Be aware of practice

I have a large collection of books about mindfulness. I have returned to most of them many times and marked the margins at quotable bits. Mindfulness is my PRACTICE. It is what stands between unsettled anxiety and self-less peace.

Left to its own devices my mind flitters about like a dry leaf on a windy day. Or perhaps like a dog, horse or elephant before they have been trained to behave in an ‘acceptable’ way.

The essence of the mindfulness PRACTICE is to be AWARE of what is going on in my mind from one thought moment to another. Once I notice I can let go. One of the first things that I came to know was that thoughts are linked to feelings and to moods.(TFM)

One of my main practices is to JUST SIT and to count my breaths, or, to be aware of passing TSM, or to, drop off body and mind.

There are still wafts of unsettled anxiety (due to TFM) but I know that they are mind made and that they disappear when the light of awareness is shone upon them.

“Sitting quietly doing nothing
Spring comes
And the grass  grow by itself”

LIDL wobbly

I was slow packing my shopping at the LIDL checkout. The bloke behind me copped a wobbly and everyone present thought he was out of order. I have sought to analyse my mood by listening to TED talks about behavioural economics. I may not have captured the essence. I could see what Wikipedia and Google have to say or I could string some of my own words about it

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Behavioral economics studies the effects of psychological, cognitive, emotional, cultural and social factors on the economic decisions of individuals and institutions ... and how those decisions vary from those implied by classical theory.

Behavioral economics is primarily concerned with the bounds of rationality of economic agents. Behavioral models typically integrate insights from psychology, neuroscience and microeconomic theory. The study of behavioral economics includes how market decisions are made and the mechanisms that drive public choice.

The three prevalent themes in behavioral economics are:

•  Heuristics: Humans make 95% of their decisions using mental shortcuts or rules of thumb.
•  Framing: The collection of anecdotes and stereotypes that make up the mental filters individuals rely on to understand and respond to events.
•  Market inefficiencies: These include mis-pricing and non-rational decision making.

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Behavioural economics incorporates the study of psychology into the analysis of the decision-making behind an economic outcome, such as the factors leading up to a consumer buying one product instead of another...

Unlike the field of classical economics, in which decision-making is entirely based on cold-headed logic, behavioural economics allows for irrational behaviour and attempts to understand why this may be the case. The concept can be applied in miniature to individual situations, or more broadly to encompass the wider actions of a society or trends in financial markets.

Ref Richard Thaler and Nudge Theory

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SO – I like the idea that the mind has a mind of its own and that it can be changed. “Sensible” (aka “wise”) people have a duty to “think” in a post-classical way. The angry bloke in LIDL’s got noticeably calmer after I caught his eye and gave a mild smile.