Mindfulness, meditation, and  breath awareness.  Is this all a big fad or can you actually gain a cognitive edge from sitting for 15-20 minutes each day focusing on the breath? A recent study published in Science Daily states even after 4 days of 20 minute breath awareness exercises, cognitive improvement can be measured.   Furthermore, Daniel Seigel and others have linked mindful practices to the building the middle prefrontal cortex area of the brain, the area that integrates cortical, limbic, brainstem, somatic and social input.  In short, the middle prefrontal region of the brain, when developed and strengthened like a muscle, can create a state of self-awareness that allows one to navigate the river of thought and experience without getting stuck in the banks of  either rigidity (too much judgment) or chaos (too much perception).  This notion of modulated balance between perception and judgment has significant implications for MBTI practitioners who use the awareness of the 4  functions (dominant, auxiliary, tertiary and inferior) to coach clients using the MBTI model.

In breath awareness exercises, one is instructed to find on the breath first at the level of the nostrils, moving to the chest and finally deep within the abdomen.  After fully identifying all components of the breath,  finding the place where the breath is felt most naturally is the next step.  Breath awareness exercises are not relaxation exercises, they train the mind to be focused.  When the mind starts to wander as it invariably will do, it is important to take note of that and gently refocus without judgment. From my own personal experience as an ENFP doing these exercises, I am amazed at how many thoughts dart through my head as I attempt to focus on the breath.  Anyone who shares intuition as the dominant function can probably relate to how difficult it can be to maintain focus and follow through on a given task or maintain a topic of conversation  when connections, patterns, and new ideas are emerging, competing for cognitive primacy.  The key is to be aware of what the mind is doing then gently redirect thought within the cognitive system. In my own experience with meditation, I have improved my focus as well as developed an awareness of when I need to to stop generating options and perspectives and use my auxiliary function, feeling, to craft a course of action.  In addition, as my ability to self-monitor my thoughts and judgments has improved, so has my ability to successfully access my tertiary and inferior functions.   This self-awareness assists in creating an elegant shift among the 4 functions all brought about by the strengthening  the prefrontal cortex area of the brain, the area that directs energy and thought throughout the rest of the human brain.

What if someone has a judging function as the dominant function?  Can an ESTJ use meditation to navigate the river of thought and experience?   The answer is yes because meditation is strengthening the fibers of  the brain where self-monitoring  and behavior modulation take place,  not the functions of either judgment or perception.  To use an analogy, it is like tuning up the transmission of a car allowing for improved shifting among the 4 functions.  Whereas excessive perceptive can create chaos in the mind, rigidity is the result of too much judgment.  So, taking the example of an ESTJ, who may be quick to render a judgment,  balance can be achieved by consciously shifting into the fact gathering mode.  In fact, one can go to any area of brain more easily if self-awareness and the ability to redirect cognitive activity is present through a well-developed prefrontal cortex.

Meditation can be tricky.  Many people are turned off by it because it feels like a waste of time. Others are frustrated because they don’t think they are “doing it right.” My first round with mindfulness and meditation was rigorous.  It involved 45-minute body scans, sitting meditations, and yoga.  With all that needs to be done in a day, it may be difficult to fit in all of the components of a comprehensive program.  However, for a less time consuming,  day to day application of meditation, I highly recommend a 20 minute simple breath awareness meditation. With this increase in awareness, it may be possible to shift more easily among the functions of perception and judgment.

*For more information on a good place to start this meditation practice, please see my article entitled “Breath Awareness Meditation” at annholm.net

Much has been written about the importance of formulating goals to achieve success.  First, you appraise your current situation.  Next,  you decide what you wish to achieve.  Then you identify specific activities that will help you reach that goal.  Simple, right?   Unfortunately, many people fall short of their goals not because they don’t know what they want or can’t identify activities that will lead them there.  Instead they fall short because they don’t know know how to overcome the force that leads them back to their  default mode or comfort zone.

Every psychological type has both strengths and developmental challenges.  For example, an ENFP type is full of creative ideas and schemes but is also prone to losing focus and follow through once the newness has worn off.  An INFJ  may be able to mediate complex interactions among individuals but at the same time, be reluctant to intrude upon others and thus keep too much to himself.    Why isn’t  it enough to implore the ENFP to “just do it” or to encourage the INFJ to just share what he is thinking?

It is natural for an ENFP to want to move on to the next challenge because her dominant function is extraverted intuition.   Her brain is excited by new ideas, patterns, and insights. This is her default mode similar to the default settings on the computer. In the absence of a deliberate effort to bypass this natural tendency, she will enthusiastically jump from one intriguing curiosity to the next.  She may be aware that she has to finish a given activity in order to meet a stated goal.   However, the key to accomplishing this is an effective strategy to help her manage a natural tendency.

Perhaps she learns to write down ideas as they pop into her head rather than immediately following her nose to satisfy her curiosity.  With the advent of Google, it’s easy to get sidetracked by wanting to know something right now rather than later on.  Or maybe there is some mundane task like writing the bills that she often ignores in favor of a more exciting task.   Maybe she has has to take them to a coffee shop to work on them so she can be around people but not be distracted by other more intriguing stimuli in her home.

What about the INFJ who won’t share what is on his mind?  Maybe he needs to remind himself that many people he will be sharing his thoughts with are not as sensitive as he is so he can afford to be a little more forthright.  Or, he can capitalize on his effective writing skills by putting his thoughts into a letter or, using a journal to formulate what he is going to say so he is fully prepared to speak his mind.  He needs a strategy that goes beyond the goal that he will “speak up more often in meetings”, for example. He needs to know how he can do this without creating so much anxiety that he avoids it altogether.

Effective coaching has 3 main components:  1. Increased self-awareness.   2.Goal setting and identification of activities leading to those goals.  3.Strategies that will increase the likelihood that those goals will be successfully met.   Awareness of psychological type through the use of the MBTI instruments can provide needed insight on how these strategies are formulated.

March is Brain Awareness Month so the bookstore was overflowing with intriguing selections for me to take on vacation.   I have a lifelong passion for brains.  How do they work? What happens when they are broken? How do you get the most out of your brain?  For instance, I am intrigued by the notion that many of the behavioral observations that have been made about the brain, behavior, cognition, and personality over the course of thousands of years can now be confirmed through imaging techniques such as the fMRI or the PET scan.  Indeed, there is no better time than now to learn about the brain, appreciate individual differences, and to be wowed by it’s wonders.

The first book I read was The Edison Gene/ADHD and the Gift of the Hunter Child by Thon Hartmann (By clicking the link, you can also read the American Psychiatric Institute’s review  of the book).  There is ongoing controversy as to whether ADHD is a real disorder or if it is the gift of creativity and adaptability in it’s highest form.  Thomas Edison, left school after only 3 months of formal education and was labeled, “a problem child, stupid and difficult” by his teachers.  He set his father’s barn on fire to see what would happen.  He laid on goose eggs to see if he could hatch them.  His mother had to move his laboratory into the basement for fear that he would blow up the house.  Of course, without Thomas Edison, there would be no light bulbs, no phonographs, and no motion pictures among other critical inventions.   The author makes the case that medicating or trying to “break”  the highly creative types like Edison, our society would not move forward.    As I read the book, I imagined the Thomas Edison types to be intuitive- thinking-perceiving types  ( ENTP  and the INTP) using the Myers-Briggs terminology.  Another parallel terms would be right brain thinking (holistic, random, intuitive and a “could be” focus) versus left brain thinking (linear, sequential, concrete,and a “what is” focus).

I agree with the author’s assertion that people are wired differently and are therefore more adept at various tasks.   Some individuals tend to remain open to changes in incoming data and adapt accordingly while others prefer structure, organization and consistency. Neither style of thinking is superior to the other.  Read the rest of this entry »

Everyone procrastinates; some do so rarely and others battle it all of the time.  For some MBTI personality types, particularly the ENTP and ENFP types, procrastination is omnipresent.  For these types, there always seems to be a monkey on the back or an alligator snapping at the knees waiting to be addressed.  That is because these two types have   extraverted intuition as the dominant cognitive process. The ENTP and the ENFP are always scanning the external environment for something more interesting, amusing or new.   The brain is literally lit up when a new experience is present and conversely, it is lulled to sleep when an old task has to be completed or is excessively repetitive.    People procrastinate because they can’t find the focus to do what needs to be done.  In the world of a dominant extraverted intuitive, possibilities present themselves almost constantly with procrastination being a natural byproduct of these distractions.

Now what happens when an ENTP type and an ENFP type, two professional procrastinators get together to get work done? Here is the amazing story of Lockdown 2010.   I am an ENFP and I had work that had been hanging over my head for 6 weeks.  My friend, an ENTP,  had a project that had hung over her head for much longer than that.  We both knew that we would feel the sense of accomplishment once it was done.  However recall,  taking something off the “TO DO” list isn’t necessarily the driving force that spurs a dominant extraverted intuitive into action.  It’s the newness. The fun. We can start off with the best of intentions but easily get sidetracked by something interesting to read,  lunch with a fascinating companion, a new project.   Anything is better than dotting the “i’s” or crossing the “t’s”.   We knew we had to make it fun. Read the rest of this entry »

There is a Dr. Suess short story called The Zax. If you click the link, you can enjoy a 3-minute rendition of this story via YouTube.  The essence of the story is that there are two Zaxes, equally stubborn, who will not give in to the other, steadfastly refusing to yield “an inch to the left or an inch to the right”  so the other can go by.  The seasons pass and they do not move.  In fact, even a freeway is built over them as they stand in their tracks refusing to yield to the wishes of each other.

I for one, am  guilty of Zax thinking from time to time. Sometimes I am not interested in a best outcome solution, I am focused on  protecting my territory. For example, my mother can give me a perfectly good suggestion that I will swat back at her with a vengeance. I remember one time when she was visiting, she kept moving a toss pillow from where I had placed it to another location. This went on for several days until finally, I stuffed it into her suitcase and said, “Take it home!! Geez!”  I have since learned that  apparently there are certain decorating principles that are inherently soothing such as keeping more items to the left than to the right. I may have learned something about visual balance. However, deep down, my Zax-think  may have told me that if I yield this point, I may wake up and find my entire house rearranged!  For her part, she needs to learn the your house-my house dichotomy.  Together we can create quite a stand-off  when we lock horns like that.

The point is this: even simple issues like where to place a toss pillow can bring about Zax-think. Conflicts that appear quite ammenable to an outside observer are often stand-offs when the two parties clench their fists, thrust their chins forward, and refuse to compromise.  I know what it feels like to be dug in like that! What does that say about the potential of resolving conflicts  say in the Middle East or among Democrats and Republicans?  Now there you have some quintessential Zaxes!

Well, of course, I can’t solve the problems in the Middle East or in the United States government but I can try to understand my own blindspots and work hard to identify someone else’s perspective. Oftentimes, this is a problem of perception and in the case of Mother and me,  our personalities as described by the Meyers-Briggs Type Inventory bear this out.  She is an ESFJ so she tries to be of practical service to people.  One of the drawbacks to this fine quality is assuming that you know best what others need. On the other hand, I am an ENFP which makes me a bit of an innovative free-spirit  but who also resists controlling others or being controlled.  So it’s the “I’m just trying to be helpful” versus the “You’re trying to control my house!” battle.

So how can I deal with this ultimately?  Well, Mother’s default mode will always be to be of service and I am grateful for that.  However, she cannot assume she knows what’s best for me.  I am pretty old actually and I do know what’s what!  If I give her a project though  that I don’t feel very territorial about and let her go to it, the Zaxes can get along quite well. One time I had her clean out all of the kids lockers while I enjoyed a good book and had a nice warm bath.  That way I didn’t have to hear, “How did these lockers ever get this way! Tsssssk!”

* Currently, I offer the Meyers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) as part of my life coaching practice. I have a 24 year  background in psychometrics and delivering therapy services. I  will be fully certified in the use of the MBTI  as of May 2009.