Wooly Worms
I was writing a letter to a friend telling him about what we had been learning in class. I used my woolly worm experience to explain to him about what and how skills for mindfulness. After I finished it, I thought it was a good enough explanation that I should post it here too. It can remind me down the line of just how well I can do these skills when I am not forcing myself. The skills are so much easier to do when you just "let it happen."
Last week we started in the ways to “get into wise mind”. The gal who developed DBT (dialectical behavior therapy) came up with a lot of acronyms for things. I just make that statement now because they start to show up in these next few weeks and some are just like “Um….ok”.
The first set of skills are called “what skills” and these are observe, describe, participate. This is my infamous “pick up the pencil, what color is it, what does it smell like, what does it feel like, is it sharp, what about the eraser, etc….” In class we did our practice with a York Peppermint Patty -- Observing the package, listening to how it sounds in our hands, what it feels like, is there a smell, the printing and lettering. Then we opened the package, observing and describing, then we took a small bite and let it sit in our mouth and then chewed (or smooshed against the roof of our mouth) slowly.
When we “observe” we just notice the experience. While mowing this past weekend, I found a woolly worm. I picked him (assuming it was a him) up and let him crawl on my hands and arms. There is no judgment when observing, things are just “it is what it is” and we take in all aspects of what we are observing. I just watched as he crawled up my arm or around my fingers. We observe with our senses. Now, I wasn’t smelling or tasting him, yet I did rub my fingers across him – he is a woolly worm!!!
So, next is “describe”. That is just telling about what your senses are picking up. This one actually had light coloring in him, that is how I saw him in the tall grass. (Did you know that all dark woolly worms is a sign of a bad winter?) It tickled when he walked across my skin. Although I thought he would feel “fuzzy” it was actually hard to feel him because the hairs are so fine. When he would “lean up” I would giggle and wonder how he was hanging on, especially when it was upside down. This skill is also what they call “sitting with” an emotion/thought/feeling/experience.
The last one for the What Skills is “participate” – or be present in the moment. I wasn’t mowing and playing with him, he had my undivided attention. I wasn’t worrying about what I had to do, where I had t be, etc. They call it becoming one with the experience. It was pretty much me and the woolly worm – as Tess had already decided that she wanted nothing to do with it.
Another way to express What Skills is to “notice it” (observe), “talk about it” (describe), and “be a part of it” (participate).
The other half is the “How Skills” which are non-judgmentally, one-mindfully, and effectively. These are pretty self-explanatory although not always easy to do! The first two are obvious. Effectively just means that whatever you are doing, is it moving you toward your goal? Is it effective? My goal was to play with the woolly worm and just enjoy the moment. The things I did to achieve this were effective and I had quite a smile on my face.
And, afterwards, I moved him to a safe place where he would not get hit by the mower blades. And for your “if you didn’t already know” knowledge base – woolly worms become Monarch Butterflies.