Category Archives: Emerging understanding

Feb19

Contemplating learning styles, mindful meditation, compassion and happiness

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I’ve just been on one of those fascinating trails of discovery one is able to undertake through the incredible rabbit-hole that is YouTube. For those of you who enjoy watching/listening to some of the great minds of our time, you might like to have a look/listen while you play on your laptop or phone.

My curiosity was activated through an online discussion (in LinkedIn) about the validity/currency of theories of learning preferences and styles. I followed a link into YouTube to look at work being done around learning, personality and brain activity: Authors@Google: Dario Nardi – Neuroscience of Personality.  Dario Nardi has discovered that people of different personality types don’t merely rely on different brain regions — they use their brains in fundamentally different ways http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGfhQTbcqmA

This led me to another on the brain and emotion The Neuroscience of Emotions by Dr. Phillippe Goldin. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tShDYA3NFVs&feature=related, from a  Google series Search inside yourself (SIY), Google’s Mindfulness-based emotional intelligence course. It begins with a background on emotions, and then examines the neural bases of emotion, emotion regulation, emotional reactivity and emotional intelligence. His talk includes the increasing interest neuroscience has with emotional intelligence, cognitive behavioural therapy and practitioners of mindfulness meditation as they study the impact each has on emotional reactivity and behaviour in individuals. The questions and answers at the end of his presentation contain fabulous reflections on the value of compassion and stillness in life – work, personal and family. Living consciously as we engage with life. For more information about Dr Goldin’s work on meditation, see Cognitive Neuroscience of Mindfulness Meditation at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sf6Q0G1iHBI

Transform Your Mind, Change Your Brain. Richard J. Davidson explores recent scientific research on the neuroscience of positive human qualities and how they can be cultivated through contemplative practice. The evolving field of contemplative neuroscience http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7tRdDqXgsJ0&feature=relmfu

My final treasure was from a biologist turned Buddhist monk, author and photographer Matthieu Ricard (interestingly, referred to in the previous YouTube), who speaks about the inner state of happiness – Change your Mind Change your Brain: The Inner Conditions… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=peA6vy0D5Bg&feature=relmfu

 My hope is that one of these contains a treasure for you

Jan31

The tension before change

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In conversations lately with some of the amazing people who bless my life, I’ve been reminded about the tension that arises when change is afoot.

For years I have been enjoying the writings of Sanaya Roman, a spiritual writer, and a chapter with which I am particularly enamoured  is ‘Embracing the new’ from the magnificent ‘Living with Joy: Keys to Personal Power and Spiritual Transformation‘

http://www.amazon.com/Living-Joy-Personal-Spiritual-Transformation/dp/0915811030. See also http://orin_meditation2.webs.com/embracethenew.htm

It speaks to me of the courage and vision we require when we dare to imagine a new way forward, and it reminds me that the way forward can often appear somewhat fearsome and solitary. Sanaya Roman speaks of the tension that precedes change, and just like the arrow that sits quietly in the fold of the bow, its potential flight is entirely linked to the tension that is required.

“What you call tension or anxiety before an event can be viewed instead as focusing your energy to prepare you for something new. It is a change in your vibration to prepare you for something that is finer and higher in your life. You may feel that you must first conquer fear and anxiety before you step out and accomplish something. But everyone has that inner feeling of tension to some degree before attempting new things; it is a period of gathering energy to make the shift into a higher vibration.”

So it is with our life choices and the ability we have to project ourselves powerfully into our imagined future. There are those along the path of our journey who may question the wisdom of our decisions, but we can steel ourselves with the knowledge that we are ultimately making our authentic life choices.

Dare to imagine a great new way forward, and embrace your future with joy and courage.

Jan3

The Ugly Duckling

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As has been the case for the last dozen or so years, I’m currently staying on the beautiful Mornington Peninsula, spending my days walking, swimming, paddling, floating – thoroughly immersed in the magnificence of nature that this area offers.

Today I was kayaking with a wonderful companion for an hour or so, a few hundred metres from the shores of the bay. We were enjoying the delights of paddling quietly along, a little removed from the frolicking of beachgoers closer to the shore. After the heat of yesterday, our watery playground was less hectic, with only a few jet-skiers buzzing past.

At one point we stopped paddling to allow the beauty and tranquillity of our surroundings to wash over us. As we drifted serenely with the tide, and the water lapped gently against the side of the kayaks, we looked up to see a flock of pelicans flying overhead. Such graceful creatures, soaring and gliding with the air currents so effortlessly. In the midst of their magnificence was a tiny little bird and we pondered if it was a young pelican, or another species who had decided to go along for the ride.

I was reminded of the story of Hans Christian Andersen’s The Ugly Duckling (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5llY70FDf3c&feature=related) and as we continued to drift, we discussed the analogy of this young bird who was so challenged by his difference, and who tried so desperately to fit in with his unaccepting peers. The recipient of much derision, he carried a great burden of sadness in knowing that he seemed unable to belong within his community.

Of course we know why … he was indeed a beautiful swan, gifted with incredibly unique strengths that set him quite apart from the ducks he tried to emulate. Unacceptable to them because of his difference, it became apparent that this difference was in fact his brilliance.

There have been occasions when I have felt like The Ugly Duckling, wondering why on Earth I can’t just figure it all out and fit in with what ‘everyone else’ seems to be able to do with such ease. Have you had such an experience? Trying to learn the skills, to acquire and apply the knowledge to undertake particular tasks or roles to a standard of others around you? Like The Ugly Duckling, we can bemoan the fact that we might never match the accomplishments of others.

Consider then, the tale of The Ugly Duckling, and consider how your difference is your brilliance. Reflect on how your difference is the strength of who you are, and of all you have to offer. Perhaps you haven’t yet heard the call of the wild – the inherent impulse that will draw you to your authentic self, and allow the pulse of your brilliance to emerge, just like it did for The Ugly Duckling. But we must trust that we are perfectly placed to allow that emergence into our authentic self, and gift ourselves the freedom to become who we were born to be.

We must trust our innate wisdom.