WEBVTT

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When I was first learning to meditate,

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the instruction was to simply
pay attention to my breath,

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and when my mind wandered,
to bring it back.

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Sounded simple enough.

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Yet I'd sit on these silent retreats,

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sweating through T-shirts
in the middle of winter.

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I'd take naps every chance I got
because it was really hard work.

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Actually, it was exhausting.

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The instruction was simple enough

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but I was missing something
really important.

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So why is it so hard to pay attention?

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Well, studies show

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that even when we're really
trying to pay attention to something --

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like maybe this talk --

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at some point,

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about half of us
will drift off into a daydream,

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or have this urge
to check our Twitter feed.

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So what's going on here?

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It turns out that we're fighting one
of the most evolutionarily-conserved

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learning processes
currently known in science,

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one that's conserved

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back to the most basic
nervous systems known to man.

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This reward-based learning process

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is called positive
and negative reinforcement,

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and basically goes like this.

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We see some food that looks good,

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our brain says, "Calories! ... Survival!"

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We eat the food, we taste it --

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it tastes good.

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And especially with sugar,

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our bodies send a signal
to our brain that says,

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"Remember what you're eating
and where you found it."

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We lay down this context-dependent memory

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and learn to repeat the process next time.

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See food,

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eat food, feel good,

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repeat.

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Trigger, behavior, reward.

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Simple, right?

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Well, after a while,
our creative brains say,

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"You know what?

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You can use this for more
than just remembering where food is.

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You know, next time you feel bad,

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why don't you try eating
something good so you'll feel better?"

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We thank our brains for the great idea,

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try this and quickly learn

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that if we eat chocolate or ice cream
when we're mad or sad,

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we feel better.

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Same process,

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just a different trigger.

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Instead of this hunger signal
coming from our stomach,

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this emotional signal -- feeling sad --

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triggers that urge to eat.

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Maybe in our teenage years,

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we were a nerd at school,

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and we see those rebel kids
outside smoking and we think,

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"Hey, I want to be cool."

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So we start smoking.

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The Marlboro Man wasn't a dork,
and that was no accident.

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See cool,

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smoke to be cool,

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feel good. Repeat.

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Trigger, behavior, reward.

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And each time we do this,

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we learn to repeat the process

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and it becomes a habit.

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So later,

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feeling stressed out triggers
that urge to smoke a cigarette

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or to eat something sweet.

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Now, with these same brain processes,

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we've gone from learning to survive

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to literally killing ourselves
with these habits.

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Obesity and smoking

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are among the leading preventable causes
of morbidity and mortality in the world.

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So back to my breath.

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What if instead of fighting our brains,

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or trying to force ourselves
to pay attention,

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we instead tapped into this natural,
reward-based learning process ...

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but added a twist?

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What if instead we just got really curious

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about what was happening
in our momentary experience?

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I'll give you an example.

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In my lab,

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we studied whether mindfulness training
could help people quit smoking.

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Now, just like trying to force myself
to pay attention to my breath,

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they could try to force
themselves to quit smoking.

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And the majority of them
had tried this before and failed --

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on average, six times.

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Now, with mindfulness training,

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we dropped the bit about forcing
and instead focused on being curious.

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In fact, we even told them to smoke.

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What? Yeah, we said, "Go ahead and smoke,

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just be really curious
about what it's like when you do."

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And what did they notice?

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Well here's an example
from one of our smokers.

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She said, "Mindful smoking:

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smells like stinky cheese

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and tastes like chemicals,

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YUCK!"

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Now, she knew, cognitively
that smoking was bad for her,

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that's why she joined our program.

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What she discovered just by being
curiously aware when she smoked

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was that smoking tastes like shit.

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(Laughter)

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Now, she moved from knowledge to wisdom.

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She moved from knowing in her head
that smoking was bad for her

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to knowing it in her bones,

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and the spell of smoking was broken.

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She started to become
disenchanted with her behavior.

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Now, the prefrontal cortex,

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that youngest part of our brain
from an evolutionary perspective,

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it understands on an intellectual level
that we shouldn't smoke.

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And it tries it's hardest
to help us change our behavior,

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to help us stop smoking,

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to help us stop eating that second,
that third, that fourth cookie.

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We call this cognitive control.

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We're using cognition
to control our behavior.

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Unfortunately,

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this is also the first part of our brain

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that goes offline
when we get stressed out,

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which isn't that helpful.

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Now, we can all relate to this
in our own experience.

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We're much more likely to do things
like yell at our spouse or kids

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when we're stressed out or tired,

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even though we know
it's not going to be helpful.

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We just can't help ourselves.

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When the prefrontal cortex goes offline,

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we fall back into our old habits,

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which is why this disenchantment
is so important.

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Seeing what we get from our habits

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helps us understand them
at a deeper level --

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to know it in our bones

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so we don't have to force
ourselves to hold back

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or restrain ourselves from behavior.

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We're just less interested
in doing it in the first place.

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And this is what mindfulness is all about:

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Seeing really clearly what we get
when we get caught up in our behaviors,

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becoming disenchanted on a visceral level

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and from this disenchanted stance,
naturally letting go.

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This isn't to say that, poof,
magically we quit smoking.

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But over time, as we learn
to see more and more clearly

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the results of our actions,

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we let go of old habits and form new ones.

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The paradox here

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is that mindfulness is just
about being really interested

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in getting close and personal

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with what's actually happening
in our bodies and minds

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from moment to moment.

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This willingness
to turn toward our experience

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rather than trying to make unpleasant
cravings go away as quickly as possible.

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And this willingness
to turn toward our experience

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is supported by curiosity,

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which is naturally rewarding.

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What does curiosity feel like?

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It feels good.

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And what happens when we get curious?

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We start to notice that cravings
are simply made up of body sensations --

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oh, there's tightness, there's tension,

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there's restlessness --

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and that these body
sensations come and go.

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These are bite-size pieces of experiences

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that we can manage from moment to moment

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rather than getting clobbered
by this huge, scary craving

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that we choke on.

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In other words, when we get curious,

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we step out of our old,
fear-based, reactive habit patterns,

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and we step into being.

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We become this inner scientist

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where we're eagerly awaiting
that next data point.

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Now, this might sound
too simplistic to affect behavior.

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But in one study,
we found that mindfulness training

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was twice as good as gold standard therapy
at helping people quit smoking.

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So it actually works.

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And when we studied
the brains of experienced meditators,

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we found that parts of a neural network
of self-referential processing

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called the default mode network

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were at play.

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Now, one current hypothesis
is that a region of this network,

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called the posterior cingulate cortex,

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is activated not necessarily
by craving itself

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but when we get caught up in it,
when we get sucked in,

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and it takes us for a ride.

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In contrast, when we let go --

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step out of the process

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just by being curiously aware
of what's happening --

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this same brain region quiets down.

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Now we're testing app and online-based
mindfulness training programs

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that target these core mechanisms

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and, ironically, use the same technology
that's driving us to distraction

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to help us step out
of our unhealthy habit patterns

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of smoking, of stress eating
and other addictive behaviors.

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Now, remember that bit
about context-dependent memory?

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We can deliver these tools
to peoples' fingertips

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in the contexts that matter most.

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So we can help them

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tap into their inherent capacity
to be curiously aware

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right when that urge to smoke
or stress eat or whatever arises.

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So if you don't smoke or stress eat,

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maybe the next time you feel this urge
to check your email when you're bored,

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or you're trying to distract
yourself from work,

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or maybe to compulsively respond
to that text message when you're driving,

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see if you can tap into
this natural capacity,

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just be curiously aware

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of what's happening in your body
and mind in that moment.

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It will just be another chance

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to perpetuate one of our endless
and exhaustive habit loops ...

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or step out of it.

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Instead of see text message,
compulsively text back,

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feel a little bit better --

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notice the urge,

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get curious,

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feel the joy of letting go

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and repeat.

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Thank you.

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(Applause)