Meditation

June 19, 2016 – Brain Health and Compassionate Communication

by


Garrett Riegg, J.D.
“Brain Health and Compassionate Communication”

Happy Father’s Day! I found recently that I am a father figure at a fraternity I advise at Sonoma State. It was very important to a young man there. His father was absent from his life, and he had no brothers or sisters. He told me recently about his wonderful girl friend and the great job he had as a camera man with the Forty Niners. He was so excited. Over break, though, he was binge drinking and took some pills. I got a call that he was found face down on the floor outside his room, dead.

It is believed that over 50% of students engage in this dangerous behavior. We do know more people are now dying from illegal and legal use of anti-depressants and opioids than from handguns or auto accidents. Among white middle-class women, up to 40% are using 1 or more anti-depressants. Medicine didn’t believe how dangerous these drugs are.

The answer to depression is not drugs. After researching thousands of studies, it has been determined that there are 8 ways to calm the brain.

From the last to the first:

8) Smile. Mean it or not, it releases endorphins. And little things count. It has been found that if a patient about to get a bad diagnosis were to give their doctor a small bag of jelly beans before the diagnosis, the doctor is 20% more accurate!

7) Think. Chess can reverse some dementia. Games and puzzles improve mental ability in the short run, but for the long run the mind needs big intellectual ideas and challenges, like philosophy, metaphysics, or world peace.

6) Relax. Relaxing your muscles and breathing deeply is good for the brain, as is playing relaxing music or repetitive activity like knitting or using rosary beads.

5) Yawn! It also relaxes the muscles in the neck and causes you to breathe deeply. Students who yawned 5 times before a test consistently made higher scores. 5 yawns, too, are as good as a cup of coffee.

4) Meditating. It’s a treat for the brain. MRIs show significant differences between monks and regular people. And they show negative emotions kill brain cells, while positive emotions grow brain cells.

3) Aerobic exercise is definitely good because it brings more oxygen to the brain.

2) Dialogue. Talking, especially talking about big concepts like God or evolution.

1) Faith. The most important. Not necessarily faith in God, but focusing on affirming, positive beliefs, like faith in humanity or the individual’s faith that he or she can overcome. Optimists have better health overall; pessimists die earlier.

I was lucky as a college student to not only have a good father, but over summer vacations I also had a good father figure in my boss at Beacon Moving in Oakland. He was African American, and this was 1963, before the Civil Rights movement had accomplished anything. But Bill had faith. His work was of the highest quality. He was the first black driver for Beacon in Oakland. He had zero customer complaints filed when the average was 20 to 30 a year. He was elected to union shop steward at Beacon, even when the union still didn’t want to integrate! I found out Bill had pulled himself out of poverty and alcoholism, gotten married, and at 50 started a family by adopting a little girl. They adopted 2 more girls, and all were good students. I know at least the oldest went to college. Bill had never even graduated high school! I so appreciate the fathers I had!

June 19, 2016 – Brain Health and Compassionate Communication

by

Garrett Riegg, J.D.
“Brain Health and Compassionate Communication”

Happy Father’s Day! I found recently that I am a father figure at a fraternity I advise at Sonoma State. It was very important to a young man there. His father was absent from his life, and he had no brothers or sisters. He told me recently about his wonderful girl friend and the great job he had as a camera man with the Forty Niners. He was so excited. Over break, though, he was binge drinking and took some pills. I got a call that he was found face down on the floor outside his room, dead.

It is believed that over 50% of students engage in this dangerous behavior. We do know more people are now dying from illegal and legal use of anti-depressants and opioids than from handguns or auto accidents. Among white middle-class women, up to 40% are using 1 or more anti-depressants. Medicine didn’t believe how dangerous these drugs are.

The answer to depression is not drugs. After researching thousands of studies, it has been determined that there are 8 ways to calm the brain.

From the last to the first:

8) Smile. Mean it or not, it releases endorphins. And little things count. It has been found that if a patient about to get a bad diagnosis were to give their doctor a small bag of jelly beans before the diagnosis, the doctor is 20% more accurate!

7) Think. Chess can reverse some dementia. Games and puzzles improve mental ability in the short run, but for the long run the mind needs big intellectual ideas and challenges, like philosophy, metaphysics, or world peace.

6) Relax. Relaxing your muscles and breathing deeply is good for the brain, as is playing relaxing music or repetitive activity like knitting or using rosary beads.

5) Yawn! It also relaxes the muscles in the neck and causes you to breathe deeply. Students who yawned 5 times before a test consistently made higher scores. 5 yawns, too, are as good as a cup of coffee.

4) Meditating. It’s a treat for the brain. MRIs show significant differences between monks and regular people. And they show negative emotions kill brain cells, while positive emotions grow brain cells.

3) Aerobic exercise is definitely good because it brings more oxygen to the brain.

2) Dialogue. Talking, especially talking about big concepts like God or evolution.

1) Faith. The most important. Not necessarily faith in God, but focusing on affirming, positive beliefs, like faith in humanity or the individual’s faith that he or she can overcome. Optimists have better health overall; pessimists die earlier.

I was lucky as a college student to not only have a good father, but over summer vacations I also had a good father figure in my boss at Beacon Moving in Oakland. He was African American, and this was 1963, before the Civil Rights movement had accomplished anything. But Bill had faith. His work was of the highest quality. He was the first black driver for Beacon in Oakland. He had zero customer complaints filed when the average was 20 to 30 a year. He was elected to union shop steward at Beacon, even when the union still didn’t want to integrate! I found out Bill had pulled himself out of poverty and alcoholism, gotten married, and at 50 started a family by adopting a little girl. They adopted 2 more girls, and all were good students. I know at least the oldest went to college. Bill had never even graduated high school! I so appreciate the fathers I had!

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May 15, 2016 – Science of the Heart

by

Dr. Rollin McCraty
“Science of the Heart”

Our research at the HeartMath Institute has found there is intuition of the head and of the heart, but that of the heart is by far the strongest. It responds first and then messages the brain which then leads to the body’s response, like the hair rising on the back of the neck, for example. It appears the heart has access to a field of information outside of time and space. That’s the terminology I used in publishing this information for my scientific peers. At the Institute of HeartMath we call it our large. But between us, if it’s something else outside of time and space, it is what you call the higher self, spiritual self, Spirit, soul, God. In the scientific exploration of the heart we have found awareness we are spiritual beings as well as physical.

We now know that we are connected in a way that is not just metaphorical. In exploring this capacity, we find we all have an ability to transfer information among us. There is electromagnetic energy which transmits information very much like your cell phone. The heart opens us to this and the heart deepens our capacity for it. It is the major player in this bio-electric field.

I’m told several people facing major challenges right here in your congregation have said they feel the prayers said for their healing. This is more than an intuitive connection. When we send intentions of healing and health to another, depending on our vibrational pitch, and the more we are attuned, the more powerfully the intention travels from the higher self through the heart. It literally lifts our consciousness and we become more aligned and have more power to change things in our world globally.

In science we measure things, like the magnetic energy of the Earth. We have placed 8 magnetometers around the world. We have found resonant frequencies just like those in the heart. We have found that when these frequencies are higher, so too are those of people. We adults perform better. It’s just the opposite for the young. They tend to do more stupid things and get hurt more. So we are all truly connected! It is becoming clear; it is real; it is measurable.

We collected data on about 800 people showing we are sync’d up around the world. These people fell into 3 groups. Some were connected with certain resonant frequencies of the planet. A second group with other planet frequencies. The third group was not connected. They were disconnected. It’s not good. Their energy is incoherent.

We are close to proving we are affecting this energy globally. This will lift global consciousness! The carrier wave has been measured. Being together as a group, especially if you like or love each other, as you do here, amplifies the signal and helps feed the global field. You are feeding the field constantly. So the question then is, “What are you feeding the field?” How much today was love and compassion, and how much was frustration and anger? What is your ratio?

Play

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS

May 15, 2016 – Science of the Heart

by


Dr. Rollin McCraty
“Science Of The Heart”

Our research at the HeartMath Institute has found there is intuition of the head and of the heart, but that of the heart is by far the strongest. It responds first and then messages the brain which then leads to the body’s response, like the hair rising on the back of the neck, for example. It appears the heart has access to a field of information outside of time and space. That’s the terminology I used in publishing this information for my scientific peers. At the Institute of HeartMath we call it our large. But between us, if it’s something else outside of time and space, it is what you call the higher self, spiritual self, Spirit, soul, God. In the scientific exploration of the heart we have found awareness we are spiritual beings as well as physical.

We now know that we are connected in a way that is not just metaphorical. In exploring this capacity, we find we all have an ability to transfer information among us. There is electromagnetic energy which transmits information very much like your cell phone. The heart opens us to this and the heart deepens our capacity for it. It is the major player in this bio-electric field.

I’m told several people facing major challenges right here in your congregation have said they feel the prayers said for their healing. This is more than an intuitive connection. When we send intentions of healing and health to another, depending on our vibrational pitch, and the more we are attuned, the more powerfully the intention travels from the higher self through the heart. It literally lifts our consciousness and we become more aligned and have more power to change things in our world globally.

In science we measure things, like the magnetic energy of the Earth. We have placed 8 magnetometers around the world. We have found resonant frequencies just like those in the heart. We have found that when these frequencies are higher, so too are those of people. We adults perform better. It’s just the opposite for the young. They tend to do more stupid things and get hurt more. So we are all truly connected! It is becoming clear; it is real; it is measurable.

We collected data on about 800 people showing we are sync’d up around the world. These people fell into 3 groups. Some were connected with certain resonant frequencies of the planet. A second group with other planet frequencies. The third group was not connected. They were disconnected. It’s not good. Their energy is incoherent.

We are close to proving we are affecting this energy globally. This will lift global consciousness! The carrier wave has been measured. Being together as a group, especially if you like or love each other, as you do here, amplifies the signal and helps feed the global field. You are feeding the field constantly. So the question then is, “What are you feeding the field?” How much today was love and compassion, and how much was frustration and anger? What is your ratio?