You & Your Wise Mind

Greetings OPAL community. This week, we are returning to the Core Mindfulness skills to focus on a central concept in DBT: Wise Mind. As participants in DBT, you have no doubt been asked “what do you think is wise” or “have you consulted your wise mind?” Finding this still, quiet place inside each of us can help us make effective decisions, respond rather than react, and connect with an innate sense of knowing what we need. The Mindfulness skills are considered the core of DBT because they help us to acknowledge and accept where we are, and see clearly “with eyes wide open” where changes must be made. Wise Mind is the embodiment of Mindfulness, as it helps us to balance our thoughts and emotions. The first step toward Wise Mind is observing when we are in other, more extreme states of mind.

EMOTION MIND: HERE, WE ARE RULED BY OUR EMOTION

In emotion mind, my thoughts, feelings, and action urges are typically LOUD, fast, and overwhelming.There is a sense of urgency to the situation.Often our feelings seem to be facts about the world. For example, if it feels like quarantine will never end, then I may believe that to be true. In a different state of mind, I could remind myself that nothing lasts forever, and feelings aren’t facts. Emotions have hard-wired action urges- behaviors we want to do, such as yell/attack when angry, or escape/avoid when scared. In emotion mind, this can lead to acting impulsively without considering consequences.

REASONABLE MIND: HERE, WE ARE FOCUSED ON FACTS AND RULES

Reasonable mind is focused on logical thinking, being pragmatic, and paying attention to observable facts.I can access information from past situations. Often I am successful in task-focused behaviors, such as studying, planning, and researching.My attention is not pulled by emotion or impulsive urges. This can lead to disregarding/ignoring important emotional components of situations- both my own and those of others. I may be experienced as “cool” or invalidating.

WISE MIND: SYNTHESIZING EMOTION AND REASON

Here, we pause to evaluate both the emotional components and facts of a situation, finding a way to honor both. There is a place of Wise Mind in each of us.Our choices and behaviors may allow us to feel a sense of peace, an awareness that we made the most effective decision with the information we had.Wise Mind does not feel or think something to be true, but in fact knows it is true.Accessing Wise Mind can be difficult! The What and How skills can help! Observe, Describe, Participate Non-judgmentally, One-mindfully, EffectivelyWe can also use mindfulness activities such as:Focusing on breathing, saying “Wise” as you inhale and “Mind” as you exhaleAsking ourselves “Is this Wise Mind?” and waiting for a response Imagining there is a spiral staircase inside of us that leads to our Wise Mind, and spending time descending to that place. “Drop into the pauses” between breaths, noticing the moment between the inhale and exhale.