TRANSKRIP 🔗
WEBVTT
00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:01.439
Welcome everyone.
00:00:01.679 --> 00:00:04.320
We're really grateful to have Dr.
00:00:04.480 --> 00:00:06.639
Sarah Lazar with us.
00:00:06.959 --> 00:00:12.400
Actually, on the recommendation of Margaret Cullen, who spoke with us about equanimity.
00:00:12.640 --> 00:00:12.960
Dr.
00:00:13.119 --> 00:00:19.120
Lazar is a neuroscientist who studies the impact of mindfulness meditation on the brain.
00:00:19.359 --> 00:00:24.239
She is an associate professor at Harvard Medical School and Mass General Hospital.
00:00:24.480 --> 00:00:29.440
She also serves on the board of directors for the Institute for Meditation and Psychotherapy.
00:00:29.600 --> 00:00:37.359
And her talk today will be on the neural correlates of equanimity in relation to pain and fear.
00:00:37.600 --> 00:00:39.920
So maybe we'll get answers to this question.
00:00:40.079 --> 00:00:44.479
Does mindfulness meditation protect the brain from pain and fear?
00:00:44.640 --> 00:00:46.560
But I'll let her take over.
00:00:46.719 --> 00:00:49.119
I'm really interested in hearing what she has to say.
00:00:49.200 --> 00:00:49.920
And so, Dr.
00:00:50.079 --> 00:00:52.560
Lazard, thank you again for being here.
00:00:53.039 --> 00:00:54.000
Thank you for inviting me.
00:00:54.159 --> 00:00:56.079
I always love talking with teachers.
00:00:56.240 --> 00:01:00.640
I'm told that a lot of teachers start with science because it helps break down doubt and resistance.
00:01:00.799 --> 00:01:04.640
So hopefully some of these will be useful for conveying to your students.
00:01:04.959 --> 00:01:05.280
Okay.
00:01:06.239 --> 00:01:10.079
We're talking about maturity and ego dissolution.
00:01:10.400 --> 00:01:13.760
I start practicing and oh my God, it completely changed my life.
00:01:13.920 --> 00:01:15.200
You hear this a lot from people.
00:01:15.359 --> 00:01:20.640
And oftentimes people say things like, I see things more clearly now, I don't take things so personally anymore.
00:01:20.799 --> 00:01:22.799
I'm vibrating at a higher level.
00:01:23.120 --> 00:01:28.079
And oftentimes we'll give questionnaires to people about anxiety and depression.
00:01:28.159 --> 00:01:31.920
And like I said, it decreases stress, it decreases depression, it recreases anxiety.
00:01:32.079 --> 00:01:38.079
But none of the questionnaires that I encountered came close to explaining, oh my God, this completely changed my life.
00:01:38.239 --> 00:01:42.719
And when you ask people, it's like, yeah, okay, you had less stress, but there's something more, right?
00:01:42.799 --> 00:01:43.599
It's like this.
00:01:43.760 --> 00:01:44.719
I see things more clearly.
00:01:44.959 --> 00:01:46.319
I don't think things so personally.
00:01:46.480 --> 00:01:47.680
Like something is really shifting.
00:01:47.760 --> 00:01:49.840
And for me, that was what happened.
00:01:50.079 --> 00:01:53.920
Then I heard about a model of personality development.
00:01:54.000 --> 00:01:56.400
And I was like, ah, that's what we're talking about here.
00:01:56.560 --> 00:01:58.799
And so to understand it, we're going to talk about Piaget.
00:01:58.959 --> 00:02:04.400
Piaget was a developmental psychologist from about 100 years ago, and he studied his kids.
00:02:04.560 --> 00:02:09.360
So babies start, they're on their back, they're completely uncoordinated, they cannot move on their own.
00:02:09.599 --> 00:02:11.520
Then they turn over and they start to crawl.
00:02:11.759 --> 00:02:19.280
Anyone who has a kid will tell you, like the kid is lying on their back, and all of a sudden one day they flip over and they're crawling, is a very distinct shift.
00:02:19.520 --> 00:02:22.879
And then they're able to hold on and stand up by themselves.
00:02:23.039 --> 00:02:24.879
And then they take their first step.
00:02:25.039 --> 00:02:27.039
And that is a big day.
00:02:27.360 --> 00:02:31.199
My son, when he took his first step, his face just lit up.
00:02:31.280 --> 00:02:34.080
Like he knew something had shifted and changed.
00:02:34.240 --> 00:02:35.199
It was obvious.
00:02:35.520 --> 00:02:37.439
It's a shift, it's a very abrupt shift.
00:02:37.520 --> 00:02:39.120
And they practice standing.
00:02:39.199 --> 00:02:41.199
It's not like they go from this to this.
00:02:41.520 --> 00:02:46.479
You have to go through the stages, but it's a very specific shift that happens when they're able to start walking.
00:02:46.639 --> 00:02:50.639
And then, of course, they run and then they dance and they start kicking balls.
00:02:50.800 --> 00:02:52.479
And all this happens automatically.
00:02:52.719 --> 00:02:59.680
All this happens more or less to everyone at the same rates, unless there's some sort of disease or something happens.
00:02:59.840 --> 00:03:02.479
All this sort of just happens spontaneously, naturally.
00:03:02.719 --> 00:03:04.400
It doesn't stop here, right?
00:03:04.560 --> 00:03:06.319
I mean, pretty much everyone goes through here.
00:03:06.479 --> 00:03:09.680
But then most people in high school will start playing a sport.
00:03:09.759 --> 00:03:13.280
And on the surface, he's kicking a ball, just like this little kid.
00:03:13.439 --> 00:03:15.199
But we know that he's not just kicking the ball.
00:03:15.280 --> 00:03:18.240
Because before he was kicking the ball, but now he's aiming the ball.
00:03:18.319 --> 00:03:19.360
He's controlling the ball.
00:03:19.520 --> 00:03:26.960
And then also there's all sorts of rules about who he kicks the ball to and you know being off sides and being in the boundaries.
00:03:27.039 --> 00:03:29.840
And he's not just kicking anywhere, he's specifically aiming for the goal, right?
00:03:29.919 --> 00:03:31.120
So there's all this stuff going on.
00:03:31.199 --> 00:03:34.960
So on the surface, it looks like he's just kicking a ball, but there's a lot more going on.
00:03:35.199 --> 00:03:42.319
Most of us get to this level sport, maybe not with soccer, but most of us do some sort of sport or
Load full transcript
activity like this in high school.
00:03:42.479 --> 00:03:49.840
But then once we get to college, some people continue, some people stop, some people go on and get into professional soccer.
00:03:50.000 --> 00:03:54.800
But even within soccer, there's like multiple layers of professional soccer players.
00:03:54.960 --> 00:04:01.120
And then even within soccer, we know that there's only a handful of people who can pull off this kick in competition.
00:04:01.280 --> 00:04:05.120
And you get the Messies and Buppies and the Cristiano Ronaldo, I believe.
00:04:05.199 --> 00:04:06.960
This is apparently a very, very, very famous kick.
00:04:07.039 --> 00:04:09.680
But on the surface, he's just kicking a ball.
00:04:09.840 --> 00:04:12.639
So if you're just looking at what he's doing, he's just kicking a ball.
00:04:12.800 --> 00:04:15.919
But we know that there's a lot more going on than just kicking a ball.
00:04:16.000 --> 00:04:24.639
And so clearly there's levels of skill that go into just kicking a ball that are sort of hard to define.
00:04:24.879 --> 00:04:33.040
But people within the soccer world can distinguish like this level of player versus the next level down, the next level down, the next level down.
00:04:33.199 --> 00:04:42.079
There's signs of skill that are maybe not visible to the rest of us, but you know, people who really follow soccer, they'll see and understand that, oh yeah, what I did was just really amazing.
00:04:42.319 --> 00:04:47.279
In the 70s and 80s, a whole bunch of people said, Well, you know, it's not just physical.
00:04:47.360 --> 00:04:48.959
He also showed this for cognitive development.
00:04:49.120 --> 00:04:50.720
You start with addition and subtraction.
00:04:50.800 --> 00:04:52.240
This is supposed to build up slowly.
00:04:52.319 --> 00:04:54.720
And then multiplication and then algebra and then geometry.
00:04:54.879 --> 00:04:57.839
With addition and subtraction, you can see that with your hands.
00:04:58.000 --> 00:05:00.000
I can show you three fingers and four fingers and count them.
00:05:00.160 --> 00:05:02.879
Then when you get to multiplication, you could do that with blocks.
00:05:02.959 --> 00:05:05.439
But then when you get into algebra, it gets a bit more abstract.
00:05:05.600 --> 00:05:07.920
And then geometry, again, it's a little bit more abstract.
00:05:08.000 --> 00:05:11.040
And so in each case, you're building on the prior level.
00:05:11.120 --> 00:05:12.000
It's a step up.
00:05:12.079 --> 00:05:16.160
And there's a little bit more complexity, a little more nuance, a little bit more abstraction.
00:05:16.319 --> 00:05:18.720
But importantly, you never leave the early levels behind.
00:05:18.879 --> 00:05:25.759
Even when you get into really advanced physics, you still have addition, subtraction, multiplication.
00:05:25.920 --> 00:05:29.360
And so the idea is that what we're doing is that we're building.
00:05:29.439 --> 00:05:34.399
Just as with this, he's kicking the ball, but there's all these other layers of stuff that's happening.
00:05:34.639 --> 00:05:36.879
This was the original hypothesis and the original model.
00:05:36.959 --> 00:05:44.800
But then in the 70s and 80s, people say, well, it's not just physical, it's not just cognitive development that personality goes through the same thing.
00:05:45.040 --> 00:05:51.199
Spiritual development, moral development, multiple other forms of selves go through these different levels.
00:05:51.360 --> 00:05:55.920
Spiritual faith, worldviews, orders of consciousness, needs, cognitive complexity, social cognition.
00:05:56.079 --> 00:06:01.040
In each one, you see the same thing that it starts off very simple and concrete.
00:06:01.199 --> 00:06:08.480
And at each layer, you're getting a little more complex, a little more nuanced, a little more abstract and multifactorial.
00:06:08.720 --> 00:06:11.120
But the simple, concrete is always there.
00:06:11.360 --> 00:06:14.319
Kicking the ball is always there, no matter how far up you go.
00:06:14.560 --> 00:06:18.079
But all this extra stuff that's happening, in addition to kicking the ball.
00:06:18.240 --> 00:06:19.839
So similarly with all these other models.
00:06:20.000 --> 00:06:21.680
Why there's this world of implementation?
00:06:21.839 --> 00:06:28.399
Jane Levinger back in the 80s said the ego itself also matures and develops.
00:06:28.639 --> 00:06:38.160
And that just like all these other systems, it starts off really simple and basic, and then at every little level gets more and more nuanced, more and more complex, more and more abstract.
00:06:38.319 --> 00:06:39.759
And so you see this little kid.
00:06:39.839 --> 00:06:41.439
If you ask a little kid, who are you?
00:06:41.600 --> 00:06:44.319
They point to themselves, me, this body, I'm me, right?
00:06:44.480 --> 00:06:46.000
Very simple, very concrete.
00:06:46.160 --> 00:06:49.199
Then a little bit older, they say, Well, my name is Sarah.
00:06:49.360 --> 00:06:50.800
I like to play with dolls.
00:06:50.959 --> 00:06:52.480
Again, very simple, very concrete.
00:06:52.560 --> 00:06:54.800
Then more later it might be about relationships.
00:06:55.040 --> 00:06:56.160
I'm a member of my family.
00:06:56.319 --> 00:06:57.279
I like to play soccer.
00:06:57.439 --> 00:06:59.519
I'm on the soccer team, the social thing.
00:06:59.680 --> 00:07:03.759
But then it might also get more complex and more nuanced to like, okay, I'm an American.
00:07:03.920 --> 00:07:05.279
I'm in a certain political party.
00:07:05.439 --> 00:07:08.800
I hold certain views about different things, you know, my religion, these sorts of things.
00:07:08.879 --> 00:07:14.720
And so I'm all of those things, but I'm also still this body at the very, very high level stages that also, you know, it's like I'm a human being.
00:07:14.800 --> 00:07:16.639
You know, I'm a member of planet Earth.
00:07:17.279 --> 00:07:19.360
And it's more and more abstract.
00:07:19.680 --> 00:07:24.959
Most of
us get through the first several stages, you know, to like to the high school level stage of sports.
00:07:25.120 --> 00:07:28.560
You know, then some people go into the college levels and a few people go into the professional.
00:07:28.720 --> 00:07:30.720
But even there, there's more and more and more layers.
00:07:30.879 --> 00:07:37.920
So, similar with all these other forms of development, including ego development, we go through the early stages, pretty much all of us.
00:07:38.079 --> 00:07:42.480
But then at some point, we kind of slow down and stall.
00:07:42.639 --> 00:07:49.519
And there's certain places where a lot of people stall, and then other people go beyond that, and all of us are capable of going beyond that, but we go at different rates.
00:07:49.680 --> 00:07:57.519
We go from a very egocentric, so it's all about me perspective, to social-centric, to world-centric, and then to unitive, like I said.
00:07:57.600 --> 00:07:58.639
So, like we're all one.
00:07:58.800 --> 00:08:02.560
And she says the lens through which we view, interpret, and interact with the world.
00:08:02.800 --> 00:08:08.879
Some people are very much from a very egocentric perspective, some are from a social perspective, some are from a world-centric perspective.
00:08:09.040 --> 00:08:15.680
And again, we can all take any of these perspectives, but the question is which one do we habitually respond from?
00:08:15.759 --> 00:08:17.759
And how do we habitually see the world?
00:08:17.920 --> 00:08:24.319
And what's interesting in this model is that what shifts with each level is perspective taking and meaning making.
00:08:24.480 --> 00:08:29.199
I said before with equanimity, it's all about getting the bigger and bigger and bigger perspective.
00:08:29.439 --> 00:08:33.759
If I see the bigger perspective of myself, that's basically what's happening.
00:08:33.840 --> 00:08:39.600
And then also how I make meaning of that in terms of how then that influences my everyday way of being.
00:08:39.840 --> 00:08:44.879
It's kind of a hard model to convey in a short period of time in just words.
00:08:44.960 --> 00:08:47.679
And so the examples are better, and I'll give you some examples.
00:08:47.840 --> 00:08:52.399
Early on, it's very self-centric, it's all about me, then group-centric, skill-centric, self-determining.
00:08:52.559 --> 00:08:55.039
80 to 90% of the population is at these levels.
00:08:55.200 --> 00:08:57.440
This is basically the high school level of college.
00:08:57.600 --> 00:09:05.919
And then when you get here into the college, into the college level, and then you get into this professional sports, but of the ego and understanding the ego and understanding the self.
00:09:06.159 --> 00:09:11.360
We know in this model, because there's a way to test it, that this is not the highest state.
00:09:11.679 --> 00:09:19.919
There's reasons to believe that there's several states beyond this one, but this is what we're able to detect with the test that
I'm going to tell you about.
00:09:20.080 --> 00:09:20.480
All right.
00:09:20.720 --> 00:09:23.360
Most people are in these first states.
00:09:23.519 --> 00:09:26.080
About 15% are here, like in this red zone.
00:09:26.159 --> 00:09:27.519
That's about 15% of results.
00:09:27.679 --> 00:09:30.159
They talk about stuff, it's all about me.
00:09:30.399 --> 00:09:31.600
It's not autism.
00:09:31.759 --> 00:09:34.000
They're capable of understanding other people's point of view.
00:09:34.080 --> 00:09:36.320
They don't care, it's all about me.
00:09:36.480 --> 00:09:38.879
I don't care if you're the world expert in some topic.
00:09:38.960 --> 00:09:41.600
If my opinion differs from yours, I'm right, you're wrong.
00:09:41.759 --> 00:09:44.559
And so again, they can understand, but they typically don't.
00:09:44.720 --> 00:09:55.440
You see this a lot in reality television, where everyone's complaining about everyone else, but then they turn around and they do the thing back to the woman because they don't think about, okay, if I do the same thing back to her, she's going to be just as upset as I once.
00:09:55.519 --> 00:09:58.000
Because it's all about, no, I need to get revenge on that person.
00:09:58.240 --> 00:10:01.120
Then in the middle, you get about 70% of adults.
00:10:01.200 --> 00:10:02.559
And so it's not just about me.
00:10:02.720 --> 00:10:05.600
I understand that my actions impact other people.
00:10:05.840 --> 00:10:08.639
There's definitely some self-reflection, some self-awareness.
00:10:08.799 --> 00:10:11.679
And again, understanding that there's this interconnection.
00:10:11.840 --> 00:10:17.360
When you get into the late stages, which is only about 15% of adults, it's not about me.
00:10:17.519 --> 00:10:33.200
And there's a lot of self-reflection, a lot of self-awareness, of understanding that, yeah, not only okay, my actions impact others, but really understanding in this particular instance how I'm going to impact you and then how that's going to ripple and impact the people around you.
00:10:33.360 --> 00:10:37.759
And understanding all the cultural influences that impact my relationship with you.
00:10:37.919 --> 00:10:46.399
Like so if I'm the boss and you're my employee, the fact that I'm the boss and you're my employee, and there's certain things you can't say or you can't do because it would be inappropriate, right?
00:10:46.480 --> 00:10:50.080
Or you know what is appropriate, what's not appropriate, what's culturally acceptable, like all of that.
00:10:50.240 --> 00:10:52.320
And so all of us are capable of thinking about that.
00:10:52.559 --> 00:10:54.559
Most of us don't habitually think about that.
00:10:54.720 --> 00:11:00.159
And again, the people who are at the early stages, it's not that they can't, they don't habitually do that.
00:11:00.399 --> 00:11:05.679
What they found is that with each stage, people exhibit more compassion and more altruism.
00:11:05.840 --> 00:11:11.440
They're less judgmental,
they're more world-centric, and they're able to see other people's point of view.
00:11:11.600 --> 00:11:18.720
And there's increasing awareness of what's going on inside and how the mind constructs perception and how it constructs the self.
00:11:18.879 --> 00:11:22.320
And that this thing we call a self is an illusion.
00:11:22.480 --> 00:11:29.360
And so when you hear this and see this, like when I learned about this model, I was like, ah, that's that is what meditation is doing.
00:11:29.519 --> 00:11:31.919
That's was the, oh my God, this changed my life.
00:11:32.159 --> 00:11:38.240
Was that I saw when I started practicing very quickly that this new perspective, I gained a new perspective.
00:11:38.399 --> 00:11:40.240
That's what was life-changing for me.
00:11:40.399 --> 00:11:42.799
Not so much the stress deduction or the anxiety reduction.
00:11:42.879 --> 00:11:48.240
That was good, but seeing the world in a new way, that was what was life-changing, life-altering for me.
00:11:48.399 --> 00:11:53.759
That's why I've been really excited about this model, because I feel like this is what meditation is really all about.
00:11:54.000 --> 00:11:58.879
You talk when you hear about the yogis and the sages, this is what they're talking about.
00:11:58.960 --> 00:12:03.840
You know, they're more compassionate, they're more altruistic, they're less judgmental, like all these things about meditation practice.
00:12:04.159 --> 00:12:06.879
This is what happens with these later stages.
00:12:07.039 --> 00:12:11.200
So the question is can meditation promote this development?
00:12:11.279 --> 00:12:13.120
And is it somehow relevant to meditation?
00:12:13.279 --> 00:12:19.600
So before I go into the actual data, I want to show you the test so you understand both the test, but also you'll understand these stages a little bit better.
00:12:19.840 --> 00:12:20.799
The test is very simple.
00:12:20.960 --> 00:12:24.960
There's just 36 sentence stems: a good boss, my mother, and I, education.
00:12:25.120 --> 00:12:28.559
And the instructions are just finish the sentence any way you want.
00:12:28.799 --> 00:12:31.200
A good boss works hard, makes a lot of money.
00:12:31.360 --> 00:12:32.320
Let's pause for a moment.
00:12:32.399 --> 00:12:33.600
What does it mean to be a boss?
00:12:33.759 --> 00:12:36.159
A boss means you're in charge of other people.
00:12:36.480 --> 00:12:39.360
This person does not mention anyone else.
00:12:39.519 --> 00:12:41.279
They're only thinking about themselves.
00:12:41.440 --> 00:12:43.120
A good boss makes a lot of money.
00:12:43.360 --> 00:12:44.159
I'm working hard.
00:12:44.240 --> 00:12:45.360
I'm a good boss because I'm working hard.
00:12:45.440 --> 00:12:46.080
I'm making a lot of money.
00:12:46.159 --> 00:12:47.440
And therefore, I must be a good boss.
00:12:47.600 --> 00:12:49.600
Nothing about my interaction with others.
00:12:49.759 --> 00:12:55.279
Someone in the middle stages, a good boss mentors their employees, knows how to juggle their employees' needs with their own.
00:12:55.440 --> 00:12:57.360
They're thinking about their employees.
00:12:57.759 --> 00:12:58.399
Not just me.
00:12:58.559 --> 00:12:59.759
It's me and them.
00:13:00.080 --> 00:13:02.879
My interaction with them is going to impact their performance.
00:13:03.039 --> 00:13:09.600
But then when you get to the later stages, they might say something like, the good boss sees the whole and the voices that are needed to complete the task.
00:13:09.919 --> 00:13:19.679
They're not just thinking about this particular employee, they're thinking about the system as a whole, how this person fits in with everyone else on the team and how you make the whole team work together.
00:13:19.840 --> 00:13:25.519
And not just at this level, but also how do we all fit into the company as a whole and into society as a whole?
00:13:25.679 --> 00:13:27.440
Like how does all of that fit together?
00:13:27.600 --> 00:13:33.279
And so again, all of us are capable of thinking that way, but many of us don't habitually think that way.
00:13:33.519 --> 00:13:35.679
When I'm criticized, I get mad.
00:13:35.840 --> 00:13:36.960
I criticize back.
00:13:37.120 --> 00:13:38.799
Because again, it's all about me.
00:13:39.120 --> 00:13:41.360
You don't like me, then oh yeah, screw you.
00:13:41.519 --> 00:13:42.240
I don't like you.
00:13:42.399 --> 00:13:47.039
Versus someone who's in the middle says when I'm criticized, well, I try to accept it, at least with outward grace.
00:13:47.200 --> 00:13:56.159
And later they might say something, well, my initial reaction is to defend my position, but then I try to separate my position from my person and change my position when warranted.
00:13:56.720 --> 00:13:58.879
Let's pause for that and digest that for a second.
00:13:59.120 --> 00:14:00.000
There's a lot here.
00:14:00.159 --> 00:14:03.759
So first of all, they see here's the equanimity and the mindfulness coming in.
00:14:03.840 --> 00:14:06.799
Like you see that initial, oh, I do not like that.
00:14:06.960 --> 00:14:09.440
But then you pause and you don't respond.
00:14:09.840 --> 00:14:15.360
And then you try to say, okay, well, there's my idea, but that's not who I am.
00:14:15.600 --> 00:14:18.720
I have this idea, but I don't need to hold on to that idea.
00:14:18.879 --> 00:14:20.399
Maybe my idea is wrong.
00:14:20.639 --> 00:14:22.240
And so can I look at that?
00:14:22.320 --> 00:14:23.919
And maybe it's wrong, maybe it's right.
00:14:24.080 --> 00:14:24.559
I don't know.
00:14:24.639 --> 00:14:29.919
But can I just be okay with the fact that okay, maybe I was incorrect and this person's correcting me and that's okay, and I can just update it.
00:14:30.000 --> 00:14:30.559
No big deal.
00:14:30.720 --> 00:14:34.879
No reason to get upset, no reason to get defensive, no reason to criticize the person.
00:14:34.960 --> 00:14:42.720
So you're seeing there's greater equanimity, not because they're not
getting upset, but it's just because they're just not seeing things the same way.
00:14:42.960 --> 00:14:44.720
Someone criticizing me, that's about them.
00:14:44.799 --> 00:14:45.679
It's not about me.
00:14:45.840 --> 00:14:47.840
Or okay, I'm wrong, whatever.
00:14:48.000 --> 00:14:50.720
It's a different mindset, a different way of seeing the world.
00:14:50.879 --> 00:14:59.039
So again, we're sort of seeing this maturation and this evolution of the ego from, oh my God, how dare you attack me to okay, whatever.
00:14:59.360 --> 00:15:04.399
Again, there's 36 of these stems, but most of the answers are at this stage, at stage three, four.
00:15:04.559 --> 00:15:12.639
And again, typically you see more or less a bell-shaped curve because there's always sort of a trailing edge and a leading edge because we're growing and developing.
00:15:12.799 --> 00:15:27.200
And so as we first get this new perspective, okay, well, maybe I see this perspective in this particular context, but it's going to take time for me to then see the world with this new perspective and then clean up everything and how I responded to everything else.
00:15:27.360 --> 00:15:29.279
So it takes time to shift all of that.
00:15:29.440 --> 00:15:33.679
What we see though is that at each stage, there's this right word shift.
00:15:33.840 --> 00:15:37.279
So someone who's at stage four, yeah, they still have some stage three answers.
00:15:37.360 --> 00:15:40.720
But then similarly, you get more and more answers at these later stages.
00:15:40.879 --> 00:15:43.200
But again, no one is 100% one stage.
00:15:43.360 --> 00:15:46.879
You know, talk to people about a lot of different topics before you get a sense of where they really are.
00:15:47.200 --> 00:15:53.039
You can even see sometimes in a single topic, a single conversation, that people might go through a couple of different stages.
00:15:53.279 --> 00:15:56.080
It has to do just how they're thinking about things and how they see things.
00:15:56.240 --> 00:15:57.279
All levels are equal.
00:15:57.440 --> 00:16:00.320
So we like to think that, oh, these levels are better than these levels.
00:16:00.480 --> 00:16:01.600
No, they're all good.
00:16:01.759 --> 00:16:05.519
It's sort of like saying, oh, you know, as a baby, not a good level, right?
00:16:05.600 --> 00:16:11.679
Or as someone who only does high school level of soccer is somehow inferior to the person who plays soccer at the professional level.
00:16:11.840 --> 00:16:12.799
They shouldn't judge people.
00:16:12.879 --> 00:16:14.879
That's just who they are, that's where they are in life.
00:16:15.039 --> 00:16:17.840
And every level has certain strengths and capabilities.
00:16:17.919 --> 00:16:20.240
And good society, healthy society requires all of them.
00:16:20.480 --> 00:16:23.519
Someone like Elon Musk is probably at one of these early stages.
00:16:23.759 --> 00:16:31.200
And you need that 100% assurance in yourself and that drive and that egocentricism
to create something like Tesla.
00:16:31.279 --> 00:16:33.120
And the world has benefited from Tesla.
00:16:33.200 --> 00:16:41.600
So if he was just abstractly thinking about, oh, you know, all these things, we wouldn't have electric cars and batteries that are really making an impact on the environment.
00:16:41.759 --> 00:16:46.240
We need people who have that drive to create these things and to actually get things done.
00:16:46.480 --> 00:16:49.440
Again, it's how we typically see the world and typically respond.
00:16:49.600 --> 00:16:52.879
All of us are capable of taking later views and earlier views.
00:16:53.039 --> 00:16:58.080
But the question is when you just encounter a new situation, how do you initially respond?
00:16:58.320 --> 00:17:01.759
So the study we did was can we actually demonstrate this?
00:17:02.000 --> 00:17:06.720
Do long-term meditation practitioners score at later stages than the general population?
00:17:06.880 --> 00:17:08.400
And what are the neural correlates?
00:17:08.640 --> 00:17:10.160
Can we find some brain imaging?
00:17:10.319 --> 00:17:13.519
One of the questions in the last part was about different types of meditation.
00:17:13.680 --> 00:17:19.839
As a first stab at that, we looked at people who practice meditation and people who are long-term yoga practitioners.
00:17:20.000 --> 00:17:26.319
There were 16 people who do vipassana meditation and 16 people who practice Krapala yoga, the very gentle form of yoga.
00:17:26.400 --> 00:17:27.599
It's not power yoga.
00:17:27.759 --> 00:17:30.960
It is based on a whole yoga system.
00:17:31.359 --> 00:17:32.880
So it's not just asana.
00:17:32.960 --> 00:17:38.880
They also do devotional practices, they meditate, but it's more the flickering candle and the breath awareness.
00:17:38.960 --> 00:17:40.160
They sometimes do meth awareness.
00:17:40.240 --> 00:17:41.599
It is kind of mindful.
00:17:41.759 --> 00:17:43.440
And then we had 15 controls.
00:17:43.519 --> 00:17:44.960
And you'll see this does make a difference.
00:17:45.119 --> 00:17:47.680
And the groups are matched with age, gender, education, and race.
00:17:47.839 --> 00:17:54.960
So what we found was that indeed the meditation practitioners scored at later stages than the yoga practitioners and the controls.
00:17:55.119 --> 00:18:04.079
And this surprised me because by chance, the yoga practitioners actually had twice as many lifetime hours of practice compared to the meditation practitioners.
00:18:04.240 --> 00:18:06.000
And this is a significant difference.
00:18:06.240 --> 00:18:08.799
We shouldn't put too much into this because it's cross-sectional.
00:18:08.880 --> 00:18:14.400
So it could be that people who are at later stages are more likely to meditate than do yoga.
00:18:14.559 --> 00:18:15.839
That's one explanation.
00:18:16.160 --> 00:18:20.880
But there's also the question about mindfulness, because again, this was specifically mindfulness meditation.
00:18:20.960 --> 00:18:24.480
And mindfulness meditation, it's about going inside and being aware of your thoughts and ideas.
00:18:24.640 --> 00:18:27.920
The later stages are all about getting in tune with your inner world.
00:18:28.079 --> 00:18:39.839
And so with the asana practice or the yoga practice, if it's mostly just looking at the body, but not really going inside and really evaluating what's going on in your mind, definitely there's some benefit to that, that it's better than the controls.
00:18:40.000 --> 00:18:45.680
But it seems like the mindfulness gives some extra benefit beyond just the yoga practice itself.
00:18:45.839 --> 00:18:48.720
And so again, it's cross-sectional, it's only 16 people.
00:18:48.880 --> 00:18:51.920
So take all that with a grain of salt, but it's suggestive.
00:18:52.160 --> 00:19:03.920
The other thing we found was that the scores on this test correlated with self-reported mindfulness and suggests that the mindfulness is key to getting into these later stages, I should say.
00:19:04.240 --> 00:19:05.839
So what about brains?
00:19:06.079 --> 00:19:11.599
The posterior cingulate is the part of the brain that's all about me and self-referential processing.
00:19:11.839 --> 00:19:16.079
So we were really interested by chance, you know, was this related at all to the score?
00:19:16.240 --> 00:19:24.400
First, we took all 45 people and we just said, okay, is there any correlation whatsoever between scores and the structure of this region of the brain?
00:19:24.480 --> 00:19:25.680
And the answer is yes.
00:19:25.839 --> 00:19:29.440
And this is exactly the same region we saw changing in just eight weeks.
00:19:29.599 --> 00:19:38.079
So now we're starting to get a sense of, okay, you go through this eight-week program, you're changing this part of the brain, and you're getting that, oh my God, this changed my life.
00:19:38.319 --> 00:19:42.480
Now we're starting to understand why and how maybe we're getting this, oh my God, it changed my life.
00:19:42.559 --> 00:19:51.839
Because here it is, this part of the brain that's important for how I see the world and how I interpret the world, that that is changing in just eight weeks.
00:19:52.000 --> 00:19:53.440
So this is brain structure.
00:19:53.680 --> 00:19:59.039
Brain structure, as I said, it might represent the structure of the neurons and who the neurons are talking to.
00:19:59.119 --> 00:20:02.319
And so the question is, okay, so what does this do to the rest of the brain?
00:20:02.480 --> 00:20:05.119
How this part of the brain talks to other parts of the brain.
00:20:05.279 --> 00:20:12.480
We then looked at activity and said, does connections between that part of the brain and any other part of the brain correlate with the score?
00:20:12.640 --> 00:20:14.160
And we found this part of the brain.
00:20:14.319 --> 00:20:17.359
And this is the part of the brain that's about narrative self.
00:20:17.440 --> 00:20:19.680
So if I ask you, if you ask me, who am I?
00:20:19.839 --> 00:20:20.799
My name is Sarah.
00:20:20.880 --> 00:20:21.680
I live in Boston.
00:20:21.759 --> 00:20:22.720
I'm a scientist.
00:20:22.880 --> 00:20:25.759
As I explained all of that, this part of my brain was lighting up.
00:20:25.920 --> 00:20:27.359
This test is getting at that.
00:20:27.519 --> 00:20:32.000
Of course, as I'm going to answer those questions in relationship to how my own experience.
00:20:32.160 --> 00:20:39.200
So it makes sense that this part of the brain, the connections between this part of the brain and the subpart of my brain, that makes sense that that would be connected.
00:20:39.440 --> 00:20:44.720
Next, we asked, what about the meditation and yoga practitioners are different than the controls?
00:20:44.880 --> 00:20:46.559
And we found this part of the brain.
00:20:46.880 --> 00:20:49.440
This is the SMG.
00:20:49.599 --> 00:20:52.960
This is the part of the brain I showed you is about perspective taking.
00:20:53.039 --> 00:20:55.920
And do I pay attention to my outside world or my inside world?
00:20:56.000 --> 00:21:00.400
It's also important for empathy and compassion, being able to see things from other people's point of view.
00:21:00.559 --> 00:21:03.200
And again, this is a region that's changing in just eight weeks.
00:21:03.359 --> 00:21:04.960
This was activity, not structure.
00:21:05.119 --> 00:21:08.799
And it's the connections between this part of the brain and the PCC.
00:21:08.960 --> 00:21:12.799
So we're talking about the me part of the brain and this perspective part of the brain.
00:21:12.960 --> 00:21:20.240
The connections between these regions are changing, and how they change is related to this test.
00:21:20.799 --> 00:21:26.559
And finally, we found that also with this region, which again is meaning making, I have this new experience.
00:21:26.720 --> 00:21:27.599
How do I interpret it?
00:21:27.680 --> 00:21:31.599
And how do I internalize it, make meaning of it, and make it relevant to me?
00:21:31.759 --> 00:21:37.039
And again, this is another region that was unique to the meditation in yoga practitioners compared to controls.
00:21:37.200 --> 00:21:41.920
They're better at getting perspective and making meaning of their experiences compared to the controls.
00:21:42.000 --> 00:21:46.000
And then that seems to be what's driving their growth through these stages.
00:21:46.240 --> 00:21:47.759
You know, is this at all relevant to meditation?
00:21:47.839 --> 00:21:49.279
Like, is this really relevant to meditation?
00:21:49.440 --> 00:21:53.680
Within the different meditation traditions, they talk about the meditative path.
00:21:53.839 --> 00:21:56.000
You don't just sit down and boom become enlightened.
00:21:56.079 --> 00:22:00.559
That you practice and gradually over time, you become more and more enlightened over time.
00:22:00.720 --> 00:22:03.839
There's something called the ox hurting pictures, which are part of the Zen tradition.
00:22:04.000 --> 00:22:08.000
So at the first
stage, it's the boy, initially he's looking for the bull, and the bull represents the mind.
00:22:08.319 --> 00:22:10.640
Last time it's early people, you know, you'll say, What are you thinking?
00:22:10.720 --> 00:22:11.440
I don't know what I'm thinking.
00:22:11.519 --> 00:22:14.640
You know, they don't have any awareness whatsoever what's going on in their mind.
00:22:14.799 --> 00:22:16.160
And then you see footprints, right?
00:22:16.400 --> 00:22:18.880
A little bit of like, okay, I know what I am saying right now, right?
00:22:18.960 --> 00:22:20.480
And you have a little like a sense of it.
00:22:20.640 --> 00:22:24.400
But then you really start to see your mind, especially with meditation practice.
00:22:24.559 --> 00:22:29.759
And when you first really get into your inner life, as you know, it's a fight, it's a struggle.
00:22:29.920 --> 00:22:30.799
I'm having these thoughts.
00:22:30.880 --> 00:22:31.519
I have these thoughts.
00:22:31.599 --> 00:22:32.240
I'm a nice person.
00:22:32.319 --> 00:22:33.519
Why am I having mean thoughts?
00:22:33.599 --> 00:22:34.960
I am being so judgy.
00:22:35.200 --> 00:22:39.920
All of that, that's this stage and the self-questioning and you know, who am I and what's going on here?
00:22:40.079 --> 00:22:43.119
But then that settles down and you start to get some equanimity.
00:22:43.200 --> 00:22:44.880
And that's what's happening through these stages.
00:22:45.039 --> 00:22:50.960
But like I said, there's probably several stages beyond that we can't get with this test that get at full enlightenment.
00:22:51.119 --> 00:22:58.640
So again, we don't know, but it's again, it's consistent with this idea that somehow this path is related to the waking up process.
00:22:58.880 --> 00:23:04.559
When the pandemic first started, it was just like, oh my God, it's all about me, hoard food in toilet paper.
00:23:04.720 --> 00:23:07.440
And then the next one is skill-centric and expertise.
00:23:07.519 --> 00:23:10.000
We all became world experts in virology.
00:23:11.119 --> 00:23:11.519
Right?
00:23:11.759 --> 00:23:14.960
And then it was a mask, flying the curve.
00:23:15.119 --> 00:23:17.920
And so we all masked up, at least some of us did.
00:23:18.079 --> 00:23:18.559
And that's the thing.
00:23:18.720 --> 00:23:23.359
So the people who are at the early stages, that's when they balked and like, no, because they're still it's all about me.
00:23:23.440 --> 00:23:34.799
And heaven forbid I should have to wear a mask versus, okay, I understand that I'm wearing a mask, not because it's gonna protect me, but in case I'm infected, I'm not gonna infect you, and it's gonna help all of us be healthier.
00:23:35.039 --> 00:23:40.799
That took a certain level of understanding and care about the people around us, and it's not just about me.
00:23:40.960 --> 00:23:45.119
And then some people got to the silver lining point where it's like, oh yeah, look at this.
00:23:45.200 --> 00:23:47.519
We all stopped commuting and the environment got better.
00:23:47.680 --> 00:23:53.839
Or you start to see some of the habits that we do and some of the things the our day-to-day grind and starting to look at our world in a new way.
00:23:54.000 --> 00:24:00.880
And some people, you know, really went pretty far in terms of seeing the fruits of the pandemic and really going into new ways of thinking about it.
00:24:00.960 --> 00:24:02.880
And we all kind of did it together in unison.
00:24:03.119 --> 00:24:04.960
But then some people stopped at certain places.
00:24:05.119 --> 00:24:08.000
Everyone can grow slow, but don't give up on them.
00:24:08.160 --> 00:24:09.680
It is possible for everyone to grow.
00:24:09.920 --> 00:24:14.799
Science, I must say, is a very two, three, three or three, four of the expert stage.
00:24:14.880 --> 00:24:18.640
It's like, okay, I'm right and I've got the data to prove that I'm right.
00:24:19.119 --> 00:24:21.200
And there's a lot of scientists who are at that stage.
00:24:21.359 --> 00:24:22.319
You gotta get beyond that.
00:24:22.640 --> 00:24:29.680
Also, I'm the lone scientist doing this right versus okay, we can start to collaborate and then starting to realize that I have hypotheses, they may or may not be right.
00:24:29.839 --> 00:24:31.759
And there's lots of different ways to interpret data.
00:24:31.920 --> 00:24:34.559
Sometimes you do experiment five times and you may not always get the same answer.
00:24:34.720 --> 00:24:36.319
So taking all that more lightly.
00:24:36.480 --> 00:24:39.839
But early people are just like, no, this is the data, the data says, so it must be true.
00:24:40.000 --> 00:24:42.480
So definitely you can see that evolution in people.
00:24:42.799 --> 00:24:43.599
Well, thank you, Sarah.
00:24:44.079 --> 00:24:44.720
It's awesome.
00:24:44.960 --> 00:24:46.480
Not too much science at all.
00:24:46.640 --> 00:24:49.839
Did you have any like closing words or anything you want to share?
00:24:50.160 --> 00:24:51.039
Thank you for teaching.
00:24:51.119 --> 00:24:52.079
You've benefited from it.
00:24:52.160 --> 00:24:55.119
So being able to take, you know, send out into the world is great in ripples.
00:24:55.279 --> 00:24:57.039
You don't know how far the ripples will go.
00:24:57.279 --> 00:24:57.920
Thank you.