9 Mind-Bending Epiphanies That Will Turn Your World Upside-Down 1. You are not your mind. The first time I heard somebody say that, I didn’t like the sound of it one bit. I see quite clearly now that life is nothing but passing experiences, and my thoughts are just one more category of things I experience. If you can observe your thoughts just like you can observe other objects, who’s doing the observing? 2. Of course! 3. I now consider this truth to be Happiness 101, but it’s amazing how tempting it still is to grasp at control of every circumstance to try to make sure I get exactly what I want. 4. Human beings have a habit of compulsive thinking that is so pervasive that we lose sight of the fact that we are nearly always thinking. 5. Yikes. 6. This discovery was a complete 180 from my old understanding of emotions. 7. Learning this allowed me to finally make sense of how people can hurt each other so badly. 8. Believing something is not an accomplishment. 9. Life is a subjective experience and that cannot be escaped.
8 tips to make your life more surprising — from a “Surprisologist” A closeup of Tania Luna, with glow stick. Photo: James Duncan Davidson In today’s talk, Tania Luna shares her experience of immigrating to the United States from Ukraine as a little girl. Perfectly happy with her family’s outhouse and with chewing a single piece of Bazooka gum for a week, Luna found herself blown away by the wonders of her new country. Commit to the mindset and process of surprise. Luna believes we can all be surprisologists. Tania Luna leads a TED audience in a glowstick dance, during a talk given a year prior to the one posted today.
Charming talks for a boost on a bad day | Playlist Now playing All under the age of 16, brothers Jonny, Robbie and Tommy Mizzone are from New Jersey, a US state that's better known for the rock of Bruce Springsteen than the bluegrass of Earl Scruggs. Nonetheless, the siblings began performing bluegrass covers, as well as their own compositions, at a young age. Here, they play three dazzling songs in three different keys, passing the lead back and forth from fiddle to banjo to guitar. Give and receive Money systemCharles EisensteinPhoto:Thulasi Kakkat The voice of Charles Eisentein may sound incongruous in our country that is in the throes of development. It is straining to be heard in a society charmed by consumerism. But his hard truths, delivered in his soft voice and gentle demeanour, had the audience sit up and listen at David Hall in Fort Kochi recently. The young American speaker and author debunks the envied American Dream that people, communities and countries aspire for. “Gift culture includes any way that people share without money,” says the ‘de-growth’ activist who believes in the shrinking of GDP. Charles is the author of several books that include The Ascent of Humanity (2007), Sacred Economics (2011), and his latest work The More Beautiful World Our Hearts Know Is Possible (2013) that deals with the changing narratives of the dominant culture. In Alappuzha Charles had a rich experience when he received the gift of blessing from a man seeking alms.
How to help your doctor give you better care Upstreamists like me — and we can be doctors, nurses or other clinicians — know that asthma can start in the air around us. We know that ailments such as depression, anxiety and high blood pressure can arise from chronically stressful conditions at work and home. We see how policies that deny opportunity, fairness and justice can be reflected in patients’ faces as well as in their DNA. And, just as important, we understand how to translate this knowledge into action. The upstreamist considers it her professional duty not only to prescribe a chemical remedy but also to tackle sickness at its source. There aren’t nearly enough of these pioneers working in health care today, but our ranks are slowly growing. 1. Create a list of the potentially unhealthy issues in your environment. Some of these problems you might be able to fix yourself. 2. So, next time you visit your doctor, try asking: “Doctor, do you consider yourself an upstreamist?” 3. Not a gadgethead? 4. 5. 6.
What are you revealing online? Much more than you think What can be guessed about you from your online behavior? Two computer privacy experts — economist Alessandro Acquisti and computer scientist Jennifer Golbeck — on how little we know about how much others know. The best indicator of high intelligence on Facebook is apparently liking a page for curly fries. At least, that’s according to computer scientist Jennifer Golbeck (TED Talk: The curly fry conundrum), whose job is to figure out what we reveal about ourselves through what we say — and don’t say — online. Of course, the lines between online and “real” are increasingly blurred, but as Golbeck and privacy economist Alessandro Acquisti (TED Talk: Why privacy matters) both agree, that’s no reason to stop paying attention. I hear so much conflicting information about what I should and shouldn’t be posting online. Alessandro Acquisti: My personal view is that individual responsibility is important, but we are at a stage where it is not sufficient. Jennifer Golbeck: I agree with that.
Think you’ve got a terrible memory? You don’t know the half of it In this far-ranging chat, psychologist Elizabeth Loftus spoke with MIT neuroscientists Steve Ramirez and Xu Liu about the future of memory manipulation. Last year, MIT neuroscientists Xu Liu and Steve Ramirez manipulated the memory of a mouse. In a fascinating and mildly troubling breakthrough caused by a laser and the protein channelrhodopsin, they “activated” fear memories in a mouse. The impetus, says Ramirez, was the awful feeling of a break-up, the desire, Eternal Sunshine-style, to erase the bad associations with his ex. Well, as psychologist and criminologist Elizabeth Loftus knows, humans already have extremely faulty memories; so what happens when the technology for manipulation on the neural level becomes possible? To tackle these questions, TED asked Loftus, Ramirez, and Liu to join in a phone conversation about the future of memory manipulation. A question for the group: Why is human memory so malleable? XL: Memory is also connected to the way we imagine the future.
20 Ways to Feel ALIVE!!!!!! Unless you are the second coming of Jesus Christ (if you are, please comment!) it’s impossible not to feel a bit down sometimes. Here are 20 quick ways to revive yourself and get back that “on top of the world” feeling. Stick your body out of a sunroof while the car is driving I can tell you first-hand this one is a lot of fun. If you don’t have a sunroof, a window works just as well. Bonus Reader-Suggested Ways Swim in a cold lake, beach or riverI never feel more alive than when I get out after a cold swim and my heart is pumping to keep my body warm. How do you make that feeling permanent? Step 1: Figure out what it is that makes you feel dead and cut it out of your life.
How to Respond to Negative People Without Being Negative “Don’t let the behavior of others destroy your inner peace.” ~Tenzin Gyatso, 14th Dalai Lama A woman with whom I once worked seemed to talk non-stop and loudly, interrupt incessantly, gossip about whomever wasn’t in the room, constantly complain, and live quite happily in martyrdom. It seemed nothing and no one escaped her negative spin. She was good at it. She could twist the happiest moment of someone’s life into a horrendous mistake. At first, my judgmental mind thought her behavior to be quite inappropriate. Her negativity was infectious. For a while, though, I listened to her whenever she followed me into the lunchroom or the ladies’ room. I’d excuse myself from the one-sided chit-chat as soon as possible, wanting to someday be honest enough to kindly tell her that I choose not to listen to gossip. And it was exhausting because whether I listened to her or not, or even managed to momentarily escape her altogether, I was still held captive by her negativity. Photo credit: D.
The Miracle of 528 Hz Solfeggio & Fibonacci Numbers Solfeggio tones create music to calm an overactive mind and send us towards connecting with the divine. According to Dr. Leonard Horowitz, 528 Hertz is a frequency that is central to the “musical mathematical matrix of creation.” More than any sound previously discovered, the “LOVE frequency” resonates at the heart of everything. It connects your heart, your spiritual essence, to the spiraling reality of heaven and earth. The Love frequency is the “Miracle” note of the original Solfeggio musical scale. Math scientist Victor Showell describes 528 as fundamental to the ancient Pi, Phi, and the Golden Mean evident throughout natural design. 528 resolves to a 6, the icon for physical manifestation. 528 is known as the ‘Miracle’ tone which brings remarkable and extraordinary changes. 1. an extraordinary occurrence that surpasses all known human powers or natural forces and is ascribed to a divine or supernatural cause, esp. to God. The 528Hz tone alone is associated with ‘DNA Repair‘ Sources:
Train Your Brain To Let Go Of Habits – 10 Methods For Creating New Neural Pathways When you understand how neural pathways are created in the brain, you get a front row seat for truly comprehending how to let go of habits. Neural pathways are like superhighways of nerve cells that transmit messages. You travel over the superhighway many times, and the pathway becomes more and more solid. You may go to a specific food or cigarettes for comfort over and over, and that forms a brain pathway. I used to drive with one foot on the brake and the other on the accelerator, and I wanted to train myself to drive with one foot only. Because of neuroplasticity, the brain’s ever-changing potentials, anything is possible. Whether you work with others on their habits or you work with your own (or both), you can apply these understandings to boost your success. Some Powerful Ways to Retrain the Brain 1. You may remember the punch line “The light bulb has to want to change.” 2. 3. This is very important. 4. 5. 6. This isn’t everyone’s cup of tea. 7. 8. Look at what’s in the way. 9. 10.
Can't Stand Meditation? This Technique is For You. A consistent meditation practice is a struggle for even the most experienced of meditators. For some reason it’s difficult to bring yourself to sit down and quiet the mind despite knowing that it’s the best thing for you. I was talking about this phenomenon with my good friend Phil Drolet of The Feel Good Lifestyle and he replied with a novel solution. “When you go to the gym, do you just do bench press the entire time?” I said “No, I do 5-7 different exercises depending on what muscles I’m working on.” “Exactly! The Method Instead of doing 20 solid minutes of meditation, Phil breaks it down into 5 4-minute intervals of different practices. 1-4 min — Breathing Focus 5-8 min — Your Favorite Mantra 9-12 min — Loving/Kindness 13-16 min — Gratitude 17-20 min — Intention Visualization This not only makes your session go by quickly, but also allows you to energize many different parts of your psyche and energy body. Is this a cop out? Yes and no. The Takeaway
25 Documentaries Everybody Should Watch Sans Soleil This is not your average documentary. It is a fleeting memory, a sudden remembrance of times long past, a meditation on time and culture, a touch of an emotional diary. We follow the eyes of a world traveller who makes sharp observations and tries to convey them to his friend. We never learn who they are and where they came from, and this is perhaps a subtle point the documentary wants to make. The narrator’s voice switches from Japanese to German to English to French, thereby embodying the language of the places visited. The Corporation Corporate personhood is probably the elephant in the room when it comes politics. Watch The Corporation for FREE on Amazon Instant Video Cosmos: A Personal Voyage This list wouldn’t be complete without the documentary Cosmos. The Union: The Business Behind Getting High This is a must watch for everyone. Watch The Union on YouTube. The Century of the Self If I have to recommend one documentary to anyone, this is it. Life in a Day Food Inc. Inside LSD
7 Reasons to Stop Proving Yourself to Everyone Else Sometimes we try to show the world we are flawless in hopes that we will be liked and accepted by everyone, but we can’t please everyone and we shouldn’t try. The beauty of us lies in our vulnerability, our complex emotions, and our authentic imperfections. When we embrace who we are and decide to be authentic, instead of who we think others want us to be, we open ourselves up to real relationships, real happiness, and real success. There is no need to put on a mask. There is no need to pretend to be someone you’re not. 1. In the long run, it’s better to be loathed for who you are than loved for who you are not. Ignore the comparisons and expectations knocking at your door. 2. Don’t lose yourself in your search for acceptance by others. Let others take you as you are, or not at all. 3. In every situation you have ever been in, positive or negative, the one common thread is you. What you’re capable of achieving is not a function of what other people think is possible for you. 4. 5. 6.