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There is a three-pronged relationship going on within you — a relationship between your Mind,
Brain, and Mindfulness. And the phrase ménage à trois translates into “a household of three.”
The alliance between your Mind and Brain is like a marriage that drives your Engaged (slow)
and Reflexive (fast) thinking processes. Sometimes they work independently, other times together.
Sometimes they are conflicting and other times they complement each other. Your Mind oversees
your Engaged Thinking, and your Brain is at the center of your Reflexive Thinking processes.
Mindfulness provides a polyamorous expansion to the relationship — and Mindful Thinking
builds upon core components of your Mind and Brain’s thinking processes. What are the benefits
and risks of these three thinking processes — and how do they interact with each other? Most
importantly, how can you take the reins to optimize the outcomes of this Ménage à Trois?
A popular concept describing the distinctions between your Mind and Brain is called MindBody Dualism. In this context, the word “Soul” is used to describe the non-physical aspects of
your existence and “Body” is used for your physical, organic components. Your Mind is within
your Soul, and your Brain is part of your Body. There is an overlap where your Mind and Body
communicate with each other — and recent research has suggested that this intersection might be
taking place in the Right-Frontal Insula section of your Brain.
Your Mind and Brain are companions in a relationship to help satisfy your drives to survive and
thrive — and they contribute to your overall thinking process in different ways. The Dual Process
Theory segments these processes into two modes. Your Mind utilizes an Engaged (slow) Thinking
process whereas your Brain is powered by Reflexive (fast) Thinking processes. Each has its
strengths and weaknesses — and they complement each other to form a powerful team.
Engaged Thinking – The analytical mode of thinking when you invest the time and
effort to think through the alternatives and consequences of your actions.
Reflexive Thinking – The mode of thinking when you instinctively react to stimuli
without stopping to think through alternative actions and consequences.
Evolution has forged your Brain into reacting quickly to avoid dangers and optimize your
efficiency. You are also conditioned to respond reflexively to new behavioural conditioning in this
lifetime. When you hear a bang, your body flinches. When you see an object flying towards you,
you jump away. The world around you can provide that reflexive training — and your Mind can
also make decisions on how to prioritize and train your preferred behaviours.
There is too much going on, too quickly in life for your Mind to do all of your thinking. It takes
time and energy to think through every situation in your life — but your Mind can prioritize and
delegate important thinking activities. You can decide to use techniques like repetition and rewards
conditioning for sports training, developing talents like music, and more complex skills like
rapport building and public speaking.
Your Brain is a part of your nervous system. And your Sympathetic and Parasympathetic
Nervous Systems provide communication channels between your Brain and rest of your body.
These nervous systems are driven by Fight, Flight, Rest, and/or Digest survival reflexes. These
instincts are required for survival, but their urgency and lack of deep thinking make them prone to
mistakes.
Your Mind’s Engaged Thinking processes operate in terms of the past, present, and future.
What happened in the past? What can you learn from the past? What are your objectives? What
are your options? What should you do now, and in the future? What are the possible reactions from
others? What are the potential rewards (or punishments) for you, and for others affected by your
actions?
The ORA Formula provides a powerful methodology to help manage your Engaged Thinking
activities. There is not enough time in your day to thoroughly think through every decision, so you
can even use the formula to decide what types of decisions you want to delegate to your Brain’s
fast Reflexive Thinking process. When you delegate, you should periodically check to assess
whether you are achieving your desired results. Your Brain is usually looking for a quick and easy
solution — which may or may not be achieving your overall objectives. Also, the conditions may
change, and wisdom evolves from an iterative learning process.
One risk of spending too much time on Engaged Thinking is getting stuck and reacting too
slowly to situations. You can also create stress and mental issues by ruminating too long about
past and future thoughts.
What is Mindfulness and how does it fit into the relationship between your mind and body?
Mindfulness or Mindful Thinking – A heightened state of awareness where you are
focused on the present moment — fully aware of the current flow of thoughts, sensations,
and emotions without judgement.
Mindfulness can reduce stress and provide a gateway to an expanded state of consciousness.
This state can open a channel to new, creative ideas. It is a restful state that can replenish your
energy and relieve you from some of the downside effects of your Engaged and Reflexive Thinking
processes.
Mindfulness does not directly fit into the continuum between your Mind and Brain. Instead, it
is achieved by abstracting certain elements from your Engaged and Reflexive thinking processes.
It involves isolating the present from past and future thoughts in your Mind — and relaxing to
suppress the flight, flight, and digest instincts of your Brain.
There are many techniques to help achieve a state of Mindfulness. You can try practices such
as meditation, deep breathing skills, yoga, mantras, or contemplating nature or art. A fundamental
aspect of mindful thinking is to relax and focus on one thought at a time. This could be your breath,
a body part in yoga, an object, or a single word or sound. After you learn to stay focused on one
thought at a time, you can work towards achieving a state of non-thought for optimal Mindfulness.
The state of semi-sleep can provide a period of relaxed thinking that can lead to a mindful
experience. Creative geniuses such as Salvadore Dali, Isaac Newton, Beethoven, and Thomas
Edison used to tap into this state of expanded consciousness to stimulate their thought processes.
Salvadore Dali used to go to sleep with a canvas next to his bed. Many of his famous
works were inspired by what he saw in his Mind when he started to go to sleep or when
he initially woke up from a dream. Dali would sometimes sit in a chair as he was falling
asleep, hold a spoon between his thumb and finger — and place a plate directly beneath
the spoon.
As he was falling asleep, the spoon would fall onto the plate, it would wake him up in
a hallucinatory-like, semiconscious state — and he would immediately capture his
creative visions on the canvas. Thomas Edison had a similar technique using steel balls.If your Mind is too busy as you are falling asleep or you wake up thinking in the middle of the
night. It might be from your expanded conscious trying to communicate with you — or it could be
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from stressing over past and future situations. You can try mindfulness exercises to go back to
sleep. Or you might want to get up, capture your thoughts on paper, smartphone, or computer to
clear your Mind and bookmark the ideas for when you wake up — and then go back to bed for
some more sleep or contemplation.
There are many benefits to Mindfulness, but you would not be able to survive if you did not
allocate time to learn from the past, plan the future — or to react to eminent threats.
The partnership of your Mind and Body provides complementary skills and benefits to enable
a successful relationship — and Mindfulness adds a satisfying third partner to create a virtuous
Ménage à Trois.
It is important to decide which component is in charge and responsible for your success. Your
Mind is the core of who you are. It can take the lead by exercising the ORA Formula to think
through the timing and extent of your reliance on each of your thinking processes — what and
when to delegate to your Mind’s Reflexive Thinking, how much time to allocate for Mindful
Thinking — and what decisions are worth investing your time and energy in Engaged Thinking.
The decision is up to you!
For more details on these concepts and techniques, check out HOW TO MASTER THE
UNIVERSE: Personal and Professional Life-Skills Guide – on amazon.com.
If you are curious about how AI extends the paradigm, follow my website for updates
on my upcoming book THE UNIVERSE of your Mind, Body, Mindfulness, and AI.
