DBT Day 3 States of Mind: Wise Mind

[Elle_Luv]

Hello everyone! In my last two posts I talked about logic mind and emotion mind, and I mentioned these to give you awareness of these states, but now we’re going to be talking about Wise Mind!

Wise mind is the balance between emotion and logic mind, as i stated in the last posts there are ups and downs to both states, but with wise mind you achieve the ups of both states and not the downs. Wise Mind is crucial for me as it helps me make logical choices while also feeling emotions. For me, my goal is to remain in wise mind as much as I can, but there are many times I am not in Wise Mind.

So what does wise mind look like?

- intuition! If you’re unfamiliar with the concept of intuition it is essentially the concept of just knowing and not having to question it!

- curiosity!

- feeling emotions, and logically making effective choices with those emotions.

For example, last night I was feeling sad, and because I was in a private place I felt comfortable relieving that sadness through grief. However, if I had been at work, I would try to use other skills and not let that emotion overwhelm me in that moment.

Wise Mind gives us control of our emotional states and logical states. It allows us to connect with other but still be rational.

Practices: there are a couple practices that ground us and bring us into wise mind! Here’s a few ideas:

1. Become aware- of your internal state. Becoming aware of tension, or even the feeling of clothes on you, and becoming aware of the environment around you. How does it feel? Is it crowded? Empty?

2. Focusing on your breath- really focus on your breath, even for a minute or two. Just focus on the sensation of your breath entering and exiting your body.

3. Visualization- some people in the group really liked this and others did not, there’s no harm in trying. Imagine yourself as a stone that is thrown out into a clear lake and imagine yourself flosting down to the bottom. Really visualize on what that feels like, what you see, and focus on feelings of serenity. Stay there for awhile and bring yourself back.

4. Breath in “wise” and breath out “mind” for a little bit.

Try one of these practices and see how you feel! Or if you would like to share a time you were in wise mind I’d love to hear your thoughts!

Hope this helps <3

[Hidden]

My wise mind felt the tiredness today, but, instead of automatically letting my ptsd thoughts take over and an internal breakdown commence, it thought about solutions on how to combat that tiredness. My wise mind had me go away from the crowd every now and then to take my mask off and breathe properly, stop into a grocery store to get a protein bar and walk outside as much as possible.

My wise mind has also made a mental note to call the hospital on Monday and order new CPAP supplies. Mine should have been changed out by now, which might have to do with me getting tired again.

[Elle_Luv in reply to Hidden]

Wow!! I’m so proud of you!! I’m really proud you fought your tiredness! That’s always a struggle! It sounds like you’re making really good progress!

[Hidden in reply to Elle_Luv]

Thanks!😃😃😃 That makes me feel good. It takes a lot out of me, though. I don't even know if I have the energy to make that pie now. I anticipated as much, so I emailed the person in charge before leaving for the day to ask if I could just do a greeting instead (wise mind at work there) She said of course, so I think this is what I'll do.Your posts are helping, so thank you.😊😊😊

[Hidden in reply to Elle_Luv]

My pie is dripping in the oven (oh, and cooking)!!!!!

[Elle_Luv in reply to Hidden]

Ahahhaa baking is always hard. I’ve failed many a times

[Hidden in reply to Elle_Luv]

Ok, it's out now and looks good. Most of the liquid stayed in its place. Off to bed. I'll submit my video to the church tomorrow. I'm really proud that I could do this tonight!! One thing I've gotten good at doing is taking full advantage of any second winds I get. I had to during my trauma in order to stay healthy. Tonight was one of those second winds and I got a pie out of it!

Thanks for the encouragement by telling me you're proud of me! That made me feel so good! Thanks again😊😊😊😊

[Hidden]

Thanks for explaining these DBT concepts, it's fascinating.I can think of lots of examples of wise mind. My question is, can this apply to friendships?

Does this make sense: you can be friends with someone in wise mind who you would not be able to get along with in either logic or emotion mind.

One of my friends has the ability to drive me up the wall because she is sort of immature and childish. But we have been good friends, because I just keep telling myself to accept her the way she is and give her time to grow and develop more mature opinions. I feel like this is wise mind. Make sense?

[Elle_Luv in reply to Hidden]

Wise Mind can apply to anything! Yes!!! That is wise mind! You recognized your feelings of discomfort with her and you recognized some space was needed!