Power of Words

Power of Words

 

I taught my Power-of-the-Mind class to a group of 5^th to 10^th grade girls who live in a Housing Projects in Lawrence.    They come from low-income families and many are challenged in their hope for the future.   Some feel totally powerless to their environment of drugs, violence, and poverty.   The first day I met them I had them do this rice experiment.   I had them fill three jars with equal parts of cooked rice.    I labeled them as shown in the picture below.   They were all placed on the Si, Se Puede, an after-school program Director, Lorie Mendoza’s desk.  I asked the girls to come every day and say with passion what was written on the two jars and ignore the third one.    After just one week, yes just 7 days, the results were staggering.   The one jar that was said, “thank you, I love you to”, had no significant change.  The rice still looked fresh and stable.  The one that they said, “You fool, I hope you rot!” to, turned to complete mush.   You couldn’t even tell is was rice.   And the third jar that they ignored all week had large chunks of green mold on the top and bottom of the jar.   This experience was so powerful for these girls.   It showed them that their words not only matter but, they have enough power to affect their environment.   Through this experiment they learned that they do have some control and they can collectively begin to change the world around them.    Their wish now is that every child in Lawrence have the opportunity to learn what they experienced in this class. Their confidence was strengthened enough to asked to meet with the Mayor, Dan Rivera to get his support for this program in the schools. They even wrote letters to Ellen DeGeneres to tell her about what they learned.   

Your words are powerful too.   We live in very divisive times right now but, as these girls have proven, we have the power to make a difference too.   Words and your intention behind the words are powerful.   What words will you choose today?    Fran Spayne – www.MiracleWork.org  

Pain Management without Medication

Don't underestimate the power of your mind to control pain.  

Sometime we have no choice but to take medication to relieve severe or chronic pain.   But what if you had some alternatives that would either eliminate or at least relief your pain without the pill?  Would you try it? 

Did you know, ‘when we experience pain we often hold our breath, which can contribute to inflammation through the release of the stress hormone cortisol,” says Jane Permotto Ehrman, a behavior health specialist at the Cleveland Clinic Center for Lifestyle Medicine?  

What if I told you if you closed your eyes and imagined your body growing more relaxed every second?  As your breath through our belly, visualize oxygen filling any area of tensions with comfort and calm.   Then see the pain dissipating with each exhalation.   “The longer your exhale, the more you stimulate the vagus nerve in the brain, telling it you’re in a safe environment,” says Chicago psychologist Michael Merrill, PhD.  

The Mind is the most powerful tool we have.  We have all heard this but, how many of us have been taught how or how to use it.   Don't under estimate your power.   Learn more today.  

Coming to Your Senses – Disengaging from Your Stressful Thinking

Recently I have had a few people tell me they don’t know how to stop the negative thought patterns that are relentlessly stressing them out and possibly making them sick.   The mind being the most powerful instrument for creating wellness in our bodies is something most of us just let run aimlessly with random stressful, negative thoughts that will more than likely create illness overtime.    But, how do you stop that thinking?  What if I told you, you can’t.   It’s true, it is impossible to stop any thought but, you can change your thinking to different ones.   There are somethings you can do to redirect your thinking and one is coming to your senses, literally.  

 

Through your senses—with the ability to touch, see, smell, taste, and hear—you gain an appreciation of what it means to be human and of what an incredible miracle it is to be alive.  You will actually feel that aliveness and you come into the present moment and are disengaged from the previous negative thoughts.  

The mind-body connection is fascinating with so much potential to create wellness in your everyday life. 

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.