Other areas currently being investigated through a mindfulness lens include decision making (see Langer, 1994, for a theoretical review), evaluation, meditation and Eastern religious practices, and emotion. The work described in the current issue further demonstrates the breadth of application possibilities of this construct, ranging from interaction with computers to understanding of mental retardation.
Mindfulness, Cognition, and Computers
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The question of how mindfulness relates to intelligence, cognitive abilities and cognitive styles is considered in the issue's next article, by Robert Steinberg. He concludes that although there is some overlap with other types of cognitive processes, and it is most like the construct of cognitive style, the concept of mindfulness has some unique properties. We are not in complete agreement with his conclusion that mindfulness is most like a cognitive style because, in our view, a style is not expected to change over time and through different circumstances, whereas the essence of mindfulness is change.
We prefer to consider the problem of the relation between mindfulness and other types of cognitive processes in terms of whether something is reducible to an algorithm for processing information. Having a particular cognitive style cannot be mindful, by definition, because it is precisely the sensitivity to the novel and, therefore, unexpected (i.e., nonalgorithmic) that is one of the key components of mindfulness. The French philosopher Giles Deleuze captured part of the spirit of mindfulness when he wrote, "To the answer embedded in every question, answer with a question from a different answer" (Deleuze & Guattari, 1980).
The algorithmic aspects of problem-solving behavior have been extensively addressed by the literature on cognition and problem solving (Newell, 1990) and this has had a major effect on cognitive psychology. Paradoxically, although this early work established a whole new approach to the mapping of cognitive processes, it also limited the scope of what a mind-mapping venture could look like.
The Simon-Newell paradigm (Newell, 1990) is based on what has been called the mind-as-computer metaphor (Gigerenzer & Goldstein, 1996). The central tenet of this metaphor is that mental processes are nothing more than algorithmic processes, or processes that can be simulated by general-purpose computational devices, such as a digital computer. This central tenet is, by definition, irrefutable, because it contains a set of cognitive commitments that we commonly use to refer to a problem. According to this view, solving large arrays of linear equations is a legitimate problem and an adequate topic for the study of mental processes because the answer is computable by a finite algorithm working on a finite-state computational device. Inventing a new topology for a space-time--as Einstein did--would not be a legitimate problem for this view (or would be considered an ill-posed problem) because it is not susceptible to formulation as the input to a finite-state computational device. Thus, the cognitive abilities s cholar cannot account for acts of creation of new concepts, even something like the general theory of relativity, that have become new paradigms in their fields. In contrast, the student of mindfulness focuses often on those particular cognitive processes that defy immediate algorithmic representation.
terça-feira, 24 de agosto de 2010
The Construct of Mindfulness 2
The Construct of Mindfulness
Journal of Social Issues, Spring, 2000 by Ellen J. Langer, Mihnea Moldoveanu
Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Next
Education is an area that often seems to abound in mindlessness. Many educational ramifications of mindfulness are reviewed in The Power of Mindful Learning (Langer, 1997). Whether intending to learn an academic subject, a new sport, or how to play a musical instrument, we often call upon mind-sets that hamper rather than help us to learn. For example, many of us believe that we should learn the basics of a task so well that they become second nature to us. Having mindlessly accepted this information, it rarely occurs to us to question who determined what the basics are. Surely, if women and men engage in the same sport, the differences in their bodies should result in differences in how to play the game, for example. Once we learn the basics mindlessly so that we no longer have to think about them, we are not in a position to vary them readily as we get more information about the task.
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But there are relatively simple ways of reducing mindlessness in learning. Several studies more fully described in Langer (1997) explored the ramification of inducing mindful learning. In one study (Langer & Piper, 1987), mindfulness was encouraged by introducing information about objects in a conditional way, using language like "could be," rather than the more traditional, absolute way ("is," "can only be"), which was defined as the mindless condition. Participants in the mindful conditions were better able to use the objects creatively when the need for a novel use of the object arose. In subsequent studies this work was extended to the introduction of text in the same conditional manner. Here, the language that was used consisted of expressions such as "could be," "perhaps," "from one perspective." Similar benefits accrued from the mindfulness treatments in these studies (e.g., Langer, Hatem, Joss, & Howell, 1989).
Attentional processes have been assumed to be central to learning. These have also been illuminated by mindfulness research. In one study (Langer, 1997) I asked both students and teachers what they meant by paying attention. Interestingly, both groups believed that this meant to "hold the image still as if focusing a camera." The problem, however, is that if one follows this instruction, it is very difficult to stay attentive. In contrast, in studies with children, college students and the elderly, (Langer & Bodner, 1997; Langer, Carson, & Shih, in press; Levy & Langer, in press), we found that if people are instructed to vary the stimulus, that is, to mindfully notice new things about it, then attention improves. Moreover, such mindful attention also results in a greater liking for the task and improved memory.
Other mindful manipulations in the educational context have involved asking students to make material more meaningful for themselves, compared to groups asked to memorize it (Lieberman & Langer, 1997). The meaningful group retained the information better and was able to utilize it in more creative ways in essays. Adding perspective taking also elicits better performance (Lieberman & Langer, 1997). Consider the difference between introducing a history lesson as "Here are the three reasons for the Civil War" versus "Here are three reasons for the Civil War from the perspective of...." The former presents the information as a closed package; the latter invites further consideration of how the information might vary from still other perspectives. Almost all of the facts most of us learned in school were taught to us in a perspective-free way that encourages mindless use of the information because it does not occur to us to question it again. In contrast, information presented in the mindful, perspective-taking c ondition was learned better by high school students, even though they had to deal with more information. Clearly, mindful teaching practices can have a pronounced effect on student learning.
Journal of Social Issues, Spring, 2000 by Ellen J. Langer, Mihnea Moldoveanu
Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Next
Education is an area that often seems to abound in mindlessness. Many educational ramifications of mindfulness are reviewed in The Power of Mindful Learning (Langer, 1997). Whether intending to learn an academic subject, a new sport, or how to play a musical instrument, we often call upon mind-sets that hamper rather than help us to learn. For example, many of us believe that we should learn the basics of a task so well that they become second nature to us. Having mindlessly accepted this information, it rarely occurs to us to question who determined what the basics are. Surely, if women and men engage in the same sport, the differences in their bodies should result in differences in how to play the game, for example. Once we learn the basics mindlessly so that we no longer have to think about them, we are not in a position to vary them readily as we get more information about the task.
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Baby Boomers Reveal Their Secrets on Finding the Fountain of Youth
Last shot? With Boozer free agency looming, this may be final
Novel's Mobile Home, The
Henry a cautionary tale for KansasPrecautions wise for KU
ALMOST But Not Quite
But there are relatively simple ways of reducing mindlessness in learning. Several studies more fully described in Langer (1997) explored the ramification of inducing mindful learning. In one study (Langer & Piper, 1987), mindfulness was encouraged by introducing information about objects in a conditional way, using language like "could be," rather than the more traditional, absolute way ("is," "can only be"), which was defined as the mindless condition. Participants in the mindful conditions were better able to use the objects creatively when the need for a novel use of the object arose. In subsequent studies this work was extended to the introduction of text in the same conditional manner. Here, the language that was used consisted of expressions such as "could be," "perhaps," "from one perspective." Similar benefits accrued from the mindfulness treatments in these studies (e.g., Langer, Hatem, Joss, & Howell, 1989).
Attentional processes have been assumed to be central to learning. These have also been illuminated by mindfulness research. In one study (Langer, 1997) I asked both students and teachers what they meant by paying attention. Interestingly, both groups believed that this meant to "hold the image still as if focusing a camera." The problem, however, is that if one follows this instruction, it is very difficult to stay attentive. In contrast, in studies with children, college students and the elderly, (Langer & Bodner, 1997; Langer, Carson, & Shih, in press; Levy & Langer, in press), we found that if people are instructed to vary the stimulus, that is, to mindfully notice new things about it, then attention improves. Moreover, such mindful attention also results in a greater liking for the task and improved memory.
Other mindful manipulations in the educational context have involved asking students to make material more meaningful for themselves, compared to groups asked to memorize it (Lieberman & Langer, 1997). The meaningful group retained the information better and was able to utilize it in more creative ways in essays. Adding perspective taking also elicits better performance (Lieberman & Langer, 1997). Consider the difference between introducing a history lesson as "Here are the three reasons for the Civil War" versus "Here are three reasons for the Civil War from the perspective of...." The former presents the information as a closed package; the latter invites further consideration of how the information might vary from still other perspectives. Almost all of the facts most of us learned in school were taught to us in a perspective-free way that encourages mindless use of the information because it does not occur to us to question it again. In contrast, information presented in the mindful, perspective-taking c ondition was learned better by high school students, even though they had to deal with more information. Clearly, mindful teaching practices can have a pronounced effect on student learning.
The Construct of Mindfulness
The Construct of Mindfulness
Ellen J. Langer [*]
After mindfulness is defined, a brief history of the research on the topic to date is reviewed. This work essentially falls into three categories: health, business, and education. Considerations of mindlessness as a social issue are then addressed. A brief introduction to the articles in this issue follows. These articles speak to mindfulness as it relates to potential solutions to social problems.
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The main purpose of this issue is to offer social scientists and policy makers an alternative lens through which to view and understand the social phenomena and issues that interest them. Although the concept of mindfulness overlaps with many other constructs in psychology (a fuller discussion of this is provided in the following article, by Sternberg), it also offers some unique perspectives on how to investigate psychological processes. The concept of mindfulness and the related concept of mindlessness were introduced to social psychology more than 2 decades ago. They have been applied to many diverse areas, including psychopathology, developmental psychology, education research, political theory, and communication processes, to name a few.
Definition of Constructs
Mindfulness is not an easy concept to define but can be best understood as the process of drawing novel distinctions. It does not matter whether what is noticed is important or trivial, as long as it is new to the viewer. Actively drawing these distinctions keeps us situated in the present. It also makes us more aware of the context and perspective of our actions than if we rely upon distinctions and categories drawn in the past. Under this latter situation, rules and routines are more likely to govern our behavior, irrespective of the current circumstances, and this can be construed as mindless behavior. The process of drawing novel distinctions can lead to a number of diverse consequences, including (1) a greater sensitivity to one's environment, (2) more openness to new information, (3) the creation of new categories for structuring perception, and (4) enhanced awareness of multiple perspectives in problem solving. The subjective "feel" of mindfulness is that of a heightened state of involvement and wakef ulness or being in the present. This subjective state is the inherent common thread that ties together the extremely diverse observable consequences for the viewer. Mindfulness is not a cold cognitive process. When one is actively drawing novel distinctions, the whole individual is involved.
Brief History of Research
Research on the differences that emanate from mindful versus mindless behavior began in 1974, and the results have been both wide-ranging and of great practical concern. Early work focused on looking at basic characteristics of mindfulness (e.g., Chanowitz & Langer, 1981; Langer, Blank, & Chanowitz, 1978). Studies with relevance to social issues fall into three major categories: health, business, and education.
Studies of health ramifications were among the earliest studies of mindfulness. These focused upon aging and the issue of control. Perceived control has been shown to have very positive effects on stress reduction and health (e.g., Geer, Davison, & Gatchel, 1970; Langer, Janis, & Wolfer, 1975). It is the perception of control, rather than any objectively viewed control, that is the significant variable. Interestingly, when a person behaves mindlessly, the perception of control is not possible. Therefore, we conducted several investigations (e.g., Alexander, Langer, Newman, Chandler, & Davies, 1989; Langer, Beck, Janoff-Bulman, & Timko, 1984) to see if mindfulness in elderly populations could be increased with positive effects. We found that this could be accomplished with relatively simple manipulations, for example, having more control over one's schedule and taking care of plans. Mindful treatments had dramatic effects: They decreased adverse health symptoms such as arthritis pain and alcoholism and increa sed longevity (see Langer, 1989, for a more detailed review of this work and further examples of the effect of mindfulness on health).
Those in the business world have been eager to utilize techniques that increase mindfulness in workers and managers. Studies of mindfulness in a business context have shown that increases in mindfulness are associated with increased creativity and decreased burnout (e.g., Langer, Heffernan, & Kiester, 1988). A study by Park conducted with businessmen in Korea found an increase in productivity as well (Park, 1990). We anticipate that increased mindfulness will be shown to decrease accidents as well, particularly when new technology is introduced. For example, when many of us learned to drive, we were told to pump the brakes slowly while trying to stop on a slippery surface. With the advent of antilock brakes, however, the more appropriate response is to firmly press the brakes down and hold them there. Thus, accidents that could be prevented in the past by our learned behavior can now be caused by the same behavior. This is an example of mindlessness that can easily occur in everyday life as well as the workp lace.
Ellen J. Langer [*]
After mindfulness is defined, a brief history of the research on the topic to date is reviewed. This work essentially falls into three categories: health, business, and education. Considerations of mindlessness as a social issue are then addressed. A brief introduction to the articles in this issue follows. These articles speak to mindfulness as it relates to potential solutions to social problems.
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Baby Boomers Reveal Their Secrets on Finding the Fountain of Youth
Last shot? With Boozer free agency looming, this may be final
Novel's Mobile Home, The
Henry a cautionary tale for KansasPrecautions wise for KU
ALMOST But Not Quite
The main purpose of this issue is to offer social scientists and policy makers an alternative lens through which to view and understand the social phenomena and issues that interest them. Although the concept of mindfulness overlaps with many other constructs in psychology (a fuller discussion of this is provided in the following article, by Sternberg), it also offers some unique perspectives on how to investigate psychological processes. The concept of mindfulness and the related concept of mindlessness were introduced to social psychology more than 2 decades ago. They have been applied to many diverse areas, including psychopathology, developmental psychology, education research, political theory, and communication processes, to name a few.
Definition of Constructs
Mindfulness is not an easy concept to define but can be best understood as the process of drawing novel distinctions. It does not matter whether what is noticed is important or trivial, as long as it is new to the viewer. Actively drawing these distinctions keeps us situated in the present. It also makes us more aware of the context and perspective of our actions than if we rely upon distinctions and categories drawn in the past. Under this latter situation, rules and routines are more likely to govern our behavior, irrespective of the current circumstances, and this can be construed as mindless behavior. The process of drawing novel distinctions can lead to a number of diverse consequences, including (1) a greater sensitivity to one's environment, (2) more openness to new information, (3) the creation of new categories for structuring perception, and (4) enhanced awareness of multiple perspectives in problem solving. The subjective "feel" of mindfulness is that of a heightened state of involvement and wakef ulness or being in the present. This subjective state is the inherent common thread that ties together the extremely diverse observable consequences for the viewer. Mindfulness is not a cold cognitive process. When one is actively drawing novel distinctions, the whole individual is involved.
Brief History of Research
Research on the differences that emanate from mindful versus mindless behavior began in 1974, and the results have been both wide-ranging and of great practical concern. Early work focused on looking at basic characteristics of mindfulness (e.g., Chanowitz & Langer, 1981; Langer, Blank, & Chanowitz, 1978). Studies with relevance to social issues fall into three major categories: health, business, and education.
Studies of health ramifications were among the earliest studies of mindfulness. These focused upon aging and the issue of control. Perceived control has been shown to have very positive effects on stress reduction and health (e.g., Geer, Davison, & Gatchel, 1970; Langer, Janis, & Wolfer, 1975). It is the perception of control, rather than any objectively viewed control, that is the significant variable. Interestingly, when a person behaves mindlessly, the perception of control is not possible. Therefore, we conducted several investigations (e.g., Alexander, Langer, Newman, Chandler, & Davies, 1989; Langer, Beck, Janoff-Bulman, & Timko, 1984) to see if mindfulness in elderly populations could be increased with positive effects. We found that this could be accomplished with relatively simple manipulations, for example, having more control over one's schedule and taking care of plans. Mindful treatments had dramatic effects: They decreased adverse health symptoms such as arthritis pain and alcoholism and increa sed longevity (see Langer, 1989, for a more detailed review of this work and further examples of the effect of mindfulness on health).
Those in the business world have been eager to utilize techniques that increase mindfulness in workers and managers. Studies of mindfulness in a business context have shown that increases in mindfulness are associated with increased creativity and decreased burnout (e.g., Langer, Heffernan, & Kiester, 1988). A study by Park conducted with businessmen in Korea found an increase in productivity as well (Park, 1990). We anticipate that increased mindfulness will be shown to decrease accidents as well, particularly when new technology is introduced. For example, when many of us learned to drive, we were told to pump the brakes slowly while trying to stop on a slippery surface. With the advent of antilock brakes, however, the more appropriate response is to firmly press the brakes down and hold them there. Thus, accidents that could be prevented in the past by our learned behavior can now be caused by the same behavior. This is an example of mindlessness that can easily occur in everyday life as well as the workp lace.
health
Timeless Reminders –
Leave the first response August 20, 2010 / Posted in Breathe, Meditation, Mindfulness
The numbers are pretty staggering when some statistics say that 75% of people in the United States are either moderately or extremely stressed. I’ve also read that it could be almost 90% of the conditions doctors see are related to stress.
You will find it interesting to visit Dr. Daniel Friedland’s website , Super Smart Health. You will find his section on Spirit Guided Health very helpful
This gives you a little about Danny Friedland’s background:
Dr. Friedland is uniquely qualified to teach the scientific and emotional skills needed to empower clinicians and patients become smarter health providers and seekers.
He is board certified in Internal Medicine, a member of the American Board of Integrative Holistic Medicine and the author of Evidence-Based Medicine: A Framework for Clinical Practice, one of the first books to outline methods to frame questions and find, evaluate, and apply medical literature searches to patient care – now all doctors are trained to make medical decisions this way.
During his medical training at the University of California, San Francisco, where he is an Assistant Clinical Professor of Medicine, he founded the UCSF Medical Student Network to facilitate physician well-being and the compassionate delivery of care.
Inspired by this experience, he immersed himself in the fields of neuroscience, emotional intelligence and mindfulness, conducted research on self-doubt and discovered how the powerful decision making framework of evidence-based medicine promoting scientific intelligence also cultivates emotional intelligence needed to navigate stress and uncertainty to achieve a more holistic experience of health and well-being.
I like what Danny has put together in his app called Timeless Reminders. It allows you to create and schedule moments that bring you to “present moment, beautiful moment.” It give you a BIBO moment. (thanks Caroline Meeks, aka Dr Funshine and her Laughter Yoga & Stress Reduction) for introducing me to the “Breathe In, Breathe Out” acronym.
As he mentions:
Stress fragments our foundational sense of health and well-being and all too often drains our energy and leads us to forget what’s really important in our lives. What if we could schedule moments of inspiration to become more mindful, remind ourselves what’s truly important and recharge our day?
Timeless Reminders enables you to collect your most inspiring photos, videos, music, audio and text to create and send yourself personally meaningful Reminders to reconnect you with the wholeness you are and inspire you to take healthy and productive action in your life.
To learn more about this unique app and find the iTunes link to download it for free, click here now to go to Timeless Reminders.
Find out what I am doing by following me on Twitter...
Leave the first response Subscribe via RSS ShareThisLeadership Virtuosity: Lee Thayer’s Call for Leaders to be Mindful
Leave the first response July 27, 2010 / Posted in Mindful Leadership
Chair Gathering-Chicago May 2010
Lee Thayer’s Leadership Virtuosity is his latest book that is a must read for all who want to see what is the cost of becoming a virtuoso leader.
It would be a good idea to remember to re-read Buddha’s Kalama Sutra as a reminder of leadership and followership and now jumping to conclusions. The example being the accusations of Andrew Breitbard about Shirley Sherrod and the truth coming out. More than ever we need to be mindful about what is being said through the media and through the internet.
However, after thorough observation, investigation, analysis and reflection, when you find that anything agrees with reason and your experience, and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all, and of the world at large; accept only that as true, and shape your life in accordance with it; and live up to it.
These words, the Buddha went on to say, must be applied to his own teachings.
Some of Lee’s thoughts for your reflection:
The Performing Leader
The primary advantage of de-personalizing performance–of making the person’s performance and not his psyche and/or personality the issue–is that the person’s performance is objectively measurable and improvable. The persons internal mind-set and other habits are not.
A second advantage of separating the “person” from his or her performance is that it permits the leader to have adult relationships with his performers without becoming their mother or their therapist or their day-cafe supervisor.
The Intolerant Leader
You get what you tolerate
It certainly has the logic going for it:
If you tolerate poor performance, you will probably get it
If you tolerate certain mistakes, you will in all probability have to put up with them
If you tolerate broken promises, you will get them…
If you tolerate deceit and conniving, you will get them
If you tolerate incompetence, incompetent people will know where to apply.
The Caring Leader
Those who are not competent in their roles in any collective jeopardize the lives of all the rest of us
Those who do not understand that the organization cannot care for their needs unless they first care for the needs of the organization put the lives of all the rest of us in jeopardy.
Any member of any organization, at any level, who expresses distaste for her role is doing so because she is incompetent.
The Accomplishment-Minded Leader
Having a purpose in life is not just New Age claptrap. It is inescapably pragmatic. In this way:
Those who don’t know or don’t care where they are going have nothing by which to niavigate except other people who don’t know or don’t care where they are going. They don’t know what is relevant to their journey because they are not committed to any particular destination. they carry no compass, having no need. They could, like the ancient Polynesians, read the currents. But on one seems to know how to do this. It is not on the test they had in school
…The leadership virtuoso takes a (habitual) posture something like this:
Who ought to own the problem? (in most cases, this should be the person or people who have the problem.)
Who ought to own the problem of fixing it? (Same as above.)
Who ought to get credit for eliminating the problem–the one who becomes aware of it, the one who figures out what to do about it, or the one who implements the fix? (that’s easy. They need to be the same person or group of people)
The leader who needs to get credit for any one of those three will never be much more than a mediocre manager
There is a difference between accomplishment as a way of life and accomplishment for the sole purpose of moving up in the organization. The leadership virtuoso takes great care not to reward the latter. In a great organization, not to be accomplishment-minded is to be wrong-minded.
…To accomplish anything at all worthy of being human will always be determined by how accomplishment-minded we are–individually and collectively
The “Good” Leader
What the good leader does is make it necessary for people to see their duty, and then to make it necessary for them to carry out their duty competently.
It is not the good leader’s role to make his or her people “happy.” It is her role to make learners out of them, to make it necessary for them to increase their competencies in their own roles.
…Until the people in a organization put the organization first, and themselves second, or third, their leaders are not good for them, for the organization, or for the future of this civilization. What’s incompatible is that if people have no duty to the larger whole (e.g. the organization, the society), there can be no virtue. The good leader teaches people what their duties are–to themselves, to others, to the larger whole. Until that happens, no good is likely to come of it. A leader who cannot make this happen is a bad leader. Under a bad leader, everyone loses.
…People who are not capable of leadeing themselves will choose leaders who are ot good for them.
It is our duty to be the kind of people who deserve “good” leaders. It is the good leader’s duty to make us do what we ought to do, to become the kind of people we ought to become. We clearly get the leaders we deserve.
The ingredient most often missing from all our talk about leadership is…power. The leader’s influence is limited by the limitations of her power. What brought Carly down at HP was not her incompetence. It was a shortfall of the power needed to fend off the opposing powers.
If a leader does not have the prerogative to choose his own personnel, he will likely fail. If the leader does not have or exercise fire-power, he will lose. If the leader cannot impose his will on his followers, he will lose. It is the leader’s prerogative, necessarily, to risk being wrong. If it becomes groupthink, everyone loses.
Leadership virtuosity requires leading people from where they are to where they ought to be, from who they are to who they ought to be. To fail at this is to fail in the leadership role and to betray those people.
If it is done for their long-term benefit, and the benefit of the larger whole (all of the organization’s other stakeholders), you must have the power necessary to make it happen. If you turn that moral obligation over to others, you have failed your leadership role. You have done harm.
Click here: Leadership Virtuosity if you want to be challenged to become who you ought to be.
June was my 24th year as a Vistage Chair. I have been blessed to know this group of men and women who do the work I do. The people pictured above have all been doing the work of helping leaders of small and mid-sized companies develop and transform themselves professionally and personally. It is about helping them develop and own their unique contribution to their people, their communities and in the wider picture the world.
What follows is my reflection on the work I do as part of my own transformation in sharing my own contribution of service, transformation and community.
A Reflection on the Odyssey of Chairing:
Are You Up To The Journey?
Chairing is about the original definition of Competition. Competition is “seeking with another” the quality of being the best at what one is or is doing. It wasn’t about beating another with the other being the loser. It was about who was the best at a moment in time and did one push the other to do what at one time was thought humanly impossible. The Greeks call it: Arete. We’re back to the “those climb highest who lift as they go.”
Chairing from my very beginning was about “seeking with.” I love the story that is often repeated. One Chair asks another chair to send them a template they’ve just heard about on Chairnet. The Chair receives it and thanks the other Chair for the great template only to have the other Chair email back that they got it from them 5 years ago. They just made some of their own embellishments to it. Chairing has always been about Kaizen: continuous improvement.
That got me to thinking about our lives as Chairs. We are so much more than Chairs as proven by our lives before becoming Chairs. However the vocation of Chairing, although it may be seen by the corporate entity as: professional Business Coach, is a calling because one in so many ways has to start anew.
The journey of a Chair is the unity of the contribution to the Vision, Mission and Values that were first modeled by Bob Nourse, It is also the diversity and unique contribution of each and everyone of us. We are the same in our own unique contribution.
Each of us contributes in our own way as we work out our purpose and meaning in the second half of life. Each of us having succeeded in the first half as measured by the standards of our culture and society. Chairing, for me, is about our own transformation as we contribute to the transformation of those around us while still being measured by a corporate standard.
Mary Oliver’s poem talks about our starting out. The leaving of a life that was home and now the odyssey of going home. It a starting out for new Chairs that in their former and/or continuing profession is successful.
Like Odysseus having conquered Troy after 10 years of fighting with his Trojan Horse ploy (faking leaving and feigning defeat), we set off toward our Ithaca only to find that what worked in the past no longer works. The one-eyed Cyclops has an eye for sight but no eye for insight. Odysseus’s ego saying his name when out of harm’s way, only to realize he has blinded the son of Poseidon. His ego and it’s-about-me sealed a journey for himself that leads him on a ten year Odyssey to get Home.
In this part of his voyage, nothing he knew from the past works. He still retains his intelligence, intuition, insight and inner drive for home even during the years when lulled by Lotos with the drug of accedia (not caring), Circe (gluttonous & greedy for fame, wealth or power) and Calypso (I’ll give you your every desire, but you can’t return to your loved ones AND home).
Poseidon keeps him alive through all the catastrophes that befall him so that one day he can tell the story again to people who think that an oar is a winnowing fan. “No this is not a winnowing fan; it is an oar. Let me tell you a story about this oar…” Once the story is told…again, Odysseus is free to live out the rest of his life at home. So we share our stories that have brought together the transcendent and the world we experience. Kermit’s Rainbow Connection talks about this dichotomy .
So being a Chair is more than about being a Chair.
Some thoughts on returning Home. Having succeeded in the first part of our lives, Chairs set out, knowingly or unknowingly, toward Home where we find who we really are and what we’re suppose to become. (Ah, come on Oz, sometime a cigar is a cigar.) We can rest on the successes of our past and all we have achieved and the impact we have made on the world; OR head Home. Home, that inner journey that looks deeply at the meaning of one’s life and what is one suppose to be.
My simple purpose in life created many years ago when I was coaching and doing psychotherapy on the walk or run was: helping people become better athletes and world class humans. My odyssey is working on myself: “doing the only thing one can do. Saving the only life one can save.”
Home is where we both see and are seen clearly. It is a safe place. I like Michael Goldberg’s quote in his book Travels with Odysseus:
“Home is where you are recognized for who you really are, not more and not less.”
I like LinkedIn. When I link to my fellow Chairs I am in awe of all that they have already accomplished with their lives. I marvel at the impact they have had on the organizations and corporations as they became more accomplished, competent and confident. How impressive are these gifts differing that each of us bring as we start off toward Home.
The Journey of a Chair is truly an Odyssey. Ask any Chair of 10 years or more and they will share what they are continuing to learn along their path homeward. I would ask more Keepers of the Flame to share on Chairnet some of their inner journey so that newer Chairs…and those of us older Chairs that have been influenced by the preemptive striking (quick making assumers) Laestrygonians with their BAMS (review Pat Murray on Groups)…can be reminded of what Don Schmincke spoke about 12 years ago using Mintzberg’s distinctions: Are we a missionary or a professional organization.
After 12 years of reflecting on this, TEC, now Vistage is like that gestalt picture where you can see two faces looking at each other or a vase. The two faces are what the missionary aspect of Vistage is. It is about people and communication and relationship. Like the world sitting on turtles all the way down. The world of Vistage sits on relationships all the way down. Vistage is the vase. It is the business aspect. It is the crucible where Chairs come to have any slag or dross metal burned away. The slag are all those distractions that take us away from moving toward Home. Distractions self created about one’s capabilities and competence as a Chair. Distractions projected on a Mothership rather than looking inward through introspection. I am reminded: “What I say, says more about me than who or what I am saying it about.”
Several groups of Chairs going through training received a rock at the end of their training which had an owl painted on it. On the back is written either “Vistage Odyssey” or “The TEC Odyssey.” They were in either a royal blue or a purple amulet bag. I have been drawing owls on rocks since the late 60’s to commemorate moments in my life and then gave them away. The owls that I did for the Vistage and TEC Chair training were done as a way of reminding myself and the new Chairs about the journey they are setting off upon. Truly each new Chair is on an Odyssey. On one level a story about a 50 something year old company and on another level a journey of individual souls on their way Home…where they are recognized for who they really are, not more and not less.
All the above can be considered folklore. If it works, use it. If it doesn’t, don’t give it a breath of emotion or feeling. Rather go out and find someone’s folklore that works for you and use it. Or if you can’t find anyone, create your own. Please be sure to come back and tell me so I can either learn other ways of telling the folklore or see if my folklore is incorrect.
The Kalama Sutra says it very well. Buddha reminds all of us: Don’t believe anything merely because….
Instead “after thorough observation, investigation, analysis and reflection, when you find that anything agrees with reason and your experience, and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all, and of the world at large; accept only that as true, and shape your life in accordance with it; and live up to it.”
In other words: This is what the Odyssey of Chairing is about. It is a Practice. So it is with Life. So it is with Chairing. A lifelong Practice.
Are you up for the journey?
Hic et nunc, semper cathedra non solum cathedra sed magister et studens,
Love, friendship and in the spirit of Chair collegiality,
Ozzie
The Journey
By Mary Oliver
One day you finally knew
what you had to do, and began,
though the voices around you
kept shouting
their bad advice–
though the whole house
began to tremble
and you felt the old tug
at your ankles.
“Mend my life!”
each voice cried.
But you didn’t stop.
You knew what you had to do,
though the wind pried
with its stiff fingers
at the very foundations,
though their melancholy
was terrible.
It was already late
enough, and a wild night,
and the road full of fallen
branches and stones.
But little by little,
as you left their voices behind,
the stars began to burn
through the sheets of clouds,
and there was a new voice
which you slowly
recognized as your own,
that kept you company
as you strode deeper and deeper
into the world,
determined to do
the only thing you could do–
determined to save
the only life you could save
I have had the privilege of know Jim Vaughan for over 15 years. And through Jim I met his associate and dear friend: Kelly Castor. I have been a champion of their work and an associate of their Life Design work.
I have used sections of the Life Design book for over 12 years during our Gontang Family Retreats.
Jim spoke to my Vistage executive group twice a number of years ago. He is one of the early developers of Organizational Development and from one copy that I saw where the CEO joined my group, Jim had created a truly high performance learning organization. I also saw a bank dismantle that same organization in less than 60 days; only to come back 6 months later and admit they made a mistake in their approach. They saw the service as transaction and destroyed the actual foundation: Trust and Relationship.
You can purchase a hard copy of the Life Design book from Amazon for $14.95 or download a free digital version. The content in both is identical
how you can help
“We must become the change we wish to see in the world.”
Mahatma Gandhi
Reclaiming our communities and making them great places to live, work, and play involves deep cultural change. It will require the ongoing cooperative efforts of many people over a long period of time. It will require some change in behavior from virtually every one of us. We welcome your participation.
Join one of our ongoing programs:
* Local Food: Contact Maggie Castor to find out what you can do to eliminate hunger and poor nutrition in your community. (maggiecastor@partners101.org)
* Renewable Energy: Check out steps you can take today to conserve energy. Energy Saver’s Booklet Contact Kelly Castor to learn more about our renewable energy initiative. (kelly@partners101.org)
* Youth Program: Contact Kelly Castor to learn how you can use LifeDesign for Teens to help prepare youth in your community for a successful start in life. (kelly@partners101.org)
* Life Planning: If you haven’t done a gut check recently on your own priorities and the way you’re spending your time, you might want to take a 5-minute Quality of Life Checkup If you’re ready to get serious about taking full responsibility for achieving your life’s dream, get a copy of the LifeDesign Workbook.
* Sustainable Local Economies: Contact Kelly Castor to learn about developing and supporting local entrepreneurs. (kelly@partners101.org)
If none of our current initiatives strike a chord with you, we invite you to consider how LifeDesign can be adapted to address the unique needs of many specific groups and situations. Here are some examples:
* Returning veterans and their families
* Communities that have experienced a plant closing and/or multiple layoffs
* People struggling with obesity
* People re-entering civilian life after being in prison
* A community recovering from a natural disaster such as a flood
It is preferable, but not essential, that you have personally experienced the issue you want to address. We’ll work with you to adapt the LifeDesign process to the situation. Contact James Vaughan to explore these or related possibilities. james@partners101.org
Next weekend I am going to a training with fellow Chairs of Vistage. One of the shared readings we will have all read or in most instances re-read is Don MIguel Ruiz’s Four Agreements.
Four Agreements
Don Miguel Ruiz’s Code for Life
The simplicity and elegance of his thinking remains a source of great enlightenment and aspiration. The simple ideas of The Four Agreements provide an inspirational code for life; a personal development model, and a template for personal development, behavior, communications and relationships. Here is how Don Miguel Ruiz summarizes ‘The Four Agreements’
Agreement 1
BE IMPECCABLE WITH YOUR WORD- Speak with integrity. Say only what you mean. Avoid using the word to speak against yourself or to gossip about others. Use the power of your word in the direction of truth and love.
Agreement 2
DON’T TAKE ANYTHING PERSONALLY - Nothing others do is because of you. What others say and do is a projection of their own reality, their own dream. When you are immune to the opinions and actions of others, you won’t be the victim of needless suffering.
Agreement 3
DON’T MAKE ASSUMPTIONS - Find the courage to ask questions and to express what you really want. Communicate with others as clearly as you can to avoid misunderstandings, sadness and drama. With just this one agreement, you can completely transform your life.
Agreement 4
ALWAYS DO YOUR BEST - Your best is going to change from moment to moment; it will be different when you are healthy as opposed to sick. Under any circumstance, simply do your best, and you will avoid self-judgment, self-abuse and regret.
To this he and his son have written The Fifth Agreement.
Agreement 5
BE SKEPTICAL BUT LEARN TO LISTEN
Don’t believe yourself or anybody else. Use the power of doubt to question everything you hear: Is it really the truth? Listen to the intent behind words, and you will understand the real message
So many maps to guide one on the same journey. Each begins where we are. When the traveller is ready the map appears. When the soul is ready the Spirit appears. When the pilgrim is ready, the road appears.
I am continually drawn back to the Buddha speaking to the villagers of Kalama. The Fifth Agreement echoes what was said so long ago. The story was shared in my blog: Seeking Personal Experience & Personal Authority
The Kalama Sutra
The Kalama Sutra is the Buddha’s reply to a group of townspeople of Kalama. They asked Buddha who were they to believe of all the ascetics, sages, holy ones and teachers They came through their town confusing them with their contradictory truths, teachings, beliefs, and one true way.
• Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it,
• Nor traditions because they are old and have been handed down from generation to generation and in many locations,
• Nor in rumor because it has been spoken by many,
• Nor in writings by sages because sages wrote them,
• Nor in one’s own fancies, thinking that it is such an extraordinary thought, it must have been inspired by a god or higher power,
• Nor in inferences drawn from some haphazard assumption made by us,
• Nor in what seems to be of necessity by analogy,
• Nor in anything merely because it is based on the authority of our teachers, masters, and elders,.
However, after thorough observation, investigation, analysis and reflection, when you find that anything agrees with reason and your experience, and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all, and of the world at large; accept only that as true, and shape your life in accordance with it; and live up to it.
These words, the Buddha went on to say, must be applied to his own teachings.
Along the many paths remember as you set out:
After thorough observation, investigation, analysis and reflection, when you find that anything agrees with reason and your experience, and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all, and of the world at large; accept only that as true, and shape your life in accordance with it; and live up to it.
As someone who has run and walked with patients and friends for 35 years, this little article shared by Christine Messier brings out the fact that being in nature quickly brings a person to “present moment, beautiful moment.” What is interesting is that when one is in the present moment there is no cause and effect. It’s not the green space and it is the green space. It’s not the exercise and it is the exercise. It’s not being present and it is being present. In the present moment, one is observing and being. Thoughts are just thoughts that come and go. And being surrounded by the beauty of nature; and experiencing one’s feelings and one senses of, as George Sheehan would put it, one as being a good animal. Awake and fully present in the present moment. One with the world.
As the first Running Therapist trained by Tad Kostrubala, it is nice to know that the tradition of Running Therapy has been carried on by of group of psychiatrists and therapists in Germany. Since the early days, and learning the skills of a Running Therapist, I only run with friends and people who I am training to walk and run properly. Being out in nature and being out in public with a Running Therapist one only sees people walking or running. In those moments there is no mental illness. Only two people running, talking, laughing, crying, and playing together. And of course, the Running Therapist has learned that it is the walking and/or running along with the “Green space” that creates the healing.
Remember the word “therapist” comes from the Greek “theraps” which means to attend or listen to. Back in 400 BCE, the Aesculapian “theraps” would prepare the patient for their healing dream. The healing came from within not from without. It was only later that oracles, priests, physicians and others took on the role of healers to the wounded. The dialogue about Wounded Healers is for another time.
Green space is important for mental health
Just five minutes of exercise in a “green space” such as a park can boost mental health, researchers claim.
There is growing evidence that combining activities such as walking or cycling with nature boosts well-being.
In the latest analysis, UK researchers looked at evidence from 1,250 people in 10 studies and found fast improvements in mood and self-esteem.
The study in the Environmental Science and Technology journal suggested the strongest impact was on young people.
The research looked at many different outdoor activities including walking, gardening, cycling, fishing, boating, horse-riding and farming in locations such as a park, garden or nature trail.
The biggest effect was seen within just five minutes.
With longer periods of time exercising in a green environment, the positive effects were clearly apparent but were of a smaller magnitude, the study found.
Looking at men and women of different ages, the researchers found the health changes - physical and mental - were particularly strong in the young and the mentally-ill.
Green and blue
A bigger effect was seen with exercise in an area that also contained water - such as a lake or river.
Study leader Jules Pretty, a researcher at the University of Essex, said those who were generally inactive, or stressed, or with mental illness would probably benefit the most from “green exercise”.
We would like to see all doctors considering exercise as a treatment where appropriate
Paul Farmer, Mind
“Employers, for example, could encourage staff in stressful workplaces to take a short walk at lunchtime in the nearest park to improve mental health.”
He also said exercise programmes outdoors could benefit youth offenders.
“A challenge for policy makers is that policy recommendations on physical activity are easily stated but rarely adopted widely.”
Paul Farmer, chief executive of mental health charity Mind, said the research is yet further evidence that even a short period of green exercise can provide a low cost and drug-free therapy to help improve mental wellbeing.
“It’s important that people experiencing depression can be given the option of a range of treatments, and we would like to see all doctors considering exercise as a treatment where appropriate.”
Mind runs a grant scheme for local environmental projects to help people with mental illness get involved in outdoor activities.
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2 Comments... What do you think? Subscribe via RSS ShareThisSharing Mindfulness: A Gift from Juliet Adams
3 Comments April 26, 2010 / Posted in Mindfulness
Juliet Adams has just put her website online to gather in one place as much as is possible about mindfulness. You will find it rewarding and rich in content and in a context created with a spirit of Mindfulness.
I have just launched a new website to provide information on mindfulness: Mindfulnet.org . It aims to provide “everything you need to know about mindfulness on one website”.
I have included a simple video on the subject of “what is mindfulness” which can be found on the home page or on you tube.
The website also includes an extensive list of research, overview of the neuroscience of mindfulness, links, resources, DVDs, workshops, events and news, and links to hundreds of websites.
This has been rather a labour of love for me, so do let me know what you think!
If you like it, please share it with others, as the higher up the search engines it becomes, the more people will read it, and hopefully more people will become mindful!
You will find Dan Siegel’s writings helpful. His work Mindsight and his dialogue with Daniel Goleman good reading and good listening.
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3 Comments... What do you think? Subscribe via RSS ShareThisProper Running: Mindful Movement in the Moment
1 Comment April 26, 2010 / Posted in Mindful Running, Running Form & Style, Running Injury Prevention, The Running Mind
http://www.flickr.com/photos/asvolcans/ / CC BY-NC 2.0
Mindlessness is made of those habits and behaviors that that we do automatically and habitually with little or no awareness. Mindfulness focuses attention and awareness on the present moment. As there is only “Hic et Nunc” - Here and Now.
Last month the San Diego Marathon Clinic celebrated 35 years of service to the running and walking community of San Diego. The journey has been an interesting path. For so many of us, our run brings us into this present moment.
In an article in May of 1996, Joyce Wycoff of ThinkSmart wrote an article: Today’s Certainties and Tomorrow’s Absurdities. She quoted me regarding what I had been saying for years about the issue not being the running shoe rather the improper running that was being championed and taught by the majority of people coaching the masses of runners and joggers. The focus was to strike on the heel first when running.
Running shoes will continue to advance in design and technology. They will continue to neglect a major component: Man, the thinking body.
An atavistic paradigm shift will take place. Runners and walkers will realize it’s not the shoe, it’s an innovative thinking body. A new line of shoe will be created that allows proprioceptive feedback to the thinking body. All of the thick running and walking shoes will be replaced by thinsoled foot covers which allow the human animal to take control of their youthful movement once again.
Traditional Tai Chi, Yoga, Stretching for the Thinking Body, etc. will grow. Companies like Nike, Addidas, Reebok and their approach to shoes will be tomorrow’s absurdities. Weight machines with computers will be used to measure gradual progress in strength. These weight machines will be revolutionized as they now measure the correct increase in range of motion as they strengthen muscles.
But as Alfred Adler said in dealing with the diagnosis of why people are the way they are: “But it could be different.”
I posted an article on RunningBarefoot.org back in February of 2001: Ball Heel Ball Is The Correct Way To Run and another dialogue with Steve Freides about Running Cadence that also talked about landing ball heel. If you want to see the whole thread you can check out Ball Heel Ball here. My years at the Maintainer of the FAQ at rec.running was to have my answers questioned. It was an excellent training ground to be present and now swept away by what others said or wrote.
You’ll want to check out the Harvard barefoot running website of Dan Lieberman and his team of collaborators and their research on how early man ran and some great video footage of the running foot and some good tips for those who have been decided to become barefoot or minimalist shoe runners.
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1 Comment... What do you think? Subscribe via RSS ShareThisThe Fourteen Mindfulness Trainings
6 Comments April 6, 2010 / Posted in Meditation, Mindfulness You will want to visit the website of The Community of Mindful Living (CML). Below are the 14 Mindful Trainings which guide the Community.
Located just north of San Diego is one of the CML’s Retreat Centers: Deer Park
Under their Mindful Practice you will find a series of short reflections that are very helpful in all aspects of being mindful.
Mindfulness is the energy of being aware and awake to the present moment. It is the continuous practice of touching life deeply in every moment of daily life. To be mindful is to be truly alive and present with those around you and with what you are doing. We bring our body and mind into harmony while we wash the dishes, drive the car or take our morning cup of tea.
Here is a short biography of Thich Nhat Hanh on the Deer Park website.
The Fourteen Mindfulness Trainings Introduction
(from Interbeing by Thich Nhat Hanh)
1. The First Mindfulness Training: Openness
Aware of the suffering created by fanaticism and intolerance, we are determined not to be idolatrous about or bound to any doctrine, theory, or ideology, even Buddhist ones. Buddhist teachings are guiding means to help us learn to look deeply and to develop our understanding and compassion. They are not doctrines to fight, kill, or die for.
2. The Second Mindfulness Training: Nonattachment from Views
Aware of the suffering created by attachment to views and wrong perceptions, we are determined to avoid being narrow-minded and bound to present views. We shall learn and practice nonattachment from views in order to be open to others’ insights and experiences. We are aware that the knowledge we presently possess is not changeless, absolute truth. Truth is found in life, and we will observe life within and around us in every moment, ready to learn throughout our lives.
3. The Third Mindfulness Training: Freedom of Thought
Aware of the suffering brought about when we impose our views on others, we are committed not to force others, even our children, by any means whatsoever - such as authority, threat, money, propaganda, or indoctrination - to adopt our views. We will respect the right of others to be different and to choose what to believe and how to decide. We will, however, help others renounce fanaticism and narrowness through practicing deeply and engaging in compassionate dialogue.
4. The Fourth Mindfulness Training: Awareness of Suffering
Aware that looking deeply at the nature of suffering can help us develop compassion and find ways out of suffering, we are determined not to avoid or close our eyes before suffering. We are committed to finding ways, including personal contact, images, and sounds, to be with those who suffer, so we can understand their situation deeply and help them transform their suffering into compassion, peace, and joy.
5. The Fifth Mindfulness Training: Simple, Healthy Living
Aware that true happiness is rooted in peace, solidity, freedom, and compassion, and not in wealth or fame, we are determined not to take as the aim of our life fame, profit, wealth, or sensual pleasure, nor to accumulate wealth while millions are hungry and dying. We are committed to living simply and sharing our time, energy, and material resources with those in need. We will practice mindful consuming, not using alcohol, drugs, or any other products that bring toxins into our own and the collective body and consciousness.
6. The Sixth Mindfulness Training: Dealing with Anger
Aware that anger blocks communication and creates suffering, we are determined to take care of the energy of anger when it arises and to recognize and transform the seeds of anger that lie deep in our consciousness. When anger comes up, we are determined not to do or say anything, but to practice mindful breathing or mindful walking and acknowledge, embrace, and look deeply into our anger. We will learn to look with the eyes of compassion at ourselves and at those we think are the cause of our anger.
7. The Seventh Mindfulness Training: Dwelling Happily in the Present Moment
Aware that life is available only in the present moment and that it is possible to live happily in the here and now, we are committed to training ourselves to live deeply each moment of daily life. We will try not to lose ourselves in dispersion or be carried away by regrets about the past, worries about the future, or craving, anger, or jealousy in the present. We will practice mindful breathing to come back to what is happening in the present moment. We are determined to learn the art of mindful living by touching the wondrous, refreshing, and healing elements that are inside and around us, and by nourishing seeds of joy, peace, love, and understanding in ourselves, thus facilitating the work of transformation and healing in our consciousness.
8. The Eighth Mindfulness Training: Community and Communication
Aware that lack of communication always brings separation and suffering, we are committed to training ourselves in the practice of compassionate listening and loving speech. We will learn to listen deeply without judging or reacting and refrain from uttering words that can create discord or cause the community to break. We will make every effort to keep communications open and to reconcile and resolve all conflicts, however small.
9. The Ninth Mindfulness Training: Truthful and Loving Speech
Aware that words can create suffering or happiness, we are committed to learning to speak truthfully and constructively, using only words that inspire hope and confidence. We are determined not to say untruthful things for the sake of personal interest or to impress people, nor to utter words that might cause division or hatred. We will not spread news that we do not know to be certain nor criticize or condemn things of which we are not sure. We will do our best to speak out about situations of injustice, even when doing so may threaten our safety.
10. The Tenth Mindfulness Training: Protecting the Sangha
Aware that the essence and aim of a Sangha is the practice of understanding and compassion, we are determined not to use the Buddhist community for personal gain or profit or transform our community into a political instrument. A spiritual community should, however, take a clear stand against oppression and injustice and should strive to change the situation without engaging in partisan conflicts.
11. The Eleventh Mindfulness Training: Right Livelihood
Aware that great violence and injustice have been done to our environment and society, we are committed not to live with a vocation that is harmful to humans and nature. We will do our best to select a livelihood that helps realize our ideal of understanding and compassion. Aware of global economic, political and social realities, we will behave responsibly as consumers and as citizens, not supporting companies that deprive others of their chance to live.
12. The Twelfth Mindfulness Training: Reverence for Life
Aware that much suffering is caused by war and conflict, we are determined to cultivate nonviolence, understanding, and compassion in our daily lives, to promote peace education, mindful mediation, and reconciliation within families, communities, nations, and in the world. We are determined not to kill and not to let others kill. We will diligently practice deep looking with our Sangha to discover better ways to protect life and prevent war.
13. The Thirteenth Mindfulness Training: Generosity
Aware of the suffering caused by exploitation, social injustice, stealing, and oppression, we are committed to cultivating loving kindness and learning ways to work for the well-being of people, animals, plants, and minerals. We will practice generosity by sharing our time, energy, and material resources with those who are in need. We are determined not to steal and not to possess anything that should belong to others. We will respect the property of others, but will try to prevent others from profiting from human suffering or the suffering of other beings.
14. The Fourteenth Mindfulness Training: Right Conduct
(For lay members): Aware that sexual relations motivated by craving cannot dissipate the feeling of loneliness but will create more suffering, frustration, and isolation, we are determined not to engage in sexual relations without mutual understanding, love, and a long-term commitment. In sexual relations, we must be aware of future suffering that may be caused. We know that to preserve the happiness of ourselves and others, we must respect the rights and commitments of ourselves and others. We will do everything in our power to protect children from sexual abuse and to protect couples and families from being broken by sexual misconduct. We will treat our bodies with respect and preserve our vital energies (sexual, breath, spirit) for the realization of our bodhisattva ideal. We will be fully aware of the responsibility of bringing new lives into the world, and will meditate on the world into which we are bringing new beings.
(For monastic members): Aware that the aspiration of a monk or a nun can only be realized when he or she wholly leaves behind the bonds of worldly love, we are committed to practicing chastity and to helping others protect themselves. We are aware that loneliness and suffering cannot be alleviated by the coming together of two bodies in a sexual relationship, but by the practice of true understanding and compassion. We know that a sexual relationship will destroy our life as a monk or a nun, will prevent us from realizing our ideal of serving living beings, and will harm others. We are determined not to suppress or mistreat our body or to look upon our body as only an instrument, but to learn to handle our body with respect. We are determined to preserve vital energies (sexual, breath, spirit) for the realization of our bodhisattva ideal
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6 Comments... What do you think? Subscribe via RSS ShareThisAttitudinal Healing: Mindfulness In Another Key
4 Comments April 2, 2010 / Posted in Mindfulness, Uncategorized The work of Jerry Jampolsky and Diane Cirincione has touched the world one person at a time. Their work spans the globe and the hearts of all those who have practiced the principles Attitudinal Healing This section on their website summarizes and clarifies the principles of Attitudinal Healing
…there are numerous areas in which the Jampolsky Outreach Foundation (JOF) continues to serve, the common thread that unites them is clear and consistent. Namely, the principles of Attitudinal Healing transcend situational differences, customs and cultures, religions and races, and are the cornerstones of how to practically apply universal spiritual principles in everyday life.
Attitudinal Healing
Regards our primary identity as spiritual beings and that the essence of our inner nature is love.
Defines true ‘health’ as inner peace and ‘healing’ as the letting go of fear.
Offers the willingness to find another way of looking at the world, at life, and at death.
Views everyone as equal students and teachers to each other, recognizing that we can learn something from everyone we meet.
Teaches that forgiveness is the key to happiness through healing our relationships with all others and with ourselves.
Experiences love as the most powerful source of healing in the world.
Views the purpose of all communication as joining and regards happiness as a choice.
Recognizes that we are all worthy of love and that happiness is our own responsibility as well as our natural state of being.
Affirms that it is not other people or circumstances outside ourselves that cause us to be in conflict or upset. Rather, it is our own thoughts, feelings, judgments, and attitudes about people and events that cause us distress.
Discovers the negative affect that holding on to grievances, blaming others, and condemning ourselves has, so that we can choose to no longer find value in them.
Asserts that when we let go of fear, only love remains and love is the answer to all the problems we face in life.
Recognizes that we can choose to perceive ourselves and others as one of two ways; either loving, or as fearful, giving a call for help. Fear is shown as anger, rage, violence, etc., towards others and ourselves.
Sets the goal of inner peace and living a life focused on unconditional love.
Supports the notion that as we reach our own hand out into the darkness to help another back into the light…we discover that it is our own.
Introduces the dynamics of personal choice and total responsibility for healing our own minds and for having harmony and integrity in all that we think say and do.
The core of Attitudinal Healing is that rather than trying to change other people, we focus on changing our own minds. In order to experience peace in the world, it first must begin within ourselves. When inner peace is achieved by replacing the destructive feeling generated by fear, our outer world also changes. As each of us heals, the world heals with us.
JOF is a 501(C) (3) non-profit organization formed in 1979 and is funded by private donors and foundation grants.
Find more videos like this on Project Peace On Earth
This clip of Jerry and Diane is from Judy Colvard’s Project-Peace on Earth.
Leave the first response August 20, 2010 / Posted in Breathe, Meditation, Mindfulness
The numbers are pretty staggering when some statistics say that 75% of people in the United States are either moderately or extremely stressed. I’ve also read that it could be almost 90% of the conditions doctors see are related to stress.
You will find it interesting to visit Dr. Daniel Friedland’s website , Super Smart Health. You will find his section on Spirit Guided Health very helpful
This gives you a little about Danny Friedland’s background:
Dr. Friedland is uniquely qualified to teach the scientific and emotional skills needed to empower clinicians and patients become smarter health providers and seekers.
He is board certified in Internal Medicine, a member of the American Board of Integrative Holistic Medicine and the author of Evidence-Based Medicine: A Framework for Clinical Practice, one of the first books to outline methods to frame questions and find, evaluate, and apply medical literature searches to patient care – now all doctors are trained to make medical decisions this way.
During his medical training at the University of California, San Francisco, where he is an Assistant Clinical Professor of Medicine, he founded the UCSF Medical Student Network to facilitate physician well-being and the compassionate delivery of care.
Inspired by this experience, he immersed himself in the fields of neuroscience, emotional intelligence and mindfulness, conducted research on self-doubt and discovered how the powerful decision making framework of evidence-based medicine promoting scientific intelligence also cultivates emotional intelligence needed to navigate stress and uncertainty to achieve a more holistic experience of health and well-being.
I like what Danny has put together in his app called Timeless Reminders. It allows you to create and schedule moments that bring you to “present moment, beautiful moment.” It give you a BIBO moment. (thanks Caroline Meeks, aka Dr Funshine and her Laughter Yoga & Stress Reduction) for introducing me to the “Breathe In, Breathe Out” acronym.
As he mentions:
Stress fragments our foundational sense of health and well-being and all too often drains our energy and leads us to forget what’s really important in our lives. What if we could schedule moments of inspiration to become more mindful, remind ourselves what’s truly important and recharge our day?
Timeless Reminders enables you to collect your most inspiring photos, videos, music, audio and text to create and send yourself personally meaningful Reminders to reconnect you with the wholeness you are and inspire you to take healthy and productive action in your life.
To learn more about this unique app and find the iTunes link to download it for free, click here now to go to Timeless Reminders.
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Leave the first response Subscribe via RSS ShareThisLeadership Virtuosity: Lee Thayer’s Call for Leaders to be Mindful
Leave the first response July 27, 2010 / Posted in Mindful Leadership
Chair Gathering-Chicago May 2010
Lee Thayer’s Leadership Virtuosity is his latest book that is a must read for all who want to see what is the cost of becoming a virtuoso leader.
It would be a good idea to remember to re-read Buddha’s Kalama Sutra as a reminder of leadership and followership and now jumping to conclusions. The example being the accusations of Andrew Breitbard about Shirley Sherrod and the truth coming out. More than ever we need to be mindful about what is being said through the media and through the internet.
However, after thorough observation, investigation, analysis and reflection, when you find that anything agrees with reason and your experience, and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all, and of the world at large; accept only that as true, and shape your life in accordance with it; and live up to it.
These words, the Buddha went on to say, must be applied to his own teachings.
Some of Lee’s thoughts for your reflection:
The Performing Leader
The primary advantage of de-personalizing performance–of making the person’s performance and not his psyche and/or personality the issue–is that the person’s performance is objectively measurable and improvable. The persons internal mind-set and other habits are not.
A second advantage of separating the “person” from his or her performance is that it permits the leader to have adult relationships with his performers without becoming their mother or their therapist or their day-cafe supervisor.
The Intolerant Leader
You get what you tolerate
It certainly has the logic going for it:
If you tolerate poor performance, you will probably get it
If you tolerate certain mistakes, you will in all probability have to put up with them
If you tolerate broken promises, you will get them…
If you tolerate deceit and conniving, you will get them
If you tolerate incompetence, incompetent people will know where to apply.
The Caring Leader
Those who are not competent in their roles in any collective jeopardize the lives of all the rest of us
Those who do not understand that the organization cannot care for their needs unless they first care for the needs of the organization put the lives of all the rest of us in jeopardy.
Any member of any organization, at any level, who expresses distaste for her role is doing so because she is incompetent.
The Accomplishment-Minded Leader
Having a purpose in life is not just New Age claptrap. It is inescapably pragmatic. In this way:
Those who don’t know or don’t care where they are going have nothing by which to niavigate except other people who don’t know or don’t care where they are going. They don’t know what is relevant to their journey because they are not committed to any particular destination. they carry no compass, having no need. They could, like the ancient Polynesians, read the currents. But on one seems to know how to do this. It is not on the test they had in school
…The leadership virtuoso takes a (habitual) posture something like this:
Who ought to own the problem? (in most cases, this should be the person or people who have the problem.)
Who ought to own the problem of fixing it? (Same as above.)
Who ought to get credit for eliminating the problem–the one who becomes aware of it, the one who figures out what to do about it, or the one who implements the fix? (that’s easy. They need to be the same person or group of people)
The leader who needs to get credit for any one of those three will never be much more than a mediocre manager
There is a difference between accomplishment as a way of life and accomplishment for the sole purpose of moving up in the organization. The leadership virtuoso takes great care not to reward the latter. In a great organization, not to be accomplishment-minded is to be wrong-minded.
…To accomplish anything at all worthy of being human will always be determined by how accomplishment-minded we are–individually and collectively
The “Good” Leader
What the good leader does is make it necessary for people to see their duty, and then to make it necessary for them to carry out their duty competently.
It is not the good leader’s role to make his or her people “happy.” It is her role to make learners out of them, to make it necessary for them to increase their competencies in their own roles.
…Until the people in a organization put the organization first, and themselves second, or third, their leaders are not good for them, for the organization, or for the future of this civilization. What’s incompatible is that if people have no duty to the larger whole (e.g. the organization, the society), there can be no virtue. The good leader teaches people what their duties are–to themselves, to others, to the larger whole. Until that happens, no good is likely to come of it. A leader who cannot make this happen is a bad leader. Under a bad leader, everyone loses.
…People who are not capable of leadeing themselves will choose leaders who are ot good for them.
It is our duty to be the kind of people who deserve “good” leaders. It is the good leader’s duty to make us do what we ought to do, to become the kind of people we ought to become. We clearly get the leaders we deserve.
The ingredient most often missing from all our talk about leadership is…power. The leader’s influence is limited by the limitations of her power. What brought Carly down at HP was not her incompetence. It was a shortfall of the power needed to fend off the opposing powers.
If a leader does not have the prerogative to choose his own personnel, he will likely fail. If the leader does not have or exercise fire-power, he will lose. If the leader cannot impose his will on his followers, he will lose. It is the leader’s prerogative, necessarily, to risk being wrong. If it becomes groupthink, everyone loses.
Leadership virtuosity requires leading people from where they are to where they ought to be, from who they are to who they ought to be. To fail at this is to fail in the leadership role and to betray those people.
If it is done for their long-term benefit, and the benefit of the larger whole (all of the organization’s other stakeholders), you must have the power necessary to make it happen. If you turn that moral obligation over to others, you have failed your leadership role. You have done harm.
Click here: Leadership Virtuosity if you want to be challenged to become who you ought to be.
June was my 24th year as a Vistage Chair. I have been blessed to know this group of men and women who do the work I do. The people pictured above have all been doing the work of helping leaders of small and mid-sized companies develop and transform themselves professionally and personally. It is about helping them develop and own their unique contribution to their people, their communities and in the wider picture the world.
What follows is my reflection on the work I do as part of my own transformation in sharing my own contribution of service, transformation and community.
A Reflection on the Odyssey of Chairing:
Are You Up To The Journey?
Chairing is about the original definition of Competition. Competition is “seeking with another” the quality of being the best at what one is or is doing. It wasn’t about beating another with the other being the loser. It was about who was the best at a moment in time and did one push the other to do what at one time was thought humanly impossible. The Greeks call it: Arete. We’re back to the “those climb highest who lift as they go.”
Chairing from my very beginning was about “seeking with.” I love the story that is often repeated. One Chair asks another chair to send them a template they’ve just heard about on Chairnet. The Chair receives it and thanks the other Chair for the great template only to have the other Chair email back that they got it from them 5 years ago. They just made some of their own embellishments to it. Chairing has always been about Kaizen: continuous improvement.
That got me to thinking about our lives as Chairs. We are so much more than Chairs as proven by our lives before becoming Chairs. However the vocation of Chairing, although it may be seen by the corporate entity as: professional Business Coach, is a calling because one in so many ways has to start anew.
The journey of a Chair is the unity of the contribution to the Vision, Mission and Values that were first modeled by Bob Nourse, It is also the diversity and unique contribution of each and everyone of us. We are the same in our own unique contribution.
Each of us contributes in our own way as we work out our purpose and meaning in the second half of life. Each of us having succeeded in the first half as measured by the standards of our culture and society. Chairing, for me, is about our own transformation as we contribute to the transformation of those around us while still being measured by a corporate standard.
Mary Oliver’s poem talks about our starting out. The leaving of a life that was home and now the odyssey of going home. It a starting out for new Chairs that in their former and/or continuing profession is successful.
Like Odysseus having conquered Troy after 10 years of fighting with his Trojan Horse ploy (faking leaving and feigning defeat), we set off toward our Ithaca only to find that what worked in the past no longer works. The one-eyed Cyclops has an eye for sight but no eye for insight. Odysseus’s ego saying his name when out of harm’s way, only to realize he has blinded the son of Poseidon. His ego and it’s-about-me sealed a journey for himself that leads him on a ten year Odyssey to get Home.
In this part of his voyage, nothing he knew from the past works. He still retains his intelligence, intuition, insight and inner drive for home even during the years when lulled by Lotos with the drug of accedia (not caring), Circe (gluttonous & greedy for fame, wealth or power) and Calypso (I’ll give you your every desire, but you can’t return to your loved ones AND home).
Poseidon keeps him alive through all the catastrophes that befall him so that one day he can tell the story again to people who think that an oar is a winnowing fan. “No this is not a winnowing fan; it is an oar. Let me tell you a story about this oar…” Once the story is told…again, Odysseus is free to live out the rest of his life at home. So we share our stories that have brought together the transcendent and the world we experience. Kermit’s Rainbow Connection talks about this dichotomy .
So being a Chair is more than about being a Chair.
Some thoughts on returning Home. Having succeeded in the first part of our lives, Chairs set out, knowingly or unknowingly, toward Home where we find who we really are and what we’re suppose to become. (Ah, come on Oz, sometime a cigar is a cigar.) We can rest on the successes of our past and all we have achieved and the impact we have made on the world; OR head Home. Home, that inner journey that looks deeply at the meaning of one’s life and what is one suppose to be.
My simple purpose in life created many years ago when I was coaching and doing psychotherapy on the walk or run was: helping people become better athletes and world class humans. My odyssey is working on myself: “doing the only thing one can do. Saving the only life one can save.”
Home is where we both see and are seen clearly. It is a safe place. I like Michael Goldberg’s quote in his book Travels with Odysseus:
“Home is where you are recognized for who you really are, not more and not less.”
I like LinkedIn. When I link to my fellow Chairs I am in awe of all that they have already accomplished with their lives. I marvel at the impact they have had on the organizations and corporations as they became more accomplished, competent and confident. How impressive are these gifts differing that each of us bring as we start off toward Home.
The Journey of a Chair is truly an Odyssey. Ask any Chair of 10 years or more and they will share what they are continuing to learn along their path homeward. I would ask more Keepers of the Flame to share on Chairnet some of their inner journey so that newer Chairs…and those of us older Chairs that have been influenced by the preemptive striking (quick making assumers) Laestrygonians with their BAMS (review Pat Murray on Groups)…can be reminded of what Don Schmincke spoke about 12 years ago using Mintzberg’s distinctions: Are we a missionary or a professional organization.
After 12 years of reflecting on this, TEC, now Vistage is like that gestalt picture where you can see two faces looking at each other or a vase. The two faces are what the missionary aspect of Vistage is. It is about people and communication and relationship. Like the world sitting on turtles all the way down. The world of Vistage sits on relationships all the way down. Vistage is the vase. It is the business aspect. It is the crucible where Chairs come to have any slag or dross metal burned away. The slag are all those distractions that take us away from moving toward Home. Distractions self created about one’s capabilities and competence as a Chair. Distractions projected on a Mothership rather than looking inward through introspection. I am reminded: “What I say, says more about me than who or what I am saying it about.”
Several groups of Chairs going through training received a rock at the end of their training which had an owl painted on it. On the back is written either “Vistage Odyssey” or “The TEC Odyssey.” They were in either a royal blue or a purple amulet bag. I have been drawing owls on rocks since the late 60’s to commemorate moments in my life and then gave them away. The owls that I did for the Vistage and TEC Chair training were done as a way of reminding myself and the new Chairs about the journey they are setting off upon. Truly each new Chair is on an Odyssey. On one level a story about a 50 something year old company and on another level a journey of individual souls on their way Home…where they are recognized for who they really are, not more and not less.
All the above can be considered folklore. If it works, use it. If it doesn’t, don’t give it a breath of emotion or feeling. Rather go out and find someone’s folklore that works for you and use it. Or if you can’t find anyone, create your own. Please be sure to come back and tell me so I can either learn other ways of telling the folklore or see if my folklore is incorrect.
The Kalama Sutra says it very well. Buddha reminds all of us: Don’t believe anything merely because….
Instead “after thorough observation, investigation, analysis and reflection, when you find that anything agrees with reason and your experience, and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all, and of the world at large; accept only that as true, and shape your life in accordance with it; and live up to it.”
In other words: This is what the Odyssey of Chairing is about. It is a Practice. So it is with Life. So it is with Chairing. A lifelong Practice.
Are you up for the journey?
Hic et nunc, semper cathedra non solum cathedra sed magister et studens,
Love, friendship and in the spirit of Chair collegiality,
Ozzie
The Journey
By Mary Oliver
One day you finally knew
what you had to do, and began,
though the voices around you
kept shouting
their bad advice–
though the whole house
began to tremble
and you felt the old tug
at your ankles.
“Mend my life!”
each voice cried.
But you didn’t stop.
You knew what you had to do,
though the wind pried
with its stiff fingers
at the very foundations,
though their melancholy
was terrible.
It was already late
enough, and a wild night,
and the road full of fallen
branches and stones.
But little by little,
as you left their voices behind,
the stars began to burn
through the sheets of clouds,
and there was a new voice
which you slowly
recognized as your own,
that kept you company
as you strode deeper and deeper
into the world,
determined to do
the only thing you could do–
determined to save
the only life you could save
I have had the privilege of know Jim Vaughan for over 15 years. And through Jim I met his associate and dear friend: Kelly Castor. I have been a champion of their work and an associate of their Life Design work.
I have used sections of the Life Design book for over 12 years during our Gontang Family Retreats.
Jim spoke to my Vistage executive group twice a number of years ago. He is one of the early developers of Organizational Development and from one copy that I saw where the CEO joined my group, Jim had created a truly high performance learning organization. I also saw a bank dismantle that same organization in less than 60 days; only to come back 6 months later and admit they made a mistake in their approach. They saw the service as transaction and destroyed the actual foundation: Trust and Relationship.
You can purchase a hard copy of the Life Design book from Amazon for $14.95 or download a free digital version. The content in both is identical
how you can help
“We must become the change we wish to see in the world.”
Mahatma Gandhi
Reclaiming our communities and making them great places to live, work, and play involves deep cultural change. It will require the ongoing cooperative efforts of many people over a long period of time. It will require some change in behavior from virtually every one of us. We welcome your participation.
Join one of our ongoing programs:
* Local Food: Contact Maggie Castor to find out what you can do to eliminate hunger and poor nutrition in your community. (maggiecastor@partners101.org)
* Renewable Energy: Check out steps you can take today to conserve energy. Energy Saver’s Booklet Contact Kelly Castor to learn more about our renewable energy initiative. (kelly@partners101.org)
* Youth Program: Contact Kelly Castor to learn how you can use LifeDesign for Teens to help prepare youth in your community for a successful start in life. (kelly@partners101.org)
* Life Planning: If you haven’t done a gut check recently on your own priorities and the way you’re spending your time, you might want to take a 5-minute Quality of Life Checkup If you’re ready to get serious about taking full responsibility for achieving your life’s dream, get a copy of the LifeDesign Workbook.
* Sustainable Local Economies: Contact Kelly Castor to learn about developing and supporting local entrepreneurs. (kelly@partners101.org)
If none of our current initiatives strike a chord with you, we invite you to consider how LifeDesign can be adapted to address the unique needs of many specific groups and situations. Here are some examples:
* Returning veterans and their families
* Communities that have experienced a plant closing and/or multiple layoffs
* People struggling with obesity
* People re-entering civilian life after being in prison
* A community recovering from a natural disaster such as a flood
It is preferable, but not essential, that you have personally experienced the issue you want to address. We’ll work with you to adapt the LifeDesign process to the situation. Contact James Vaughan to explore these or related possibilities. james@partners101.org
Next weekend I am going to a training with fellow Chairs of Vistage. One of the shared readings we will have all read or in most instances re-read is Don MIguel Ruiz’s Four Agreements.
Four Agreements
Don Miguel Ruiz’s Code for Life
The simplicity and elegance of his thinking remains a source of great enlightenment and aspiration. The simple ideas of The Four Agreements provide an inspirational code for life; a personal development model, and a template for personal development, behavior, communications and relationships. Here is how Don Miguel Ruiz summarizes ‘The Four Agreements’
Agreement 1
BE IMPECCABLE WITH YOUR WORD- Speak with integrity. Say only what you mean. Avoid using the word to speak against yourself or to gossip about others. Use the power of your word in the direction of truth and love.
Agreement 2
DON’T TAKE ANYTHING PERSONALLY - Nothing others do is because of you. What others say and do is a projection of their own reality, their own dream. When you are immune to the opinions and actions of others, you won’t be the victim of needless suffering.
Agreement 3
DON’T MAKE ASSUMPTIONS - Find the courage to ask questions and to express what you really want. Communicate with others as clearly as you can to avoid misunderstandings, sadness and drama. With just this one agreement, you can completely transform your life.
Agreement 4
ALWAYS DO YOUR BEST - Your best is going to change from moment to moment; it will be different when you are healthy as opposed to sick. Under any circumstance, simply do your best, and you will avoid self-judgment, self-abuse and regret.
To this he and his son have written The Fifth Agreement.
Agreement 5
BE SKEPTICAL BUT LEARN TO LISTEN
Don’t believe yourself or anybody else. Use the power of doubt to question everything you hear: Is it really the truth? Listen to the intent behind words, and you will understand the real message
So many maps to guide one on the same journey. Each begins where we are. When the traveller is ready the map appears. When the soul is ready the Spirit appears. When the pilgrim is ready, the road appears.
I am continually drawn back to the Buddha speaking to the villagers of Kalama. The Fifth Agreement echoes what was said so long ago. The story was shared in my blog: Seeking Personal Experience & Personal Authority
The Kalama Sutra
The Kalama Sutra is the Buddha’s reply to a group of townspeople of Kalama. They asked Buddha who were they to believe of all the ascetics, sages, holy ones and teachers They came through their town confusing them with their contradictory truths, teachings, beliefs, and one true way.
• Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it,
• Nor traditions because they are old and have been handed down from generation to generation and in many locations,
• Nor in rumor because it has been spoken by many,
• Nor in writings by sages because sages wrote them,
• Nor in one’s own fancies, thinking that it is such an extraordinary thought, it must have been inspired by a god or higher power,
• Nor in inferences drawn from some haphazard assumption made by us,
• Nor in what seems to be of necessity by analogy,
• Nor in anything merely because it is based on the authority of our teachers, masters, and elders,.
However, after thorough observation, investigation, analysis and reflection, when you find that anything agrees with reason and your experience, and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all, and of the world at large; accept only that as true, and shape your life in accordance with it; and live up to it.
These words, the Buddha went on to say, must be applied to his own teachings.
Along the many paths remember as you set out:
After thorough observation, investigation, analysis and reflection, when you find that anything agrees with reason and your experience, and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all, and of the world at large; accept only that as true, and shape your life in accordance with it; and live up to it.
As someone who has run and walked with patients and friends for 35 years, this little article shared by Christine Messier brings out the fact that being in nature quickly brings a person to “present moment, beautiful moment.” What is interesting is that when one is in the present moment there is no cause and effect. It’s not the green space and it is the green space. It’s not the exercise and it is the exercise. It’s not being present and it is being present. In the present moment, one is observing and being. Thoughts are just thoughts that come and go. And being surrounded by the beauty of nature; and experiencing one’s feelings and one senses of, as George Sheehan would put it, one as being a good animal. Awake and fully present in the present moment. One with the world.
As the first Running Therapist trained by Tad Kostrubala, it is nice to know that the tradition of Running Therapy has been carried on by of group of psychiatrists and therapists in Germany. Since the early days, and learning the skills of a Running Therapist, I only run with friends and people who I am training to walk and run properly. Being out in nature and being out in public with a Running Therapist one only sees people walking or running. In those moments there is no mental illness. Only two people running, talking, laughing, crying, and playing together. And of course, the Running Therapist has learned that it is the walking and/or running along with the “Green space” that creates the healing.
Remember the word “therapist” comes from the Greek “theraps” which means to attend or listen to. Back in 400 BCE, the Aesculapian “theraps” would prepare the patient for their healing dream. The healing came from within not from without. It was only later that oracles, priests, physicians and others took on the role of healers to the wounded. The dialogue about Wounded Healers is for another time.
Green space is important for mental health
Just five minutes of exercise in a “green space” such as a park can boost mental health, researchers claim.
There is growing evidence that combining activities such as walking or cycling with nature boosts well-being.
In the latest analysis, UK researchers looked at evidence from 1,250 people in 10 studies and found fast improvements in mood and self-esteem.
The study in the Environmental Science and Technology journal suggested the strongest impact was on young people.
The research looked at many different outdoor activities including walking, gardening, cycling, fishing, boating, horse-riding and farming in locations such as a park, garden or nature trail.
The biggest effect was seen within just five minutes.
With longer periods of time exercising in a green environment, the positive effects were clearly apparent but were of a smaller magnitude, the study found.
Looking at men and women of different ages, the researchers found the health changes - physical and mental - were particularly strong in the young and the mentally-ill.
Green and blue
A bigger effect was seen with exercise in an area that also contained water - such as a lake or river.
Study leader Jules Pretty, a researcher at the University of Essex, said those who were generally inactive, or stressed, or with mental illness would probably benefit the most from “green exercise”.
We would like to see all doctors considering exercise as a treatment where appropriate
Paul Farmer, Mind
“Employers, for example, could encourage staff in stressful workplaces to take a short walk at lunchtime in the nearest park to improve mental health.”
He also said exercise programmes outdoors could benefit youth offenders.
“A challenge for policy makers is that policy recommendations on physical activity are easily stated but rarely adopted widely.”
Paul Farmer, chief executive of mental health charity Mind, said the research is yet further evidence that even a short period of green exercise can provide a low cost and drug-free therapy to help improve mental wellbeing.
“It’s important that people experiencing depression can be given the option of a range of treatments, and we would like to see all doctors considering exercise as a treatment where appropriate.”
Mind runs a grant scheme for local environmental projects to help people with mental illness get involved in outdoor activities.
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2 Comments... What do you think? Subscribe via RSS ShareThisSharing Mindfulness: A Gift from Juliet Adams
3 Comments April 26, 2010 / Posted in Mindfulness
Juliet Adams has just put her website online to gather in one place as much as is possible about mindfulness. You will find it rewarding and rich in content and in a context created with a spirit of Mindfulness.
I have just launched a new website to provide information on mindfulness: Mindfulnet.org . It aims to provide “everything you need to know about mindfulness on one website”.
I have included a simple video on the subject of “what is mindfulness” which can be found on the home page or on you tube.
The website also includes an extensive list of research, overview of the neuroscience of mindfulness, links, resources, DVDs, workshops, events and news, and links to hundreds of websites.
This has been rather a labour of love for me, so do let me know what you think!
If you like it, please share it with others, as the higher up the search engines it becomes, the more people will read it, and hopefully more people will become mindful!
You will find Dan Siegel’s writings helpful. His work Mindsight and his dialogue with Daniel Goleman good reading and good listening.
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3 Comments... What do you think? Subscribe via RSS ShareThisProper Running: Mindful Movement in the Moment
1 Comment April 26, 2010 / Posted in Mindful Running, Running Form & Style, Running Injury Prevention, The Running Mind
http://www.flickr.com/photos/asvolcans/ / CC BY-NC 2.0
Mindlessness is made of those habits and behaviors that that we do automatically and habitually with little or no awareness. Mindfulness focuses attention and awareness on the present moment. As there is only “Hic et Nunc” - Here and Now.
Last month the San Diego Marathon Clinic celebrated 35 years of service to the running and walking community of San Diego. The journey has been an interesting path. For so many of us, our run brings us into this present moment.
In an article in May of 1996, Joyce Wycoff of ThinkSmart wrote an article: Today’s Certainties and Tomorrow’s Absurdities. She quoted me regarding what I had been saying for years about the issue not being the running shoe rather the improper running that was being championed and taught by the majority of people coaching the masses of runners and joggers. The focus was to strike on the heel first when running.
Running shoes will continue to advance in design and technology. They will continue to neglect a major component: Man, the thinking body.
An atavistic paradigm shift will take place. Runners and walkers will realize it’s not the shoe, it’s an innovative thinking body. A new line of shoe will be created that allows proprioceptive feedback to the thinking body. All of the thick running and walking shoes will be replaced by thinsoled foot covers which allow the human animal to take control of their youthful movement once again.
Traditional Tai Chi, Yoga, Stretching for the Thinking Body, etc. will grow. Companies like Nike, Addidas, Reebok and their approach to shoes will be tomorrow’s absurdities. Weight machines with computers will be used to measure gradual progress in strength. These weight machines will be revolutionized as they now measure the correct increase in range of motion as they strengthen muscles.
But as Alfred Adler said in dealing with the diagnosis of why people are the way they are: “But it could be different.”
I posted an article on RunningBarefoot.org back in February of 2001: Ball Heel Ball Is The Correct Way To Run and another dialogue with Steve Freides about Running Cadence that also talked about landing ball heel. If you want to see the whole thread you can check out Ball Heel Ball here. My years at the Maintainer of the FAQ at rec.running was to have my answers questioned. It was an excellent training ground to be present and now swept away by what others said or wrote.
You’ll want to check out the Harvard barefoot running website of Dan Lieberman and his team of collaborators and their research on how early man ran and some great video footage of the running foot and some good tips for those who have been decided to become barefoot or minimalist shoe runners.
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1 Comment... What do you think? Subscribe via RSS ShareThisThe Fourteen Mindfulness Trainings
6 Comments April 6, 2010 / Posted in Meditation, Mindfulness You will want to visit the website of The Community of Mindful Living (CML). Below are the 14 Mindful Trainings which guide the Community.
Located just north of San Diego is one of the CML’s Retreat Centers: Deer Park
Under their Mindful Practice you will find a series of short reflections that are very helpful in all aspects of being mindful.
Mindfulness is the energy of being aware and awake to the present moment. It is the continuous practice of touching life deeply in every moment of daily life. To be mindful is to be truly alive and present with those around you and with what you are doing. We bring our body and mind into harmony while we wash the dishes, drive the car or take our morning cup of tea.
Here is a short biography of Thich Nhat Hanh on the Deer Park website.
The Fourteen Mindfulness Trainings Introduction
(from Interbeing by Thich Nhat Hanh)
1. The First Mindfulness Training: Openness
Aware of the suffering created by fanaticism and intolerance, we are determined not to be idolatrous about or bound to any doctrine, theory, or ideology, even Buddhist ones. Buddhist teachings are guiding means to help us learn to look deeply and to develop our understanding and compassion. They are not doctrines to fight, kill, or die for.
2. The Second Mindfulness Training: Nonattachment from Views
Aware of the suffering created by attachment to views and wrong perceptions, we are determined to avoid being narrow-minded and bound to present views. We shall learn and practice nonattachment from views in order to be open to others’ insights and experiences. We are aware that the knowledge we presently possess is not changeless, absolute truth. Truth is found in life, and we will observe life within and around us in every moment, ready to learn throughout our lives.
3. The Third Mindfulness Training: Freedom of Thought
Aware of the suffering brought about when we impose our views on others, we are committed not to force others, even our children, by any means whatsoever - such as authority, threat, money, propaganda, or indoctrination - to adopt our views. We will respect the right of others to be different and to choose what to believe and how to decide. We will, however, help others renounce fanaticism and narrowness through practicing deeply and engaging in compassionate dialogue.
4. The Fourth Mindfulness Training: Awareness of Suffering
Aware that looking deeply at the nature of suffering can help us develop compassion and find ways out of suffering, we are determined not to avoid or close our eyes before suffering. We are committed to finding ways, including personal contact, images, and sounds, to be with those who suffer, so we can understand their situation deeply and help them transform their suffering into compassion, peace, and joy.
5. The Fifth Mindfulness Training: Simple, Healthy Living
Aware that true happiness is rooted in peace, solidity, freedom, and compassion, and not in wealth or fame, we are determined not to take as the aim of our life fame, profit, wealth, or sensual pleasure, nor to accumulate wealth while millions are hungry and dying. We are committed to living simply and sharing our time, energy, and material resources with those in need. We will practice mindful consuming, not using alcohol, drugs, or any other products that bring toxins into our own and the collective body and consciousness.
6. The Sixth Mindfulness Training: Dealing with Anger
Aware that anger blocks communication and creates suffering, we are determined to take care of the energy of anger when it arises and to recognize and transform the seeds of anger that lie deep in our consciousness. When anger comes up, we are determined not to do or say anything, but to practice mindful breathing or mindful walking and acknowledge, embrace, and look deeply into our anger. We will learn to look with the eyes of compassion at ourselves and at those we think are the cause of our anger.
7. The Seventh Mindfulness Training: Dwelling Happily in the Present Moment
Aware that life is available only in the present moment and that it is possible to live happily in the here and now, we are committed to training ourselves to live deeply each moment of daily life. We will try not to lose ourselves in dispersion or be carried away by regrets about the past, worries about the future, or craving, anger, or jealousy in the present. We will practice mindful breathing to come back to what is happening in the present moment. We are determined to learn the art of mindful living by touching the wondrous, refreshing, and healing elements that are inside and around us, and by nourishing seeds of joy, peace, love, and understanding in ourselves, thus facilitating the work of transformation and healing in our consciousness.
8. The Eighth Mindfulness Training: Community and Communication
Aware that lack of communication always brings separation and suffering, we are committed to training ourselves in the practice of compassionate listening and loving speech. We will learn to listen deeply without judging or reacting and refrain from uttering words that can create discord or cause the community to break. We will make every effort to keep communications open and to reconcile and resolve all conflicts, however small.
9. The Ninth Mindfulness Training: Truthful and Loving Speech
Aware that words can create suffering or happiness, we are committed to learning to speak truthfully and constructively, using only words that inspire hope and confidence. We are determined not to say untruthful things for the sake of personal interest or to impress people, nor to utter words that might cause division or hatred. We will not spread news that we do not know to be certain nor criticize or condemn things of which we are not sure. We will do our best to speak out about situations of injustice, even when doing so may threaten our safety.
10. The Tenth Mindfulness Training: Protecting the Sangha
Aware that the essence and aim of a Sangha is the practice of understanding and compassion, we are determined not to use the Buddhist community for personal gain or profit or transform our community into a political instrument. A spiritual community should, however, take a clear stand against oppression and injustice and should strive to change the situation without engaging in partisan conflicts.
11. The Eleventh Mindfulness Training: Right Livelihood
Aware that great violence and injustice have been done to our environment and society, we are committed not to live with a vocation that is harmful to humans and nature. We will do our best to select a livelihood that helps realize our ideal of understanding and compassion. Aware of global economic, political and social realities, we will behave responsibly as consumers and as citizens, not supporting companies that deprive others of their chance to live.
12. The Twelfth Mindfulness Training: Reverence for Life
Aware that much suffering is caused by war and conflict, we are determined to cultivate nonviolence, understanding, and compassion in our daily lives, to promote peace education, mindful mediation, and reconciliation within families, communities, nations, and in the world. We are determined not to kill and not to let others kill. We will diligently practice deep looking with our Sangha to discover better ways to protect life and prevent war.
13. The Thirteenth Mindfulness Training: Generosity
Aware of the suffering caused by exploitation, social injustice, stealing, and oppression, we are committed to cultivating loving kindness and learning ways to work for the well-being of people, animals, plants, and minerals. We will practice generosity by sharing our time, energy, and material resources with those who are in need. We are determined not to steal and not to possess anything that should belong to others. We will respect the property of others, but will try to prevent others from profiting from human suffering or the suffering of other beings.
14. The Fourteenth Mindfulness Training: Right Conduct
(For lay members): Aware that sexual relations motivated by craving cannot dissipate the feeling of loneliness but will create more suffering, frustration, and isolation, we are determined not to engage in sexual relations without mutual understanding, love, and a long-term commitment. In sexual relations, we must be aware of future suffering that may be caused. We know that to preserve the happiness of ourselves and others, we must respect the rights and commitments of ourselves and others. We will do everything in our power to protect children from sexual abuse and to protect couples and families from being broken by sexual misconduct. We will treat our bodies with respect and preserve our vital energies (sexual, breath, spirit) for the realization of our bodhisattva ideal. We will be fully aware of the responsibility of bringing new lives into the world, and will meditate on the world into which we are bringing new beings.
(For monastic members): Aware that the aspiration of a monk or a nun can only be realized when he or she wholly leaves behind the bonds of worldly love, we are committed to practicing chastity and to helping others protect themselves. We are aware that loneliness and suffering cannot be alleviated by the coming together of two bodies in a sexual relationship, but by the practice of true understanding and compassion. We know that a sexual relationship will destroy our life as a monk or a nun, will prevent us from realizing our ideal of serving living beings, and will harm others. We are determined not to suppress or mistreat our body or to look upon our body as only an instrument, but to learn to handle our body with respect. We are determined to preserve vital energies (sexual, breath, spirit) for the realization of our bodhisattva ideal
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4 Comments April 2, 2010 / Posted in Mindfulness, Uncategorized The work of Jerry Jampolsky and Diane Cirincione has touched the world one person at a time. Their work spans the globe and the hearts of all those who have practiced the principles Attitudinal Healing This section on their website summarizes and clarifies the principles of Attitudinal Healing
…there are numerous areas in which the Jampolsky Outreach Foundation (JOF) continues to serve, the common thread that unites them is clear and consistent. Namely, the principles of Attitudinal Healing transcend situational differences, customs and cultures, religions and races, and are the cornerstones of how to practically apply universal spiritual principles in everyday life.
Attitudinal Healing
Regards our primary identity as spiritual beings and that the essence of our inner nature is love.
Defines true ‘health’ as inner peace and ‘healing’ as the letting go of fear.
Offers the willingness to find another way of looking at the world, at life, and at death.
Views everyone as equal students and teachers to each other, recognizing that we can learn something from everyone we meet.
Teaches that forgiveness is the key to happiness through healing our relationships with all others and with ourselves.
Experiences love as the most powerful source of healing in the world.
Views the purpose of all communication as joining and regards happiness as a choice.
Recognizes that we are all worthy of love and that happiness is our own responsibility as well as our natural state of being.
Affirms that it is not other people or circumstances outside ourselves that cause us to be in conflict or upset. Rather, it is our own thoughts, feelings, judgments, and attitudes about people and events that cause us distress.
Discovers the negative affect that holding on to grievances, blaming others, and condemning ourselves has, so that we can choose to no longer find value in them.
Asserts that when we let go of fear, only love remains and love is the answer to all the problems we face in life.
Recognizes that we can choose to perceive ourselves and others as one of two ways; either loving, or as fearful, giving a call for help. Fear is shown as anger, rage, violence, etc., towards others and ourselves.
Sets the goal of inner peace and living a life focused on unconditional love.
Supports the notion that as we reach our own hand out into the darkness to help another back into the light…we discover that it is our own.
Introduces the dynamics of personal choice and total responsibility for healing our own minds and for having harmony and integrity in all that we think say and do.
The core of Attitudinal Healing is that rather than trying to change other people, we focus on changing our own minds. In order to experience peace in the world, it first must begin within ourselves. When inner peace is achieved by replacing the destructive feeling generated by fear, our outer world also changes. As each of us heals, the world heals with us.
JOF is a 501(C) (3) non-profit organization formed in 1979 and is funded by private donors and foundation grants.
Find more videos like this on Project Peace On Earth
This clip of Jerry and Diane is from Judy Colvard’s Project-Peace on Earth.
Spiritual Health
Spiritual Health
Is Longevity Health
Stephen Lau Spiritual Health Is Longevity Health
How to Become More Spiritual
Enjoy Being You
Make you best life work for you!Laughter Yoga 101Spiritual health is synonymous with longevity. If you want to live longer, get more spiritual! Spirituality may add years to your life. Numerous scientific studies have suggested that different aspects of spirituality contribute to better health, better quality of life, and a longer life.
Spirituality Is Longevity Health
How does spirituality make you live longer?
• It gives your existence a purpose and a meaning.
• It provides you with a sense of fulfillment.
• It renews your life energy by connecting you with the Divine.
• It motivates you with love and compassion for others.
Your whole being is composed of the physical, the mental, and the spiritual. Your body, which is the physical, is controlled by your mind, which is the mental, which is then influenced by your soul, which is the spiritual, which oversees your whole being. The health of any one of these elements affects the health of the others. They are all inter-related.
First, your body has to be well before you can engage in any mental and spiritual matters. Jesus said that both fasting and prayer prepare your mind for your spiritual walk with God. Accordingly, everything begins with the body, then the mind, and finally leading to the soul.
Even Buddha, Mohammed and many other spiritual leaders all shared the need of the physical and the mental for higher spiritual advancement. (To understand more about the role of compassion and loving kindness in your health, go to my website Mindfulness.)
Spiritual health is important to you in that it oversees your whole being. Your physical wellness will not be complete without your spiritual level, which affects your mental level, which in turn influences your physical level; just as your physical is controlled by your mind and your soul. In order to become wholesome and healed on all levels of your being, you need to improve yourself on each of these levels. Complete natural healing is not possible by working on just one level.
How to Make Yourself More Spiritual
Buddha said, “Attachment to the things of this world is the fountainhead of all miseries.”
Simplifying your life
The first step to spiritual health is simplifying your life. It is the prerequisite of spiritual health. Re-organize what in your life has the greatest value.
• Your body, your mind, and your soul have their respective specific needs. Determine what they are.
• Distinguish between wants and needs. Wants are desires, which may or may not be essential, whereas needs are more fundamental and imperative.
• Prioritize them, and you will see your need to be more spiritual for better spiritual health.
• Get any clutter and confusion out of your life: any unnecessary complications may lead to stressful confusion down the road. Years of accumulation have added heaps of junk that may have immobilized you, or distracted you from focusing on more important things, such as health, love, and purpose in life.
Organizing is not good enough: you need to get your clutter out of the way so that you can focus on the priorities in your life.
Clutter Free Forever helps you get rid of the clutter BEFORE you even “get organized” while most “how to get organized” books simply help you organize without helping you get rid of the clutters. Getting rid of clutters can make dramatic difference to the energy of your home - which is good feng shui. Get your life organized with Clutter Free Forever!
Discard them, give them away, or sell them on ebay.
Do not let clutters stress your life - as if you don't have enough stress already! Find out what world religions say about stress from my web page: World Religions on Stress Control.
Re-discovering yourself
Once your have simplified your life, free from material and mundane clutters, you are well on the way to spiritual health, and you will be empowered to:
• Focus on your soul or more spiritual things, such as compassion and loving kindness.
• Get to know more about yourself, especially your needs and values.
• Learn to look within yourself for answers to your life problems: you will become more self-reliant and self-sufficient.
• Find your inner voice: what you love to do, and what touches your heart and your soul.
Your inner self knows the truth when you hear it. Nobody knows you better than yourself, and there is no better physician than yourself, who know what is best for your body. This intuitive wisdom is self-healing.
These simple daily reflections will give you the best anti-aging spiritual health.
Relaxing yourself
Nothing transforms you as much as changing from a mundane to a spiritual attitude towards all your everyday problems. Your Creator has created you to be a steward of your life. Relax yourself. With a healthy body, you can discard your anxieties and fears out of your consciousness, and then concentrate your mind on the spiritual, which may provide answers to some of your daily problems.
Brain Music Power employs a new technology of meditation that literally forces you to relax to reduce stress, anxiety, and panic attacks. Watch every aspect of your life skyrocket with your new found inner peace with this instant meditation.
There are three types of relaxation:
• Passive relaxation: watching TV, going to a movie or a ballgame
• Active relaxation: dancing, exercising, and lovemaking
• Creative relaxation: painting, reading, writing
Learn to meditate everyday. Meditation gives you a heightened sense of well-being, which constitutes spiritual health.
• Find a quiet corner, sit with your back straight, and relax your physical body.
• Gently close your eyes, quiet your mind, and experience the silence from within your body.
• Imagine what you love the most, and inhale.
Exhale as you empty any anxiety from your mind or body.
• Continue to inhale and exhale. Concentrate on your breathing, especially its rhythm as you breathe in peace and exhale stress.
• Continue to let go of your bodily tensions until you feel your whole body become relaxed.
Learn how to relax, meditate, and harness your brain power from Hypnosis, Meditation, and Mind Power, which provides the best information on the Internet regarding hypnosis, meditation, and mind power, including the incredible Qi Gong. It teaches you simple but important rules of the mind, and how to direct your mind in the direction you want to attain personal happiness and success in life. It is an excellent package to utilize your mind power to the fullest and to your best advantage.
For more information on meditation, go to my web page: Meditation Techniques to find out how you can meditate and relax your mind even when you are doing simple daily chores, including eating and driving
Finding your purposeful life
Once you learn to relax and prioritize your goals in life, a vista of the purpose of your life will be unfolded to you. A purposeful life is a way to wholesome wellness: you need to know and understand the meaning of your existence. You live in order to fulfill the purpose for which you were born to do the will of your Creator.
Find out the meaning of your existence through the Zen way. For more information, go to my website: Zen Is The Way.
Of course, you do not really know the purpose of your creation, or the will of God. Nobody really does - at least not consciously with the mind. But you do not need to know: just let yourself be guided step by step, one step at a time, by following your spiritual guidance or simply obeying your highest ideals, such as compassion and loving kindness. That is spirituality for your spiritual health! You will find meaning, hope, comfort, and inner peace in your life through spirituality.
Searching for your belief system
Man is spiritual in that he needs a belief system of some sort to manage or guide his emotions in an effective way. Your emotions determine how you feel about yourself and life in general. Your emotions are not only a result of your social interactions, but also of your yearning for spirituality. Searching for a philosophy of life that makes you happy and healthy is already the beginning of spirituality.
Being spiritual is not the same as being religious, which involves following the creed of a proclaimed religion, though on the higher levels of consciousness; true religion and spirituality ultimately merge.
Living your highest ideals
In spiritual health, you become more aware of living according to your own highest ideals, thereby consciously improving your everyday attitudes and feelings. Every moment in your day-to-day interactions with people provides an opportunity for you to become more spiritual, if you will avail yourself of it. Using Mother Teresa’s example, begin by conveying warmth to someone who least expects it, and that is spirituality.
You nourish your physical body with nutrients to keep it healthy. You feed your mind body with positive thoughts to avoid distorted thinking, which is the cause of depression. You replenish your spiritual body, which is your soul, with spiritual feelings, such as compassion, loving kindness, unconditional love, gratitude, and forgiveness, among others. Your spiritual thinking causes your personality and daily interactions with others to become an expression of your soul: let your daily actions speak you mind.
• In spiritual health, love melts your resistance to change for the better. Without love, you simply continue to perpetuate that which you are resisting. In the absence of love, almost anything else you wish to achieve will end in failure.
• In spiritual health, gratitude plays a central role in your mental and spiritual health. Gratitude will nip jealousy in the bud. You will not be comparing your current state of health with that of others. Gratitude will restrain you from whining. You will not be feeling deficiency or indequacy. Always be grateful for what you have. True gratitude, like genuine love, is unconditional. Gratitude will open the door for you to further improvement and the possibility of receiving greater blessings. Gratitude is a great positive attitude in longevity health. Be grateful of your current health conditions, whatever they may be, as if you were already healed of your ailments.
• In spiritual health, forgiveness is a necessary requirement for your spiritual health and healing. Do yourself a favor: practice forgiveness. Forgive others, and more importantly, forgive yourself. Do not blame yourself or anyone else if something goes wrong in your life. Making mistakes is the best way to learn, and you need to make mistakes in your diet and nutrition, and learn from them; and that is the spiritual path to wholesome wellness for longevity health.
Embracing your responsibility for healing
Healing your body, mind and emotions is in itself part of your own spiritual evolution. Live in total harmony with the biological, emotional, mental and spiritual laws that govern your health and well-being. There are certain laws of Nature that cannot be broken without dire consequences for your physical, mental, and spiritual health. And you are responsible for not breaking those laws. Remember, you are responsible for you illness, and every patient has his or her own responsibilities.
Learning to pray
Spiritual health makes you always look outside of yourself. Learn to pray. There is, of course, one prerequisite: you must ask. Ask and you shall receive! Whatever blessings, be they small or great, that come your way, come from above. Prayer works by altering your brain chemistry. Like anti-depressant drugs, prayer can help you build up the feeling-good brain chemicals, such as serotonin. Prayer restores your hope, strength, and health to continue your life's journey until you reach your final destination. Prayer is the essence of spiritual health.
Spiritual health is mindfulness of compassion, loving kindness, gratitude, and forgiveness. Without that mindfulness, there is no spirituality.
Return from Spiritual Health to the Home Page.
Copyright©2007 by Stephen Lau
Read other related web pages by Stephen Lau
Healthy Living for Longevity
Healthy living is a healthy longevity lifestyle to create opportunities to develop potential capabilities for happy retirement or a second career to retard aging.
Financial Health
Money and longevity are inter-related. Financial freedom facilitates you to adapt to changes in aging. Financial wisdom enables you to create a passive income, and to use it wisely.
Is Longevity Health
Stephen Lau Spiritual Health Is Longevity Health
How to Become More Spiritual
Enjoy Being You
Make you best life work for you!Laughter Yoga 101Spiritual health is synonymous with longevity. If you want to live longer, get more spiritual! Spirituality may add years to your life. Numerous scientific studies have suggested that different aspects of spirituality contribute to better health, better quality of life, and a longer life.
Spirituality Is Longevity Health
How does spirituality make you live longer?
• It gives your existence a purpose and a meaning.
• It provides you with a sense of fulfillment.
• It renews your life energy by connecting you with the Divine.
• It motivates you with love and compassion for others.
Your whole being is composed of the physical, the mental, and the spiritual. Your body, which is the physical, is controlled by your mind, which is the mental, which is then influenced by your soul, which is the spiritual, which oversees your whole being. The health of any one of these elements affects the health of the others. They are all inter-related.
First, your body has to be well before you can engage in any mental and spiritual matters. Jesus said that both fasting and prayer prepare your mind for your spiritual walk with God. Accordingly, everything begins with the body, then the mind, and finally leading to the soul.
Even Buddha, Mohammed and many other spiritual leaders all shared the need of the physical and the mental for higher spiritual advancement. (To understand more about the role of compassion and loving kindness in your health, go to my website Mindfulness.)
Spiritual health is important to you in that it oversees your whole being. Your physical wellness will not be complete without your spiritual level, which affects your mental level, which in turn influences your physical level; just as your physical is controlled by your mind and your soul. In order to become wholesome and healed on all levels of your being, you need to improve yourself on each of these levels. Complete natural healing is not possible by working on just one level.
How to Make Yourself More Spiritual
Buddha said, “Attachment to the things of this world is the fountainhead of all miseries.”
Simplifying your life
The first step to spiritual health is simplifying your life. It is the prerequisite of spiritual health. Re-organize what in your life has the greatest value.
• Your body, your mind, and your soul have their respective specific needs. Determine what they are.
• Distinguish between wants and needs. Wants are desires, which may or may not be essential, whereas needs are more fundamental and imperative.
• Prioritize them, and you will see your need to be more spiritual for better spiritual health.
• Get any clutter and confusion out of your life: any unnecessary complications may lead to stressful confusion down the road. Years of accumulation have added heaps of junk that may have immobilized you, or distracted you from focusing on more important things, such as health, love, and purpose in life.
Organizing is not good enough: you need to get your clutter out of the way so that you can focus on the priorities in your life.
Clutter Free Forever helps you get rid of the clutter BEFORE you even “get organized” while most “how to get organized” books simply help you organize without helping you get rid of the clutters. Getting rid of clutters can make dramatic difference to the energy of your home - which is good feng shui. Get your life organized with Clutter Free Forever!
Discard them, give them away, or sell them on ebay.
Do not let clutters stress your life - as if you don't have enough stress already! Find out what world religions say about stress from my web page: World Religions on Stress Control.
Re-discovering yourself
Once your have simplified your life, free from material and mundane clutters, you are well on the way to spiritual health, and you will be empowered to:
• Focus on your soul or more spiritual things, such as compassion and loving kindness.
• Get to know more about yourself, especially your needs and values.
• Learn to look within yourself for answers to your life problems: you will become more self-reliant and self-sufficient.
• Find your inner voice: what you love to do, and what touches your heart and your soul.
Your inner self knows the truth when you hear it. Nobody knows you better than yourself, and there is no better physician than yourself, who know what is best for your body. This intuitive wisdom is self-healing.
These simple daily reflections will give you the best anti-aging spiritual health.
Relaxing yourself
Nothing transforms you as much as changing from a mundane to a spiritual attitude towards all your everyday problems. Your Creator has created you to be a steward of your life. Relax yourself. With a healthy body, you can discard your anxieties and fears out of your consciousness, and then concentrate your mind on the spiritual, which may provide answers to some of your daily problems.
Brain Music Power employs a new technology of meditation that literally forces you to relax to reduce stress, anxiety, and panic attacks. Watch every aspect of your life skyrocket with your new found inner peace with this instant meditation.
There are three types of relaxation:
• Passive relaxation: watching TV, going to a movie or a ballgame
• Active relaxation: dancing, exercising, and lovemaking
• Creative relaxation: painting, reading, writing
Learn to meditate everyday. Meditation gives you a heightened sense of well-being, which constitutes spiritual health.
• Find a quiet corner, sit with your back straight, and relax your physical body.
• Gently close your eyes, quiet your mind, and experience the silence from within your body.
• Imagine what you love the most, and inhale.
Exhale as you empty any anxiety from your mind or body.
• Continue to inhale and exhale. Concentrate on your breathing, especially its rhythm as you breathe in peace and exhale stress.
• Continue to let go of your bodily tensions until you feel your whole body become relaxed.
Learn how to relax, meditate, and harness your brain power from Hypnosis, Meditation, and Mind Power, which provides the best information on the Internet regarding hypnosis, meditation, and mind power, including the incredible Qi Gong. It teaches you simple but important rules of the mind, and how to direct your mind in the direction you want to attain personal happiness and success in life. It is an excellent package to utilize your mind power to the fullest and to your best advantage.
For more information on meditation, go to my web page: Meditation Techniques to find out how you can meditate and relax your mind even when you are doing simple daily chores, including eating and driving
Finding your purposeful life
Once you learn to relax and prioritize your goals in life, a vista of the purpose of your life will be unfolded to you. A purposeful life is a way to wholesome wellness: you need to know and understand the meaning of your existence. You live in order to fulfill the purpose for which you were born to do the will of your Creator.
Find out the meaning of your existence through the Zen way. For more information, go to my website: Zen Is The Way.
Of course, you do not really know the purpose of your creation, or the will of God. Nobody really does - at least not consciously with the mind. But you do not need to know: just let yourself be guided step by step, one step at a time, by following your spiritual guidance or simply obeying your highest ideals, such as compassion and loving kindness. That is spirituality for your spiritual health! You will find meaning, hope, comfort, and inner peace in your life through spirituality.
Searching for your belief system
Man is spiritual in that he needs a belief system of some sort to manage or guide his emotions in an effective way. Your emotions determine how you feel about yourself and life in general. Your emotions are not only a result of your social interactions, but also of your yearning for spirituality. Searching for a philosophy of life that makes you happy and healthy is already the beginning of spirituality.
Being spiritual is not the same as being religious, which involves following the creed of a proclaimed religion, though on the higher levels of consciousness; true religion and spirituality ultimately merge.
Living your highest ideals
In spiritual health, you become more aware of living according to your own highest ideals, thereby consciously improving your everyday attitudes and feelings. Every moment in your day-to-day interactions with people provides an opportunity for you to become more spiritual, if you will avail yourself of it. Using Mother Teresa’s example, begin by conveying warmth to someone who least expects it, and that is spirituality.
You nourish your physical body with nutrients to keep it healthy. You feed your mind body with positive thoughts to avoid distorted thinking, which is the cause of depression. You replenish your spiritual body, which is your soul, with spiritual feelings, such as compassion, loving kindness, unconditional love, gratitude, and forgiveness, among others. Your spiritual thinking causes your personality and daily interactions with others to become an expression of your soul: let your daily actions speak you mind.
• In spiritual health, love melts your resistance to change for the better. Without love, you simply continue to perpetuate that which you are resisting. In the absence of love, almost anything else you wish to achieve will end in failure.
• In spiritual health, gratitude plays a central role in your mental and spiritual health. Gratitude will nip jealousy in the bud. You will not be comparing your current state of health with that of others. Gratitude will restrain you from whining. You will not be feeling deficiency or indequacy. Always be grateful for what you have. True gratitude, like genuine love, is unconditional. Gratitude will open the door for you to further improvement and the possibility of receiving greater blessings. Gratitude is a great positive attitude in longevity health. Be grateful of your current health conditions, whatever they may be, as if you were already healed of your ailments.
• In spiritual health, forgiveness is a necessary requirement for your spiritual health and healing. Do yourself a favor: practice forgiveness. Forgive others, and more importantly, forgive yourself. Do not blame yourself or anyone else if something goes wrong in your life. Making mistakes is the best way to learn, and you need to make mistakes in your diet and nutrition, and learn from them; and that is the spiritual path to wholesome wellness for longevity health.
Embracing your responsibility for healing
Healing your body, mind and emotions is in itself part of your own spiritual evolution. Live in total harmony with the biological, emotional, mental and spiritual laws that govern your health and well-being. There are certain laws of Nature that cannot be broken without dire consequences for your physical, mental, and spiritual health. And you are responsible for not breaking those laws. Remember, you are responsible for you illness, and every patient has his or her own responsibilities.
Learning to pray
Spiritual health makes you always look outside of yourself. Learn to pray. There is, of course, one prerequisite: you must ask. Ask and you shall receive! Whatever blessings, be they small or great, that come your way, come from above. Prayer works by altering your brain chemistry. Like anti-depressant drugs, prayer can help you build up the feeling-good brain chemicals, such as serotonin. Prayer restores your hope, strength, and health to continue your life's journey until you reach your final destination. Prayer is the essence of spiritual health.
Spiritual health is mindfulness of compassion, loving kindness, gratitude, and forgiveness. Without that mindfulness, there is no spirituality.
Return from Spiritual Health to the Home Page.
Copyright©2007 by Stephen Lau
Read other related web pages by Stephen Lau
Healthy Living for Longevity
Healthy living is a healthy longevity lifestyle to create opportunities to develop potential capabilities for happy retirement or a second career to retard aging.
Financial Health
Money and longevity are inter-related. Financial freedom facilitates you to adapt to changes in aging. Financial wisdom enables you to create a passive income, and to use it wisely.
Power of Positive Thinking Extends, It Seems, to Aging
By Mary Duenwald
NY Times, November 19, 2002
George Ruhe for The New York Times
Dr. Becca Levy said she was surprised to find that a psychological characteristic like happiness could be such a strong predictor of life span.
Do happy people live longer? A growing body of evidence suggests they may. Recent studies have correlated long life with optimism, with positive thinking, and with a lack of hostility, anxiety and depression.
One thing that remains unclear, however, is whether happiness can actually cause longevity. Perhaps happy people live longer because they practice healthy behaviors, or for some other unknown reason.
"It is definitely the case that certain people who are psychologically healthier live longer," said Dr. Howard S. Friedman of the University of California at Riverside, a psychologist who has studied personality traits that correlate with longevity. "But the explanations are usually complicated."
The second open question is: What, if anything, can unhappy people do about it?
The most recent study of personality and longevity was conducted among a group of 660 people over 50 in Oxford, Ohio, who, in 1975, had answered questions having to do with, among other things, their attitudes about aging. They had been asked whether they agreed or disagreed with statements like "Things keep getting worse as I get older," "I have as much pep as I did last year," and "I am as happy now as I was when I was younger."
Researchers checked to see which participants were still alive in 1998, and they noted when the others had died. It turned out that those who viewed aging as a positive experience lived, on average, 7.5 years longer than those who took a darker view.
That is an advantage far greater, the researchers point out, than what can be gained from lowering blood pressure or reducing cholesterol, each of which has been found to lengthen life about four years. It also beats exercise, not smoking and maintaining a healthy weight, strategies that add one to three years.
The researchers who conducted the study have been careful not to suggest that views of aging are more important for one's health than exercise, nutrition and not smoking. "I think they are all important in predicting survival," said Dr. Becca Levy, a social psychologist at Yale. But, Dr. Levy said, it is surprising to find that a psychological characteristic could also be such a strong predictor of life span.
In analyzing the data, Dr. Levy and her colleagues took into account race, sex, socioeconomic status, self-reported health, overall morale and loneliness — all factors that might have clouded the picture. But even after statistically controlling for such characteristics, views of aging were highly correlated with long life.
Optimism was linked to longevity in a study reported two years ago by researchers at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. Dr. Toshihiko Maruta, a psychiatrist, reviewed psychological tests that had been given to more than 800 people in the early 1960's, and based on the people's responses, he classified 197 of them as pessimistic. He then checked to see how long they lived.
Dr. Maruta found that the pessimists had a risk of death for any given year that was 19 percent greater than average.
Other studies have drawn connections between longevity and the degree of control people feel over their lives and between longevity and mindfulness, defined as an awareness of one's environment and one's reactions to it. Some research has shown that people who are relatively more depressed, hostile or anxious are unlikely to live as long as others.
Dr. Carolyn Aldwin, a professor of human and community development at the University of California at Davis, has reviewed many such studies and examined another group of people who took psychological tests in the 1960's. She found that those who seemed to be relatively stable emotionally had lived longer.
"You're better off if you are less likely to go to extremes emotionally," Dr. Aldwin said, "if you keep on an even keel and don't let yourself get too upset."
How do happy, upbeat, calm people keep themselves alive?
Dr. Levy suspected that the answer might be linked to the positive thinkers' will to live. Previous studies showing, for example, that people of all cultures are more likely to die in the days and weeks after holidays than they are in the days leading up to them, had suggested that will to live could affect survival.
So Dr. Levy and her colleagues checked back to see how the respondents had answered other questions in the original survey. In these, they had been asked to choose from three pairs of adjectives — empty-full, hopeless-hopeful and worthless-worthy — the ones that best described their lives. Those who answered full, hopeful and worthy were deemed to have the greater will to live.
"Will to live appeared to be a partial mediator," Dr. Levy said, "but it didn't completely explain why the people with positive views lived longer. So there must be other things involved. One likely candidate is how people respond to stress. Older people with a negative view of aging show higher levels of stress."
Dr. Friedman questioned whether something as simple as will to live could explain the difference in longevity. Longevity, he said, is affected by a variety of health behaviors that people practice throughout life. For many years, Dr. Friedman has observed the health and longevity of a group of subjects who were originally recruited in 1921 for the studies of psychology and intelligence conducted by Dr. Lewis Terman of Stanford. Over the decades, these subjects periodically answered extensive psychological questionnaires.
After examining their profiles, and checking to see how long the subjects lived, Dr. Friedman found one general characteristic of childhood personality to be associated with longevity, and that was what he called "conscientiousness."
"It's basically a kind of prudence and care," Dr. Friedman said. Conscientious people are generally competent, truthful and responsible, and they tend to lead stable, productive lives.
"My own studies suggest that certain people engage in a whole host of healthy or unhealthy behaviors and situations — cooperating with medical treatment, wearing seat belts, avoiding drug abuse, staying active, associating with healthier and more stable people, and more," Dr. Friedman said. "Together, these can have a big impact on mortality risk across time."
Cheerfulness, on the other hand, was not related to longevity among the people Dr. Friedman studied. In fact, this trait was linked to shorter-than-average life span, he found.
"If you are sociable and carefree, you may have lower levels of stress hormones and more friends to assist you, which is healthy," he said, "but you may also wind up with excessive drinking, smoking and partying, which is unhealthy over the long term. So we need to see how the psychology is playing out in terms of one's own particular life path."
Optimism itself may not always be a healthy trait. In old age, pessimism may be more protective, according to a study of older people last year by Dr. Derek M. Isaacowitz, a psychologist now at Brandeis University.
When faced with the death of a friend or family member or some other negative life event, Dr. Isaacowitz said, the older pessimists were less likely than the optimists to suffer from depression. Perhaps, Dr. Isaacowitz concluded, the pessimists at this age were better able to accept life's realities.
"It's important that optimism not be footless and unwarranted," said Dr. Martin E. P. Seligman, a psychologist at the University of Pennsylvania who was a co-author of the study.
Cantankerousness, on the other hand, has been found to be a protective characteristic among the elderly. In a study of residents of homes for the elderly conducted in the 1970's, Dr. Morton A. Lieberman, a psychologist now at the University of California at San Francisco, found that those who were ornery and argumentative with the nursing home staff members lived longer than those who were not.
"I'm not sure it was because they got more attention," Dr. Lieberman said, "because the staff found them so difficult. What caused them to live longer, what the biology is, we don't know."
Most experts agree that the connections between personality and life span are not simple.
"It's bad advice to tell people to cheer up and you'll live longer," Dr. Friedman said. "There's very little evidence to show that's true. We should be beyond the point where we think it's just mind over body."
Many psychologists question whether it is even possible for people to change their personalities and thus improve their survival. "Personality is stable," Dr. Maruta of Mayo Clinic said. "There might be fluctuations now and then, but I'm not sure we can really change."
Dr. Seligman said it might be possible at least to train people to adapt a somewhat more optimistic outlook. Each year, at the University of Pennsylvania, he recruits a group of freshmen to receive "optimism training," intended to help them cope with the stress of adjustment to college life. And has found that the students who receive the training suffer fewer illnesses throughout college than those who do not.
Dr. Seligman's books — including "Learned Optimism" (1991), "What You Can Change . . . and What You Can't" (1993) and most recently, "Authentic Happiness" (2002) — teach that it is possible at least to shift one's way of explaining life events toward the positive.
But he is no more inclined than any other experts to say that people can simply cheer up and live longer. "It is entirely possible that some third variable like your genes both makes you happy and gives you longer life," Dr. Seligman said.
By Mary Duenwald
NY Times, November 19, 2002
George Ruhe for The New York Times
Dr. Becca Levy said she was surprised to find that a psychological characteristic like happiness could be such a strong predictor of life span.
Do happy people live longer? A growing body of evidence suggests they may. Recent studies have correlated long life with optimism, with positive thinking, and with a lack of hostility, anxiety and depression.
One thing that remains unclear, however, is whether happiness can actually cause longevity. Perhaps happy people live longer because they practice healthy behaviors, or for some other unknown reason.
"It is definitely the case that certain people who are psychologically healthier live longer," said Dr. Howard S. Friedman of the University of California at Riverside, a psychologist who has studied personality traits that correlate with longevity. "But the explanations are usually complicated."
The second open question is: What, if anything, can unhappy people do about it?
The most recent study of personality and longevity was conducted among a group of 660 people over 50 in Oxford, Ohio, who, in 1975, had answered questions having to do with, among other things, their attitudes about aging. They had been asked whether they agreed or disagreed with statements like "Things keep getting worse as I get older," "I have as much pep as I did last year," and "I am as happy now as I was when I was younger."
Researchers checked to see which participants were still alive in 1998, and they noted when the others had died. It turned out that those who viewed aging as a positive experience lived, on average, 7.5 years longer than those who took a darker view.
That is an advantage far greater, the researchers point out, than what can be gained from lowering blood pressure or reducing cholesterol, each of which has been found to lengthen life about four years. It also beats exercise, not smoking and maintaining a healthy weight, strategies that add one to three years.
The researchers who conducted the study have been careful not to suggest that views of aging are more important for one's health than exercise, nutrition and not smoking. "I think they are all important in predicting survival," said Dr. Becca Levy, a social psychologist at Yale. But, Dr. Levy said, it is surprising to find that a psychological characteristic could also be such a strong predictor of life span.
In analyzing the data, Dr. Levy and her colleagues took into account race, sex, socioeconomic status, self-reported health, overall morale and loneliness — all factors that might have clouded the picture. But even after statistically controlling for such characteristics, views of aging were highly correlated with long life.
Optimism was linked to longevity in a study reported two years ago by researchers at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. Dr. Toshihiko Maruta, a psychiatrist, reviewed psychological tests that had been given to more than 800 people in the early 1960's, and based on the people's responses, he classified 197 of them as pessimistic. He then checked to see how long they lived.
Dr. Maruta found that the pessimists had a risk of death for any given year that was 19 percent greater than average.
Other studies have drawn connections between longevity and the degree of control people feel over their lives and between longevity and mindfulness, defined as an awareness of one's environment and one's reactions to it. Some research has shown that people who are relatively more depressed, hostile or anxious are unlikely to live as long as others.
Dr. Carolyn Aldwin, a professor of human and community development at the University of California at Davis, has reviewed many such studies and examined another group of people who took psychological tests in the 1960's. She found that those who seemed to be relatively stable emotionally had lived longer.
"You're better off if you are less likely to go to extremes emotionally," Dr. Aldwin said, "if you keep on an even keel and don't let yourself get too upset."
How do happy, upbeat, calm people keep themselves alive?
Dr. Levy suspected that the answer might be linked to the positive thinkers' will to live. Previous studies showing, for example, that people of all cultures are more likely to die in the days and weeks after holidays than they are in the days leading up to them, had suggested that will to live could affect survival.
So Dr. Levy and her colleagues checked back to see how the respondents had answered other questions in the original survey. In these, they had been asked to choose from three pairs of adjectives — empty-full, hopeless-hopeful and worthless-worthy — the ones that best described their lives. Those who answered full, hopeful and worthy were deemed to have the greater will to live.
"Will to live appeared to be a partial mediator," Dr. Levy said, "but it didn't completely explain why the people with positive views lived longer. So there must be other things involved. One likely candidate is how people respond to stress. Older people with a negative view of aging show higher levels of stress."
Dr. Friedman questioned whether something as simple as will to live could explain the difference in longevity. Longevity, he said, is affected by a variety of health behaviors that people practice throughout life. For many years, Dr. Friedman has observed the health and longevity of a group of subjects who were originally recruited in 1921 for the studies of psychology and intelligence conducted by Dr. Lewis Terman of Stanford. Over the decades, these subjects periodically answered extensive psychological questionnaires.
After examining their profiles, and checking to see how long the subjects lived, Dr. Friedman found one general characteristic of childhood personality to be associated with longevity, and that was what he called "conscientiousness."
"It's basically a kind of prudence and care," Dr. Friedman said. Conscientious people are generally competent, truthful and responsible, and they tend to lead stable, productive lives.
"My own studies suggest that certain people engage in a whole host of healthy or unhealthy behaviors and situations — cooperating with medical treatment, wearing seat belts, avoiding drug abuse, staying active, associating with healthier and more stable people, and more," Dr. Friedman said. "Together, these can have a big impact on mortality risk across time."
Cheerfulness, on the other hand, was not related to longevity among the people Dr. Friedman studied. In fact, this trait was linked to shorter-than-average life span, he found.
"If you are sociable and carefree, you may have lower levels of stress hormones and more friends to assist you, which is healthy," he said, "but you may also wind up with excessive drinking, smoking and partying, which is unhealthy over the long term. So we need to see how the psychology is playing out in terms of one's own particular life path."
Optimism itself may not always be a healthy trait. In old age, pessimism may be more protective, according to a study of older people last year by Dr. Derek M. Isaacowitz, a psychologist now at Brandeis University.
When faced with the death of a friend or family member or some other negative life event, Dr. Isaacowitz said, the older pessimists were less likely than the optimists to suffer from depression. Perhaps, Dr. Isaacowitz concluded, the pessimists at this age were better able to accept life's realities.
"It's important that optimism not be footless and unwarranted," said Dr. Martin E. P. Seligman, a psychologist at the University of Pennsylvania who was a co-author of the study.
Cantankerousness, on the other hand, has been found to be a protective characteristic among the elderly. In a study of residents of homes for the elderly conducted in the 1970's, Dr. Morton A. Lieberman, a psychologist now at the University of California at San Francisco, found that those who were ornery and argumentative with the nursing home staff members lived longer than those who were not.
"I'm not sure it was because they got more attention," Dr. Lieberman said, "because the staff found them so difficult. What caused them to live longer, what the biology is, we don't know."
Most experts agree that the connections between personality and life span are not simple.
"It's bad advice to tell people to cheer up and you'll live longer," Dr. Friedman said. "There's very little evidence to show that's true. We should be beyond the point where we think it's just mind over body."
Many psychologists question whether it is even possible for people to change their personalities and thus improve their survival. "Personality is stable," Dr. Maruta of Mayo Clinic said. "There might be fluctuations now and then, but I'm not sure we can really change."
Dr. Seligman said it might be possible at least to train people to adapt a somewhat more optimistic outlook. Each year, at the University of Pennsylvania, he recruits a group of freshmen to receive "optimism training," intended to help them cope with the stress of adjustment to college life. And has found that the students who receive the training suffer fewer illnesses throughout college than those who do not.
Dr. Seligman's books — including "Learned Optimism" (1991), "What You Can Change . . . and What You Can't" (1993) and most recently, "Authentic Happiness" (2002) — teach that it is possible at least to shift one's way of explaining life events toward the positive.
But he is no more inclined than any other experts to say that people can simply cheer up and live longer. "It is entirely possible that some third variable like your genes both makes you happy and gives you longer life," Dr. Seligman said.
Quality Longevity -- Living Longer, Younger, and Healthier
Part 1: Quality Longevity -- Living Longer, Younger, and Healthier
"It is not enough to add years to one's life...one must also add life to those years."
-- John F. Kennedy
You're savoring your ritual cappuccino across the street from your dentist's office when this incredibly handsome young guy sits down two tables over. Your eyes meet his and he smiles seductively -- you practically choke. You could swear you know him from somewhere....He gives you a little wave. Where the heck could you know him from? He's so young. And you've been married a long time. Oh my god, he's coming over! Could this amazing hunk possibly be hitting on you? Ridiculous. No way! Thank God you just had your teeth cleaned. He grins broadly. "Hi! Remember me?!" You're completely at a loss. "I'm Andy! Andy Carter! I was on your son's basketball team in middle school." You freeze with a ridiculous smile on your face and a sudden urge to evaporate into thin air.
Age reminders happen to everyone. It could be as simple as the appearance of a single gray hair, the first time someone calls you "Ma'am," or perhaps walking into a room and forgetting the reason why. None of us can stop time, but we can slow down the effects of aging -- and sometimes even reverse them.
A mere 100 years ago, people were lucky to live beyond age 40. Now, life expectancy has risen to age 74 for men and 80 for women, and recent studies show that the average 65-year-old American can expect to live another 17 years. Modern medical science is striving to keep us alive well into our 90s and beyond, and most people say they want to live as long as possible. But who wants to live to be 100 without their health, vitality, and faculties intact? That's where the Eight Essentials of "The Longevity Bible" come in -- showing us how to keep it all together -- our brains, our bodies, and our attitudes.
The Eight Essentials
Traditionally, magazine and television advertisers have focused their marketing strategies on youthful looks and attitudes to attract consumers to their products. Recently, however, there has been a shift in tactics. Today, Madison Avenue's emphasis is not so much on youthful demographics but on "psychographics" -- marketing focused toward the age group in which consumers actually perceive themselves to be. Try asking baby boomers how old they consider themselves, not in actual calendar years, but mentally and physically. Many will confess they still have the attitude of a 25-year-old and feel nowhere near their chronological age.
Most of us protest against the idea of aging in the way our parents did and vow to fight against the process as long as possible. We are looking for a safe, convenient, medically sound way to live longer, empower ourselves, and remain healthy and fulfilled throughout that long life -- what I refer to as "quality longevity."
Empowering ourselves for the future requires learning new skills, as well as honing the ones we already have. In my last book, "The Memory Prescription," I showed how we could jump-start our brain and body fitness by focusing on four of the basic essentials: achieving mental sharpness, physical fitness, a healthy diet, and stress reduction. Now, in "The Longevity Bible," I outline my entire program -- all Eight Essentials -- to allow every one of us to achieve our own maximum, quality longevity in every area of our lives.
These essential strategies include keys to keeping a positive outlook, cultivating healthy relationships, getting the most out of modern medicine, and adapting and flourishing in a changing environment.
We'll look at the science behind the Eight Essentials, and at simple and practical ways for integrating them into our daily life. When practiced together, these Eight Essentials create a synergy that achieves positive results faster and far more effectively than could be achieved by doing them individually.
Fix Your Brain First: The Rest Will Follow
We begin our longevity solution by sharpening our minds (Essential 1) and maximizing our brain fitness. Fix your brain for longevity, and your body will follow in kind. By keeping our minds sharp, we are more inclined to stay physically fit, enhance our relationships, maintain a longevity diet, and follow the other healthy lifestyle strategies outlined in this book.
In fact, all the Essentials contribute to keeping our brains young, fit, and cognitively strong throughout all stages of life. Simply doing mental aerobics can significantly improve memory skills and, when combined with the other Essentials, may extend life expectancy.
A recent study found that mentally stimulating leisure activities such as reading, doing crossword puzzles, or playing board games lowers the risk for Alzheimer's disease by nearly a third.
Scientific evidence shows that keeping a positive outlook (Essential 2) helps us stay healthy and live longer. In a recent study, positive and satisfied middle-aged people were twice as likely to survive over a period of 20 years, as compared to more negative individuals.
Optimists have fewer physical and emotional difficulties, experience less pain, enjoy higher energy levels, and are generally happier and calmer. Positive thinking has been found to boost the body's immune system so we can better fight infection.
When we feel good, it boosts our self-confidence, which helps us have better relationships (Essential 3). The MacArthur Study of Successful Aging found that people who are socially connected may survive up to 20 percent longer than those who live more isolated lives.
Today, we have many tools to help us connect with others, shore up self-doubt, and make ourselves feel and look younger and more beautiful, both through medical and nonmedical techniques. Despite the myth that libido declines with age, several scientific studies have found that our desire and need for sex continues throughout our lives.
A healthy sex life at every age helps lower blood pressure, reduce stress, ward off depression, boost the immune system, diminish pain, maintain physical fitness, and even extend life expectancy.
Stress is among the leading causes of age-related disease (Essential 4). It contributes to physical pain, as well as to the appearance of wrinkles and premature aging. Few people realize that our ability to adapt to our ever-changing environments can greatly contribute to lowering our stress levels.
Whether it's traffic, smoke, clutter, noise, mold, smog, or information overload, our quality longevity depends upon our ability to adjust to these environmental influences (Essential 5). Personalizing our immediate surroundings, at home and at work, is an important environmental element that is within our control.
It is much easier to maintain a positive attitude when we enjoy good health, and the best way to ensure that is by eating a healthy diet and staying physically fit. With so many fitness options available, there is bound to be something that appeals to just about everybody.
Along with the basics of tennis, jogging, cycling, swimming, and yoga, many people are getting fit with Pilates, weight training, Bosu ball, spinning, salsa dancing, ballet, trail running, and more.
Essential 6 will introduce the Longevity Fitness Routine, which covers cardiovascular conditioning, balance and flexibility work, and strength training -- the three vital fitness areas for maximizing health, boosting energy levels, and preventing many age-related diseases.
Recent research has found that regular physical activity can add two or more years to an individual's life expectancy.
Reducing the clutter in our lives is a powerful way to lower stress levels. Just as it feels good to occasionally clean out your closet and get rid of the clutter there, it can sometimes become necessary to reduce relationship clutter -- clean your emotional house -- and conserve your energy for the people you love or care about.
At times, relationships may become more damaging than they are enriching -- old friendships that were once meaningful can become simply old habits that may have negative effects but are hard to break.
A healthy diet can have a major impact on life expectancy by lowering our risk for heart disease, cancer, and other age-related illnesses.
Longitudinal studies have found that a diet that emphasizes the right food choices and helps people stay at their target body weight can increase survival rates by 50 percent or more.
We'll learn about the Longevity Diet (Essential 7), a healthy diet plan that allows you to eat all of your favorite foods -- even naughty desserts.
It incorporates the best scientific data on healthful eating for longevity and weight control, combined with some of the most satisfying and delicious foods available.
Just as fitness experts now tell us that for long-range health, it's best to cross-train our bodies by emphasizing aerobics one day, weight training the next, and perhaps yoga the day after that, the Longevity Diet shows us how to cross-train our eating, allowing us to break free of the boredom and repetition of today's popular low-carbohydrate, South Florida, salmon-every-meal diets. We can enjoy a barbecued steak and a Caesar salad one day and a delicious pasta dinner with whole-grain crusty bread the next.
The Longevity Diet allows our bodies to break free of today's fashionable diets and learn to process all good foods in realistic portions, while feeling sated, satisfied, and anything but deprived.
We will look at the latest in medicines and treatments designed to keep us young (Essential 8). From smart drugs to Botox to microscopic lasers, we'll learn about the options available to keep us looking and feeling youthful throughout our lives.
Even simply taking drugs to lower blood pressure has been shown to increase life expectancy by at least two or more years, and scientists have found that cholesterol-lowering statin drugs can increase survival rates of heart patients by more than 50 percent.
Many baby boomers may recall the 1960s Harvard professor who traveled to India and became the guru known as Ram Dass. His "Be here now" message became the mantra for staying in the moment, neither worrying about the past nor stressing over the future. His message echoes that of many other teachers, ranging from Martin Buber to Lao-Tzu.
We don't have to become spiritual gurus to live a long, healthy life, but attempting to stay in the moment helps us achieve quality longevity.
Mindfulness or mindful awareness -- the subtle process of moment-to-moment awareness of one's thoughts, feelings, and physical states -- is key to sharpening memory and staying mentally fit.
Initial research suggests that this ability not only reduces stress and anxiety, but also boosts the immune system and promotes health and healing for a variety of medical illnesses and conditions, including heart disease, diabetes, arthritis, and chronic pain.
This underlying principle of mindful awareness can be applied to nearly all of the Eight Essential Strategies.
Having an awareness of our bodies and what is going on around us helps us maintain balance and avoid danger.
Awareness of our internal sensations reminds us to stop eating when we are sated -- a key to maintaining our target body weight.
By integrating mindful awareness into our daily lives, we not only enjoy ourselves more and live longer, we take better care of ourselves, have a more positive outlook, and feel more empathy toward others.
Mindfulness often fosters a sense of spirituality, and several studies have found that people who pursue some form of spirituality live longer.
Recently, investigators found that visiting a house of worship just once a week can extend life expectancy by nearly a decade.
Studies of patients with chronic physical illnesses have found that those who believed in God had a 30 percent lower mortality rate as compared with those who felt abandoned by God.
The increased longevity benefits of spirituality result from many of its forms, including religion, meditation, a personal belief in a higher power, and more.
Many of the benefits of the Eight Essentials can be achieved in a remarkably short period -- as little as 14 days. My research team at UCLA conducted controlled studies to test how well volunteer subjects could improve their brain and body fitness by focusing on just four of the essential strategies: mental aerobics, physical fitness, stress management, and a healthy diet.
We found that after just two weeks, the volunteers who followed the healthy longevity lifestyle program (as opposed to the control group who merely continued their usual behavior) experienced improved memory performance and brain efficiency. They also reported greater levels of relaxation and lower levels of stress. We observed significant physical health benefits as well. Many volunteers on the program lost weight and experienced a significant decline in blood pressure and cholesterol levels.
Shirley's experience was similar to that of many other subjects in the study for whom these essential longevity strategies improved memory and reduced stress, as well as lowered blood pressure and cholesterol levels. Scientific evidence indicates that adopting these lifestyle strategies not only lowers the risk for Alzheimer's disease, but actually increases life expectancy -- making us live longer -- while adding to the quality of those years.
Quality Longevity for the Long Haul
Large-scale, longitudinal aging studies, including the MacArthur Study of Successful Aging, the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging, the Leisure World Cohort Study, and many others, have yielded scientific findings that add to the foundation of "The Longevity Bible." The MacArthur Study found that staying connected through social relationships as we get older is linked to longer and better living. A healthy emotional life -- founded on intimacy and strong relationships -- is associated with a more positive mental state as well as improved physical health and function. Another key finding is that it's almost never too late (or too early) to make healthy lifestyle choices and instigate changes to achieve quality longevity.
Whether we are approaching our 40s, 50s, 60s, or more, we all face the challenges and rewards of aging. Studies on successful aging have shown that only one third of what predicts how well we age is controlled by genetics. Approximately two-thirds is based on our personal lifestyle choices and, therefore, under our own control.
As we learn about the Eight Essentials, we will see how our psychologist, Shirley, and several others tackle the bumps and hurdles that so many of us face as we get older. We will learn how to apply the Eight Essentials, quickly and easily, and begin living a quality longevity lifestyle. If it's true that we're only as young as we feel, then it's time to start feeling, looking, and acting younger today.
Resource
Excerpted from "The Longevity Bible" by Dr. Gary Small. Copyright 2006 Gary Small, M.D. All rights reserved. Available wherever books are sold.
Read more at Wholeliving.com: Book Excerpt from "The Longevity Bible" by Gary Small, M.D.
"It is not enough to add years to one's life...one must also add life to those years."
-- John F. Kennedy
You're savoring your ritual cappuccino across the street from your dentist's office when this incredibly handsome young guy sits down two tables over. Your eyes meet his and he smiles seductively -- you practically choke. You could swear you know him from somewhere....He gives you a little wave. Where the heck could you know him from? He's so young. And you've been married a long time. Oh my god, he's coming over! Could this amazing hunk possibly be hitting on you? Ridiculous. No way! Thank God you just had your teeth cleaned. He grins broadly. "Hi! Remember me?!" You're completely at a loss. "I'm Andy! Andy Carter! I was on your son's basketball team in middle school." You freeze with a ridiculous smile on your face and a sudden urge to evaporate into thin air.
Age reminders happen to everyone. It could be as simple as the appearance of a single gray hair, the first time someone calls you "Ma'am," or perhaps walking into a room and forgetting the reason why. None of us can stop time, but we can slow down the effects of aging -- and sometimes even reverse them.
A mere 100 years ago, people were lucky to live beyond age 40. Now, life expectancy has risen to age 74 for men and 80 for women, and recent studies show that the average 65-year-old American can expect to live another 17 years. Modern medical science is striving to keep us alive well into our 90s and beyond, and most people say they want to live as long as possible. But who wants to live to be 100 without their health, vitality, and faculties intact? That's where the Eight Essentials of "The Longevity Bible" come in -- showing us how to keep it all together -- our brains, our bodies, and our attitudes.
The Eight Essentials
Traditionally, magazine and television advertisers have focused their marketing strategies on youthful looks and attitudes to attract consumers to their products. Recently, however, there has been a shift in tactics. Today, Madison Avenue's emphasis is not so much on youthful demographics but on "psychographics" -- marketing focused toward the age group in which consumers actually perceive themselves to be. Try asking baby boomers how old they consider themselves, not in actual calendar years, but mentally and physically. Many will confess they still have the attitude of a 25-year-old and feel nowhere near their chronological age.
Most of us protest against the idea of aging in the way our parents did and vow to fight against the process as long as possible. We are looking for a safe, convenient, medically sound way to live longer, empower ourselves, and remain healthy and fulfilled throughout that long life -- what I refer to as "quality longevity."
Empowering ourselves for the future requires learning new skills, as well as honing the ones we already have. In my last book, "The Memory Prescription," I showed how we could jump-start our brain and body fitness by focusing on four of the basic essentials: achieving mental sharpness, physical fitness, a healthy diet, and stress reduction. Now, in "The Longevity Bible," I outline my entire program -- all Eight Essentials -- to allow every one of us to achieve our own maximum, quality longevity in every area of our lives.
These essential strategies include keys to keeping a positive outlook, cultivating healthy relationships, getting the most out of modern medicine, and adapting and flourishing in a changing environment.
We'll look at the science behind the Eight Essentials, and at simple and practical ways for integrating them into our daily life. When practiced together, these Eight Essentials create a synergy that achieves positive results faster and far more effectively than could be achieved by doing them individually.
Fix Your Brain First: The Rest Will Follow
We begin our longevity solution by sharpening our minds (Essential 1) and maximizing our brain fitness. Fix your brain for longevity, and your body will follow in kind. By keeping our minds sharp, we are more inclined to stay physically fit, enhance our relationships, maintain a longevity diet, and follow the other healthy lifestyle strategies outlined in this book.
In fact, all the Essentials contribute to keeping our brains young, fit, and cognitively strong throughout all stages of life. Simply doing mental aerobics can significantly improve memory skills and, when combined with the other Essentials, may extend life expectancy.
A recent study found that mentally stimulating leisure activities such as reading, doing crossword puzzles, or playing board games lowers the risk for Alzheimer's disease by nearly a third.
Scientific evidence shows that keeping a positive outlook (Essential 2) helps us stay healthy and live longer. In a recent study, positive and satisfied middle-aged people were twice as likely to survive over a period of 20 years, as compared to more negative individuals.
Optimists have fewer physical and emotional difficulties, experience less pain, enjoy higher energy levels, and are generally happier and calmer. Positive thinking has been found to boost the body's immune system so we can better fight infection.
When we feel good, it boosts our self-confidence, which helps us have better relationships (Essential 3). The MacArthur Study of Successful Aging found that people who are socially connected may survive up to 20 percent longer than those who live more isolated lives.
Today, we have many tools to help us connect with others, shore up self-doubt, and make ourselves feel and look younger and more beautiful, both through medical and nonmedical techniques. Despite the myth that libido declines with age, several scientific studies have found that our desire and need for sex continues throughout our lives.
A healthy sex life at every age helps lower blood pressure, reduce stress, ward off depression, boost the immune system, diminish pain, maintain physical fitness, and even extend life expectancy.
Stress is among the leading causes of age-related disease (Essential 4). It contributes to physical pain, as well as to the appearance of wrinkles and premature aging. Few people realize that our ability to adapt to our ever-changing environments can greatly contribute to lowering our stress levels.
Whether it's traffic, smoke, clutter, noise, mold, smog, or information overload, our quality longevity depends upon our ability to adjust to these environmental influences (Essential 5). Personalizing our immediate surroundings, at home and at work, is an important environmental element that is within our control.
It is much easier to maintain a positive attitude when we enjoy good health, and the best way to ensure that is by eating a healthy diet and staying physically fit. With so many fitness options available, there is bound to be something that appeals to just about everybody.
Along with the basics of tennis, jogging, cycling, swimming, and yoga, many people are getting fit with Pilates, weight training, Bosu ball, spinning, salsa dancing, ballet, trail running, and more.
Essential 6 will introduce the Longevity Fitness Routine, which covers cardiovascular conditioning, balance and flexibility work, and strength training -- the three vital fitness areas for maximizing health, boosting energy levels, and preventing many age-related diseases.
Recent research has found that regular physical activity can add two or more years to an individual's life expectancy.
Reducing the clutter in our lives is a powerful way to lower stress levels. Just as it feels good to occasionally clean out your closet and get rid of the clutter there, it can sometimes become necessary to reduce relationship clutter -- clean your emotional house -- and conserve your energy for the people you love or care about.
At times, relationships may become more damaging than they are enriching -- old friendships that were once meaningful can become simply old habits that may have negative effects but are hard to break.
A healthy diet can have a major impact on life expectancy by lowering our risk for heart disease, cancer, and other age-related illnesses.
Longitudinal studies have found that a diet that emphasizes the right food choices and helps people stay at their target body weight can increase survival rates by 50 percent or more.
We'll learn about the Longevity Diet (Essential 7), a healthy diet plan that allows you to eat all of your favorite foods -- even naughty desserts.
It incorporates the best scientific data on healthful eating for longevity and weight control, combined with some of the most satisfying and delicious foods available.
Just as fitness experts now tell us that for long-range health, it's best to cross-train our bodies by emphasizing aerobics one day, weight training the next, and perhaps yoga the day after that, the Longevity Diet shows us how to cross-train our eating, allowing us to break free of the boredom and repetition of today's popular low-carbohydrate, South Florida, salmon-every-meal diets. We can enjoy a barbecued steak and a Caesar salad one day and a delicious pasta dinner with whole-grain crusty bread the next.
The Longevity Diet allows our bodies to break free of today's fashionable diets and learn to process all good foods in realistic portions, while feeling sated, satisfied, and anything but deprived.
We will look at the latest in medicines and treatments designed to keep us young (Essential 8). From smart drugs to Botox to microscopic lasers, we'll learn about the options available to keep us looking and feeling youthful throughout our lives.
Even simply taking drugs to lower blood pressure has been shown to increase life expectancy by at least two or more years, and scientists have found that cholesterol-lowering statin drugs can increase survival rates of heart patients by more than 50 percent.
Many baby boomers may recall the 1960s Harvard professor who traveled to India and became the guru known as Ram Dass. His "Be here now" message became the mantra for staying in the moment, neither worrying about the past nor stressing over the future. His message echoes that of many other teachers, ranging from Martin Buber to Lao-Tzu.
We don't have to become spiritual gurus to live a long, healthy life, but attempting to stay in the moment helps us achieve quality longevity.
Mindfulness or mindful awareness -- the subtle process of moment-to-moment awareness of one's thoughts, feelings, and physical states -- is key to sharpening memory and staying mentally fit.
Initial research suggests that this ability not only reduces stress and anxiety, but also boosts the immune system and promotes health and healing for a variety of medical illnesses and conditions, including heart disease, diabetes, arthritis, and chronic pain.
This underlying principle of mindful awareness can be applied to nearly all of the Eight Essential Strategies.
Having an awareness of our bodies and what is going on around us helps us maintain balance and avoid danger.
Awareness of our internal sensations reminds us to stop eating when we are sated -- a key to maintaining our target body weight.
By integrating mindful awareness into our daily lives, we not only enjoy ourselves more and live longer, we take better care of ourselves, have a more positive outlook, and feel more empathy toward others.
Mindfulness often fosters a sense of spirituality, and several studies have found that people who pursue some form of spirituality live longer.
Recently, investigators found that visiting a house of worship just once a week can extend life expectancy by nearly a decade.
Studies of patients with chronic physical illnesses have found that those who believed in God had a 30 percent lower mortality rate as compared with those who felt abandoned by God.
The increased longevity benefits of spirituality result from many of its forms, including religion, meditation, a personal belief in a higher power, and more.
Many of the benefits of the Eight Essentials can be achieved in a remarkably short period -- as little as 14 days. My research team at UCLA conducted controlled studies to test how well volunteer subjects could improve their brain and body fitness by focusing on just four of the essential strategies: mental aerobics, physical fitness, stress management, and a healthy diet.
We found that after just two weeks, the volunteers who followed the healthy longevity lifestyle program (as opposed to the control group who merely continued their usual behavior) experienced improved memory performance and brain efficiency. They also reported greater levels of relaxation and lower levels of stress. We observed significant physical health benefits as well. Many volunteers on the program lost weight and experienced a significant decline in blood pressure and cholesterol levels.
Shirley's experience was similar to that of many other subjects in the study for whom these essential longevity strategies improved memory and reduced stress, as well as lowered blood pressure and cholesterol levels. Scientific evidence indicates that adopting these lifestyle strategies not only lowers the risk for Alzheimer's disease, but actually increases life expectancy -- making us live longer -- while adding to the quality of those years.
Quality Longevity for the Long Haul
Large-scale, longitudinal aging studies, including the MacArthur Study of Successful Aging, the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging, the Leisure World Cohort Study, and many others, have yielded scientific findings that add to the foundation of "The Longevity Bible." The MacArthur Study found that staying connected through social relationships as we get older is linked to longer and better living. A healthy emotional life -- founded on intimacy and strong relationships -- is associated with a more positive mental state as well as improved physical health and function. Another key finding is that it's almost never too late (or too early) to make healthy lifestyle choices and instigate changes to achieve quality longevity.
Whether we are approaching our 40s, 50s, 60s, or more, we all face the challenges and rewards of aging. Studies on successful aging have shown that only one third of what predicts how well we age is controlled by genetics. Approximately two-thirds is based on our personal lifestyle choices and, therefore, under our own control.
As we learn about the Eight Essentials, we will see how our psychologist, Shirley, and several others tackle the bumps and hurdles that so many of us face as we get older. We will learn how to apply the Eight Essentials, quickly and easily, and begin living a quality longevity lifestyle. If it's true that we're only as young as we feel, then it's time to start feeling, looking, and acting younger today.
Resource
Excerpted from "The Longevity Bible" by Dr. Gary Small. Copyright 2006 Gary Small, M.D. All rights reserved. Available wherever books are sold.
Read more at Wholeliving.com: Book Excerpt from "The Longevity Bible" by Gary Small, M.D.
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