Be well, become healthy, become wiser. You are the architect of your health and happiness!
Holistic wellness encompasses not only physical exercises but proper nutrition, social interactions, self-regulation of stress & emotions and many other facets of well-being. Holistic health practices seem like they are something new, sometimes thanks to savvy marketers looking to ride the next wave of healthcare fads. Ironically, many holistic methods have roots deep in Buddhism, Taoism, Ayurveda, Traditional Chinese Medicine and other ancient cultures from around the world. Phytotherapy (herbology), naturopathy, chiropractic and even biomedicine/allopathic medicine owe these origins to the ancients.
So many people in pain and suffering, that don’t need to be. I am looking forward to partnering with more wellness centers, hospitals, VA facilities, schools, other groups and venues that can see the value in promoting mind, body and self-awareness. Most know that we have been in a mental and physical healthcare crisis, for many decades now.
I teach and offer lectures about holistic health, qigong, tai chi, baguazhang, meditation, phytotherapy (herbs), music for healing, self-massage, and yoga. I also have hundreds of FREE education video classes, lectures and seminars available on my YouTube channel at:
I have some observations from practicing and teaching meditation methods from over my last 40 years. There has been much stigma in the US regarding meditation going back to when the Maharishi introduced it to the Beatles rock band from 1959 and into the 60’s, and consequently the whole American counterculture of “hippies” of that era. I was quite young at this time but remember how adults around me would comment on how meditation was religious, cultish, and maybe even related to drug use. Some of these factors may actually be true for some people but definitely don’t need to be. Meditation and its many, many various methods can stand alone from any of my previous mentioned groups. Once people become informed and more educated, then they can logically determine for themselves that meditation is more of a mental type of exercise than anything threatening or unusual. Once someone realizes that meditation can come in many ways other than sitting still for long periods of time, such as playing or listening to music, walking, hiking, cooking, walking, producing artwork and many other skillful means, meditation can become less weird, unusual, or threatening. Moving meditation through yoga, tai chi/qigong, dance, and some others are a great way to get away from the stationary methods of sitting and standing meditation. However, if someone is closed minded to the whole idea of learning and trying something new, then it doesn’t really matter how hard another tries to convince them.
Time is another big deterrent to regular and consistent practice of meditation. Many people have the false assumption that if one is not sitting in the lotus position for hours on end, then they are not meditating or may not be doing it long enough to benefit. Studies have reported that some college students who practice mindfulness as part of their coursework, showed cognitive and wellbeing benefits, even when practicing for as little as five minutes twice a week, depending upon the type of mindfulness method implemented (O’Hare et al., 2023).
I have come to understand that it takes about 3 minutes of regulated slow breathing to engage the parasympathetic nervous system and its relative benefits of slower heart rate which affects metabolic functions, helping to induce stress relief, relaxation, and mental clarity. I have come to call the “foot in the door” approach seems to work best for beginners. This is when I suggest to someone with an interest in trying meditating, to start with using a timer set for 5 minutes. Almost everyone can agree that 5 minutes is quite easy to carve out and into one’s schedule. Often after the 5 minutes goes by relatively quicky and without incident, a beginner can easily add another 5 minutes, and then another of they feel better from the initial starting. Our mind has this interesting ability to adjust our perspectives on time and relative priorities as our thoughts and emotions level off to see what truly is more important.
Other challenges that I have encountered either with myself or others are physical discomfort, inability to relax and/or quiet the mind, boredom and even some people become so relaxed that they fall asleep. Practice, practice and more practice. Meditation is a slow path to a greater reward, that will pay off over time of the effort is invested. If you were to eat a salad once a month, this will not make you healthy. Similarly, meditating once in a while will not yield much results. Slow and steady wins the game.
Reference:
O’Hare, A. J., & Gemelli, Z. T. (2023). The effects of short interventions of focused-attention vs. self-compassion mindfulness meditation on undergraduate students: Evidence from self-report, classroom performance, and ERPs. PLoS ONE, 17(1), 1–20. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0278826
Some other tips regarding meditation:
Meditation can offer numerous benefits for mental, emotional, and even physical well-being, but it’s not always an easy practice to master. Common challenges people face with meditation include:
Restlessness and Impatience: Many beginners struggle with restlessness and impatience, finding it difficult to sit still and quiet the mind.
Monkey Mind: This refers to the constant stream of thoughts that can make it hard to concentrate or find a sense of calm during meditation.
Physical Discomfort: Sitting in one position for an extended period can lead to discomfort or even pain, distracting from the meditation experience.
Lack of Time: Finding time to meditate regularly can be a challenge in our busy lives, leading to inconsistency in the practice.
High Expectations: Some people expect immediate results from meditation, leading to disappointment when the benefits don’t manifest right away.
Doubt and Skepticism: It’s common to doubt the effectiveness of meditation, especially if the benefits aren’t immediately apparent.
Boredom: Sitting in silence can sometimes lead to feelings of boredom, making it harder to stay engaged in the practice.
Difficulty Focusing: People often struggle to maintain focus on a single point of attention, such as the breath or a mantra.
To overcome these challenges and improve your meditation practice, consider these recommendations:
Start Small: Begin with shorter meditation sessions and gradually increase the duration as your focus and comfort improve. Even a few minutes of meditation can be beneficial.
Be Patient: Understand that meditation is a skill that takes time to develop. Results may not be immediate, but consistent practice will yield benefits over time.
Accept Thoughts: Instead of trying to forcefully push away thoughts, acknowledge them without judgment and gently bring your focus back to your chosen point of meditation (e.g., your breath).
Use Guided Meditations: Guided meditations, available through apps or online, can provide structure and support, making it easier to stay focused.
Experiment with Techniques: There are various meditation techniques (mindfulness, loving-kindness, body scan, etc.). Experiment with different techniques to find the one that resonates with you.
Create a Routine: Set a regular meditation schedule. Consistency is key to reaping the benefits of meditation.
Adjust Your Posture: If physical discomfort is an issue, try different sitting positions or consider practicing walking meditation to reduce the strain.
Lower Expectations: Approach meditation with an open mind and without lofty expectations. Focus on the process rather than the outcome.
Join a Group: Meditating with a group or participating in meditation classes can provide accountability and a sense of community.
Cultivate Patience: Patience is crucial. Like any skill, meditation improves with time and practice. Be kind to yourself as you navigate the challenges.
Remember that meditation is a personal journey, and everyone’s experience is unique. It’s okay to face challenges along the way; these challenges are often opportunities for growth and learning.
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I teach and offer lectures about holistic health, qigong, tai chi, baguazhang, and yoga. I also have hundreds of FREE education video classes, lectures and seminars available on my YouTube channel at:
“Triggered” has become a more recent buzzword, relative to emotional interoception and self-regulation and use of coping mechanisms. Almost anything can be a perceived trigger to an individual depending upon genetics, upbringing, environment, experiences, etc. Burnt toast may be a trigger to a child or adult, where they express disgust, disappointment, anger and other negative emotions. Loud noises may be a trigger for a soldier experiencing PTSD from combat and relative life and death circumstances. Everyone interprets stimuli uniquely to their own circumstances. However, trigger is not too often being associated with positive scenarios. We don’t hear much of people being “triggered” into helping someone in need, triggered to complete a task, or offer a compliment. Triggered is becoming a bit overused and taking on a negative definition within our culture.
Doctor Erik Messamore speaks in some detail about how the word “trigger” itself can become overused and actually trigger its own negative emotional responses. The word often connects to definitions attached to weapons or a state of lack of control. Once the trigger is pulled or engaged, there is no way to un-pull the trigger (Ask A Psychiatrist, 2020). I have discussed this concept in other venues, where the topic came up about how it is possible to manipulate someone to remember any particular thought. For example, if we were to perform an online Google search asking for “cars other than blue ones” and then click images, all we will see our blue cars presented. So, regardless of us asking for no blue cars, artificial intelligence only picks up on the “blue” with no context of the surrounding words. If we ask a produce worker at the grocery store to find us some unbruised bananas, their attention goes towards finding the bruised ones and not choosing those. Regardless, their thoughts and ours gravitate towards not wanting bruised bananas. Similarly, if we are discussing something that is negative, stressful or triggering, but seemingly not personally affecting us, our words and attached thoughts will on some level affect our emotions and relative psychophysiological responses.
Alternative words instead of using triggering could be:
stressors
elicit
produce
bring about
manifest
cause
produce
Psychologist John Cacioppo states that “the processing of a word, like any other sensory stimulus is sensitive to experience,” (Cacioppo & Tassinary, 2016, p.515). I think that this brings us to the understanding that specific areas of the brain play roles in the processing of sensory stimuli which may be perceived as bringing us happiness, stress, or other emotional states in between. While all humans may have the same components within the brain, each person processes stimuli and relative happiness or stress somewhat unique to their own genetics, life circumstances, and behaviors and/or lifestyle choices (DocMikeEvans, 2016). When we choose to speak words, the Wernicke’s area of the brain is engaged to help formulate within our thoughts, what we will verbally say. Neuron signals are then transmitted to the Broca’s area of the brain in order to produce the strategy for the motor cortex to put together the sounds that will become words and sentences. From here we use our language to communicate our thoughts (Andrew Scott, 2013). I think that this process is the result of how each individual perceives stimuli and responds uniquely depending upon their own availability of coping mechanisms, resources, and life experiences. If someone is exposed to mostly negative experiences throughout their life, they may have a different “calibration” for what they perceive as happiness. Conversely, someone who has very little stress in their lives may see themselves as quite happy, until something they perceive as a major stressor forces them to re-calibrate their thinking.
So, I think that happiness and stress are both relative terms to the present moment. Perceptions of happiness and stress will continue to ebb and flow as we learn, grow, and then adapt to whatever we experience under whatever circumstances. Words have meaning, impact and influence. Choose words wisely.
References:
Ask A Psychiatrist. (2020, May 12). Emotion Regulation. What causes emotional reactions and how can we modify them? [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YUPIhzHa-68
Cacioppo, J. T., Tassinary, L. G., & Berntson, G. G. (2016). Handbook of Psychophysiology. P. 515. Cambridge University Press. Kindle Edition.
I teach and offer lectures about holistic health, qigong, tai chi, baguazhang, and yoga. I also have hundreds of FREE education video classes, lectures and seminars available on my YouTube channel at:
So many people complain about national health issues that face our country today. Stress, PTSD, anxiety, depression, diabetes, suicide, obesity and many other ailments have skyrocketed over the last decades. The US spends the most of all nations on healthcare, in spite of ranking way below the top. These issues did not happen overnight and will not be fixed overnight either. If children (and adults too!) were being taught to manage themselves or self-regulate, their stress, their interactions with others – through exercise and breathing management, we would soon not have as many adults in such poor health. Plant good seeds if you want good crops, right? Healthcare is best started with self-care.
Become interested in self-regulating and managing your own health, your stress, your sense of balance. Or maybe just get out of the house and meet some new people. Do something that engages your mind and your body at the same time. Walk, run, swim, hike, garden, play a musical instrument, paint, draw, build or create something,
I prefer self-regulation through exercises from martial arts, yoga/qigong and other similar mind-body methods. Exercises can be practiced while standing, and then moving into yoga-like postures of Tai chi and qigong. By aligning the bones and relative joints, muscles become engaged making both the bones and muscles stronger and consequently more stable. Putting focus on one’s physical body is how one can occupy their mind with positive thoughts rather than the typical chaos, confusion and other negative issues that distract us from enjoying life to its fullest.
1. Self-observation- we look at our behavior and keep tabs on it.
2. Judgement- we compare what we see with a standard.
3. Self-response- if we did well with your standard, you give yourself rewarding self- responses.
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I teach and offer lectures about holistic health, qigong, tai chi, baguazhang, and yoga. I also have hundreds of FREE education video classes, lectures and seminars available on my YouTube channel at:
Symbols can have strong meanings, and for that reason have been used for thousands of years to help convey messages, passing on of history, mythology and philosophical concepts. I have combined some of my thoughts on the relationships between Carl Jung’s ideas on “squaring of the circle,” and its similarities to the Indigenous Medicine Wheel, the 5-elements theory or “wuxi” from Taoism, and the energy center or “chakras” from Hinduism/Buddhism. The Indigenous Medicine Wheel offers the values of humility, honesty, respect, courage, wisdom, truth, and love. Taoism’s star symbol represents other aspects of the mind, will power, intellect, the corporeal and ethereal souls, among other correspondences. The chakra scale has its own set of similar, but different correspondences. The more I delve into the teachings of these ancient cultures, I feel quite strongly that the similarities between them are not mere coincidences, but rather perhaps the underlying collective unconscious presenting itself in various different manifestations, in separate locations and at assorted times in human history.
Aside from overlapping components of colors, elements, animals, energy centers and many others, is the similarity in the musical notes or tones that all of these philosophical and/or belief systems share. Humans have used music for enjoyment, for ritual, for healing and perhaps other reasons for thousands of years. Music is a series of sounds or tones that produce vibrations. These vibrations can affect the human body’s nervous system on many levels, sometimes deemed as being good or bad for the individual. Certain tones are thought to affect specific organs, different levels of self-realization, and links to higher spiritual realms. Conversely, specific notes can vibrate to cause stress on the nervous system, breakup kidney stones and even for demolition of buildings.
I learned many decades ago that the holding of physical postures engages specific muscles group while simultaneously engaging the nervous systems. Either the parasympathetic nervous system (rest and digest response) is engaged with the slow rhythmic breathing or the sympathetic nervous system (fight or flight response) with a rapid rhythmic breathing cadence. Either of these processes can change the blood chemistry to promote healing on different levels. This physiological process can be seen in the other moving meditations practices of yoga, and its offspring of qigong and further spawn of tai chi. I have found (and personally practiced) all of these methods with either slow or fast breathing patterns can put the practitioner in either the meditative or trance state, depending upon background music/sounds, the individual and their intent. This is a concept called entrainment, where the practitioner’s heartbeat synchronizes with the beat of a drum or other percussion sound. I have learned to practice qigong, tai chi and other martial arts exercises with music consisting of bells, chimes and other percussion instruments with this exact purpose of slowing (or increases) the heart and breathing rate in order to enter into the meditative state of being.
With so much talk and debate in recent years regarding anxiety, depression and many other mental ailments, music therapy along with physical and mental exercises, offers realistic, relatively cheap and readily accessible methods for self-regulation of thoughts, emotions and relative physiological mechanisms. Or, in other words self-care of personal health and well-being.
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I teach and offer lectures about holistic health, qigong, tai chi, baguazhang, and yoga. I also have hundreds of FREE education video classes, lectures and seminars available on my YouTube channel at:
United Martial Arts Association 