Spark Weekend DC Day 2 Spark Talk #7 Spark Challenge: Meditate 1 minute every day for 30 days.

1. But I wish I could…
Orin C. Davis, Ph.D.
Chief Science Officer, Principal Investigator,
SelfSpark Quality of Life Laboratory

2. Photo Credit

3.  “I can’t turn my brain off ”
 “My thoughts are racing”
 “I can’t relax”
 “I can’t sit still”
 “I have to be doing something”
 “I don’t have time”
=> FOMO

4. “…attention, emotional
regulation, and
metacognitive awareness,
which (aim to) contribute
to the development of a
more veridical experience
of the world.”
Semmens-Wheeler & Dienes (2012)

6.  Meditation is about hitting your “on” switch
 By paying attention, by being fully present, you are
turning “on”
 Meditation is about getting a sense of your world
 That’s a far cry from doing nothing!
 Meditation is about being you
 Instead of merely reacting to your world, be an actor
upon your world
 Meditation is about awareness and understanding
 What’s going on?

7. 1) Clear goals
2) Immediate feedback
3) Balance of challenge and skill (> average)
4)No fear of failure (feeling in control)
5)Distractions excluded from consciousness
6)Merging of action and awareness
 Behavior becomes spontaneous and
automatic though solitary focus on the task
at hand
7) Not self-conscious
8) Distorted sense of time
9) Autotelic

8.  Fit the activity to the way you live
 Be mindful of…
 Thoughts
 Feelings
 Things around you
 Microcosm
 If thoughts intrude, don’t sweat it
 Acknowledge them and let them go by
 Don’t try to suppress
 Use all of your senses
 What are they perceiving?

9.  Find your flow activities
 Start with a brain dump (a meditation in itself!)
 What’s on my mind?
 Meditation [power]walk/run/jog
 Music
 Not TV – that’s passive entertainment
 Stretch
PRACTICE