What is Emotional Intelligence?

“What the world needs therefore is not more knowledge (in conventional terms), it does not need more intelligence — that’s the IQ kind of intelligence, conceptual intelligence; the world needs something deeper to be saved and we could call that wisdom.

Wisdom arises from the non-conceptual intelligence and then we are able to use our minds without the mind becoming destructive and without the mind taking us over.”

~Eckhart Tolle

What we see in people with a high EQ

Self-awareness and self-knowledge
- Knowing one's values, unique qualities and interests
- Able to be with the negative self-talk of the mind without letting it take over
Self-worth and self-confidence
- Inspired to take positive action on our own behalf
- believing in our abilities while knowing we are worthy of love and belonging as we are
Compassionate Action
- Relationships are informed by the ability to connect and empathize with others
- Solution-driven rather than problem-focused, able to take positive action
Conflict Resolution Skills
- Ability to listen to a contrasting position with open mindedness and curiosity without feeling threatened rather than struggling to feel heard

Student symptoms without EQ education:

Lack of self-worth and/or self-confidence
- can manifest as mental health struggles (anxiety, depression, chronic stress) and/or apathy, difficulty in self-motivation or finding interest in school work
- making decisions that have negative consequences

Transference of personal authority, autonomy, agency; deference to others
- lack of self-trust (eg. in one's ability to make good decisions)
- more focused on trying to fit in; following social norms

Inability to discern one's values and desired path (eg. choosing courses, post-secondary program, career/job)
- following a prescribed path that one feels is 'right' rather than well-suited to them
- unclear on one's innate gifts, personal passions and interests, and unique blueprint

What is Self-Inquiry?

Self-inquiry has origins dating back to the ancient world and history's sages and philosophers. iWe teaches self-inquiry by using a clear, straight-forward easy-to-use structure developed by Byron Katie which she refers to as "The Work." It is also known as Inquiry Based Stress Reduction, or, IBSR, to signal this process as a cousin of Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) developed by Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn who is credited as bringing mindfulness practice to the west from his roots in Zen Buddhism.

Self-inquiry

is a way for people to shift away from the thinking domain of the logical left brain into the thinking-transcendent, big-picture perception of the right brain
it allows people to tap their own innate wisdom
it teaches people the skill of noticing, essential for emotional intelligence, distinct from intellectualizing and conceptually manipulating
it is a form of meditation, teaching the mind how to be silent and alert, the highest form of intelligence

Research

Precedent-setting school mindfulness program

Peace in Schools is an American organization pioneering for-credit courses in mindfulness education in Oregon, USA. A study on their Mindful Studies course showed that the class significantly improved emotional regulation, self-compassion, and coping, while decreasing reported anxiety, depression, and judgment, demonstrating the power and possibility of an inner curriculum in schools.

Inquiry Based Stress Reduction/IBSR (The Work of Byron Katie)

An article in the European Society of Medicine shares the findings of a study which demonstrated the Inquiry-Based Stress Reduction (IBSR, 'The Work') meditation technique's "effectiveness as a tool for enhancing psychological well-being and promoting mental health."

An article in the U.S. National Libary of Medicine examines The Effect of Inquiry-Based Stress Reduction on Teacher Burnout.

An article in the research publishers Frontiers of Psychology tests "the effects of an inquiry-based stress reduction (IBSR) intervention on students’ academic self-efficacy, their test anxiety, and subsequent procrastination in the final stages of an academic term" finding that "IBSR intervention reduced test anxiety as well as subsequent academic procrastination."

A second article in Frontiers looked at the a short intervention of inquiry-based stress reduction in comparison to other coping methods and found that "individuals who had received the inquiry-based intervention demonstrated significantly lower test anxiety than participants from the pooled control groups."

The Thinking Project has pioneered the use of self-inquiry with elementary aged student in the U.S. Their findings show "significant increases in student perception of their ability to accomplish the things they try and in student ability to work with someone who has different opinions." A school counselor refered to the program as "the most comprehensive SEL curriculum I’ve seen.”