Mindful Wellbeing Module 2

1. Welcome to the
Mindful
Wellbeing
Workshop
Module 2:
Automaticity

2. Outline –
Module 2
• Homework Debrief
• Seated Meditation
• Exercise – Walking down
the street, Jill and her
mother
• Automaticity
• Cycles
• Dealing with difficult
feelings
• Eating with awareness
• The body Scan
• Homework

3. Homework Debrief
Did you practice the
body scan?
If so, what was your
experience?
If you did not practice
the body scan, what
prevented you from
practicing it?
What would help you
increase your
commitment or the
likelihood of practicing?
Did you pay attention to
daily routines? What
was your experience?
Did you practice
mindful listening with
colleagues?
Do you have any other
questions or concerns?

4. Seated Meditation

5. Exercise: Walking down the street
Sit comfortably and try to imagine the following scenario as
vividly as possible:
“Imagine strolling along a street with which you are well-acquainted. As
you look up, you notice that there is someone you know from work on the
other side of the road. You smile and wave; however, the person does not
respond. The person continues to walk without giving the slightest
reaction…”

6. Exercise: Walking down the street
REVIEWING THE EXERCISE
• As you were imagining the scenario, what thoughts did you notice?
• As you were imagining the scenario, what emotions did you notice?
• As you were imagining the scenario, what body sensations did you notice?
• Was there a link between your thoughts, your feelings, and/or emotions and body sensations?
• Did you have thoughts that led to certain feelings and/or emotions or body sensations?
THE GOAL OF THE EXERCISE
• The goal of this exercise is to introduce a very common automatism of the mind: making up stories. After witnessing an
event, the mind automatically creates a story of what just happened. Certain feelings, emotions, and body sensations may
automatically arise based on the nature of this story. For instance, the thought “He didn’t even notice me. He must be mad
that I haven’t responded to his email yet.” may cause worry to emerge. The thought “How rude. He clearly saw me.” may
automatically trigger the feelings of anger.
• It can be valuable to discuss possible ways to effectively deal with the scenario.
• From a mindfulness perspective, one could direct attention to the thoughts and feelings that are present in the current
moment. In doing so, one disrupts the cycle of negative thinking and emotions and takes a step back. This awareness offers
the possibility to observe the interplay between thoughts, emotions, and body sensations. We are not trying to change the
emotions, feelings, or body sensations that are present, but only to observe them.
• We accept what we experience. By turning attention back to the present moment, to the feeling, we allow ourselves to
connect to the reality of this moment, rather than our mind’s version of it. The present moment offers the chance to step
out of the continuous stream of thinking and the emotions that follow from thoughts.
• Thus, mindfulness can help us become aware of the automatic influence of thoughts on emotions and body sensations and
vice versa.

7. Exercise: Jill and her mother
Jill must go to school. Her mother
asks her to get out of bed. Jill replies
that she will be there in a minute.
After 5 minutes, her mother asks her
to get out of bed again. Jill replies
that she will be there any minute.
When her mother angrily shouts that
Jill should really get out of bed now,
she replies that her mother should
not treat her like a little child.
Her mother replies that it is
inappropriate for the head of a
school to show up late for school

8. Exercise: Jill and her mother
REVIEWING THE EXERCISE
• What did you notice about your thoughts while
the stories were being told?
• In what ways did you notice how your mind
automatically assumes things and creates its
own version about what is going on in each
story?
• Have you ever noticed the same thing in your
own life?
• If so, how did your mind automatically react
towards something that happened in your own
life?
THE GOAL OF THE EXERCISE
The goal of this exercise is to demonstrate again
how our mind automatically reacts to information
and creates its own stories, even when very limited
information is available. This exercise illustrates that
what we think can be very different from what is
actually happening. Becoming aware of this
automatic tendency of the mind can be a very
powerful tool to reduce its negative effect.

9. Practicing Mindfulness
A core ingredient of mindfulness practice is the ability to observe thoughts.
This video clearly explains what observation of thoughts means

10. Automaticity
Involves behaviour that
is guided outside of our
conscious awareness
Some researchers
believe that 90% of our
behaviour is carried out
automatically
Example – driving home
after work – unaware of
how we change gears,
feet movements,
steering – all happens
automatically
Automatic patterns are
not limited to behaviour
such as driving or playing
piano – they also
concern the initiation of
thoughts or dealing with
setbacks or stress

12. Situations triggering automatic reactions
SITUATION
- FEELING OR EMOTION
- THOUGHT
- BODILY SENSATION
REACTION
- SUPPRESSION
- ABSORBTION
- AVOIDANCE
AUTOMATIC
Fig. 1 Situations triggering automatic reactions

13. • Figure 1 displays how a certain feeling, thought or sensation
can automatically lead to a reaction, like for instance
suppression or worry. In these situations, we are not in
conscious control of the reaction. The reaction is the result of
an unconscious tendency. There is no room for consciousness
between the trigger and our reaction. This way of dealing with
situations is referred to as impulsivity or reactivity.
• The only way to change automatism is by means of attention.
Therefore, becoming aware of automatic patterns is at the
core of many psychological treatments, like for instance
cognitive behavioral therapy.
Situations triggering automatic reactions

14. Automaticity
Attention can be used to
recognise automatic
reactions and patterns
Once reactions and
patterns are recognised –
only then can they be
changed
Mindfulness promotes
attention to feelings,
thoughts and sensations
Cultivates awareness –
present (here and now)
By cultivating awareness,
space is created between
what is happening in this
moment – and the
reaction that follows
If experiencing an
emotion like anger – it
helps us pause for a
moment and to devote
attention to the
experience

15. Mindfulness creates room between a
situation and a reaction
SITUATION
- FEELING OR EMOTION
- THOUGHT
- BODILY SENSATION
REACTION
- THE RESULT OF CHOICE
INSTEAD OF AUTOMATISM
MINDFUL ATTENTION
- CONSCIOUS
ATTENTION TO
WHAT IS PRESENT
- CREATE ROOM TO
LET IT BE
- ACCEPT THAT IT IS
THERE
Fig. 2 Mindfulness creates room between a situation and a reaction

16. Cycles
AUTOMATISM – CAUSES US TO
GET STUCK IN A NEGATIVE
CYCLE OF FEELING AND
THINKING
RECEIVE A BAD EVALUATION –
IMMEDIATE RESULT IS
SADNESS/FRUSTRATION –
AUTOMATICALLY START
THINKING NEGATIVE
THOUGHTS
WE ARE NOT AWARE OF THIS
AUTOMATIC INTERPLAY
BETWEEN THOUGHTS AND
EMOTIONS, SO WE GET
CAUGHT IN A CYCLE OF
THINKING AND FEELING FOR A
VERY LONG TIME.
WE LOSE AWARENESS OF
WHAT IS HAPPENING: WE ARE
CAUGHT IN A GAME OF
FEELINGS AND THOUGHTS

17. Automatic cycle of thinking and feeling
SITUATION
EMOTION
THOUGHT
Figure 3 - repetitive negative thinking

18. • Figure 3 is an example of how we sometimes easily get lost in worrying or ruminating
(repetitive and negative thinking about the past).
• The situation that is depicted in fig. 3 shows how we can get completely lost in a train
of thought. We are devoting so much attention to our thoughts that we lose ourselves
completely in them. All our attention goes to the content of our thoughts. We are not
present in the now anymore, but are living in our head. Our thoughts determine
automatically how we feel. We are a slave to the thoughts and barely notice how we
are being moved between thoughts and feelings.
• And even if we notice that the above described process is taking place, we often use
strategies (like for instance suppression or putting things in perspective) that not only
fail to get us out of the cycle, but pull us back in even more than before.
• From a rational point of view, these strategies appear to be an effective way to exit
the cycle. However, the more we attempt to avoid or get rid of the thoughts and
feelings, the more they will persist.
Automatic cycle of thinking and feeling

19. Attention to the here and now
SITUATION
EMOTION
THOUGHT
MINDFUL
AWARENESS
Fig. 4 The role of mindfulness in an automatic cycle of thinking and feeling

20. The role of mindfulness in an automatic
cycle of thinking and feeling
• By paying attention to the thoughts and feelings that are present in the current moment, we can disrupt
the cycle and create room for awareness.
• This awareness provides the possibility to observe the cycle between thoughts and emotions (see fig. 4).
For instance, if you receive a bad evaluation that automatically triggers negative thoughts, mindfulness
involves taking a step back and noticing these thoughts.
• Just pause. For a moment, just focus on your breath. Then become aware of what is going on inside of you.
What thoughts are currently running through your mind? What kind of feelings are present in this
moment? Where in your body do you notice these feelings?
• By taking the role of a neutral and curious observer, the automatic cycle of thinking and feeling is
disrupted. If you notice that you are not observing anymore but are taken away by thoughts or feelings
again, simply focus your attention on the breath once more, and use this neutral point to take the role of
an observer again.
• Note that you are not trying to change the emotions or feelings that are present, but rather observe and
accept what you experience. By turning attention back to the present moment, you create room and
insight. Thus, mindfulness can help to become aware of the automatic influence of thoughts on emotions
and vice versa.
• Thoughts and emotions are not changed or modified; it is how you relate to these emotions and thoughts
that is altered. Feelings are less guided by thoughts and you become more like an observer, one who is
less guided toward action based on the content of thoughts and feelings.

21. The Gifted Wisdom of Unpleasant Feelings -
Dr Joan Rosenberg

22. Therapist Dr Strong explains how he uses mindfulness in his treatments. He
explains how suffering is often kept alive by learned patterns of reactivity.
because we keep reacting in the same way to situations and circumstances,
problems persist. Mindfulness can help to recognise automatic patterns of
reacting and create a starting point for change

23. Practice – Eating with awareness

24. • Start with becoming aware of your posture. Close your eyes for a few seconds
and focus on breathing.
• Now, open your eyes, but wait before taking the first bite. Look at the food,
the color, the texture. Just become aware what is in front of you. You can also
briefly consider the amount of work necessary to make this food possible.
• Then, take a first bite. Eat slowly, one bite at a time, prolonging the sensation
of the food in your mouth, the feeling of the food on your tongue, and try to
become aware of the taste, the movement of the fork, the whole eating
process as much as possible.
• Thoughts will come up and will distract you. This is normal. Just notice them
and gently direct your attention back to the food.
• It is easier to eat mindfully without external distractions such as television,
magazines, etc. Make eating the meal the most important activity. Devote all
your attention to it.
Practice – Eating with awareness

25. INFORMATION: EATING WITH AWARENESS
• Eating is a daily habit. It is no wonder that it involves many automatic processes. Eating does not
always require focused attention. We can easily have dinner and watch television, send an email or
have a conversation at the same time. When we do so, we become less aware of the process of
eating and tasting the food. Our attention is not focused on the sensation of eating but on the t.v.,
email or the content of the conversation. When this happens, we tend to enjoy the food less.
• In fact, what we experience while we eat (e.g. the taste, smell and texture of the food) can be
regarded as an anchor, comparable to the sensation of focusing on one body part at a time in the
body scan practiced earlier. When you eat mindfully, you will notice how many times your attention
is drawn away from eating by thoughts or other distractors. The idea is to gently direct attention
back to the experience of eating.
• This exercise can show you that even when your attention should be focused on eating the food in
the present, it is quite frequently directed at the future; we take a bite and before we even swallow,
our mind is already paying attention to the next bite. This is a pattern that is often present when
eating candy, chips or other desirable food.
• Mindful eating can contribute to a healthier pattern of eating. Mindfulness reduces emotional
eating (Alberts, Thewissen, & Raes, 2012) and can help to contribute to a healthier weight (tapper
et al., 2009). Because mindful eating reduces the speed of eating, one is satisfied earlier and eats
less. This reduces the chance of overeating (and thus the consequences like high blood pressure,
diabetes and cancer as well).
Practice – Eating with awareness

26. The body scan - meditation

27. The Body Scan - Script
Find a place where you will be safe, secure, and undisturbed. Lie on your back on a firm mat or cushioned floor, arms resting by your
side, palms facing upward. If you find it difficult to stay awake during the meditation, it may be helpful to open your eyes or prop your
head up with a pillow. If neither helps, you can change position that that would help you stay awake. Other positions include standing
or sitting in a chair.
Close your eyes and start to focus your attention on the fact that you are breathing. Allow each inhale and exhale to flow through
your body. Notice how your body feels with each breath as well as where the breath flows. With each breath, allow yourself to sink
deeper into the floor. •Keep in mind that your mind will inevitably wander through this practice as that is what all minds do. When
this happens, notice it and gently and kindly bring your attention back to the part of the body on which you were focusing.
As you continue to breathe, on the inhale, imagine the breath filling your lungs and then moving down into the belly, into the left leg,
and all the way out of the left toes. As you exhale, imagine or feel your breath moving in through your toes, up the left leg, through
the abdomen, all the way up into your chest, and finally out through your nose. With a playful approach, practice a couple of cycles of
this kind of breathing.
Use this breathing technique throughout the remainder of the scan. When you notice a tense or unpleasant sensation, breathe into it
and imagine relaxing, releasing, and letting go. Notice all the sensations in your body, beginning with the bottom of your left foot.
Where do you feel pressure? What does it feel like? Move with your attention from the bottom of your left foot, up the ankle to the
left leg, lower leg, knee, upper leg, across the pelvic region, down the right leg. Move into your pelvic region, scanning the front and
back of your body. Notice all the sensations that arise and let them go.
As you focus on each part of the body, observe what you see and feel there without forcing anything to happen. If you don’t feel
anything in an area of your body, that’s okay. Simply act as an observer, noticing how your body feels today. Continue up through the
stomach, upper chest, neck, down the left arm, back up through the collarbone down the right arm, up to your hairline, forehead,
and finally face. Remember to observe each small area of every part of your body. For example, you may want to notice what is
happening in between your toes, ankles, shoulders, ears, tongue. Investigate every area of the body with gentle curiosity. After
observing every point in the body, feel your body as a whole, breathing in and out, fully alive.

28. • Do the “eating with awareness at work exercise” one or more times this week
• Practice the “Body Scan”. For more information on the “Body Scan”, see “session 1”.
• Choose three work activities, and try to do them with as much undivided attention as
possible. Notice how often your attention is automatically drawn away from what you are
doing by thoughts, emotions or body sensations.
• This week, I will do the following work activities with full attention:
1. _____________________________________________________________________
2. _____________________________________________________________________
3. _____________________________________________________________________
• If you notice this week, that you are worrying or ruminating, or are brought out of balance by
a certain situation, try to pause for a moment. Can you re-focus your attention on the
experience in the present moment. Can you let the feeling be and become aware of the
thoughts that automatically arise? Can you become aware of the cycle that is described in
this session’s chapter?
Homework

29. Log Book
Exercise Times performed
Observations or perceptions
during the exercise
Body Scan
Routine Work Activities
Eating with Awareness

30. Welcome to the
Mindful Wellbeing
Workshop
Module 3:
Judgment

31. Outline – Session 3
• Homework Debrief
• Seated Meditation
• Judgements
• Judgement strengthens duality
• Judgement limits reality
• Judgement creates conflict
• Mindfulness and judgements
• Being aware of judgement
• Judgement Meditation
• Homework

32. Homework Debrief
Did you practice the body scan?
If so, what was your experience?
If you did not practice the body scan, what prevented you from practicing it?
What would help you increase your commitment or the likelihood of practicing?
Did you pay attention to daily routines? If so, what was your experience?
Did you practice mindful eating? What did you experience?
Do you have any other questions or concerns?

33. Seated Meditation

34. Benefit Finding
Recall a painful event that you have experienced in the
workplace.
• What were the most negative consequences of this event?
• Now, focus on the positive aspects and the ways in which the
experience has benefited you as a person. For instance, how
has the experience helped you better meet the challenges of
the future?
• What did you learn from this experience?
• How have you changed or grown as a person as a result of the
experience?

35. Judgements
The importance of becoming aware of judgments, without judging them

36. Judgement colours reality
• A judgment is like a pair
of glasses or a filter. We
see the world through the
glasses of our judgment.
• A judgment stems from
our beliefs (“Uneducated
people are stupid”, “I’m
always unlucky”, “A man
is not supposed to cry”)
or norms (“One
celebrates Christmas with
family and friends”)

37. • A judgment can be faced inwards, to our own feelings and thoughts. For
example, when we experience sadness, we may label this sadness as
“unwanted”. In turn, this judgment will affect the thoughts that come with it.
We are rather inclined to end up in a negative spiral of thoughts (“I should not
feel like this; I don’t want to feel like this”), and the chance of feeling negative
emotions increases. When we subsequently judge these emotions also as
“bad” or “wrong” we become further dragged into a cycle of thoughts and
emotions, as described in session 2.
•
• Judgments can also be faced outwards. An example of a judgment outside of
ourselves is when we call somebody a “loser” because of his lack of education
or position. This judgment will affect how we interpret the person’s behavior
and how we treat that person. As we see this person as a “loser”, it is likely
that we treat this person with less respect then if we were to see him as a
successful person. The moment we judge, we only see our own projections
and not other aspects of the person that may be hidden behind these
projections.
•
Judgement colours reality

38. Coloured perception: the influence of
judgments on perception of reality

39. What does judgement say…
• Interestingly, a judgment often says more about the person who makes
the judgment than about the person about whom the judgment is made.
No matter how accurate or describing or appropriate a judgment may
seem, it is per definition a reflection of our personal opinion and beliefs.
• Thus, our judgment of another person is not a true characteristic of that
person. After all, the person who we call a “loser” because of his lack of
education can be a successful person to someone else (e.g. because the
person spends a lot of time with his/her family). In this example, the
judgment says something about the criteria of a “loser” of the judging
person (lack of education or position). It is likely that the judging person
also applies these criteria to himself. In other words, the judgmental
glasses with which the person sees the outside world corresponds to the
judgmental glasses with which the person looks at himself.

40. A JUDGMENT STRENGTHENS DUALITY
Dichotomous in character – thought of in extremes – good/bad, desirable/undesirable
Judging creates duality (contrast) – opposites exist only in relation to each other
Two sides of a coin
When judging we focus on a specific half of a coin – on one of the two opposites – we don’t see the
entire coin – our reality is therefore limited to the one half (with our full attention)
At the moment that this separation takes place, we tend to hold onto the good and avoid the bad
because we see them as independent from each other – individual events that are unrelated.

41. Duality
• Opposites can only exist in
relation to each other
• A judgment focuses our
attention on a specific half

42. Duality
At the moment we see that the one (bad) is required for the other (good), the
tendency to fight and get rid of the bad is less. As we again focus on the
whole and not the individual parts it gets easier to experience peace on the
dark side of the coin.
Eventually, it might be possible to be grateful for the experiences we perceive
as less enjoyable because we know that these are necessary to be able to
experience the other side. Negative experiences are just as necessary as the
pleasurable ones.

43. A JUDGMENT LIMITS REALITY

44. A Judgement limits reality
• A judgment always highlights only one side of the given information. The reality is in fact endlessly complex. By
labelling something “good” or “bad”, you reduce it just to that: “good” or “bad”, although there is nothing only
good or bad.
• An event that at that moment is perceived as difficult or bad (e.g. being fired or dismissed from a job), later often
turns out to be a positive change (a new and better job). Was the event then good or bad? The judgment
delineates an area. It creates a boundary, a limited space in which the reality itself may happen. For example, if we
judge a feeling as “bad” we limit the moving space of this feeling; the feeling must not move or get worse, it may
not be there, it has to leave. It also reduces the experience and perceived complexity of the feeling. Even negative
feelings can give us valuable insights as we are willing to look at them and allow them to demonstrate these
insights.
• As we look at the earlier mentioned example, the judgment “loser”, we can see that we reduced the endlessly
complex person to the limited label “loser”. The behavior of this person will subsequently be interpreted within
our framework of “loser”. This framework indicates the boundary in which that person can move.
• When this person for example registers a success, we are rather inclined to assign this to luck or the situation,
while in case of failure we see this rather as a result of the person’s own action and thus confirm our image of his
“loser-being”. We ensure that the person fits in our judgment without realizing that we limit the person and
ourselves. The judgment “loser” limits us to perceive the human that is hidden behind our projection.
• The limitations and one-sidedness of a judgment are also clearly illustrated by means of cultural or historical
differences. Where a person who, 50 years ago, didn’t go to church was easily judged as a sinner, people
nowadays are just labeled as naïve when they say that they believe in God and go to church. It can be enlightening
to see how the same event, depending on age, ethnic background or religion, can be judged differently and thus
experienced differently.

45. A JUDGMENT CREATES CONFLICT
• Suppose you feel gloomy. By judging this
feeling as bad you start a relationship
involving struggle with that feeling. The
gloomy feeling is there, but it is bad and
therefore undesirable.
• The moment something is judged as
undesirable or bad a conflict occurs; namely
between how things are now (bad) and how
things should be (good).
• Not only can this conflict cause us to feel
upset, it can also encourage us to want to
avoid or to escape from the current, as
negatively judged, situation.
• We are encouraged to expend effort to get
rid of the feeling, which often leads to the
paradoxical effect that the feeling gets
stronger.
• In fact, there is only a problem or conflict
when a situation, event or feeling is judged
as such.

46. Mindfulness and Judgement
• Mindfulness helps us learn that people, places and things, and events are neither good nor
bad, but that our mind labels things as such almost automatically.
• Events, feelings or persons are not intrinsically good or bad, they “are” simply what they are;
events, feelings and persons. Only when we label them as right or wrong, they affect our
thoughts and behaviour
• An important part of mindfulness is to understand judgments. Judgments often happen
automatically. This is the conditioned functioning of our mind. There is nothing wrong with
that and it is also necessary to interpret the world around us.
• However, as previously described, judgments may limit us severely or can even be
counterproductive if we forget that they don’t reflect reality but our beliefs about reality

47. Mindfulness and Judgement
• By becoming aware of the natural tendency of the mind to judge, the effect of a judgment on
our functioning is reduced.
• The more we become aware of our judgments, the less our minds will tend to label
automatically
• The conversation with the person who is sitting opposite you is no longer limited to the box
in which you put this person

48. Practice: Being aware of judgements
• NOT striving to not judge – the mind judges automatically - Try to notice this
week as many negative thoughts you have about other people, groups,
yourself, situations at work. Become aware of when you are judging things.
• Become aware of and observe the judgements – try not to judge yourself
• Simply note this judgment and then return to your breathing, the anchor
point of your attention. That it happens is not bad, it is an automatic process.
And if you have a judgment, ask yourself who you really see: the
person/feeling or just your own judgment. That is how you create room for
choice again
• Once you become aware of the fact that you want to judge something, see if
you can let go of the judgment and if you can use a more objective
description in which a judgment is not or at least barely present. For example:
“He didn’t show up, therefore he doesn’t care about me” versus “I was there,
he wasn’t there”. Or: “He was wearing ugly shoes” versus “His shoes were not
quite my taste”. It can be really helpful to train your mind this way.

49. An inspiring video that shows how important our outlook on reality
is for the way we feel about things.

50. Jon Kabat-Zinn explains what non-judgment
in mindfulness practice means.

51. Judging & Mindfulness

52. Collaboration
• As humans it is Important to connect, we connect easier with
those we trust – to build trust you need to accept people
• Be aware of judgements we make about other people
• We have little control over other people, accept that fact
• Shift our judgements and perspective – find a way to accept a
person as they are and find a way to work with the other
person

53. Working with difficult people
Accepting the person as they are – we are all different and unique
Mindfulness gives us the ability to have difficult conversations with
emotional intelligence
Helps us to be courageous to speak the truth
Acknowledge own thoughts and emotions and have the courage to do
what is right
Using empathy for the self and the other person

54. Homework
• Exercise being aware of judgements at work this week
• You can use a bracelet or elastic band as a tool. Whenever you find yourself
making judgments about yourself, others or situations, simply switch the wrist
on which you are wearing the bracelet. Do this switch without judgment,
without being hard on yourself, or negative internal dialogue. Just switch in a
friendly manner. You may become aware of how often you actually
(automatically) judge. This exercise may feel somewhat confrontational,
however, it also helps demonstrate in a visceral way that you are becoming
more aware of your thoughts and actions.
• Do the Body Scan and seated meditation as often as possible, preferably on a
daily basis.
• As you do the “Body Scan” or seated meditation, try to pay attention to the
judgments you make during or after the exercise: examples of judgments are;
“This is useless”, “I can do this well”, “It didn’t go well”, “It should feel
different”, etc.

55. Log Book
Exercise Times performed
Observations or
perceptions during the
exercise
Body Scan
Seated Meditation
Awareness of Judgments