Doubt, Certainty, and Mindfulness

specialized activities

allow us to change how we respond to activities; prompt us to change interpretation or reinforce interpretation

doubt

the unpleasant feeling that accompanies uncertainty (form of reception); in yoga, this prompts us to ask whether we can learn to find pleasure in current situation that we experience as painful

ways to avoid doubt

1. refusing to think about the doubtful action

2. assuming we will be able to perform doubtful action someday

• limits attention to what we can control

mental doubt

shapes how we think and speak

bodily doubt

shapes how we act and receive experience; caused by injury/illness (ex: weak vs strong ankle)

respond

we can _________ to things, ideas, and sensations

• we do this to aesthetic or functional alignment

certainty

the pleasurable feeling of not having to pay attention to something; may take attention away from own bodies

hedonic treadmill

pleasure seeking treadmill; vainly trying to achieve happiness by seeking what’s around the corner; once we have it, we stop paying attention to it

mindfulness

the experience of things as passing through time; paying attention from moment to moment

two components of mindfulness

our sense of the thing’s novelty and our sense of its familiarity

comparisons

these are not experiences of time (looking at watch or phone) because we see a number and compare it with other numbers

3

(1) Jack is new to yoga. (2) When the instructor cues Crow Pose, Jack assumes that he is not ready for this pose, so he takes a Deep Squat instead. (3) Jack feels comfortable in Deep Squat because it is so familiar and does not demand his attention. (4) Jack looks at his phone to see how much longer he has to be in the class. (5) Cardi has been doing yoga for years, but today her right elbow is sore from playing tennis. (6) She sets up for Crow Pose, putting her hands on the mat in front of her and shifting her weight forward. (7) She isn’t sure whether she can safely take the pose or not, and she finds this lack of knowledge unpleasant. (8) Cardi shifts her attention to her breathing, noticing the flow of her breath from one moment to the next.

• The specialized activity of certainty occurs most clearly in sentence ____

8

(1) Jack is new to yoga. (2) When the instructor cues Crow Pose, Jack assumes that he is not ready for this pose, so he takes a Deep Squat instead. (3) Jack feels comfortable in Deep Squat because it is so familiar and does not demand his attention. (4) Jack looks at his phone to see how much longer he has to be in the class. (5) Cardi has been doing yoga for years, but today her right elbow is sore from playing tennis. (6) She sets up for Crow Pose, putting her hands on the mat in front of her and shifting her weight forward. (7) She isn’t sure whether she can safely take the pose or not, and she finds this lack of knowledge unpleasant. (8) Cardi shifts her attention to her breathing, noticing the flow of her breath from one moment to the next.

• Mindfulness (as we are using the term in this class) appears most clearly in sentence ___

Cardi

(1) Jack is new to yoga. (2) When the instructor cues Crow Pose, Jack assumes that he is not ready for this pose, so he takes a Deep Squat instead. (3) Jack feels comfortable in Deep Squat because it is so familiar and does not demand his attention. (4) Jack looks at his phone to see how much longer he has to be in the class. (5) Cardi has been doing yoga for years, but today her right elbow is sore from playing tennis. (6) She sets up for Crow Pose, putting her hands on the mat in front of her and shifting her weight forward. (7) She isn’t sure whether she can safely take the pose or not, and she finds this lack of knowledge unpleasant. (8) Cardi shifts her attention to her breathing, noticing the flow of her breath from one moment to the next.

• Who has an experience of time in this story?

Cardi

(1) Jack is new to yoga. (2) When the instructor cues Crow Pose, Jack assumes that he is not ready for this pose, so he takes a Deep Squat instead. (3) Jack feels comfortable in Deep Squat because it is so familiar and does not demand his attention. (4) Jack looks at his phone to see how much longer he has to be in the class. (5) Cardi has been doing yoga for years, but today her right elbow is sore from playing tennis. (6) She sets up for Crow Pose, putting her hands on the mat in front of her and shifting her weight forward. (7) She isn’t sure whether she can safely take the pose or not, and she finds this lack of knowledge unpleasant. (8) Cardi shifts her attention to her breathing, noticing the flow of her breath from one moment to the next.

• Who has the specialized activity of doubt in this story?