We are here…right here where the rubber hits the road.
When the action really begins, is when you begin the job, when you really get serious.
So the question I have is, how serious are you folks about doing anything? Likes and smiley faces are nice, but really don’t make us healthier, more fit or more connected.
None of us really have “extra” time but rather “make” time for what we prioritize in our lives. True is true, either we walk the talk, or we talk the walk.
Talk is cheap, time is priceless.
If every person in American spent 5 minutes (or more) every day by exercising, more people could better manage their weight and suffer less from related illnesses.
If every person in American spent 5 minutes (or more) every day calming their mind by practicing deep breathing exercises, more people would be less stressed and suffer less from related illnesses.
If every person in American spent every day becoming more conscious of their nutrition habits, more people would be able to maintain their health through the choices they make while eating and drinking, and suffer less from related illnesses.
If everyone could assume personal responsibility for their own health, our nation would not have to spend as much time, effort, energy and money trying to keep people healthy.
These concepts seem easy enough, but in reality, most people lack the desire or self-discipline to take the effort and do what it takes to stay healthy, prevent illness or cure their own ailments. Self-discipline is one of five steps known to help achieve better mental and physical wellness.
1) Respect– This is where values begin. You must understand and have respect for yourself (self-respect) before you can demonstrate it to others. Taking the steps to take care of your physical and mental well-being effects you first and then those closest to you second.
2) Discipline– Developing control of one’s own desires, commitments, and ultimately your own actions, leads to self-discipline. Control of physical exercises can lead to management of thought and emotion.
3) Self-Esteem– As you review your achievements of respect and discipline, your sense of worth is elevated and appreciated.
4) Confidence– Understanding and accepting your weak areas as well as your stronger aspects removes insecurity. When you feel that you are physically well and mentally sharp, confidence can fill your personality. You can accomplish whatever goal you set out to achieve.
5) Determination to Achieve Goals– The positive sum of the previous aspects leads to one’s determination. Good judgment and focused effort toward positive goals result in true personal success.
Qigong, Tai Chi and Yoga all are methods to achieve these traits.
It doesn’t matter so much that you do these exercises, as much as it matters that you do some type of exercise. Walk, jog, swim or whatever – just get going and do something. 5 minutes here and there can quickly turn into 15 or 30 minutes at one time or over the course of a day. Once you are moving or mentally engaged, it is much easier to stay motivated and try a few more exercises for a few more minutes.
Be well, become healthier, be wise.
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I write often about topics that affect our health and well-being. Additionally, I teach and offer lecture about qigong, tai chi, baguazhang, and yoga.
Mantras when practiced with transcendental meditation are repeated in our inner dialogue, but can be practiced with or without background music or sounds. I have some information that a few musically inclined qigong friends and I wrote about in a book we co-authored a few years ago. Whether it is singing bowls, drumming, chanting, or other musical instruments and sounds, it is basically the same concepts.
Masaru Emoto, in his book The Hidden Messages in Water, showed that music has a direct effect on water. By playing a certain piece of music, and then looking at water molecules under a high-powered microscope, he saw that when soothing music was played, the water organized itself with symmetry and beautiful designs. When turbid music was played, such as heavy metal, the water looked putrid and disorganized. The human body is 60 to 80 percent water. Music, whether positive or negative, has a profound effect on us. It can focus us, or it can distract us, it can make us happy or sad, bringing out a wide range of emotions.
Children exposed to music develop better listening skills. They do better in subjects such as math, language, and reading. Music also helps the brain’s plasticity and capacity to change and grow.
Studies have shown that when people have listened to music labeled “happy”, their creativity went up, and when your favorite song comes on unexpectedly, you get a small boost of dopamine. Numerous studies have also shown music can help with anxiety, depression, insomnia, ADHD, PTSD, and schizophrenia.
Music is uniquely human. Animals, with the occasional exception of some birds, can’t process music or feel rhythm in the same way that humans can. Studies have shown that when an animal is dancing to music, they are imitating the owner and not moving to the beat. Historically, music has played an important role in every culture.
Nearly 40,000 years ago, early humans used carved bones with animal skins over tree stumps to make basic instruments. Bone flutes have also been discovered and dated back to 40,000 to 80,000 years ago. Even the early Torah was set to music so people could remember it before they would write it down. People have always used music to remember things.
I have learned also that for thousands of years, chanting as a form of music has been used as a vehicle to create a deeper spiritual connection. The sound of OM, is said to be the universal sound that contains all other sounds. A study revealed that chanting the word OM triggered the area of the brain that is associated with calmness and a sense of inner peace. The syllable OM was found to trigger that more than any other syllable.
Om Mani Padme Hum It has been said over the centuries that all of the teachings of the Buddha are contained in the simple mantra of Om Mani Padme Hum. This can be roughly translated as “The jewel of the lotus.” Below is a hidden 5 element meaning of the mantra, from the album “The 5 Elements of Om Mani Padme Hum”
Om: Wood element: rising, spring time, sprouting upwards. The color is green.
Ma: Fire element: rising and dispersing. Picture flames flickering and dancing. The color is red.
Ni: Earth element: centered and sweet. It does not rise or fall much, always returning to the center. The colors are yellow and gold.
Pad: Qi: sometimes referred to as the 6th energy. Similar to fire, this energy dances both upward and downward. The color is purple.
Me: Metal element: splitting and falling. The season is autumn, and there is grief in the metal element. The colors are white and silver.
Hum: Water element: flowing, building up and dispersing. The season is winter. The colors are blue and black.
Reference:
Leone M., Campbell J., Moltzan J., (2019), Journey Around the Sun
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I write often about topics that affect our health and well-being. Additionally, I teach and offer lecture about qigong, tai chi, baguazhang, and yoga. For more info, contact Jim Moltzan at info@mindandbodyexercises.com, 407-234-0119 or through my site at http://www.mindandbodyexercises.com
A root concept of healthcare for literally thousands of years, but apparently dismissed for the last 2 years:
PHYSICAL ACTIVITY HELPS TO PREVENT DISEASE AND ILLNESS
Become a researcher of health and wellness for your own benefit. Click on any of the following medical studies, to understand and then perhaps follow the science as to why physical activity & exercise are even more important today than maybe any other time before.
Diamond, R., & Waite, F. (2021). Physical activity in a pandemic: A new treatment target for psychological therapy. Psychology and psychotherapy, 94(2), 357–364. https://doi.org/10.1111/papt.12294
Sallis R, Young DR, Tartof SY, et al Physical inactivity is associated with a higher risk for severe COVID-19 outcomes: a study in 48 440 adult patients British Journal of Sports Medicine 2021;55:1099-1105.
Pitanga, Francisco & Beck, Carmem & Pitanga, Cristiano. (2021). The Big Mistake of not Considering Physical Activity an Essential Element of Care During the Covid-19 Pandemic. International Journal of Cardiovascular Sciences. 34. 10.36660/ijcs.20200274.
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Qigong, tai chi, baguazhang, and yoga are not the only methods that can be used within this formula but have proven the test of time as methods to cultivate harmony of the mind, body and spirit. These exercise practices offer a wide spectrum of physical wellness benefits, stress relief as well as means of self-awareness. Not all teachers nor students practice these for the same goals. For more info, contact Jim Moltzan at info@mindandbodyexercises.com, 407-234-0119 or through my site at http://www.mindandbodyexercises.com
I started my martial arts training at the age of 16, starting with Korean martial arts and evolving into BaguaZhang, Tai Chi, and Qigong. I have been training, studying and teaching for almost 40 years effectively educating hundreds of students.
As a recognized master instructor, I have trained with a diverse group of masters and high-level martial arts teachers of many different disciplines. My specialty is teaching exercises to improve chronic conditions, working with people of all ages, especially senior adults. Offering guidance and instruction, I have also worked with Parkinson Disease patients through Florida Hospital. I offer regular lectures as requested by AdventHealth (Florida Hospital) regarding the benefits of Eastern practices.
I am the author and graphic artist of numerous journals, graphic charts and study guides relative to the mind and body connection and how it relates to martial arts, fitness and self-improvement.
I continue training and teaching in the Orlando, Florida area conducting classes, seminars and lectures as my schedule allows. I balance my teaching and businesses with my own personal cultivation and time spent with my wife and two college-age kids.
Illness and diseases such as addiction, mental health issues, heart disease, diabetes, and mental health issues have all been linked to stress and tension. Meditation and mindfulness-based methods of relaxation, have shown potential in bringing about the relaxation response, helping reduce anxiety and enhance well-being. The relaxation response is the term used for the body’s physiological response to relieving stress, where respiration and blood pressure is lowered to counter the “fight or flight” response, thereby activating the body’s parasympathetic nervous system (Goldsby, et al 2017).
Tibetan or Himalayan singing bowls and other ancient instruments used for religious and spiritual ceremonies have been in practice for a very long time. Use goes back thousands of years, with origins in China and Mongolia. Tibetan Buddhist monasteries used the bowls in this manner to keep time or to signal the end of a meditation (Pikörn 2021). Cultures including native peoples, throughout the world have been using sound for healing for thousands of years. The didgeridoo is an instrument used by Australian aboriginal tribes for over 40,000 years, as a sound healing instrument. (Goldsby, et al 2017).
Contemporary music therapy has been known to benefit suffers of various health conditions, including mental illness and pain. Meditation has long been known to also offer improved health and well-being with modern studies indicating that meditation is effective in managing many ailments. such as anxiety, depression, and pain issues (Stanhope & Weinstein (2020). How singing bowls produce health benefits is ambiguous. While sound bowls can help some people to relax and feel better, more research needs to be done to show how they may be able to target the same regions of the mind that meditation does (Pikörn 2021).
A singing bowl or standing bell, are mostly crystal or metal alloy bowls where, by rubbing a mallet around the bowl’s outer rim and edges produce sounds. Singing bowls and sometimes gongs, surround the user with tones that offer the goal of relaxation by decreasing stress, anxiety, and depression. These sounds offer an escape from the everyday incessant inner dialogue or chatter of thoughts within one’s mind. Singing bowl techniques can be very mind engaging, similarly to meditation practices and yoga, and are often practiced in tandem (Pikörn 2021).
Alfred A. Tomatis, a 20th-century French otolaryngologist (one who studies diseases of the ear and throat) offered the thought that music can influence brain waves. Don Campbell’s 1997 book, The Mozart Effect, focused on how music could make one smarter and increase concentration (Pikörn 2021).
The Influence of sound on the human mind and consequently the physical body, has been theorized that sound bowls can help calm the mind, by mimicking the brain’s electrical impulses, also referred to as “entraining”. Here, sound vibrations can “re-tune” the wave patterns of one’s mind, in this case Theta brain waves, similar to the vibrations that occur while in states of deep relaxation or concentration. Theta patterns resonate at 4-8 Hertz, occurring also during REM sleep, states of creativity, and during meditation. Studies report the theory that music can indeed change the brain’s bio-electrical oscillations. However, this effect is most evident in the range of alpha (8-13 Hertz) and beta (13 Hertz or greater) frequencies. From listening to singing bowls, one can guide their mind towards theta brain wave activity (Pikörn 2021).
A study published in 2017, explored the benefits of using singing bowls along with meditation, using data from a sample of 62 individuals participating. Ages were from 21-77 years old with a mean age 49.7 years. 9 were males and 53 females. The study was held at 3 locations in southern California at The Seaside Center for Spiritual Living in Encinitas, The Chopra Center for Wellbeing in Carlsbad, and the California Institute for Human Science (CIHS) in Encinitas (Goldsby, et al 2017). From my own personal knowledge, I know this particular area of the US to be a hub for meditation and other alternative medicine practices. So, it really didn’t surprise me that the results would show that these particular methods yielded positive health benefits. People in the 20-39 age group, reported the largest change in a reduction in their tension. However, the study did not specify what type of tension they were experiencing to begin with such as mental, muscular, or otherwise. Those in the 40-59 age group, reported the most noticeable effects from the meditation, with a decrease or even elimination of physical pain before and after the meditation (Goldsby, et al 2017).
It is not hard to find and purchase singing bowls as they are widely available online and elsewhere, costing as little as $20 per bowl and as high as thousands of dollars on the higher end for complete sets of various sizes and compositions. Also available are bowls that will produce different notes and different frequencies. In particular the 432 Hertz range is thought to be more desirable in achieving the desired results of the entraining the theta brain waves. Some avid practitioners of singing bowl meditations, prefer usage of the bowls or recorded sounds that are tuned to 432 Hertz. There is also some speculation that listening to music or sounds that have a frequency of 432 Hertz is thought to encourage a positive shift in consciousness, providing the listener a greater sense of peace. Meditation practitioners seem to favor this music as well. A frequency of 432 Hertz is thought to be the tone of nature, assisting the listener to become more calm, peaceful, and creative. Benefits thought to come from exposure to sounds with the 432 Hertz frequency include release of stress and tension from the body, induction of healing during and after surgeries and the release of endorphins and serotonin (Bawah Reserve 2020).
Of further interest may be that a small group of people having a strong dislike to the sounds made from singing bowls, due to the sounds increasing their self-reported depressions and anxiety. This leads to the possibility that the sound bowls themselves have no special powers of relaxation in and of themselves (Pikörn 2021).
I have studied various methods of using sound with meditations, quite a bit over the years and have observed how particular sounds in our daily life, like traffic, thunder, loud music from various genres, yelling, etc. can cause damage on the nervous system. This can happen at the moment or over time, potentially causing even more damage. Consequently, I think the bowls are but another tool to hack the human nervous system to be in a more relaxed state of homeostasis from the parasympathetic nervous system. Any healthcare method that is relatively inexpensive, exhibits no negative side-effects, can easily be obtain by most people, and can offer the user some level of health benefits, is worth further scrutiny and usage by those in particular needing a reduction in their stress levels.
Goldsby, T. L., Goldsby, M. E., McWalters, M., & Mills, P. J. (2017). Effects of Singing Bowl Sound Meditation on Mood, Tension, and Well-being: An Observational Study. Journal of evidence-based complementary & alternative medicine, 22(3), 401–406. https://doi.org/10.1177/2156587216668109
Stanhope, J., & Weinstein, P. (2020). The human health effects of singing bowls: A systematic review. Complementary Therapies in Medicine http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ctim.2020.102412
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Qigong, tai chi, baguazhang, and yoga are not the only methods that can be used within this formula but have proven the test of time as methods to cultivate harmony of the mind, body and spirit. These exercise practices offer a wide spectrum of physical wellness benefits, stress relief as well as means of self-awareness. Not all teachers nor students practice these for the same goals. For more info, contact Jim Moltzan at info@mindandbodyexercises.com, 407-234-0119 or through my site at http://www.mindandbodyexercises.com
I started my martial arts training at the age of 16, starting with Korean martial arts and evolving into BaguaZhang, Tai Chi, and Qigong. I have been training, studying and teaching for almost 40 years effectively educating hundreds of students.
As a recognized master instructor, I have trained with a diverse group of masters and high-level martial arts teachers of many different disciplines. My specialty is teaching exercises to improve chronic conditions, working with people of all ages, especially senior adults. Offering guidance and instruction, I have also worked with Parkinson Disease patients through Florida Hospital. I offer regular lectures as requested by AdventHealth (Florida Hospital) regarding the benefits of Eastern practices.
I am the author and graphic artist of numerous journals, graphic charts and study guides relative to the mind and body connection and how it relates to martial arts, fitness and self-improvement.
I continue training and teaching in the Orlando, Florida area conducting classes, seminars and lectures as my schedule allows. I balance my teaching and businesses with my own personal cultivation and time spent with my wife and two college-age kids.
United Martial Arts Association 