Free the Mind (2012) - full transcript

We actually have no idea
how conscious experience arises -

- from this blob of matter
that weighs three pounds.

It's really still very much a mystery.

Will, it's not good
for your face, honey.

Do you want to take a break?
Are you okay? Good job.

So for trick or treating today ...
We have elevators, right?

I know that you didn't have
a good time in one of them.

Your mom and dad weren't
in there with you.

But I'm gonna be there
with you today.

Now ... I think there are three floors
we need to go to.

I would like you to choose one,
just one time -



- that you can either go up
or down one floor.

And I'll be with you
the whole time.

I don't want to go in the elevator.

I know, honey.
But there's gonna be some day -

- that you go into a huge building,
a long time from now -

- and you won't want to take
all those stairs all the time. Okay?

I do want to take the stairs
all the time.

All the time? It'll take forever,
if you're up in a tall building.

Remember when
that happened to you -

- were you by yourself
in the elevator or with somebody?

By myself.

Do you think you'll get stuck in there,
if you have your teachers with you?

Nope.
You'll be safe.

How about you and I
take the stairs to the 2nd floor -



- and then we'll take the elevator
one time to number ...

- Four.
- Yeah! And then ...

But then ... listen, take a deep
breath. It's okay.

I'm scared.

Okay, honey. It's gonna be okay.
Let's have a little bit of water.

We're just gonna take the elevator
one time, honey.

I promise the rest of the day
we're gonna take the stairs.

So that means ... it's okay.

It's okay, honey.

- I don't wanna go trick or treating.
- You don't wanna go trick or treating?

Really?

You wanna sit in the comic room while
all your friends go trick or treating?

That won't be fun, honey.

How about if you and I do
an elevator a different day?

Today is way too important. I don't
want you to miss the trick or treating.

Do you need a hug?

It's okay.
It's okay.

We'll do the elevator
a different day.

- Not today?
- Not today. Drink your water, okay?

I'm gonna go talk to
the other teachers about it, okay?

Will you finish your water?

Is everything up there
gonna be scary?

No, nothing's gonna be scary,
everybody's gonna be happy with you.

It's the brain changing the brain.

We know that the brain changes
all through our life -

- but we just don't know
how that happens.

When you're in the military,
you're asked to ...

... do things that in everyday life
are considered wrong.

The person I had to be to do my job
was a horrible person.

In my eyes. A horrible person.
And I was good at it.

Okay, we'll clean this up,
and then we'll open that one.

Lawrence, why don't you come
help clean up, too?

Come on, Emilia. Put this in there.
Put that in there. Thank you.

Put this in there. Clean up.
Help clean up.

Before I joined the army, it was very
rare that I would get to the point -

- where I am so angry at somebody
that I'm balling up my fist -

- and I'm preparing to hit them.

It happens a lot now,
and you know ...

... it's not a feeling I wanna have
around them.

Suicides among the veterans
of Iraq and Afghanistan -

- are reaching epidemic proportions.
Some 1,000 suicide attempts -

- are happening every month.

How can we say we're taking care
of our troops, when we have -

- an increasing number of soldiers
taking their own lives?

"The soldiers seemed to be suffering
classic symptoms of PTSD:

Explosions of anger, suicidal and
homocidal ideation, flashbacks ..."

We'll meet you at the next floor, okay?

We won't leave without you.

I wrote the diary while I was
deployed overseas in Iraq.

I kept it and used it the way you'd
use a friend or someone to talk to.

November 9th is blank
because at the time it was ...

... not a day that I wanted
to write down and remember.

On the 9th of November I went out
with my platoon into Baghdad -

- and we had stopped
in the Green Zone -

- on the parade grounds for Saddam,
and we were taking a platoon picture.

As we passed by
one of the other COPs -

- we heard
an extremely large explosion.

It was very different than the others.
It sounded a little higher pitched.

Like thunder clapping instead of
the deep roll we were used to.

I started to receive updates
from our battalion.

One of our sister units in the area -

- an MP unit that was in Humvees,
had been hit by an IED.

And ... I can remember
that we pulled up behind them.

And as I looked up further
laying there in the road was ...

I think it was the gunner,
and he had ...

... he had quadruple amputation.
He was ... uhm.

He was not doing well,
and we started to work on him -

- and I got my medic up there, and we
did what we could to stabilize him.

Got a stretcher out.

In the meantime we'd called for
a helicopter to get him out of there.

Got him loaded on the helicopter,
and the helicopter took off.

It felt like that took forever.
It probably took less than 5 minutes.

Then the tough task of picking up the
remains of the 2 people killed started.

Their bodies were pretty mangled
and torn up.

And it got very difficult to ...

... even identify
what you were cleaning up.

The sense, the smells, the images,
the sounds, the ...

Some of those pictures
I'll never forget.

I take Ambien
to get to sleep every night.

Without the medication
I've gone nights without sleeping.

I don't like what I did.

There are practices designed -

- to promote beneficial qualities
in a person

Compassion meditation is a kind of
meditation we've studied extensively.

There's a region of the brain
called the insula, and it's an area -

- that's literally used for interacting
between the mind and the body.

This area of the brain is
dramatically enhanced -

- in its activation
during compassion meditation -

- and will enable practitioners -

- who practice
compassion meditation regularly -

- to feel the emotion of others
more easily.

We have found that 3 months
of meditation practice -

- lead to changes on certain
measures of attention that reflect -

- a person's capacity to pick up on
small changes in his environment.

A lot of our daily lives
are spent in social interaction -

- where we interact with other people.
And the reality is -

- that much of that information is not
conscious, we're just not aware of it.

After 3 months of meditation practice
people are able to notice -

- much more subtle things
in their environment -

- which would lead people to be
better at picking up on others.

Research indicates
that emotional intelligence -

- is a far more important
ingredient in life -

- than traditional
cognitive intelligence.

So our ability to pick up
on the emotions of others -

- to understand our own emotions,
to regulate our attention -

- those are qualities which can make
a big difference -

- in terms
of life's success.

Does anyone think this is a real brain?

- No, no.
- No.

Our real brain is not
coloured like this, is it?

This is a model of a brain.

The brain is probably -

- the most complicated thing
that exists in the whole universe.

Scientists estimate
that it has 10 billion connections -

- which is a 1 with many, many,
many zeros following it.

We can feel all the different feelings
that we feel because the brain -

- is as complicated as it is.

You mean like, if you're feeling sad
or ... How else might you feel?

- Frustrated.
- Frustrated!

- How else?
- Mad!

Angry.

There are different parts of the brain
that become active when we have -

- feelings of sadness
and feelings of frustration -

- and feelings of happiness. And we
can change our brains for the better.

And that's something that is possible
for every single person.

And one
of the really cool things is -

- that Laura is actually gonna
be teaching you some exercises -

- which can help you
change your feelings.

You can be happier,
and you can feel kinder -

- toward all of your friends
more easily.

Hey, what's that?

Your teachers invited me to come
in here to teach you some things.

And guess how I feel on the inside
about that.

- Happy.
- I feel happy.

And I also feel really excited.
So, what we're gonna learn about -

- is a brand new word
maybe for some people.

It's called mindfulness.
Can you say that?

Mindfulness.

Two important things
happen with mindfulness.

One is: mindfuldness
means paying attention.

And it looks like
almost everyone is paying attention.

The other thing about mindfulness is -

- when you pay attention
what happens to your body?

- Does it get all busy?
- No.

You know what happens to your body
when you're paying attention?

It gets slow. You can
pay attention on the outside -

- and you can pay attention
on the inside.

So the first thing we're gonna do today
is pay attention on the inside.

Is everybody ready?
Have you ever done that before?

No?
So, I brought something.

- Rice.
- You think it's rice.

How does it feel in your body
to think about what's in there?

I'm gonna open the container
and see what's inside, are you ready?

Who knows what that is?
Will?

Uhm ... a bell.

We're gonna listen,
and when the bell stops -

- when you can't hear it anymore,
raise your hand. Ready?

With growing concern about doctors
prescribing Ritalin and other drugs -

- to treat ADHD it's important
to know there are other options.

Someone diagnosed with ADHD
doesn't have to spend -

- every waking minute
on medication.

What do you know?

Live from Atlanta, Georgia
to San Antonio, Texas -

- this is 'Whad'Ya Know'
from Wisconsin Public Radio -

- and PRI, Public Radio International.

Richard Davidson is here. Come on,
Richard. We're not formal here.

Richard Davidson from
the Center for Healthy Minds.

The University of Wisconsin. For those
of you who didn't think there were -

- healthy minds at the university,
Richard's here to prove you wrong.

Was there such a field as this before?

Not really. We call it
contemplative neuroscience.

So you're thinking
about neuroscience.

Well it is the neuroscience
of contemplative practice.

Contemplative practice has to do with
taking intentional control of our mind.

Do we not ordinarily have
control over our minds?

I would say that ordinarily we have
very little control of our mind.

We may think we have control,
but we really don't.

We can actually be happier people.
We can suffer less -

- if we take responsibility
for our own mind.

Here's my room.

My flag, my bed, my NASCAR sheets.

And there's a picture of Alex.

I'm joined by Dr. Richard Davidson
Vilas Professor -

- of psychology and psychiatry.
Richie is a recipient of the APA's -

- Distinguished Scientific
Contribution Award and was named -

- 1 of the 100 most influential people
in the world by Time Magazine.

We are about to launch
a very large evolve study -

- with returning veterans
from Iraq and Afghanistan.

Veterans who are suffering
tremendously.

Many of them have
post-traumatic stress disorder.

So, thank you guys
for being part of this study.

It's a real honour to have
each of you here.

We are interested in the examination
of methods that may be ...

Non-pharmacological methods
that may be helpful -

- in calming your
autonomic nervous system -

- like your cardiovascular system
and certain hormones.

We're interested also in methods
that may help calm the mind.

Some of the same methods
can do both.

And we're interested in using
the best of scientific research -

- to understand and to track
how these interventions -

- may actually be producing
their effects.

Thank you.

For this study we've invited 20
participants and we're dividing them -

- into an active group
and a control group.

The active group
is going to have the intervention.

It's a breathing-based practice
7 days in a row -

- about 3 hours a day,
so it's an intensive program -

- and it allows us to take measures
right before and after, and if we see -

- any changes in 7 days,
that would be pretty extraordinary.

That'll be good.

He's hearing brief noises.

Every time it goes up, it's a noise,
so he ... We're measuring that.

Okay, we just saw it.
See that reaction?

About 50% of veterans
who are doing treatment for PTSD -

- a more standard treatment, respond,
and 50% do not respond at all.

There's a real need to understand
different interventions -

- that might be helpful for people.

You can remove the ear phones.

Are you good to go,
or do you need a break?

We're also giving them
open-ended questionnaires -

- for example words or sentences
they need to complete.

Do they complete them with more
negative words or positive words?

Do they complete the sentences
with words related to war or trauma?

"The silence was broken
by the bomb."

"His heart raced with despair."

"He sprayed the whole area
with pesticide."

"His friend had a big hole
in his chest."

"The unfortunate man lost his leg."

Anybody here felt
an overwhelming emotion -

- in the last 2-3 months:
Anger, sadness, fear?

Combat trauma and PTSD in its
simplest form is an experience -

- that happened to somebody
that was so traumatic -

- that though their body's in the
present, their mind got stuck there.

How many had experiences like that?
The same memory keeps coming back.

The same experience gets lived
over and over again.

But we're gonna find ways
that help us live more in the present.

- What's the first thing we do in life?
- Cry.

We cry and then ... take a breath.

- What's the last thing we do in life?
- Exhale.

And then other people cry.

And between this and this
is life and our breath.

And how many of us
have paid attention to our breath?

Like right now, where's your breath?

Do you breathe here? Do you
breathe low? How do you breathe?

As a kind of ritual wherever we teach
we start the same way with this.

Everybody stand up.
I want you to walk around the room -

- greet everybody and wish them
good luck on the course.

Breathe in through the nose ...

... out through the back of the throat.

And then in through
the back of the throat.

Out through the mouth.

In through the back of the throat,
mouth still open.

Now close the mouth and breathe
through the back of the throat.

Keep your eyes closed, put
your palms facing up on your lap.

Breathe normally.

We're gonna do some yoga stretching
while practicing this breathing.

Breathe in, hands come up.

Exhaling.

I don't hear any breaths.
One more time.

Inhaling.

Higher.
Higher.

Dropping the trunk. The trunk's down.
Going from side to side.

Heads way forward,
looking at your belly button.

Another breath in.

One more time.

Now we're going to watch
our breathing.

Nice job.

Are you ready?

- Are your bodies quiet?
- Yeah.

Alright, so we're gonna count
5 breaths. Are you ready?

Breathing in.
Breathing out.

Breathing in.

There, it's on.

- Somebody help me.
- You're doing great, Will.

We have been doing foster care,
and we got a call from the county -

- to take a newborn baby
that was 5 days old -

- that needed
an emergency placement.

So we met Will
when he was 5 days old -

- and he was in the ICU
for another 2 weeks after that -

- and then we brought him home.

Over the next 2 years
Will was placed -

- in 4 other placements besides our
home, and he was in our home twice.

We felt that Will needed to be placed
with a permanent family.

We looked at our life, and where
we were at, and as being older -

- we were at a point where we
thought he'd be better off long term -

- with a younger family. I'm 58, gonna
be 59, Sarah's 54, gonna be 55 -

- and 3 years ago ...
You can figure out the math.

And the birth mom was fighting
losing Will. And when this happened -

- she was sober enough long enough
to understand what was happening -

- and she came and asked us
to adopt Will -

- and she was willing to give up her
rights, if Sarah and I would adopt him.

The thing that really impacted me
the most through this whole process -

- was when Will was in his last
placement before we got him back.

We had a chance to go see Will,
and Will was 20 months old.

We're getting ready to leave,
and Will goes and gets his coat -

- and wants to come with us, and was
upset that he couldn't come with us -

- after he hadn't really seen us
for 6-8 weeks.

And the impact that had on me
was just enormous.

You look at how traumatic the
experience a little kid would have ...

... before 20 months old,
to have 4 or 5 different placements -

- with different families.

When we got Will back,
and he struggled ...

He lives out loud, he has no filter,
he's very spontaneous -

- and we met with a number
of different doctors to help us ...

... specialists to help us help him.

And the thing they talked about early
on was they diagnosed him as ADHD.

And they wanted to medicate him
at 3 years old.

That's crazy to us,
to give kids these powerful drugs -

- to help calm their behaviour -

- and we felt that there are other
and better ways to deal with that.

So, Will, I heard
that when you go by elevators -

- they get you really, really angry
or really upset. Is that true?

How does it feel on the inside
when that's happening?

- Scared.
- It feels scared.

And where on the inside
does it happen?

- Right here.
- It happens in here?

This ...

... is for you.
In the class.

- How did you put that in there?
- You know what?

I think next week
everyone's gonna make one of these.

But I wanted
to check it out with you first.

Shake it up really hard. Like as if
you were really mad or really angry.

And watch it settle.
Watch those sparkles go down.

Watch it very closely.

This jar, right now, is like your mind
when you're angry and upset.

It's bouncing all over the place -

- and then we see the angry thoughts
settling down, right?

- I'm just watching.
- Are you watching?

It's going down in here.
Can you see it?

What do you think about that mind jar?

Do you think we should
leave it at school -

- so that if you're feeling angry or
upset, you could maybe shake it?

I'm gonna go with the bacon
and cheddar cheese burger.

Everything looks so good,
it's hard to make up one's mind.

- If the Reuben is good ...
- What's a Reuben?

It's basically a corned beef sandwich.

If you try to hold her hand,
she'll probably do something.

Nah, I just don't like
people behind me.

- You're gonna get out?
- Actually, the ...

No, it's ... I'm just gonna ...
No, I'm ... I'll just move.

This is okay.

- Not a knife, you can have a spoon.
- She always gets something sharp.

- Spoon!
- See, but that's boring.

Spoon!

I'll put you into the scanner now
and tell the scanner where you are.

- Hey, can you hear me?
- Yes.

I can hear you, too. We start off
with a short 8-second scan.

Hold nice and still.

Out of those 24, 10 of them have
had some kind of PTSD symptoms.

Those who have more severe
symptoms are self-medicating -

- and doing drugs.
They're doing marihuana daily.

What about suicidality?
Out of the 23 how many reported -

- a specific thought about suicide,
not death, but suicide?

Maybe 4 or 5.

Okay, we should review
each of their cases now.

This is past.

He doesn't have ...
Yeah.

Is this 106?

- Has anybody called him?
- I'm gonna call him now.

In this brain, the area
that's shaded in this red colour -

- is the amygdala, and this is
the hippocampus, just behind it.

It's been found
in individuals with PTSD -

- that the literal size of
the hippocampus tends to be smaller -

- compared to a normal brain.
The hippocampus is really important -

- for enabling people to modulate
their emotions in a way -

- that's appropriate
to the situation they're in.

The amygdala is the area of the brain
that is critical for detecting -

- the cues or thread in the first
place, and once the cue is detected -

- another part of the amygdala
unleashes a cascade of responding -

- that includes 3 major components.

One is a behavioural component,
which may be associated -

- with freezing or with running away,
with fleeing.

It could include
an autonomic component.

That's the second component
which would involve changes -

- in heart rate and in blood pressure
to prepare the organism to act -

- and the third component
is changes in hormones.

The key hormone here is cortisol,
which is a stress hormone.

In the study that we're currently doing
with the veterans -

- the training will only last
one week.

We do not yet know if training this
short can actually produce changes -

- in the function and the structure
of the brain.

Who has the young kid?
Somebody has a young kid.

You wouldn't wanna take your
5-year-old to see The Exorcist, right?

- Because?
- It would scare the crap out of them.

Because they couldn't discern
the difference between reality -

- and what was on the screen.
They don't have that capacity.

For a lot of us in this room,
the same thing is happening.

Something's coming up on the screen
and part of the body-mind complex -

- can't discern,
because it's so overwhelming.

Hold up your thumb. Luis, do you have
a thumb, or are you your thumb?

I have a thumb.

There's a difference between
you and your thumb.

I'll ask you the same question, you
have things in your past that you -

- struggle to come to grips with.
In that moment when they come up -

- when they're the most intense,
do you have those thoughts -

- or are you those thoughts
or experiences in that moment?

- I feel like I have those thoughts.
- But they overwhelm you, right?

So in that moment you are them,
or they are you. Is that right?

To the breath, to the meditation
we're going to discern again -

- between the experiencer,
the process of experience -

- and the object of the experience,
the experience itself.

And delink them so that it loses
some of its power to come -

- and completely overwhelm you.

The first thing is
to plug your right nostril ...

We're not using the victory breath,
just in and out of the left nostril.

And plug the left,
in and out with the right. Breathe in.

Memory reconsolidation is a process
by which a memory is brought up -

- and the relationship you have
to that memory can be changed.

One of our hypotheses is that while
the body goes into deep state of rest -

- through the breathing, a
reconsolidation process can happen.

When I look back on things, what I
remember is looks on people's faces.

I'd use people's families against them.

You know ...

When ... you wait for any signs
of weakness to come up.

You exploit that.
Somebody talks about ... pleads:

"Please let me go. My mother's sick.

She doesn't have anybody else
to take care of her."

You turn that around on them.
You start giving them hypotheticals.

Worst-case scenarios. The things
that they're worrying about -

- that anybody would worry about.
Verbalize it. Make it real for them.

What's gonna happen to your wife?
What's gonna happen to your son?

What's gonna happen
to your daughter?

Who's gonna take care of them?

You're the only one that can feed
them. Your wife can't go out and work.

Your son's too young to go out and
work. How are they gonna get food?

Do you have a neighbour
that'll take care of them?

Who's your neighbour,
what's his name? Is he a nice guy?

Do you think
he'll take care of your wife?

What'll happen
a few years down the line?

What do you think people will think,
if I let you go tomorrow?

If you really wanna go home, I can
drop you off in front of your house.

From a Humvee.

In a lot of cases
that's a death sentence.

Am I gonna do it? No, never.
Does he know that? Probably not.

I don't know how many times I've
made somebody soil themselves.

And afterwards I'm bragging about it
and laughing about it.

Maybe if I would have shared things
and approached it differently -

- and been more open to discussing
some of these things -

- the direction my wife and I took
might have changed.

But I don't know.

- Where is she now?
- She's here in Wisconsin.

We've started the separation process.

When you got Steve back
from the war -

- and he'd experienced all these
things that you are not a part of -

- how did that affect you?
Did he talk about it?

What he had been through
during the deployment? No.

And I decided not to ask him
until he's ready to talk.

It's really bad that you never know
what happened to ...

... the closest person next to you.

Uhm ... especially with little kids
you're always so stressed out -

- and I really need his help,
but he's not ready for that.

He's more like ... really having
a problem with his emotions.

I think I was less emotionally stable,
I would swing.

Yeah, yeah.

- Did it scare you?
- Oh ... yeah. It did.

It was really bad.

It was a time when I was kinda ...

I was alone with myself.
I was shoving everything out.

I was coming home. I should be happy
to be with my wife and kids -

- but really I just wanted to be alone.

I was mad. I was angry.
I was quick-tempered.

There were times that I thought
Alex was ignoring me -

- or not paying attention to me,
and I'd reach out and grab her arms -

- and just kinda hold her there,
so that she would look at me.

Afterwards she'd show me -

- that just by grabbing a hold of her
I had bruised her on the arms.

Until we started the process of divorce
I would've said I was fine.

If you'd asked her, she would've told
you I was different when I returned -

- and that I never returned
the same person.

Can you tell me again
what happened, if you're ready.

Aha.
I put sand in Griffin's mouth.

So if he's just laying down,
doing his own thing -

- do you think it's a kind thing to do
to put sand in his mouth?

- And then you laughed about it.
- I wasn't!

I guess Will's not ready.
You can go play.

But I am ready!

- I hate you.
- I know you're really angry at me.

How about if we go inside and use
your snow globe to calm down?

No!
I'm not!

I'm not.

- What do you want to use?
- Nothing.

I want to play.

I'm gonna come back
in 5 minutes, okay?

Okay.

Every emotion has
a corresponding rhythm of the breath.

Remember we talked about the guy
that got angry ...

You could watch him getting angry
through the breath.

And when we were young
these rhythms were natural to us.

The breath we're gonna
learn today, is designed -

- to instil those natural rhythms back.
There may be some changes -

- in the mind or body
during the process of breathing -

- and they could be a little diverting.
But the key to success is -

- whatever is happening to continue
to throw it into the breath.

How many people are willing
to go through the process?

Let us take a transition breath in.
Breathe in.

And let it go.

And with victory breath,
breathe in, two, three, four.

Hold, two, three, four.

Breathe out, two, three, four.

Breathe in.

Hold.

Breathe out.

Hold.
Breathe in.

Hold.

So, what was it like?

Anybody speak. Rich?

I kept up with the breathing okay,
but towards the end of it -

- my arms and hands
started to cramp up.

And as soon as I laid down, I just got
hit by a ton of guilt, actually.

I flashed back to two people I felt
responsible for that had gotten killed.

I kept seeing faces go by my eyes,
and it's ...

- Faces from your past?
- Yeah.

And the thoughts of those people
are still kinda with me.

I don't know if people heard it, but
I laughed, trying to cover up a cry.

I was thinking about a translator that
I made good friends with over there.

When we left they ... they ...
you know.

Sent his head to his family
and stuff like that.

I didn't like it at all, actually.

I liked the fast breathing.
It gave me something to do.

But the whole sitting around thing,
I progressively liked it less and less.

I'm used to being really busy all the
time, so I can't think about stuff -

- and now it's making me think
about stuff that I don't like doing.

The breathing allows
the trauma to be released -

- so it's not like you're experiencing
these feelings for no reason.

I will be calling you this afternoon,
checking in and saying hello.

Is that okay with everybody?

Ryan? It's okay?

So, will you make sure
you answer or call me back?

"Chester loved the kiss. Now he knew
his mother's love would go with him -

- wherever he went,
even to school."

You see that there's an empty seat
over there. Ryan isn't with us today.

He called last night, and he said:

"This stuff coming up in me,
I'm not sure I'm ready to deal with it."

We told him a lot of things.
And maybe some of you are -

- experiencing stuff you weren't sure
you'd be dealing with at this point.

He's welcome here. We hope he finds
a way to complete his mission -

- but we didn't want you
to wonder why he's not here.

I kinda thought I was ready to talk
about some stuff in my past -

- and the deep breathing and the yoga
and all that kinda stuff -

- made it a little more difficult
than I had anticipated.

I'm used to having my mind occupied
with school, working out, training -

- work, whatever.
I'm used to always being busy.

I think I'm doing a lot better
than some I know that got back.

My working out, my going to
an extreme level of fitness -

- is equivalent to them going out
and drinking or doing drugs.

That's their way of dealing with it.
I chose this, and they chose that.

Everybody has their own
method of doing it, but ...

... personally I think this is better.

My colleagues were, for the most part,
extremely sceptical.

They made it clear that if I wanted
a successful career in science -

- this was not a good way
for me to begin it.

So I stopped doing
meditation research.

There are very few people
that knew I was a meditator.

I was a closet meditator,
and of course all that changed -

- in 1992 when I met the Dalai Lama.

He said to me: "We've been using
tools of modern neuroscience -

- to study qualities like fear
and anxiety and depression.

Why can't we use those same tools
to study kindness and compassion?"

One.

Two. Keep going.

What do plants and bulbs
need to grow?

- Sun and water.
- Sun is one thing.

- Water is another thing.
- Soil!

Love!

- Do you know why?
- Because ...

Because if you don't love it,
it won't grow.

That's right if you don't care
for things, will they grow?

- No.
- First, put in the bulbs.

Then put dirt on top of them.

Can everybody use these cups
at the same time. There are only 2.

Wait.

- I need dirt.
- That was mine! Give it to me!

What happened, buddy?
What happened, honey?

He snatched that bucket from me.

- I got it first.
- No, you didn't.

Excuse me, I would like you both
to talk with me for a second.

Does it feel tight in here?
Show me with your hand -

- how it feels inside.
Where does it feel tight?

Right there?
And in your throat.

Okay, watch me.
Put your hand on your belly -

- and take in a breath with me.

Blow it out.
And breathe in.

And breathe out.
This is what I would like you to do.

How does it feel in there now,
does it still feel tight?

- As tight or less tight?
- Less ...

Good, so here's my question.
I would like you to ask him:

- "Tell me why you're sad."
- Tell me why you're sad.

Because you snatched that from me.

So, what did he say?

- I snatched it from him.
- And how does he look right now?

- Sad.
- Very, very sad.

- But I only ...
- But wait a second.

Now I want you to tell him
how you're feeling.

Can you listen to him when he talks?
Alright.

Tell him how you're feeling
when you see him so sad.

- Sad.
- You feel sad, too.

Show me where in your body,
you feel sad.

- Right here.
- You feel sad in your body.

It doesn't feel good, does it? What
might you do to help him feel better?

- Sorry.
- You can say you're sorry.

What else can you do
to help him feel a little bit better?

Oh, that would be nice.
How do you feel on the inside?

- Good.
- Do you feel good or tight and sad?

Good.

True confessions, how many people
were able to do their homework?

Good. And how many people
didn't find time?

I'm wondering,
have you guys practiced -

- with belly buddies in a while?

Spread out, you can come off
your matt, 'cause I wanna practice.

Continual practice is something
very important -

- and it's kind of like
physical exercise.

You don't go to a spa for 10 days
and exercise and think -

- that the benefits will last
for the remainder of your life -

- if you don't continue to practice,
and meditation is very similar.

Feel that rock going up and down.

Breathing in.

The brain of an accomplished
meditator who is very happy -

- has a number of
important characteristics -

- which are different
from the brain of an untrained person.

One is at the area
in the front part of the brain -

- which is what we call
the prefrontal cortex.

This part of the brain is very important
for regulation of emotion -

- and regulation of attention,
and one of the things we find is that -

- in long-term meditation practitioners
there is increased activation -

- in this area. They become
more pronounced during meditation -

- but they're also more pronounced
just in the ordinary baseline state.

Meditation in addition to affecting
the mind and the brain -

- it also affects our body.

One of the things we've studied
is the immune system -

- and one of the ways we've studied it
is by looking at a person's response -

- to a flu vaccine, and
one remarkable finding indicates -

- that people who are taught
meditation and are meditating -

- for the first time and go through
2 months of meditation -

- actually show an enhanced response
to the flu vaccine -

- compared to
untrained controls.

And we just don't know
how that actually comes about.

Is it literally growing new neurons -

- in specific areas
that contribute to this?

Is it a strengthening
of new connections?

Is it pruning connections that may
have been causing a lot of noise -

- and disruption, like a sculptor
who takes a block of marble -

- and creates something beautiful
by removing components -

- not adding anything?

We don't know what the mechanism is.
It could be any one -

- of those mechanisms,
or it could be all of them.

If there was one or two things
about myself -

- at this point in my life that I'd like
to get in touch with again -

- what would they be?

When I was a little kid,
people used to always comment on -

- how I smiled all the time,
and I don't do that anymore.

When I look at my kids, they have
that innocence and naiveté -

- but I've grown cynical
and closed off.

I thought about it a lot.

Then the realization set in -

- that maybe I haven't really lived
since I've been back.

I've been just kinda ... here.

Jason?

It would be a kind of innocence.
Just being able to ... let go.

Just be in the moment.

There is a place inside you
where that reality still exists.

The question is:
Can we find our way back there?

"Sleep safe, little bear, curled up with
your brother and your mother -

- in the cave. Sleep safe. Sleep safe,
little penguin under daddy's feathers.

All warm in your ice-cold world.
Sleep safe."

The elevator is kinda far away,
isn't it?

We're getting close to the elevator,
how does it feel in your body?

- It feels good.
- It does? Okay, let's go over.

Alright, let's see what happens
when the doors open.

Do you wanna stand in here
and see how it feels in your belly?

- How does it feel in your belly?
- Good.

It does? Are you sure?
Do you want the doors to close or not?

Not.

So, Will, I'm wondering.
Maybe another day -

- could we take that mind jar with us
and take a ride on the elevator?

Another day, or today?

Uhm ... another day.

We'll begin our going-home
program with Ujai breath.

Eyes closed. Normal breath in.

And out.

Elbows to the sky.
Palms on the shoulder blade -

- biceps by the ears.

Hold, two and relax.

So, have you noticed any difference?

Yeah, he's answering the questions
much more positively.

He expresses much less anxiety
and much more optimism -

- than at the first time.

I came to the realization that for the
last 3 years I have not really lived.

Instead, I have lived for my wife -

- and may have contributed
significantly to our problems.

It has changed my life in ways
I never thought possible.

I feel happy:

Like a kid again.

Coming into the course, I wasn't
feeling really good about myself -

- and the things I'd done.
It actually happened last night.

For the first time I could look at stuff
and not really feel anything about it.

Just look at it,
and just know that it happened.

So many little things,
just the fact that -

- I've been able to sleep on my own
without having to take Ambien -

- for almost a whole week
is amazing.

Live, guys.
Just live.

Give yourself permission
to smile again

This poem was written by
Derek Walcott: 'Love After Love'.

The time will come
when with elation

you will greet yourself arriving
at your own door in your own mirror

and each will smile
at the other's welcome

and say:
Sit here, eat

you will love again
the stranger who was yourself

give wine, give bread
give back your heart to itself

to the stranger
who's loved you all your life

whom you ignored for another,
who knows you by heart

take down the love letters
from the bookshelf

the photographs
the desperate notes

peel your image from the mirror

sit
feast on your life

Can I hold your hand
in the elevator?

- Of course you can.
- I'm a little bit scared.

And remember, what does
the snow globe do for you?

- Make me calm.
- Yeah.

Are you ready? Now remember
when you watch up there -

- it's gonna tell you which floors.

If you feel worried what can
you do with the snow globe?

Shake it.

Okay, watch this. How does
your mind and body feel right now?

- Calm.
- Good.

- Is this a funny place?
- Yeah.

Look, does it match?
The six and the six.

Wanna look out
the window real quick?

- Let me see.
- Is it raining?

He did it!
What do we say?

Good job!
Yay!

- What floor did you go to?
- Six!

It's actually a good thing to do
to pick this up occasionally -

- and to remind ourselves -

- that this is the most
complicated organ in the universe.

We've only taken the first
very, very small baby step.

We're just beginning
this journey.

Subtitles: Tina Goldberg
Dansk Video Tekst