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Aadil Khetani

Onondaga Nation - People of the Hills - 1 views

  • strong leaders must change the way business is done. They must find a way to put the common good above profits.
    • Tara Picudella
       
      Is this asking too much of modern society? In the US we have a capitalistic nation, if we care too much of the little people won't that worsen the economy for the rest of society? Or is the good of the society as a whole less important than the good of those who are suffering?
    • Aadil Khetani
       
      Today's society only cares about money but if the country as a whole works together they can make this possible. They can put the common good over money and assets.
  • respect and thanksgiving for nature.
  • Outsourcing the work to the rest of the world and then leaving people here without jobs.
  • ...114 more annotations...
  • biggest environmental issues
    • Yi Jin
       
      I fail to see outsourcing as an enviornmental hazard as in the long run pollution is pollution be it in china britain or even the united states, just because u change the location doesn't necessarily increase the amount nor does it increase the the lethality of the pollution
  • outsourced your pollution
  • but at the expense of the American public.
    • Nikki Schmeling
       
      it's really difficult to make people see, especially in our american society, why sometimes we should do things that aren't for our direct benefit. we really like this idea of immediate gratification.
  • And I said my job would be to associate them with the reality out there. They're insulated -- heavily insulated -- they don't deal with reality.
  • And they, if you notice, I haven't seen any of their annual reports that put in the cost of the natural resources that they use
  • People are extracting
  • I said, how can you as CEOs of corporations do what you're doing, in terms of extraction, without looking at the consequences?
    • Yi Jin
       
      because they are blinded by profits and greed
  • finite
  • finite
  • running out
  • running out. Finite
  • And that's the problem.
  • He says, well, as you know, if somebody is living in those terms, they're not going to progress. They're just going to be happy just the way they are. There'll be no progress. And he says, as you know, the bottom line of our civilization is greed.
    • Brian Walsh
       
      This shows that we as a society wish to progress at an astonishing pace even if we are happy with what we get. I can relate this to my dad's cell phone. He has no urge to get a new iphone or smartphone because he's very happy with his old slider phone
    • Aadil Khetani
       
      The concept of greed. People want more and more no matter how much or what they have is enough and keeping them happy. They want the next level and the level after that but for what reason? Satisfaction? 
  • selfishness
  • teach them to be selfish, so they can progress
    • Nikki Schmeling
       
      do they really need to progress? this kind of reminds me of that john lennon quote "when I went to school they asked me what i wanted to be. i said "happy", they told i didn't understand the assignment, i told them they didn't understand life"
  • finite
  • The responsibility of leadership is to look that far ahead
  • directly due to the idea of capitalism
  • to give thanks, be thankful for what you have, and to share. And the third one would be respect.
  • hat's was people power did that. Germany didn't want it, East Germany didn't want it, nobody wanted it. People wanted it, and nothing could stop them. Once they get in a move in that direction they become a force. It's very difficult -- it's not a manageable force -- and that's why leadership is so vital and important.
  • leadership and the control factor for human beings, in particular, is moral. If you don't have moral law you don't have any law. If there's no moral law, you don't have any.
    • Nikki Schmeling
       
      so because people tell them to buy it, they feel okay about buying it, even if they shouldn't?
  • there's no mercy
  • There's only law
  • You're going to suffer the consequence, and that's right where we're headed right now. Six-point-six billion people and more coming every minute as we sit here. That's a compound
  • And it takes some understanding to rise to the occasion. You've got to comprehend what's going on.
    • Nikki Schmeling
       
      it's not just going to happen that people will rise to the occasion. first they need to understand why it's so important to do so. like okay with WWII, the U.S. didn't want to get involved at first. the only reason we did was because we got attacked. that made us understand the importance. it's kind of like that for environmental issues. scientists say we should get involved, but until there is personal risk, we won't.
    • Aadil Khetani
       
      This is something that can be seen within everyone once they understand the situation. Game 7 of playoffs, final exam, huge corporate project and many more have got so many people coming through in the "clutch."
  • When the Peacemaker talked to us about the foundation of the confederacy, he said the first principle is peace. And you know the Indian word for peace; it also means health. The same word.
  • It starts with the people; the earth, everything that grows on the earth, bushes, trees, what lives in the trees, what lives on the earth; water, what lives in the water; and food, what grows, where it grows. And the leaders, the animal leaders, who lead the animal. We acknowledge thanksgiving for them.
  • You're supposed to develop them and then share with those that don't have them. That's how everything has equity. So you come back to that.
  • And what can we do about it?
  • Among other things, the Peacemaker instructed them to approach every decision with concern for the seventh generation to follow.
  • their reality is Wall Street
  • strong leaders must change the way business is done. They must find a way to put the common good above profits.
    • Rebecca Lurie
       
      In many ways this is hard for business to do because the business world is so competitive that if one starts to lag behind and could possible go out of business. The business world revolves itself around profits.
  • "Business as usual is over," he said
  • Haudenosaunee, or the Six Nations of the Iroquois Confederacy
  • Well, they have to. Otherwise they're going to get hammered. They're going to get hammered anyway.
  • - if you're going to take those steel mills and put them some other place, they're going to be belching a lot of environmental damage ...
    • Nikki Schmeling
       
      I think that the biggest issue with outsourcing as far as environmental problems go is that we always outsource to the same places. that makes the pollution a lot more concentrated in that one area, making it a lot easier to burn straight through the ozone in that one spot. if we didn't outsource as much, the pollution wouldn't be as concentrated and it would take longer to deplete the ozone layer.
  • it's because of outsourcing
  • . I don't see it changing, because I don't see any relaxation from the executive side -- from the leadership side -- because they're making money
    • Lexy Martin
       
      people are only interested in money and what they as an individual can gain from any situation. People are becoming more and more selfish without one thought of how our, and our future generations will be effected.
    • Gabriel Kerbs
       
      I believe that it is going to take more serious natural disasters - we need to feel pain close to home, serious pain- before any leader begins to make any changes that will benefit the environment, and not just their profits.
    • Aadil Khetani
       
      He blames money for the depression. In a way he's true because people have a priority for money. That's all they think about and that's all they want. 
  • Where is the moral side to the shareholders on this thing?
  • They're not in the reality business; they're in business. I said, if you put them up there and just let them freeze for 24 hours, they would get an inkling of another power, of another authority.
    • Gabriel Kerbs
       
      Once you feel the power of nature, you begin to respect it.  Those trapped indoors all their lives are the ones who really don't give a rat's ass about whats going on outside.
    • Aadil Khetani
       
      Nature is a part of life the opens peoples eyes to the outside world. When I was a kid, all I did was go outside to play and now when I'm inside I feel like I'm missing out when I'm not out there. But, my sister grew up inside mostly and she barely goes out and watches tv instead. If she went outside more it might change her. 
  • If you have grandchildren and great-grandchildren, you're involved
  • Everything in this room came from the earth
  • I don't think they deal with it. I mean, their realit
  • This round world is finite.
  • of oil right now.
  • and what was that line?
  • Growth. You have one finite earth. That's the problem here
  • But I do think human beings -- I have always been amazed by human beings.
  • People have to make less money -- way, way, way less money. People have to share more of what they have.
  • Thanksgiving for the winds that bring the seasons and does the planting, all of that. Then we have thanksgiving for the grandfathers, the thunder and the lightning, that bring the rain --
  • so it's the stockholder.
  • respect and thanksgiving for nature.
  • They're not in the reality business; they're in business.
  • outsourced your pollution
  • influence their thinking
  • you not only outsourced your work and your company,
  • their reality is Wall Street. That's their reality. It is real, but it doesn't deal with the forces of nature.
  • extracting it at tremendous rates with no perception of consequences.
    • Nikki Schmeling
       
      no idea of the consequences. that's because it won't directly harm them. people have to be shown how something is going to personally affect them, or their children maybe, before they see any need for change.
  • stockholder.
  • the ones that really determine what the direction of the corporation is going to go.
  • idea of private property.
  • hat's was people power did that. Germany didn't want it, East Germany didn't want it, nobody wanted it. People wanted it, and nothing could stop them. Once they get in a move in that direction they become a force. It's very difficult -- it's not a manageable force -- and that's why leadership is so vital and important.
  • eadership and the control factor for human beings, in particular, is moral. If you don't have moral law you don't have any law. If there's no moral law, you don't have any.
  • you have to understand about nature and natural law is
  • no mercy to this law.
  • you don't understand that law and you don't abide by that law, you will suffer the consequence.
  • You lead by action.
  • we personify these elements to bring our people closer to them so they have more respect.
  • you guys act as if it wasn't.
  • f I don't show a profit in the company, I'm fired.
    • Nikki Schmeling
       
      everyone has this idea of "i'm not responsible" for everything.
  • I put a moral question into an economic forum
    • Aadil Khetani
       
      This is the "personal" aspect of the problem-solution notes. 
  • don't want moral questions. They don't deal with moral questions.
    • Gabriel Kerbs
       
      Morals never get in the way of profits in big business.  Money rules. Instant gratification, Lack of mindfulness, disrespect.     What we need to do is make big businesses THINK , just as the chief is doing here.  If nothing else, it might make them feel a little guilty about their practices and priorities
  • guaranteed prophecy?
  • you guys are going to meet next year and nothing will have changed. I'll guarantee it. And that was the end of the meeting
    • Yi Jin
       
      I think shows his being extra pessimistic as many companies are actually trying to strive to be green and governments set up laws that help protect and conserve the environment
    • Nikki Schmeling
       
      I think this is kind of true though. lots of little things will have changed, but nothing major that will have any sort of lasting effects. they aren't focused on that, they only focus on the things that make little immediate differences. sure those can accumulate over time, but overall they aren't going to solve the big problem.
  • But not only do they have to ask people to sacrifice, they sacrifice. That's how you lead.
  • I ask this question over and over again to people in business ... Do people have to cut back? Do they have to do with less? And they always say no.
  • I'll tell you what that is: Have your cake and eat it, too
  • houses have to get smaller. They can't get bigger.
  • How can you have peace without health?
  • Unity
  • That's our foundation, peace
  • finally the Creator himself
  • Human beings have different gifts and we say, they're not gifts, they're responsibilities.
  • I'm just telling what people know.
    • Nikki Schmeling
       
      it's not that he's just outrageously smart or anything. these are conclusions that regular people have come to all the time.
  • They never put that in
  • And you know how powerful they are, and they're all over the world, and they're
  • State University College of Environmental Science and Forestry
  • never challenge those thoughts, because you will not prevail. That's instruction. That's along with seven generations and everything else he said.
  • So you know what you're doing
  • Not about happy.
  • Make your decision on behalf of the seventh generation coming so that they may enjoy what you have.
  • What's wrong with that? That's our basic value. Our basic value is to share.
  • they adjust
  • We have probably 10 years to change direction
  • they can rise to an occasion
  • these natural catastrophes are going to force the issues.
    • Gabriel Kerbs
       
      Again, pain is going to be the driving force in change.  
  • There's just no reality to it
  • more energy-conscious and -controlled
  • Everybody can do that.
  • it's one I learned from listening to our people
    • aldi gjoka
       
      something everybody knows but nobody says
    • aldi gjoka
       
      "strong leaders must change the way business is done. They mus tfind a way to put the common good above profits"
    • aldi gjoka
       
      "approach every decision with concern" be cautious of your actions
    • aldi gjoka
       
      never thought of outsourcing as a cause for pollution abroad
    • aldi gjoka
       
      the idea of putting the people in alps was great of getting rid of their "insulation"
    • aldi gjoka
       
      I like the question of "when do you cease to be a CEO and become a grandfather?"
    • aldi gjoka
       
      This is very true about every president talking about progress and growth
    • Anna Delapaz
       
      Word Choice: Depression vs Recession  Recession can be defined as a temporary economic decline. Depression is severe despondency and dejection. The word depression feels more human and more personal. By using this word, Lyons emphasizes how the people are the ones suffering when jobs are outsourced. 
    • Gabriel Kerbs
       
      These days, we look for instant gratification and get-rich-quick schemes.  The over-exploitation of the Earth's resources is an outcome of this. It is hard to make the common citizen understand that, in the long run, taking care to protect the environment will pay off in a much larger way than a paycheck.
  • bout the world's "accelerating" race toward environmental calamity,
    • Gabriel Kerbs
       
      As the world is functioning now, the generations that come after us are going to have a harder time finding the resources necessary for life.  Water is being tainted and poisoned, as is the air.  Resources like oil are being pumped out of the Earth at a rapid rate; having a car in the future is going to be an expensive luxury.
  • t's always about progress today
  • No, you sacrifice.
    • Gabriel Kerbs
       
      Not enough people are willing to sacrifice for the good of the Earth as a whole.  Greed is the fuel for the degrading world, and in order to reverse that, people (especially the greedy) must learn to sacrifice what isnt necessary.   America is the land of the big. Big houses, big cars, big food, etc.  We need to scale down significantly in order to see any changes.
  • seventh-generation philosophy
    • Brett Sherman
       
      The Seventh generation, are they referring to us? Our generation to fix all the damage and save mother earth from "degradation"(The Cry of the Earth)?
  • You know, how often do you hear that the United States uses one quarter of the earth's resources and we're only 7 percent of the population. And we use one quarter.
Richard Ofosuhene

How Mindfulness Can Treat Anxiety - Carolyn Tucker MA, NCC, DCC, LAPC's Blog - Decatur-... - 1 views

  • From the poor economic climate, to traffic, to tragedy in the news, our culture contributes as well.
  • Mindfulness causes you to be fully presen
  • Mindfulness is defined as a state of active, open attention on the present
  • ...14 more annotations...
  • . When you're mindful, you exist solely in the moment, noticing what is going on right then to the fullest. The practice of acceptance goes along with mindfulness
  • In acceptance you observe your thoughts and feelings from a distance, without judging them good or bad
  • Instead of saying "I am anxious," notice the physical sensation and acknowledge that it is there
  • help clients daily learn skills to help them better cope with the effects of anxiety on their mind and bodies.
  • Mindfulness is most frequently associated with a practice of meditation. Even five minutes of meditation daily has been proven to show benefit.
  • Even as our minds get busy, the physical sensations of anxiety such as muscle tension, tightness in the chest or stomach, fluttering heartbeat are still present. Every few moments our minds do a "check in" to be sure that all systems are functioning properly. When the mind locates the symptoms of anxiety it sends off a "code red" and all of the symptoms feel exacerbated.
  • Any activity where you can be fully in the moment contributes to your ability to quiet that voice in the mind that causes anxiety.
  • By being mindful you are not denying your feelings, nor ignoring them. You are integrating them into your "whole self" and allowing your mind to get out of the way so that your body can naturally heal itself.
  • Some of my clients report washing the dishes as being meditative for them, or gardening, or listening to music.
  • ven as our minds get busy, the physical sensations of anxiety such as muscle tension, tightness in the chest or stomach, fluttering heartbeat are still present. Every few moments our minds do a "check in" to be sure that all systems are functioning properly
  • When we resist emotions or physical sensations they rear their ugly heads and demand to be noticed. The sheer energy of them increases due to our increase in attempt to squash them down. Our bodies were made to allow all energy, negative and positive to move through them and to be expressed in some way, whether spoken through communication, burned off through exercise or relaxed away. Acceptance allows our bodies to naturally self correct and allow that energy to pass through us without resistance.
  • Mindfulness is proven to increase our quality of life by improving our physical health (reducing blood pressure and increasing quality of sleep to name a few benefits) and our mental health (decreased rumination, increased ability to handle daily stress) and out relationships (One study showed that people who practice mindfulness deal with relationship stress more constructively.
  • indfulness is most frequently associated with a practice of meditation. Even five minutes of meditation daily has been proven to show benefit. You can practice mindfulness in many other ways too. Some of my clients report washing the dishes as being meditative for them, or gardening, or listening to music. Any activity where you can be fully in the moment contributes to your ability to quiet that voice in the mind that causes anxiety.
  • By being mindful you are not denying your feelings, nor ignoring them. You are integrating them into your "whole self" and allowing your mind to get out of the way so that your body can naturally heal itself
  •  
    It shows how to do mindfulness and the benefit of it
Kathy Chu

Global Warming's Terrifying New Math | Politics News | Rolling Stone - 0 views

  • If you told Exxon or Lukoil that, in order to avoid wrecking the climate, they couldn't pump out their reserves, the value of their companies would plummet
    • Tara Picudella
       
      consequence---cost$$$$$$
    • Nikki Schmeling
       
      it's a consequence, sure, but it's one that's would happen if we did the exact opposite of what this article is telling us to do
    • Brian Walsh
       
      It always goes back to money. It seems like businesses and corporations are more preoccupied with how much money they will lose than how much polar ice will melt.
  • Germany is one of the only big countries that has actually tried hard to change its energy mix; on one sunny Saturday in late May, that northern-latitude nation generated nearly half its power from solar panels within its borders. That's a small miracle – and it demonstrates that we have the technology to solve our problems.
    • Tara Picudella
       
      possible solution to the problem? are there any bad results/is this good enough if implemented everywhere?
    • Nikki Schmeling
       
      I don't know if it can be implemented everywhere. to be honest, there are probably some places that don't get enough sun for this to be a viable option. it's also not as immediate, you have to wait for that. people like what they don't have to wait for and what they know works, i.e. carbon.
    • Yi Jin
       
      I feel that Iceland should have been mentioned instead as its energy is 99% natural, but then again this shows how left back the rest of the world is
  • Green groups, for instance, have spent a lot of time trying to change individual lifestyles: the iconic twisty light bulb has been installed by the millions, but so have a new generation of energy-sucking flatscreen TVs.
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  • it's as if the gay-rights movement had to be constructed entirely from evangelical preachers, or the abolition movement from slaveholders.
    • Tara Picudella
       
      brings it personal for some of the audience to relate to
    • Nikki Schmeling
       
      take the case of slavery. some people benefited from it, but a lot didn't. those that didn't were the ones who protested. but with fossil fuels, most people, especially the ones with the most power to stop it, benefit from it a lot. that's the difference here.
  • A more efficient method, of course, would be to work through the political system, and environmentalists have tried that, too, with the same limited success.
    • Tara Picudella
       
      the leaders have the power to change everything...relates to the other reading
  • According to the Carbon Tracker report, if Exxon burns its current reserves, it would use up more than seven percent of the available atmospheric space between us and the risk of two degrees. BP is just behind, followed by the Russian firm Gazprom, then Chevron, ConocoPhillips and Shell, each of which would fill between three and four percent.
  • we might well burn all that carbon, in which case investors will do fine. But if we do, the planet will crater.
  • you can't have both.
    • Nikki Schmeling
       
      it seems really unfair that it has to be money vs. a planet to live on in the long run. people aren't going to want to make that decision, either way it makes them super unpopular with people.
  • time is precisely what we lack.
  • conceivably
  • he explained on the stump in March, "You have my word that we will keep drilling everywhere we can... That's a commitment that I make
  • Producing more oil and gas here at home has been, and will continue to be, a critical part of an all-of-the-above energy strategy.
    • Nikki Schmeling
       
      i kind of feel like this is being severely misquoted.... wasn't he saying that more about the fact that this was to try and not have us by from the middle easy and spend ridiculous amounts of money on foreign oil? this was a solution for an economic crisis, not an environmental one. wow this actually makes me really mad.
  • In December, the Canadian government withdrew from the treaty before it faced fines for failing to meet its commitments.
  • hypocrisy
  • In December, the Canadian government withdrew from the treaty before it faced fines for failing to meet its commitments.
    • Nikki Schmeling
       
      i feel like that shouldn't be allowed. it should have been more binding than that.
  • hypocrisy
    • Nikki Schmeling
       
      all these leaders keep talking about the problem, but won't do anything about it. you know, "talk the talk, but don't walk the walk"
  • A rapid, transformative change would require building a movement, and movements require enemies
  • They're clearly cognizant of global warming – they employ some of the world's best scientists, after all,
  • Barack Obama, for instance, campaigned more aggressively about climate change than any president before him
  • climate change is undoubtedly the most devastating environmental problem of this century."
    • Kathy Chu
       
      Large companies have found loopholes. I believe companies that emit carbon dioxide or any other air pollutant into the air has a limit, but smaller companies that doesn't emit as much sell the remaining amount to other companies. In a way, larger companies have found a way to burn as much carbon as they want because they can just buy from smaller ones.
  • environmental efforts to tackle global warming have failed. The planet's emissions of carbon dioxide continue to soar, especially as developing countries emulate (and supplant) the industries of the West. Even in rich countries, small reductions in emissions offer no sign of the real break with the status quo we'd need to upend the iron logic of these three numbers.
Robert Coady

Beyond environment: falling back in love with Mother Earth | Guardian Sustainable Busin... - 0 views

  • addiction to consumerism
  • stress we are putting on Earth
  • we all suffer and the way to overcome that pain is to directly confront it
  • ...29 more annotations...
  • Move beyond concept of the "environment"
  • Change is possible only if there is a recognition that people and planet are ultimately one and the same.
  • You carry Mother Earth within you
  • Mother Earth is not just your environment
  • Fear, separation, hate and anger come from the wrong view that you and the earth are two separate entities
  • Putting an economic value on nature is not enough
  • We want to be connected. That is the meaning of love, to be at one. When you love someone you want to say I need you, I take refuge in you. You do anything for the benefit of the Earth and the Earth will do anything for your wellbeing
  • When we recognise the virtues, the talent, the beauty of Mother Earth, something is born in us, some kind of connection, love is born
  • Looking deeply, we see that it's possible to work in the corporate world in a way that brings a lot of happiness both to other people and to us ... our work has meaning
  • How mindfulness can reconnect people to
  • Mother Earth
  • Many people suffer deeply and they do not know they suffer
  • They try to cover up the suffering by being busy. Many people get sick today because they get alienated from Mother Earth.
  • The practice of mindfulness helps us to touch Mother Earth inside of the body and this practice can help heal people
  • be awake to the fact that the earth is in danger and living species are in danger
  • Every moment can be a happy moment.
  • Need to deal with ones own anger to be an effective social activist
  • Only if people discover compassion for themselves will they be able to confront those they hold accountable for polluting our seas and cutting down our forests
  • Sometimes something wrong is going on in the world and we think it is the other people who are doing it and we are not doing it.
  • . If you are burdened with anger, fear, ignorance and you suffer too much, you cannot help another person.
  • Touching the "ultimate dimension"
  • We know that we do not have to look for the ultimate outside of ourselves – it is available within us, in this very moment
  • there is a very real risk that we will continue on our destructive path and that civilisation may collapse.
  • When the need to survive is replaced with greed and pride, there is violence, which always brings about unnecessary devastation.
  • If we are able to touch deeply the historical dimension – through a leaf, a flower, a pebble, a beam of light, a mountain, a river, a bird, or our own body – we touch at the same time the ultimate dimension.
  • Remaining optimistic despite risk of impending catastrophe
  • maintaining optimism is essential if we are to find a way of avoiding devastating climate change and the enormous social upheavals that will result.
  • We have constructed a system we can't control. It imposes itself on us, and we become its slaves and victims.
  • In my mind I see a group of chickens in a cage disputing over a few seeds of grain, unaware that in a few hours they will all be killed
Richard Ofosuhene

Being mindful can help ease stress - Harvard Health Publications - 1 views

  • A healthier approach may be to tune in.
  • But paying more attention to what is going on around you, not les
  • an excellent technique to help you cope with a range of mental and physical problem
  • ...10 more annotations...
  • s, including stress.
  • The idea is to focus attention on what is happening now and accepting it without judgment.
  • mindfulness is a powerful therapeutic tool
  • ease stress, prevent major depression from reappearing, alleviate anxiety, and even reduce physical symptoms such as pain or hot flashes
  • like sitting quietly, focusing on your breathing, becoming aware of your surroundings, and watching what comes and goes in your mind
  • But if you make the effort to become more mindful, you may find the results to be well worth it.
  • The practice of mindfulness, which has its roots in Buddhism, teaches people to be present in each moment
  • The practice of mindfulness, which has its roots in Buddhism, teaches people to be present in each moment. The idea is to focus attention on what is happening now and accepting it without judgment.
  • This seemingly simple practice is often hard to sustain in a busy world.
  • way mindfulness works its magic is by improving connections in the brain.
  •  
    I have never like at mindfulness in this way, but it kinda open my eyes how being mindful can help ease stress
  •  
    I have never like at mindfulness this way, but i also didn't know being mindful can ease stress.
joshua gallo

How to Practice Mindfulness Meditation | Psychology Today - 0 views

  • Cultivating mindfulness is the key to overcoming suffering and recognizing natural wisdom: both our own and others'.
  • Mindfulness meditation is unique in that it is not directed toward getting us to be different from how we already are. Instead, it helps us become aware of what is already true moment by moment.
  • Instead of struggling to get away from experiences we find difficult, we practice being able to be with them.
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  • Perhaps surprisingly, many times we have a hard time staying simply present with happiness. We turn it into something more familiar, like worrying that it won't last or trying to keep it from fading away.
  • When we are mindful, we show up for our lives; we don't miss them in being distracted or in wishing for things to be different.
  • So, how do we actually practice mindfulness meditation? Once again, there are many different basic techniques. If you are interested in pursuing mindfulness within a particular tradition, one of the Buddhist ones or another, you might at some point wish to connect with a meditation instructor or take a class at a meditation center. Still, I can provide one form of basic instructions here so that you can begin.
Rebecca Lurie

Effective Listening - 0 views

  • Not asking for clarification when you know that you do not understand.
    • Rebecca Lurie
       
      people do this everyday.  Shouldn't be afraid to ask for clarification. 
  • also genuinely interested in understanding what the other person is thinking, feeling, wanting or what the message means,
  • we don’t address the appropriate elements we will not be very effective, and can actually make the situation worse.
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  • When we listen effectively we understand what the person is thinking and/or feeling from the other person’s own perspective.
  • we must be actively involved in the communication process, and not just listening passively.
  • helps identify areas of agreement so the areas of disagreement are put in perspective and are diminished rather than magnified.
    • Rebecca Lurie
       
      important note for being a person who has to work with other people in different companies.  
  • Use eye contact and listening body language. Avoid looking at your watch or at other people or activities around the room. Face and lean toward the speaker and nod your head, as it is appropriate. Be careful about crossing your arms and appearing closed or critical.
  • selects the method or code which he/she believes will effectively deliver the message
Alyssa Lau

Intimate distances: William James' introspection, Buddhist mindfulness, and experientia... - 0 views

    • Alyssa Lau
       
      The idea of Mindfulness has grown in the last 60 years, it is use as an act of "therapy" rather than an act of "religion" Example of Traditional vs western ideals of mindfulness
  • approached as a therapy, to be studied and evaluated using established scientific methods, rather than as a religion
  • ‘Psychology
  • ...7 more annotations...
  • Western Buddhism can be understood as a “culture of awakening,”
  • rather than a religion
  • To “wake up” existentially involves acting upon four “ennobling” tasks,
  • embrace dukkha (suffering, pain or unsatisfactoriness); let go of craving for things
  • nvolves caring for oneself and others.
  • he great risk of the engagement with mindfulness in the West, whether through Buddhist Studies or Psychology, is that it is taken as an object of study, to be written about, rather than as something to do or be.
  • Introspective observation is what we have to rely on first and foremost and always. The word introspection need hardly be defined – it means, of course, the looking into our own minds and reporting what we there discover. Every one agrees that we there discover states of consciousness (p. 185; emphasis in original).
Emily Vargas

Applying Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy to Treatment of Depression - 1 views

  • (MBCT) is quickly gaining more popularity in treatment of various disorders including depression
  • improve one’s well-being, mindfulness, emotional regulation, positive mood, and spiritual experience while reducing stress, anxiety, and other problem
  • According to Jon Kabat-Zinn2,
  • ...9 more annotations...
  • Applications of mindfulness include emotional problems such as stress and anxiety; behavioral problems such as eating, parenting, and addiction; disorders such as depression, bipolar disorder, and borderline personality disorders; somatic problems including psoriasis, fibromyalgia, and chronic pain.
  • Mindfulness is not a state of doing but a state of being in which you are fully aware of the present moment and do not evaluate your inner or outer environment.
  • Mindfulness is a state of self-regulation of your attention and the ability to direct it towards breathing, eating, or something else. Curiosity, openness, and acceptance are all part of being mindful.
  • mindfulness can be defined as paying attention in a particular way on purpose in a present moment and non-judgmentally.
  • People who are depressed, often have lots of negative popping thoughts about their past
  • A combination of mindfulness based stress reduction and cognitive therapy has been shown to be very effective for treatment of depression.
  • MBCT was originally developed as a relapse prevention program to help people stay free of depression once they have fully recovered fr
  • om an episode.
  • Other studies have showed that the results achieved by MBCT were equivalent to the results achieved by antidepressants. Moreover, people who have bee trained in MBCT experienced less depression and significantly improved their quality of life.3
Emily Vargas

Does Mindfulness Stress You Out? | Psychology Today - 0 views

    • Emily Vargas
       
      This is a small contradiction to my other articles Mindfulness causes anxiety?
  • It can be practiced virtually anywhere, anytime, requires no tools, no money, and no formal training
  • Yet I hear over and over from clients that the whole concept of mindfulness provokes anxiety
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  • the experience varies by culture and personal experience
  • especially relating to its application in pain and stress reduction.
  • acceptance, non-striving, and non-judging awareness.
  • we shouldn't be stressed out if we're practicing mindfulness or meditation
  • Wait, what? If that's true then why is the market flooded with meditation classes, audio guides, books, fancy retreats, phone apps, expensive pillows, bracelets, bobbles, and gizmos
  • Mindfulness is not a modern spiritual movemen
  • It's simply you at your most natural state of being.
  • That was mindfulness. It required nothing of you other than to be there
  • internalized someone else's idea of what it means to be mindful.
  • Maybe you tried it a few times and determined that your experience didn't match up with their description of what it should feel like. So you got frustrated and you quit. "It's too hard." "I'm terrible at it."
Emily Vargas

Mindfulness: The Anxiety Cure You Ought to Know | Refine the Mind - 0 views

  • While washing dishes or sweeping, direct your attention to the rhythm of the action. Listen closely to the swishing or scratching noises, smell the soap suds, or concentrate on your contracting muscles.
    • Emily Vargas
       
      Connect this back the article from the first project
  • We don’t often notice, but our senses of touch, smell, sight, and sound are constantly at work.
  • quiet your mind
  • ...13 more annotations...
  • . The goal of mindful practices is to force us to be present, so we don’t waste precious days worrying.
  • Like most skills, it must be developed and refined
  • Try to quiet your mind and focus on your sensations for even 10 or 15 seconds at a tim
  • while walking, cleaning, and showering.
  • Mindfulness: A Wonderful Anxiety Cure You Ought to Know
  • Mindfulness is a practice that allows you to be content and alive in the present moment.
  •  irrational form of fear.
  • Anxieties try to tell you that something bad might happen, that you might not be good enough, or that someone might be thinking poorly of you.
  • Mindfulness is nearly infallible for helping to alleviate stress and worry
  • I’ve understood for years that anxiety is counterproductive, but knowing it is and actually stopping it from affecting me are two different things.
  • Anxiety stems from the evolutionary by-product of exaggerated fear
  • Mindfulness is a conscientious activity. It is an effort to do the opposite of what our brains naturally do.
  • When performing a task, mindfulness means directing our entire focus to that one task. No multi-tasking. No daydreaming.
Emily Vargas

National Coalition for the Homeless - 0 views

  • Families with children are by most accounts among the fastest growing segments of the homeless population
  • an estimated 1.35 million from 600 thousand families will experience homelessness today, while 3.8 million more will live in “precarious housing situations.”
  • of every 200 children in America, 3 will be homeless today and more than double that number will be at risk for homelessness
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  • Residency requirements, guardianship requirements, delays in transfer of school records, lack of transportation, and lack of immunization records often prevent homeless children from enrolling in school
  • Homelessness has a devastating impact on children and youths’ educational opportunities.
  • while 87% of homeless youth are enrolled in school, only 77% attend school regularly.
  • 2007-2008 school year 794,617 homeless children and youth were enrolled in public schools
  • Furthermore, the number does not include all preschool-age children, or any infants and toddlers.
  • 22% lived in shelters, 65% lived with other family members or friends, 7% lived in motels, and 6% lived without shel
  • Homeless families move frequently due to limits to length of shelter stays, search for safe and affordable housing or employment, or to escape abusive family members. Too often, homeless children have to change schools because shelters or other temporary accommodations are not located within their school district. Homeless children and youth frequently transfer schools multiple times in a single year because of these conditions. 
  • According to the Institute for Children and Poverty, homeless children are nine times more likely to repeat a grade, four times more likely to drop out of school, and three times more likely to be placed in special education programs than their housed peers.
  • McKinney Act’s Education of Homeless Children and Youth (EHCY)
  • 1987 in response to reports that only 57% of homeless children were enrolled in school. 
  • The EHCY Program provides formula grants to state educational agencies to ensure that all homeless children and youth have equal access to the same free and appropriate education, including preschool education, provided to other children and youth
  • Local educational agency (LEA) sub grants support a variety of activities, including identification and outreach; assistance with school enrollment and placement; transportation assistance; school supplies; coordination among local service providers; before and after school and summer educational programs; and referrals to support services.
  • State educational agency (SEA) funding helps support services such as toll-free hotlines; awareness raising activities for educators and service providers; preparation of educational materials for statewide distribution; technical assistance to schools, service providers, parents, and students; and enrollment assistance.
  • Enrollment of homeless students increased by 17% between the 2006-2007 and the 2007-2008 school years. Yet, while almost all states have revised laws and policies to improve access to education for homeless students, significant barriers to enrollment and attendence remain, including guardianship and immunization requirements, transportation problems and school fees. Barriers to success in school were found to include family mobility, poor health, and lack of food, clothing, and school supplies. [7] Many of these issues were addressed in the 2001 reauthor
  • ization of the McKinney-Vento Act, but due to a lack in funding, have not been fully addressed.
  • there was a 17% increase in homeless children and youth identified in public schools.
  • With numbers of homeless students nearing 800,000, states failed to provide subgrants to 41% of students identified as homeless
  • Yet, the EHCY program was funded at only $65 million in FY2009, less than one third of the $210 million minimum NAECHY estimates will be required to appropriately serve the rising number of homeless students in America.
  • 43% percent of responding cities reported an increase in the overall number of homeless persons accessing emergency shelter and transitional housing programs during the last year
  • 71% of responding cities reported increases in households with children accessing emergency shelter. 65% of these cities are predicting increases in overall requests for emergency shelter and 100% predict increases in requests for emergency shelter by households with children. Meanwhile, 52% of responding cities already report having to turn people away some or all of the time.
  • . The primary reason for family homelessness is the lack of affordable housing, though poverty, unemployment, low-paying jobs, family disputes, substance abuse, and other factors all play significant roles in family homelessness. Recent statistics indicate that 26% of those suffering from homelessness are considered “severely mentally ill;” 19% are employed; 15% are victims of domestic violence; 13% are physically disabled; 13 are veterans; and 2% are HIV positive.
  • Two subpopulations of children who face increased policy barriers to education are unaccompanied homeless youth and homeless preschoolers. Homeless youth are often prevented from enrolling in and attending school by curfew laws, liability concerns, and legal guardianship requirements. [12] Homeless preschoolers also face difficulty accessing public preschool education. Less than 16% of eligible preschool aged homeless children are enrolled in preschool programs. [13]
  • Congress reauthorized the McKinney-Vento Homeless Education Assistance Act in 2002.  It changed some of the responsibilities of school districts and states, including the requirement for each school district to have a designated homeless education liaison to build awareness in the school and community.  Despite some increase in funding to the initiative in the last few years, the program still lacks proper funding, and, therefore, cannot be adequately implemented on the state and local level.
  • While they are experiencing homelessness, however, it is essential that children remain in school.  School is one of the few stable, secure places in the lives of homeless children and youth -- a place where they can acquire the skills needed to help them escape poverty.
Rebecca Lurie

Can You Build a Better Brain? - Newsweek and The Daily Beast - 0 views

    • Tom McKean
       
      Muscular Strength is also a lot less complex than our brain.
  • People who use their gym locker tend to be fitter than those who don’t, but it is not using a gym locker that raises your aerobic capacity.
  • Whether you go neuro-slumming (Googling “brain training”)
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  • (searching PubMed, the database of biomedical journals, for “cognitive enhancement”)
  • if scientists understood the mechanisms of intelligence even half as well as they do the mechanisms of, say, muscular strength.
  • but the number of rigorous, well-designed studies that will stand the test of time is much smaller,”
  • Be skeptical
  • depending only on whether attention is being paid.
  • we don’t pay much attention to them
  • cognitively demanding activity
  • To be determined: whether a nicotine patch delivers the benefits without the risks.
  • by simply believing that you’ll do well, which itself releases dopamine.
  • reducing stress and the resulting cortisol, which attacks the myelin sheath that coats neurons and thus impairs signal transmission, allows underlying abilities to reach their full potential.
  • that the more you use a circuit, the stronger it gets.
  • physical exercise
  • meditation
  • but the number of rigorous, well-designed studies that will stand the test of time is much smaller,”
  • evealing the mechanisms of cognition.
  • Greater cognitive capacity comes from having more neurons or synapses, higher levels of neurogenesis (the creation of new neurons, especially in the memory-forming hippocampus),
David Dunn

Fishing for relaxation. - by Simon Wright - Helium - 0 views

  • The fact that fishing can be relaxing should be no great surprise. It often involves travelling to beautiful quiet locations and sitting looking out upon the water, whilst waiting for a fish to bite. The location with its sights, sounds and smells can be instantly relaxing. Imagine closing your eyes and hearing just the slow rise and fall of the waves and inhaling the scent of the sea air. Fishing provides time to think and is an escape from a hectic day job or from having to deal with screaming kids.
  • Some anglers will prefer to fish alone but, equally, many prefer to fish with a friend or friends. This can allow you to engage in some friendly banter whilst you wait for the first fish to be caught.
Emily Vargas

Antisocial Social Worker: Mindfulness and Social Work - 0 views

  • In those retreats, the majority of the meditation was the kind where you simply sit there and come back to the breath if you stray
  • my senses would be sharpened and I would feel very peaceful.
  • Working with highly anxious children back then, I was able to utilize many of the techniques that I knew, as well as some of the ones that I was taught.
  • ...3 more annotations...
  • our eye is always on the future. We are filled with wants and desires that we do not need, but that consume our time and money. As well, so much of our emotions are wrapped up in this future orientation. By using mindfulness, we are able to come back to the present and just be in the moment.
  • I will be working with some groups, and in at least one of them, we will be using mindfulness
  • I also know how much mindfulness can help the people that use it.
Rebecca Lurie

Mindfulness Requires Practice and Purpose - NYTimes.com - 1 views

  • spend less time worrying about the future or fretting about the past.
    • Rebecca Lurie
       
      with being a fashion buyer you always have to look in the future in order to get a head start on what fashions people may find appealing. 
  • Mindfulness may not be the answer to every ill. But it may be the answer to some.
  • feel more focused and more connected to yourself and others.
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  • It sounds simple, but it’s not, because it so goes against the grain of how most of us think and operate.
  • mindfulness can “create a world where you experience depth, meaning and connectedness. You see joy and sadness more fully and settle more deeply into an authentic way of being.”
kurt stavenhagen

Did that New York magazine climate story freak you out? Good. - Vox - 0 views

  • He simply says that there’s lots of carbon buried in the permafrost and, as the ice melts, the carbon is released as methane, which is 86 times more potent as a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide (on a short- to mid-term basis). That is true.
    • kurt stavenhagen
       
      Partly correct appraisal here. The carbon is not likely to be released as methane!
  • One set of satellite data was updated, it falls in line with the rest, and warming is happening roughly on the schedule models predicted (which, as Mann notes, is plenty fast enough).
  • So that’s one close call and one error, which together constitute, by my rough calculation, about a fiftieth of the factual claims in WW’s piece. The rest, as far as I know, stands.
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  • But Wallace-Wells’ piece was not about that. It was about what will happen if we keep on as-is.
  • He’s merely describing what could happen if we cease to act, which no one wants ... except one of the two major political parties in the world’s most powerful country, including the man in charge of the executive branch and military
    • kurt stavenhagen
       
      Kairotic here? Given the situation politically, does Wallace-Wells have more latitude to explore the worst case scenario?
    • kurt stavenhagen
       
      Intriguing shift to the social dynamics. 
  • There’s been a sort of general failure of imagination that means we’ve accepted what’s the median-likely outcome as a worst-case scenario. As a result we’ve been a bit handicapped in thinking about how much action needs to be taken.
  • Things stay roughly as they are” is just as improbable as the worst-case scenario he lays out, yet I’d venture to guess it is believed (or more importantly, envisioned) by vastly more people. Part of that is because envisioning the best-case scenario is easy — it looks just like now! — while envisioning the worst-case scenario is very difficult. It’s especially difficult because the worst-case scenario is treated by the very few people who understand it as a kind of forbidden occult knowledge to which ordinary people cannot survive exposure. Nobody can talk about it without getting scolded by the hope police.
  • it’s just weird for journalists and analysts to worry about overly alarming people regarding the biggest, scariest problem humanity has ever faced.
  • When there are important things that people don’t understand, journalists should explain those things. Attempts at dime-store social psychology are unlikely to lead to better journalism.
  • nobody really knows anything. Even if there are accurate statements about how people in general respond to messages in general, they won’t tell you much about how you ought to communicate with the people you want to reach.
    • kurt stavenhagen
       
      Yes! Applied rhetoric: no longer do general bromides apply; context and timing is everthing; if as the saying goes all politics are ultimately local, then all rhetoric is ultimately local.
  • Similarly, the dry, hedged language of science is not the only serious or legitimate way to communicate, though climate scientists often mistake it as such.
  • consciously pitched to reach and inspire some mythical average reader (as encountered in social science studies filtered through popular journalism) tends to be flavorless and dull.
  • engineering
  • a climate system that will now go to war with us for many centuries, perhaps until it destroys us.
  • it is another thing entirely to consider the possibility that we have only provoked it
  • I just try to communicate like I would like to be communicated to, frankly and clearly, as though I’m talking to a friend in a bar.
kurt stavenhagen

Why Facts Don't Change Our Minds | The New Yorker - 1 views

  • toilets, zippers, and cylinder locks. They were then asked to write detailed, step-by-step explanations of how the devices work, and to rate their understanding again. Apparently, the effort revealed to the students their own ignorance, because their self-assessments dropped
  • illusion of explanatory depth,
  • People believe that they know way more than they actually do
  • ...23 more annotations...
  • no sharp boundary between one person’s ideas and knowledge” and “those of other members” of the group
  • favor (or oppose) an immigration ban without knowing what I’m talking about
  • The farther off base they were about the geography, the more likely they were to favor military intervention
  • As a rule, strong feelings about issues do not emerge from deep understanding,”
  • If your position on, say, the Affordable Care Act is baseless and I rely on it, then my opinion is also baseless.
  • much detail as they could, the impacts of implementing each one. Most people at this point ran into trouble
  • pent less time pontificating and more trying to work through the implications of policy proposals, we’d realize how clueless we are and moderate our views.
  • science is as a system that corrects for people’s natural inclinations
  • by researchers who have no motive to confirm them. And this, it could be argued, is why the system has proved so successful.
  • field may be dominated by squabbles, but, in the end, the methodology prevails
  • experience genuine pleasure—a rush of dopamine—when processing information that supports their beliefs. “It feels good to ‘stick to our guns’ even if we are wrong,
  • At this point, something curious happened. The students in the high-score group said that they thought they had, in fact, done quite well—significantly better than the average student—even though, as they’d just been told, they had zero grounds for believing this
  • Once formed,” the researchers observed dryly, “impressions are remarkably perseverant.”
  • Even after the evidence “for their beliefs has been totally refuted, people fail to make appropriate revisions in those beliefs,” the researchers noted
  • that reasonable-seeming people are often totally irrational
  • “confirmation bias,” the tendency people have to embrace information that supports their beliefs and reject information that contradicts them.
  • Those who’d started out pro-capital punishment were now even more in favor of it; those who’d opposed it were even more hostile.
  • Such a mouse, “bent on confirming its belief that there are no cats around,” would soon be dinner.
  • we’re quite adept at spotting the weaknesses. Almost invariably, the positions we’re blind about are our own.
  • ewer than fifteen per cent changed their minds in step two.
  • getting screwed by the other members of our group.
  • There was little advantage in reasoning clearly, while much was to be gained from winning arguments
  • roviding people with accurate information doesn’t seem to help; they simply discount it. Appealing to their emotions may work better, but doing so is obviously antithetical to the goal of promoting sound science. “The challenge that remains,” they write toward the end of their book, “is to figure out how to address the tendencies that lead to false scientific belief.
Lexy Martin

Seth's Blog: Ode: How to tell a great story - 0 views

  • Great stories succeed because they are able to capture the imagination of large or important audiences.
  • A great story is true. Not necessarily because it’s factual, but because it’s consistent and authentic
  • Great stories make a promise.
  • ...27 more annotations...
  • People don’t trust the beautiful women ordering vodka at the corner bar
  • Great stories don’t always need eight-page color brochures or a face-to-face meeting. Either you are ready to listen or you aren’t.
  • no marketer succeeds in telling a story unless he has earned the credibility to tell that story.
  • Great stories happen fast
  • Great stories are subtle
  • Great stories don’t appeal to logic
  • Great stories don’t contradict themselves
  • great stories agree with our world view.
  • Great stories are rarely aimed at everyone.
  • capture the imagination of large or important audiences.
  • bold and audacious.
  • People don’t trust the beautiful women ordering vodka at the corner bar
  • Either you are ready to listen or you aren’t.
  • the fewer details a marketer spells out, the more powerful the story becomes.
  • allowing people to draw their own conclusions is far more effective than announcing the punch line.
  • no marketer succeeds in telling a story unless he has earned the credibility to tell that story.
  • appeal to our senses.
  • med at everyone.
  • most effective stories match the world view of a tiny audience
  • audience feel smart and secure when reminded how right they were
  • agree with what the audience
  • agree with our world view.
    • Rebecca Lurie
       
      In the fashion world trying to find a new Fad and make it appealing to people. (great article for my essay) 
  • Great stories don’t contradict themselves
    • anonymous
       
      This is probably what I struggle with most when I tell a story, and it always ruins it. 
  • Great stories are trusted
  • makes the members
  • of the audience feel smart and secure
  •  
    This article relates to what my paper may be about.  I am interested in the business world.  
  •  
    STORIES- what kind of great should they be
Alyssa Lau

The "Overview Effect", Mindfulness and Travel - 0 views

    • Alyssa Lau
       
      SAVIKALPA SAMADHI: the highest of spiritual state of consciousness.  This conceptt of being conscious relates to Hanh's method of being present in the moment. Both of these concept explains that the perceptive of time and space is different but after several hours of practicing this method, the mind is in another world. Even though you are awake, and are completely aware of the present moment, you are able to have experience that is blissful and memorable.
  • Stepping outside of your own world (literally or figuratively) can lead to this sense of thankfulness and oneness, an emotional surge of compassion for just about everything.
  • once I saw the world as interconnected and people as more alike than I realized, it was impossible to ‘unsee’ it.
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  • nd a state of openness (learning from and appreciating that connectedness).
  • he most important benefit to travel for me has been the consistent reminder that we are all connected in one way or another, and we are all more alike than we think.
  • It’s both a state of thankfulness
  • she travels because she loves to learn and see and eat and understand, slowly moving from place to place in an attempt to get a feel for its people and its spirit, not just its sights.
  • The body is in a trancelike state, but the consciousness is fully perceptive of its blissful experience within”
  • I wrote about how part of what I sought from my travels was a desire to still the whirring in my mind,
  • to seek a form of mindfulness
  • Savikalpa samadhi, the highest of spiritual states of consciousness
  • In this state the conception of time and space is altogether different. For an hour or two hours you are completely in another world.”
  • travel does tend to push people to think about the forest through the trees and to constantly pin current observations against past experiences.
    • Alyssa Lau
       
      When a person is allow to travel, they discovered that it is not only used as a stress reliver but more of a learning experience. By being mindful in your travels, the person is allowed to live in the present moment, and learn that the world is indeed connected.
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