{"id":37235,"date":"2024-04-04T20:59:40","date_gmt":"2024-04-05T03:59:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/?p=37235"},"modified":"2024-04-21T08:03:19","modified_gmt":"2024-04-21T15:03:19","slug":"the-water-was-warm","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/the-water-was-warm\/","title":{"rendered":"The Water Was Warm"},"content":{"rendered":"

After five days of lying in the dark, something surprising happened. I washed my hands and I noticed how the warm water flowing over my hands and wrist and it was good. I realized I was present in the moment. <\/em>\u00a0How long had it been since I experienced being present? I remembered chewing an apple in a spiritual formation class in 2012. Surely not that long.<\/p>\n

A few weeks ago, I woke up with a stiff neck, as if I had slept on it badly.\u00a0 A couple of hours later I was experiencing an intense headache and then became nauseous. I stopped thinking about work. I stopped thinking about school. My mind turned off and I slept like I\u2019ve never slept before. \u00a0On day three I tried WebMD and was prescribed for a migraine but it did not help at all. On day four I went to the doctor in person. Negative for covid, positive for the flu. It was a complete surprise because I never really felt sick, just exhausted and the headache. There were two more days of darkness and sleep before I moved from the bed to the couch.<\/p>\n

Once I emerged, I was behind in all my work and study. I felt depressed and discouraged at all that was in front of me and I knew things needed to change. I had been struggling to concentrate before the big sick and now it was impossible. Somehow, the moment of noticing that the water was warm and pleasant stayed with me and I knew it held a key.<\/p>\n

I determined that I could be more effective by slowing down and just focusing on one thing at time, perhaps I could concentrate on being present, a forgotten practice. I also organized my day into time blocks and turned off all<\/em> the notifications on my phone and<\/em> my computer. These strategies were helping and that was before<\/em> I started reading Your Brain at Work<\/em> by David Rock.<\/p>\n

According to the neuroscience of mindfulness what happened when washing my hands that day was utilization of the mental map of direct <\/em>experience. Another way to experience the world is through the (default) mental map called narrative circuit.[1]<\/strong><\/a><\/em> I had become trapped for a while with only one map and we need both. Having said \u2018yes\u2019 to too many things earlier in the year I have been paying the price and living in the default mental map of constantly narrating\/strategizing my next steps. The result of which was total deprivation of the richness mindfulness.<\/p>\n

Now, if I feel anxiety building, I can notice the feeling and just remembering the time of handwashing helps me quiet the overactive narrative circuit and pull out the map of direct experience. That is the map where the deep breaths, the pleasantly clacking keyboard, and the scent of mint tea reside. Noticing those things makes a difference in my ability to stay focused and productive because I better understand how my brain works.<\/p>\n

Rock\u2019s thesis is that by understanding how your brain works, you actually gain the capacity to change your brain.[2]<\/a> Making the transition from applying helpful techniques, like time blocking and distraction reducing, that help one concentrate to learning how and why the brain works is a great leap forward in effective work and leadership. The best news of all: changing the brain can occur while<\/em> working, it does not require an extra investment of time or adding a new life activity. I have been given language <\/em>to describe what is happening in my brain which gives me power, a good kind of power![3]<\/a> Having language to describe the brain functioning allows the tools to work better because I have a mental map of understanding. Right before the big sick I was starting to worry that something was wrong with my brain: Early onset dementia? Undiagnosed ADHD? Why was I have so much trouble concentrating \u2013 there had to be something wrong.<\/p>\n

Something was wrong, it is called too-many-actors-on-the-stage-itis. Or maybe it is called dual-task interference<\/em>, either way, I was short circuiting because trying to understand new information, decide what is important and recalling where I put the great ideas was putting too much energy drain on my pre-frontal cortex.[4]<\/a> But all of this brain science is only reinforcing something I already know.<\/p>\n

All the complexity of my brain, of your brain, is completely understood by the One who created us. He knows my anxiety, overwork and overthinking. He knows when I am trapped in my own narrative. Drawing on Brother Lawrence and centuries of other spiritual teaching, Gregory Boyd refers to being trapped in self-centered chatter and offers practicing the presence of God as an antidote.[5]<\/a> Rock suggests utilizing the concept of the director <\/em>(what neuroscientists call mindfulness) to give us space to choose reactions and become more effective.[6]<\/a> As much as I want to be more effective at work and study, what I really, truly hunger for is to be present for is Jesus. The warm water reminded me that I have forgotten to practice presence and lost awareness of His presence. Understanding my brain is helping me reawaken my spirit.<\/p>\n

[1]<\/a> David Rock, Your Brain at Work: Strategies for Overcoming Distraction, Regaining Focus, and Working Smarter All Day Long<\/em>, Revised and updated edition (New York, NY: Harper Business, 2020), <\/em>92-93.<\/p>\n

[2]<\/a> David Rock, Your Brain at Work<\/em>, 96.<\/p>\n

[3]<\/a> David Rock, Your Brain at Work, <\/em>56.<\/p>\n

[4]<\/a> David Rock, Your Brain at Work, <\/em>34.<\/p>\n

[5]<\/a> Gregory A. Boyd, \u201cPresent Perfect: Finding God in the Now,(Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2010), 70.<\/p>\n

[6]<\/a> David Rock, Your Brain at Work, <\/em>34.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

After five days of lying in the dark, something surprising happened. I washed my hands and I noticed how the warm water flowing over my hands and wrist and it was good. I realized I was present in the moment. \u00a0How long had it been since I experienced being present? I remembered chewing an apple […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":207,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[2681,2967],"class_list":["post-37235","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-rock","tag-dlgp03","cohort-dlgp03"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37235","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/207"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37235"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37235\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":37699,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37235\/revisions\/37699"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37235"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37235"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37235"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}