Plato once said: “The greatest mistake physicians make is that they attempt to cure the body without attempting to cure the mind; yet the mind and the body are one and should not be treated separately!”

Now, 2,500 years later, science has finally proven Plato right!  And, the medical profession is starting to take notice.  

We Are One
 

A simple thought can affects every aspect of our lives from our health to our relationships.  “When two or more are joined” those thoughts (or prayers) are even more powerful whether they are thoughts of hate or peace.   Research has proven that when people come together and meditate or pray with the same intention, it can actually change the behavior of others?

In 1993 an experiment was done with 4,000 people from a hundred counties who did TM meditation for long periods time within the same day on the so-called murder capital of the world, Washington D.C.   The crime rate dropped so significantly that day that the police chief  at the time become a collaborator and author of subsequent studies.    .  

In a few weeks, on July 11^th at noon EST, there will be an opportunity for you to join an estimated half million or more other people from all over the world who will be participating in something similar with Deepak Chopra who is conducting a Global Meditation for Compassion.   His online global group will have one common intention, to bring more compassion to the world while renewing what truly matters, empathy and love.  It’s free but, the benefits will surely affect us all.   Mark your calendars; even get a group of your friends together.  Let’s do our part to make the world a more loving place. 

The Power of Your Mind

The Power of Your Mind

For thousands of years, human beings have practiced refined techniques of mental focusing, designed to change the habitual conditioning of the mind.  In recent decades, modern science has dramatically confirmed what professional and Olympic athletes have long claimed—that the mind offers deep and lasting benefits for mental functioning, emotional health, as well as for physical health and wellness.  Some of the many practical benefits include:

Marked and lasting reduction of stress

Increased physical strength and performance

Increased ability to focus and concentrate

Clarity of thinking

Freedom from detrimental patterns of thoughts and emotions

Increased learning capacity and memory

Greatly enhanced well-being and peacefulness  

Whether it is mindfulness, meditation, creative visualization or using one of the many other mind-focusing techniques, you will be better able to embrace life’s every-changing impermanence, to live in equanimity with the inevitable ups and downs of being human, and to feel deeply connected to the whole of life.   

Meditation to Improve Your Health and Wellness

Meditation can take many different forms, from secular relaxation to Zen Buddhism but, whichever type you try, meditation can improve your health and wellness by slowing your heart rate, improving blood flow, relieving muscle tension, and minimizing the release of stress hormones.

You are not what you think you are, but .....WHAT YOU THINK, YOU ARE.

There is a law in psychology that if you form a picture in your mind of what you would like to be, and you keep and hold that picture there long enough, you will soon become exactly as you have been thinking.  ---William James

Perhaps  the most important mental  and spiritual principal ever discovered is that you become what you is going on outside of you is a reflection of what is going on inside of you.   You can tell the inner condition of a person by looking at the outer conditions of his or her life.   And it cannot be otherwise.  

Your mind is extraordinarily powerful.   Your thoughts control and determine almost everything that happens to you.   They can raise or lower your heart rate, improve or interfere with your digestion, change the chemical composition of your blood, and help you to sleep or keep you awake at night.  

Your thought can make you happy or sad, sometimes in an instant.  They can make you alert and aware, or distracted and depressed.  They can make you popular or unpopular, confident or insecure, positive or negative.  Your thoughts can make your feel powerful or powerless, a victim or a victor, a hero or a coward.  

In your material life, your thoughts can make you a success or a failure, prosperous or poverty-stricken, respected or ignored.  Your thoughts, the actions that they trigger, determine your whole life.   And the best news of all is that they are completely under your own control.  

As children we are born with no self-concepts.   Every idea, opinion, feeling, attitude, or value you have as an adult you learned from childhood.  Everything you are today is the result of an idea or impression you took in and accepted as true.   When you believe something to be true, it becomes true for you, whatever the fact may be.   You are not what you think you are, but what you THINK, YOU ARE. 

Most parents tell their children they can be or do anything they set your minds to but, their way of living and speaking does not model or demonstrate the truth of these words.   What is your life mirroring back to you and your family?   Do you need to change your thinking?   

Daily Contemplation

“How is this even freakin possible?” the voice inside my head moaned as I faced a challenge of one more issue. “I’ve already done this……I have already dealt with this issue years ago.”  Sound familiar?

I had already “been there, done that.”  No more lessons, thank you very much.   You too?

I know none of us want to hear this, but your issues are about YOU. Your daily job is about your awareness. And once you understand that nothing that happens in your life is separate from you – then you master success in many areas.....and can no longer blame anyone else for your difficulties.   This true for us collectively as people and as a nation.  

This is not about striving for perpetual meditative bliss. This is about living from a place of power and the willingness to listen to the on-going guidance it brings.  And when that 'old' familiar emotional button gets triggered acknowledge it too without letting it take hold of you or giving it any power or assigning it any meaning.  It just is......

Oprah says that your life is always speaking to you.

Are  you listening?

I’d go a step further. I’d tell you that even before the externals of your life speaks to you, your inner self speaks to you.

Listening to these signals is critical to your everyday happiness. Some call it intuition. Some call it “gut instinct.” Either way, you must pay attention.

If you don't, not only are you ignoring your intuition which is your guidance system, but when you ignore it long enough over a long period of time it can manifest into physical symptoms that might send you to the doctor.   Why not listen first?  

Awareness of the present moment.   We thrive in the present moment.  It’s the only real thing there is.  It’s where all your answers reside and our listening abilities increase.  And one great side benefit for me is better memory.   Who doesn't need that these days?   

Spend regular time unplugged. Practice just being. Especilly during those times when you get emotionally triggered.   Just stay with it without taking any outside action and watch it transform.   It will I promise.  This is not just for yogis.   It’s for ALL of us. 

Managing and Understanding Pain Workshop

Wednesdays, September 26 to October 17  

7:00 PM to 9:00 PM     

$195.00

The course is intended to help individuals understand what chronic pain is. You will be asked to delve into your pain experience by tracking it on a daily basis which is included in Dr. Margaret Caudill’s workbook “Managing Pain Before It Manages You.”

This program will teach you skills for coping with sadness, anxiety, or anger associated with chronic pain. It includes methods for communicating your needs clearly and expressing yourself effectively to those around you.

Emerson Health & Wellness Center       

310 Baker Ave Extension

Concord, MA

1-978-287-3777

Register on line

http://www.emersonhospital.org/HealthResources/HealthWellnessClasses.aspx

Peggy Flood, RN-BC, MS, AOCN has over 20 years’ experience as a Clinical Nurse Specialist.  At Emerson Hospital she developed a successful Pain Resource program.  Peggy provided in-house consults for patients and assisted physicians and nurses in developing treatment plans for patients in pain.  Peggy is on the Steering Council and is the Co-Chair of the Education Council of the Massachusetts Pain Initiative.  She has presented programs on managing pain to both healthcare professionals and the community.

Fran Spayne, MA, Holistic Therapist/Inspirational Life Coach/ Reiki Master.

For over 30 years, Fran has devoted her life to helping others heal their minds to find peace and joy in daily living and the world.  She has taught courses all over New England to adults, parents, students, hospital staff and educators on the power of the mind, the mind body connection, the universal law of attraction, spirituality (ACIM), visualization & meditation.