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Pamir Kiciman shared this post on Twitter. (April 12, 2011 10:33 AM) |
Mindful Spiritual Healing
The ebb and flow of life is not unlike the sea. Sure, sometimes it’s calm and serene, but at other times the waves can be so big that they threaten to overwhelm us. These fluctuations are an inevitable part of life. But when you forget this simple fact, it’s easy to get swept away by strong waves of difficult emotions.
As children, we see so much in the world that seems to be magical. Then in adolescence and early adulthood, we have to make our way in the world and to obtain a degree of mastery in whatever our chosen profession or way of life may be. After that comes the search for meaning, which usually doesn’t show up until midlife, when we begin to question some of the things we’ve been doing and begin to wonder what it all means. And then, I think later life gives way to the mystery. We realize that no matter how much meaning we find in our lives and how much we’ve been able to accomplish or achieve, they’re all part of a great mystery. In my experience, the mystery shows up at the moment of birth and at the moment of death. When we can integrate all those different aspects—magic, mastery, meaning, and mystery—then we can say, yes, we’ve been able to look at life from different perspectives, and we can be grateful for the consciousness that we’ve been given. It’s not about being intellectually accomplished but more about integrating the heart, the mind, the body, and the soul. 
Imagine trying to strike some work life balance in the middle of Times Square. One might not work in the center of the city, but we all certainly work in the middle of our own workplace universe with all the challenges and interruptions that go along with it. 
As we expect more from technology, do we expect less from each other? Sherry Turkle studies how our devices and online personas are redefining human connection and communication -- and asks us to think deeply about the new kinds of connection we want to have.
Drawn by the illusion of companionship without the demands of intimacy, we confuse postings and online sharing with authentic communication. We are drawn to sacrifice conversation for mere connection. 
Ditch those pesky extra pounds by understanding the emotions behind your food cravings. What if the key to weight loss had nothing to do with food? What if it actually had more to do with your emotions?
According to several research studies, it often does. And that’s good news because once you learn how to identify and work with your emotions — good and bad ones — you can beat the battle of an expanding waistline.
The tendency for emotional eating can happen on a biological level, like when your body experiences stress. And while it’s true that food can produce a comforting response when emotions are running high, the problem is that most of us have not been taught healthier alternatives to soothe ourselves.
When very strong emotions -- like fear, anger, or jealousy -- come up, it's very hard to resist giving up and giving into them.
As you go through a day, a week, even a month, how often do you find yourselves confusing what is real and true?
What happens if you allow yourself the simple kindness of acknowledging that what you feel is real, but that the situation may allow for a bit more of a friendly chat? 
A look at hands-on Reiki, especially hands-on-self, from the viewpoint of it being a form (kata in Japanese) of mindful touch, a type of present and awake touch. Some of the insights can be extrapolated to giving Reiki to others, but this is mainly about self-treatments.
The basic premise is quite simple: It’s about not making demands on experiences coming from spiritual and healing practices to be a certain way, to be this or that, to reveal the secrets of the universe, or have major metaphysical ‘fireworks’ occur. It’s about releasing all expectations every single time, and for the duration of self-treatments.
It’s about the very real value of WHAT IS. 
How America learned to stop worrying about worrying and pop its pills instead.
Xanax has eclipsed Prozac as the emblem of the national mood. Jon Stewart has praised the “smooth, calm, pristine, mellow, sleepy feeling” of Xanax, and Bill Maher has wondered whether the president himself is a user. “He’s eloquent and unflappable. He’s so cool and calm.” U2 and Lil Wayne have written songs about Xanax, and in her 2010 book Dirty Sexy Politics, John McCain’s daughter Meghan copped to dosing herself and passing out the day before the 2008 election “still in my clothes and makeup.” When news outlets began reporting that a cocktail of alcohol, Valium, and Xanax might have caused Whitney Houston’s death, it felt oddly inevitable. Coke binges are for fizzier eras; now people overdo it trying to calm down. 
Meditation can change your life and your very sense of who you are. There is a reason it has been around for thousands of years and practiced by people from all walks of life and on all parts of the globe. 
The desire to realize our humaneness fully is the basis of the spiritual traditions. It is precisely in the great spiritual traditions that we find all kinds of psychological insights into our humaneness and disciplines through which it can be cultivated.
In fact, the spiritual traditions contain a psychology in their own right, a contemplative psychology very different from our conventional Western psychology. This psychology has as its main objective to discover the dynamics that make our humaneness flourish or wilt. For that purpose, it looks at our human mind and designs ways to cultivate it. 
Conventional wisdom says that weight gain or loss is based on the energy balance model of "calories in, calories out," which is often reduced to the simple refrain, "eat less, and exercise more." But new research reveals a far more complex equation that appears to rest on several other important factors affecting weight gain. Researchers in a relatively new field are looking at the role of industrial chemicals and non-caloric aspects of foods -- called obesogens -- in weight gain. Scientists conducting this research believe that these substances that are now prevalent in our food supply may be altering the way our bodies store fat and regulate our metabolism. 
When I think about the effect of animal products on human health, I'm reminded of how quickly we've done a national about face on tobacco, and I look forward to the day when we have a similar apology from someone who promoted animal products.
The West's three biggest killers -- heart disease, cancer, and stroke -- are linked to excessive animal product consumption, and vegetarians have much lower risks of all three. Vegetarians also have a fraction of the obesity and diabetes rates of the general population -- of course, both diseases are at epidemic levels and are only getting worse. 
The Japanese term Shinrin-yoku may literally mean "forest bathing," but it doesn't involve soaking in a tub among the trees. Rather it refers to spending time in the woods for its therapeutic (or bathing) effect. When you spend a few hours on a woodland hike or camping by a lake you breathe in phytoncides, active substances released by plants to protect them against insects and from rotting, which appear to lower blood pressure and stress and boost your immune system. |
In the 200,000-year history of anatomically modern humans, the cerebral hemispheres have a long history of productive co-evolution. The inclusive and empathic right hemisphere is attuned to the social and emotional sounds of speech, to music, all the subtleties of relationship and holistic processing. The great skills of the left hemisphere are linguistic consciousness (the re-presentation of life in words), mathematics and motor control of the dominant hand (hence, the making of complex tools).
When you teach people to use awareness to intentionally focus attention, you not only change the function of the brain, you change its structure. That is the phenomenon of neuroplasticity. In other words, when we meditate, the brain is re-wiring itself.
Neurological integration in the brain is the linkage of differentiated parts, and this affects the functional relationship between the left and right hemispheres. Social relationships that honor differences while promoting linkages also cause the brain to become more integrated, and that looks a lot like harmony. The un-integrated state is characterized by chaos and rigidity.
Enron, Worldcom, Bernie Madoff — the past decade has brought us a long parade of headlines involving unethical behavior. And in the face of these scandals, psychologists and economists have been slowly reworking how they think about the cause of unethical behavior. In general, when we think about bad behavior, we think about it being tied to character: Bad people do bad things. But that model, researchers say, is profoundly inadequate. 
Walking is effective in helping to decrease depressive symptoms, according to a new review of studies. And 6 other benefits... 
French monk (and former scientist in cell genetics) Matthieu Ricard speaks about science, meditation, and his title as 'the happiest man in the world.'
"By activating some areas of the brain, you could possibly generate a sensation of intense pleasure for a while, but that’s not going to last forever. That’s definitely not happiness. It is just a temporary gimmick. Genuine happiness is a state related to wisdom, to being attuned to reality, and to freedom from mental toxins (hatred, craving, and the like). Pleasure by itself has no reason to engender freedom from ignorance, dualistic clinging, and distortion of reality (true causes of suffering). There is nothing wrong with pleasure in itself, but it does not have much to do with happiness." 
Recent brain imaging studies reveal that sections of our brains are highly active during down time. This has led scientists to imply that moments of not-doing are critical for connecting and synthesizing new information, ideas and experiences.
From 1980 to 2008 -- our consumption of information increased 350 percent, while our downtime continues to shrink. Our colossal consuming habits are not only crowding out essential neurological downtime, but they're creating a chemical addiction that has interest in little else.
The practice of mindfulness is a time-tested antidote to operating in autopilot.
For thousands of years, human beings have looked down on their emotions. We've seen them as primitive passions, the unfortunate legacy of our animal past.
While there is an extensive literature on the potential wisdom of human emotion – David Hume was a prescient guy – it’s only in the last few years that researchers have demonstrated that the emotional system (aka Type 1 thinking) might excel at complex decisions, or those involving lots of variables. If true, this would suggest that the unconscious is better suited for difficult cognitive tasks than the conscious brain, that the very thought process we’ve long disregarded as irrational and impulsive might actually be more intelligent, at least in some conditions. 
In Emotional Equations, Chip Conley creates a simple formulas like anxiety = uncertainty x powerlessness, which, when used systematically, he says, can give individuals and organizations a concrete method for addressing the human needs that drive them. 
A RELATIVELY new field, called interpersonal neurobiology, draws its vigor from one of the great discoveries of our era: that the brain is constantly rewiring itself based on daily life. In the end, what we pay the most attention to defines us. How you choose to spend the irreplaceable hours of your life literally transforms you.
All relationships change the brain — but most important are the intimate bonds that foster or fail us, altering the delicate circuits that shape memories, emotions and that ultimate souvenir, the self. 
Emotions lie at the heart of how you respond to crises. They are the starting point for all of the reactions that we have toward a crisis. They are also the first obstacle to establishing a positive response to a crisis. That is why it is essential to understand the role that emotions play in how we react, with the goal being to gain control of and use our emotions in constructive ways when confronted by crises.
Whether you view crises as a threat or a challenge sets into motion a diametrically opposed cascade of emotions, thoughts, and behavior that result in either a constructive or harmful response to crises. 
Eating red meat — any amount and any type — appears to significantly increase the risk of premature death, according to a long-range study that examined the eating habits and health of more than 110,000 adults for more than 20 years.
For instance, adding just one 3-ounce serving of unprocessed red meat — picture a piece of steak no bigger than a deck of cards — to one's daily diet was associated with a 13% greater chance of dying during the course of the study.
Even worse, adding an extra daily serving of processed red meat, such as a hot dog or two slices of bacon, was linked to a 20% higher risk of death during the study. 
Anyone who is highly sensitive must often wonder, Why am I the way I am? Is it nature, nurture, or both? A number of recent scientific findings and popular theories indicate that the answer is undeniably both.
Medical science is making huge strides in discerning how closely connected nature and nurture are in shaping individual personality. Likewise, there is more evidence than ever before that mind and body are not separate but more appropriately viewed as two sides of the same coin. Emotion seems to underlie all of this—since, clearly, feelings go on inside of us but are inevitably linked to what goes on outside too (what people say to us, how well or poorly we’re treated, what shifts or changes we’re subjected to).
Dogs, cats birds, fish and even horses are increasingly being used in settings ranging from hospitals and nursing homes to schools, jails and mental institutions. |
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