Ian Gawler Blog: Colour therapy and New Zealand

This week some extra-ordinary colour therapy courtesy of a flourishing garden, along with details of the meditation retreat in, and tour of New Zealand Ruth and I will embark upon in November and December. Plus reminders of impending talks in Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth, along with a small request and a treat!

If you do know anyone for whom these events may be useful, please do share this post with them. I am still convinced that helping someone else to learn or deepen their meditation is one of the most useful things we can do.

But first
Thought for the Day
It takes dedication, hard disciplined work, and intensive training
Before a dancer can move with unearthly grace
And perform feats that are impossible for an untrained body.
In the same, way, people have found when they practice compassion assiduously,
All day and everyday,
They achieve new capacities of mind and heart
                   Karen Armstrong

Ruth and I love going to New Zealand. Great country, great people, great reception. There seems to be a real openness and enthusiasm for Mind-Body Medicine, Complimentary therapies and Lifestyle Medicine. My sense of this is that both the public and the professions, including the doctors, are more open and embracing than in Australia.

It would be interesting to get comments/impressions from any of you who do move back and forth across “the ditch”; what is your experience of this?

We have been invited to present a range of programs – from retreats to a free public workshop in Christchurch for those affected by all the devastation that has come to that city.

So we hope to be able meet up again with those we have met on previous visits, and to continue to make new friends along the way. The events begin in

AUCKLAND: Evening Public Lecture: Medicine of the Mind - Thursday November 14th.
Here the conversation will be around how to let go of stress, activate healing and maximise performance in all you do. The latest research findings will be presented, along with how they can be applied. The power of the mind at work in everyday life. Time to relax and meditate together as well! There will also be a weekend workshop in Auckland Nov 30, Dec1 - see below.
Full details, CLICK HERE

Next comes
ROTORUA: Health, Healing and Wellbeing - November 16th
Here the focus will be more on the prevention and recovery from illness. I will aim to present the essence of what I have found most helpful over the 30 plus years I have worked in this field. Given we have a full day together, there will be plenty of mindfulness and meditation practice interspersed throughout. Full details, CLICK HERE

WANAKA RETREAT – Cancer and Beyond -  November 18 – 22
This five day follow-up cancer program is specifically for people who have attended a CanLive program in NZ, or Gawler Foundation program. This program is currently fully booked, but there may be a cancellation. Full details, CLICK HERE

CHRISTCHURCH Inner peace, Outer health. Sunday November 24th.
A free day workshop made possible by CanLive. An offering to all those affected by the traumas that have beset Christchurch and surrounds in recent times. I will speak of stress management in the conventional sense, as well as what I find to be the more profound possibilities with mindfulness and meditation. We will discuss recovery from major trauma and how it may be possible to find peace and clarity amidst troubled times. Full details, CLICK HERE

NELSON: Mind-Body Medicine in daily Life - Evening of November 26th.
Ah, Nelson. Now there is a place! And the chance to speak about relaxation, meditation and creative imagery for health, business, healing and wellbeing, with a focus on how to deepen the experience of meditation – and some practice together.
Full details, CLICK HERE

AUCKLAND: Weekend workshop: A New Way of Living
A way of living that generates good health, profound healing and long-term wellbeing.
Saturday November 30th: Meditation and the power of the mind
Meditation has a long history at the heart of spiritual practice. Then there is a more recent and rapidly evolving modern, scientific history.

Currently, astute leaders in all fields are recognizing that the mind is pivotal in whatever field of expertise you care to examine. In sport, business, relationships, health, healing, wellbeing; the mind decides what we do, how proficient we become and how much enjoyment we experience. Train the mind and everything gets better.

Meditation provides the key to training the mind and as such is the key to the future. Support it with the practices of relaxation, mindfulness, imagery and contemplation, and we can directly and reliably tap into the incredible power of the mind.

This day will gently blend facts and experience, knowledge and wisdom. I love it!
Full details, CLICK HERE

Sunday December 1st: Living Well, Being Well –
We all want to be healthy and happy. Many people have heard stories of people who have recovered against the odds from cancer and other major illnesses. Many know of, or are dealing themselves with major illness. Carers and Health Professionals are always thinking of how they can be most useful.

What to do? What works best? How do complementary and natural therapies work with conventional medicine? And what about prevention? What is best to eat – for good health and for recovery? How can we be really well and experience long-term good health and happiness?

Today the focus is on presenting the evidence, sharing years of experiences and providing practical answers. Learn how our lifestyle can powerfully affect our health and our capacity to heal – and how to get the best from our own potential.
Full details, CLICK HERE

MANA RETREAT CENTRE on the COROMANDEL PENNINSULA
Meditation Under the Long White Cloud. December 2nd – 8th.
This seven day meditation retreat will be the first Ruth and I will have presented in New Zealand. We love these retreats. A wonderful time to be amidst like-minded people, to assist with deepening your understanding and experience of relaxation, mindfulness and meditation; and then guiding you into the direct experience of inner peace.

Some may join us from Australia and places further afield, but if you are thinking of coming, it will make sense to book soon as all our retreats of late have been fully booked.
Full details, CLICK HERE

THE REQUEST
The organisers for the Auckland talks have requested me to help them set up a public Facebook page that they can use to help promote the events there. As time goes on, I will be able to use this to send out other interesting info and event news and all the things people do on Facebook – God help me!!! – but it seems “Liking “ the page is helpful.

So, if you care to, please pause for a moment, smile, and like me! Now you are laughing a little, please do the liking by CLICKING HERE! Then please send it on to anyone who may be interested.
Many thanks!




Here is the blank canvas 
The veggie garden
prepared over winter
awaiting the Spring planting




NOTICEBOARD
i) MELBOURNE: Mind-Body Medicine in daily life - Sunday October 20th, 10 – 4.30pm
Day seminar with Ian Gawler and Dr Nimrod Sheinman
Be inspired, be informed, deepen your experience of mindfulness, creative imagery and meditation.

Nimrod is a world authority in Mind-Body medicine and an expert with creative imagery and mindfulness. A healthy lunch is included in the modest fee for the day.
Full details, CLICK HERE

ii) BRISBANE November 4,5 and PERTH November 7,8
The famous Happiness and its Causes conference is going on the road and I will be presenting keynote addresses and half day workshops at both venues. My keynote topic is dealing with stress and anxiety; the workshops are on meditation.

Full details,  BRISBANE CLICK HERE  ,  PERTH CLICK HERE

NOW FOR THE BONUS TREAT
Try clicking on this: The pause that refreshes - the wildest way yet to encourage people to meditate!

The 2 top ways to develop mindfulness in daily life.

We all notice how good it feels when someone gives us their full and undivided attention. This is mindfulness. Really being interested, really giving our full attention to someone or something; and doing it non-judgementally.

This week, the 2 best ways to develop mindfulness, news of next week’s workshops in Perth and Denmark, breaking news on soy and cancer, and some great other events. But first

Thought for the week
The miracle is not to walk on water. 
The miracle is to walk on the green earth, 
Dwelling deeply in the present moment and feeling truly alive.



                                                                         Thich Nhat Hanh

Mindfulness is a particular state of mind that is easy to learn, relevant to everything we do, alleviates stress and generates joy! No wonder it is becoming trendy. And being easy to research, the scientists love it. There is now good science to support the claims that mindfulness will enhance your health and wellbeing, and support healing in general.

How then to best develop mindfulness? There are two great ways; both relatively simple, both of great benefit to practise.

Jon Kabat-Zinn is an American who has helped popularise this way of training our minds. He defines mindfulness as focussing our attention on our current moment experience, deliberately and non-judgementally.

By contrast, being mindless is when we are doing something and our mind is elsewhere; thinking of someone or something else, dwelling on the past or fantasising about the future.

Now of course, mindlessness is pretty normal – as in very common! This is why most of us benefit from training to be more mindful; more focussed, more present.

Step 1: Focussed mindfulness

To learn to become more mindful, we begin by practising what we call focussed or deliberate mindfulness. This is where we focus our attention on just one thing, deliberately and with no judgement.

So this can be as simple as formally paying attention to the sounds around about us, to our breath, our body; whatever one thing we choose to focus upon with our attention, while at the same time, we aim to remain like a non-judgemental observer; as much as possible, free of internal commentary, free of judgement.

There is a natural peace in simply being mindful. We practice and begin to appreciate this. With our minds open, curious, aware; we notice whatever it is that we have chosen to focus upon. No need to force anything, or deny anything. Open. Aware. Free of judgement. Mindful. So easy.

Of course, when we aim to be mindful our mind can wander; we can become distracted or simply “space out”. Again, we benefit from noticing this. Whenever necessary, we bring our mind back to the focus of our mindfulness.

Remember too the benefits of relaxation. Everything is easier in a relaxed body. So as we practise mindfulness, we will benefit from consciously relaxing our bodies.

Step 2: Open mindfulness

Open mindfulness is the next step. This is as simple as being fully aware of whatever comes into our awareness at this particular moment. No more, no less. Rather than choosing to focus on something in particular as we do with focussed mindfulness, now we simply notice whatever it is that comes to our attention.

Maybe it is the sounds around about us, maybe our own thoughts, some sensations from our body. We simply notice whatever it is that does come to our awareness and we aim to do so free of any commentary, free of any judgement.

First we practise open mindfulness formally, sitting as we would for meditation. Then we experiment with open mindfulness in the course of our normal day. Mindfulness teaches us to be more present, more in the present moment and soon we begin to notice a wonderful thing.

There is actually no stress in the present moment. No anxiety either. We create stress and anxiety by excessive, unhelpful thinking and this necessitates that we are "out of time". To be stressed we need to think about and be affected by the past or the future; we need to be out of time. In the present there is only peace.

As we practise and learn to be more mindful, we learn to give more attention to the present moment. Of course memories from the past are still useful and planning for the future makes good sense. But now we do not dwell on them. We remember the past with an increasing fondness. We do all we can towards an ideal future, and we learn to combine this with going with the flow.

The bonus: Mindfulness in daily life

The formal practice of mindfulness translates directly into daily life. The more we learn to give our full attention to whatever or who ever we are engaged with, the better everything flows. This is why mindfulness is such a good practice to learn and develop in formal sessions, and then to take with you into daily life.

Of course, mindfulness also quite naturally leads into the deeper stillness of meditation. So many good reasons to develop mindfulness.

NEWS

1. COMING WORKSHOPS with Ian and Ruth; and links to the details

Perth  
April  4; Evening dinner and talk with Verity James and Ian, along with Ross Taylor launching You Can Conquer Cancer in the West.

13 – 14: Weekend workshop: A New Way of Living

Denmark 
April 5; Evening dinner and conversation for health professionals

April 6; Day workshop: Creating Health & Preventing Disease


2. H.H. THE DALAI LAMA COMING to AUSTRALIA in JUNE

BEYOND RELIGION, THE BENEFITS OF LIVING ETHICALLY

How fortunate are we! This will be the Dalai Lama’s ninth visit to Australia and this time His Holiness will provide thought provoking scope to explore the positive impact of ethical behaviour on ourselves, our loved ones, fellow human beings, communities, countries and ultimately our shared global community.

Based on His Holiness book, Beyond Religion, Ethics for a Whole World, His Holiness will discuss how to put ethics into practice in everyday life.

THE VISIT SCHEDULE
14th – 16th June – Sydney Teachings: Jewel Lamp: A Praise of Bodhichitta

16th June – Sydney Public Talk: Ethical Mindfulness in Everyday Life

18th June – Melbourne Public Talk: Compassion, the Foundation of Wellbeing

19th June – Braybrook, Vic; Teachings: The Heart Sutra and Eight Verses for Mind Training

21st June – Adelaide Public Talk: The Quest for Happiness

23rd June – Darwin Public Talk: Ethics in Our Shared World

23rd June – Teachings: The Four Noble Truths

Visit the website for further information and to book tickets: www.dalailamainaustralia.org

3. Mindfulness, Meditation, Wellness and their connection to corporate America's Bottom Line

Arianna Huffington discusses the growing trend in corporate America to take steps -- meditation, yoga, mindfulness trainings -- to reduce stress and improve health and creativity.

Arianna comments “Even a quick look at what's happening in the American workplace shows that it's a seriously split-screen world. On the one hand, there's the stressful world of quarterly earnings reports, beating growth expectations, hard-charging CEOs, and focusing on the bottom line -- the world that is the usual focus of CNBC and Squawk Box.

On the other hand, there's the world populated by the growing awareness of the costs of stress, not just in the health and well-being of business leaders and employees, but on the bottom line as well.

Interested? Link here.

4. COMMUNITY and SUSTAINABILITY in the YARRA VALLEY

I have been asked to speak on Meditation and Sustainability in my local community in a few weeks. A nice opportunity if you care to visit the Upper Yarra Valley, meet some of the locals and learn more about sustainability.

Yarra Valley ECOSS: Community Festival - Celebrating Sustainability in the Yarra Valley
10 - 4 pm Sunday 21st, April 2013;    Yarra Junction Parklands. Including the Upper Yarra Museum and The Sport and Aquatic centre (Mel ref 288 D7)

Workshops and speakers     Great live music      Market stalls
Butter making, hay baling, blacksmithing and old time children games
Open day at the Sports and Aquatic centre
Scooter & BMX Demonstrations    Scrumptious food     Woman's Red Tent
Recycled Fashion parade    Alternate transport Display       Solar and pedal powered stage

5. Breaking research news

Soy Products Improve Survival in Women with Lung Cancer - March 27, 2013

Soy products can improve survival from lung cancer, according to a new study published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. In the Shanghai Women’s Health Study, 444 women were diagnosed with lung cancer. Researchers examined the women’s diets before and after their cancer diagnosis. Those who ate the most soy products cut their risk of dying by nearly half, compared with women who ate the least amount of soy.

Previous studies have shown that soy products reduce the risk of developing lung cancer, and have a similar ability to reduce the risk of breast and prostate cancer.

Yang G, Shu XO, Li HL, et al. Prediagnosis Soy Food Consumption and Lung Cancer Survival in Women. J Clin Oncol. Published online on March 25, 2013.

Yang G, Shu XO, Chow WH, et al. Soy food intake and risk of lung cancer: evidence from the Shanghai Women's Health Study and a meta-analysis. Am J Epidemiol. 2012;176:846-855.

RELATED BLOG
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RESOURCES
BOOK: Meditation - an In-depth Guide

CDS: Meditation - a complete path

Mind Training

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