Mindset: The New Science of Transformation - Personal Statement Example

Mindset: The New Science of Personal Transformation Mindset: The New Science of Personal Transformation Doctor Daniel J Siegelpresents a fundamental description of the brain’s role in mental health. He has managed to combine practical suggestions as he describes the sophisticated understanding of the brain. The key concepts the author unearths include learning to do insight meditation, doing body scanning, fathoming the link between the amygdala and prefrontal cortex and paying attention to the difference between the left and right hemispheres.

In this context, I will discuss the meditation based on its benefits (Siegel, 2010). One of the advantages of creating some form of meditative practice is to learn to become an observer. Once the brain is trained to witness one’s thoughts, one help the prefrontal cortex to manage the emotional aspect of one’s life. Siegel teaches his audience to do meditation that he referred as insight meditation. Through the application of script, Siegel primarily helps people relax, observe their thoughts and uncover that the mind can be keen on ongoing thing in their lives without getting caught up in their thoughts.

The author demonstrates that the prefrontal middle cortex is where people establish concept representations like moral judgment, time, and a sense of self through creating links among the cortex, limbic areas and the brainstem with the skull as well as the internally distributed nervous system of the body proper. Siegel illustrates that through serving as a connection system the incorporation the middle prefrontal cortex with the cortex, as well as brainstem, body improves wellbeing (Siegel, 2010).

He demonstrates that the middle prefrontal cortex serve such functions as body regulation, emotional balance, response flexibility, empathy, intuition, morality, and attuned communication. Such indicators of wellbeing are only feasible when one practices meditation and mindfulness. Accordingly, Siegel sees sense in being able to stimulate the middle prefrontal cortex linkage. In addition, the author charges that apart from stimulating the middle prefrontal cortex, when an individual is depressed, there is a need to teach them to embrace some form of meditation to attract control over feelings.

Such control of feelings is possible through control of people’s amygdala that is the emotional center of the brain that is always over activated. When individuals embrace such as focused training of mind, they can feel more centered and ready to cope with their issues. Siegel further explains that it is not the focusing that assists but also the diaphragmatic breathing that occurs when teaching clients to do meditative practice that calms them. Therefore, when individuals meditate, they watch their thoughts and by stimulating the prefrontal middle cortex and easing the amygdala (the overactive emotional part), Siegel demonstrates that individuals become more receptive to identifying as well as accessing their inner resources.

For those people who rather than being ruled by their emotions are unable to feel attached such motions fail to showcase their emotions, the author suggest that it would be useful for them to become attached to their body and feelings. Siegel illustrates such a condition based on the right and left hemispheres with the left hemisphere attributed to logic, words, linear thinking and numbers whereas the right hemisphere accounts for creativity, feelings, spatial relations and sensation (Siegel, 2010).

Subsequently, the objective with such clients who are split off from their feelings is to assist them develop more of their right hemisphere that is connected to feelings based on body scanning. Reference Siegel, D. J. (2010). Mindsight: The new science of personal transformation. New York: Bantam Books.