Change Your Mind, Change Your Health

I just read a fascinating article by Ellen Langer on how our perception can change our health. She describes studies that show how our surroundings–and specifically, the triggers around us–can alter the way we feel and perform physically. In one study, she put a bunch of 70 to 80-year-olds in a space that had been designed to look and feel as though it was built and decorated many years earlier.  The subjects were instructed to remember how they felt and moved at that earlier age, but not to dwell on memories or specific thoughts of that period.

The result?  The participants not only reported feeling younger but actually exhibited “younger” behavior as indicated in tests measuring flexibility, dexterity and memory.

I am currently working on a book about those who decide to live in a place that makes them happy–and I’m not talking about retirement communities.  One thing I am finding is that many people in their later years are moving abroad because it is stimulating.  These individuals are going beyond the warm weather choices and finding places that engage and excite them daily.   By learning a new language and culture and creating a whole new group of friends of all ages from around the world, these seniors are finding that they feel younger than they have in many years. Many have renewed energy to dive into projects or even vocations that they’d never attempted before. Most find a new sense of what it means to really LIVE while their co-horts back home focus on their general decline.

Langer’s work and the research I am doing highlight the importance of where we choose to live and how it affects our health and well being.  And it’s not just for seniors–at every age, we can improve our physical and mental health by being mindful of our choices regarding place in terms of our home design (simple and small is best), the diversity of our social circles and community, and the culture and climate in which we live.

How are YOU choosing to be healthy?

Paul, Ringo, David Lynch–and You? A Hot Week for Mindfulness

Mindfulness is in the news in a big way this week with the  announcement of a reunion of Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr at a star-studded concert to benefit David Lynch’s Transcendental Meditation campaign.  The David Lynch Foundation is raising  funds to teach one million at-risk children to meditate — giving them life-long tools to overcome stress and violence and promote peace and success in their lives.

Bravo!

Now…what about YOU?

Are you meditating?  Are you finding ways to be more present in your life?  Are you using the news all around you as a personal cue to slow down and pay attention to what’s going on WITH YOU?

When times are scary, we tend to focus on the bad news all around us.  We’d be much better off watching how the bad news affects us emotionally, physically, mentally and spiritually.  We can learn a great deal about what boosts our own stress levels and how we adjust to change by using the news to see ourselves and our responses more clearly.

Want to be more mindful?  Great.  But remember this:  you don’t have to meditate to become more mindful!

Meditation can be powerful–no doubt about it.  But the emphasis on meditation sometimes obscures what we’re really needing–MINDFULNESS!

If the meditation part just isn’t appealing to you or you’re looking for a simpler way to bring more awareness into your day, I hope you’ll consider stepping away from the “working on mindfulness” effort and dive into the “playing with mindfulness” games that characterize my Real-World Mindfulness Training approach.

Kids are naturally mindful.  They know how to be in the moment.  After all, in order to play a make-believe game or see animal shapes in the clouds or make up a new dance step in your bedroom, you’ve got to be present.  As they get older, however–and more immersed in the world of adult expectations–they lose their ease and have to make a greater effort to pay attention to what’s going on right now.  Once they are old enough to have regrets about the past and worries about the future, they need to be reminded to be calm, clear and creative.

Just like you.

Don’t make mindfulness hard. Don’t turn it into a big project that you have to wake up early for.

Instead, begin simply and have a little fun with it.  After all, mindfulness isn’t rocket science, and it doesn’t have to be done with a serious expression or painful posture.  It’s the most natural and potentially joyful thing in the world!

If you’re looking for some lighthearted tips and triggers to remind yourself to be present to the wonders around and within you, I invite you to take a look at some of the surprisingly fun ways you can stir up more mindfulness every day.