You only need a heart full of grace

The point is that historically significant atrocities often start with small acts that escalate to more severe ones over time. Another aspect of this paradigm that Milgram noted was that, in the studies with the highest levels of obedience, the participants had to tell the authority figure to his face that they refused to continue. Milgram posited that it is very difficult to defy a legitimate authority figure in this manner. Milgram based his explanation on Erving Goffman's analysis of self-presentation (1959). Defying legitimate authorities challenges the definition of the situation and disrupts the working consensus by which we all live. The participants had agreed to take part in the study, and they may have viewed their agreement as a contract they needed to honor. Another, broader way to view the difficulty of defying authority is that legitimate authority figures are valued representatives of the prevailing cultural worldview (Solomon et al. In fact, the legitimacy of their authoritative position is given to them by the culture. Probably the most famous of all is the body scan. Here, you lie or sit down, wander slowly with the attention through the whole body, and apply the basic principle of being non-judgmental. Even if your attention should reach body regions which you are not proud of, the motto stays: radical acceptance. When doing breath meditation, you sit on a cushion, chair or the naked floor, and focus the attention on the process of breathing. Flexible people or beginners who don't fear the pain can take up the lotus pose, in which the legs lie slightly uncomfortably on top of each other. However, since the important part is the breathing, it's not impossible to do it in a more casual pose, like when hanging around on the couch. You now concentrate on inhalation and exhalation, and as soon as you realize that your thoughts have wandered away, refocus your attention to it. Instead on the breathing, you could essentially focus on anything you want, such as the flickering of a tea light, the rays of sun shining through the curtains, or the empty wine bottle from yesterday's evening that is still standing there. It's not the object that matters, but the focusing. In walking meditation you are mindful while you move. In the morning: What front row moments do I want to experience today? During the day: What front row moments can I recognize or create right now?

At night: What front row moments can I celebrate today? Let's dig a little deeper. Each Morning: Moment makers think ahead. Set your intentions to both recognize and create great moments. Ask future-focused questions, which set the stage for great moments to occur. Play with the questions and see what feels good to you. Remember it's the essence of the experiment that matters most--you being a moment maker. In this vein, Haslam and colleagues (Haslam et al. Haslam et al. They suggest that this takes participants from a position of blind obedience to engaged followership. So to defy a scientist running a study, a doctor in an examining room, a police officer who has pulled you over, or a teacher in a classroom is to go against the very worldview and social identifications on which you predicate your meaningful view of the world and your own self-worth. So for this reason as well, we obey. Nursing is one context in which socialization to obedience can occur. In fact, one study found that 21 of 22 nurses who received a phone call from a supposed doctor they did not know would have, without hesitation, administered an excessive level of medication (Hofling et al. Once obedience becomes routine, it can occur virtually automatically. The Role of Charisma in the Rise to Power So now we know that people are likely to obey far beyond what our intuitions would lead us to believe. The attention is focused on the weight shift during the steps, the process of lifting the foot and putting it back on the floor, and the feeling of contact to the ground. A German institute for mindfulness recommends on its website walking with bare feet, so that the earth's energy may be absorbed more efficiently.

Additional advice on the website is to not move in a silly way when doing it in public, because this could attract a lot of unwanted attention. Very conveniently, a walking meditation may be instantly turned into a standing meditation, as well as into mindful latte macchiato drinking in one's favorite cafe. If you compare MBSR with the origins of behavioral therapy, it seems quite surprising that such contrasting things are considered to be two parts of the same therapy family. Let's imagine a scenario in which first wave-scientists like Watson or Skinner travel into the year 2020 with a time machine, and enter the office of a modern, mindfulness-focused behavioral therapist. How would they probably react? In my personal vision of this scene, Watson and Skinner are in a state of shock, as if they had been sent to an apocalyptic future world where the only things left were the smoking ruins of destroyed, once prosperous cities. Back in their own time, they immediately run to a lawyer to have the term behavioral therapy trademarked. There is also a therapy that's officially a mix of MBSR and CBT: Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT). Design questions that make you come alive! Consider asking, What would make today great? What would an ideal day look like? Who can I serve today? How will I make the most of each and every moment? Moment makers are constantly looking to recognize and create the brilliance and opportunity in each and every moment. Continually ask powerful questions, which changes the lens by which you see the world. Fully embrace the power of the present moment. Consider asking, What is great about this moment? How could I make this moment even better? And we know some reasons people obey. Understanding that humans have a proclivity to obey is one aspect of explaining the historical phenomenon of Nazi Germany.

But another major aspect is understanding whom we obey. Obviously we obey people in various authoritative roles whom the culture tells us to obey. One important set of such individuals is the people we view as leaders. But the remaining question regarding the Nazi phenomenon is, How in the world did someone as vile as Adolf Hitler become the revered leader of Germany? The existential perspective provides some answers. According to Ernest Becker (1973) and terror management theory (eg, Greenberg et al. In this context, people need a more secure belief system that provides them with a sense of enduring significance, especially if death-related concerns are heightened by prevailing political or economic factors. In such circumstances, an individual who takes bold action and who very confidently espouses an alternative worldview that seems to offer a better basis of meaning and self-worth can gain followers. Its goal is to help formerly depressive patients to stay healthy and not become depressive again. Half of it is identical with MBSR, and of course participants here get their raisins as well. In addition, one can find the typical cognitive behavioral elements, such as psychoeducation, behavioral activation, cognitive therapy, spotting warning signs of a depressive relapse, and practical help for dealing with an emotional crisis. Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) DBT was developed in the 1980s as a special treatment for borderline personality disorder. This psychic disorder is characterized by a high degree of inner tension, difficulties in social relationships, self-hate, great impulsivity, impressions of inner emptiness, and many other symptoms. People who suffer from it tend to injure themselves, such as by cutting their arms and legs with razor blades, and quite a few even commit suicide. The founder of DBT is the American psychologist Marsha M. Linehan, who herself - as she often spoke and wrote about - suffered from borderline in her youth. In psychiatric institutions, according to her story, she came across doctors who didn't have had any fitting therapy concept, and thus were completely helpless in dealing with such a disorder. How can I elevate this moment for the benefit of everyone involved? Moment makers recognize their wins and learn from their failures.

By bringing attention to the gift in each moment, you learn and grow. Value looking back and reliving great moments to further anchor them into your memory. Bring the power of the past into the present moment. Consider asking, what was great about today? What can we celebrate? What were the highlights? What were the gifts in the challenges?Your brain is blinking awesome. There's no debating that. A worldview that portrays the ingroup as representing the greater good and as being on a heroic mission to vanquish evil is particularly suited to providing such a sense of purpose and enduring significance. A leader who exhibits these attributes--boldness, self-confidence, and a vision that inspires and meets the psychological needs of followers--is known as a charismatic leader. Charismatic leader An individual in a leadership role who exhibits boldness and self-confidence and emphasizes the greatness of the ingroup. APPLICATION Historical Perspectives This terror management analysis seems to fit many historical instances in which charismatic leaders, including Hitler, emerge and rise to great power. Germany was humiliated and economically devastated by the loss of World War I and the signing of the very disadvantageous Treaty of Versailles in 1919. In the wake of all these events, it did not feel good to be a German. During the early 1920s, Hitler began his crusade to oust the ruling government and rid Germany of what he called the impure evil others--Jews, communists, homosexuals, and other supposedly inferior peoples. After a bold but failed attempt to overthrow the government by violence, Hitler was tried for treason. At its core, the therapy is a combination of psychotherapeutic one-to-one sessions and skills training - a special DBT group therapy with 4 thematical sections, or modules: In the offices of DBT therapists you will meet those little buddhas, that are smiling at you with an unearthly friendliness.