Tag Archives: mental-health

Irreducible

8 Jan

Union Is in the Heart

Follow the advice of your heart, because no one will be more faithful to you than him. —Book of Sirach, 37.13

 I think that the positive forces that will create our future will not be the forces and the laws of matter, but those of conscious cooperation, comprehension, and love for others that all beings in existence must sooner or later manifest because these values are the essence of our deepest nature.

I also think that the most effective way to achieve union is through a process of collective and cooperative creation of a just, empathic, and loving society through right and courageous actions informed by the heart and by the intuitive and rational mind. Then our experience and knowing will grow in our hearts and they will guide our individual actions through an ever-higher level of consciousness.

Unfortunately, today there is the real danger of letting ourselves be seduced by the spreading culture of digital ontology and digital consumerism that replaces true and profound relationships with virtual and superficial ones, thus halting, if not reversing, our spiritual development.

Social networks designed to bombard people with suggestive messages, often personalized to reinforce personal biases or based on false information or on presumed conspiratorial theories, generate groups that can become alienated from reality in self-isolating worlds. Nikola Tesla said that “progress must serve to improve the human race; if not, it is only a perversion.”

Technology must be used to help us discover our true nature, not to further imprison us in meaningless virtual worlds designed to enrich the richest. We have come to the point where we can truly unite as humans no matter where we were born, or stay divided in warring factions with ever increasing destructive technology on our side. Only when we truly comprehend that we are responsible for our experiences and that the choice is ours alone, can we begin to truly know ourselves and the world.

To know ourselves more and more, we need a new empathic science that can convert scientific knowledge into deep lived knowing and from it generate new scientific knowledge. Similarly, we need a new rational spirituality that can convert lived knowing into new scientific knowledge and from it generate new lived knowing. These two disciplines can then intertwine in endless and mutual crescendo.

This is the essence of the Creative Principle of One. Within this vision, empathic science and rational spirituality, integrating and interweaving, will evermore increase our loving, joyful, and fulfilling union with the Whole.

Federico Faggin

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This universal force is LOVE.

3 Jan

Dear Lieserl, Your father Albert Einstein

In the late 1980s, Lieserl, the daughter of the famous genius, donated 1,400 letters, written by Einstein, to the Hebrew University. This is one of them, for Lieserl Einstein.

I ask you to guard the letters as long as necessary, years, decades, until society is advanced enough to accept what I will explain below.There is an extremely powerful force that, so far, science has not found a formal explanation to. It is a force that includes and governs all others, and is even behind any phenomenon operating in the universe and has not yet been identified by us.

This universal force is LOVE.

When scientists looked for a unified theory of the universe they forgot the most powerful unseen force. Love is Light, that enlightens those who give and receive it. Love is gravity, because it makes some people feel attracted to others. Love is power, because it multiplies the best we have, and allows humanity not to be extinguished in their blind selfishness. Love unfolds and reveals. For love we live and die. Love is Divine and Divine is Love.This force explains everything and gives meaning to life. This is the variable that we have ignored for too long, maybe because we are afraid of love because it is the only energy in the universe that man has not learned to drive at will. To give visibility to love, I made a simple substitution in my most famous equation.If instead of E = mc2, we accept that the energy to heal the world can be obtained through love multiplied by the speed of light squared, we arrive at the conclusion that love is the most powerful force there is, because it has no limits.

After the failure of humanity in the use and control of the other forces of the universe that have turned against us, it is urgent that we nourish ourselves with another kind of energy…If we want our species to survive, if we are to find meaning in life, if we want to save the world and every sentient being that inhabits it, love is the one and only answer. Perhaps we are not yet ready to make a bomb of love, a device powerful enough to entirely destroy the hate, selfishness and greed that devastate the planet. However, each individual carries within them a small but powerful generator of love whose energy is waiting to be released.When we learn to give and receive this universal energy, dear Lieserl, we will have affirmed that love conquers all, is able to transcend everything and anything, because love is the quintessence of life.

I deeply regret not having been able to express what is in my heart, which has quietly beaten for you all my life. Maybe it’s too late to apologize, but as time is relative, I need to tell you that I love you and thanks to you I have reached the ultimate answer! “.

Your father Albert Einstein’

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Four Incredibly Significant Communicators/operators within our amazing body functioning simultaneously……

27 Aug

Four Incredibly Significant Communicators/operators within our amazing body functioning simultaneously……

1.The vagus nerve is the longest cranial nerve and a primary component of the parasympathetic nervous system, controlling many involuntary functions, including heart rate, digestion, respiration, and mood. It also plays a crucial role in the gut-brain axis, facilitating communication between the brain and digestive tract. By stimulating the vagus nerve, one can support various aspects of physical and mental health, from reducing inflammation to improving mood.

2.Heart-Brain Communication that communication between the heart and brain actually is a dynamic, ongoing, two-way dialogue, with each organ continuously influencing the other’s function. Research has shown that the heart communicates to the brain in four major ways: neurologically (through the transmission of nerve impulses), biochemically (via hormones and neurotransmitters), biophysically (through pressure waves) and energetically (through electromagnetic field interactions). Communication along all these conduits significantly affects the brain’s activity. Moreover, research shows that messages the heart sends to the brain also can affect performance.

3.Spinal nerves are 31 pairs of mixed nerves that connect the spinal cord to the body, acting as a communication pathway between the central nervous system and the periphery. These nerves transmit sensory information from the body to the spinal cord and brain, and carry motor commands from the brain and spinal cord to muscles and other effector organs. They are also involved in autonomic functions through sympathetic and parasympathetic fibers.

4.What is the gut microbiome?A biome is a distinct ecosystem characterized by its environment and its inhabitants. Your gut — inside your intestines — is in fact a miniature biome, populated by trillions of microscopic organisms. These microorganisms include over a thousand species of bacteria, as well as viruses, fungi and parasites.Gut microbes can affect your nervous system through the gut-brain axis — the network of nerves, neurons and neurotransmitters that runs through your GI tract. Certain bacteria actually produce or stimulate the production of neurotransmitters (like serotonin) that send chemical signals to your brain.Bacterial products may also affect your nervous system. Short-chain fatty acids appear to have positive effects, while bacterial toxins might damage nerves. Researchers continue to investigate how your gut microbiome might be involved in various neurological, behavioral, nerve pain and mood disorders.they contribute to human health and wellness in many ways.

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Our Human bodies are perfectly interconnected.

12 Jul

Our Human bodies are perfectly interconnected.

Our bodies are composed of many separate systems – or have been taught in school for generations. The theory that our respiratory system, digestive system, reproductive system, and others each work on their own is still the most popular narrative. Yet in truth, every organ and system in our bodies are interconnected. If you neglect one part, sooner or later the others will feel the effects.Each organ belongs to one of ten human body systems. These body systems are interconnected and dependent upon one another to function. Your heart does not beat unless your brain and nervous system tell it to do so. Your skeletal system relies on the nutrients it gains from your digestive system to build strong, healthy bones. Each body system works with the others

Our organs don’t work in solo, organs also function together in groups, The relationships between them mean our entire human body is interconnected. The interconnectivity between these organs means that when a person experiences disease in one of these areas, it increases the chances of one or all the other systems being affected. This can result in the worsening of the disease overall.

This also means that when improvements are made in one area through lifestyle changes and appropriate care, positive improvements are likely to be seen in other organs and systems.

By taking actions such as healthy eating, exercising more, meditation, medication, and not smoking, it is possible to reduce the risk of further damage and to prevent or delay organs from getting worse.

Scientists categorize groups of organs into different body systems, however, these systems do not work in isolation. A disorder in one system can cause other systems to break down. Although each organ has its specific functions called organ systems. Some examples of organ systems and their functions include the digestive system, the cardiovascular system, and the musculoskeletal system.

Organ systems often work together to do complicated tasks. For example, after a large meal is eaten, several organ systems work together to help the digestive system obtain more blood to perform its functions. The digestive system enlists the aid of the cardiovascular system and the nervous system. Blood vessels of the digestive system widen to transport more blood. Nerve impulses are sent to the brain, notifying it of the increased digestive activity. The digestive system even directly stimulates the heart through nerve impulses and chemicals released into the bloodstream. The heart responds by pumping more blood. The brain responds by perceiving less hunger, more fullness, and less interest in vigorous physical (musculoskeletal system) activity, which preserves more blood to be used by the digestive system instead of by skeletal muscles.

Communication between organs and organ systems is vital. Communication allows the body to adjust the function of each organ according to the needs of the whole body. In the example above, the heart needs to know when the digestive organs need more blood so that it can pump more. When the heart knows that the body is resting, it can pump less. The kidneys must know when the body has too much fluid so that they can produce more urine, and when the body is dehydrated so that they can conserve water.

Homeostasis is the term used to describe how the body maintains its normal composition and functions. Because organ systems communicate with each other, the body can maintain stable amounts of internal fluids and substances. Also, the organs neither underwork nor overwork, and each organ facilitates the functions of every other organ.

Sabrina Libretti; Yana Puckett.

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Flow and Mindfulness

3 Jun

FLOW AND MINDFULNESS

I recently rediscovered the concept of “flow” that Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi introduced as a psychological concept in 1990 with his book Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience. I was struck by its application within positive psychology. Positive psychology focuses on behaviors that foster a flourishing, meaningful, and worthwhile life, aiming to discover methods for personal enhancement. The flow state, also termed “optimal experience,” is characterized by a harmony between mind and body, resulting in complete engagement and enjoyment in the activity. Csikszentmihalyi described this experience as one where,

…the ego falls away. Time flies. Every action, movement, and thought follows inevitably from the previous one, like playing jazz. Your whole being is involved, and you’re using your skills to the utmost.

He identified key characteristics of flow, such as the merging of action and awareness, a loss of self-consciousness, and a distorted sense of time.

Interestingly, there are notable parallels between Csikszentmihalyi’s concept of flow and the Buddhist principle of mindfulness. I have been studying and teaching mindfulness for twenty years due to my interest in Buddhist teachings and their applications to mental health issues. Mindfulness, as defined by Kabat-Zinn (2012), involves wakefulness – a state of awareness in every waking moment – that enhances well-being, contentment, and absorption in the present moment, leading to a similar “losing track of time” as described in Csikszentmihalyi’s flow.  It is intriguing to realize that my explorations and teaching of mindfulness included the concept of flow without my fully recognizing their interconnectedness.

There are important similarities between the practices of flow and mindfulness, and this paper will focus on several of these parallels. With mindfulness, we are consciously at one with the action. In the context of mindfulness, wakefulness can best be described as a state of focused awareness in every waking moment (Kabat-Zinn, 2012). Wakefulness enhances our subjective well-being and heightens our contentment with our inner self and the world. Finally, we “lose track of time” as we remain absorbed in the ever-present moment.

An illustration of the application of flow in mindfulness is when we remain in the nonjudgmental “now” and discover the sense of wholeness. Concepts like “in the moment,” “in the present,” and “centered” are all attempts to describe the mindfulness experience. By applying mindfulness to our everyday work, interpersonal interactions, leisure, hobbies, dance, yoga, walking, eating, and other pursuits, we transform our lives into constantly innovative and creative experiences. When completing a task, the mindfulness/flow experience fosters an impromptu, connected, creative, cheerful, and pleasant sensation. We experience an open state, where the interior and exterior are completely interconnected. We lose “ourselves” to discover who we really are.

We can experience oneness in any circumstance throughout our lives. By cultivating the mental culture of mindfulness, we refine the discipline to transcend the experience of duality. We enter a state of openness – of absolute connectedness between the inside and the outside. We surrender our carping, judging thoughts to flow. Our way of thinking typically categorizes everything into strict, binary categories of good and bad, right and wrong, either/or. In my book The Buddha’s Teachings: Seeing Without Illusion, A Contemporary Cognitive Science Perspective (available on Amazon), I describe, in contemporary language, how the Buddha taught this nondualism. Even though the process of thinking is not only acceptable but vital, we tend to make the mistake of assuming that our ideas, classifications, and beliefs are the only true reality or benchmark. An old saying comes to mind: “The mind is a great servant but a terrible master.”

Through the practice of mindfulness and the experience of living in a state of flow, we come to understand that wisdom, compassion, and happiness are attained when we relinquish our subject/object illusion. Life transforms into a less stressful, more creative, and enjoyable experience, allowing us to live a positive existence characterized by respect and care for both ourselves and others. The interconnectedness of life – the intrinsic connection between all living and non-living entities – becomes increasingly apparent, as does the preciousness of life itself. Integrating the flow and mindfulness experiences into our lives can have many positive effects that are just waiting to make a difference for us.

Would it not be prudent for our educational institutions, businesses, and governments to incorporate teachings on flow and mindfulness into their curricula? Such an initiative could positively alter our worldview, culture, and our relationships with both ourselves and one another. I believe that the incorporation of flow and mindfulness into our daily lives could yield countless positive effects that are poised to create meaningful change.

Rodger R Ricketts, Psy.D.

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