Open Mind yet, his answers to my interview questions definitely have me intrigued!
So, without further ado, is the interview:
1. Briefly, what is your book about?
In my new book, Wise Mind, Open Mind I discuss a three step process that combines mindfulness meditation, creative thinking and positive psychology to help readers to let go of their past; tune into the present and their core creativity; and move forward with passion and purpose. This approach allows one to focus on the building of their “mindstrength” — the ability to very quickly and easily shift out of a reactive mode and become fully present in the moment, experiencing the full force of your emotions even as you recognize that they are temporary and will soon dissipate.
2. It sounds a little “deep,” is it accessible to those of us who don’t have a background in psychology?
Absolutely! I’ve been helping people transform their times of crisis into opportunities for greater personal awareness, clarity and creativity for over thirty years now through very simple techniques that I developed by integrating a mindfulness practice and positive psychology. Writing Wise Mind, Open Mind allowed me to share with readers these straightforward methods along with easy exercises to help them through their painful times of personal, economic, and psychological change.
3. One of the things that attracted me to this book is the idea of using its concepts for weight loss. Many of us (or maybe just me!) have hit a crisis point in our health or approach to food and need to make a change. I’ve heard that one of your suggestions is to use the book in the context of thinking about self judgment and How to Reframe Your Image to Lose Weight. Could you talk about why that might be a good strategy?
Most people who are dealing with weight problems are holding on to some type of a negative self-judgment about themselves. This prevents them from discovering the power to change their lives for the better. When we switch to more positive thought patterns, it is far easier to let go of the resistance that is holding us back from making a change in our lives, and moving forward with confidence.
Often, the rational mind will string together a series of distortions. For example, instead of simply noticing “I am overweight,” the mind will generate the thought, “I’m fat, which is why I’ll never have friends, find a romantic partner or be loved; my extra weight makes me unattractive and unworthy.” You may not even be fully aware that you’re embellishing your self-judgments in an unwholesome way. Even when we start to lose weight the mind will continue to play these unwholesome thoughts about ourselves, which can sabotage our efforts.
I recommend to my patients before they even start a diet or exercise program to lose weight that they first identity any negative self-judgments and then work on reframing them. Also in my book I outline a simple five step technique to help readers identify their unwholesome beliefs and transform them. For example, if you have identified a self-judgment that you are “un-loveable because you are overweight” then you might reframe it by separating and isolating the statement. First ask yourself, “Is it true that I am un-loveable?” If so, then can you amend this statement to believe that as you develop more wholesome or mindful attitudes around eating that you can also learn to embrace acceptance and compassion for yourself when you are not at your ideal weight making it possible to love yourself now? In Zen philosophy this is both profoundly and simply learning to accept who and what you are in the moment. As you do this work you may never totally rid yourself of your negative self-judgments. However, it is possible to alter their quality, so they no longer block you from achieving your goals in life.
4. Any tips you can share on how we can eat more mindfully? (As opposed to, say, hitting the drive thru and snarfing a burger on our way home from work and on our way to a meeting?)
Well mindful eating means learning to mindfully nourish ones self-esteem in the Zen moment. As we reflect and understand our resistance to a healthy diet we start to develop a wise mind by learning to accept ourselves right here and now rather than anguishing in the idealized gap of being here and later. I’m not suggesting that it is alright for everyone to line up at the Chuck Wagon for a big chow down by casting off mindful restraint and impulse control in service of just being here and now. But what I am suggesting as we all do our best to lose weight that we do not feed the demons of unwholesome thinking. If we do slip or fall short of our mindful eating goals it is important not to fall down the rabbit hole by lapsing into old negative self-judgment, self-contempt and self-hatred. Ultimately, mindful eating is not so much about dieting but in reality about our enlightened search for learning to acquire more self-love and acceptance in the cosmic game of transformation. Food, diet, weight gain and lose are only tools to skillfully enable us to spiritually develop.
5. Here’s the million dollar question: I would personally love to do yoga and go on silent retreats and all of those great self-care things, but how does one fit it into today’s busy lifestyle?
Well we all know the benefits of meditation but you’re right many people think that they have to run off to a monastery or spend hours a day sitting in a lotus position to receive them. WRONG! For example, here is a very easy breathing meditation that you can use at work or at home to help you quickly shift your mood.
Breathing Meditation to Release Unwholesome Emotions
This meditation can help you quickly release any unwholesome emotion or stressful situation and bring yourself back into balance whether you are traveling, at work or at home. The key is to be mindfully aware of your breathing. To do this you breathe in through your nose for a count of three, hold for three, and then out through your mouth for three. The first step is to identify the negative emotion you are feeling so as you focus on your breathing ask yourself, “What am I experiencing?” Once you can answer this question with, “I am feeling anger, impatience, irritability, frustration or even fear” after your next in breath when you hold for three replace that unwholesome statement with a positive one. For example if you are standing in a long line that is moving very slowly and feeling frustrated, focus on your breathing and replace the frustration with, “I am feeling compassion.” Keep repeating the breathing, hold and statement until you can feel all the negative emotions release from your body and mind. This meditation is a great antidote for road rage when you replace the anger with acceptance; when you get moody with your kids or a co-worker you can substitute your irritability with patience; or if you are annoyed at someone you can replace your impatience with surrender.
About Wise Mind, Open Mind: Finding Purpose and Meaning in Times of Crisis, Loss, and Change – In his groundbreaking book, Wise Mind, Open Mind pioneering psychotherapist, Dr. Ronald Alexander shares his innovative program for using mindfulness meditation, creative thinking, and positive psychology to transform times of crisis or change into opportunities for greater personal awareness, clarity, and creativity. His original three-step plan includes, learning to let go of resistance to change, learning to tune in to your soul’s deep wisdom or core creativity; and then learning how to move forward based on your newly acquired insight.
Ronald Alexander, Ph.D. is the author of the widely acclaimed book, Wise Mind, Open Mind: Finding Purpose and Meaning in Times of Crisis, Loss, and Change. He is the Executive Director of the OpenMind Training® Institute, practices mindfulness-based mind-body psychotherapy and leadership coaching in Santa Monica, CA for individuals and corporate clients (www.openmindtraining.com). For full details about the Wise Mind, Open Mind virtual blog tour, visit http://bookpromotionservices.com/2010/09/08/wise-mind-open-mind-ronald-alexander/
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