CHAPTER 4: THE MINDFUL LEARNER • 75can tell when we are close to this bank because we become over controlled; there is possible
food restriction, and/or withdrawal from others or a need to control others. Thinking
becomes overly rule governed, and we struggle to be flexible in problem solving. Many
of my patients with eating disorders like to call these types of rigid behaviors “being per-
fect.” I explain that calling these behaviors perfect is romanticizing rigidity (Cook-Cottone,
2015, p. 85).
On one occasion, after explaining the river of integration (Siegel, 2010) to a patient in
late adolescence who was on the path toward recovery from a long history of anorexia ner-
vosa (AN), I asked her what she thought of the model (Cook-Cottone, 2015). How did it
relate to her life? She smiled as she explained to me that the model made a lot of sense to
her. She explained to me how for years she had careened from one bank to the other, never
experiencing integration (Cook-Cottone, 2015). When looking at the model, she could see
how, over the years of her adolescence, she had moved from chaos to over-control and back
to chaos, with neither experience being tolerable for too long (Cook-Cottone, 2015). She said,
“I never touched a foot into the river of integration. I just zip-lined from one bank to the
other” (Cook-Cottone, 2015, p. 86). For many years now, I have shared this anecdote with the
psychologists-in-training at the university with my client’s blessing. This anecdote speaks
to so many of us—practitioners, teachers, administrators, and students. That is, we either
take on rigid, unmanageable plans for self-regulation or careen into chaos because we are
unable to tolerate our own unreasonable dictates (Cook-Cottone, 2015). Mindful and yoga
practices can be approached in a gentle, manageable manner as a way to find the centerline
of neurological integration (Cook-Cottone, 2015). In fact, yogic and mindful practices were
born out of a search for a more centered and integrated way of being (Cook-Cottone, 2015).
BRIEF REVIEW OF MINDFULNESS OUTCOMES
There is a growing body of research on the positive effects of mindfulness practices.
Mindfulness practices are associated with many positive outcomes including increased
ability to self-regulate and be in effective, active engagement, as documented in empirical
research and literature reviews (e.g., Brown et al., 2007; Brown & Ryan, 2003; Cook-Cottone,
2015; Duckworth, Grant, Loew, Oettingen, & Gollwitzer, 2011; Shapiro & Carlson, 2009;
Siegel, 2010; Waters et al., 2015; Weare, 2013; Zenner et al., 2014). Specific processes that
are enhanced include: cognitive performance; clarity of awareness; nonconceptual, nondis-
criminatory awareness; flexibility in awareness and attention; an empirical stance toward
reality; present-oriented consciousness; stability and continuity of attention and awareness;
resilience; and enhanced self-regulation (Brown et al., 2007; Cook-Cottone, 2015; Weare,
2013; Zenner et al., 2014). In addition, these types of practices are negatively associated
with psychopathology, alexithymia, neuroticism, disorders of self-regulation, and overall
psychological distress (see Brown et al., 2007 and Cook-Cottone, 2015). With mindfulness
practice, there is an increased sense of well-being, stronger affect regulation tendencies,
greater self-awareness and understanding of emotions, and an increased ability to adjust
unpleasant mood states (Brown & Ryan, 2003; Cook-Cottone, 2015).
Brown et al. (2007) explain that the disentanglement of consciousness from cognitive
content may allow you and your students to think with greater effectiveness and precision.
For example, when being mindful, the activity of conceptual thought can be purposefully
engaged and disengaged by choice (Cook-Cottone, 2015; Brown et al., 2007). Shapiro and