We talked about two things today. One topic was a review of "Wise Mind."

http://www.dbtselfhelp.com/html/wise_mind.html

http://www.dbtselfhelp.com/html/mf_handout_1.html

Emotional mind and rational mind are both necessary, and both have important messages for you. It is good to be aware of them and know what they are saying. However, neither emotional mind nor rational mind has a balanced perspective.

Wise mind listens to both emotional and rational, and finds what is true in both, and puts them together, and finds what is true. Everyone has wise mind. It is quiet, and peaceful, and is the place in you where you know something is true, or valid, in a centered way.

Wise mind listens to all ways of knowing something: observing, analyzing logically, kinetic and sensory experience (feeling or experiencing something in your body), knowing what we do, and intuition. Wise mind is like intuition, but knows more than reasoning or what you can observe directly. Wise mind is experiencing truth, without having to analyze it intellectually.

"Wise mind is like a deep well in the ground. The water at the bottom of the well, the entire underground ocean is wise mind. But on the way down there are often trap doors that impede progress. Sometimes the trap doors are so cleverly built that you actually believe that there is no water at the bottom of the well. Perhaps it is locked and you need a key. Perhaps it is nailed shut and you need a hammer, or it is glued shut and you need a chisel.

"Wise mind is sometimes experienced in the center of the body (the belly), or in the center of the head, or between the eyes. Sometimes a person can find it by following the breath in and out." (Marsha Linehan: Skills Training Manual for Treating Borderline Personality Disorder)

Wise mind is like riding a bicycle. After learning, and experiencing it, you will know what it feels like, and you don't have to learn it again because your body remembers.

To find wise mind, follow your breath in and out, naturally, and deeply. After some time, let your attention settle to your center. Watch where the breath naturally centers itself. That centered place is wise mind. It can help to wet your finger and dampen the place on your forehead where "the third eye" is.

Some other descriptions of wise mind:

• the calm that follows the storm
• an experience immediately following a crisis or chaos
• suddenly getting to the heart of the matter
• seeing or knowing something directly and clearly
• getting the whole picture
• feeling the right choice in a dilemma (feeling from deep within)

Wise mind can feel like emotional mind. After a heavy rain, water can collect on a trap door in the well, and might be confused with the deep ocean at the bottom of the well. When you feel intense emotion, suspect emotional mind. When you feel calm and secure, that's more likely wise mind.