LifeDancing

Mindfulness Benefits

https://www.happierapp.com/meditationblog/science-of-meditation?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=newsletter&utm_source=CRM&lid=wszrh3yi57r4

Gratitude

The day after "Thanksgiving" I ran across a webpage on Gratitude that is comprehensive and helpful. Yes, Mindful is also trying to sell you resources, and the info they have on Gratitude is great. Hope you find it useful!

https://www.mindful.org/an-introduction-to-mindful-gratitude/

Warmly

Linda

Let the Dance Begin

Welcome to LifeDancing - Mastering Life's Movement

Wake EVERY Day and Know What You Can Do Today to Create a Life of Joy, Integral Well-Being and Success

LifeDancing teaches you how to live authentically so you can tap into that deep place of wisdom and peace residing within you, any time, any place.

The concept of the LifeDancing process came from my background in dance, design, psychotherapy, and more recently brain science, positive psychology and mindfulness meditation.

When I entered the field of psychotherapy I was convinced that every person held within themselves a seed of self that only needed to be nurtured and supported until it grew into a complete expression of their essence. As I went through the training that was based in the medical model, I discovered that medicine actually viewed people as disconnected parts that became dys-functional and required a therapist to identify and diagnose and then treat.

This model never sat well on my soul, but since I was "in the business of psychotherapy," I worked with insurance companies and followed my professional associations rules to diagnose and treat using their tools, i.e., the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, DSM and treatment protocols, yet always keeping an eye on my clients "self" acknowledging their wisdom and natural seeking for health.

Now, 30 years have passed and my beliefs are being validated by science via new discoveries in brain science and the ways to apply what we are learning. The model of LifeDancing has withstood the trials of time as we now are beginning to understand just what people can do to create "Advanced Well-Being" using simple tools, guidance and support. So, the book I wrote 20 years on the Dance of Life is being updated to include these new findings.

Using the LifeDancing model you will be able to deal with any change, obstacle or problem that life presents you and continue your dance with a genuine smile on your face.

The book, LifeDancing - Mastering Life's Movement has been 30 years in the making. It grew out of of my experiences as a psychotherapist and a professional personal and business coach facilitating and watching clients grow and change. The original book was so big, my editor suggested it be broken down into three books to make it easier to manage. Now we have:

• LifeDancing - Mastering Life's Movement - the book.
• LifeDance Master Class - exercises and assessments to deepen and master your dance of life.
• LifeDancing Journal - the landing point for further exploration, personal growth and management, and daily experience. 

The main book, LifeDancing, is a stand alone system that is enhanced by Masterclass and the LifeDancing Journal.

 Anyone can read and follow the guidance in these three books. I believe LifeDancing is an excellent Personal Leadership tool that healthcare providers and coaches can use for themselves, as well as teach their patients and clients the LifeDancing well-being process. 

I invite you to join the dance and stay tuned to this webpage as I continue to add new insights and information. 

To download LifeDancing Master Class and Journal, look to the menu at the top of the page and click it. If you do not have the PDF reader you can download it for free on the Adobe website. Click HERE for the link.

Warmly

Linda

PS - Interested in being a first adopter of the LifeDancing process? We're still dealing with online and paper publishers so e.mail me to be placed on our FIRST NOTICE, mailing list. Click on E.Mail under my picture to the left and put LifeDancing in the subject line.

Gene Expression Changes w/ Meditation; Richie Davidson & Colleagues

Every morning I remind myself how important that I go to my meditation space and put my tushie on the pillow. Here's yet another reason why it's a GREAT idea.

The University of Wisconsin issued the following news release: Gene Expression Changes With Meditation

With evidence growing that meditation can have beneficial health effects, scientists have sought to understand how these practices physically affect the body.

A new study by researchers in Wisconsin, Spain, and France reports the first evidence of specific molecular changes in the body following a period of mindfulness meditation.

The study investigated the effects of a day of intensive mindfulness practice in a group of experienced meditators, compared to a group of untrained control subjects who engaged in quiet non-meditative activities.

After eight hours of mindfulness practice, the meditators showed a range of genetic and molecular differences, including altered levels of gene-regulating machinery and reduced levels of pro-inflammatory genes, which in turn correlated with faster physical recovery from a stressful situation.

"To the best of our knowledge, this is the first paper that shows rapid alterations in gene expression within subjects associated with mindfulness meditation practice," says study author Richard J. Davidson, founder of the Center for Investigating Healthy Minds and the William James and Vilas Professor of Psychology and Psychiatry at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

"Most interestingly, the changes were observed in genes that are the current targets of anti-inflammatory and analgesic drugs," says Perla Kaliman, first author of the article and a researcher at the Institute of Biomedical Research of Barcelona, Spain (IIBB-CSIC-IDIBAPS), where the molecular analyses were conducted.

The study was published in the journal Psychoneuroendocrinology.

Mindfulness-based trainings have shown beneficial effects on inflammatory disorders in prior clinical studies and are endorsed by the American Heart Association as a preventative intervention.

The new results provide a possible biological mechanism for therapeutic effects.

The results show a down-regulation of genes that have been implicated in inflammation.

The affected genes include the pro-inflammatory genes RIPK2 and COX2 as well as several histone deacetylase (HDAC) genes, which regulate the activity of other genes epigenetically by removing a type of chemical tag.

What's more, the extent to which some of those genes were downregulated was associated with faster cortisol recovery to a social stress test involving an impromptu speech and tasks requiring mental calculations performed in front of an audience and video camera.

Perhaps surprisingly, the researchers say, there was no difference in the tested genes between the two groups of people at the start of the study.

The observed effects were seen only in the meditators following mindfulness practice.

In addition, several other DNA-modifying genes showed no differences between groups, suggesting that the mindfulness practice specifically affected certain regulatory pathways.

However, it is important to note that the study was not designed to distinguish any effects of long-term meditation training from those of a single day of practice.

Instead, the key result is that meditators experienced genetic changes following mindfulness practice that were not seen in the non-meditating group after other quiet activities -- an outcome providing proof of principle that mindfulness practice can lead to epigenetic alterations of the genome.

Previous studies in rodents and in people have shown dynamic epigenetic responses to physical stimuli such as stress, diet, or exercise within just a few hours.

"Our genes are quite dynamic in their expression and these results suggest that the calmness of our mind can actually have a potential influence on their expression," Davidson says.

"The regulation of HDACs and inflammatory pathways may represent some of the mechanisms underlying the therapeutic potential of mindfulness-based interventions," Kaliman says.

"Our findings set the foundation for future studies to further assess meditation strategies for the treatment of chronic inflammatory conditions."

Study funding came from National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (grant number P01-AT004952) and grants from the Fetzer Institute, the John Templeton Foundation, and an anonymous donor to Davidson.

The study was conducted at the Center for Investigating Healthy Minds at the UW-Madison Waisman Center.

This information was gathered by Ken Pope

Related articles

Gene expression changes with meditation

The New Beauty - Health & Wellbeing

by Linda Lawless LMHC LMFT

 The image of “beauty”, portrayed by sleek women in long beautiful dresses at the Academy Awards, changes from year to year. Fortunately those beauties have the money and career motivation to do what is needed to look BEAUTIFUL. The years pass, few remain who moved from Beautiful to Elegant then to Classic, as the circle of life turned. So is beauty, a quality that comes, then goes, or can it be a more lasting or eternal quality?

 I asked myself this question last weekend on retreat at a mindfulness scientific conference. Many of the attendees were beautiful and elegant men and women of all ages. No they weren’t wearing long gowns or sporting buffed physiques, but there was a vitality, an aura about them, that attracted the senses and screamed Beauty.

 This new kind of beauty came from their physical vibrance, and inner equanimity. There was also a joyful glow that shone from the inside out. They were healthy and at home in their skin. I believe this new kind of beauty is Well-Being. 

 So what is “well-being” and why should you care? The definition from www.dictionary.com is “a good or satisfactory condition of existence; a state characterized by health, happiness, and prosperity.” So the reason to care is clear, to live longer with a higher quality of life. So coming full circle, the pursuit of the New Beauty, is the creation of a life worth living, built from the inside out. 

 You probably already know what you need to be doing to improve your inner and outer beauty, but don’t do it. It’s often the case that what we know, and what we do, are often worlds apart. 

 The secret is to create a healthy hunger for well-being. When I find myself hungry for sugar, I ask myself if this hunger is in the service of my health and well-being, or not. If NOT, then I ride the wave of the craving, watch it pass, and redirect myself to a healthier choice, like raisins. A simple process yet deceptively difficult. Years of unhealthy hungers need to be replaced with new healthy lifestyle choices. These unhealthy habits have created neural pathways that make it easier to slide into sugary soda rather than having a glass of water and walking around the block. Once the new neural pathways and body memories are created, creating well-being gets easier and easier.

The basics for creating a healthier lifestyle are:

Body

Physical health - Get medical check-ups and learn how to engage in a dialogue with your body. Be your own health advocate. With all the cuts in health resources these days, you should know you can’t count on someone else to take care of you. It’s your job to find what you need to remain physically healthy. 

Sleep - Get enough sleep EVERY night. If this is a problem for seek help. Sleep time is when our body repairs itself.

Nutrition - Educate yourself about good nutrition and develop healthy hungers. I highly recommend exploring Mindful Eating. It’s an approach that helps you slow down and enjoy your food while making better food choices.

Exercise - You know exercise is good for you. So what gets in the way of following an exercise program. Recent research shows us that just 11 minutes a day of exercise benefits us.

Oral care - See your dentist regularly. Get your teeth cleaned and checked at least twice per year. 

Mind

Contemplative Practice/Meditation - Meditation has been proven to increase the length of the Telomeres on the end of our chromosomes. The length of the telomeres  is an indicator of health and longevity. .

Life-long learning - Learning new things every day, keeps the mind sharp well into our senior years. Using your skills in new ways elevates the spirit.

Emotions

Emotional intelligence helps us live happier lives. Regular meditation strengthens the part of the brain that manages our feelings.

Relationships

Healthy relationships - Your relationships should be bringing out the beauty in you.

Work

Right works - work that engages your strengths and creativity.

Spirit

Positive Psychology - As more research is done on the value of positivity, as opposed to negativity, it’s a no brainer to develop a more positive perspective in your life. The simple act of naming three positive things that happened to you each day as you lay your head down to sleep can change your outlook on life.

Fun - Make time to enjoy life. Life is fragile and you may not have the opportunity tomorrow to enjoy the beauty around you. Do it Today.

 Loving Kindness - We benefit as much, if not more, from helping others.

Finally, manage your stress. We all need a little stress, eustress, to keep us upright and moving forward. It’s the distressful stress that takes its toll. Chronic stress impacts the immune system and creates unhealthy hungers in an attempt to buff out the anxiety and frustration that is part of everyday life. With the news of war and disasters being thrown at us 24-7, its no wonder that we live in a constant state of fear. Develop the ability to step back in healthy ways rather than eating that pound of chocolate or quart of ice-cream. Take a walk, meditate, read a good book or talk to a friend instead. 

Yes, beauty is more than skin deep and maintaining skin health increases your health beauty quotient. So don’t just get the facelift or skin peel, increase your inner peace and joy, engage in healthy ways with your work and friends, and create the kind of lifestyle that supports well-being. Then you too, will be one of the New Beauties that will inspire those you love and others to do the same.

 "Nothing endures but personal qualities."

Walt Whitman

 

Centerpoint

Where is that "Centerpoint" where your life is perfectly balanced yet dynamic? Most of us are weighted, and on overload, in terms of time and money. So how do we reach that place where we have enough, not too much, or too little? As far as I can tell is it a constant dynamic, with decision making about choices being required on a daily, sometimes moment to moment basis.

Should I stop at the market, go shopping, browse the garage sale, commit to another project, are but a few of the decisions the seeking mind comes up with. I believe when we are grounded in who we are, are clear about our values and goals (I know you've heard it before) these decisions get easier and easier.

Use the resource of LifeDancing to help you find your center, and move from there!

For more information, check out this article on life balance. Click Here.

Happiness: Meditation Changes Your Body's Response to Stress

Greetings,

I ran across the following article recently and thought I would pass it on to those of you who are interested in happiness and/or meditation. The article starts out with a statement that I find counter to my understanding of meditation, that there is a goal, but other than that it contains some very interesting information. I very highly recommend meditation, the difficult part is maintaining a daily practice. I'm partial to MBSR, Mindful Based Stress Reduction since it includes a physical component. The practice can be easily learned in an 8 week class or self-taught using the text by Jon Kabat-Zinn, Full Catastrophe Living.

by Lynn D. Johnson, Ph.D.

Meditation’s goal is to create a “relaxation response” in ourselves. When we are deeply relaxed, when our mind and our body is quiet, we recover quickly from stress. We have known for years that this is good for us. But a new study tells us that meditation actually changes how our body responds to new stresses.

When our body is under stress, it reacts by getting ready to run or fight, or perhaps to “play dead.” While the stress changes were helpful when we lived in primitive conditions, today they really aren’t helpful. After all, when is the last time to had to capture and kill an animal so you could eat? Or run from some predator who wanted to eat you?

Instead, today’s stresses are mental, not physical threats. In other words, the things the body does - run away or fight - don’t help us solve today’s problems. But the problem is that your body doesn’t know if it is 2008 or 10,000 B.C. So it keeps on using same defenses.

Now we know that we bounce back much better from stress generally if we do certain things:

● Physically exercise every day - for 30 to 60 minutes - to burn off our stress hormones. Daily exercise is as good of an antidepressant as any of the prescription medications.
● Meditate for 15 to 20 minutes every day, clearing the mind and entering into a sleep-like state.

But what the new study asked is whether meditation actually changes how our body reacts to new stresses. It asked this question by testing two groups: One group of experienced meditators, and one group of people who had never meditated but were willing to go through eight weeks of training. They found that both the experienced meditators and the new meditators showed the same type of benefit, over people who had no training in meditation 

The authors said their study showed that “the relaxation response changed the expression of genes involved with inflammation, programmed cell death and the handling of free radicals. Free radicals are normal byproducts of metabolism that the body neutralizes in order to stop damage to cells and tissues.” What that means is that stress didn’t bother the bodies of the meditators as much. They simply were stronger in the face of problems!

The surprising thing is that this happens at a genetic level! In other words, your own DNA shifts and modifies itself to express fewer stress related genes and more expression of calming and confident genes.

What kind of meditation? Frankly, every type is helpful, and there isn’t any evidence that one style is better than another. If you are of a more mystical bent, try Transcendental Meditation or take a class in Yoga. I personally use Autogenic Training and have for over thirty years. Herbert Bensen has a classic book, “The Relaxation Response” which teaches a simply type of meditation. Mindfulness Meditation is also great.

The study was reported in PloSOne, and on-line free access medical journal. The address (as of July 2008): http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0002576
The study was done at Massachusetts General Hospital, Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, and at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts.

Copyright © 2008 by Lynn D. Johnson, Ph.D. Contact: [email protected] or (801) 261-1412

"Genomic Counter-Stress Changes Induced by the Relaxation Response. " Jeffery A. Dusek, Hasan H. Otu, Ann L. Wohlhueter, Manoj Bhasin, Luiz F. Zerbini, Marie G. Joseph, Herbert Benson, Towia A. Libermann. PLoS ONE 3(7): e2576, Published online 2 July 2008 DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0002576

Gratitude

by Linda Lawless MA

November National Alzheimer's Disease Month www.alz.org November Gratitude Gratitude (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gratitude) is more or less important to you depending on your value system. The emerging field of positive psychology has identified Gratitude as one of its core values that helps people live fulfilling lives. You can assess your core values and even take a Gratitude self-assessment for FREE, Click Here. The bottom line is that we are in the season of gratitude with Thanksgiving and the Holidays upon us, and knowing how to appreciate yourself and others is a key issue for the season.

Here’s an important tip regarding the expression of gratitude. One of the exercises Marty Seligman, author of Authentic Happiness, has students do is to write a Gratitude Letter. This letter thanks someone in your past or present for something they gave you. What he found was that when students wrote their letters they felt good about themselves and the letters recipient. Where they got into trouble was when they delivered the letter. Sometimes the letter was accepted graciously, but sometimes the recipient was confused and in some cases belligerent about being thanked for something they were not even aware of, i.e., being thanked for teaching their child resilience through frequent verbal abuse. So, when you get in touch with what you are grateful about yourself, sit with it and take in what you can. When you want to express gratitude to others, pause and ask yourself if they are ready to hear it. During this season I recommend exploring your own value of gratitude by visiting the website above, and more simply, telling people you run into during your life, when you honestly appreciate what they have, or are doing that you appreciate them. I told my personal trainer how much I appreciated his ability to work around my aging body's weekly needs and stopped him dead in his tracks while he dealt with being told something good for a change. I told the lady at the checkout stand in the market that I appreciated her daily good cheer and brought a tear to her eye.

On a larger scale, the Greater Good Magazine out of UC Berkeley, whose mission is devoted to the scientific understanding of happy and compassionate individuals, strong social bonds, and altruistic behavior, offer tips for keeping a Gratitude Journal. Click Here. Holiday Shopping Yes, we are in the middle of the target of every marketing campaign in America and beyond. So, have you got all your shopping done? Ask my daughter and she says yes. My response was humph, and my wondering how she has managed to be that way given who raised her. My answer to that question is, no, but I’m willing to think about it. Since I have an aversion to malls I started my shopping by reading ads and shopping online. After spending 4 hours pondering one purchase, I decided to change my approach. Stay tuned. One of my usual habits is to buy too much, one for myself, and two for others during the holidays. It’s not over the top but enough to be bothersome. A colleague of mind has explored over-shopping in depth. www.stoppingovershopping.com. I have learned much from her. There is also a rather entertaining theatre production called What Would Jesus Buy?  If you’re not offended by the title, you can explore it at http://www.alternet.org/mediaculture/68485/.So given all of the above, my new approach it to use the old approach, thanking people when I think of it, and a new approach of asking myself if the gift I’m giving will enhance their life long term or short term. I’m giving myself permission to purchase one or two short term items but am working on long-term solutions for everybody. I’ve started with the greatest challenge, the 7-year old grandbaby. I’m just itching to buy toys, and holding back. So far I’ve come up with a couple books and ways to teach him meditation so he can feel peaceful in this stressful world. I’ll let you know how the rest of it unfolds. My very best to you all during the holidays.

Keep in mind that January, the month of new beginnings, lurks in the future. Spend some of your time at the end of the year reflecting on what has unfolded and what you have to be grateful for in your own life. With this under your belt you have a good jumping off place for the New Year. I appreciate all of your comments and ideas to share with others. I wish that we all help one another live lives of joy and abundance in a peaceful world.

Onward Linda