This document discusses mindfulness and cultivating compassionate awareness. It explains that mindfulness allows us to observe our thoughts and feelings without judgment, and see them as passing mental events rather than truths about ourselves. The document uses metaphors like the "manic roommate" to illustrate how our inner voice is not always helpful or accurate. Regular mindfulness practice through exercises like body scans can strengthen areas of the brain related to emotional regulation and decrease fear and anxiety over time. Homework involves daily mindfulness meditation to develop compassionate strengths.

1. Compassion
Focused therapy
Session 5
Compassionate Awareness
Cultivating Mindfulness

2. Layers:
Cft builds in layers:
• Safe group space
• Understanding vs self-blame
• New layer: Mindful Awareness

3. Mindfulness:
 If we are to work with our suffering, we must
be able to tolerate it, stay with it
 Mindfulness allows us to pay attention to the
present moment (outside and inside our
brains)
 We allow ourselves to just be with our
experience, to notice and observe without
judging, criticizing, or blaming

4. Mindful Awareness
 Useful for people who are haunted by self-
critical thoughts
 The problem is not that we have these
thoughts (most people do from time to time)
 The problem comes when we ruminate on
them, rehearse them and believe them

5. Mindfulness
 Mindfulness allows us to see thoughts and
feelings as mind objects instead of who we
are

6. Three Flower Pots
 Imagine three flower pots:

7. Mindfulness
 It doesn’t matter what you put in front of your
minds’ eye, it will always be you looking at it

8. The voice inside our head
 Ever notice what happens in our minds during
a lull in conversation? When we’re alone?

9. The Voice
 What is this voice? It never stops talking, and 70-80 % of
what is says is negative
 It gets really loud when we’re trying to sleep:
 “Omigod, I forgot to call Fred, what is he going to think?
I’ve got such a load tomorrow, I hate work, these kids are
driving me crazy, maybe I’d be better off alone, I hate
being alone, I’m going to be alone forever, what’s wrong
with you? Get your act together, what if? What if? Some
thing bad is going to happen, I just know it, I’m such an
idiot, how could it not. It’s not fair, why do things have to
be so unfair, I hate my life, what a disaster, my mother
was right, I’ll never be anything, no wonder everyone
leaves me… and on and on and on….

10. The Voice
 Is this voice you?

11. Who is this voice?
 This voice is not you
 You are the one who is hearing it
 Nothing it says is any more real than anything
else in your mind
 (remember the three flowerpots)

12. Why does it talk?
 The talking releases built up nervous, fearful
or desire-based energy.. Like a teakettle
whistling
 When you are angry with someone, how
many times do you tell them off inside of your
head?
 It talks because we are not okay inside and
talking releases stored energy

13. The Manic Roommate
 Imagine you spend the day just listening to
the voice
 Your inner voice never stops chattering,
observing, fortune-telling, criticizing. It
changes its mind, is conflicted, jumps from
one thing to another
 Now imagine this a person sitting next to you
on the couch, a roommate you take
everywhere

14. The Manic Roommate
 Image if you had to listen to the incessant,
neurotic, conflicting chatter all day from a real
person
 How long would we last?
 Would we pay this person money to advise us
on finances, relationships, our future?

15. The Maniac Roommate
 Why do we give it all of our attention, and
believe every word it says?
 Have we ever bothered to check it’s
credentials?
 How often is it right/wrong?
 Where will we put our attention?

16. Attention Practice
 Attention is like the spotlight of the mind

17. Let’s practice..
 Series of words
 When you hear the word, direct your attention
to where the word indicates
 So if I say “left elbow” direct your attention to
your left elbow….

18. Let’s discuss…
 How quickly could you shift your attention was
is fast or slow?
 Notice how you could switch from something
very narrow, like your elbow to something
very broad like world peace

19. Mindfulness Practice
 Mindful check-in
 Why?
 Develop the habit of bringing attention to body
experiences, get used to noticing
 Notice without judging
 Easy practice to transfer to life in general
 Thinking vs observing
 Thinking about your feet vs observing your feet

20. Practice: Tactile anchor point
 Choose a stone
 Just notice qualities.. Mindfulness practice pg
114 green book

21. Benefits of Mindful Practice
 Mindfulness can grow parts of the brain that
are involved with feelings of self-soothing and
emotional regulation
 After 8 weeks of practice the amygdala (or
fear center) shrinks
 Brain registers less physical pain (source:
Scientific American Website)
 Develops ability to pause and choose action,
instead of gut reacting

22. How Mindfulness affects the
brain:
 Video Sara Lazar, Harvard Universtiy
 8 weeks, 30-40 mins per day of Meditation
causes an increase in areas of:
 Thinking, planning and emotional control
 Compassion and understanding
 And a decrease in: fear and anxiety

23. Summary and Homework:
 Mindfulness allows us to observe without
judgment, developing compassion
 It allows us to tolerate and work with difficult
emotions
 It sets the stage for the rest of the CFT
program, cultivating compassionate strengths
 Homework Practice for two mins per day (set
timer) and record reaction in journal