Mindsight - A Book Summary

According to Daniel Goleman, author of "Emotional Intelligence," there are four key life skills:

* Self-awareness
* Empathy
* Self-mastery
* Social skills

Self-awareness is the foundation for the other three. According to Goleman, who wrote the foreword for the book, Mindsight,

"Siegel's theory of Mindsight taps into the brain's capacity for both insight and empathy."

By becoming more aware of our thoughts and emotions and making sense of them, we are better able to attune to the minds of others.

Developing Mindsight through meditation helps us to focus attention on what's going on in our minds without being swept up by our emotions. Much of our lives are spent reacting to our outer environment in habitual ways. Siegel uses the example of the difference between saying "I am sad" and "I feel sad." Feelings come and go, so observing your sadness and recognizing its transience allows us to experience it without being swallowed up by it.

Siegel believes (because he has seen it happen) that we can develop Mindsight at any age through simple practices, and that these practices actually change the physical structure of our brain. He says,

"The reflective skills of Mindsight activate the very circuits that create resilience and well-being and that underlie empathy and compassion as well."

I have personally experienced the benefits of meditation and how its practice can carry over into the rest of your life. The idea that meditation can actually rewire your brain is tremendously exciting to me. Anything that helps people become more aware, and have more insight and compassion has got to be beneficial.

Image: Design by Kernut on Zazzle

Through his psychiatric practice, Dr. Siegel has learned that the mind, brain, and relationships are interconnected and what happens in one area affects the others.

Part 1 of the book talks about brain science and the concept of Mindsight.

The limbic area of the brain evolved first and is often called the "old mammalian brain." It creates our basic drives and emotions. This area plays a big part in how we form emotional attachments and how we hold onto memories. It is also related to body functions and survival.

The cortex is the outer layer of the brain and is often called the "new mammalian brain." It allows us to develop intricate ideas and concepts. It is this part of the brain that makes us human - we are able to think about our thoughts, perceptions, and experiences. It allows us to create something new.

The pre-frontal cortex goes even further in that it allows us to develop our sense of self and morality.

The brain consists of more than one hundred billion interconnected neurons. And each of these neurons has ten thousand connections to other neurons throughout the body. When we focus on an activity, neurons are firing and connections are being made.

What modern neuroscience teaches us is that focused attention can shape our brain's firing patterns and can actually change the physical structure of our brain. We can use specific focus to reinforce existing connections and establish new ones.

Siegel tells us that a huge number of connections occurs in the first few years of life. Some of this is determined by our genes and some by our experiences. Using dogs as an exampke, if we had positive experiences with dogs as a kid, we will feel pleasure when the neighbor's dog comes running towards us. However, if our experience includes being bitten by a dog as a kid, we will probably experience fear. By using Mindsight, Siegel says that you can focus your attention in certain ways to help you overcome your fear.

What is even more amazing, if early experiences in life were generally positive, then our nervous system is such that it reinforces emotional resilience. However, if our early experiences were negative, emotional resilience is diminished.

Siegel describes well-being as like a river of integration. On one side of the river is rigidity, on the other is chaos. When we find ourselves on one side of the river or the other, one of the following domains of integration may be out of whack.

1. Horizontal Integration - between left and right brains
2. Vertical Integration - from head to toe
3. Memory Integration - implicit to explicit
4. Narrative Integration - making sense of the past
5. State Integration - moving beyond habitual patterns and denial
6. Interpersonal Integration - achieving true connection
7. Temporal Integration - living with uncertainty
8. Mindsight and Freedom - unresolved trauma or loss of identity

In the second half of the book, Dr. Siegel gives examples of mindsight in action through his own patient studies. You will hear about:

* A 16-year old boy with bipolar disorder
* A woman paralyzed by anxiety
* A physician who pays attention to his intuition
* A 12-year old girl with OCD
* A 92-year old man who learns to tap into his right brain
* A couple who react to each other with old defensive patterns
and more

Each of these examples shows how Mindsight can be used to help us handle our emotions and relationships and achieve an increased sense of well-being.

It is Your Mind... Art Print
Buy at AllPosters.com