Anne Day: Forget New Year Resolutions, Just Focus on Three Words What are your New Year's resolutions? I always struggle with this one and for several years have avoided actually making any. I rarely kept it up -- especially the one about losing weight -- as it seemed like a futile exercise. However, setting goals is important, especially when you run a business. Otherwise how do you know where you are going or when you have arrived? But I found myself still not satisfied that I wasn't setting any personal goals for myself. Like me, she was giving up on resolutions and didn't want to limit herself and her opportunities by setting goals for an entire year, so she decided to choose three words by which she would live her life in the months ahead. What three words would I choose? I chose health because my recent bout with the flu served as a reminder that I have to treat my body with respect and not run myself ragged, dashing off to this meeting and the next. The last word is authenticity, which is more a short-term goal.
Jon Kabat-Zinn, Ph.D.: Adjusting Your Default Setting What is unfolding when nothing much of anything is going on with you? I encourage you to check out for yourself what is going on at such times. For most of us, usually it is thinking. Thinking is going on. It takes lots of different forms. Thinking seems to constitute our "default setting" rather than awareness. It is a good thing to notice, because in this way, we might slowly shift from this automatic reverting to thinking over and over again to another mode of mind that may stand us in far better stead, namely awareness itself. As soon as you take your seat or lie down to meditate, the first thing you will notice is that the mind has a life of its own. Sometimes shutting off the sound on the television can allow you to actually watch the game and take it in in an entirely different and more direct way -- a first-order, first-person experience -- rather than filtered through the mind of another. For more by Jon Kabat-Zinn, Ph.D., click here. For more on mindfulness, click here.
Mondays Mindful Quote: Dalai Lama on Kindness Welcome to Monday’s Mindful Quote. This is a new tradition at the Mindfulness and Psychotherapy Blog. Every Monday I’m going to cite a quote or a poem that is related to mindfulness and psychotherapy in some way and then explore it a bit and how it is relevant to our lives. For me, quotes and poetry can often sink me into a state of greater understanding. Here is a great and potentially controversial quote to start the week out by the Dalai Lama: “Be kind whenever possible. Is it really always possible? Many would argue that the doorway to happiness is to a life geared toward kindness. However, kindness does not mean that you have to agree with what someone is doing or even be tolerant of it. To go even further, kindness is not about enabling or perpetuating a person’s harmful behavior. What about kindess toward ourselves? More often than not when I ask people all the things they have to do that day, there is a long list. So is it always possible?
Mark Nepo: The One Conversation: 'We Are Each Born With a Gift and an Emptiness' Tune in to "Super Soul Sunday," January 22 from 8-11 a.m. ET/PT and an encore at noon ET/PT on OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network to see Mark Nepo and Oprah's inspiring conversation. In the interviews I've been blessed to have with Oprah, we seem to enter what I would call the One Conversation, the one ongoing story of how we spend our time on earth. All our lives contribute to this conversation. All our stories contribute to the one ongoing story. Let me share some reflections on where that conversation has been taking me. I keep returning to the ever-present riddle that being who we are is the necessary adventure. Beneath everyone's expectations, I've learned that there's this energy that flickers under all our trouble. Growing in my authenticity has deepened my vision. This spiritual law reveals the truth that though we can quiet our mind and heart, there is no end to what we think and feel. All this has led me to another paradox.
Sleep is More Important than Food - Tony Schwartz by Tony Schwartz | 10:37 AM March 3, 2011 Let’s cut to the chase. Say you decide to go on a fast, and so you effectively starve yourself for a week. At the end of seven days, how would you be feeling? You’d probably be hungry, perhaps a little weak, and almost certainly somewhat thinner. But basically you’d be fine. Now let’s say you deprive yourself of sleep for a week. Here’s what former Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin had to say in his memoir White Nights about the experience of being deprived of sleep in a KGB prison: “In the head of the interrogated prisoner a haze begins to form. So why is sleep one of the first things we’re willing to sacrifice as the demands in our lives keep rising? Many of the effects we suffer are invisible. So how much sleep do you need? When I ask people in my talks how many had fewer than 7 hours of sleep several nights during the past week, the vast majority raise their hands. Great performers are an exception. Go to bed earlier — and at a set time.
The No-Resolution Resolution: How to Really Be Happy in 2012 - Lifestyle In mid-December, I celebrated my 30th birthday at a little Scandanavian restaurant in a quickly-changing part of DC. I was surrounded by great artwork, brightly colored vats of aquavit, and the people I loved most. Throughout the cocktails and the courses of heavy winter food, I kept looking around to marvel at all I have to appreciate in my life. Professionally, I am a decently busy photographer and yoga teacher. I just marked a year and half with my boyfriend (we’re an OKCupid success story). It wasn’t always this way. It took a lot of change to get to where I am now. I want this for us all. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Photo via (cc) Flickr user Jason Hargrove.
Mark L. Walberg: What I've Learned On Antiques Roadshow My interactions with fans I meet in airports have changed dramatically since I became the host of Antiques Roadshow on PBS. When I hosted train-wreck reality shows like Fox's Temptation Island or The Moment of Truth, I would get comments like, "Aren't you Mark from that horrible show I love! OMG! (they actually say 'OH EM GEE') How many times have contestants punched you?" But now, as host of America's beloved Roadshow for the past seven seasons, things have changed dramatically. Truth is, I know only a tiny bit more about antiques today than I did seven years ago when I started this journey. The key factors that dictate value in the antiques and collectibles market are Authenticity, Rarity, Condition and Provenance. On the road, the appraisers see the treasures. I was sitting with my friend, appraiser Kathleen Bailey, at the art glass table. We all want to be taken seriously. Worthwhile antiques, much like worthwhile people, exude an aura of truth and don't need to overcompensate.
10 Ways To Live Longer Life’s too short, but with a few simple everyday lifestyle changes you could increase your chances of sticking around to enjoy it for that little bit longer. What's more it isn't all about slogging it out at the gym and eating spinach. From indulging in chocolate to having sex and even browsing the Huffington Post, increasing your life expectancy just got more interesting. Loading Slideshow 10 Ways To Live LongerSleep... Hide Thumbnails
Lauren Mackler: Mastering the Art of Resilience Do you sweat the small stuff or feel chronically stressed? If so, you're not alone. According to a 2008 national survey by the American Psychological Association (APA), 77 percent of Americans reported having physical symptoms due to stress, and 73 percent claimed to be experiencing stress-related psychological problems. Stress is an emotional and physical reaction caused by our responses to life challenges. In small amounts, stress can be a positive impetus. The best antidote to stress is resilience. Findings from the Kauai Longitudinal Study showed that resilient people did not passively react to negative life circumstances, but proactively took action to achieve positive outcomes. Below are some additional tips to develop greater resilience and to help you manage stress. Reframe change from a threat to a natural part of life. Identify the opportunities inherent in the challenge. Develop greater awareness and self-mastery. Build a strong inner support system.