Meditation - Heartfulness Bhanu Bahl, PhD

Class schedule and location   8/15: Last class!! Lahey Room Guest speaker : George Zogbi, Lincoln Lab, MIT

Welcome to Meditation Course - Week 9 Class Duration: 50 min Topics: - Getting ready - Building Resilience - Relaxation & Meditation exercise - Thoughtful Observation & Wrap up

What is Resilience? Slumdog Millionaire (2008) movie https://youtu.be/ZiWFn20P8oE

What is Resilience? How do people deal with difficult events that change their lives? family and relationship problems serious health problems workplace and financial stressors Most react with flood of strong emotions and a sense of uncertainty Resilience is the process of adapting well in the face of adversity, trauma, tragedy, threats or significant sources of stress It means "bouncing back" from difficult experiences It involves behaviors, thoughts and actions that can be learned and developed

Building Resilience : Strategies Humor: diffuses stress Containing Thinking: compartmentalize thoughts Distraction: TV, playing a sport, exercise, walk in the park Seek Help: Make connections Being Hopeful: Maintain a hopeful outlook Positive View: Nurture a positive view of yourself Acceptance: Accept that change is a part of living, an opportunity for self-discovery Maintaining Perspective: Keep things in perspective Flexible Thinking: Find alternate path towards your goals Taking Actions: decisive and timely

Building Resilience- exercise Lets spot Resilience strategies in the following video Money Pit (1986) movie clip- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9CJ9EDtZ2p8&index=4&list=PL4852C560DB290D30

Language of Resilience Develop language of resilience with kids , examples : “Come on, laugh it off”, Strategy: Humor “Don’t let this spoil everything”, Strategy: Containing thinking “Let’s take a break”, Strategy: Distraction “Who have you spoken to about this?”, Strategy: Seeking help “I know it looks bad now but you will get through this”, Strategy: Offering hope “What can you learn from this so it doesn’t happen next time?”, Strategy: Positive reframing “Don’t worry – relax and see what happens!”, Strategy: Acceptance “This isn’t the end of the world”, Strategy: Maintaining perspective “You could be right. But have you thought about … ”, Strategy: Flexible thinking “What can we do about this?”, Strategy: Taking action

Building Resilience & Meditation Raised self-awareness- self image not at mercy of situations Helps regulate emotions; “Feel angry” vs “be angry” Clarity of thought for taking decisions Improved focus to compartmentalize the problem Creativity allows looking for alternate paths Improved relationships for seeking help

“Let’s practice”: Heartfulness Meditation Relaxation & Meditation: http://en-us.heartfulness.org/experience-heartfulness/?target=try-heartfulness-on-your-own#

Thank you for participating. See you next week!