How many times do I need to relearn this fact of life? Last night I tried to correct a troublesome Excel spreadsheet until I gave-up in frustration. This morning, I fixed it in five minutes.
Sleep that knits up the ravell’d sleave of care,
The death of each day’s life, sore labour’s bath,
Balm of hurt minds, great nature’s second course,
Chief nourisher in life’s feast.–Macbeth (2.2.46-51)
The point at which what we are given is difficult beyond endurance is a point that pierces and refines the soul. And (though this may be hard to believe) it is possible to be so fluid and centered, so filled with trust in the intelligence of the universe, that even the horror can pass through us and eventually be transformed into light.
—Stephen Mitchell
Genesis: A New Translation of the Classic Bible Stories
Quoted in Psychology Today, December 1, 1996
A quick and novel technique for integrating difficult moods and experiences is here Resistance is Futile on this blog.
See free, easy Meditation Instructions on this blog.
Would you like to more than triple the chances that your employees will volunteer to help a colleague or a customer? In just two months. For free.
Easy. Encourage your staff to meditate for 20 minutes per day. That is the conclusion from a recent study.
The results were striking. Although only 16 percent of the nonmeditators gave up their seats — an admittedly disheartening fact — the proportion rose to 50 percent among those who had meditated. This increase is impressive not solely because it occurred after only eight weeks of meditation, but also because it did so within the context of a situation known to inhibit considerate behavior: witnessing others ignoring a person in distress — what psychologists call the bystander effect — reduces the odds that any single individual will help.
From Grey Matter: The Morality of Meditation
by David DeSteno, Ph. D. in The New York Times
describing research
by Paul Condon, Ph. D., Northeastern University
published in Psychological Science
See free, easy Meditation Instructions on this blog.
Because it is possible to create [one’s self,] one has anxiety. One would have no anxiety if there were no possibility whatever.
Now creating, actualizing one’s possibilities, always involves negative as well as positive aspects. It always involves destroying the status quo, destroying old patterns within oneself, progressively destroying what one has clung to from childhood on, and creating new and original forms and ways of living. If one does not do this, one is refusing to grow, refusing to avail himself of his possibilities; one is shirking his responsibility to himself. Hence refusal to actualize one’s possibilities brings guilt toward one’s self.
–Rollo May in The Meaning of Anxiety
via Kierkegaard on Anxiety and Creativity | Brain Pickings.
Many of my clients have noticed that among the many thoughts intruding upon their meditation are some that appear to be genuinely useful ideas and plans. My suggestion is to treat these like any other ideas that arise and use the opportunity to direct your attention back to the chosen focus of your meditation practice, trusting that ideas are plentiful and over time you will be more prosperous operating with a clear mind day-to-day than by grasping at insights and making plans during the short periods you promised yourself to meditate.
And if your mind is dominated by the idea, feel free to pause to take a note or move into execution. Don’t be a victim of your meditation.
For more, here is an article by a successful artist on her experience with this challenge, Amanda Palmer in The Shambala Sun.
See free, easy Meditation Instructions on this blog.
This clever infographic summarizes some of the research on the negative health effects of job stress. People similar to my clients, “Senior Corporate Executives,” are in the third worst jobs. It does not include the job my nephew had in Afghanistan, removing mines and IEDs, but other than combat the listed jobs do seem very stressful. Plus, soldiers have access to a great stress reducer not often available to business leaders: loyal comrades.
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This latest podcast is part four of a funny and useful conversation between top executive coach Tony Mayo and his longtime client Ron Dimon. Ron is an expert on the use of information by executives of large organizations. Listen as two experienced business people play with useful ideas in this episode including;
Just click here to listen now or subscribe on your device using Apple’s Tunes, Android, and other podcatchers to have this and all new episodes placed on your device as they become available.
See free, easy Meditation Instructions on this blog.
It Comes Down to This
When you are visited by your personal demons – your fears, anxieties, doubts and wounds – can you sit down and have tea with them?
Can you turn your attention toward the demons and explore what you can learn about yourself?
For many reasons, we often can’t. But the intention to investigate that which is between you and feeling free can sometimes result in new possibilities where none previously existed.
The acronym RAIN can be helpful.
R = Recognize or Realize what is happening
A = Accept or Allow your experience to be what it is
I = Investigate or be Intimate with what is here
N = When we can do the above, you may begin to experience a degree of
Non-attachment, Non-judging and Natural awareness
As I mentioned, sometimes we can’t shift unpleasant sensations, emotions or mental conditions easily or quickly. Over time, with patience, consistency and presence, we begin to feel more confidence that we can be with whatever arises.
See free, easy Meditation Instructions on this blog.
Professor Elizabeth Blackburn is the discoverer of telomeres, tiny units of DNA at the ends of chromosomes that protect and stabilize our genetic blueprints. Telomeres seem to act as a biological clock that limits the lifespan of cells–and of ourselves.
… psychological stress actually ages cells, which can be seen when you measure the wearing down of the tips of the chromosomes, those telomeres. … We looked at the measures for cardiovascular disease — bad lipid profiles, obesity, all that stuff. The women with those had low telomerase. … Researchers have found that the brain definitely sends nerves directly to organs of the immune system and not just to the heart and the lower gut.
A CONVERSATION WITH ELIZABETH H. BLACKBURN
Finding Clues to Aging in the Fraying Tips of Chromosomes
New York Times
July 3, 2007
… mindfulness meditation techniques appear to shift cognitive appraisals from threat to challenge, decrease ruminative thought, and reduce stress arousal. Mindfulness may also directly increase positive arousal states. … meditation may have salutary effects on telomere length by reducing cognitive stress and stress arousal and increasing positive states of mind and hormonal factors that may promote telomere maintenance.
Can meditation slow rate of cellular aging?
Cognitive stress, mindfulness, and telomeres.
Epel, Daubenmier, Moskowitz, Folkman, & Blackburn
University of California San Francisco
Department of Psychiatry August, 2009
The findings also suggest that exercise may prevent this damage. ,,, Among those who exercised, perceived stress was unrelated to telomere length.
Exercise May Prevent Impact of Stress on Telomeres, A Measure of Cell Health
UCSF News
April 4, 2011
See free, easy Meditation Instructions on this blog.
Study after study has shown that people who function well under stress share several core beliefs:
- see times of change and uncertainty not as dangerous but as exciting opportunities;
- focus on what they can do to improve a stressful situation, rather than growing helpless; and
- maintain a sense of commitment to the world around them, instead of withdrawing.
…
Studies of everyone from classical musicians to competitive swimmers have found no difference at all between elites and novices in the intensity of their pre-performance anxiety; the poised, top-flight performers, however, were far more likely to describe their fear as an aid to success than the non-elites. No matter what skill we’re trying to improve under pressure—working on deadline, public speaking, staying cool on a first date—learning to work with fear instead of against it is a transformative shift.
Tiger Blood:
What it takes to keep cool under pressure.
Taylor Clark in Slate Magazine.
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