Mark Zust » appreciate life

Mindfulness is its own reward

admin — Thu, 20 Jun 2013 18:04:30 +0000

Do you really need the concentration of a Buddhist monk to benefit from mindful meditation? Not at all.
I meditate just 10-15 minutes each morning and find myself more relaxed, focused and energized as I tackle the day. So can you. Replace the daunting word “meditation” with “mindfulness”, which is simply the ability to focus on the present moment. Anyone can do that, and you don’t need a saffron robe or years of selfless dedication to see results. Try the following for the next two weeks and you’ll be pleasantly surprised by how you can begin your day more relaxed and less stressed.

Below are tips to starting your mindfulness practice. Remember, it is an ongoing practice, so don’t worry about “perfecting” anything. It’s the practice that brings results.

Here’s how:

• Sit in an upright, stable position, hands resting lightly on your thighs. You can do the cross legged thing on a carpet, but I recommend sitting in a straight backed chair, bare feet on the ground (socks are ok, too). It’s safer to sit in a chair and lot easier on the knees.

• Lower your eyes so they are barely open or close your eyes altogether, whatever works best for you.

• Pay attention to your breath, and follow its movement throughout your body. Breathe in slowly through your nose, filling your belly (diaphragm) with air, then slowly exhale through your mouth. You can count to ten silently on the exhale, if you like.

• Notice the sensations around your belly as the air flows into and out of your nose and mouth. We take our breathing for granted, so use this time to really notice your breath.

• Select one area of your body affected by your breathing (your lungs, throat, belly, etc.) and focus your attention there. Breathe slowly. You are focusing on a single area of your body, not the breathing itself.

• When you notice your mind wandering (believe me, it will), bring your attention back to your breath and then to the selected area of your body.

• After 5-10 minutes, switch from focusing to “monitoring”. Consider your mind as a vast, open sky and your thoughts, feelings and sensations as passing clouds.

• Feel your entire body move with your breath. Notice your sensations. Be attentive to the changing quality of the experience, such as ambient sounds, aromas, a breeze, even fleeting thoughts. Do this for roughly another five minutes.

• Slowly, focus on your breath once more, then gently open your eyes. Continue to breathe deeply for a minute or too, then complete your waking mindfulness. Pay close attention to the first thoughts that enter your mind and how you feel about them. If it’s an important task or a niggling worry, don’t judge the thought, just breathe in and exhale deeply. Now, on with your day…

NOTE: If you’re enjoying this practice, add another 10-15 minutes before you go to sleep at night. It’s a great way to release the tension and stress of the day and prepare your body and mind for deep, rejuvenating sleep.

Houdini Logic

admin — Mon, 06 May 2013 16:31:59 +0000

Harry Houdini. Who doesn’t know the name?
His daring escapes, his legendary stamina, his amazing resourcefulness and his uncanny gift for self-promotion have secured his name among the icons of the 20th century. Much more than a performer, Harry was an explorer, inventor, researcher and savvy businessman who almost single-handedly created the field of “escapology” by freeing himself from locks, shackles, jail cells and all forms of bizarre restraints. Harry constantly searched out new and exciting challenges. He was encircled in chains, handcuffed, and stuffed into a packing crate which was nailed shut and thrown into a frigid river. He was crammed into a metal can filled with milk, even a giant stein brimming with beer. Harry got out of all of them.
Houdini also created “ghost-busting,” the tireless search for legitimate apparitions and the exposing of phony “mediums” or psychics who preyed on wealthy, bereaved patrons reeling from the horrors of World War I.

Harry’s real name was Ehrich Weiss. He was a Hungarian immigrant who spoke little English, had few formal skills, and was just 5 foot, two inches tall. What he had in large supply was a deep love for his family and his adopted country, along with a steely resolve to conquer any challenge. Today, America faces challenges not witnessed since the Great Depression. In 2013, our country is still navigating a tenuous “recovery” and faces the specter of a government shutdown. Every time I speak with a neighbor, a business owner, or a family member I hear a slight quiver in their voices and see doubt in their eyes. Houdini’s greatest accomplishment was conquering his fears and embracing opportunity wherever he found it. We can do the same. But first we have to free our minds of constricting beliefs, irrational fears and negative self-talk. More than 80 years after his death, Harry Houdini can still show us the way.

Lessons from the remarkable life of Harry Houdini:

1. Believe in Yourself
Only then will others truly believe in you and embrace your gifts.

2. Recreate Yourself
Use your talents and channel your singular combination of abilities to create a new service, product or unique way of seeing the world to solve problems at work and home. Provide value to the world and the world will reward you with opportunities to thrive.

3. Promote Yourself
Your accomplishments can only be leveraged if the world knows about them. Be humble, but don’t be invisible.

4. Be resourceful
Read voraciously, become an expert, then apply your knowledge to solve tough challenges and open up new avenues for advancement. Plus, you’ll be a more interesting person at parties!

5. Set lofty goals

Even if you don’t achieve every goal, your extra efforts open new doors and help you grow in areas you never thought possible.

6. Learn from your mistakes
Houdini had an encyclopedic knowledge of locks and kept a diary of all his escapes – what worked, what didn’t, and what he would do the next time he found himself in a similar predicament. Do you have a success diary? How do you build on lessons learned, especially from your failures?

7. Anticipate and embrace change

Harry saw that vaudeville wasn’t the future, so he made movies, presented lectures, wrote books and created the fields of “escapology” and “ghost-busting”.

8. Think differently to solve problems

Use your past experience and apply it in a completely new way to find unexpected approaches and possibly reveal entirely new opportunities, product ideas, inventions, even an entire school of thought!

9. Look for new combinations

Harry turned an interest in locks, magic and athletics into “escapology” and helped define entertainment in the early 20th century.

10. Free your mind

Houdini loved to explore and try new things. He was the first man to fly solo in Australia, not long after the Wright Brothers’ groundbreaking accomplishments at Kitty Hawk. Try meditation or yoga, browse through the library and check out a book chosen at random and read it. Listen to different types of music on the radio or at home. Go to a new restaurant this month. See a play. Go to a magic show. Watch a foreign film. Just do something new! New experiences stimulate your brain, stretch your mind and keep life interesting.

Feline Philosophy

admin — Mon, 04 Mar 2013 19:03:35 +0000

The wisdom of the universe resides in cats.
It seems that whenever I’m letting stress overwhelm me or I feel the need to control my world, a cat appears. It could be a stray looking for milk, a feline who just adopted one of our neighbors, or the feral kittens that my wife and I discovered living in a crawl space next to our outdoor deck in May, 2010.
Hearing their mewling calls – often frail and pleading, sometimes insistent, shocked me out of my self absorption and once again put life and my place here into perspective. “At this moment,” the universe prodded, “Your role, and that of your wife, Christine, is to protect these little furballs, give them medical treatment, food and love. After that, we’ll see how the story unfolds.” I sigh, then silently agree. I consider this a small karmic repayment for our wonderful life, one that was made even richer in the 1980s, courtesy of a 14-pound furry Buddha with golden eyes.
The kids in the neighborhood named him Peanut because his long silky coat was the color of peanut butter. A neighbor who owned Peanut decided one day that he was no longer the preferred house pet and cast him into the outdoor world. He didn’t seem to mind, stopping by our house for food, a few strokes of the head and a sunny spot to lie in. A few months later, the realities of a bitter winter and predators set in. Christine and I discovered Peanut limping through 6″ of fresh snow, leaving blood stains with every foot step. At that moment, he became our cat. We quickly discovered that Peanut was not a cat at all. He didn’t meow, loved getting wet and taking rides in the car (straddling my lap as I drove and sticking his nose out the window), and was in fact an old soul brought into our lives to teach us how to live. Peanut lived to the ripe old age of 15 and taught us many lessons, including:

Meditate often – How often do you meet a stressed out cat? Even by cat standards, Peanut was mellow. His lesson: When the stress of the day bears down, get up, stretch, look for a snack, then find a warm spot to close your eyes and think of nothing. This is the essence of successful meditation, being completely present in the present. Relax, slow your breathing and make soft purring sounds.

Conserve your energy – There’s no need to expend valuable energy worrying about “what if.” Store your precious energy and use it when the time is right to take a leap into an exciting new adventure.

Enjoy and appreciate every moment – Peanut was a big John Lennon fan. He would listen to John and the rest of the Beatles for hours on end. When I recited John’s mantras “All you need is love” and “Life is what happens while you’re busy making other plans,” Peanut would wink approvingly. I could go on and on about our first feline philosopher, but our current house Buddhas, Gidget and Gizmo, whom we rescued from under the deck nearly three years ago, are reminding me that it’s time for dinner…