{"id":262,"date":"2013-10-20T18:35:30","date_gmt":"2013-10-20T13:05:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ipi.org.in\/blogs\/?p=262"},"modified":"2013-10-20T19:23:25","modified_gmt":"2013-10-20T13:53:25","slug":"interpersonal-neurobiology-and-indian-psychology-the-hub-of-the-wheel-of-awareness-part-i","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ipi.org.in\/blogs\/interpersonal-neurobiology-and-indian-psychology-the-hub-of-the-wheel-of-awareness-part-i\/","title":{"rendered":"Interpersonal neurobiology and Indian psychology – the “hub” of the wheel of awareness, Part I"},"content":{"rendered":"
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I began this exploration of interpersonal neurobiology (IPNB) and Indian psychology by exploring the connection between the functions of the mid prefrontal cortex (MPFC) and what in Indian psychology is known as the \u201cbuddhi\u201d or, as Sri Aurobindo translates it, the \u201cintelligent will.\u201d I chose this because Dan Siegel, the originator of IPNB, puts so much focus on the MPFC as the means of integrating the various aspects of the mind, emotions and body.<\/p>\n

However, I think this was a mistake. The best place to start, I think, is with a metaphor that Siegel developed, called the \u201cWheel of awareness.\u201d<\/p>\n

IPNB and “The wheel of awareness”<\/strong><\/p>\n

Siegel speaks of awareness as being like a wheel.\u00a0 On the rim of the wheel are all the things we are aware of \u2013 including external events, people, places, etc., and internal phenomena such as thoughts, feelings, memories, hopes, desires, etc. By contrast, in the hub, the center of the wheel, there is simply awareness. As Siegel puts it, as our consciousness becomes progressively more integrated (in large part due to the development o the mid prefrontal cortex and its naturally integrative capacity), we learn more and more to \u201cdistinguish the experience of knowing \u2013 the wheel\u2019s hub \u2013 from that which is known \u2013 the wheel\u2019s rim.\u201d<\/p>\n

For those familiar with Indian psychology, this is the distinction between the witness and the objects of awareness. Of course, I think the Indian psychology version is far more profound.\u00a0 But having said that, I think that IPNB is the richest analogue to Indian psychology I\u2019ve ever found in contemporary neuroscience or psychology.<\/p>\n

The Surface and the Depths of the Ocean<\/strong><\/p>\n

Actually, Siegel uses an ancient Indian metaphor to describe the hub. He compares our mind to an ocean, with the rim representing the surface, and the hub representing the deep tranquility, calm, and peace at the depths of the ocean.\u00a0 As we develop our capacity for \u201ccoming back to the hub,\u201d\u00a0 we find there is always a \u201csanctuary\u201d of safety, contentment, caring and compassion within.<\/p>\n

Bonnie Badenoch is a clinician who teaches IPNB at Portland State University. In her book, \u201cBeing a Brain Wise Therapist,\u201d she describes what it is like to develop this ability to \u201ccome back to the hub\u201d in the midst of one\u2019s daily life.\u00a0 \u201cLife at the hub of the mind is filled with a sense of freshness, compassion, tranquility, gentle humor and in some sense mastery\u2026 it comes as a result of cultivating the ability to not seek control, but instead to pay kind attention, on purpose, without grasping onto judgments, to whatever arises in the mind from moment ot moment.. an acceptance of whatever is arising as it arises.\u201d<\/p>\n

Remembering to Breathe<\/strong><\/p>\n

On our website, www.remember-to-breathe.org, we use the phrase “remember to breathe” both literally and figuratively. \u00a0Literally, it means to pause in the midst of activity and take a long, slow breath. Figuratively, it means to use your breath – or whatever other means you choose – to “come back to the hub”.<\/p>\n

Dan Siegel, in his textbook of IPNB, “The Developing Mind”, has a beautiful passage in which he describes the effects of “remembering to breathe” or “coming back to hub”. \u00a0He states that as we more and more remember to come back to the “hub”, we feel more connected to others, and connected to a greater “interconnected whole.”<\/p>\n

Siegel continues: \u201cWe may come to sense the infinite possibility of awareness contained within the differentiated inner hub. This awareness often gives rise to a sense of knowing that the body, a point on the rim, is only one of many ways to define what \u201cthe self\u201d actually is… A broader view is that a self is a part of a much larger interconnected whole:<\/p>\n

“[Scientific] studies of happiness, health and wisdom each reveal that positive attributes are associated with helping others and giving back to the world… \u00a0We achieve a deep sense of meaning and accomplishment when we are devoted to something beyond our personal individual concerns. Integration creates health and expands our sense of who we are in life, connecting us to others and a wider sense of ourselves. \u00a0 Being compassionate to others, and to ourselves, is a natural outcome of the healthy development of the mind. Kindness and compassion are integration made visible. If we take on the challenge of integration across its many domains, we may just be able to make a meaningful difference in the lives of people here now, and for future generations to come.”<\/p>\n

*******************<\/p>\n

In future posts, I’ll add some more about the “hub” (or as we refer to it on our website, the “core”) from the perspective of IPNB. Then I’ll explore parallels in Indian psychology – more specifically, what Sri Aurobindo refers to as “the psychic being” – the Purusha “no bigger than a thumb” that (metaphorically) resides in our heart, at the “core” of our being (and I’ll try to explain why I find the Indian psychological understanding of this “core” is far, far more complex, richer and more profound than what can be found in the best of our current neuroscience or psychology, even in IPMB).<\/p>\n

I welcome your feedback, either here in the comments section, or sent to donsalmon7@gmail.com. \u00a0Thanks!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I began this exploration of interpersonal neurobiology (IPNB) and Indian psychology by exploring the connection between the functions of the mid prefrontal cortex (MPFC) and what in Indian psychology is known as the \u201cbuddhi\u201d or, as Sri Aurobindo translates it, the \u201cintelligent will.\u201d I chose this because Dan Siegel, the originator of IPNB, puts so […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ipi.org.in\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/262"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ipi.org.in\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ipi.org.in\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ipi.org.in\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ipi.org.in\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=262"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.ipi.org.in\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/262\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":272,"href":"https:\/\/www.ipi.org.in\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/262\/revisions\/272"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ipi.org.in\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=262"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ipi.org.in\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=262"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ipi.org.in\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=262"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}