Historically, psychological research suggested that we did not have a lot of control over the way we felt and acted. Martin Seligman points this out in his book Learned Optimism. For example, he notes that we acted as a result of our unresolved childhood issues (Freud), or our genes that direct fixed action patterns (Ethologists), or our behaviors are driven by external reinforcement (Skinnerians – is there such a word?! Followers of BF Skinner), or that our actions are a result of our need to reduce biological drives/need (Behaviorists – I had one of those examiners for my PhD thesis, who was not a fan of Intentional Action as a concept!).
These different branches of Psychology left the choice out of our actions for a large part, and put a heavy emphasis on things that were somewhat outside of our control (our genes and our environment). Now we know that what we do effects our genes (epigenesis), for example meditation, & we have much more control over our environments now, than we used to have. Particularly I do, as a white woman in the 21st Century.
Research since the 1960s has shifted more towards the control we do have over how we feel and act, and has zoned in on helplessness and decision making. Optimists – glass half full folks – believe that when the proverbial hits the fan, they must work harder to resolve the issue and have a cognitive strategy of telling themselves that what went wrong was not their fault. Confronted with defeat, they try harder. Pessimists on the other hand use the learned helplessness strategy in which nothing you choose to do affects what happens to you.
Optimism is a choice. Psychological research in the last half century has revealed what Buddhists & Yogis have known for hundreds of years – that we can choose how we think. The Yoga Sutras, one of the three texts written by Patanjali, lay out the practices for living a yogic life. The four books contain short pithy instructions for us to contemplate and practice. My favorite sutras that relate to this concept of optimism as a learned cognitive strategy include:
I.33 By cultivating attitudes of friendliness toward the happy, compassion for the unhappy, delight in the virtuous, and disregard toward the wicked, the mind-stuff retains its undisturbed calmness.*
II.3 Ignorance, egoism, attachment, hatred, and clinging to bodily life are the five obstacles.*
II.32 Niyama consists of purity, contentment, accepting but not causing pain, study of spiritual books and worship (self-surrender).*
The five Niyamas are the second of the 8 limbs of yoga. With the 5 Yamas (first limb), they comprise a list of 10 suggestions, similar to the Ten Commandments in Christianity and Judaism or the Ten Virtues in Buddhism. Niyamas are observances.
II.42 By contentment, supreme joy is gained.*
Sri Swami Satchidananda notes that “contentment means just to be as we are without going to outside things for happiness. If something comes, we let it come If not, it doesn’t matter. Contentment means neither to like nor to dislike,” p146.*
So, get to it – choose a better model. And if it feels like you are stuck, remember this Buddhist analogy that I constantly remind my kids about:
The mind is like the sky. Thoughts are like clouds that move across the sky. They are not the sky and they are not permanent.
I extend this analogy and talk about how some of the clouds have thunder and lightning and how others are light and airy. And the key is that they are IMPERMANENT and you can let them go. So when it feels overwhelming, when it feels that everything is going wrong, remember you can chose how you feel and it won’t last forever.
“I am not what has happened to me. I am what I choose to become.”
~Carl Jung
*The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali: Translation and Commentary by Sri Swami Satchidananda.
©Tamsin Astor-Jack, Yoga Brained LLC