Daily Quote: and Reflection: Insights and Social Advocacy from Consumer Perspective

Daily Quote: “For a person with mental illness, the challenge is to find the life that’s right for you. But in truth, isn’t that the challenge for all of us, mentally ill or not?”Dr. Elyn Saks, from her book, The Center Cannot Hold.

Reflection:Very moving speech detailing,one highly functioning person’s, long difficult struggle with Schizophrenia and Mental Illness. Dr. Saks, insightful, sad and realistic story makes me want to help more with this devastating disease.  Here is her heart felt and insightful speech at the University of Virginia Law School http://www.law.virginia.edu/html/news/2009_spr/saks.htm

What are your reactions?  

Note: Dr. Elyn Saks is the Orrin B. Evans Professor of Law, Psychology, and Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at USC’s Gould School of Law, an adjunct professor of Psychiatry at the UCSD School of Medicine, and assistant faculty at the New Center for Psychoanalysis in Los Angeles. In 2009, she received the MacArthur Foundation “Genius Grant.” Despite battling schizophrenia and acute psychosis since she was a teenager, Saks is a nationally recognized scholar in mental health law, criminal law and the ethical dimensions of medical research.

After decades of hiding her illness, Saks published a memoir about her struggles and successes in The Center Cannot Hold: My Journey Through Madness (Hyperion, 2007). The book won far-reaching acclaim from literary critics and advocacy groups.

Want to Bring a Wow experience to your next Presentation? Be Passionate and Mentally Tough

” Concentration and mental toughness provide confidence and are the difference between a boring presentation and a WOW experience for the audience.” MW Hardwick, Presentation Coach

Design with Purpose and Deliver with Confidence.

What matters to you is shown by your passion. Your passion will draw others to your cause. Emotional words and message are more important in hooking people and generating a contagion. Meaningful purpose gathers extraordinary support. The right idea—framed in emotion—grows exponentially through social media and word of mouth advocacy. Checkout how, The Dragonfly Effect, encouraged a social media project 100k Cheeks, to raise awareness and increase the number of people enrolled in the International Bone Marrow Registry.

If you isolate one thing about high achievers that has put them at the pinnacle of success above anything and everything else, it is the ability to communicate and connect with confidence and openness to audience members. I call this constellation of factors the mental toughness factor.

Call it mental toughness, confidence, courage–it is the profound ability to stay
in connected and overcome obstacles in the face of taking risks, challenges, loss, and adversity.
This new knowledge will empower you to perform at the top of your game because relevant information + knowledge = confidence and power, because 90% of success as a presenter is belief in yourself and mental toughness.
That’s why you owe it to yourself to take the next step to build your confidence and character as a public speaker. Try out these techniques and I assure you that your next speech will not be boring.

Want to reduce Stress and Performance anxiety for next Presentation?

Deliberate practice, good preparation in knowing your topic,  and an authentic connection pays big dividends in reducing performance anxiety. Next time you need to   present to an audience, follow these four steps:

1.Keep audience focused and interested by capturing their attention in the first 8 seconds of the speech. You want them to lean in and be curious about what you have to say–Check-out my past blog on how to accomplish this in as little as 8 seconds. http://thewick.wordpress.com/2012/01/17/

2. Be confident in your topic. Your audience already believes that you’re the expert, so don’t try to bluff. If the people you’re presenting to feel you’re unsure of your material, they’ll lose interest in your presentation.

3. Be ready for questions.  Imagine questions people might ask. Construct answers before you give your speech. Either incorporate the answers into your presentation or be ready to provide them during Q&A.

4. Memorize the first minute of your presentation. You experience your greatest anxiety at the beginning of a speech. Knowing the opening of your presentation will give you a good start.

5. Start with audience interactive activity–like completing a one page inventory on the topic to be presented , such as Stress Management. Have audience members complete self-awareness and goal setting sheet. Then use the Pair-Share discussion tool where audience members share with a neighbor their reactions to the inventory and one change goal for the day. After 10 min you can introduce yourself and do a de-brief. Everyone gets engaged and you learn about the audience members level of understanding and needs.

Daily Quote and Reflection: How is your Mental Toughness and Intrinsic motivation for achievement?

Quotes: “Concentration and mental toughness are the margins of victory’. Bill Russell

Toughness is in the soul and spirit, not in muscles”. Alex Karras

Reflection: So what is mental toughness? It can be defined as the ability to access and maintain focus and determination to complete a course of action despite complexity, difficulties or unknown consequences. Some say it is the will to never give-up or quit. My blog on MT was one of the highest viewed and most popular pieces in 2011. If you missed it take a look at thewick and find out how you can learn to be more mentally tough no matter the situation you face.

Action Challenge: Identify in what situations or with whom you need to display more  mental toughness. After you readings and more understanding of MT –What are you committed to do to become more mentally tough?  

Daily Quote and Reflection: Jeremy Lin Lesson of Luck– “Always be Ready”

Quotes:

“Before everything else, getting ready is the secret of success”. Henry Ford

“Good fortune is what happens when opportunity meets with planning” Thomas Edison

Reflection:

The Jeremy Lin story is a story about preparation, luck and a desperate coach taking a chance on someone. You can call this luck or the “stars and moon” aligning for someone. What you can’t deny is that Lin was ready when the opportunity presented itself.  Jeremy Lin was hiding in plain sight but was overlooked by the so-called recruiting experts and numerous NBA coaches. Why did this happen? It could be inflexible definitions of what talent looks like, stereotype thinking or just plain stupidly on the so-called experts part.  I wonder how many people have suffered this experience and gave up or didn’t get the chance to show their stuff. This story will probably level off but is a testimony to the above quotes: always be ready–know your strengths and refine your skills, find someone who will give you a chance and find the system where you can show case your talents.  This story is about sports but could easily be said about other performing arts and professions. It is also about “lady luck” when the opportunity comes your way be ready to take the risk to do your best.

Seven Ways to Improve Mental Toughness

So what is mental toughness? It can be defined as the ability to access and maintain focus and determination to complete a course of action despite complexity, distractions, difficulties or unknown consequences. Some say it is the will to never give-up or quit. So the question is: Can “mental toughness” (MT) be taught or is innate? Let’s look at the sports world where MT is often used to describe super stars. Many athletes and coaches think, MT is an innate quality or talent that you are born with and they believe it can’t be taught or learned because it is a part of your DNA or it isn’t. According to this school of thought mental toughness is usually something you’re born with and is reinforced early in life by your parents and environment. These authorities believe it’s hard to take a sensitive “mommies boy” and make him “tough” no matter what you do. This obviously is the nature vs. nuture argument. The nurture position states that people can be shaped and learn from different experiences, modeling and teaching. ” Mental Toughness is a state of mind, not a fact. No matter how much or how little stress we feel before any public performance from speeches to shooting to hitting the winning foul shot we are always just doing what we’re doing, simply living this one moment of our lives to the best of our ability. So MT is the ability to use anxiety and fear to drive positive expectations, energy and action. ”  Dr. Mark W. Hardwick, Communications Coach  . Winning seems so easy and natural for the Nadal’s and Feder’s of the tennis world. And in other sports too. But the real secret seems to be mental preparedness and toughness.  The perception that winning is easy we know is false but it does look like their work is play. Many of us chalk it up to the person’s is naturally talent and short change mental rehearsal and practice. Applications for staying focused and being mentally tough in difficult performance situations or under stress: Practicing Mental Toughness techniques prior to your performance will help handling more stress during the performance. Below see some tools of how to create a mental set and rituals of   Mental Toughness state:

1. Be your own best supporter and critic. Shutout distractions and negative self-talk

2. Be clear, concise and committed to meeting your goal or target for the activity.

3. Believe fully in your ability and strength to execute effectively, so you can  naturally perform the task at hand.

4. Be prepared to relax and refocus on your goal when things go wrong during an interaction or performance. Learn to center yourself through deep breathing and use of relaxation tools.

5. Don’t try to hard to be accepted or worry about the outcome of your communication.

6. Learn to control your anxiety and nervousness by using a mental re-focus tool–When your self-critic pops up just say–STOP. The inner voice helps us to re-focus and exert self-control by enhancing our ability to restrain our negative impulses.  When we are in stressful situations like giving a speech we worry about the situation and it’s consequences. These worries are usually verbal in nature and are especially problematic for tasks that rely heavily on speaking and in the moment thinking and reasoning skills. So to be quick on your feet find a way to knock the fears away so that you can be mentally tough and perform at your best.

7. Be optimistic. Love the challenge of the moment and learn to accept whatever comes by focusing on process rather than techniques or fear of making mistakes. By learning to “look on the bright side,” of challenges and seeing stressful situations as opportunities for growth, you increase the likelihood of producing a positive mental and physical state.  This positive mental state leads to a chain of biochemical events that mobilize the brain and the body to cope more effectively with the situation.  A positive reaction to stress can then lead to what some have labeled  the challenge response, which counteracts the fear of failure and need to be perfect.

Attention Women: Want more Career Success Learn this Little Secret

“Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice”. Steve Jobs

Don’t miss this inspiring story about self-confidence and its impact on how we evaluate our potential to be successful. Ginny Rommety became IBM’s new chief executive and during that process told an interesting story on assertiveness and false humility. “  spoke about a point early in her career when she was offered a promotion she initially turned down because of fear of failure and underestimating her achievements and belief in her abilities. Encouraged by her husband’s question : “Do you think a man would have ever done that?” She reapply and got the promotion. Lesson learned — to be self-confident on the outside ( fake it) even when she felt self-critical on the inside.

What is it about women’s self-confidence that holds them back from self-promotion. There is a small change in thinking that  could have a major impact on women’s careers. What is this secret weapon that women don’t understand that could mean faster promotions, higher salaries, better jobs, and more meaningful career?  Find out this secret women are afraid to use and men overuse. Jodi Glickman provides an interesting argument in the HBR blog on this confidence issue for women. She talks about confidence as a recognition of accomplishments and a numbers game. I am not sure that this lack of self-promotion and confidence can be solved by her solution, but I do know it would be better for all of us if women had the opportunity to identify their strengths and then learn how to assert those strengths to receive the recognition they deserve.  Remember what the John Wooden, famous coach of UCLA,  said: “It’s the little details that are vital. Little things make big things happen.”  John Wooden  

 

The Inner Critic and the Outer Game of Life–Tips on How to “Play to Win”

“Sooner or later, those who win are those who think they can.” –Richard Bach

In this blog I will provide some proven tips for overcoming the negative “inner critic” and help you begin to practice how to access your positive and natural strengths ( Self 2  a concept articulated by Tim Gallwey), to conquer performance fears and the power of the negative critic (Self1)  in your mind.

I think that many issues and problem we experience can be traced back to the internal conversations and stories we tell ourselves about our self, other people and situations. If we are unaware of these internal dialogues or let them override our common sense we can make big errors in judgment. This “inner critic” can interfere with our ability to make decisions, take risk and perform below our potential. Some of the external behavior may lead to bad first impressions, lack of confidence, unhappiness, fears, such as heights, flying or public speaking and other unfortunate outcomes.

Instead of focusing on the behavior you want to change, focus on the irrational messages the “inner critic” is telling and selling to you. Poor thinking leads to negative messages and become an obstacle to a strong sense of self and impact performing in a natural, authentic and confident manner. To STOP the negative alien or critic from talking and under-minding behavior you must find ways to change irrational thoughts into positive thoughts.

Let me suggest five techniques to take control of the destructive and upsetting inner conversations with your self critic:

1. Practice mindful awareness. It doesn’t matter where the inner critic’s material is coming from because it could be achored in comments and experiences from teachers, parents, a coach or an abusive spouse or  other traumatic experience; the reasons and sources of criticism don’t matter you just increasing your awareness that these conversations are happening provides power over the critical thoughts.
2. Evaluate whether the message has any validity or truth’ Is it enabling you to accomplish the outcomes you want or is it preventing you from doing so. Be honest. (Sometimes, people are addicted to their problems and the stories that create them.)
3. Keep a self-journal. Write down word for word the internal dialogue with the critic. It might be something like the following:

• “You’re no good at X, Y or Z,,.”
• “You’re too uncoordinated to play sports..”
• “You’re stupid and not very smart when it comes to math.”
• “You’re to an over-educated bleeding heart liberal.”
• “You take things to seriously.”
• “You have no sense of humor
• “ You are not a good writer

4. Brainstorm solutions and new messages for changing the dialogue.

• Create powerful affirmations and clear messages to block the “inner critic”.
• Write solutions down on a 3 x 5 card that provide evidence for overcoming irrational messages or stories presented by the inner critic. I’m not talking about a bunch of positive puff statements I am suggesting telling the truth to yourself and the critic. Often, this is simply a matter of shifting your perspective and providing evidence that is opposite to the negative critic’s story or message..

5 Start telling yourself new messages, believing in focused attention and turning down or off the inner critic. Every time your inner critic begins to tell you that you are loser, stop him. Say, “No! That’s BS. Here’s the truth.” Then repeat your new message or affirmation. For example, At a critical moment in a tennis match the inner critic says you always miss the important points or you are a choker when the match hinges on your ability to serve out a match to win. You say STOP. Take a deep breath and remember times when you have overcome steep hills to win. You visualize winning the point and turn it over to your fluid and natural Self 2. You play every point going down to the wire with focus on the “here and now” moment and remind yourself of comebacks in the past. You say to the inner critic I am not a loser and I don’t quit. I just need to focus on the next shot and do the best I can.!

7 Principles for Applying Mental Toughness to Public Speaking and Presentations.

” Mental Toughness  is a state of mind, not a fact. No matter how much or how little stress we feel before a public speech we are about to give,  we’re always just doing what we’re doing, simply living this one moment of our lives to the best of our ability. So use that anxiety and fear to drive positive expectations and energy. ”  Dr. Mark W. Hardwick, Communication Coach  .

Winning seems so easy and natural for the Nadal’s and Feder’s of the tennis world. And in other sports too. But the real secret seems to be mental preparedness and toughness.  The perception that winning is easy we know is false but it does look like their work is play. Many of us chalk it up to the person is naturally talented and gifted.

In other world’s such as politics and business MT is also an important factor in being successful.

Obama seems to have it –calm and ”kool” under pressure yet lacking some toughness in regard to HCR, Oil Spill etc. Especially, if you are a progressive which we now know he is not.  This somewhat vague concept of MT could be the critical factor for identifying effective leadership in the 21st Century.

So what is mental toughness? It can be defined as the ability to access and maintain focus and determination to complete a course of action despite complexity, distractions, difficulties or unknown consequences. Some say it is the will to never give-up or quit.

So the question is: Can “mental toughness” (MT) be taught or is innate? Let’s look at the sports world where MT is often used to describe super stars. Many athletes and coaches think, MT is an innate quality or talent that you are born with and they believe it can’t be taught or learned because it is a part of your DNA or it isn’t. According to this school of thought mental toughness is usually something you’re born with and is reinforced early in life by your parents and environment. These authorities believe it’s hard to take a sensitive “mommies boy” and make him tough no matter what you do. This obviously is the nature vs. nuture argument. The nurture position states that people can be shaped and learn from different experiences, modeling and teaching.

 

Motivation and MT from Sports to Presentations

 

The root of mental toughness lies in motivation. Those who are deemed mentally tough typically exhibit what sports psychologists call “intrinsic achievement motivation.” A study featured in Psychology of Motor Behavior and Sport defines this as the desire to be self-determining. People who are intrinsically motivated are self- starters, willing to push themselves to the brink for the love of their sport or activity. They need little encouragement to give their best effort, and they often do well setting their own goals. For others, who are called “game players” they only begin to jell when the pressure of competition is on. They go through the motions in practice and drive coaches crazy. They only shine in the chance to compare themselves with others. These guys have what’s called “achievement motivation” and do their best only under the gun. You hear them say things like give me the ball I want to take the penalty kick or final shot when the BB game is on the line. They do not fear failure.  All things being equal between two competitors, whoever is higher in achievement motivation will be the better athlete, hands down.

Other researchers have said that motivation is important but brain chemistry can over ride desire/motivation if he player experiences anxiety. With too much anxiety detrimental changes in our brain and biochemical reactions take place. Stress research calls this the flight or fight response.  Now we have new brain research evidence reported by Dr. James Loehr, a famous performance psychologist, and Daniel Goleman, known for his work in Emotional Intelligence, that links negative thoughts and arousal with the stress hormone cortisol.  Cortisol is produced by the adrenal cortex.  Cortisol has been associated with feelings of anxiety, tension, helplessness, and loss of control.  Positive thoughts and pleasant experiences are linked to a positive trigger or rush of adrenaline, and an increase of epinephrine and norepinephrine. The positive jolts make for better performance.

Having an optimistic attitude can help increase the positive effects of epinephrine and norepinephrine.  Optimism, which produces these positive brain chemicals reduce many anxiety symptoms and can provide performers with the positive energy to focus and concentrate on the activity at hand.

By learning to “look on the bright side,” of challenges and seeing stressful situations as opportunities for growth, you increase the likelihood of producing a positive mental and arousal state.  This positive mental state leads to a chain of biochemical events that mobilize the brain and the body to cope more effectively with the situation.  A positive reaction to stress can then lead to what Dr. Loehr, calls the challenge response, which counteracts the negative effects of stress and improves your performance and enjoyment in presenting and speaking to groups. The challenge response helps leaders and high performance jocks to be more calm, relaxed, alert, energetic, inspired, and enthused. Mental Toughness, a phrased coined by internationally renowned peak performance guru Dr. Jim Loehr, has it roots in tennis, where Loehr first came to prominence. Applied to tennis, Mental Toughness training specifically targets physical rituals before and after points to help create focus and calm during a tennis competition.

Applications for staying focused and being mentally tough in making presentations

 

Practicing Mental Toughness techniques prior to your presentation will help you handle more stress during your performance. Below I will share the mental set and  rituals of Ideal Presentation and Mental Toughness principles:

1. Be your own best supporter and critic–slow down, take a breath and begin presenting with confidence

2. Be clear, concise and committed to meeting the needs of the audience and challenging them to rethink positions and take positive action for change.

3. Believe fully in your ability and strength to communicate effectively, so you can present openly, naturally and confidently to your audience.

4. Be prepared to present greatly by demonstrating your passion for the topic and message.

5. Present with an authenticity and believability that is sincere and resonates with the audience

6. Don’t try to hard to be accepted or worry about the outcome of your communication.

7. Love the challenge of communicating with whomever and connecting with others.

Mental Health Breakthroughs: Taking Risks to create a positive and fulfilling life

Researchers have long wondered how some people with severe Mental Health  problems can manage their issues and symptoms well enough to build meaningful and  successful lives.  A great example is the work that Dr.Elyn Saks is doing at Saks Institute for Mental Health Law, Policy and Ethics to study mental health and society. The Institute was funded by a $ 500,000 MacArthur Genius Grant.

I have blogged about Dr.Saks before on thewick and now her new work is adding to our hope that people living with severe Mental Illness know how to survive and prosper in creating meaningful lives that celebrate mental courage and personal perseverance. Despite battling schizophrenia and acute psychosis since she was a teenager, Saks is a nationally recognized scholar in mental health law, criminal law and the ethical dimensions of medical research.

Freeing Yourself to Perform at Optimal levels of Performance : ZEN Story

“Experience is determined by yourself–not the circumstances of your life. Face your fears and think clearly are  the sources for personal growth”. MWH.

Many of us face anxious moments such as public speaking or making split second decisions with limited information. So what does it take to access our ideal performance state in such difficult situations? Reducing distractions and the inability to perform at high levels of thinking and action is as simple as STOPPING and hitting the pause button. Even though the shift is  simple as remembering that you have a choice where you place your attention. It’s always an option to take a deep breath and look at the trees instead of the worries inside your head.

So what burdens are you are carrying mentally that keep you from being present in the moment to your family, to your friends, to yourself? The shift is as simple as stopping to reflect on your choices and over coming that rush of adrenalin and impulsivity. You have a choice of how to respond to any situation.  It’s always an option to take a deep breath and think about the beautiful white beaches you love to visit. instead of the worries and fears rushing through your brain..

Zen Story and Lesson of Choice  

There’s a well-known Zen story that offers an important insight about how to free our brains and emotions,  from internal habits that drain our ability to respond in appropriate and constructive ways and regain positive energy. Two monks are on a day-long walk to a temple. This is a very strict tradition, and they are not to speak or interact with others, especially women, during this pilgrimage. In the morning, they notice a woman along the side of the road struggling to cross a river. One of the monks goes over, picks her up and carries her across, safely placing her down on the other bank before returning to continue the journey with his colleague. This action is very disturbing to the second monk, who is aware that his colleague just violated the vows of their order. After thinking about this for more than three hours, the second monk could contain himself no longer, and he blurts out, “How could you pick up that woman back there?!” The first monk calmly replies, “I held that woman for five minutes — you’ve been carrying her for three hours!”

Challenge and Action: What boggy men are you carrying around that prevent you from thinking clearly when fears or anxious situations you confront? Do you have ways to self-regulate your barbarian brain and the flight response chemicals.

Elocution for a New Age: Understanding the Design Alignment Principle

 “Let your own discretion be your tutor: suit the action to the word, the word to the  action.”  Shakespeare, Hamlet

Although reserved primarily for the upper class; elocution became a really for any student in higher education in the 19th Century   Let’s start by looking at the history of how people learned to express and communicate with self-confidence and effectiveness.

Most historians of rhetoric credit Francois Delsarte with the modern discovery of laws for expression and rhetoric.

One day on my wandering through the aisles of a used book store in downtown Denver, I discovered an old classic book  written by  Eleanor O’Grady, entitled Elocution Class which captured how Delsarte’s  personal ambitions to be a musician where thrown into disarray and influenced his passion for exploring the field of elocution.   ” “Having a great aptitude for music, Delsarte sought and obtained admission to the French Music Conservatory in 1825.  Here, in consequence of faults in method and direction by poor teachers, he lost his voice.”  These tragic circumstances motivated him to devote his life to speaking and elocution.“

Webster’s defines:   el•o•cu•tion
Pronunciation: (el”u-kyOO‘shun),–n.
1. a person’s manner of speaking or reading aloud in public: The business person’s elocution is faultless.
2. the study and practice of oral delivery, including the control of both voice and gesture. For example, Natural tones are the tones of truth and honesty, of good sense and good taste. Right posture and placement of feet and body weight produces strong sense  of speaker confidence. 

Now we are pretty much on our own to figure out the path to successful presentations and communication with others. Of course, there are high school or college speech classes and for the lucky ones, debate societies and drama clubs.

It is with the understanding of elocution tools that audience’s needs become top of the mind for the presenter.  With an alignment of verbal, visual and content, we can arouse and awaken the focus and intelligence of the listener, which is the object we always have in mind, whether we speak our own language or that of another culture.

 

Elocution for a New Age: Design and Personal Assumptions and Ideas for Communication Effectiveness

 

Design Focus: Match content and context to Adult Learning

 

What are some of the theoretical assumptions on which the elocution for a new age and effective interpersonal interactions, dialogue and persuasive communication materials are built?

• Alignment of mental, mechanics and message are powerful design principles to engage adult learners.
• Audience members want to understand what you have to say and you learn as you open up to their feedback and questions.
• Most people want you to be successful when speaking and want to understand the relevance of your message to their lives. They want to take something worthwhile away from the speech. Being audience centered not self-centered is good rule to follow.
• Doing your “best with what you have” is all you can expect

Find your natural strengths and build on them do not focus on your weaknesses

Personal Development Focus

• You can not determine and control outcomes Internal thoughts are the biggest barriers or interferences for changing behavior and learning new presentation skills.
• Mental maps or implicit theories of learning guide the everyday actions presenters take to prepare and deliver their speeches
• You have the potential and capability to be a better performer if you can identify your fears and interferences and use your strengths to overshadow these interferences
• Learn the skills and techniques of mental toughness and how to access positive energy as ways to set a positive learning environment and make meaningful connecting with audience members.

The “Best practices” come from a meta-analysis study of 5000 articles on communications, social psychology, cognitive developmental and neurological  research related to thinking, presentations, public speaking, emotional intelligence and learning.  The analysis provides evidence that leader-presenters are at their best when they do some of the following:

• Drive out defensiveness and anxiety with preparation, practice, clear thinking  self confidence  and composure
• Engage and challenge the listeners with: vision, mission and strategies for creating the future.
• Presented the message with enthusiasm, energy and believability
• Present a logical flow to your conversation that is clear, concise and compelling.
• Encourage the heart of the listener by being empathic and appreciative
• Provided information that is true
• Demonstrate leadership through their ability to communicate in honest, trustworthy and authentic ways
• Create solutions that are practical and understandable—communicate without jargon
• Encourage creative approaches to learning “how to learn’   through self-discovery, feedback and action.

 

Be a Mountain–Exercise in Mindfulness and Reducing Stress

Be a Mountain Exercise

When feel tension or stress practice the following exercise by Dr. Jeffrey Brantley in his Book Five Good Minutes. 

This is a good practice for those times when you are feeling scattered, off balance, or unfocused. It allows you to reconnect with the elemental quality of earthiness and strength within. Doing this practice can ground you deeply in the present moment.

Stand or sit comfortably. Breathe mindfully for about a minute.

Set your intention. For example, “May this practice help me find inner strength.”

Imagine the most beautiful mountain you have ever seen, either in person or in a photograph.

As you visualize your mountain, let your body become the mountain. Feel the same qualities of steadiness,strength, unshakableness, and majesty.

For the next few minutes, rest in your “mountain body,” unmoved by any thoughts, fears, worries, or other experiences around you, just as the mountain

End by opening your eyes and moving gently.

To come up without straining your back, remember to roll up slowly, one vertebra at a time, your head coming up last. Stand upright, relaxed, with your hands at your side. This is a good exercise for releasing tension.

Daily Quote and Reflection: 5 minutes a Day can save your life. Learn the lessons of Mindfulness

 

 Daily Quote: “If you think five minutes isn’t enough time to make a difference in your life, think again”.Jeffrey Brantley, M.D.  

Reflection:  Recently, I blogged about the power of Mental Toghness and Stress in regards to how to face and overcome stressful situations. A friend recently reminded me Mental Toughness, Recover and  Mindfulness all must be the same thing. I assured him there were probably some differences but I wasn’t sure what the were.  So I went in search of finding out more about Mindfulness.  And I found Dr. Jeffrey Brantley who has some wonderful insights into the field of medicine and mindfulness and how to confront anxiety in positive ways. He defines mindfulness as a technique or tool in which a person is attentive in a non-judgmental way to his or her thoughts and actions in the present moment. This approach, practiced in Buddhism and other religions, has been shown recently to be effective in treating psychological problems including anxiety, fear, and panic. In essence it is all about being more self-aware about the moment you are living in. Oh by the way don’t miss Dr.Brantley’s  series on how to start an experiment in mindfulness  by reading his five little book series published by New Harbinger publications, Inc. Remember these books and activities could change your life by getting you back on purpose and meaning. Try one of the Five Good minutes exercise I guarantee they are painless and you will feel instant relaxation. 

New Poem: Alone… with Secrets,Demons and Dreams

Alone… with Secrets, Demons and Dreams —by MW Hardwick 

Things get hectic and complicate as soon as humans enter the equation

Are they laughing at me or wanting do me harm

Am I just “making shit-up” or is this real?

Yelling at myself stop…stop… stop…leave me alone

And yet thoughts seem to overwhelm and overlap in my brain like crashing waves

No space for rational ideas…or calm

I rush deeper down and further inside.

My fears mount and I battle the panic–

But comfort and peace do not COME

Sweat pours down my face and tears well-up

It reminds me of other times when confusion struck

And I barely hung on…

Please- no more talking, hospitals or self-imposed jails…

Is there a conspiracy to harm me or what?

What in the world have I done OMG…OMG

Maybe I need to ask for forgiveness–but what for?

But inside I am melting down…

Do you hear my cries for help?

Take a breath–breathe deeply exhale  slowly…  smile…

And slowly count One, two,three, 4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19

Twenty–they told me this always works to center yourself but where is the calmness?

Then the phone rings…rings and rings and I stop

So I now need to talk but I am uneasy, guarded and careful

Will I  just fill the airwaves with Blah, Blah, Blah

I am not clear on how idle chit-chat leads

Could this be someone calling about what I am thinking…

Nonsense just pick it up and listen to who it is and what they want…

Thank goodness it’s you

We talk about my fears, reality and crossed wires

I take three more deep breaths and realize it’s time for darkness and my dreams…

And friends…alone …alone

Oh, the battle to stay grounded and to see and think clearly

Maybe rest will give me respite

From these fears…oh so many fears…

I glance at the mirror and my face sternly looks back and says

YOU TELL ME YOUR FEARS AND SECRETS and I WILL TELL YOU MINE…

I guess it’s time to dream about eating lemon squares…and cinnamon rolls…

And making this sad world a paradise…a paradise…so we all can be happy again

Say goodnight to Secrets, Demons and Dreams…Alone at last…

ALONE AT LAST…alone at last…