How brain states play a vital role in our mental programming
Aristotle famously stated, “Give me a child until he is seven and I will show you the man”. This is certainly a catchy phrase, but what is meant by it? Well, Aristotle must have recognized that we, as humans, are highly impressionable during the first seven years of life and that many of the opinions, attitudes, and dispositions that define us as adults were actually shaped during these years. It was not a “one-off” idea from the time of the ancient Greeks. The Jesuit priests also recognized and applied this truth back in the 1500s. To understand the underpinnings of the statement, we must step back and examine the functioning of the mind and how it develops after birth. During the first seven years of life, information that comes to us flows “unfiltered” into our brains and becomes “hard coded” into our subconsciousness because, at this age, we have not…
The Nose Knows About Breathing
Many believe that breathing is simply about bringing oxygen-rich air into our bodies and expelling carbon dioxide. It does not really matter how we are breathing or whether we are using the nose or the mouth, as long as we keep the oxygen coming in and the carbon dioxide moving out. Well, this is not correct. Actually, I would go so far as to state that it is categorically wrong! How we breathe does is very important for our health and wellbeing. In future posts, we will be addressing many aspects of breathing, but for today, the focus is on nasal breathing. Our bodies have adapted over thousands of years to be optimally suited to our environments and lifestyles. One of these areas of adaptation is breathing and respiration. As discussed by Allen and Ruth, 2017, about one person out of three does not breathe well enough for normal health.…
Inspiring quotes from a colorful character
Richard Feynman was one of the great minds in modern physics. He was a colorful character who remained interested in many different topics. Here are two quotes that you may find inspiring. “Fall in love with some activity, and do it! Nobody ever figures out what life is all about, and it doesn’t matter. Explore the world. Nearly everything is really interesting if you go into it deeply enough. Work as hard and as much as you want to on the things you like to the best. Don’t think about what you want to be, but what you want to do. Keep up some kind of a minimum with other things so that society doesn’t stop you from doing anything at all” ~Richard Feynman “You can know the name of a bird in all the languages of the world, but when you’re finished, you’ll know absolutely nothing whatever about the…
The Search For Wisdom Begins Now
We can view endings are new beginnings. The flow of life is such that segments of our experience are always ending and new adventures are constantly evolving and beginning. Regardless of your age, your status in life, what you have achieved or not achieved, there is always a chance for a new beginning. We can shape the remainder of our lives according to our current (NOW) aspirations, dreams, goals. This reminds me of the ending of Casablance when Rick (played by Humphrey Bogart) says to the police captain (played by Claude Rains)”Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.” Let’s make our relationship with our evolving future self a beautiful friendship.