Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction; Group Practice

The next Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction Group Practice will be held this Sunday January 15th from 3-5.   3018 Doan Drive, Regina, Sk.

We will be doing a full body scan, walking meditation,  sitting practice and some breathe exerciser. Bring a warm blanket for the floor and cozy socks!  Cost is 30$.  

Bring a friend and I look forward to seeing you there!   Peace.  Dr. Sojonky

Harvard Unveils MRI Study Proving Meditation Literally Rebuilds The Brain's Gray Matter In 8 Weeks

Test subjects taking part in an 8-week program of mindfulness meditation showed results that astonished even the most experienced neuroscientists at Harvard University.  The study was led by a Harvard-affiliated team of researchers based at Massachusetts General Hospital, and the team’s MRI scans documented for the very first time in medical history how meditation produced massive changes inside the brain’s gray matter.  “Although the practice of meditation is associated with a sense of peacefulness and physical relaxation, practitioners have long claimed that meditation also provides cognitive and psychological benefits that persist throughout the day,” says study senior author Sara Lazar of the MGH Psychiatric Neuroimaging Research Program and a Harvard Medical School instructor in psychology. “This study demonstrates that changes in brain structure may underlie some of these reported improvements and that people are not just feeling better because they are spending time relaxing.”

Sue McGreevey of MGH writes: “Previous studies from Lazar’s group and others found structural differences between the brains of experienced meditation practitioners and individuals with no history of meditation, observing thickening of the cerebral cortex in areas associated with attention and emotional integration. But those investigations could not document that those differences were actually produced by meditation.”  Until now, that is.  The participants spent an average of 27 minutes per day practicing mindfulness exercises, and this is all it took to stimulate a major increase in gray matter density in the hippocampus, the part of the brain associated with self-awareness, compassion, and introspection.  McGreevey adds: “Participant-reported reductions in stress also were correlated with decreased gray-matter density in the amygdala, which is known to play an important role in anxiety and stress. None of these changes were seen in the control group, indicating that they had not resulted merely from the passage of time.”

“It is fascinating to see the brain’s plasticity and that, by practicing meditation, we can play an active role in changing the brain and can increase our well-being and quality of life,” says Britta Hölzel, first author of the paper and a research fellow at MGH and Giessen University in Germany. You can read more about the remarkable study by visiting Harvard.edu.  If this is up your alley then you need to read this: “Listen As Sam Harris Explains How To Tame Your Mind (No Religion Required)”

Go to site for audio:http://www.feelguide.com/2014/11/19/harvard-unveils-mri-study-proving-meditation-literally-rebuilds-the-brains-gray-matter-in-8-weeks/

Finding Yourself

If you find that meditation does not come easily in your city room, be inventive and go out into nature. Nature is always an unfailing fountain of inspiration. To calm your mind, go for a walk at dawn in the park, or watch the dew on a rose in a garden. Lie on the ground and gaze up into the sky, and let your mind expand into its spaciousness. Let the sky outside awaken a sky inside your mind. Stand by a stream and mingle your mind with its rushing; become one with its ceaseless sound. Sit by a waterfall and let its healing laughter purify your spirit. Walk on a beach and take the sea wind full and sweet against your face. Celebrate and use the beauty of moonlight to poise your mind. Sit by a lake or in a garden and, breathing quietly, let your mind fall silent as the moon comes up majestically and slowly in the cloudless night.

Life is right now - Jon Kabat-Zinn on Mindfulness

Five News Ali, 18, Sufferer of Anorexia Nervosa

Breathing is the key to meditation.....

When you meditate, breathe naturally, just as you always do.

Focus your awareness lightly on the outbreath. When you breathe out, just flow out with the outbreath. Each time you breathe out, you are letting go and releasing all your grasping. Imagine your breath dissolving into the all-pervading expanse of truth.

Each time you breathe out, and before you breathe in again, you will find that there is a natural gap, as your grasping dissolves.

Rest in that gap, in that open space. And when, naturally, you breathe in, don’t focus especially on the inbreath but go on resting your mind in the gap that has opened up.

Help find a cure!!!

The Best Years...

The best years of your life are the ones in which you decide your problems are your own. You don't blame them on your mother, the ecology, or the President. You realize that you control your own destiny.

Albert Ellis

Mindfulness with Jon Kabat-Zinn

5 Ways to Deal With Anxiety

Everyone has feelings of anxiety, nervousness, tension, and stress from time to time. Here are 5 ways to help manage them:

1. Become a relaxation expert. We all think we know how to relax. But chilling out in front of the TV or computer isn't true relaxation. (Depending on what you're watching or doing, it could even make you more tense.) The same is true for alcohol, drugs, or tobacco. They may seem to relieve anxiety or stress, but it's a false state of relaxation that's only temporary. What the body really needs is a relaxation technique — like deep breathing, tai chi, or yoga — that has a physical effect on the mind. For example, deep breathing helps to relax a major nerve that runs from the diaphragm to the brain, sending a message to the entire body to let go and loosen up.
2. Get enough sleep, nourishment, and exercise. Want your mind and body to feel peaceful and strong enough to handle life's ups and downs? Get the right amount of sleep for your needs — not too much or too little. Eat well: Choose fruit, vegetables, lean proteins, and whole grains for long-term energy (instead of the short bursts that come from too much sugar or caffeine). And exercise to send oxygen to every cell in the body so your brain and body can operate at their best.
3. Connect with others. Spend time with friends or family. Organized activities are great, but just hanging out works too. Doing things with those we feel close to deepens our bonds, allowing us to feel supported and secure. And the fun and sharing that go with it allow us to feel happier and less upset about things. If you feel worried or nervous about something, talking about it with someone who listens and cares can help you feel more understood and better able to cope. You'll be reminded that everyone has these feelings sometimes. You're not alone.
4. Connect with nature. Heading out for a walk in the park or a hike in the woods can help anyone feel peaceful and grounded. (Choose somewhere you feel safe so you can relax and enjoy your surroundings.) Walking, hiking, trail biking, or snowshoeing offer the additional benefit of exercise. Invite a friend or two — or a family member — along and enjoy feeling connected to people as well.
5. Think positive. A great way to keep our minds off the worry track is to focus our thoughts on things that are good, beautiful, and positive. Allow yourself to dream, wish, and imagine the best that could happen.

Note: When anxiety or worry feels extreme, it may be a sign of an anxiety disorder. For someone who has an anxiety disorder, getting proper care from a health professional is important. These tips can help too, of course. But professional treatment is the only way to shake an anxiety disorder.

Reviewed by: D'Arcy Lyness, PhD

The Spiritual Root of Addiction

"We are addicted because we are not living from our source; we have lost our connection to our soul. The use of food, alcohol, or drugs is essentially a material response to a need that is not really physical at its foundation. Drunkenness, for example, is really a forgetting of personal memory so we can experience the joy of the non-personal, the universe. What we are looking for is pure joy rather than mere sensation, or even oblivion of sensation. Self-destructive behavior is unrecognized spiritual craving. All addictions are really a search for the exultation of spirit, and this search has to do with the expansion of consciousness, the intoxication of love, which is pure consciousness."  ---Deepak Chopra

Deepak Chopra's work on addiction offers new insights into why addictions are SO DIFFICULT to QUIT.   Search for Deepak's books on addiction, they are well worth the read.  TJS

Human Potential

"Compared to what we ought to be, we are only half awake.  Our fires are dampered, our drafts are checked, we are making use of only a small part of our mental and physical resources."   ---William James

Christmas Stress Busters

Many people find Christmas a stressful time.  Here are some ideas to lessen the load!
1) Limit your commitments on Christmas day.  Spend most of the day at home relaxing and enjoying the people closest to you.
2) Do exercise!  If you have snow and ice enjoy them; play hockey, go sledding, ski, skate and build snow forts.  These are great activities for adults and children.  If you don't have snow; go for a long walk, ride your bike, play soccer together or create a neighbourhood softball game!
3) Discover laughter.  Create opportunities to laugh together; rent a good comedy, play charades or take out an old family board game.
4) Reduce your spending.  When the bills pile up we naturally get stressed.  Remember that some of the nicest gifts we can give can be made ourselves or be acts of service.  My favorite is a foot rub! 

Finally, come up with your own list of ways to slow down, relax and enjoy the holidays and post it on your fridge.  Peace. TJS

Think about what goes in your mouth.....

Think about what goes in your mouth.  Everything we ingest becomes who we are and how we function.  Prescription drugs are perhaps the most abused drugs in the world.  What do we really need?  TJS

Why Smokers Become Addicted

"Most smokers become addicted to the nicotine contained in tobacco products. Nicotine has a deadly addictive power. How? When a person puffs a cigarette, nicotine particles find their way to the lungs through inhalation. From there, nicotine is absorbed into the bloodstream just like the oxygen people breathe. It travels with the blood to the brain where it locks onto certain receptor areas. Dopamine is then released into the brain. This is the chemical that makes the smoker feel a euphoric sensation."
 

Gaetane Ross is a Certified Natural Health Consultant who has spent over 4 years focusing on Nutrition and Health. She also specializes in Alternative Medicine, Spiritual Healing and Healthy Lifestyle.
If You Sick Of Trying to Quit Smoking By Using Patches, Gum, Sprays or Pills... That Fail Every Time, you need to visit:

http://live-o-natural.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Gaetane_Ross

Talk about AIDS

We don't like to talk about it but we should.  AIDS is still killing people and there is no cure.  Prevention is crucial if we are to save lives.  Talk about sex with your kids, teach them about safe sex and read the current literature. The video below is a powerful visual message!  TJS

Alcohol Know Your Limits - Binge drinking girl

Not doing!

"If the world stands bewildered and confused in the face of its trouble, it is partly because we Westerners have made a God of activity; we have yet to learn how to be, as we have already learnt how to do." ---Paul Brunton

It's true, we have become human 'doings' instead of human 'beings.' We fill our lives with activity, objectives and plans. What is sacrificed is peaceful mindfulness. Quiet moments walking in nature or ponderous moments reading, writing or listening to the sounds around us. Sit still and listen to your life!

I am not eager, bold
Or strong---all that is past.
I am ready not to do,
At last, at last!

---Saint Peter Canisius (1521-1597)

Long Afternoons

Caroline Knapp's moving book, Drinking: A Love Story is a challenging journey into self-discovery. She details the fear we have of really being 'in our skin.' Of knowing who we are and accepting it. It is well worth the read.

"There’s something about facing long afternoons without the numbing distraction of any sort of anesthesia that disabuses you of the belief in externals, shows you that strength and hope come not from circumstances or the acquisition of things but from the simple accumulation of active experience, from gritting the teeth and checking the items off the list, one by one, even though it’s painful and you’re afraid....Passivity is corrosive to the soul; it feeds on feelings of integrity and pride, and it can be as tempting as a drug. If it feels warm and fuzzy, it is probably the [addictive] choice. If it feels dangerous and scary and threatening and painful, it is probably healthy."

The Seven Deadly Habits of Truly Miserable People

Punishing, Complaining, Blaming, Threatening, Nagging, Criticising, Bribing!!!!!

Do these things and you will make everyone around you nuts! Dr. William Glasser believes that most of the emotional turmoil we experience is directly caused by our use of these seven deadly habits. We seem to have our wiring crossed. We spend half our lives trying to control the people and the institutions which fill our lives and it is sick! As we try harder to control those around us they quite naturally become resistant and resentful and soon our relationships are broken and disappointing. Although Glasser's theory (Choice Theory) seems quite simple it has worked well in therapy with thousands of people. Diagnosis and labelling (DSM-IV) are seen as damaging hostile tools that only hurt our relationships further. Instead Glasser says we simply need to replace the seven deadly habits with the seven habits of truly caring people.

Supporting, Encouraging, Listening, Accepting, Trusting, Respecting and Negotiating Differences!!!

If you work and live with these habits most of your problems will disappear. Try googleing the Glasser Institute to find out more. Peace. TJS.