Interview with Dr. Eric Maisel, Author of “Ten Zen Seconds”
I recently had the opportunity to interview Dr. Eric Maisel, who is a family therapist, creativity coach, trainer and author of the book “Ten Zen Seconds.” Ten Zen Seconds is a very cool centering technique that uses easy to learn “incantations” and breathing exercises to help you quickly become centered and achieve a state of calm. I’ve been going through a lot of anxious moments lately with our house sale, and I have been using some of Eric’s techniques to calm myself. It works pretty well. If you are looking for a good, useful tool to manage your day to day mental health, you might want to give Ten Zen Seconds a shot.
Ten Zen Seconds Interview
FYM: How can Ten Zen Seconds help someone with a mood disorder such as anxiety?
Eric: It would depend a lot on what a person is anxious about and how his anxiety manifests itself.
For instance, if his anxiety is related to a lack of self-confidence and if, as a consequence, tackling “difficult” tasks provokes the anxiety, I would work on building self-confidence by using “I trust my resources” or “I am equal to this challenge.”
If the anxiety is related to perfectionism and the need to have things turn out well, I would practice “I expect nothing.” If it more about certain concrete childhood experiences that continue to return (as they do in PTSD), then I would focus on “I am free of the past.” It would depend-which is why self-awareness is part of the process.
FYM: I’m a big fan of quick meditations, but when I was anxious, one of my biggest problems was runaway thoughts. I would try to focus and become centered, but I would always get knocked off track by intrusive thoughts. How do people who suffer from anxiety prevent this from occurring while they are doing Ten Zen Seconds?
Eric: To eliminate intrusive thoughts, obsessive thoughts, “monkey mind,” and other variations of anxious mind chatter requires that a person make “getting a grip on his mind” an absolute top priority.
You make it a top priority by engaging in a systematic program of change that includes cognitive restructuring and mindfulness practice (learning how to have thoughts without attaching to those thoughts). Maintaining a systematic program means that you deal with every thought in your new way—by noticing your distorted thinking, by employing thought substitutes, by engaging in thought stopping, or in accordance with whatever technique you’ve adopted. The incantations work in conjunction with your complete program—they aren’t a substitute for such a program but they are a great adjunctive tool.
FYM: I have been practicing the Centering Sequence, and I find it very calming. How could the Centering Sequence be modified to benefit people who are trying to recover from a mental illness?
EM: The Centering Sequence, which is a specific sequence of six incantations meant to serve as a little “centering program” that takes you between half-a-minute and a minute to perform, can serve in any recovery program because its intention is to reduce anxiety, which is a core component of virtually every emotional disorder. The more a person manages his anxiety, the better his mental health.
In addition, because the sequence includes the “name your work incantation,” you get to mindfully announce exactly what healing you want to accomplish: your “work” might be to release pain, to think optimistically, to let go of anger, to forgive, to surrender, and so on. Reminding yourself to take this healing orientation helps the healing to occur.
FYM: I know you have a background in Cognitive therapy, and I also used Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) during my recovery from depression. How could you integrate Ten Zen Seconds with a therapy such as CBT?
EM: They are closely aligned. One of the tenets of CBT is that we make our own pain by the thoughts we think and that many of our thoughts are “distorted” or “irrational” and ought to be jettisoned. Not only do we need to notice an unwanted thought and order it to stop, but we also need to substitute a more affirmative thought—the addition of that “thought substitute” causes the brain to create new channels and our thinking becomes more self-friendly and affirmative.
The incantations work precisely the way thought substitutes work in CBT and can be used both as I recommend that they be used and also as part of your CBT program, so that when you think a thought that promotes depression, you dispute it and then you use, for instance, “I am open to joy,” “I am free of the past,” or “I am equal to this challenge” to help create a new, better brain channel.
FYM: In my mind, the most important step in recovering from mental illness is taking ownership of your own recovery. This is essentially an act of will; but it requires a lot of strength to get to this point. How could Ten Zen Seconds help someone discover the strength within themselves to take control of their own recovery?
EM: The incantations are designed to support the growth of personal responsibility, wisdom, mindfulness, and strength. Incantation 8, “I make my meaning,” in particular promotes the idea of taking ownership of your decisions, choices, behaviors, and activities, as do several of the others, including incantation 11, “I am taking action,” and incantation 3, “I am doing my work.”
As to discovering this inner strength, two of the incantations are designed for that specific purpose: incantation 4, “I trust my resources,” and incantation 5, “I feel supported.” As you breath-and-think these particular thoughts, you begin to believe that you can rely on yourself, which, as you indicate, is a crucial step in the recovery process.
Thank you Eric for your time, and for your wonderful, insightful advice. It is always good to find another mental health tool, and Ten Zen Seconds is definitely a great asset for someone who wants to take charge of their own mental health.
I have added Ten Zen Seconds to my spiffy new bookstore, so if you are interested in buying a copy, please feel free to browse on over and take a look.
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jennifer responds:
Posted: May 17th, 2007 at 10:41 am →
Excellent article Scott! Very, very powerful! I love techniques and ideas that are simple and yet profound.
Thank you for sharing this…
JJ
Janet Grace Riehl responds:
Posted: May 23rd, 2007 at 2:43 pm →
Scott,
I think the focus on short and sweet plus systematic is important in the work of balancing moods for better health. The systematic part is what often is at the root of the problem and that’s where the practice comes in, of course, so that the meditation, however long, becomes a habitual response in times of need. In the Buddhist tradition, this is considered as a refuge–a place to go–a sanctuary. In this case, the centering technique sequence. This is a good thing to have drawn out in your interview with Eric.
Janet Grace Riehl
Scott Davis responds:
Posted: May 25th, 2007 at 10:49 am →
Janet,
I’m a big believer in having a “safe place,” whether that is through something like the centering sequence or through visualization. I certain made use of safe places during my recovery, and even now I find that they help me to step back and change focus when things get tough.
I’ve been using my own modified version of the centering sequence, and it’s great. I’ve incorporated some of my own centering techniques that I learned while I was doing CBT, and it has been a big help when I find myself a bit off-center.
Thanks for commenting.
Scott
eric maisel’s book tour: focus for artists » change therapy - isabella mori responds:
Posted: May 31st, 2007 at 10:33 am →
[...] today i am one of the stops on eric maisel’s blog tour about his book ten zen seconds, the next step in mindfulness practice. on this book tour, eric has discussed a wide variety of topics relating to creative work, from writing to fashion design to song writing as well as psychological issues such as stress reduction, going through life transitions and mood disorders. [...]
Thursday Open Thread: :: 2k Bloggers - The Face of the Blogosphere responds:
Posted: September 20th, 2007 at 11:16 am →
[...] expect, it is about his own and others’ recovery from mental illness. Recently he posted an interview with Dr. Eric Maisel on his new book and technique, Zen Ten Seconds (book link is to my amazon store – shameless). Scott [...]
G.Davis responds:
Posted: February 18th, 2008 at 3:36 am →
I love that description of congnative restructuring and practicing mindfulness. Useless thoughts can always be replaced by beneficial thoughts, if we take the proper approach.