Category Archives: Mindfulness Tips

Search Inside Yourself – A Great Idea and a Great New Book

Posted on January 23, 2013 | Leave a comment

Wouldn’t you know a Google engineer would write one of the clearest, most straightforward, easy-to-compute books on mindfulness that I’ve read in a long time.  Actually it’s a book on mindfulness and emotional intelligence based on the seven week course being taught at Google called “Search Inside Yourself.”  Mindfulness is like having a search engine for your body, feelings, and thoughts, as well as for the ability to understand and relate to other people.   

Mindfulness, once again, is proposed as the key for harnessing your ability to respond to your life instead of react to it.  In this book , the response you make to your life is one predicated on an increase of your emotional intelligence.  Daniel Goleman, who pioneered work on emotional intelligence, broke it down into five domains:  self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, empathy, and social skills.   Not hard to see how competencies in these areas would be useful.

Chade-Meng Tan (more informally known as Meng) who wrote Search Inside Yourself and developed the course by the same name had the good fortune of working with and learning from Daniel Goleman (who wrote the book on Emotional Intelligence),  Philippe Goldin (a Stanford University scientist), Norman Fischer (Zen Buddhist priest and poet ), Mirabai Bush (co-founder of the Center for Contemplative Mind in Society), Marc Lesser (CEO and Zen Teacher), and Yvonne Ginsberg (meditation teacher and professional coach ).  That’s a pretty impressive line-up.  And, I have to say, the results are FANTASTIC.


Buy the book and go to the Search Inside Yourself website and listen to Meng and his colleagues as they introduce the seven weeks on video. 

I’d give you a money back guarantee (but I didn’t write the book).  Darn!

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Posted in Meditation, Mindfulness, Mindfulness Tips, Resources

Eat for Life – Mindful Eating Course starting in January

Posted on December 26, 2012 | Leave a comment

The holidays are beginning to wind down and now is the time you might start to wonder in a slightly agitated voice “how could I have eaten so much over the holidays?” or “why can’t fit into these pants anymore (did they shrink)?”   If that resonates with you or if you’re just looking to get the new year off to a good start with eating better and treating your body better,  Eat for Life might be just what you’re looking for. 

 Eat for Life is a 10 week class I developed which teaches you the skills of mindful and intuitive eating. The class is available in person (in Columbia, MO) and online (so you can take it anywhere in the world).  The online course is done from the luxury of your own home and you follow along with each week’s assignments on your own time schedule.  There is never a time you have to be “online” for a group discussion.   Plus, you’ll get little inspirational emails from me twice a week to keep you on task! 

This non-diet approach to eating uses a non-judgmental and compassionate approach to re-learning how to use your internal physical cues to guide what, when, how, and why you eat.  In other words, this is NOT an approach that shames you into losing weight fast like some reality TV shows you might have watched.  While that might work for some, it is not the recommended technique for long lasting change. 

 By the way, I’ve done some research on this program and the results indicate the class participants do learn to listen to their bodies messages about how to eat, they have a better appreciation for their bodies (which usually lends itself to treating it better), they engage in less binge eating, and they are more mindful (which is key in helping you change).    

 Here are the dates, times, and cost for the online class.  Let me know if you need any additional information or want to enroll.   If you are interested in the in-person class (in Columbia, MO) or are a faculty, staff, or retiree of the University of Missouri, please contact me for your cost information.   You get the class cheaper because it’s part of your benefit package.

 DATES FOR THE WINTER 2013 ONLINE CLASS:

Orientation – week of January 18                                                                                        10 Week Class – week of January 25 – week of April 5 (except spring break)Cost: $180 for members of the community (anywhere around the world)

Registration form must be received by January 14.   My email is RossyL@umsystem.edu

 

 

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Posted in BASICS of Mindful Eating, Conscious Eating & Living, Educational Tips, Mindfulness Tips, Research, Topics

Meditation Can Change Your Emotional Patterns and Your Brain

Posted on December 18, 2012 | 1 Comment

Three years ago I found myself traveling to Madison, Wisconsin, to be a part of the brain research being conducted by Richard Davidson, the neuroscientist who heads up the Center for Investigating Healthy. I had been identified as a “long term meditator” and asked to participate in some of the extensive research projects being conducted there to better understand what happens to the brain when you meditate.  Over the next year and a half I was examined on three separate occasions in a sleep lab and in a Functional MRI machine using neuroimaging techniques that show which brain areas are involved in a task, a process, or an emotion.  I was asked to respond to a wide variety of pictures and scenarios while being “stressed” by conditions such as heat applied to my arm and giving a speech or undergoing an interview with very stern looking people.

I just listened to a fascinating interview  where Richard Davidson talks about some of his findings in his new book co-authored by Sharon Begley called “The Emotional Life of Your Brain: How Its Unique Patterns Affect the Way You Think, Feel, and Live-and How You Can Change Them.” The book outlines six categories of Emotional Style:
1. Resilience: How slowly or quickly you recover from adversity.
2. Outlook: How long you are able to sustain positive emotion.
3. Social Intuition: How adept you are at picking up social signals from the people around you.
4. Self-Awareness: How well you perceive bodily feelings that reflect emotions.
5. Sensitivity to Context: How good you are at regulating your emotional responses to take into account the context you find yourself in.
6. Attention: How sharp and clear your focus is.


If you’re interested in emotion, how different emotions map onto the brain, and how you can change your emotions by changing the way your brain functions,  then this would be an interesting read (comes out December 24).  While the “what do you do once you know this information” part of the book might be a bit slim, we do know from Dr. Davidson’s and other research that meditation can change our brain structures.  Due to neuroplasticity of the brain, we can change.  We just need to work at it. 

The payoff for meditating?  More resilience, better outlook, more social intuitive, greater self- awareness, better regulation of your emotional responses, and better attention.  Those all sound pretty good to me.

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Posted in Mindfulness Tips, Research, Resources

Mindful Eating during the Holidays!

Posted on December 11, 2012 | Leave a comment

Here’s a great Huffington Post blog piece by Michelle May, M.D. called A Recipe for Overeating that I thought was excellent.  I hope you enjoy it.  It is perfect for the holidays when it seems like we are surrounded by food.

After that, if you want to laugh along with me and Paul Pepper, watch the video of my recent KBIA interview.  I talk about the healthy benefits of relaxing and breathing before you eat.  While Paul managed to get me to agree with him when he said “if you’re relaxed you can eat more without gaining weight,” I’m not sure that’s true. However, I do know that if you eat when you’re relaxed, you will metabolize your food more easily and, if you’re stressed, you will store more fat.     Breathe! Relax! Then eat!

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Posted in BASICS of Mindful Eating, Mindfulness Tips

Mindfulness for your Heart!

Posted on November 30, 2012 | Leave a comment

Over the years of defining mindfulness for people just being introduced to the term and the practice of meditation, I have noticed a change in my explanations.  As my own understanding of mindfulness has deepened and changed me, my instructions have taken a decidedly softer and kinder portrayal of this way of being and sensing the world.  I always start with the most popular definition of mindfulness by Jon Kabat-Zinn:  “mindfulness means paying attention in a particular way: on purpose, in the present moment, and nonjudgmentally.”  From there, though, I find it helpful to expand on the “nonjudgmentally” part.  If you aren’t judging what are you doing?  My experience is that I’m allowing, I’m accepting, I’m open, and I’m loving. Continue reading →

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Posted in Meditation, Mindfulness Tips, Topics

Breathe, Belly Check, and Smile!

Posted on November 15, 2012 | Leave a comment

We are on the countdown to the beginning of the holiday season—Thanksgiving is upon us!!!  We will soon be faced with tables of food—things like turkey, dressing, sweet potatoes, cranberries, potatoes and gravy, the obligatory green bean casserole, pumpkin pie, and pumpkin cheesecake (my favorite!!) and many more.  I’m salivating just thinking about it.  Oh the joy of Thanksgiving!

Of course, then there is that sinking feeling about the holidays approaching.  You know the ones.  The thoughts of days packed with even more events and activities than normal, the family gatherings with family you’re not that crazy about, the demands to be at parties and participate in things we might not be so happy about, (or conversely) NOT having invitations to be at parties or have family to gather with, spending too much money, and eating and drinking too much because food is EVERYWHERE.    

What’s a girl (or guy) to do? Continue reading →

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Posted in BASICS of Mindful Eating, Mindfulness Tips, Stress, Topics

It’s time to “Eat Real!”

Posted on October 22, 2012 | Leave a comment

Food Day is a nationwide celebration and a movement toward more healthy, affordable, and sustainable food—sounds a lot like the Slow Food Movement to me.  Events are taking place across the nation to promote “eating real” food.  Go to the website to find out about events in your area and to take their “real food” quiz to find out how your food intake measures up in terms of your health, environment, and animal welfare.  I fared pretty well on the quiz (I got an “A”), but I’m not sure I understood all of the reasoning behind their scoring system.

What I do like is their priorities:

What’s not to like about those ideas?  With so much of our food supply being connected to the promotion of disease (e.g. obesity, heart disease, cancer), it’s no longer a good idea to be unconscious about what we’re eating and the impact it has on our own health as well as the health of the world around us.

 Among other events hosted here at the University of Missouri in Columbia is a Campus Farmers Market and Fair Food Fair on Thursday, October 25, from 10 am to 2 pm. For more events go the Environmental Leadership Office website 

How “real” can you make your food consumption?  Spend a little more time thinking about where your food comes from before you eat.  I even heard there is a month long challenge in October to eat only non-processed foods.  Since we are almost to the end of the month, maybe try it for the next week and see how you do.  Report back on what you discovered.

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Posted in Conscious Eating & Living, Mindfulness Tips

Mindfulness Helps You Sit With Pain (Emotional and Physical)

Posted on October 3, 2012 | 2 Comments

It’s the second week of the mindfulness-based stress reduction program and some people are wondering why on earth I am asking them to do the body scan every day (a formal mindfulness exercise that asks people to systematically bring attention to their body from head to toe).  All kinds of comments are made after we do it at the beginning of class. On one hand, people say things like “It’s kind of boring,” “My mind wanders all over the place,” “The more I do it the less attention I pay to it (and I don’t like the recording).” On the other hand, people indicate “It’s really relaxing,” “I’ve noticed how it’s changed the way I relate to other things in my life,” “I’m able to release the tension in my body,” and “I am more able to cope with my pain.”

Our lives are filled with things that we like and things that we don’t like.  We feel pain (both emotional and physical) and we feel joy. Mindfulness teaches us to treat all our experiences with equal care and compassion and kindness.  Meeting life head-on in each moment teaches us that we can be with whatever is present without reacting. And if reacting is happening, we notice that with curiosity and openness. Continue reading →

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Posted in Conscious Eating & Living, Meditation, Mindfulness Tips, Stress

The Value of Mindfulness

Posted on September 24, 2012 | 3 Comments

Mindfulness is a great way of helping us contemplate our values.   When we’re present we can really feel the contentment and ease of our lives when we’re living in a way consistent with what we belief in and how we would like to behave.  And conversely, you can feel the discomfort of living and behaving in a way that is less than what we hope for ourselves.

Presenting a workshop recently on “Making Your Life The Best It Can Be.” I was struck by how much emphasis I was giving to the idea of knowing your values and living from them.  Two suggestions that I give people to manage their “spiritual energy” are the following:

  • Make a list of your values and evaluate your life with those in mind
  • Set intentions for yourself based on your values

These sound so obvious, but I don’t think people (myself included) put much thought doing this very often. We’re too busy. Right?!  But, what an important thing this is to do for our wellbeing.  

Personally, “physical health” is one of the most important values I hold. Of course I am a Health Psychologist, but in all my years of talking to people, I have never heard anyone say they didn’t value their health.   Without your health, the rest of your life can suffer tremendously.  Yet we often don’t think about our health until we don’t have it.  

What if you were to remember every day that you value your health?  How would you behave differently?  Would you move your body more? Would you pay more attention to what kind of food you fed your body? 

I know we can find a thousand and three excuses for not exercising and for eating too much junk food, but what values are these excuses based on?   Often times it is based on a value held by the little rebel inside who says “I don’t feel like it” or “I can do whatever I want to do.”  (Imagine yourself as a six year old when you say that!)That little rebel is reacting to some past experience of not feeling in control or having someone else control you.  However, letting the little rebel take care of your health is pretty problematic.

So harness your inner adult and ask yourself, what is one thing I could commit to on a regular basis that would honor my value of health?  Set an intention that you can live with.

I’ll give you a few ideas that I use to honor my health.  Share your ideas in the comment section below.

  • Move your body 30 minutes or more a day outside your normal routine.
  • Take a recovery break every 60 to 90 minutes during the workday to stretch or breathe.
  • Eat fresh food that doesn’t come out of a package.
  • Eat lots of greens every day
  • Drink lots of water (48 – 64 oz. a day).
  • Eat breakfast every day (it jumpstarts your metabolism).
  • Get 6 to 8 hours of sleep.
  • Do yoga on a regular basis.
  • Breathe deeply.

 May your health be strong and abundant!

 

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Posted in Conscious Eating & Living, Mindfulness Tips, Topics

Meditation makes us all winners!

Posted on September 13, 2012 | 1 Comment


But Maryam Fakhradeen from the University of Missouri-Kansas City won the book “Commit to Sit: Tools for Cultivating a Meditation Practice” by posting her comment about doing the three minute meditation.  She said “Helped a LOT; I knew I was tense but didn’t realize I was THAT tense until I was doing the exercise.  Love learning new mindfulness exercises & tips!”

It’s amazing what you notice when you simply bring your attention to your body, your feelings, and your thoughts.  When you check in with yourself, you might find tension or sadness or anger or happiness or peace.  Things could feel pleasant or unpleasant or there might not be much of a feeling at all.  Mindfulness is the tool that helps us to pay attention with curiosity and kindness so that no matter what we find when we look, we can be with it without reactivity.  Hey, then you can relax. No need to struggle with what’s happening.  We are just looking in to see what’s there.

Take a few breaths and, voila!  In a moment or two something else is happening and we can relax around that too.  Mindfulness helps us to sit beside our experiences as well as be in the middle of our experiences at the same time.  This ability to abide with our lives can come in real handy, because, as you know, life is filled with ups-and-downs coming at us constantly and mindfulness lets us ride the waves.

Listening to NPR this morning, the benefits of meditation practice are even being picked up on by business schools around the country—from Harvard to  Michigan’s Ross School of Business.  The bottom line is that “slowing down” (taking a three minute breathing break) helps them be more effective.  Listen to the whole story here. 

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