Notes I made a couple of weeks ago while listening to Rick Hanson, author of Buddha’s Brain:, talking about samadhi (concentration). This advice resonates well with my own practice, wanted to make note of it here for reference (mine and yours).
- Set an intention – which sets the mind to a particular direction.
- Relax, settle down.
- Help yourself feel safer.
- Activate positive emotion. Think about things that gladden the heart (activating dopamine and norepinephrine).
- Keep the critters out. The voices in your head aren’t necessarily friendly or helpful.
- Build a wholesome neural structure.
- Intend and sense/evaluate benefits – “How’s that going for you?”
This is a great book – accessible without being too light. It does a huge service for both the research field of interpersonal neurobiology and the practice path of Buddhism. Together these fields support what we need today, a way to really grow up as mature adults and wake up to our deepest and most creative nature. Thanks for mentioning it. As a psychologist and Zen priest, it see it as a welcome sign that these two fields are integrated more fully explored in this way.