REWIRING FOR RESILIENCE
The Self-Guided Program

Strength Training for Your Brain

• reduce the negative effects of stress

• increase focus and productivity

• improve outcomes in all areas of life

Weekly Check-in Session Recorded Practices


Glossary of Terms Additional Resources

Introductory Session Video

A note about this program: Mindfulness practice does not replace clinical therapy, and we do not present this training as a cure for any mental or physical medical condition. If at any time during a practice you feel uncomfortable or overwhelmed, simply open your eyes and look around the room. Take a few deep breaths to slow your breathing. Stand up and walk around. Get a drink of water. Take care of yourself.

Introduction

John Wayne is beloved in Wyoming for his self-reliance, his confidence and courage, his stamina and work ethic. But his character only tells half the story. Wyomingites also value working together, cooperation, and neighborliness, as we’ve shown with barn-raisings and community fundraisers and county fairs for more than 130 years.

In this program, made possible through a grant from the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration orchestrated by the Wyoming Department of Health, we’re going to build on what we’re rightfully proud of in this state – our John Wayne-worthy self-reliance – by adding tools to reduce stress and avoid burnout. And we’ll also show you how focus and awareness, human interdependence and social connections strengthen your resilience.

Program goals:

• Practice using science-based tools to reduce the negative impacts of stress, improving workplace resilience and quality of life

• Develop a strategy for integrating mindfulness practice into the workplace and daily life

• Provide relief in real time

Scientific research shows that mindfulness works. We give you a taste of it here, along with resources for those who want to take a deeper dive. Get ready to experience this training, because we are not asking you to memorize anything or “pass” the class. You’re the only one who can measure your progress. You are, as we like to say, a research study of one. You could skip all of the narrative we present here and simply do the practices, with no understanding of why they work on a biological basis, and you will see results.

If you can breathe, you can benefit.

A Moment to Arrive

Begin with A Moment to Arrive. This means taking a minute to complete three deep, intentional breaths, allowing the brain to clear the short-term memory of the preoccupations hogging valuable space in there. Silence your phone and computer notifications and when you’re ready, press the play arrow below and follow the instructions for a Three Deep Breaths practice.

Unit 1: Focus and Attention

• The Dangers of Distraction

• Neuroscience and Mindfulness

• Simple Workouts for Your Brain

Unit 2: Self-Awareness — Your Superpower

• Noticing Internal Experiences

• Disarming Emotions

• Fact vs. Fiction

Unit 3: Outlook and Purpose

• Inner Critic to Inner Mentor

• Replenish Inner Energy

• Connect with your Purpose

Unit 4: Connection and Compassion

• The Science of Connection

• Cultivating Human Capacities

• Kindness as a Strategy

Unit 1: Focus and Attention

The Dangers of Distraction

Modern life bombards the prefrontal cortex, the region of the brain responsible for the ability to be reasonable and effective, and to solve problems with clarity and focus. On a daily basis, we’re presented with 5x the amount of information we received 25 years ago. We have to build strength to withstand the onslaught with “mental fitness exercises” that help us stave off distraction and burnout.

Neuroscience and Mindfulness

From before birth until the day we die, the connections in our brain are reorganizing in response to changing needs. It’s called neuroplasticity, and it’s really good news. Contrary to what we once believed, our brain can grow and change. The question is: What mental muscles will you build?

Simple Workouts for Your Brain

Mindfulness exercise starts with simply paying attention to something — anything. We usually begin with the breath, because you always have it with you. We also use other anchors such as body sensations, awareness of surroundings, thoughts and emotions, and our human connections.

Unit 2: Self-Awareness — Your Superpower

Noticing Internal Experiences

Our emotional world — the inner state that includes thought patterns, emotions, and implicit biases — has an enormous impact on our well-being. And yet so many of the events in our emotional world happen without our awareness.

Name It to Tame It

Labeling emotions for what they are — sadness, anger, frustration — can neutralize them, taking away their power to control us.

Fact vs Fiction

Human brains are wired to make sense of things. But that often leaves us making up stories that magnify our anxieties and fears with worst-case scenario plots. The brain’s “negativity bias” will most often conjure the catastrophic “what if?” scenario.

Unit 3: Outlook and Purpose

Inner Critic to Inner Mentor

Your brain doesn’t actually care about your happiness. It’s focused only on your survival. And it carries a built-in negativity bias with a “better safe than sorry” threat detection system. So the inner critic (we all have one) tends to get noisy when we really just need some support.

Replenish Inner Energy

Running on autopilot drains your brain’s “battery,” leaving you more impatient, more impulsive, and more fatigued. Mindfulness practice renews your personal resources.

Connect With Your Purpose

What motivates you? Why do you do your job, volunteer for a particular organization, or pursue a certain hobby? Mindfulness can help you remember or uncover that purpose, a reflection that improves resilience during challenging times such as a global pandemic.

Unit 4: Connection and Compassion

The Science of Connection

If you’ve ever felt your mood change because of someone else’s presence, you’ve experienced the power of mirror neurons.

Cultivating Our Human Capacity for Compassion

Compassion is innate, but like other “muscles,” it atrophies without exercise. You can strengthen it by focusing attention on ways you are alike with others, and the feelings you have when you spend a moment to actively send them well wishes. Recent advances in neuroscience show that compassion can be enhanced through simple practices such as this.

Kindness as a Strategy

Research shows that the giver of kindness benefits just as much as, if not more than, the receiver, making it an important element in both mental and physical wellness.