I've just skimmed through twenty or so pages of a book recommended as one of the 'big' books in Mindfulness... It gives some good advise [add: some very good advise in places, here's a link], though misunderstands the term rumination in my opinion. Then it goes a bit wonky and says when emotionally labile you should slow down, when angry you should kindly but firmly squanch your anger and (seemingly as general rule) prune any stray thoughts from your mind to maintain focus on the task at hand.... Now I've always found those three things to be psychologically convenient but flawed and often-times things that later bite you in the ass.
Here's a ramble on how and maybe why?



1) It says slow down when labile.. No, god no, don't shut yourself down, how the hell are you supposed to feel or understand a static array of wild (therefore raw) emotion if you're also in the process of trying to slow or stop it, I can see the easy confusion here and these things are abstract enough that perhaps we are discussing the same process through different means. But don't slow down, spread... let your mind relax until you can feel it all, it actually speeds the thought processes (in my exp.) but may feel slower because you're taking it all in steadily rather than tunnel-vision through things that are coming at you. Spread. [this is where it gets crazy guys, I'm talking about visceral When I'm feeling anxious (most likely labile) or static array* I become aware that 'I' (my mental awareness) is pushed into the [Add: dura - below the cerebellum, connects to upper spine] low neck - upper spine almost, and stuck (anxiety, not always stuck so firmly) so starting from the cerebellum, take a deep breath and spread the consciousness around (I sometimes visualise as a birds wings as (s)he stretches, out around and encompassing the body in warmth) and back through the centre. It also a useful way to boot straight into meditation mode when I'm otherwise (walking etc) occupied but need a deep breath.
[For me: 1 to 2 is usually easy, key is to tap both sides of three and then staying at four... Each time you go around the loop four becomes a little easier to hold onto, uh, it feels like I leave a little more of my conscious mind at the full four spread for each loop, the composite effect being that it becomes easier to hold there at conclusion.].
I hope some of that nonsense made sense to someone. Also, I just drew up that crude graphic to give an indication of motion.. it's probably nowhere near accurate to a clinical depiction of the brain.


2) Kindly but firmly put your anger aside... Nooo! Are you trying to make people unconsciously supress/repress their anger until it bursts?? There are situations wherein you do not have time to process emotion before the delay would incur real-world shit from passing you by, action in those moments is key.... However if you're car's broken down on the side of the road, you have the fucking time to vent. There's no need in a lot of situations to 'put your anger aside'.. and again, I may be misunderstanding the process the author was describing, but this sounds an awful lot like repression (which is only imo appropriate when circumstance forbids, eg immediate action required, trauma etc). In a sudden anger situation (like the car) well, I'd always recommend the graphic above when you need to think clearly for a moment.. but put your anger into perspective, let yourself feel it for what it is. And often it's not as bad as it seems when you think about it, or the argument isn't so urgent that you need to hurt the person you're arguing with. On occasions I have.. felt it for what it was and still wanted to burn the world.. I've been the nihilistic asshole suggesting that a world war would cure overpopulation but .. and this is hard for me to acknowledge .. that's just me being a self-centered asshole and the world (every bit of life around me) deserves more respect than that... that's the moment when you need faith. (And that's my faith, the universe is vast and older than I can imagine, the chances of us being here are so small that it's pretty much amazing. Life. I am basically nothing and yet through my perception I am all I know and have power to be. Cogito ergo.. vitae!)

3) prune stray thoughts to promote focus.... stray thoughts are where most of the fun things in my life come from.. "how funny - that stone looks a bit like that one on the climbing wall that I missed last time.. I should go rock climbing today, fuck yeah!" ... "oh my word that blond girl is quick minded and she's got a bloody sharp tongue.." so met myfavouritehuman. It's also how I write most of the time bc 'the muse' is a stray-thoughts groupie... As before there are occasions when complete focus are necessary, in those moments it may be necessaryto discard stray thoughts without looking at them, the vast majority of time is not that kind of time. Stray ideas, things that the mind comes up with without a predefined focus or premise have also lead to some of my bigger realisations in life.. an abstract thought can appear stray then you're not looking at it from the right angle. Those are for me the truly creative stuff that builds over time into a fictional world or a remembrance, recognition and acceptance of a personality trait that I find hard to see in-self.. or whatever. Stray thoughts can be wonderful, if I need to focus I put the thought in a box (or painting, displayed object, memory trigger) for later.




I have to go to the doctors now and convince them to cut my face open a little bit.... this is a strange day so far.....





*Just for reference.. this is a term that years ago I misunderstood from a C++ basic book. Since then my mind has used it internally to describe a psychological function (beautifully exemplified by some ptsd symptoms) whereby I feel statically held in place with a wild emotional array in and from every direction. I don't think this is a typical definition or use of the word, however I've been using it for long enough that it's part of my standard psych' vocabulary.