goals for the fifth evening  to understand emotions better - particularly from an adaptive evolutionary viewpoint  to develop increased choice and skill in responding to emotions  to be clear about this week’s practice which includes both breath & 2nd differential exercise

the practice for this week 5th week’s exercise: Both arms are heavy and warm Both legs are heavy and warm The pulse is steady and calm Breath breathes me Neck and shoulders are heavy I am at peace every day: practise this standard breath exercise at least once daily. Also at least once daily practise the second differential exercise. About 50% of all exercises should be without a tape. Explore if therapeutic writing might be useful for you.

four aspects of helpful inner focus reducing negative states nourishing positive states exploring & processing encouraging mindfulness

“there is nothing so practical as a good theory” kurt lewin: ‘founder’ of american social psychology clients may well rate new understanding as one of the most important aspects of therapy Butler G et al Anxiety management: developing effective strategies Behav Res Ther 1987;25: “it is the theory which decides what we can observe” albert einstein: in debate with heisenberg theoretical maps are crucial: 1

why do we have emotions? “in the wilderness in which the human race developed its current genetic characteristics, individuals who had the capacity to respond to dangerous or otherwise significant circumstances with an adequate set of emotions, and acted accordingly, had a better chance to survive, to have children, and to raise them than individuals who were deficient in that respect” Gut E Productive & unproductive depression London: Routledge, 1989 emotions often help us respond effectively:

what do emotions do?  prepare the body-mind for “appropriate” action heart rate, blood flow, hormones, & also changes in memory, thinking, etc  provide information on how situation is assessed noting & interpreting the felt-sense  send out signals to others posture, voice tone, facial expression, speed of movement send signals to others about self and assessment of environment

understanding is itself therapeutic Butler G et al Anxiety management: developing effective strategies Behav Res Ther 1987;25: for example in the Oxford anxiety management training:  patients were asked to rate fifteen different components of the training on a scale running from 0 (not at all helpful) to 3 (extremely helpful)  general components like “receiving information about anxiety” were rated as even more helpful than specific techniques (average 2.4 v’s 2.1)  components that scored as most helpful included “information about the effects of anxiety”(2.5), “relaxation”(2.5) & “rationale for treatment”(2.4)