A brand new book explores “How the New Science of Sensation Can Help You Reclaim Your Life”
At the beginning of April, through the Oxford Mindfulness Foundation, I was lucky enough to hear Norman Farb, a neuroscientist, and Zindel Segal, a clinical psychologist, talking about their book “Better in Every Sense”. (All the quotations in this article come from the book by the way Better in Every Sense : Farb, Norman, Segal, Zindel: Amazon.co.uk: Books) In it they describe the discoveries they have made after over two decades of painstaking research into the Default Mode Network (the DMN) – or what they call the “House of Habit”. This network can lead us to become “prisoners of our own problem-solving strategies.” They explore how the DMN can make us feel stuck in habitual thought patterns and behaviour. 
What is this Default Mode Network?
Farb and Segal’s House of Habit, or the Default Mode Network, refers to a group of structures in the brain that are thought to be part of a functional system. Research shows that these regions of the brain, which, it is hypothesised, form the DMN, show high levels of activity when we are recalling memories, thinking about the future, our environment, other people and ourselves. So, mind wandering, passive thinking if you like, will show a lot of engagement in the House of Habit. As human beings we’re constantly monitoring and judging, well… everything. The theory is that our minds are always preparing us for action. This preparation is based on the mental models created by the House of Habit or DMN. When we are able to carry out tasks on automatic pilot, such as driving to work or brushing our teeth, or even just standing up from a seated position, then we probably have the DMN to thank.
So what’s the problem?
The issue that Farb and Segal explore so beautifully in their book is that because for every situation we face we have a learned response, we rely to a large extent on “rule following and rigid patterns of perception and action”. This limits our choices for thinking in different ways and responding in new, perhaps more helpful, ways when needed. And interestingly, research shows that the DMN reveals high levels of activity during “maladaptive rumination” – all that self-critical and negative self-judgement, all that hopeless talk that goes on when we’re struggling. At the same time, when we’re thinking in this way, areas of the brain receiving sensory input are deactivated. In other words, as Farb and Segal put it: “Stress pokes holes in your intention to sense.” And for those who are vulnerable to depression, the problem is acute. “In the face of stress, the vulnerable are held captive in the house of habit” they tell us.
The Good News?
The brain is plastic (not literally, duh). Neuroplasticity means that when we learn new things the brain can rewire itself. According to Farb and Segal, if we want to challenge the stories that we form about pretty much everything in our lives, we have to attend to sensations. They call this “sense foraging”. And, here’s even more good news:
“To rewire your brain and engage sensation to overcome habit, all you need to do is pay attention.”
So, to “sense forage” you might enjoy any of the mindful practices available to you. The body scan is an obvious candidate as you travel around the body noticing sensations without judgement. Or you might focus on the breath. It doesn’t really matter as long as you pay attention. Of course, the mind will wander off but you simply bring it back to the focus of your attention, gently but firmly, over and over again.
However, you don’t have to practise mindfulness itself to “sense forage”. You might enjoy sport, a walk, cooking, yoga; in fact, anything which invites you pay to attention to the extent that you might lose yourself in the activity. Chapter 8 of Farb and Segal’s excellent book gives lots of advice and suggestions on “Access Points” – that is how you might sense forage.
And Finally…
Chapter 9 of the book is titled “Novices Sense, Experts Toggle”. They go on to explain: “The goal is not to get rid of the Default Mode Network but to realise that sense foraging gives you the option to weaken and reconfigure it when its programming is revealed to be problematic, precisely by that feeling of being stuck.” In other words, we “toggle” between our habits and our sensations. This allows us to find more helpful, updated “habits”.
Their final chapter contains the exercise “Putting It All Together” in which they give 10 suggestions. And at this point, if you want to know more, I suggest you read the book for yourself!
Meanwhile, you might want to read the companion blog to this one, “Sensation not Judgement”.
