Internal Judo Moves
Dan Harris talking about mindfulness with James Altucher (1/26/16):
"You don't have to analyze [boredom], you just have to feel it...
The move, when you're overcome by boredom, is to ask:
- What is boredom like?
- What does this feel like?
- Where am I feeling it in my body?
- What does it taste like in my mind?
And that is curiosity. That's a judo move, right there. Mindfulness is a series of these little, internal judo moves where you're co-opting whatever's coming up in the mind.
Am I having a blast of anger right now? Well, what is that like?
What's the value of that?
When the blast of anger happens in your real life, or a wave of dull, deadening boredom comes over you in the middle of a conversation with another human being — what is that like in real life and can you not get carried away by it so that you don't do something that you later regret?
See also: The Taste of Embarrassment