Review of The Essence of Health Craig Hassed

Review of The Essence of Health by Craig Hassed

I’ve known Craig Hassed for many years and he and Petrea often present at the same conferences.

What we appreciate and admire about Craig is his absolute authenticity and commitment to his work as a medical doctor and a senior lecturer at Monash University Department of General Practice. Craig introduced meditation into the medical curriculum at Monash as an examinable subject throughout the entire training of medical students and has also introduced it into Harvard Medical School.

Dr Hassed’s teaching, research and clinical interests include:

• Mindfulness based stress management
• Mind body medicine
• Meditation
• Health promotion
• Holistic health care
• Complementary therapies
• Medical ethics

The Essence of Health is Craig’s 4^th book.

If you are interested in your own health and changing your attitude to health this is the book for you.

It provides a practical and systematic approach to health that empowers you to take a more active role in your own health and wellbeing.

The secret, it seems, is to learn to change our own attitudes and healthcare practices, which is what the program, the Heart and Science of Healing being conducted in June by Craig and Petrea, is all about.

Craig’s approach is to lay the foundation of what he calls, “The Seven Pillars of Wellbeing”.

About 15 pages later you have covered:

• Education
• Stress Management
• Spirituality
• Exercise
• Nutrition
• Connectedness (one of the 4 Cs that are the basis of Quest programs)
• Environment

The next 2 chapters explain how to put these “Pillars of Wellbeing” into practice.

The last chapter is devoted to Prevention and Management of Chronic Illness.

There is a complete outline of an 8 week course if you’re looking for a clear guide to follow.

Also included are useful Health Websites for you to browse and pages of References that reassure you that Craig Hassed knows what he is talking about.

This book is essential reading as a handbook for achieving wellness and as a guide to preventing and managing serious chronic illness.

It is indeed The Essence of Health.

Join Craig and Petrea for a 3 day program on the Heart and Science of Healing 14^th – 16^th June, 2014. Further information can be found at http://www.questforlife.com.au/heart-and-science-of-healing

Wendie Batho

Wendie Batho

Wendie has co-facilitated residential programs with Petrea for more than sixteen years. Prior to that Wendie spent over 25 years as a teacher, school principal and was involved in educational leadership and facilitation of school executive groups.

Ten years of this time was spent in PNG where she taught and worked for the government. Wendie has been travelling since the early sixties and is especially attracted to Asian cultures. She holds degrees in Anthropology, Education, Sociology, Theology and Political Science. Her current passions are her grandchildren, travel biographies, exploring Asia, 4×4 driving, reading everything she can get her hands on, and watching movies on the big screen at home.

 

 

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Book Review: The Biology of Belief by Bruce Lipton, Ph.D.

The science of EPIGENETICS

Book Review: The Biology of Belief  by Bruce Lipton, Ph.D.

Here is a science based book that is not only accessible reading but has the potential to radically change the way we think and ultimately the way we live our lives. That’s quite a claim! If you’re not interested in changing your life for the better right now, don’t read any further as it takes a bit of time to read and absorb all the science. My first read admittedly was a scan to see if I wanted to really get into it. As I had a science background in my early life, I found it compelling and illuminating. And I don’t often go overboard about books, especially when my main genre of reading is travel stories.

Back to the topic of how our thinking and beliefs affect our lives totally. It’s simple, but not easy.

We’ve been taught that we are like machines, run by bio-chemicals and DNA. As a world renowned cellular biologist, Bruce Lipton has discovered that it is actually the opposite. Our entire biology is shaped by the intelligence of each of our 50 trillion cells. And the single most important way to influence them is through the energy of our beliefs. Some of the areas included in this book are:

The science of EPIGENETICS – what it is and why it is important and revolutionary.

Bridging the gap between QUANTUM MECHANICS and biology. This is the key to knowing how your cells listen to the energy of your thoughts

The chemistry of STRESS and LOVE. How your body, mind, and immune system change with each emotional state.

Turning the immense power of your MIND into your most valuable tool for health and well – being.

“Since the publication of Biology of Belief, Bruce Lipton has been widely embraced as one of the most accessible and knowledgeable voices of new biology”.

I can’t really say more than that.

We would love to get your feedback if you have already read it. If you haven’t read it yet but do later, please let us know what you think.

 

Wendie Batho

Wendie Batho

Wendie has co-facilitated residential programs with Petrea for more than sixteen years. Prior to that Wendie spent over 25 years as a teacher, school principal and was involved in educational leadership and facilitation of school executive groups.

Ten years of this time was spent in PNG where she taught and worked for the government. Wendie has been travelling since the early sixties and is especially attracted to Asian cultures. She holds degrees in Anthropology, Education, Sociology, Theology and Political Science. Her current passions are her grandchildren, travel biographies, exploring Asia, 4×4 driving, reading everything she can get her hands on, and watching movies on the big screen at home.

 

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Authors We Like: Rachel Naomi Remen

Rachel sees the practice of medicine as a spiritual path.

Rachel Naomi Remen is an honoured physician and a long time teacher. Her early professional life was spent immersed in the world of science. After four decades of working with cancer patients, medical academia, and her own chronic illness (the reason she doesn’t come to Australia) she has come to see that life is defined not by science, but by mystery.

She was one of the early pioneers in the mind/body holistic health movement in the US.

And like Petrea, she recognised the power and the role of spirit in maintaining health and the recovery from illness that can sometimes happen when this was not expected.

Rachel sees the practice of medicine as a spiritual path.

Teaching health professionals to remember their calling is her passion. Her holistic curriculum enables her participants to strengthen their commitment to serve life. That commitment can turn their practice around.

These same principles apply to her work with people with chronic and life threatening illness.

You can find part of this journey and revelations about her work in her two main books: Kitchen Table Wisdom and Stories My Grandfather Told Me. Both are best sellers, even though they have been in print for years. For a full list of her publications check out her website above.

Rachel has also has an audio presentation called The Will to Live and Other Mysteries which can be a good start to come to terms with her overall philosophy on life and how this applies to her teaching. If you are keen to get started try getting it on www.soundstrue.com

Her basic premise is that science cannot fully explain how we heal, and people who open to the mystery of how we heal, often against all odds, do actually heal. Healing is not always physical but in the stories she tells, many actually find peace and physical healing. Exploring the power of mystery of how we heal actually switches on the physical power to heal. “The source of wonder and hope is available to us all at any time.”

If you want to be more up to date visit her Facebook page: Rachel Naomi Remen, M.D.

One of her presentations asked the questions:

What if the world is not broken?
What if fixing is too small a strategy for making a difference?
What if our power to make change is greater than the sum of our skills, our training, our education, our politics, or even our wealth?

These are great existential questions that can lead us to question the purpose and meaning of our individual lives. Whatever the questions or our path to engage with them, programs that give us a safe place to consider these questions are offered at the Quest for Life Centre on a regular basis. Those of you who have experienced a program may like to make some comments about your experience and what happened to change your view on your own life.

We welcome all contributions.

Wendie Batho

Wendie Batho

Wendie has co-facilitated residential programs with Petrea for more than sixteen years. Prior to that Wendie spent over 25 years as a teacher, school principal and was involved in educational leadership and facilitation of school executive groups.

Ten years of this time was spent in PNG where she taught and worked for the government. Wendie has been travelling since the early sixties and is especially attracted to Asian cultures. She holds degrees in Anthropology, Education, Sociology, Theology and Political Science. Her current passions are her grandchildren, travel biographies, exploring Asia, 4×4 driving, reading everything she can get her hands on, and watching movies on the big screen at home.

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Some of My Favourite Quotes

What inspirational quotes inspire you?

I came across some of the following quotes that have been in one of those folders that I keep. Would you like to post some of yours? My theme seems to be around peace and war. You don’t need a theme or a lot, just any you come across and want to share with us.

I don’t know who wrote this one:

I Choose…
To live by choice, not by chance;
To make changes, not excuses;
To be motivated, not manipulated;
To be useful, not used;
To excel, not compete.
I choose self-esteem, not self-pity;
I choose to listen to my inner voice,
Not the random opinion of others.

The rest of these are acknowledged.

War does not determine who is right, only who is left.
Bertrand Russel

Let it be time for us to dream of a world without war.
Sri Chinmoy

He who walks with peace walks with Him.
The Holy Koran

Our future on this planet, exposed as it is to nuclear annihilation, depends on one single factor: humanity must make a moral about – face.
Pope John Paul 11

I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones.
Albert Einstein 

Peace between countries must rest on the solid foundation of love between individuals.
Mahatma Gandhi

If we do not change our direction we are likely to end up where we are headed for.
Chinese Proverb

It is in the shelter of each other that the people live.
Irish Proverb

Humanity can no longer be tragically bound to the starless midnight of racism and war.
Martin Luther King

I dream of giving birth to a child who will ask: “Mother, what was war?”
Eve Merriam

World peace is us… We are each walking agents of the vision of peace we carry inside Us.
Kathleen Vande Kieft

And I’ll finish with a couple of my faves:

Be the change You want to see.
Mahatma Ghandi

If you think you’re too small to have an impact, try going to bed with a mosquito in the room.
Anita Roddick

We are looking forward to hearing some of yours soon.

Wendie Batho

Wendie Batho

Wendie has co-facilitated residential programs with Petrea for more than sixteen years. Prior to that Wendie spent over 25 years as a teacher, school principal and was involved in educational leadership and facilitation of school executive groups.

Ten years of this time was spent in PNG where she taught and worked for the government. Wendie has been travelling since the early sixties and is especially attracted to Asian cultures. She holds degrees in Anthropology, Education, Sociology, Theology and Political Science. Her current passions are her grandchildren, travel biographies, exploring Asia, 4×4 driving, reading everything she can get her hands on, and watching movies on the big screen at home.

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The Role of Elders in Traditional Society

In telling the stories the Elders made sense of The People’s everyday lives.

Most traditional people just call themselves, The People. Other ways of describing traditional people is to say, First Nation People. These titles respect these people and indicate some sort of understanding of why identity is very important to THE PEOPLE.

In traditional lifestyles of our Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders the role of The Elders was paramount. The Elders held the stories and the wisdom of the past. In telling the stories the Elders made sense of The People’s everyday lives.

Knowing that the earth provides just as a mother does must be respected and cherished. It not only makes sense but it is not a mystery to be solved or ignored. Elders gave counsel to those in need; listened to the problems of the group; helped shed light on difficult situations; told and guided the young and in return they were revered, nurtured, respected and cared for until they passed on in to the spirit world.

The People looked forward to passing on; they didn’t fear it. Passing on was not dying. Life after you pass on is not an issue if your life on earth has meaning.

Meaning was in everything. Every part of creation had meaning and purpose. The People relied on each other for their very existence. Without co-operation life was impossible.

Without The Elders where would life be?

The Elders had the answers to the questions of:
Who are we?
What are we doing on the planet?
What do we need to do and who do we need to be to give our life meaning and purpose?
(Notice how it is we not ‘I’ who is asking the questions but ‘we’)

Without The Elders life was meaningless and had no purpose.

Oh Great Spirit

Make me ever ready to come to you,
With clean hands and straight eyes,
So when life fades like a fading sunset,
My spirit may come to you without shame.

Yellow Hawk
Sioux Chief

In traditional life The People had more fulfilment in their physical, mental, emotional and spiritual lives. Every part was recognised as important. They viewed their lives as whole. Surviving was about 5-10 % of their time and the rest was devoted to living and being with the group; telling stories, participating in ceremonies and rituals and having fun. In Australia it lasted for tens of thousands of years until the white people came.

What appeared to be a simple and childlike culture was actually a rich and spiritually alive life. When the white people came they saw only the externals of the life of the Aboriginal people, only the outside; and because they didn’t value or even understand their own spiritual life, the white people didn’t know what to look for in others. This pattern was repeated in Australia and throughout the world for hundreds of years until The People of the world were colonised.

In the white people’s ignorance, they almost wiped out completely lifestyles that were based on spiritual understandings.

It is that spiritual understanding that we all long for today but are too busy doing our lives to stop and reflect on what has happened to both peoples in the process. So now we have an opportunity to learn from the very people we almost destroyed.

We now long for this less sophisticated and more balanced lifestyle. It’s often called a tree change, a sea change, early retirement, getting out of the rat race, to name a few.

Some questions to reflect on:

Where do we look for some answers?
Have we finally done the full circle of development?
Are our current systems serving the people they were designed to?
Is our world working for us?
What does it take for us to embrace change?
The simple fact is that what we are doing in the world isn’t working for most of ALL the people.
What are you going to do about your life?

Change starts with each of us. As an old Jewish saying goes, “If not you, then who? If not now, then when?”

I remember reading, “when the last whale is left to die on the ocean floor we may well have killed the most intelligent species on this earth”.

What do you think about all this?

Please join us in a conversation.

Wendie Batho

Wendie Batho

Wendie has co-facilitated residential programs with Petrea for more than sixteen years. Prior to that Wendie spent over 25 years as a teacher, school principal and was involved in educational leadership and facilitation of school executive groups.

Ten years of this time was spent in PNG where she taught and worked for the government. Wendie has been travelling since the early sixties and is especially attracted to Asian cultures. She holds degrees in Anthropology, Education, Sociology, Theology and Political Science. Her current passions are her grandchildren, travel biographies, exploring Asia, 4×4 driving, reading everything she can get her hands on, and watching movies on the big screen at home.

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Wendie Shares: Authors I Like

Wendie's Favourite Authors

“Healing may not be so much about getting better, as about letting go of everything that isn’t you – all of the expectations, all of the beliefs – and becoming who you are.”

Rachel Naomi Remen

Over many years of facilitating groups and being involved in workshops around Australia I often get asked, “Can you suggest some women authors I can read in addition to Petrea’s work?”

Here is a quick  list of authors I have enjoyed . They are listed in no particular order.

Pema Chodron
a Buddhist nun who is essential reading on forgiveness

Shakti Gawain
teaches similar concepts to Quest

Rachel Naomi Remen
a medical doctor who teaches health professions to care for themselves. Rachel is a must read. Rachel and Petrea know each other.

Susan Trout
runs an organisation that teaches in a similar way to Quest.

Christianne Northrop
a medical doctor who is passionate about women’s health.

Joan Borysenko
another wonderful writer who runs workshops. She wrote a comment in Petrea’s, Quest for Life 2nd edition.

Jean Houston
best to google her as she is very active on the topic of Consciousness.

Barbara Hubbard
google her as she has a lot to offer and has online courses. She has been in the field as long as Louise Hay.

Louise Hay
a legend in her time. You may have heard of Hay House Publishing.

Caroline Myss
started her career as a book publisher and look at her now!

Candice Pert
a leader in the field of epigenetics

Marianne Williamson
has a holistic Christian approach that shines through in a non-religious way.

If you have any:
Names to add to the list or questions about these authors please let us know.
If you have additional authors we’d love to hear.

Wendie Batho

Wendie Batho

Wendie has co-facilitated residential programs with Petrea for more than sixteen years. Prior to that Wendie spent over 25 years as a teacher, school principal and was involved in educational leadership and facilitation of school executive groups.

Ten years of this time was spent in PNG where she taught and worked for the government. Wendie has been travelling since the early sixties and is especially attracted to Asian cultures. She holds degrees in Anthropology, Education, Sociology, Theology and Political Science. Her current passions are her grandchildren, travel biographies, exploring Asia, 4×4 driving, reading everything she can get her hands on, and watching movies on the big screen at home.

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Feed the Wolf of Love

The Wolf of Love

We often share a version of this on programs and when we came across this on the Just One Thing, daily practice blog, we wanted to share it with you.

Feed the Wolf of Love

Why?
I once heard a Native American teaching story in which an elder, a grandmother, was asked what she had done to become so happy, so wise, so loved and respected. She replied: “It’s because I know that there are two wolves in my heart, a wolf of love and a wolf of hate. And I know that everything depends on which one I feed each day.”

This story always gives me the shivers when I think of it. Who among us does not have both a wolf of love and a wolf of hate in their heart?

I know I do, including the wolf of hate, which shows up in small ways as well as large ones, such when I get judgmental, irritable, pushy, or argumentative. Even if it’s only inside my own mind – and sometimes it definitely leaks out.

We’ve got these two wolves because we evolved them, because both wolves were needed to keep our ancestors alive.

Until just 10,000 years ago, for millions of years primates, hominids, and early humans lived in hunter-gatherer groups that bred mainly within the band while competing intensely with other bands for scarce resources. Therefore, genes got passed on that promoted better cooperation inside a band and better aggression between bands. The wolf of love and the wolf of hate are stitched into human DNA.

Bands kept their distance from each other, and when they met, they often fought. For example, researchers have found that about 12-15% of hunter-gatherer men died in conflicts between bands – compared to “just” the 1% of men who died in the many bloody wars of the 20th century.

So it’s natural to fear the stranger – who, back in the Stone Age with no police around, was often a lethal threat. The related impulse to dehumanize and attack “them” also worked well (in terms of passing on genes) for millions of years.

Today, you can observe the wolf of hate all around us, in acts of thought, word, and deed. For example, as soon as we see others as “not my tribe,” whether it’s at home or work or on the evening news, the wolf of hate lifts its head and looks around for danger. And then if we feel at all threatened or mistreated or desperate, the wolf of hate jumps up and looks for someone to howl at or bite.

While the wolf of hate was vital back in the Serengeti, today it breeds alienation and anger, ulcers and heart disease, and conflicts with others at home and work.

And at a larger scale, with 7 billion people crowded together on this planet – when a flu mutation in Hong Kong can become a worldwide epidemic, when bank problems in Greece roil the global economy, when carbon emissions in one country heat up the whole world – when we fear or dehumanize or attack “them,” it usually comes back to harm “us.”

How?
So what are we going to do?

We can’t kill the wolf of hate because hating the wolf of hate just feeds it. Instead, we need to control this wolf, and channel its fire into healthy forms of protection and assertiveness. And we need to stop feeding it with fear and anger.

Meanwhile, we need to feed the wolf of love. This will make us stronger inside, more patient, and less resentful, annoyed, or aggressive. We’ll stay out of needless conflicts, treat people better, and be less of a threat to others. Then we’ll also be in a stronger position to get treated better by them.

There are lots of ways to feed the wolf of love.

We can feed it by taking in the good of everyday experiences of feeling seen, appreciated, cared about, even cherished and loved.

We can feed the wolf of love by practicing compassion for ourselves and others, and by letting these experiences of compassion sink into our heart.

We can feed the wolf of love by recognizing the good in other people – and then by taking in the experience of the goodness in others.

Similarly, we can feed the wolf of love by sensing the goodness inside our own heart, and by letting that sense of truly being a good person – not a perfect person, but a good person – also sink in.

Last, we can feed the wolf of love by seeing the good in the world, and the good in the future that we can make together – in the face of so many messages these days that are dark and despairing.

We feed the wolf of love, in other words, with heart and with hope. We feed this wolf by sustaining our sense of what’s good in other people, what’s good in ourselves, what’s already good in our world, and what could be even better in a world we can build together.

We need to stay strong to do this, to hold on to what we know to be true in spite of the brain’s tendency to focus on threats and losses, and in spite of the age-old manipulations of various groups that play on fear and anger – that feed the wolf of hate – to gain or hold onto wealth and power.

So let’s stay strong, and hold on to the good that exists all around us and inside us.

Let’s stay strong, and hold onto the good that can be, that we can nourish and build in this world.

Let’s stay strong, and hold onto each other.

Let’s stay strong enough to take in the good that feeds the wolf of love each day.

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Oneness Meditation

Petrea wanted to share these events with you:

An opportunity to settle the chatter in the mind and to connect you with your essence

Petrea King, Bernadette Arena and Wendie Batho travelled to India in 2010 to meet with Sri AmmaBhagavan and to receive (and to give) the Oneness Blessing. It is now available to everyone here in Australia. You may find it a wonderful opportunity to settle the chatter in the mind and to connect you with your essence – or ‘first’ nature.

A New Deeksha being introduced worldwide by Oneness University is now available in Australia

Namaste Dearest Blessing Givers & Oneness Participants

The outreach of Oneness University and the gift of spiritual nurturing and awakening offered by Sri AmmaBhagavan has been released over the years in waves in accordance with Humanity’s response to the outflowing energies. The latest outpouring of Grace is taking the form of an eye-deeksha and is known as the Oneness Meditation. This new deeksha has only so far been introduced in a few countries around the world and now it is Australia’s turn.

To begin with Pasquo and I have been initiated to be instruments for this new deeksha, with other trainers around Australia to be initiated soon. We have begun facilitating this Oneness Meditation here in Adelaide with very powerful results and amazing feedback and reports of miracles from the participants. Oneness Trainers in different parts of Australia have invited us to come and share the deeksha with their groups so that the benediction of the Oneness Meditation can spread quickly to their oneness participants around the country. So programs have been scheduled for Sydney, NSW Central Coast, Melbourne and Perth, with programs also continuing here in Adelaide in the next few weeks. We have included the program details below.

What is the Oneness Meditation
This is a group Meditation where powerful Divine energies flow through the initiated person who acts as an instrument for the transfer of the blessing to the group through eye contact with each participant. The eye contact allows the Divine energies to flow, giving a very powerful Deeksha to the those present. This energy helps to awaken one’s inner Divine intelligence leading to an accelerated process of awakening.

As most of you are aware 2012 is a very important year. We are in a window of opportunity to accelerate our personal growth. We have the power of choice to steer our own destiny. This deeksha is potent enough to allow incredible breakthroughs in all areas of our everyday life. The feedback we have received so far verifies this with those who received this eye deeksha here in Adelaide reporting incredible immediate shifts in their consciousness and the way they experience their life. A lady who had experienced prolonged depression and loss of faith in life had a complete shift of consciousness and reported how if she revisits the thoughts that were troubling her previously there is no emotional charge present any more. Previously she cried every time she had these thoughts. When she got out of bed the morning following the deeksha, she felt good and had a completely positive outlook on her life with a complete shift in perception from the previous long-experienced despair.

Sri Bhagavan has stated that the power of this eye deeksha will accelerate the personal awakening of all who receive it. Conditioning and obstacles to spiritual growth can be removed plus positive gains in health, wealth and happiness can be experienced. The deeksha facilitates healing, on a physical, emotional and mental level and the healing required for the opening up into right relationships with all people in your life

The Oneness Meditation is offered to all people of all denominations, races, creeds and walks of life. No prior experience of Oneness events is necessary in order to participate. So please share this wonderful opportunity and invite friends, family and work colleagues to experience this new benediction and gift for all. We hope you can join us and experience this Oneness Meditation first hand and see the changes for yourself.

Program Details
Sydney – Saturday 18th February – North Sydney
Bookings & details:
Gaynor – Tel: 02 9411 6886   Email: info@sydneyoneness.com.au
Dinah & Kaya – Tel: 02 95686513 Email: dinah64@tpg.com.au

Central Coast NSW- 19th February – Terrigal
Bookings & Details:
Alun and Marion Vaughan (02) 4385 7672Email: alunv@optusnet.com.au

Adelaide – Fullarton – 26th February
Bookings & Details:
Lisa & Pasquo – Tel: 08 83385642 Email: info@onenesscentre.com.au

Melbourne – 2nd & 3rd March
Bookings & Details:
Brandon & Rochelle – Mob: 0400 619 785 Email: brandongiffard@hotmail.com

Perth – Fremantle – 17th, 18th  March.
Bookings & Details:
Isha – Tel: 08 93364684  Email: openheart@aapt.net.au

We hope that each and every one of you will take up this opportunity to participate in this new deeksha and encourage as many of your blessing participants, friends and family to do so also. It matters not whether you received the deeksha yesterday, years ago or you have never even heard of the Oneness Blessing before, this new Oneness Meditation is a gift  for everyone. Please find the flyer attached with all the details and some feedback below from those who have received the new deeksha.

We hope you can join us and look forward to coming back to Sydney this week and sharing this gift from Amma Bhagavan.

Love & Blessings
Lisa & Pasquo

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Compassion – Do You Care?

Compassion

Compassion is a quality that is needed more now, than perhaps ever in history. So what is it and why do we need it right now?

In a world where suffering is a daily concern for all beings, compassion needs to be cultivated so we can transform how we relate to each other and every living being. I often say “if you didn’t want suffering, wrong planet” but the issue is, this is our planet and we each need to take responsibility for how we behave and relate to each other. We can’t control what’s happening in the world, but we can change how we feel about it.

Compassion is not wanting suffering in the world – suffering from subtle physical and emotional discomfort to agony and anguish – combined with feelings of sympathetic concern.

We can have compassion for individuals (a sick friend, someone being wronged), groups of people (refugees in Australia, victims of earthquakes in Christchurch and Japan), animals (battery chickens, animals killed for food), and ourselves.

Compassion isn’t pity, agreement, or waiving of our rights. We can have compassion for people who have wronged us, while wanting them to change their behaviour!

Compassion opens our heart and nourishes people we care about whether we know them or not. Basically it sends out a good vibe. Think about people we are compassionate towards. They are more likely to be forgiving, patient, and compassionate back.

The function of compassion is connection. Compassion reflects the wisdom that everything is related to everything else, and it draws us in to connection.

Studies show that when we feel compassion, motor circuits in our brain light up.

Compassion is natural. All we need to do is open our heart – to the difficulty, to the problem person, to the sorrow in the world or to any situation we would like to see improve. And the best bit is this. When we radiate compassion out – it actually feels good.

So today, start feeling compassion for others and you will feel it for yourself. So instead of sending out criticism and judgement, send out COMPASSION.

Google COMPASSION and see what comes up!

Wendie Batho

Wendie Batho

Wendie has co-facilitated residential programs with Petrea for more than sixteen years. Prior to that Wendie spent over 25 years as a teacher, school principal and was involved in educational leadership and facilitation of school executive groups.

Ten years of this time was spent in PNG where she taught and worked for the government. Wendie has been travelling since the early sixties and is especially attracted to Asian cultures. She holds degrees in Anthropology, Education, Sociology, Theology and Political Science. Her current passions are her grandchildren, travel biographies, exploring Asia, 4×4 driving, reading everything she can get her hands on, and watching movies on the big screen at home.

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Neurons That Fire Together Wire Together

We live in a world that is changing rapidly and feels out of control.

There is an enormous amount of research happening about the brain, mind, and consciousness. Science knows a hundred times more today than it did in 1990 about what happens to the brain when we engage in contemplative practices like meditation.

This is great news for those who say “I can’t meditate”!

There is now good motivation to meditate because it actually changes our brain. The days of saying “Brain cells die as we age, the brain is fixed, you can’t change your mind, I am stuck in this thinking” is over. And here is why.

We now know that that the brain of people who regularly meditate becomes thicker. (not more stupid!) It becomes thicker in two major regions of the brain. One is the pre-frontal cortex, located right behind the forehead. It’s involved in deliberately paying attention to something.

The second brain area that gets bigger is the insula. The insula tracks both the interior state of the body and the feelings of other people, which is fundamental to empathy. So when we regularly meditate it helps us become more self aware and empathic.

Now that is motivation!

This is neuroplasticity in action which is really the idea that as the mind changes, the brain changes.

In the Buddhist tradition the mind takes the shape of whatever it rests upon – or more exactly, the brain takes the shape of whatever the mind rests upon. So if we are regularly thinking of regrets, resentments, quarrels with others, self reproach, and continually commenting of everything that isn’t working for us, it will change our brain in that direction, because the neurons that fire together wire together.

Conversely, if we think about those things that are going well, what we are grateful for, good connections we have with others, our positive qualities, what we have accomplished in our day, we are going to build neural pathways and circuits of positivity.

This is good news when we live in a world that is changing rapidly and feels out of control.

No matter what is going on “out there in the world” we can choose to stay more peaceful and calm by the regular practice of mindfulness or reflection or meditation or whatever we want to call it. The facts are in. When we meditate we change our brains and we change our lives.

If you haven’t started yet, today is a good day to commence changing your brain and your mind.

See Rick Hanson’s book The Buddha Brain.

www.RickHanson.net

 

Wendie Batho

Wendie Batho

Wendie has co-facilitated residential programs with Petrea for more than sixteen years. Prior to that Wendie spent over 25 years as a teacher, school principal and was involved in educational leadership and facilitation of school executive groups.

Ten years of this time was spent in PNG where she taught and worked for the government. Wendie has been travelling since the early sixties and is especially attracted to Asian cultures. She holds degrees in Anthropology, Education, Sociology, Theology and Political Science. Her current passions are her grandchildren, travel biographies, exploring Asia, 4×4 driving, reading everything she can get her hands on, and watching movies on the big screen at home.

 

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