the 9 Foundations of
Mindful Compassionate Dialogue
Attunement
Attunement means turning attention toward the experience and behavior of another for the purpose of offering care. Attunement includes consistent responsivity. Attunement is distinct from vigilance, which involves carefully observing others for the purpose of tracking threat.
Warmth
Warmth could be described as a diffuse felt-sense of love. It is usually accompanied by a softening of muscles in the face and around the heart, a feeling of openness, an attitude of caring, physical warmth, and an embracing or allowing of experience. It is distinguished by a lack of judgment. Compassion and loving-kindness are warmth practices.
Security
Security is a relational confidence in which you are experiencing a felt-sense of trust that you can be received and held with care by others; and that all aspects of your experience are acceptable and can be met with care and comfort.
Awareness
Awareness is the ability to identify aspects of experience as they arise such as: body sensations, body processes, posture, movement, impulses, energy, emotions, needs, images, thoughts, and behaviors.
Health
Health refers to care for the body. This means the body is getting the rest, exercise, medical attention, and nutrition it needs to function smoothly while supporting you throughout daily activities.
Regulation
Regulation is the process of tracking and managing physiological homeostasis and reactivity. This means noticing disequilibrium and reactivity as they show up in the body and then engaging in interventions that return the body to physiological homeostasis; that is, a consistent rhythm and balance that support other functions.
Equanimity
Equanimity includes access to a still point inside that enables you to meet experience with a profound allowing. With equanimity, you can observe experiences such as craving, aversion, impulses, or intense feelings without attempting to push away or hold on to them. Equanimity is characterized by the ability to notice experience and a sense of self with curiosity and lightness.
Clarity
Clarity is a state of mind rooted in ethical living. At one level clarity is a quality of mind that allows you to perceive the vibrancy of life. At another level clarity means that you stay grounded in the truth of life as constant change and this clarity informs your perception and behavior. Clarity gives you the ability to examine experience with skill and wisdom, take in new information, synthesize old information, and notice which conditions give rise to which effects.
Concentration
Concentration is the ability to direct your attention where you would like and hold it there as long as you would like. Concentration is a power of mind developed through specific meditation practices such as holding your attention on a single subtle object like the breath for specific lengths of time. By focusing the mind one increases its power significantly. If the mind skips from one object to another in time, or flits from this or that object in space, it can’t possibly generate the depth or stability to see anything clearly. Concentration is supported in daily life through tasks of uninterrupted single focus, rather than multitasking.