Working with the Seasons & Imbalances of Life

As we near the middle of August in the South, it's surprising how mild the temperatures have become.  More rain than usual and earlier cooler breezes than expected.  After an early, long, & scalding summer all over the country, many are whispering soft and loud prayers for an early Fall, including me.  Each season brings it's beauty & it's beast but an over-abundance of one often leaves us craving for it's opposite especially when it's the beastly version in the form of heat & humidity.  It's amazing how weather can affect our moods so strongly, especially when we experiences it's extremes, it's unbalances, just like our own.

This fiery hot summer has been filled with much happiness with the Olympics but also much hate & hostility via election campaigns, corrupt countries, & religious hostility.  No matter what "side" you are drawn to, the extremes and antagonism is obvious.  What happen to non-violent resistance? peaceful protest? giving your left cheek also when your right has been slapped? not opposing or resisting or fighting the perceived "evil" of another?  Violence begets violence.  That's not to say that we cannot or should not protect ourselves and our loved ones, but how we choose to do so speaks to our INTENTIONS, that which motivates and drives our behaviors.  Shall we let the outside world continue to drive and control us or shall we exert great self (spiritual) - control and be the master of our destiny?


So back to the idea of balance amidst the imbalances.  I like to use the image of the yin-yang.  Light & dark, masculine & feminine, active & passive, all working together within and around each other harmoniously.  A perfect relationship of how to work with the seasons and differences we experience in our lives.

HOW TO DO IT
- Think about an event, thought or recent experience that "makes your blood boil" like the fire of summer (or something not as hot for the 1st time).

- Ask yourself these 4 questions:

a) Is what I believe about this person/situation really 100% true?
    (ex. BELIEF: My ex- shouldn't be invited to my family event.) 
b) If your 1st reaction is "yes!," Ask again: Can I absolutely know that it's true?
     (ex.  No, I can't know that it's really true even if I don't want them there.)
c) How do I react, what happens, when I believe that thought?
   (ex.  I feel hot & angry and want to tell them off!) 
d) Who would I be without that thought?
    (ex.  I would be relaxed and focused on the event and seeing my family.)
e) Turn the thought around & give 3 genuine examples of how the turnaround could be true here.
    (ex.  My ex- should be there...because he was a part of the family for a long time, 
       because he was invited, because anyone can technically come & it's not my business.)
f) Find another turnaround and examples if you're still not fully convinced.

This method is called The Work as created by Byron Katie.  For more information, see her website or App where Katie will take you through the work on your iPhone or Android.

Let the seasons of nature and of life flow through you so that each day you might grow stronger and more settled in the path you are walking.

Constant Chaos: How Transitions Can Help

This past weekend started on Thursday afternoon and ended late Sunday night for me.  It was one of those long weekends that you hoped would be relaxing and yet somehow it felt busier than being home without the familiarity & comfort of home.  The funny thing about it was that I enjoyed most of it. I would've liked more rest, more beach, a bigger bed, and less activity, but I know I got what I needed.  I had the opportunity to try new things, meet new people, unexpectedly see long lost friends, reconnect with family and appreciate what I have and need, like relationships & quiet time.

So how are your weekends? your vacations from work & chores?  For most people, they don't know how to rest, relax, let go and enjoy.  I have family and friends who would rather push themselves into exhaustion than sit still and even worse, sit silently alone.  It makes me wonder and want to us, is it louder or scarier inside than out?  I know it can be for many us.  At various points in our life, the inner chatter is so critical and confusing that keeping busy feels like the only solution.  When we get to this point, it's hard to make any changes without support, whether that be from a loving friend, partner, or professional.  The important thing is to reach out and remember that you're never alone and that living in constant chaos outside to avoid the chaos inside is no way to live - in fact you usually can't do it very long without getting sick in some way.  I know that tasks, goals, productivity is important but when the cost begins to outweigh the benefit, trouble is afoot.  

I had someone ask me lately to help with a tendency to overcommit - a problem over half the population has while the other half can't seem to commit to anything. I consider over-committing or over-scheduling a product of the above at times.  Over-doers are usually either trying to fill an inner void yet avoid the inner critic while others are trying to "be all they can be" because they truly want to help or create.  There is probably an overlap though in these departments though.  It seems that even when we truly want to participate there is usually a piece of a "should" or "ought to" attached to it that is actually rooted in an even deeper judgment of self about what our critic and others will say or believe if we DON'T participate or have to "turn it over" to another person.  Where is the compassion for self and the awareness that sh*t happens; meaning, sometimes things come up last minute and truly keep us from doing what we had planned or wanted to do OR sometimes in the 11th hour we are hit by the spiritual 2x4 and realize we can do another thing or we will fall over or bite someone's head off with our words. 

The remedy to this tendency or at least potential softener is the practice of transition periods.  How often do you truly schedule in adequate transition time and space as you go from one place or activity to another?  I saw counselors for years who scheduled clients back to back seemingly all day. When I became a counselor I realized I was doing the same thing, which gave me maybe 5-10 minutes tops, to breath, remember myself, stretch, grab the next file, brief it, then jump in again. After the 4th client I was about to have a panic attack or melt into my chair as if I was watching a movie.  Since then, I've made it a point to never schedule more than 3 without a 15+ minute break following and to take mini "awareness breaks" between all sessions where I breathe, body scan, and determine what I need and how I can give it to myself before the next session in some form or fashion - even if it's just writing myself a note of encouragement or doing one yoga pose.  All my activities and adventures outside of work are considered "penciled in" unless they are super super important...but even some of those have been abandoned in the end if I was too cooked to do another something.  My determining factor usually has to do with how present and alert am I right now.  Can I feel the energy and breath in my body?  Is my mind feeling alert and open?  If I cannot answer these questions and give myself thorough details as if I were an observing witness and an experiencer of them, then I probably need a break.  Sometimes, a slow short walk with deep breathing will do it, other times, it's a 30 minutes nap, a few yoga poses, free-flow writing, or even having a relaxing cup of tea or more elicit beverage quietly on the back deck.

What items on your schedule can you begin to pencil in?  Remember to evaluate how each event supports you or stresses you.  Don't take out the ones that support you, even if they feel like the ones that are somehow "optional" - like a walk over another 30 minutes of work.  Build in some transition time between each event then double the amount of time you think you need.  We usually short ourselves on the good things and overdo the unhealthy ones.  After a week, see how you feel then decide how you want to go forward.  

As a holistic counselor and wellness consultant, I am glad to support you and assist you in your journey.  For confidential support, call 205-908-1247 or email me awakenedliving2010@gmail.com.

May you know peace, happiness, health, and freedom from suffering.

Lyndsey Robinson, MA, ALC, RYT-200, PRYT

Awakened Living Therapeutics, LLC

Hoover, AL 35226

Yoga, Bodywork, Healing and the Brain

Here is an amazing article from Elephant Journal that speaks to the basis behind alternative healing modalities such as Phoenix Rising Yoga Therapy.  Although PRYT isn't mentioned directly, the premise of this article explains the efficacy of the work I offer through Phoenix Rising & holistic counseling.

Enjoy! 

Yoga found to decrease inflammation & potential diseases

Click here to read an article about a recent study about the effects of yoga on health and its ability to decrease inflammatory stress responses that are linked to an array of diseases.

Interview about Phoenix Rising Yoga Therapy

Here is a link to a radio station about the Mind-Body Connection.

Dr. Melissa West interviews Phoenix Rising Yoga Therapy Co-Director, Elissa Cobb.
 Interview with Elissa Cobb

Elissa has also written the book The Forgotten Body and has been one of my main teachers & practitioners during my PRYT individual & group facilitator training. Her insights & ability to educate come from her true embodiment of this work, making it all the more transformative.

May we all aspire to live our dharma & allow it to live through us.
May we learn to not only talk the talk but walk the walk.

Namaste,
Lyndsey

Meditation Can Improve Concentration

http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/20100807/hl_time/08599200891400

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By JOHN CLOUD – Sat Aug 7, 3:40 am ET

The idea that meditation is good for you is certainly not new, but scientists are still trying to figure out exactly why meditating so reliably improves mental and physical health. One old theory is that meditation is just like exercise: it trains the brain as if gray matter were a bundle of muscles. You work those muscles and they get stronger.

A recent paper in the journal Psychological Science tries to identify brain functions that are actually enhanced by meditating. The study shows that intensive meditation can help people focus their attention and sustain it - even during the most boring of tasks. But while participants who meditated were able to pick up visual cues better than a control group, it was not clear whether meditating helped them process the new information in a meaningful way.(Read about samurai mind training for American soldiers.)

The study, which was authored by 13 researchers and led by Katherine MacLean of the University of California, Davis, begins by noting that everyone gets tired after concentrating. It also notes that research going back to the 1970s has established that Buddhist monks who have regularly meditated for years perform better than most of us on concentration tests. In the past five years, other studies have shown that meditation also yields substantial gains in concentration for laypeople who take up the practice.

In the new study, 60 enthusiasts who signed up to attend a three-month meditation retreat were randomized into two groups. The first group of 30 got to go to the Shambhala Mountain Center, a pricey hideaway in Red Feather Lakes, Colo., just south of the Wyoming state line. The other group of 30 had to wait three months to attend a second retreat at the Shambhala Center; this second group served as the study's control group. The researchers gave the two groups concentration tests before the retreat began, halfway through and then again after the sabbatical ended. During the retreats, the attendees underwent at least five hours a day of meditative practice.(Read about how yoga improves quality of life after cancer.)

That's an extraordinary commitment to meditation that most of us can't relate to. (The attendees even paid $5,300 for the privilege of attending the retreats.) But while all the participants were highly willing, the strength of this new study lies in comparing their mental performance before, during and after they began meditative practice. (Comment on this story.)

And the results are clear: it's not wanting to meditate but actually meditating that improves your brain's performance. The participants were all asked to watch a series of lines flash on a computer screen and click a mouse when they saw a line that was shorter than the others. It was a boring test, and that was the point: in order to concentrate on those little line changes, they had to focus intently. Those who were meditating at the retreat were significantly more likely than those in the wait-list group to see increasingly small differences in the lines. Their abilities improved as meditative training continued. As the paper puts it, their powers of "visual discrimination" had appreciably increased.

Which suggests that meditation can help you concentrate. But the study found that while meditators were more accurate, they were not faster: those who had meditated saw differences in the lines more often than those who hadn't, but they didn't react any faster than the control group when both saw the same line discrepancies on the screen. That's important because it suggests that meditation helps your brain do something automatic - process visual stimuli - but not something more complicated: react when it happens.

I couldn't quite afford to attend the Shambhala Mountain retreat, but recently, I decided to try a small, five-minute-a-day mindfulness regimen recommended to me by the University of Washington psychology professor Marsha Linehan. One of the simple techniques Linehan uses to improve patients' mood and concentration is to ask them to sit on a park bench or at a street corner - any public place - and direct their eyes forward as strangers walk by. The idea is to avoid looking at the passersby even if they are interesting - you just let them walk by. You notice them, but you keep your mind focused on not watching them, not following them. I have been practicing this technique at New York City's congested High Line park for the past few weeks. The results have been extraordinary: I focus better at work; I don't dread cleaning after my cats as much; I actually look forward to confronting the crowds at the High Line.

Past research suggests that meditation doesn't have to be intensive to have an effect. One recent study by scientists at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte found that students were able to improve their performance on tests of cognitive skill after just four days of meditation training for only 20 minutes per day. On one particularly challenging computer test of sustained attention, students who meditated did 10 times better than a control group. They also did significantly better on timed information-processing tasks that were designed to induce deadline stress.

Still, meditation isn't a panacea. Recently, I got into a silly office-politics spat, and I still blow some of my deadlines. But Linehan hopes this exercise and other mindfulness practices will help patients disentangle themselves from overwhelming or burdensome thoughts - including, in some cases, suicidal thoughts. I find that I can calm myself through my short mindfulness exercise, but a few hours later, I may get just as stressed about a pointed where's-the-story e-mail from an editor.

In the end, meditation may help keep your brain focused and help you absorb more information than you otherwise would. But it is not likely to help you evaluate all that extra information your brain is taking in.

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How To Be Alone