Tag: mindfulness

Opmærksomhedens filosofi

Hvordan vi kan etablere en mere kærlig forbindelse med verden og hinanden

Ved ph.d. Finn Janning

Opmærksomhed er forudsætningen for enhver erkendelse. Men det kan være vanskeligt at give en fremstilling af begrebet opmærksomhed, for uanset om vi vælger et videnskabeligt, et metafysisk, et etisk, et æstetisk eller et spirituelt aspekt, synes de at være forbundet. Vi har derfor brug for en filosofi om opmærksomheden, både den som retter sig indad mod selvet og den som retter sig udad mod verden (f.eks. Opmærksomhedens filosofi). 

Forelæsningerne introducerer til og diskuterer elementer af det, der i dag ofte omtales som ’mindfulness’ samt især to vestlige filosoffer, der har beskæftiget sig indgående med begrebet opmærksomhed: Franske Simone Weil og irske Iris Murdoch. De forstår begge opmærksomhed som en handling, der tilsidesætter vores ego og etablerer en ikkedømmende forbindelse med verden – ’unselfing’, som Murdoch kalder det.

Fundamentet for forelæsningerne er filosofisk, men de vil også indeholde eksempler fra sportens og kunstens verden. Og der vil blive foretaget enkelte korte opmærksomhedsøvelser.

Opmærksomhedsfilosofi handler grundlæggende om det simple ønske om at komme i berøring med virkeligheden for bedre at kunne engagere sig i verden. Når dette lykkes, vækkes en umiddelbar livslyst og glæde. Om det så vil lykkes henover disse to mandage, må tiden vise.

1. undervisningsgang
Mandag d. 24. februar 2025 Kl. 16:15 – 18:00

2. undervisningsgang
Mandag d. 3. marts 2025 Kl. 16:15 – 18:00

Tilmelding her

A Philosophy of Attention for Authentic Performance

This study presents a philosophy of attention that promotes authentic performance. As described here, attention is about training outgoing and ingoing attention skills, which can ultimately connect an individual to others and the world. This ability can help the individual remain focused and receptive to what happens while at the same time accepting their thoughts, feelings, and experiences. The ability to pay attention is crucial to performing and living authentically, regardless of the person’s area of expertise. The philosophy of attention presented here is rooted in existential philosophy, flow psychology, mindfulness, and acceptance-based psychology. It aims to help individuals and organizations examine what they can do and how they can actualize their potential more freely and with greater clarity. This results in better performance and increased existential meaningfulness and joy, leading to a more dignified life.

Read the entire paper in Meta: Research in Hermeneutics, Phenomenology, and Practical Philosophy.

World Parkinson’s Congress 2023: Where Science Meets Art, Healing, and Meditation

Attending the World Parkinson’s Congress in Barcelona (2023) has been deeply inspiring.

The congress is not only about science and medicine, but also about the role of art, healing, and meditation in living with Parkinson’s. Creative expression, storytelling, and mindful practices are being highlighted as powerful ways to nurture resilience and build community.

Being surrounded by so many courageous people, openly sharing their journeys, reminds me that healing is not only an individual process but also something we create together.

Photo by Matt Eagles

Myten om det normale

Den ungarsk-jødiske læge Gabor Maté var barn under Anden Verdenskrig. Han overlevede, fordi hans mor sendte ham væk fra det besatte Budapest for at blive passet af sin moster. Han var 11 måneder gammel. Selvom morens handling var baseret på gode intentioner, var konsekvensen, at Maté gennem livet ofte har følt sig forladt og overset.

I The Myth of Normal. Trauma, Illness and Healing in a Toxic Culture – som Maté har skrevet sammen med sin søn, Daniel Maté – beskriver han, hvordan han 70 år senere, da hans kone glemmer at hente ham i lufthavnen, bliver såret, vred og opfører sig barnligt og tvært i et par dage. Konens forglemmelse aktiverer en fysisk-emotionel kraft, der bringer ham tilbage til fortiden. Der er tale om et trauma. 

”Trauma,” skriver Maté, er en græsk term, der betyder sår. ”Trauma er ikke, hvad der sker med dig, men hvad der sker indeni dig.” Han sammenligner det med et trafikuheld, hvor ulykken er, hvad der sker, mens skaden er det, der varer ved, f.eks. frygten for at køre i bil. Et trauma er en ”psykisk skade indlejret i vores nervesystem, sind og krop, der kan udløses når som helst” – inklusive mange år efter hændelsen. Som et sår er traumet kendetegnet ved to ting: For det første kan en umiddelbart harmløs hændelse få såret til at væske igen. For det andet kan traumet udvikle sig til et ar, der gør vedkommende hård, ufleksibel og følelsesmæssigt kold.

Traumet, ligesom Matés egen historie, er ikke forbeholdt frygtelige hændelser, såsom død, sygdomme, skilsmisser eller voldtægter, men er knyttet til vedkommendes oplevelse af en hændelse, altså hvad der sker indeni vedkommende, og hvorledes vedkommende forholder sig hertil. 

Læs resten af anmeldelsen i POV International.

Accepting vulnerability

I just published the paper entitled “Accepting Vulnerability: Towards a Mindful Sport Philosophy” in Journal of Applied Sport Sciences.

In the paper I argue that wisdom does not emerge from abstract thinking; instead, it requires that we become attentive to what is concrete: our everyday life and how we spend it. Do we spend our life wisely or not? Answering this question requires that we know ourselves sufficiently — that is to say, have we explored and examined our own life by paying attention to it while we are living it? 

To exemplify this philosophical approach, I refer to examples from modern football coaching that illustrate how they play themselves and their team into certain thoughts, not the other way around. More specifically, I refer to the Danish national football coach Kasper Hjulmand and Jurgen Klopp, the Head coach of Liverpool Football Club.

In Time, On Time, All the Time

“What’s important in your life, and why is it important?” I said, as
my father folded a pillow on the sofa, laid his head on it and drew his
final breath.

On the Monday morning that my father died, somewhere in Denmark,
I was teaching an online university class, somewhere in Spain. Afterwards,
I lay down on my bed, drained of energy. I closed my eyes and checked
my breathing. It was agitated. My heart was beating too fast. Then it didn’t
beat at all. It was as if my heartbeat depended on my will. On whether I
wanted it to beat. Or not.

Read the rest of the essay in the Wilderness House Literary Review

Foredrag

Jeg er blevet inviteret til at holde et foredrag på Københavns universitet. Jeg accepterede.

Fordraget har jeg givet det titlen “Opmærksomhedens filosofi – en dialog mellem frihed og kærlighed.”

Det finder sted tirsdag den 27. september fra klokken 16-17.30 (se mere nedenfor). Alle er velkomne og det er gratis.

Oplægget er følgende:

”Jeg tror på lidelsens værdi, så længe den enkelte gør sig enhver (legitim) anstrengelse for at slippe af med den.” – Simone Weil.

Der er især to filosoffer, der har beskæftiget sig indgående med begrebet opmærksomhed, som også kan have stor betydning i coaching og andre dialogformer. Den ene er den franske Simone Weil, den anden den engelske Iris Murdoch. Fælles for begge gælder, at de forstår opmærksomhed som en handling, der tilsidesætter vores ego. Opmærksomhed er forbundet med evnen til at tilegne sig eller indoptage livets dybder. Iris Murdoch siger meget passende, at: ”Opmærksomhed belønnes med en erkendelse af virkeligheden.”

I foredraget vil Finn Janning vise, hvordan eksistentielle lidelser er forbundet med at leve uopmærksomt. Eksistentielle lidelser bunder i en manglende frihed, som umuliggør kærligheden. Opmærksomhed er med andre ord forudsætningen for at blive fri, og friheden er kærlighedens element.

Finn vil med eksempler fra sportens verden vise, hvordan en opmærksom og problematiserende tilgang til livet kan fremme bæredygtige beslutninger, der er frigørende. Opmærksomhedens filosofi er en eksistentiel praksis, hvor det drejer sig om at involvere sig i den løbende dialog mellem frihed og kærlighed, hvorved menneskets evne til at elske og leve frit perspektiveres og nuanceres. 

Når denne dialog lykkes, vækkes en umiddelbar livslyst og glæde.

Forelæsningen finder sted i Karnapsalen, Institut for Idræt og Ernæring, Nørre Allé 53, 2200 København N. Klokken 16-17.30

Tilmelding Deltagelse er gratis, men tilmelding er nødvendig. Tilmelding sker ved udfyldelse af denne formular.

Love holds the potential for political change

“Loving people is the only thing worth living for.” – Søren Kierkegaard

I believe that all kinds of discrimination, hate and suffering can only be destroyed by love.

In her book All About Love: New Visions, the philosopher Bell Hooks (or, as she prefers, bell hooks) defines love as the will to extend or expand oneself for the purpose of allowing the spiritual self to flourish—including the selves of others. According to the existential philosopher Søren Kierkegaard, love is edifying. Love is a verb; it does something. But that is not all! In a letter to his then-fiancée Regine Olsen, Kierkegaard wrote, “Freedom is the element of love.”

Love requires freedom. Or only free people can love.

I propose an understanding of freedom as being with friends. Freedom is the manifestation of a complete or meaningful relationship. Every relationship always assumes something that is not oneself. Love cannot therefore be reduced to self—love is, rather, an external force that arouses joy.

Seen in this light, I believe that a will to love—fundamentally—tries to overcome the devastating sadness that comes in the face of exploitation, discrimination, abuse of power, violence and death.

Works of Love, Kierkegaard argues that only love is edifying.Not anger. In connection with the religious injunction to love your neighbour as yourself, he emphasizes that the term neighbour does  not refer to your race, your gender or your nation, but all people. Anyone, he writes. All people should be loved as equals (not necessarily loved equally).

That is, treated equally. Treated with the same respect and rights.

With Kierkegaard’s call to love all human beings as equals, he turns love into a political concept that destroys the damning group identity politics of the time. Love possesses such a liberating potential. It confirms the wisdom of Hannah Arendt, when she said that evil is the result of our thoughtlessness, our reluctance to think well and thoroughly.

Mindlessness is associated with a lack of attention, an inability to love.

Love is the vitality with which all critical thinking begins. It’s like a friendly bond that can make you and me wiser. That which is part of life in all its complexity: everything that breathes, shits and dies.

Love can only flourish when we—all of us—recognize that none of us own life, but rather, that it is on loan. It is the manifold powers of life that we cherish, not our ego, race or territory.

Love holds the potential for political change. It happens when all people are loved, as equals.

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