There’s a psychological variable that seems to be able to change on different timescales, in me, at least. I want to gesture at it, and see if anyone can give me pointers to related resources.
[Hopefully this is super basic.]
There a set of states that I occasionally fall into that include what I call “reactive” (meaning that I respond compulsively to the things around me), and what I call “urgy” (meaning that that I feel a sort of “graspy” desire for some kind of immediate gratification).
These states all have some flavor of compulsiveness.
They are often accompanied by high physiological arousal, and sometimes have a burning / clenching sensation in the torso. These all have a kind of “jittery” feeling, and my attention jumps around, or is yanked around. There’s also a way in which this feels “high” on a spectrum, (maybe because my awareness is centered on my head?)
I might be tempted to say that something like “all of these states incline me towards neuroticism.” But that isn’t exactly right on a few counts. (For one thing, the reactions aren’t necessarily irrational, just compulsive.)
In contrast to this, there is another way that I can feel sometimes, which is more like “calm”, “anchored”, settled. It feels “deeper” or “lower” somehow. Things often feel slowed down. My attention can settle, and when it moves it moves deliberately, instead of compulsively. I expect that this correlates with low arousal.
I want to know...
Does this axis have a standardized name? In the various traditions of practice? In cognitive psychology or neuroscience?
Knowing the technical, academic name would be particularly great.
Do people have, or know of, efficient methods for moving along this axis, either in the short term or the long term?
This phenomenon could maybe be described as “length of the delay between stimulus and response”, insofar as that even makes sense, which is one of the benefits noted in the popular branding for meditation.
I remembered there was a set of audios from Eben Pagan that really helped me before I turned them into the 9 breaths technique. Just emailed them to you. They go a bit more into depth and you may find them useful.
I don’t know if this is what you’re looking for, but I’ve heard the variable you’re pointing at referred to as your level of groundedness, centeredness, and stillness in the self-help space.
There are all sorts of meditations, visualizations, and exercises aimed to make you more grounded/centered/still and a quick google search pulls up a bunch.
There’s a psychological variable that seems to be able to change on different timescales, in me, at least. I want to gesture at it, and see if anyone can give me pointers to related resources.
[Hopefully this is super basic.]
There a set of states that I occasionally fall into that include what I call “reactive” (meaning that I respond compulsively to the things around me), and what I call “urgy” (meaning that that I feel a sort of “graspy” desire for some kind of immediate gratification).
These states all have some flavor of compulsiveness.
They are often accompanied by high physiological arousal, and sometimes have a burning / clenching sensation in the torso. These all have a kind of “jittery” feeling, and my attention jumps around, or is yanked around. There’s also a way in which this feels “high” on a spectrum, (maybe because my awareness is centered on my head?)
I might be tempted to say that something like “all of these states incline me towards neuroticism.” But that isn’t exactly right on a few counts. (For one thing, the reactions aren’t necessarily irrational, just compulsive.)
In contrast to this, there is another way that I can feel sometimes, which is more like “calm”, “anchored”, settled. It feels “deeper” or “lower” somehow. Things often feel slowed down. My attention can settle, and when it moves it moves deliberately, instead of compulsively. I expect that this correlates with low arousal.
I want to know...
Does this axis have a standardized name? In the various traditions of practice? In cognitive psychology or neuroscience?
Knowing the technical, academic name would be particularly great.
Do people have, or know of, efficient methods for moving along this axis, either in the short term or the long term?
This phenomenon could maybe be described as “length of the delay between stimulus and response”, insofar as that even makes sense, which is one of the benefits noted in the popular branding for meditation.
I remembered there was a set of audios from Eben Pagan that really helped me before I turned them into the 9 breaths technique. Just emailed them to you. They go a bit more into depth and you may find them useful.
I don’t know if this is what you’re looking for, but I’ve heard the variable you’re pointing at referred to as your level of groundedness, centeredness, and stillness in the self-help space.
There are all sorts of meditations, visualizations, and exercises aimed to make you more grounded/centered/still and a quick google search pulls up a bunch.
One I teach is called the 9 breaths technique.
Here’s another.