Mindful Eating. Five simple things that when you can do them will almost certainly bring you to an ideal weight without any focus on dieting.

Want to be able to eat what you like, when you like and really enjoy it? Want to drop all sense of guilt, fear and recrimination around food and maintain a healthy, stable weight intelligently? Free of effort. This week, 5 simple things that can deliver all this for you.

Facts are around 60% of adults in Australia and the USA are overweight or obese. Even if you are just a little overweight, you are certainly not alone. We all know the health consequences. Not good.

Now I am one of those fortunate people who in their sixties still has visible stomach muscles. How so? Easy. I have never “dieted”, but for many years mindfulness has been the guiding light for what I eat and how I eat it.

So this week, lets go Out on a Limb once more, and in a very personal way I will share 5 elegant possibilities to do with mindful eating. Also, a reminder Meditation in the Desert is only 3 months away, was fully booked last year and is such a wonderful experience if you value meditation, the Central Australian Desert and the notion of authentic cultural exchange with genuine Indigenous leaders. Details?  –  CLICK HERE.

But now,

Thought for the Day

The beginning of love

Is to let those we love be perfectly themselves

And not to twist them 

To fit our own image.

Otherwise, we love 

Only the reflection of ourselves we find in them

                  Thomas Merton

According to recent research, mindfulness can reduce food cravings, normalise appetite and help regulate how much we eat. Maybe I am not alone! Supermodel Gisele Bundchen even credits mindfulness and meditation with helping her lose her baby weight just two months after giving birth. Must be good. So how to do it?

1. Mindful shopping (or mindful food gathering)

I love shopping for food. It brings out a natural form of mindfulness. I pick up a potato, feel its weight, squeeze it a little, roll it around and reflect: “ Is this a potato I want to make a part of me? Is this the sort of potato that I want my body to become?”

I remind myself, what I will eat will become my new body. Today’s potato is my future body. So I am rather deliberate about it. Sure, it does take a little extra time (but not much); and the upside is shopping itself becomes a meditation. Enjoyable.

Also, I know that food control starts in the shop. If you bring no junk food into the house, the only way to eat any is to send out for pizza!!!

I love shopping for food mindfully.

2. Mindful food preparation

I love preparing food. Again, it brings out a natural mindfulness. I pick up the potato, in the kitchen thistime. Smile. Bathe it if necessary. Yes, more than wash, bathe it. There is a tenderness, a respect, a natural care for this thing, this potato I plan to eat, maybe share with family and friends. 

How wonderful this potato is here for the eating. Mindfulness comes naturally. Everything about the preparation, the cooking has my full attention. I do not want to miss anything. 

I love preparing food mindfully.

3. Mindful eating

Now we are getting really sensual. The potato is on the plate. The colours. The smells. The texture. The taste. Yummmmm! Why would you want to miss any of this? I love eating mindfully. It is so pleasurable. So satisfying. So filling. 

For me it is virtually impossible to over-eat. Maybe it happens a few times a year, but then there is a natural balance, eating less for a meal or two. No effort. It all comes naturally. 

I love eating mindfully. 

4. Gratitude

If you do not eat, you die. If there is nothing to eat, you die. Simple. 

I am so appreciative of having food in the shops, food in my garden. 

I go to the Victoria Markets in central Melbourne and walk down the aisles marvelling at the abundance. Grateful for the large organic section. Forty years ago when I was struggling to overcome cancer, there was literally one organic vegetable shop in all of Melbourne. Now most suburbs have a shop, and most supermarkets an organic section. Got to love it.

Then I am so grateful for all the shop assistants, all the people involved in transport, all the gardeners, the people that all these people rely upon in turn to make their work, their service possible.

Take a moment to think through all of what it has taken to enable your potato to be in the shop, and you will be feeling immense gratitude for an immense number of people. They are all a part of your diet.

Gratitude is the key to appreciating and valuing what you eat.

5. The optional extra. The real delight. Grow your own food – mindfully.

The joy of having this privilege of having a home vegetable garden. And the benefit of knowing what it takes to nurture a potato, to actually grow one – or two.

Such respect for the potato that comes from the home garden. Grow it mindfully and all else follows.

Such respect. Such mindfulness.

I love growing food mindfully.

Nothing about dieting. 

Nothing about what or how much or when to eat. 

Just mindfulness and gratitude. 

Now there is a diet for you!

ADDENDUM – Are statins a justification for mindless gluttony?  

Gluttony is the word the researchers used!

Statins are intended to be cholesterol-lowering drugs but according to recent research published by the American Medical Association, those who use them tend to gain more weight and eat more fat and calories.

In a National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, researchers found that over ten years those on statins had an increased calorie intake of 9.6 percent while their fat intake increased 14.4 percent. Over those same years, people  who did not take cholesterol-lowering medications had no significant changes in calorie or fat intake.

Those on the medications also gained more weight, compared with those not on medications. The authors conclude that patients had adopted a false sense of security, and dietary intake needs greater emphasis.

Sugiyama T,et al. Different time trends of caloric and fat intake between statin users and nonusers among US adults: gluttony in the time of statins? JAMA Intern Med. Published online April 24, 2014.

NOTICEBOARD

Meditation in the Desert  : August 29 – September 7

Come, join Ruth and myself along with like-minded people for 7 days of meditation in the
extraordinary atmosphere of the Central Australian desert, followed by several days of close contact with senior local indigenous leaders. 

Also, there is an add-on tour we have arranged especially to follow after the retreat for those wishing to travel on to the key sites around Alice Springs - the Rock, Kata Juta (the Olgas) etc. 

Many from previous years have described this as a genuine trip of a lifetime.

For full details CLICK HERE

RELATED BLOGS

The 2 top ways to develop mindfulness in daily life

Meditation in the Desert

NEWS
1. Swami Shantananda trained with me many years ago and was on the Foundation's Board for some years, so I came to know her well and can recommend this workshop she will be presenting on May 24th for those seeking the essence of meditation.

Please note: The notice above is a jpeg, so here is the email address in clickable form:

robert@classicalyoga.com.au

2. What are they doing?
Bonus points for anyone who knows where the picture was taken for this week’s version of “Meditation delivers!” on my Facebook page. If you have not caught up with it, for the last few months I have been having fun connecting photos I have taken around the world with something that “Meditation delivers!”. This week the caption is “Want to stand out from the crowd?” 

So where in the world are the girls and what do you imagine they are doing? Have your say on the comments section.

Answers next week

Ian Gawler Blog: Learn to relax, and change your life

We hear so much these days about mindfulness and meditation, yet relaxation is often overlooked or even dismissed. It seems relaxation has become the poor cousin of Mind-Body Medicine.

Having taught meditation for over 30 years now, it is my experience relaxation itself is incredibly useful, and without deep physical relaxation, mindfulness and meditation are far less effective.

So this week, how to deepen physical relaxation before meditating and how to maintain relaxation of body and mind in daily life. Only 4 weeks before the cancer residential Ruth and I will present in Auckland,  Cancer, Healing and Wellbeing - more detail later, but first, with the spirit of Easter still close by,





Thought for the day

Truly I tell you
If you have faith as small as a mustard seed
You can say to this mountain
‘Move from here to there,’ 
And it will move.
Nothing will be impossible for you.
                   
                       Matthew 17: 20, 21      






Why bother with learning to relax?
You may take up meditation to manage stress or to heal physically or mentally, to find more peace and balance in your life, to be more efficient at work or to perform better at sport, or to be a nicer person. All these things will be vastly assisted by beginning by learning to relax.

There is a beautiful synergy between relaxing the body and calming the mind. The more we relax the body, the more that relaxation flows on to calm the mind. The more we calm the mind, the more the mind sends out messages that relax the body. Therefore, when we bring concentration and mindfulness to the process of relaxing the body, this synergy leads to profound relaxation of both the body and the mind.

Mindfulness-Based Stillness Meditation
Mindfulness-Based Stillness Meditation (MBSM) is the style of meditation I have been teaching for over 30 years and it is very simple. There are four key steps, preparation, relaxation, mindfulness and stillness.

Preparation is to do with all the practical details of your meditation.


Relaxation comes second, and here we take time to learn how to relax our body and our mind. This


frees us to be in an ideal state to learn and practice mindfulness, and to then advance into the simple silence of meditation itself.


                   Cats are pretty good at relaxing


How to get started – a summary
The Progressive Muscle Relaxation (PMR) is an age old, well tried and tested, super reliable way of letting go of tension and stress, relaxing deeply and experiencing inner peace. Again, my feeling is that this technique may well be overlooked or disregarded by many meditators – to their disadvantage.

To learn the PMR, we learn how to pay attention to four things in each muscle group of the body, starting with the feet, then moving on to the calves, thighs and so on.

These are the 4 things we need to pay attention to
1. Notice how each area of the body feels when we first take our attention to it.

2. Contract the muscles in that area and hold the contraction long enough to notice the feeling that the tightening of the muscles creates.

3. Slowly and smoothly relax the muscles, noticing the feeling of tension releasing and the feeling of relaxation that follows.

4. Give attention to what that area feels like now that we have relaxed it.
We begin by noticing the feeling of relaxation in the muscles of the feet, then we work our way up through calves, thighs, tummy and so on up through the head.

Concentration and the PMR
As we practise the PMR exercise, we do need to concentrate. We concentrate on doing the contracting and relaxing of the muscles, and we particularly concentrate on the feeling as we go through the 4 steps described above.

However, it will work best if our concentration is light rather than too intense. As an analogy, consider a stringed instrument such as a violin or a guitar: if the strings are either too tight or too loose it will sound bad. The strings need just the right amount of tension for them to be in tune and for the instrument to sound its best.

So it is with the mind. If we are too relaxed, too ‘loose’, it will not work so well. Too intense, too serious, too much effort, and again it will not be so useful.

Mindfulness and the Progressive Muscle Relaxation exercise
There are two ways to do an exercise like the PMR. One way is to do it mindfully, the other is mindlessly. Mindfulness is simply concentrating on what we are doing in a way that is focused but free of judgment.

Mindlessness, on the other hand, is when we do not pay attention, when we do not concentrate, and when our mind wanders off and thinks about all sorts of other things.

The wandering mind

Almost everyone will find that, as they do these exercises, the mind will wander, so we need to use the vigilant part of our mind to notice when we do become distracted and, once we recognise this, to bring the mind gently back to the exercise again.

The key here is to avoid beating yourself up in the process. Be reassured that this is the normal experience. Especially for beginners, the mind does tend to wander and become distracted. We need to notice this and bring it back.



Beginning your practice
The text for the Progressive Muscle Relaxation exercise is in all my books. You can either learn the
script so that you can lead yourself through the exercise or you can use a CD or download to guide you through. You do not necessarily need to learn the scripts word-for-word, although you can if you prefer.

The PMR follows a simple pattern of contracting the muscles and relaxing them, starting with the feet and then moving progressively up through each significant muscle group of the body.

The phrases recommended for use between each set of muscles are intended to keep the mind focused and to build a feeling of relaxation all through the body. The fewer phrases you need to use to stay focused and the longer the gaps between the words before you become distracted, the simpler the whole exercise is and the better it works.

Of course, initially it can be helpful to be led by an experienced teacher through exercises like these, and many people find listening to CDs very useful, especially as beginners. But either way, the intention is to learn to do these exercises for yourself, and to repeat them until you master them in the way described.

Making progress
You will probably find within a week or two of beginning this practice that you can do the PMR without having to think about it too much. The next step is to simplify it. To learn to gain the same depth of relaxation more directly. So we learn to do the PMR without contracting the muscles first. Then even more simply. All this is in the books.

Do be warned that as you become more familiar with any exercise there is a tendency to lapse into doing it on automatic, in that way we describe as being mindless. So as you become more familiar and proficient with this and all the other exercises, remember to do them mindfully. The key principle is to pay attention and be interested in what you are doing; interested in that open, curious and non-judgmental way.



Concentration, mindfulness and relaxation


By concentrating on the feeling of relaxation in the body, it is as if we become absorbed in the feeling of relaxation itself. As we feel the body relax, the mind goes with it. The relaxation of the body flows into the mind. Our body is relaxed. Our mind is relaxed. And we simply rest in that feeling of relaxation.




               But then again, some dogs relax OK too!



How to proceed
In my experience this approach based on the PMR works well for many people. In fact, when I first started to teach meditation, this was all I taught. Many people reported developing a deep awareness of relaxation in both the body and the mind, and were satisfied with this as a reliable technique for meditation.

RELATED BLOGS
Slow down and go faster

RESOURCES

BOOK
 : Meditation – an In Depth Guide, Ian Gawler and Paul Bedson:  a useful manual to practice with, to study and refer to. Details : CLICK HERE

CDs and Downloads : A series of meditations to help support and develop your meditation has been prepared by my wife Ruth and myself : Details : CLICK HERE

Mindbody Mastery  - The on-line meditation program and support system I helped develop.
Details : CLICK HERE

NOTICEBOARD

1. Warrnambool:  Sunday May 4th, 2014

The heart and science of
Health, Healing and the Mind

Seeking to use the power of your mind
for health, healing and wellbeing ?

Interested in a deeper experience of meditation ?

What really is best to eat ?

• Dissolve every day stresses; experience mindfulness, relax effortlessly, meditate profoundly
• Discover the practical, life changing implications of neuroplasticity, epigenetics and telomere research
• Clarify your questions; be confident of eating well and living well – and enjoying it!

Ideal for people interested in evidence based health and wellbeing, disease prevention and management, for health professionals and for those seeking profound healing

Date: Sunday May 4th, 2014 : 10am (arrive 9.30) to 4pm
Venue: St Brigid's Community Center, 186 Port Fairy - Koroit Rd, Crossley 3283
Cost: $130, conc $90 Includes morning tea.  Please bring lunch to share.
Enquiries: Integrative Health Services - Rosemary Gleeson : 0447 6177 68
                    or email rosemarygleeson@ymail.com

Bookings: Online CLICK HERE 
                   or via telephone with Visa, Mastercard : call Angela on (03) 5966 6130



2. Cancer, Healing and Wellbeing : Auckland, May 16 - 23
This 8 day cancer recovery program residential program is evidence based and will be highly experiential. We will cover the full range of Integrative Medicine options, with the emphasis on what people can do for themselves – therapeutic nutrition, exercise and meditation, emotional health, positive psychology, pain management, the search for meaning and so on.

I will personally present the majority of the content but along with Ruth, participants will have the additional support and experience of Liz Maluschnig and Stew Burt; two very experienced and committed New Zealanders.
For details on this and the other cancer related residential programs for 2014 CLICK HERE

Ian Gawler Blog: Meditation in the Desert – A photographic essay

It is not just a cliché; a picture IS worth a thousand words. Well sometimes at least…

Truth is, it is hard to convey the atmosphere of the central Australian desert in words, much less what it is like to meditate for a week there and then spend time with senior indigenous leaders from the area.

So this week, just back from Meditation in the Desert, lots of photos and a few words – a glimpse of what this amazing experience really was like.

Then how you can get a significant discount (20%) to attend the Happiness and its Causes Conference I am honoured to be speaking at in Brisbane and Perth, and news of a TV appearance and my last public event in Melbourne this year: Mind-Body medicine in daily life with Dr Nimrod Sheinman. But first

Thought for the day
The more and more you listen,
The more and more you hear.
The more and more you hear,
The deeper and deeper your understanding becomes.
                  Dudjom Rinpoche


MEDITATION IN THE DESERT

We gathered in Alice Springs. From the UK, New Zealand and all around Australia, drawn by the allure of the desert, a traditional place for retreat, and the not so far away Uluru or Ayer’s Rock.

We travelled out the Tanami Track, then wound our way in to settle just North of Simpson’s Gap, looking across to the Western Macdonnell Ranges.














Hamilton Downs is a heritage pioneer station now used for school and other groups. We came under the heading of “Other”!













We were welcomed into the area by Peter Latz who grew up at remote Hermansburg amidst the local indigenous people.

A long time friend of Ruth, Peter was introduced as one who has become a world authority on desert plants and the land management techniques of the aboriginals.

A fascinating, earthy walk and talk ensued as Peter took us from one
food source to another in what might seem to city folk to be a harsh and barren landscape.













Many elected to sleep under the stars in a swag in the nearby sandy river bed.















We met for my talks and to meditate together under a protective canopy.
















Our cook turned out to be sensational. A vegetarian himself, Ken made our food from fresh, mostly organic ingredients and the taste was fabulous.














Everyone took turns to help – mindfulness at work – and a welcome opportunity to put some of the theory and sitting practice into action. Integration.

The day started with gentle yoga led by Ruth. Gentle stretching at everyone’s individual pace and a welcome way to prepare for the day.














Walking meditation came in two forms. Slow and short to provide an interlude, a stretch and some integration between meditation sessions.

Longer and a little quicker for more exercise, a different means to integration, and a good way to move the body.














We sat together and shared stories.

















Took a group photo to mark the occasion!















Then largely due to Ruth’s long-term connections with Alice Springs and indigenous people from the area, the fact I have been there many times too, and our old friend Peter Yates who has remarkable connections and experience, we were treated to several days with senior local people who offered some authentic insights into their world, their customs, their lives.











Peter Yates with Johnny Possum Japaljarri

















The men watched a stick being crafted into a boomerang – an amazing ancient craft.

















Then those who felt to were painted up for dancing.

Natural ochres.

Deeply personal.

Headbands made to measure.

Then led by Japaljarri and dancing in front of the women.

Touching something profound inside.

Deeply satisfying.
















The women were led with singing and painting as those who chose to prepared to be painted and to dance.















Singing and painting.



Talking and laughing and painting.















Such a sense of community and ritual and touching that same something deep inside.



A profound experience for all.







This was the fifth time Ruth and I have presented Meditation in the Desert. To be frank, it takes a great deal of organizing, but it has to be one of the best things we do. The powerful and multiple effects of connecting people with the desert, meditating together in that incredibly supportive atmosphere and then spending time with authentic aboriginal people is hard to put into words.

In a couple of weeks I will post images from the post-retreat tour where we visited Kings Canyon and the Rock, connecting again with more aboriginal people and culture.

The feedback this year has been so positive, and the requests to keep it going so frequent, plus the fact that we would like to maintain the regularity of the good connections we have with the indigenous people at the retreat and on the post retreat tour, that we have decided to commit to Meditation in the Desert 2014.

Yes, that is correct, we hope to do it again next year!

 We have tentatively booked Hamilton Downs again for September 5 to 14 2014. However, it will take a while to confirm we can get all the pieces together and to be in the position to say it is definitely on (about a month I am guessing). But you may like to keep the dates free for now!

This is a uniquely Australian event that for meditators really can be the experience of a lifetime.

RELATED BLOG
Meditation in the desert – the program and other details

NOTICEBOARD
1. Day seminar with Dr Nimrod Sheinman coming soon
MIND-BODY MEDICINE in DAILY LIFE
Relaxation, meditation and creative imagery for health, business, healing and wellbeing. A healthy lunch is included.  For details and to book CLICK HERE

2. New TV segment screening soon with Dr Francis Macnab
St Michaels Church in Melbourne has a 13 episode programme on Channel 31 called Conversations with Macnab (Dr Francis Macnab that is). They are broadcast at 7:30 am Saturday mornings and there are 11 programmes remaining.

The one on Saturday 5th October will be a conversation between Francis and myself that Francis led during a church service several weeks ago. There is an introduction by Roger Hersey, himself a long-term cancer survivor, then a fairly wide-ranging and punchy interview.

If you are unable to get Channel 31, it will be posted on YouTube.

3. Happiness and its Causes 
One of the World’s very best Mind-Body medicine conferences. Engaging, inspiring , informative – I am speaking and presenting workshops, and you can come with a 20% discount!
The Happiness & Its Causes Roadshow is coming to Brisbane & Perth!        4 & 5 November 2013 

Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre 7 & 8 November 2013 
Perth Convention & Exhibition Centre

Be part of the first ever Happiness & Its Causes Roadshow! Join us for one action packed conference day and one day of in-­‐depth workshops. Be dazzled by a faculty of 20+ international, interstate and local speakers – leaders in psychology, science, education, business, spirituality, the arts and more!

GIVEN I AM SPEAKING, AS ONE OF MY CONTACTS, YOU ARE ENTITLED TO A 20% DISCOUNT 
> For the Brisbane event: book online using promotion code ECJS
> For the Perth event: book online using promotion code AYDZ

Or call (02) 8719 5118 to register. Workshops are also discounted and can be booked separately.
KEYNOTES INCLUDE:

• Associate Professor Michael F Steger, USA, coaching psychologist and international authority in the study of meaning and the quality of life
  
• Eve Ekman, USA, expert working with emotion and mindfulness to reduce stress and burnout while enhancing 'professional empathy' in the workplace (Perth only)
  
• Professor Michael Corballis, New Zealand, outstanding cognitive neuroscientist and science communicator (Brisbane only)
  
• Dr Ian Gawler, Australia's most well known cancer survivor and mind-­‐body medicine pioneer
  
• Dr Suzy Green, respected researcher and positive education expert
  
• Dr Sarah Edelman, acclaimed clinical psychologist and best-­‐selling author of Change Your Thinking
  
• Dr Adam Fraser, innovative educator and researcher on human performance
  
• Dr Timothy Sharp, leading clinical psychologist and founder of The Happiness Institute
  
• Sue Langley, thought leader and trainer in emotional intelligence and neuroleadership
  
• Dr Craig Hassed, GP, lecturer and author on holistic paths to wellbeing
  
• Maggie Hamilton, researcher, regular media commentator, internationally published author and
  keen observer of social trends ... plus many more!
  www.happinesanditscauses.com.au/roadshow/brisbane www.happinessanditscauses.com.au/roadshow/perth 
  

Ian Gawler Blog: Mind-Body Medicine in daily life – the big 3

We hear so much about the wide-ranging benefits of Mind-Body Medicine these days. Relief from stress and anxiety, mind made healing, the power of the mind. So many possibilities.

The recurring question I have been asked over many years is “How do I apply this in daily life? What works best? Where do I start? What next?”

Well, it comes down to three things. So this week we examine the big three with the intention of making clear how Mind-Body Medicine can bring comfort and ease, along with chronic good health into a busy, modern life.

Then details of new events along these lines in Melbourne and around New Zealand; but first

Thought for the day
Recent definition of meditation

Learning to focus our attention 
and suspend the stream of thoughts 
that normally occupy our mind

from the (USA) National Centre for Complementary and Alternative Medicine 





The Big 3 of Mind-Body Medicine
Number 1. RELAXATION
Yes, simple old relaxation. Well perhaps quite not so simple in that Mind-Body relaxation involves relaxation of body and mind.

But a major principle. Based on many years of experience, it is my view that many people, books, even institutions fail to recognize the importance of physical relaxation. The point?

The basic tenet of Mind-Body Medicine is that the mind and the body are connected. A tense body equates with unhealthy changes in the body’s biochemistry and physiology. If we want to have a healthy body, we need to be free of physical tension.

Now, it is possible to be mindful in a tense body. It is possible to do creative imagery or meditation in a tense body. And yes, maybe enough mindfulness, imagery or meditation does enable us to let go of tension. But in my experience it can take years and some never seem to get there. What about you? Ever met a tense meditator?

The answer? Take time to learn, practice and become proficient at relaxing the body and the mind. Start with the body, allow it to flow into the mind. Number 1 taken care of!

Number 2. MEDITATION
For simplicity we will include mindfulness, contemplation, and imagery in this process of training the mind. All are useful. All warrant serious attention with more time dedicated to learning, practicing and become proficient.

Number 2 taken care of in 3 lines! Could take a little longer in practice, but well worth the effort.

Number 3: POSITIVE THINKING
Yes, good old positive thinking. So under-rated. So misunderstood.

When I speak of positive thinking I speak of studying how the mind works and using it intelligently to best advantage.

Clearly it is the mind that changes everything and in Mind-Body Medicine we recognise that the mind decides what we eat and how much of it, what we drink, whether we smoke or exercise, how we manage our relationships, our own mind and our spiritual life.

At the very least, positive thinking is about how we make decisions and how we follow them through. So there is a huge difference between “wishful thinking”, which is when you hope for the best and do nothing about it; and “positive thinking” which is when you hope for the best and do a lot about it.

Positive thinking is not just a state of mind, commonly it is an invitation to quite a deal of focused hard work!

So Number 3 is using the thinking mind intelligently.

PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER.
Again the common question: Where to start? Well, I usually suggest meditation. Meditation that takes Mind-Body Medicine into account and so begins with a focus on relaxing the body and calming the mind. Instant relief from stress and anxiety. A rapid calming and clearing of the mind so that decisions seem easy to make and the confidence is there to follow them through to conclusion.

Sure it makes good sense to develop all three, but meditation is at the heart of Mind-Body Medicine.

COMING EVENTS
Ruth and I are fortunate to be hosting a world authority in Mind-Body Medicine during October. Dr Nimrod Sheinman has taught mindfulness and creative imagery techniques in a wide range of settings – including Universities, schools and hospitals. He and I will present a day seminar in Melbourne, then combine with Ruth for a 5 day retreat/training for individuals and health practitioners in the Yarra Valley.

In November and December, Ruth and I travel to beautiful New Zealand for a series of seminars, evening talks and retreats – see below for details.

We hope to re-connect with those of you who live locally at one of these events. Please help others know about them by sharing this blog post.

NOTICEBOARD - for full details, CLICK on the highlighted sections

1. With Dr Nimrod Sheinman
i) MIND-BODY MEDICINE in DAILY LIFE. Sunday, October 20th - day seminar
Relaxation, meditation and creative imagery for health, business, healing and wellbeing

ii) IMAGES, WORDS and SILENCE  October 28th - November 1st
Five day training/retreat for those interested in mind made healing – either for personal use or as a health professional.
With Dr Nimrod Sheinman, Ruth and myself in the Yarra Valley.

2. NEW ZEALAND
i) AUCKLAND
       Evening Public Lecture: Medicine of the Mind.  Thursday November 14th.
Let go of stress, activate healing, maximise performance in all you do. The power of the mind at work in everyday life.
       Weekend workshop: A New Way of Living
Saturday November 30th: Meditation and the power of the mind
Sunday December 1st: Living Well, Being Well –
A way of living that generates good health, profound healing and log-term wellbeing.

iii) Rotorua: Health, Healing and Wellbeing – Saturday November 16th - day seminar
The essence of what Ian has found most helpful.

iv) Christchurch: Inner peace, Outer health. Sunday November 24th.
A free event - find peace and clarity amidst troubled times.

v) Nelson: Mind-Body Medicine in Daily Life. Evening of November 26th.
Relaxation, meditation and creative imagery for health, business, healing and wellbeing

vi) Meditation Under the Long White Cloud. December 2nd – 8th. Seven day meditation retreat – the first from Ian and Ruth in New Zealand - at Mana Retreat Centre.
Ian will detail how to deepen your understanding and experience of relaxation, mindfulness and meditation; then he and Ruth will guide you into the direct experience of inner peace.

vii) Five day follow-up cancer program.
Specifically for people who have attended a CanLive program in NZ, or Gawler Foundation program. November 18 – 22 at Wanaka out of Queenstown - one of the most beautiful environments there is.

RESOURCES
My books, CDs and CD downloads are all now available once more on line: CLICK HERE
Downloads going to all parts of the world!





Ruth and I are leading
Meditation in the Desert
in the incredible, meditative
Central Australian Desert
so there will be no new post for 2 weeks.

Ian Gawler Blog: Geeks turn to meditation – the three top reasons why

It is lunchtime in Google’s main office and all is profoundly quiet, bar the occasional sounding of a meditation bell. Yes, the computer whizzes have left their machines silent, taken the lead from the renowned Zen monk Thich Nhat Hanh and are enjoying a moments peace; a moment of mindfulness during one of their bi-monthly “mindful lunches”.

This week we investigate why the geeks here at Google, and across the way at the Facebook and Twitter offices, are turning increasingly to mindfulness and meditation and how they are benefiting. Then what to eat to offset Alzheimer’s, while Beyond Blue features meditation against anxiety. But first

Thought for the day

Before one studies Zen,

mountains are mountains and waters are waters;


After a first glimpse into the truth of Zen,

Mountains are no longer mountains 
and waters are no longer waters;

After enlightenment,


Mountains are once again mountains and waters once again waters.

                                                                                    Old Zen saying

Personal peace, company productivity, community altruism. Quite a package. But it does seem that the real purpose of meditation is beginning to dawn in the major hi-tech companies. Sure it helps with inner peace. Sure there is lots of research now that confirms how significantly meditation can improve everything from raw intelligence to creativity, productivity and social behavior in the workplace. But what is the point? Is it only about making more money? Where does it all lead to?

David DeSteno is a professor of psychology at Northeastern University in the USA. Speaking in a recent New York Times article, he comments

“Gaining competitive advantage on exams and increasing creativity in business weren’t of the utmost concern to Buddha and other early meditation teachers. As Buddha himself said, “I teach one thing and one only: that is, suffering and the end of suffering.” For Buddha, as for many modern spiritual leaders, the goal of meditation was as simple as that. The heightened control of the mind that meditation offers was supposed to help its practitioners see the world in a new and more compassionate way.”

So in Silicon Valley, where meditation and mindfulness have become the new rage, it is not just about inner peace and getting ahead. There is the realisation that more is on  offer. Meditation is about developing compassion and altruism. It is about finding meaning and purpose at work and in life.

We can all take heart. At Google, more than a thousand staff have been through their "Search Inside Yourself" mindfulness training program developed by Chade-Meng Tan, one of their engineers. Another 400 are on a waiting list and in the meantime take classes like "Neural Self-hacking" or "Managing your Energy". A labyrinth for walking meditation, similar to the one by the river at the Foundation has also been built.

Next, the cofounders of Twitter and Facebook have incorporated contemplative exercises and meditation sessions into normal working hours. Around 1,700 people attended the Wisdom 2.0 conference in San Francisco recently, lured by the promise that meditation "can be used to augment individual performance, leadership and productivity". Top executives from Linkedin, Cisco and Ford featured among the keynote speakers.

Examining the question of compassion, DeStano, and colleagues conducted an experiment soon to be published in the journal Psychological Science. They took first time meditators through an 8 week meditation course and found that the meditation increased the compassion response threefold.

DeSteno adds “recent findings by the neuroscientists Helen Weng, Richard Davidson and colleagues confirm that even relatively brief training in meditative techniques can alter neural functioning in brain areas associated with empathic understanding of others’ distress — areas whose responsiveness is also modulated by a person’s degree of felt associations with others”.

So perhaps meditation is coming back to its roots. Sure, all its benefits for very real day-to-day things like training the mind to be better at whatever we do makes every good sense, but there is more on offer – becoming better at who we are, and how we be!

REFERENCES

1. New York Times: 5^th July 2013, GRAY MATTER: The Morality of Meditation - Focusing the mind makes us more likely to help others in pain.

2. Wired: Enlightenment Engineer

RESEARCH NEWS

Eat smart, avoid Alzheimer’s

There is a growing body of research that suggests meditation and other mind training exercises can reduce the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease, but now a new study demonstrates that a high-fat, high-glycemic-index diet increases the risk significantly. Happily, a low-fat, low GI diet protected against the disease according to a new study published by the American Medical Association.

Researchers assigned 47 older adults, some of whom already had mild cognitive impairment, to either a high-fat, high-GI diet or a low-fat, low-GI diet.

Within four weeks, the high-fat diet increased the production of lipid-depleted Aβ, a protein linked to Alzheimer’s risk. The low-fat diet had the opposite effect. An accompanying commentary in the journal supports the finding that dietary choices can affect brain chemistry quickly and effectively.

References

1. Hanson AJ, et al. JAMA Neurol. Published ahead of print June 17, 2013.

2. Blacker D. Food for thought. JAMA Neurol. Published ahead of print June 17, 2013.

IN THE NEWS

Beyond Blue gives Meditation a plug – read the quote and smile! Times are changing, often in rather cute small steps!

Meditation: Studies show meditation can reduce stress, help put you in control of your thoughts, help you find a purpose in life and bring peace of mind. And if it doesn't work for you, at least you'll have yourself a nice nap.



REFERENCE: Beyond Blue Man Therapy: Click here and go to M for meditation