Friday, June 29, 2012

Are you fully alive? - #27

"We feel like isolated objects within a world of objects. This is not a fact but a perspective," writes Bob Klein,* author of  Movements in Magic and Tai Chi teacher since 1966.  You can expect to hear more wisdom from Bob in future posts.

Last week Dr. Curt Thompson** explained the neuroplastic triad: three components adults can add to their lives which will enhance the  brain. In order to include all three points of the triad in my life, there needed to be an activity for the aerobic component, another for the focused attention component, and yet another component for providing a novel learning experience. At least that was my initial impression.

My response to incorporating the neuroplastic triad clearly affirms Klein's quote: our modern day tendency is to think in terms of separateness rather than wholeness.

Though not initially apparent to me, I was involved in an activity that would meet all the requirements of the triad. It took an email from my Tai Chi instructor Ruth Kneile*** to clue me in. The message was short and sweet: "Tai Chi covers all the catagories."

Suddenly my feeling that incorporating the triad into my life would require the addition of new activities needed to be changed. My perspective was not a fact. There was no longer any need to add something new to my schedule because now I could sense the wholeness thatTai Chi offered.

My need became giving a high priority in my schedule for practicing Tai Chi.  Daily practice will meet my need for exercise, concentration, and novelty. As my study of Bob's books becomes more consistent and my participation in Ruth's excellent classes continues, my knowledge of this ancient Chinese martial art will increase. I'm betting there will be new neural pathways in my brain! 

Having a healthy brain results in feeling alive. Klein says that while intellectually we may know we are alive, few of us feel truly alive.

Do you feel truly alive?

I'm curious how you will design your own triad.   What will you do to get physical exercise, practice concentration, and keep something novel in your life?

As always, thanks for exploring the mystery - Nicky Mendenhall

If you would like to read this post on the Blog, click here: http://NickyMendenhall.blogspot.com


 *Movements of Magic,1984. Bob Klein. Used by permission - personal communication.

**Anatomy of the Soul, 2010. Curt Thompson, M.D. Used by permission - personal communication.

***To contact Ruth Kneile for class schedules and information about her services: [ruth.kneile@gmail.com]












Friday, June 22, 2012

Varieties of Hardwiring & Neuroplasticity - #26

Rumor has it that a small percentage of the general population is hardwired with an inclination towards the spiritual.  Far back as my memory can stretch, my enchantment with the unseen has been central in my life.

This means that a large proportion of you are hard wired towards other areas: mathematics, art, athletics, chemistry, biology, social justice, engineering, literature, and/or politics. Can you identify your pattern?Are you pleased with it? Has your pattern changed over the years?

My particular pattern of spiritual wiring has evolved a unique twist as the years have gone by: "God" language turns me off. 

According to my experience, there is something acting in the world that is unknowable. That something is beyond my understanding.  Shockingly that something seems, at times, open to our influence. My feeling is that labeling the unknowable using traditional language not only sucks out mystery and power but, in its effort to answer unanswerable questions, stops us from having our own experience.

When brain research became the subject for our study group, my hope was for a new language to describe and understand experiences of a spiritual nature.

A book recommendation came floating up from the Southern Hemisphere: Anatomy of the Soul: Surprising connections between neuroscience and spiritual practices that can transform your life and relationships by Curt Thompson, M.D.*

Dr. Thompson relies on traditional religious language, none the less, he has begun the process of integrating spirituality and science.

One of the most encouraging findings coming from brain research is the idea that adults can grow and change their brains. In scientific terms this is known as neuroplasticity.  Dr. Thompson proposes a neuroplastic triad; three activities that will enhance the likelihood that our adult brains will grow:

1. Aerobic activity - as least forty-five minutes per day, at least five days per week.

2. Focused attention exercises - Dr. Thompson suggests centering prayer. You undoubtedly can name scores of other exercises that require you to focus.

3. Novel learning experiences - any learning that expands your meaningful level of creativity such as learning a foreign language, learning to play an instrument, or learning how to build furniture.

Have fun with your new plastic toy - your brain!

 As always, thanks for exploring the mystery - Nicky Mendenhall

*Anatomy of the Soul, 2010. Used by permission - personal correspondence.

If you would like to read this post on the blog: please visit: www.NickyMendenhall.blogspot.com



Friday, June 15, 2012

The Holy Spirit's M.O. - #25

Hell is a place where nothing connects with nothing.
-T.S. Eliot, Introduction to Dante's Inferno.*

As our exploration of the mind continues, let me introduce Dr. Daniel Siegel** who we might say defines the mind poetically as the place where everything connects with everything. 

The fields of psychiatry, psychology, and various branches of neuroscience study the mind, writes Siegel, but fail to have a definition of the mind.

Dr. Siegel, who received his medical degree from Harvard University, defines the mind scientifically as an emergent, self-organizing process that is both embodied and relational. 

Siegel's proposal that the mind is embodied suggests he believes the mind resides in the brain; most scientists won't argue with this. However, the idea that our mental lives are the product of the brain is only part of the story. 

It may help us comprehend this definition if we continue to ponder the word embodied.  There are clusters of intelligence and sources of knowledge distributed throughout our bodies.  Alternative medicine devotees would point to the brain in our gut or the wisdom of the heart. 

It is fairly easy to comprehend the mind as a relational organ. We are largely who we are because of our interactions with other people.

Dr. Siegel sees the emergent process of the mind arising in a system of energy and information flow which passes through the body but isn't restricted to the body. Mind is right now in us and between us. Do you suppose this is what Christians call the Holy Spirit?

If you want to experiment exploring the mystery of the mind, try this: when you are in a crowd, look across the room and stare at the back of some one's head. Beam positive thoughts to them. See how long it takes for them to turn around with a questioning look on their face. 

Or focus your thoughts on someone who is suffering and picture the person, yourself, and the space between filled with positive energy and love.

Let me know what you discover.

As always, thanks for exploring the mystery - Nicky Mendenhall

*Cited in Imagine: How Creativity Works, Jonah Lehrer (2012).

**Used with permission from NICABM, personal correspondence, www.nicabm.com.

If you would like to read this post on the blog: please visit: www.NickyMendenhall.blogspot.com




Friday, June 8, 2012

What's My Mind ? - #24

Welcome back!

Before we examine the scientific research designed to help you locate the mind, let's contemplate how exploring the mystery relates to your well being.

Brain research posits that the two hemispheres of our brain, the Right Hemisphere and the Left Hemisphere, need to be integrated to be fully functional.

How does this integration occur?

Introspection and Contemplation lead to an integrated brain.

Disclaimer: The preceding statement is RH-hot-off-the-press declaration from the creator of exploring the mystery.

You may notice that my personal mission to encourage introspection and contemplation has an evangelistic fervor.  Attribute this passion, if you will, to my firm conviction that these two actions and ways of being in the world are keys to the continuing evolution of consciousness. 

If enough of us dive deep into our interior landscape and vow to set aside time to ponder our booty, a higher level of consciousness will be reached and will present us with new options for saving our world.

So how do scientists of the twenty-first century define the mind?

Sorry to pull a soap opera ending on you but my mind is adamant  this post is becoming too lengthy.  My commitment to keep posts concise is vital to your reading pleasure and to your overall well being. 

Tune in next week. It will be worth the wait!

As always, thanks for exploring the mystery. Nicky Mendenhall


  

    

Friday, June 1, 2012

Do You Know Where Your Mind Is? - 23

Introspection is the art of looking inside yourself. Contemplation describes the act of thoughtfully considering an idea or an object.

When you read exploring the mystery your introspective muscle is exercised at least once a week.  Take a moment to contemplate this regular workout. Has it impacted your life in any way?

Historically introspection and contemplation have been practiced by monks and philosophers. Believing their task was to define the nature of reality, a sense of urgency was often evident in their writings. 

Freud graduated from medical school in the late eighteenth century when scientists were beginning to study the physical structure of the brain. Initially he focused on the brain, however, his interest shifted from the brain to the mind when he observed how hypnosis could seemingly cure mental illness. The field of psychoanalysis influenced the nature of introspection by shifting the focus from defining reality to understanding levels of consciousness.

In the twenty-first century we look to neuroscience to study the brain and parts of the nervous system that are not located in the brain itself. I can say this with a degree of certainty because in 2009 I joined a quartet named "brain group." 

Once a month, four of us gaze at diagrams which purportedly illustrate the anatomy of the brain. We choose a tome to discuss. Two of us read the selected chapters with trepidation; we are not fluent in medical/scientific language. The other two breeze through the material with apparent ease; they know this other world.

While previously a visit to my interior landscape might consist of discovering Jungian archetypes or diagramming family structure, now I find myself trying to remember the illustrations of the neocortex and locate it in my head.  During this rumination, my amygdala makes itself known by encouraging me to make a big deal over the fact that the memory is not crystal clear.

A question arises on these introspective/contemplative 
journeys: "Where is my mind?"

Tune in next week to hear an answer provided by the latest developments in science.

As always, thanks for exploring the mystery - Nicky Mendenhall

If you would like to read this post on the blog: please visit: www.NickyMendenhall.blogspot.com