Sharing and Caring in a virtual world ♥

    We do not have a formal structure for the Share & Care event. It is a time to sit together and connect with others. To build trust and friendships. It is a time and a place where the structure is based on what you bring to it, and what you would like to take from it. If you are someone who lives with anxiety or depression and would like to share what is troubling you, this is a safe place to do so. If you have helpful advice to pass on to others, we encourage you to present that to the group. It could be extremely helpful to someone who needs it. Some of you may feel more comfortable just sitting amongst peers and listening. We welcome that as well.

    This week the theme of Share & Care did not focus on anxiety or depression at all. Instead we casually talked about how being in a virtual world has been a source of relief, especially during this pandemic.

    Cythe mentioned how retail therapy in Second Life can mirror retail therapy in RL and how it brings a sense of comfort. We talked about how Second Life relationships can make us feel close to one another and how lasting bonds can be formed. Some friendships that are eventually taken to RL and others even resulting in marriage.

    We discussed how something as simple as a group hug can truly be a source of solace for someone. How playing inworld games with other people can be such a wonderful distraction to take us away from the things that might be happening in RL.

    We also acknowledged some of the amazing places people have created for everyone to explore and enjoy inworld. Just to simply escape the things that may be causing you anxiety or depression. Or, even to pass the time and witness some very creative places in SL. Who knows, you may even find a peaceful little spot to meditate.

 Here are some links that came up in our session:

• Trekking inTibet: Mount Everest Expedition in SL

•  Grand Canyon Second Life

• Moogle Land

• A virtual vacation in Ibiza

 

 Lancelost, suggested this book and said he quite enjoyed it because he found it very helpful.

• You can be happy no matter what byRichard Carlson

He also shared this link on Chronic Pain Control Techniques

     Wow, we covered so much in just one short, casual hour and we even managed to squeeze in a group hug too! On behalf of Dann, Cythe and myself, I’d like to thank those who came. Even your quiet presence is a welcomed contribution because without knowing it, you could be helping to create a sense of comfort, safety, and a supportive community for someone else. Helping others can also help mend the deep wounds within ourselves, help us grow, and heal. Or, you might just make a new friend to explore and share SL with. Plus, by simply coming and spending an hour with us, you earn a CFM coin.

Hope to see you all next week, same time, same place. 4pm SLT at the Yoga Platform.

 

The Center For Mindfulness Coins

From Monday 16 Nov we implement the Mindfulness coins ♥ This means after every event your guide will be sharing a coin with you which you can save up to trade for items ...

Read more...

 

Mindful Eating

 

Mindful Eating

Join us on Thursdays when Cythe will lead a discussion and meditation at 1 pm slt about mindful eating. Join us and bring a snack! 

Introduction to Mindful Eating

Mindful Eating Is

• Allowing yourself to become aware of the positive and nurturing opportunities that are available through food selection and preparation by respecting your own inner wisdom.
  
• Using all your senses in choosing to eat food that is both satisfying to you and nourishing to your body.   
• Acknowledging responses to food (likes, dislikes or neutral) without judgment.
• Becoming aware of physical hunger and satiety cues to guide your decisions to begin and end eating.

Benefits of Mindful Eating

• Reconnect to innate wisdom about hunger and satiety
  
• Offers the possibility of freeing yourself from reactive patterns around food and eating
• Nourishes not only the body but the heart
• Empowers you to make healthier choices, unlike dieting, which can lead to feelings of deprivation
• Brings awareness of your relationship with other people and beings
• Shifts locus of control from external authorities to your body's inner wisdom

Someone Who Eats Mindfully

• Acknowledges that there is no right or wrong way to eat but varying degrees of awareness surrounding the experience of food.
• Accepts that their eating experiences are unique.
• Is an individual who by choice, directs their attention to eating on a moment-by-moment basis.
  
• Gains awareness of how they can make choices that support health and well being.
• Becomes aware of the interconnection of earth, living beings, and cultural practices and the impact of their food choices on those systems

Learn more

The Center for Mindful Eating has a wealth of resources for people wishing to learn about mindful eating and begin a mindful eating practice. 

The power of compassion

This podcast shares the story from Prof Doty I shared with you yesterday...

 In this episode of the podcast, Sam Harris speaks with James R. Doty about his memoir​ Into the Magic Shop: A Neurosurgeon’s Quest to Discover the Mysteries of the Brain and the Secrets of the Heart​.

They discuss: ● the significance of childhood stress ● the possibility of changing one’s core beliefs about oneself ● the relationship between surgeons and their patients ● the nature of compassion ● the Dalai Lama ● the relationship between wealth and empathy ● the worsening problem of social inequality ● the physiology of compassion ● the broken healthcare system in the U.S. ● and other topics James R. Doty​ is a clinical professor in the Department of Neurosurgery at Stanford University and the director of the Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education at Stanford University School of Medicine. As director of CCARE, Dr. Doty has collaborated on a number of research projects focused on compassion and altruism including the use of neuro-economic models to assess altruism, use of the CCARE-developed compassion cultivation training in individuals and its effect, assessment of compassionate and altruistic judgment utilizing implanted brain electrodes and the use of optogenetic techniques to assess nurturing pathways in rodents. Presently, he is developing collaborative research projects to assess the effect of compassion training on immunologic and other physiologic determinants of health, the use of mentoring as a method of instilling compassion in students and the use of compassion training to decrease pain. Dr. Doty is also an inventor, entrepreneur and philanthropist having given support to a number of charitable organizations including Children as the Peacemakers, Global Healing, the Pachamama Alliance and Family & Children Services of Silicon Valley. He is on the Board of Directors of a number of non-profit foundations including the Dalai Lama Foundation, of which he is chairman and the Charter for Compassion International of which he is vice-chair. He is on the International Advisory Board of the Council for the Parliament of the World’s Religions and also writes for The Huffington Post.

Sam's Harris Waking Up

Prof Doty's book 

Book: The power of fifty bits

16 personalities

Yesterday Wili showed me this 16 personalities page and talked to me about his test results and how they gave him better insight in how he is and what he needs. My results in the picture, Architect, he found to be very accurate and so did my husband. I am not one to be easily won over by tests like this but it seems my results are fairly close to another test I did on Jordan Peterson's Understand Myself test, try it out and let us know what you think ♥

 "Since the dawn of time, humans have drawn up schematics to describe and categorize our personalities. From the four temperaments of the ancient civilizations to the latest advances in psychology, we have been driven to fit the variables and complexities of human personality into well-defined models. Although we are still some time away from being able to do that, the current models account for our most important personality traits and can predict our behavior with a high degree of accuracy.
Personality is just one of many factors that guide our behavior, however. Our actions are also influenced by our environment, our experiences, and our individual goals. On our website, we describe how people belonging to a specific personality type are likely to behave. We outline indicators and tendencies, however, not definitive guidelines or answers. Significant differences can exist even among people who share a personality type. The information on this website is meant to inspire personal growth and an improved understanding of yourself and your relationships – not to be taken as gospel." 

New event: Mondays 4pm- Share & Care ♥

Do you suffer from Anxiety and/or Depression? 

On Mondays 4pm we set a weekly meeting Share & Care where you can share your experience, what helps you cope and what not, find or be a shoulder, make new friends or just sit and listen...

Our mantra: it's ok!

Helping other people can improve your self-esteem and make you feel better about yourself, since you are taking time and energy to have a positive impact on someone else. And receiving help from someone can be a positive motivator to then turn around and help someone else. The impact of one person helping another person, therefore, could benefit a whole chain of individuals. Just imagine how the world would be if people started using helping others as a primary coping mechanism for their own struggles. 

By turning our attention toward helping others, we make everyone feel better—ourselves included. We find not only relief from our depression and anxiety, but also improvements in our relationships.

Taken together these two effects can trigger a "virtuous circle" in which improved relationships lead to feeling better leads to improved relationships and so forth.

Compassion and kindness at it's best ♥

 

Mindful Thought: Body Anxiety

This is certainly the age of anxiety. Many  people

have problems related to anxiety, caused by the rampant

stress in their lives. Anxiety is one of the most pervasive mind states psychiatrists encounter.

From time to time, in even the hardiest of us, feelings of fear surface. They may be about

losing someone or losing something or about feeling pain or being alone

or being sick or disabled, or about someone you love being hurt.  

We may have fears of failure or fears of success, fears of

letting other people down or about the fate of the earth. 

Most of us carry such fears within us. They are always present but they only

surface under certain circumstances.

The Kindness Club : Sa Ta Na Ma

Weekly on Mondays 1pm now: Kirtan Krya , watch here 

singing Sa Ta Na Ma together (2 min out loud, 2 min whisper, 4 minutes in the mind, 2 min whisper, 2 min out loud) while doing the mudra with fingers

Weekend Zen: New Sunday evening event! The Dreaming Buddha

Introducing the NEW Dreaming Buddha meditation area!

It is my wish that we come together to enjoy this beautiful, tranquil space each Sunday at 1pm SLT, as our special way to mark the closing of one week and enter a new week feeling refreshed.

This will be a voice led, guided meditation, designed to help you fall asleep, or enter a deep relaxation to prepare you for the week ahead. In the spirit of dream time, I invite you to come drift away on a gracefully floating swan bed, as seen in the video clip below. Please arrive with your avatar dressed in G-rated sleepwear or comfy clothing. Feel free to bring your favorite stuffy too!

Please watch for notices and the group chats to get your landmark. I look forward to seeing you all there ♥

The Science of Well Being

 Bronus shared with us this Yale course: The science of well being. I already signed up for the free one (no certificate) and hope some of you do to, it looks very interesting! 

In this course you will engage in a series of challenges designed to increase your own happiness and build more productive habits. As preparation for these tasks, Professor Laurie Santos reveals misconceptions about happiness, annoying features of the mind that lead us to think the way we do, and the research that can help us change. You will ultimately be prepared to successfully incorporate a specific wellness activity into your life.

THE SCIENCE OF WELL BEING WAS PRODUCED IN PART DUE TO THE GENEROUS FUNDING OF THE DAVID F. SWENSEN FUND FOR INNOVATION IN TEACHING.

Things that are beautiful ♥

 Bluebirdy shared this one with us and made me smile so sharing here too ♥

Mindful Thought Body- Pain

 

 

Today Body pt 4 : how can Mindfulness help with pain.

Hundreds of millions of people all over the world are impacted by pain. Physical pain, chronic pain, mental pain... Living with pain is not only a physical strain it is also an emotional strain as well. Feelings of frustration, anger, depression or even despair can deeply impact the quality of our lives.

The use of highly addictive opioids to treat pain have caused a silent epidemic, every year 300 million pain prescriptions are given out by doctors worldwide, which equals a $24 billion market, 80%of those subscriptions is consumed in the United States, 15% in Canada and Europe, and the rest of the world gets the other 5%. Unfortunately, 40 to 70% of people with chronic pain aren't actually receiving the proper medical treatment for their pain.  The over use of opioid is staggering. Worldwide 187000 people die from opioid overdose every year and that number grows every year by 6%.

New Qigong Class with Cythe

We have three Spring Forest Qigong practices each week here at the Center for Mindfulness with Cythe:

Tuesdays at 1 pm slt the Small Universe Mediation
Wednesdays at 3 pm slt the Qigong Active Exercises
Fridays at 1 pm slt a Self-Concentration meditation for healing

If you are hungry for more Spring Forest Qigong, Sue Crites is a Spring Forest Qigong Instructor and Master Healer and she offers a program of 31 Days of Qigong online on YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL8ycmdSZqzaobhVO-f5i-LA3Pf21Ze_rL

 
You can also sign up for her Live Weekly Online Qigong sessions on Zoom:

https://register.qigongfromhome.com/

Enjoy!

Steven J. Fogel: What Carlos Castaneda Taught Me about How to Live a More Effective Life

What Carlos Castaneda Taught Me about How to Live a More Effective Life

On Tuesday, my new book, Your Mind Is What Your Brain Does for a Living: Learn How to Make It Work for You, was released, and it made me think about the path that brought me to writing a book about mindfulness and how we can use our mind to rewire our brain. Looking back, I see that as a teen I already had the curiosity of a searcher for life’s wisdom, but the first books that “hooked” me were by Carlos Castaneda, and I read them when I was in my early 30s. It was the hippie era and Castaneda’s writing was at the forefront of the counterculture of the time.

 

Read more here

Thank you, Bronus for sharing ♥

Mindful Thought Body pt2

 

Today Mindfulness Thoughts is about tackling our craving and addiction.

We function throughout the day thanks to habits: wake up, brush teeth, make coffee. Transforming behaviors into habits saves our brains from having to make extra effort to make the same decisions over and over, and this can work to our benefit like arriving in time at work, sporting 2 times a week etc 

but we can also form habits like smoking cigarettes, stress-eating, or constantly checking our social media and that may be holding us back.