Uncovering Happiness:
Building Resiliency with Mindfulness and
Self-Compassion
Elisha Goldstein, PhD
www.elishagoldstein.com
Disclosures
 Nothing to disclose
Objectives
 Participants will be able to identify five areas in a day
that serve as informal spaces of mindfulness wherein lies
the choice to respond in more adaptive ways.
 Participants will be able to integrate a core formal
mindfulness practice into daily life.
 Participants will be able to list and practice three short
mindfulness and self-compassion exercises that can be
integrated for self-care and/or with patients.
 Participants will name three ways to help patients prime
their minds toward the good.
Workshop Retreat
Going Deeper into Mindfulness
Going Deeper into Compassion
The Importance of Play
Mindfulness Everyday
The Problem
Discussion
Play!
Discussion
The Body Scan
Discussion
“Life is full of difficult moments, and we all feel
vulnerable at times. What if instead of wanting to
get away from uncomfortable feelings, you see
them as helping you get connected to the now?
What if they move you into a space of awareness in
which you recognized a choice point?”
~ The Now Effect
Copyright 2013 Elisha Goldstein, PhD
Key Attitude
Play
Copyright 2013 Elisha Goldstein, PhD
Cues for Avoidance
Copyright 2013 Elisha Goldstein, PhD
Copyright 2013 Elisha Goldstein, PhD
Copyright 2013 Elisha Goldstein, PhD
What Happens if We Don’t Play?
Instructions: Stop doing anything “instrumental” (Walks with friends, reading).
After 24 hours
Increased sluggishness
Difficulty concentrating
Felt sleepy
Restless
After 48 hours
48 hours “the general deterioration in mood was
so advanced that prolonging the experiment would
have been unadvisable.”
* 1970’s study with Mihaly Csikzentmahalyi
Copyright 2013 Elisha Goldstein, PhD
Play ≠ Burnout
Play
Depression
Engaged (Left Prefrontal)
Disengaged (Right Prefrontal)
Absence of self-critic
Self-Judgment
Flexible Mind
Rigid Thinking
Positive Emotions
Negative Emotions
Social (High Vagal Tone)
Isolation (Low Vagal Tone)
Open to possibilities
Helplessness
Copyright 2013 Elisha Goldstein, PhD
Self-Compassion
Discussion
Resources
Books and Audio
 Uncovering Happiness: Overcoming Depression through Mindfulness and SelfCompassion
 Mindfulness Meditations for the Anxious Traveler
 The Now Effect: How this Moment Can Change the Rest of Your Life.
 A Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Workbook
 Mindful Solutions Audio Series (Stress, Anxiety, Depression, Addiction, Work, ADHD)
 Mindfulness and Psychotherapy Blog – blogs.psychcentral.com/mindfulness
Mindful Centers
 InsightLA.org
 Mindful Awareness Research Center (MARC): http://marc.ucla.edu
 Spirit Rock, Northern California
 Insight Meditation Society (IMS) Barre, Massachusetts
 Center for Mindfulness at University of Massachusetts Medical School:
www.umassmed.edu/cfm
Copyright 2013 Elisha Goldstein, PhD