NO GURU NO METHOD NO TEACHER--VAN MORRISON UNDER THE STARS

Last night, thanks to Lisa, I got to see Van Morrison under the stars at the Santa Barbara County Bowl. Amazing. Lisa knows how to live a life of ravishing luxury and pleasure watching live music, drinking a rare coke, and sharing a hot pretzel with cheese. I’ve never seen anyone die and go to heaven over live music like Lisa, but I have to tell you, there were moments last night when I felt Van send ‘shivers from my neck down to my spine/ and ignite me.” And it was doubly poignant to me when during his heartfelt rendition of “In The Garden”, he pointed east and said, “No guru, no method, no teacher—the guy who said that wasn’t very far from here in Ojai.”

He acknowledged Jiddu Krishnamurti, and sang on; Krishnamurti, the reason I had come to California over 25 years before.

Though Van mentions some explicitly Christian motifs, know he was and is an inclusive soul. These lyrics come from an album with a Buddha on the cover.

             From "In the Garden", by Van Morrison:

 

And as I sat beside you
I felt the great sadness that day
In the garden

And then one day you came back home
You were a creature all in rapture
You had the key to your soul and you did open
That day you came back to the garden
…
And you went into a trance, your childlike vision became so fine
And we heard the bells within the church, we loved so much
And felt the presence of the youth of eternal summers in the garden

Alright, and as it touched your cheeks so lightly
Born again you were and blushed
And we touched each other lightly
And we felt the presence of the Christ
Within our hearts in the garden

And I turned to you and I said
"No guru, no method, no teacher
Just you and I and nature
And the Father in the garden"

Listen, no guru, no method, no teacher
Just you and I and nature…

The original version of “In the Garden” can be heard by clicking the link.
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E8Cnh7uD0b4

SMILE AND YOUR AMYGDALA LOVES YOU

You look at your thoughts, and you see dark clouds. What do you do? You look for the silver lining.    

That’s old wisdom. Life gives you lemons you start thinking lemonade.

Now researchers, Swiss, no less, have confirmed that this is the way to go.  They studied what is technically called ‘cognitive reappraisal’, where a subject is asked to consider a situation and view it in a positive light. In this study, subjects were told they were going to see some images, some disturbing, some not. They were asked to reassure themselves that they were perfectly safe no matter what they saw in the images.

In the second part of the experiment, different subjects were told the same images were coming but were not instructed to reassure themselves in any way.

In both cases, the subjects’ brains were observed with an MRI scanner while they were shown the photographs.

The people in the first group were able to calm their amygdala.  Their emotional brain was less active, and their prefrontal cortex, or decision-making brain, was more active.

They had effectively modulated their emotional responses to the disturbing photographs.  Meditation or mindfulness was shown to have the same effect. It increased the subjects’ ability to regulate their emotional state.

So, remember that the next time you’re being whacked around emotionally. Take a full breath or two. Become aware of your body. Notice your thoughts. Go positive. Then remember what I shared in an earlier article about questions being a more powerful way to get your brain and mind to do what you want. Don’t tell it what to do, ask it for what you want.            

“May I be safe from inner and outer harm.”

“May my mind and body be calm and peaceful.”

            “May I be happy just as I am.”          

            “May I have an amazing weekend!”
            

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MAY YOUR HEART AND MIND BE OPEN

Today, we offer a brief guided meditation that you can do wherever you are, even while riding the bus or sitting at your desk. 

            Please get comfortable. Relax into your seat. Take a moment to check in with your body and your self. Feel the breath as it enters your body. Feel your chest as it rises and falls. Hear the sounds that are near and the sounds coming from far away. Let yourself slow down and simply be where you are for a moment or two.  Let go of the cares of the day. Let your mind slow down and become quiet. As your thoughts arise let them come and let them go. See if you can stay in the moment, not following your thoughts into the past or into to the future. Stay with your breath, your body, and the moment. Be thankful for all you have right here, right now. Open your heart to all that life has given you, your loves, your losses, your gains, your sorrow, your happiness.

          Give thanks for all of it. Your eyes, your ears, your legs, your heart, and everything else you have been given. Give thanks for all that you’ve been able to give to others as sons, daughters, brothers, sisters, fathers, mothers, lovers, workers, artists, inventors, as women and men walking this earth. And ask that you be held and guided by your ancestors, your elders, your parents and great grandparents, and all those who came before you. Ask that you be open to guidance from wherever it may come, from deep within yourself and from deep within the sacred mystery of existence. Ask that your heart and mind be open and that you be strong, honest, caring, loving with yourself and others. And fearless, open to the truth within yourself and in others and that you be able during your time on this earth to do good work for your highest good and the highest good of all concerned. Take your time. Breathe it in. Namaste.

Leash The Lizard Unleash Your Creativity

Seth Godin, marketing genius extraordinaire, has been talking about the lizard brain lately—that’s the older emotional/reptilian part of your brain that deals in fear, sex, and food. Lizard brain often kicks up fear when you do something new and creative.

If you are lucky enough to get paid to do creative work, you are being paid to do stuff that scares you. So deal with it. Fear increases as you get closer to the delivery date for your creative work. Lizard brain will make sure of that.

Here is one idea for taming lizard brain—or at least putting him or her on a leash. 

Research from Columbia Business School has shown that posture affects testosterone levels. Puff out your chest, lean over your desk, or kick up your feet, and testosterone, the power hormone, goes up; cortisol, a stress hormone, goes down.

What you do with your body will affect how you feel.

But what is your body doing? To find out, you need to be able to pay attention. And that’s hard when we get stressed and fearful.

I’m a big proponent of meditation and mindfulness practices, simply sitting quietly each day for 15 minutes and paying attention to your breathing and what is going on in and around you, while letting your thinking come to rest. This daily practice builds your muscle for paying attention and being able to handle upsetting thoughts and physical feelings like fear.

It may not sound like much, but paying close attention to your thoughts and bodily sensations and acting mindfully, such as breathing fully or standing tall, when you feel like collapsing like a kicked dog, is a very powerful technique for calming down lizard brain, dealing with fear, and delivering your creations on time.