1. Give in, ease up on the intensity and take the easy road out or

2. Dig deep and suck it up because, “Pain is just weakness leaving the body.”

So what made me choose the latter?

An array of thoughts raced through my mind as I was about to make my split second decision. So I closed my eyes and channeled my energies to visualize for a moment exactly what I wanted and needed to achieve out of this class. The vivid image of a ‘sexy six-pack’ was all I could see. With each punch and jab I repeated that phrase in my mind, just like a broken record, over and over again. And all of a sudden, there it was…my second wind; a wicked burst of energy that had the power to blast me down the home straight.

Do you have a mantra that fires you up?
Trigger words that can change your attitude in the blink of an eye?

‘Sexy six-pack’ has been my mantra for quite some time now. It is what pulls me through when I want to give up. It forces me to think of the end result and not the pain of the present moment. Because when I ask myself, “How bad do I want it?” There is only ever one answer… Real bad.

That brings me to that “second wind.” Athletes talk about it all the time, but what is it?

In the concept of mindfulness we talk about “flow,” or being in the “zone.” “Flow is a heightened state of consciousness in which one is fully immersed in. Once achieved, mind and body work in perfect unison without conscious effort.” By letting go of everything else around us we can channel all our physical and mental energies into the task at hand. During this moment in time, our mind enters a magical state of ecstasy. In this state, all else ceases as our mind and bodies work in perfect harmony to achieve the desired result.

So how do we get there?

Well it all starts with having a goal. A goal so deeply ingrained within your subconscious that it will give you the strength to soldier on when the going gets tough. Goals enable you to summon the power within yourself when you begin to feel weak. Our minds are much stronger than what we are likely to believe. By nurturing this mind power we can achieve great things. But in order to do so requires a strategic plan. Initially we can get some results by just winging it. But when you are striving for so-called perfection, winging it does not cut it. You need to take baby steps, lots of them. Baby steps are goals. You need daily goals, weekly goals, monthly goals, short-term goals, and long-term goals. Goals are the strategic plans that propel you towards the end result.

Goals are typically written on a piece of paper (if not verbal) in the midst of excitement and then lost in a drawer or perhaps even thrown out. So what then happens? They are forgotten. Another year passes and we are back to square one. Goals need to be acted on—everyday.

I have a little blue book where all my dreams reside. My little blue book contains pages of goals, check-points, charts, accountability calendars, quotes, pictures, and affirmations. Every morning as I eat my breakfast, I ponder over my little blue book. This is my morning ritual. I enjoy the silence as my imagination roams free. During this time I am able to let go of everything that consumes me, allowing me to create my ultimate body. Here I experience my goals in the moment; this is where total awareness is achieved. Being in the now I can see perfectly how my ultimate body will look and how it makes me feels.

Lean, athletic, tight, sexy, confident, and radiant.

These are qualities that mean the world to me. I allow myself to feel all the emotions that are attached to these words. My morning ritual puts me in a positive mindset, the perfect way to start my day. It brings me excitement, focus, clarity, and determination. It is this combination that I need to lead me down the winning path.

Visualization as described above is a vital process on the path to my success. Visualization can give us the confidence to realize that success is possible. Repeating success in our minds on a daily basis builds self-belief. The unconscious mind cannot distinguish from the conscious one. Therefore, by allowing ourselves to access this state of mind where success has already been achieved makes the physicality of arriving there all the easier.

So take your first baby step, open up your little blue book, put pen to paper, visualize, and believe. Your journey to success begins with the mind. So feed your mind positive thoughts and watch the world around you take on a new light. Know that each day that passes you by brings you one step closer to achieving your ultimate goal. And before you know it, you’ll be living the dream that you were once dreaming of.

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About Author

Chelle Jeans is a certified nutritionist and personal trainer who is dedicating this new chapter of her life to find balance in mind, body, and soul. Her passion in life is learning how to create the ultimate body through the right combination of nutrition and fitness, and inspiring others along the way.

You can check out her blog here: http://chellesultimatechallenge.blogspot.com/

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Practicing yoga at home has never been easier

1) Create a Space

Set aside a space dedicated to your yoga practice. Make sure it is free from furniture that could create a hazard to you as you do various yoga asana. Your yoga space should be clean and serene. Decorate it with images and objects that create a peaceful and sacred feeling in your heart.

2) Invest in Tools of the Trade

If you do not already have a yoga sticky mat, purchase one. There are yoga mats for every budget and taste. A mat cleaner will keep your mat smelling fresh after tough workouts. Make sure you have two blocks and a strap for modifications and consider getting a yoga blanket. Not only will they keep you warm when you relax in savasana but they can also be rolled up to help you modify poses. You may need two bolsters for under your knees, and you will probably want at least one style of zafu or meditation cushion.

3) Carefully Prevent Injury

If your grandmother told you that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, she was right. When you practice yoga at home, it is your job to make sure that you don’t injury yourself. Keep your space clear of obstacles like furniture and children’s toys, and if possible, do your yoga in a room with hardwood floors. Soft surfaces can injury joints and thick carpet makes balancing difficult. Lifeboard is a hard surface that you can put on top of carpeting to make a transportable yoga floor if necessary.
Christel Pierron (Seva Simran Kaur), an experienced teacher of Hatha Yoga, YogaDance, and Kundalini Yoga in Cape Cod, cautions, “Never force a posture. If you are going to tip over your edge, it is better to have a teacher who can watch you and help you go further. At home, take it easy. Don’t compete with your body. Love your body, nurture your body, and be present. Be present, warm up, fully get into the poses you know that is how an at home practice should be. More difficult poses should be in a class, where your teacher can make a safe environment for you.”

4) Choose Your Yoga Style

There are so many styles of yoga to choose from that it can be a little daunting at first. But rather than be overwhelmed, be excited! There are so many forms to choose from that if you don’t like one, you have several others to test out. Hatha yoga is the most common form of yoga, but there are several schools of Hatha yoga to choose from. Pierron recommends that beginners try something like Iyengar yoga or Kripalu yoga to help them learn the mechanics of a pose. If dynamic movement and deep meditation is your true love, Kundalini Yoga might be the perfect style for you. Shop around for teachers and styles that appeal to you, so that you know what will inspire you at home.

5) Get Instruction

Once you find a style and a teacher you like, go to a few yoga classes. Then you can develop yourself privately. You can work with a teacher to find a series appropriate for you to do at home. Says Pierron, “Nothing replaces a teacher giving you personal instruction.”

6) Do Further Research

If you cannot find a teacher in your area, or if you want to further educate yourself about yoga, invest in some yoga books or flash cards. They are handy references to have while learning about the finer points of asana. Magazines such as Yoga Journal can provide inspiration and a feeling of connection to a larger yoga community.
The internet is a wealth of resources for an at home yoga practice. You can go onto iTunes and find a yoga podcast that works for your level and interests. You can also join an online yoga club such as Gaiam Yoga club, which will give you access to videos, podcast and guides with master teachers Rodney Yee and Colleen Saidman-Yee. You can join Yoga Glo which films their yoga classes and allows you to participate from home. I Yoga Life has many videos that you can watch and participate with that are appropriate for a variety of levels. Purchasing some yoga DVDs with master instructors can help you take your practice to the next level. Rodney Yee is an excellent source of instruction for Hatha yoga. If you fall in love with Ashtanga yoga and want to create a solid at home practice without having a lot of time, a video such as David Swenson’s Short Forms is a wonderful resource. Vinyasa yoga is a more fluid and often physically demanding form of yoga, but a Shiva Rea video might be just the ticket for your at home practice. If Kundalini Yoga is where your heart is, try a video by Gurmukh.

7) Take Your Yoga with You

Even when you are not at home, you can be enhancing your home yoga practice. Iphone applications are a great way to study yoga asana on the go, or even practice your pranayama. Many yoga applications are free and others, such as Long Deep Breathing to help you learn to control your breath, are very affordable. Going for a hike in the summer months? Do some simple yoga and breathwork along the trail to connect more deeply with yourself and with Mother Nature, or learn Breathwalk as a spiritual practice.

8) Be Gentle

“If you are a beginner to yoga, start as such, whether you are in shape or not,” counsels Christel Pierron. Start with small increments of time. Even 20 minutes of yoga to begin with is stretching areas of your body in a new way. Start slowly when beginning a yoga practice. Yoga was not designed as a fitness routine, but as a way to achieve spiritual union with the divine and purify the body to prepare it for meditation. Respect the discipline and your body enough to give it time to adjust to your practice.

9) Set the Mood

For many, good music during yoga is one of the best parts of the practice. Consider keeping ipod speakers and your ipod in your yoga space. Begin collecting music conducive to a beautiful yoga experience or make a playlist just for your practice. Spirit Voyage has an extensive collection of Yoga Music, including a Yoga Living Series. Decide what style of music will support you in your yoga practice. Love Kundalini music? Try Snatam Kaur. Like groovy Sanskrit mantras? Listen to some Wah! For mellow instrumentals, Deuter is a favorite. Shiva Rea has even compiled a collection of trance music suitable for Vinyasa flow.

10) Meditate

The purpose of yoga was to support meditation. In your home yoga practice, do not forget to take the time after your workout to meditate and relax the mind while you are relaxing your body. There are so many forms of meditation. Try something simple, such as sitting with a straight spine, closing your eyes and focusing on your breath. The benefits of meditation include everything from lowering your blood pressure to improving your mood.
Remember that yoga is a practice of honoring yourself and your body. Take the time to rediscover your body and soul in a nurturing, self-supportive way. Try to find the time in your busy life to take even ten minutes for yourself in your new sacred space. The stresses of the day and world outside your yoga space might seem pressing and urgent, but ultimately whether the dishes are put away and the laundry is done is not as important as whether or not you feel at home in your body and are in touch with the divinity within you. Start your yoga practice at home slowly, continue steadily and gently, and while you look at your hamstrings stretch, watch your spirit soar.

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Source: Costa Rica Yoga

When I learned that Namaste, a Sanskrit word that has made its way into our vernacular, literally translated into “I bow to you,” I thought I was way off the mark with my original impression. It was a salutation, a sort of greeting between people, but there is a wealth of history, and thus meanings, behind it. The mudra—a ritual gesture—of the palms touching is said to represent the spiritual in one hand and the physical in the opposite hand. When the hands touch, it is symbolic of one trying to rise above the physical and worldly aspect of himself—and to accept openly the person to whom the greeting is being given.

The Art of Namaste

The stalk on which a ripe fruit rests bends or bows in humility.
If the stalk has not learned the art of bowing, it breaks.

Today, offer your namaste not only to your Guru or teacher but also to your lover, your enemy, your waiter, your boss, your parents, the Self within the Self. Bow to the heart of every being you meet with with reverence. All are worthy. Each have something to reveal to you about Who You Are.

~ Leena Patel, founder of  Karuna Yoga – the Yoga of Compassion

There are many other interpretations of what each hand symbolizes, and given how far back the word Namaste dates, it’s not surprising. It is one of the greetings mentioned in the Hindu’s religious texts, the Vedas—arguably the oldest scriptures in the world. For some it is a greeting between people (or a yoga class) recognizing in each other peace, respect, and openness. It is a common greeting between friends and strangers alike amongst Hindus. For others, though, it is a gesture used while communing with a deity, or a sort of centering phrase to induce calm and preparation for yoga or meditation when alone. Aadil Palkhivala suggests using Namaste to meditate upon the heart chakra, since the hands are over the chest and that helps focus the attention to the heart.*

It appears to be agreed, though, that Namaste is a perfect gesture or mudra to begin a yoga session. I’m not sure how many people just say it in a gesundheit context, as I did, and how many realize how much history is behind the word. Namaste, according to Nitin Kumar, editor of Exotic India**, talks about how nama can be further broken down into na and ma, which would translate into “not mine.” He explains that this a fundament of Namaste, because it proclaims a rejection of all things selfish or detrimental to the soul, and it is an embrace of humility and selflessness. And if we truly mean this when we speak the word, it becomes an acknowledgment of kindred spirits—of recognizing in another person the same wish.

*www.yogajournal.com/basics/822
**www.exoticindiaart.com/article/namaste

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About Author

Maura Stackpoole is an advocate for yoga and other mindful practices, and is a graduate from Michigan State University. She is also the editor and publicist for Mindful Muscle (http://www.mindfulmuscle.com).

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Then my heart-light flipped on. Here’s why. The brain is very much like skeletal muscle in that it adapts according to how it is or is not being used. The parts of your brain that you use a lot get bigger, richer, and more fortified. The basic structures of the brain (neurons) can change size and how they connect to each other based on when and how much they are used. That means if your circumstances trigger the “I’m stressed out” parts of your brain a lot, the areas and structures responsible for the “I’m stressed out” experience will get bigger and more efficient. By the same token, if your circumstances do not trigger the “I feel great” parts of your brain, “I feel great” areas will get smaller and less efficient. So there seems to be an anatomical reason for why regularly practicing positive thoughts tends to make us feel better for longer periods of time and why when we are sad or stressed for long periods of time, it is hard to feel better. But wait, there’s more.

It turns out that the same parts of the brain that are active in cognitive function – which include the emotional centers of the brain – are active during movement. In other words, exercise not only trains the musculoskeletal and cardiovascular systems, movement also trains the brain. Specifically, exercise trains the brain to think, feel, and perceive in the way that is chosen (by default or intension) during the exercise. In this way, the mental processes that are active during exercise (including your emotions, attitudes, perspectives) are being encouraged to develop. The more we practice those mental processes linked to the physical exercise, the more our neuroanatomy shifts toward the structures needed for those processes. In addition, muscles contracting during exercise produce hormones that, among other things, travel to the brain to help the neurons grow and form the connections needed to fortify the practiced experience. In other words, as we exercise the body, muscles produce hormones that provide the opportunity to the shape the brain. As the brain changes, so does the mind (and vice versa). What this means is that there is no separation of body and mind. Your mind is being trained as you move your body whether you know it or not.

We have a plethora of opportunities to train the continuum of body and mind. In meditation, we are mindfully still. What about mindful motion, especially in challenging physical environments like exercise? Exercise is a huge opportunity to train the mind to be supple, creative, open, resilient, generous, and compassionate even under challenging circumstances. How can we orchestrate salubrious interactions between the continuum of non-physical mind and physical body? By strategically placing our minds as specifically as we place our limbs and move our joints. By paying attention to the pulse of the mind with the same awareness as the pulse of our hearts. Making choices about our attitudes and emotions during exercise is just as important as proper physical form and posture.

This continuum of body and mind training is brilliantly embodied in Anusara Yoga. My first experience with Anusara Yoga was in Costa Rica with BJ Galvan as my instructor. I was profoundly affected by the experience. What was so intriguing, soothing, and transformative was that with every muscular contraction and joint position that was emphasized, BJ also cued us to precisely tune our minds. We focused on perspectives that are life-affirming, positive, and compassion toward self and others. For example, contracting the muscles that extend the spine where associated with “inner body bright” – an appreciation of your shinning energy and brilliance. The retraction of the shoulder blades and placement of the hands in preparation for a hand stand became synonymous with “the way you relate to your community and your commitment to your community”. We were strategically being offered an opportunity to condition our minds as specifically as we were conditioning our bodies. If physical and non-physical are opposites, then we were experiencing the union of the two. Like yoking opposites. We even had chances to experience the continuum of physical and mental challenges in a unique way. For example, the class was about to do handstands. This was a first for me and I thought it would be very challenging. So I began my typical mental preparation to overcome doubt, trying to shout down fear, getting ready to muscle it out, etc. BJ, without judgment, presented another way of doing this. I was inverted with my inner body bright, relating to my community, hands and feet on the floor, preparing to grunt and hoist my legs up. BJ asked me to place my right leg on her hand and “open to grace” as I pushed my leg down on her hand to elevate my legs over my torso. And just like that, I was in an easy handstand. BJ and Anusara provided the physical and mental tools to flourish through the heart. As I experienced, all challenges do not require great effort to surmount. One just needs great perspectives, tools, and to, as BJ says, “Melt your heart.”

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About the Author

Jacques Taylor is certified as a Mastery level Muscle Activation Techniques Specialist and as a Mastery level Resistance Training Specialist. He is a member of the teaching faculty for the Resistance Training Specialist programs and Muscle Activation Techniques. Jacques attended Oberlin College in Ohio where he received his BA in Neuroscience.

In his Los Angeles-based wellness practice, Jacques specializes in correcting the muscle and joint imbalances that contribute to chronic pain and injury. He does this in a variety of ways including: Neuroplasticity, Muscle Activation Techniques (MAT) and custom designed resistance training strategies. In addition to relieving pain, these techniques help restore the body’s alignment and overall function.

Jacques works with other healthcare professionals – physicians, physical therapists, chiropractors, massage therapists, osteopaths and personal trainers to make sure patients are receiving the best continuum of care on their path toward healing.

For more information please go to: www.bioconstructs.com or email Jacques at: jacques.taylor@gmail.com

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There are many ways to experience any event or experience in your life. What we suggest you seriously consider as a response is what we call “the highest expression of choice” – identifying that internal alignment or attitude within yourself that allows you the greatest level of awareness, the greatest level of choice, and the highest level of vibratory resonance with your unfolding destiny.

The highest expression of choice has to do with what you would call, the use of compassion. In compassion you are coming from an understanding that all are evolving to the best of their capabilities at any given moment. It is the understanding that people make what appears to be the best choices for themselves or they make what appears to be very bad choices for themselves. Nonetheless, that choice-making is their free will, just as you have your free will. So in those moments of your frustration, sadness, anger, blame, or whatever arises within you – the attitude of compassion allows you to shift those emotional responses inside yourself to an attitude of acceptance.

Then a quite remarkable thing happens. Compassion is a doorway by which one can reach and move into these elevated states of vibratory resonance and from which one’s destiny is altered in a most profound and beautiful way.

These are the three keys to unfolding destiny and to changing destiny:

• awareness
• choice
• vibration

If you want to unfold something, to experience something in your destiny, you must hold it in a vibration of your own consciousness. You must have the feeling of it in order for it to express itself. If you do not have the feeling or the vibration of it, then it cannot express.

Vibration is a key to changing destiny – the final key that unlocks the doorways to greater perception, greater life, greater rewards.

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About Author

Alice Chan is on the Mindful Muscle advisory panel as a resident expert on consciousness and energy healing. As Alice would say: “In 3D mandane world, I’m a lawyer, an artist, and energy healer. Beyond 3D, I’m just part of the matrix in the Oneness Universe.”

Alice ran the first Asia Consciousness Festival in 2009 and a conference for the public called “About Consciousness – Science, Health & Happiness.”

Visit their website at www.aboutconsciousness.net for more information.

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Then one day, fate (intention?) brought meditation into my life… I was tasked with developing my own meditation practice for a psychology class I was taking at the University of Michigan. What was nice about this assignment was that we were encouraged to experiment with a variety of different practices, and then decide which one/s that we would explore further. Additionally, we had to journal our experiences over a period of two weeks.

“Man is very tiny if you look at his body, man is very foolish if you look at his mind, and man is tremendously vast if you look at his consciousness. Three things meet in man. The vast, the infinite, meet in his consciousness, in his awareness. That’s what you become aware of when you meditate: boundaries recede and disappear.” ~ Osho

As I sit here recalling my first dance with meditation, it was no easy task. Quieting the mind. The impossible task, right? Our ego is so used to running the show, we don’t become aware of how dominating it is until we actually try to calm and quiet our minds. Make no mistake, chances are the first few times you try to meditate will seem virtually impossible, frustrating, and even painful. No worries though, this is perfectly natural.

Below you will find some of my personal advice if you’re curious about giving meditation a try… Come on in, the water’s nice!

START SMALL AND EASE INTO IT

• Try to meditate for only 4-5 minutes at first.
• Add one minute every 1-2 days until you can meditate at least 15-20 minutes.
• The more you practice, the easier and more enjoyable it becomes. Give it a little time and persist.

DON’T “DO” ANYTHING

• Meditation isn’t something you actually do or accomplish, it’s the state of non-doing (our natural state).
• Don’t try to get it right, or have any expectations. What happens during your session – sleep, mind wandering, insight, deep relaxation, etc. – is exactly what was supposed to happen. Just allow and let go.
• When thoughts enter your mind, be mindful of them and acknowledge they’re there. Then, gently return your awareness to your breath or mantra.

IT’S ALL ABOUT ROUTINE

• Build it into your schedule so that it’s automatic (like brushing your teeth, showering, etc.).
• Think of it as daily physical, mental, and spiritual nourishment—make it a MUST!

My challenge to you is the same one Dr. Mann (UofM Professor) gave me:

1. Experiment with a few different kinds of meditation (TM, mindfulness, guided, music, etc.)
2. Choose one or more practices that you would like to explore further.
3. Journal your experiences over a period of two weeks (3-4 sentences).
4. Craft your own customized meditation practice.

Enjoy the gift of meditating. Namaste.

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About Author

Chris Willitts is the founder of Mindful Muscle and a prominent advocate of mindful practices. He believes that meditation is one of the most beneficial things you can do for your overall state of well-being.

Chris is a new media entrepreneur, freelance web designer, and contributing writer for health & fitness at Ann Arbor.com (local news outlet). You could also say Chris is a “professional student” as his formal education is still being acquired from the University of Michigan with concentrations in psychology, creativity and consciousness studies, Asian studies (cultural), and business.

Be sure to check out Mindful Muscle’s philosophy about mindfulness and self-cultivation www.mindfulmuscle.com

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Push-ups, crunches, gyms, personal trainers — people have many strategies for building bigger muscles and stronger bones.

But what can one do to build a bigger brain?

That’s the finding from a group of researchers at UCLA who used high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to scan the brains of people who meditate. In a study published in the journal NeuroImage and currently available online (by subscription), the researchers report that certain regions in the brains of long-term meditators were larger than in a similar control group.

Specifically, meditators showed significantly larger volumes of the hippocampus and areas within the orbito-frontal cortex, the thalamus and the inferior temporal gyrus — all regions known for regulating emotions.

“We know that people who consistently meditate have a singular ability to cultivate positive emotions, retain emotional stability and engage in mindful behavior,” said Eileen Luders, lead author and a postdoctoral research fellow at the UCLA Laboratory of Neuro Imaging. “The observed differences in brain anatomy might give us a clue why meditators have these exceptional abilities.”

Research has confirmed the beneficial aspects of meditation. In addition to having better focus and control over their emotions, many people who meditate regularly have reduced levels of stress and bolstered immune systems. But less is known about the link between meditation and brain structure.

In the study, Luders and her colleagues examined 44 people — 22 control subjects and 22 who had practiced various forms of meditation, including Zazen, Samatha and Vipassana, among others. The amount of time they had practiced ranged from five to 46 years, with an average of 24 years.

More than half of all the meditators said that deep concentration was an essential part of their practice, and most meditated between 10 and 90 minutes every day.

The researchers used a high-resolution, three-dimensional form of MRI and two different approaches to measure differences in brain structure. One approach automatically divides the brain into several regions of interest, allowing researchers to compare the size of certain brain structures.

The other segments the brain into different tissue types, allowing researchers to compare the amount of gray matter within specific regions of the brain.

The researchers found significantly larger cerebral measurements in meditators compared with controls, including larger volumes of the right hippocampus and increased gray matter in the right orbito-frontal cortex, the right thalamus and the left inferior temporal lobe. There were no regions where controls had significantly larger volumes or more gray matter than meditators.

Because these areas of the brain are closely linked to emotion, Luders said, “these might be the neuronal underpinnings that give meditators’ the outstanding ability to regulate their emotions and allow for well-adjusted responses to whatever life throws their way.”

What’s not known, she said, and will require further study, are what the specific correlates are on a microscopic level — that is, whether it’s an increased number of neurons, the larger size of the neurons or a particular “wiring” pattern meditators may develop that other people don’t.

Because this was not a longitudinal study — which would have tracked meditators from the time they began meditating onward — it’s possible that the meditators already had more regional gray matter and volume in specific areas; that may have attracted them to meditation in the first place, Luders said.

However, she also noted that numerous previous studies have pointed to the brain’s remarkable plasticity and how environmental enrichment has been shown to change brain structure.

ZEN QUESTION & RESPONSE:

The students of Tibetan Buddhist Kalu Rimpoche and Providence Zen Center founder Seung Sahn arranged for them to meet and engage in dialogue. When Seung Sahn arrived, he picked up an orange, held it in front of Kalu Rimpoche, and asked: “What is this?”  The students awaited an insightful reply, illuminating the nature of reality, but Kalu Rimpoche looked stumped.  Seung Sahn repeated his question with greater emphasis but Kalu Rimpoche had no answer.  Seung Sahn put forth the question a third time.  Finally Kalu Rimpoche responded, “It seems that Seung Sahn has never seen an orange before.”

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About the Author

Ken Pope, a licensed psychologist, received graduate degrees from Harvard and Yale. A diplomate in clinical psychology, he has authored or co-authored over 100 articles and chapters in peer-reviewed scientific and professional journals and books. He is a charter fellow of the American Psychological Society (APS) and was a fellow of American Psychological Association Divisions 1, 2, 12, 29, 35, 41, 42, 44, and 51 prior to leaving APA.

21 Logical Fallacies in Psychology:
http://kspope.com/fallacies/fallacies.php

Other authors of the study included Arthur Toga, director of UCLA Laboratory of Neuro Imaging; Natasha Lepore of UCLA; and Christian Gaser of the University of Jena in Germany.

Funding for the study was provided by the National Institutes of Health.

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Throughout its long history, coffee has endured both accolades and opposition.

Some governments have subsidized coffee crops; others have imposed steep taxes and duties on them. Doctors vali­date coffee’s health benefits yet worry about its contribution to cardiovascu­lar disease, diabetes, and even cancer.

Coffee is more popular than ever, which contributes to its contradictory status. In moderation, coffee poses minimal health risks for most people. In some cases, coffee even appears to be protective. But many North Ameri­cans now consume coffee in large quantities, which can significantly damage our neuroendocrineimmune system over the long term.

Neuro-What?

The neuroendocrineimmune system consists of the processes and structures that form our central nervous systems, our hormonal systems, and our immune systems, all of which are linked in complex relationships.

For example, many of us know that when we are stressed, we get sick more easily. Emotional and mental demands, especially if prolonged, cause our stress hormones to increase, which means our immune systems don’t work as well.

The complicated interplay of our neuroendocrineimmune systems suggests that there is no clear division between mind and body. What we think and experience is as much “us” as what our body does.

How Do We Know What We Know?

It’s hard to get a clear picture of coffee’s health effects. Epidemiological studies, which try to find relationships between multiple lifestyle factors, can be hard to interpret.

For one thing, coffee drinking is correlated with other dietary and lifestyle behaviours such as alcohol and nicotine consumption and a sedentary lifestyle. In other words, people who drink a lot of coffee also tend to drink and smoke, and be out of shape. On the other hand, people who avoid coffee often do so for health-related reasons. They’re also more likely to be health-conscious in other ways, making health-promoting lifestyle choices such as exercise. Comparing coffee drinkers with non-coffee drinkers thus misses a number of important variables.

Second, there are vast differences in coffee’s pharmacological constituents depending on the type of bean used in the study, the methods of roasting, and the varying ways of preparing coffee, not to mention the differences between commercially available instant coffee versus freshly roasted organic coffee.

There are also differences in individual sensitivity to caffeine, likely due to the genetic traits related to caffeine metabolism (see “Coded for Caffeine”, in the Spezzatino Coffee issue), as well as lifestyle influences. For example, the half-life of caffeine is shorter in smokers than non-smokers, while the half-life of caffeine is doubled in women taking oral contraceptives.

Finally, most research studies observe and measure the effects of a single dose of caffeine rather than the effects of chronic ingestion. Yet most coffee drinkers drink coffee daily.

As a number of studies have shown, single-dose experiments don’t necessarily reflect the effects of our regular routines. For example, researchers have shown that we can build tolerance to the cardiovascular effects of caffeine within two to three days. Therefore, research studies that show a given effect on the body from an acute single dose bear little relevance to the chronic ingestion of caffeine.

In my naturopathic practice, I use evidence from epidemiological and experimental studies. But I also draw on experience and a systematic understanding of how our nervous, endocrine, and immune systems interact in order to make educated guesses about coffee’s potential effects on my patients.

Caffeine and Your Brain

Caffeine is one of coffee’s primary constituents with psychoactive activities. It’s part of a group of substances collectively referred to as methylxanthines. These alkaloids are well known for their ability to increase cognitive abilities, improve energy, enhance well-being, and increase arousal and alertness.

As mentioned elsewhere in the Spezzatino Coffee issue (see “Lab to Lunch”), these effects occur largely because of caffeine’s ability to block adenosine receptor sites throughout the body. However, there are other neurochemical effects that are worth noting.

Once again, studies demonstrating the effects of caffeine on neurotransmitters (chemicals that allow the cells of our nervous system to communicate) don’t always give us a realistic picture.

First, the dose used in neurochemical studies generally exceeds quantities ingested during normal everyday life. When animals are used, they are non-coffee drinkers. (It’s hard to make mugs that small, and without opposable thumbs… well, let’s just say there’ve been some unfortunate spills of hot liquid. Luckily, no legal cases against McDonalds are pending.) Therefore, researchers use a single dose of caffeine, which may not reflect the neurochemical effects of chronic consumption of caffeine.

Second, neurotransmitters are produced in different amounts in different areas of the brain simultaneously, and have very different effects on mood and personality depending on where in the brain they’re used. Quick overview: serotonin is involved in mood and appetite regulation; gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) typically inhibits neuronal activity to cause relaxation and sleep; and acetylcholine is involved in muscle contraction.

Chronic caffeine intake has been shown to increase the receptors of serotonin (26-30% increase), GABA (65% increase), and acetylcholine (40-50%). This may contribute to the elevated mood and perceived increase in energy we feel after a coffee (which makes espresso a handy pre-workout drink). Despite increasing receptors, caffeine also inhibits the release of GABA, which contributes to our feeling of alertness.

Chronic caffeine intake also increases the sensitivity of serotonin receptors. In other words, receptors specific to serotonin are more responsive to serotonin present in the synaptic cleft — it’s sort of like installing a bigger satellite dish to catch more of an existing signal. One study showed a decrease in serotonin release, but an increase in serotonin reuptake, leading to an overall increase in serotonin levels. (Think of it as the brain’s natural recycling.)

In the human body, when neurotransmitter receptors increase in number, or if they increase their sensitivity, it generally suggests a reduction in functional capacity and activity of neurons associated with those receptors. Either the brain needs more chemicals to do the job, or the neurons involved aren’t working as hard. This might mean that a certain neurotransmitter is in short supply, or that its activity needs to increase. In the case of caffeine and serotonin, this can partly explain the mood-enhancing effects of drinking coffee.

Caffeine has also been shown to increase serotonin levels in the limbic system, a relatively primitive part of our brain involved in regulating basic functions such as hormonal secretions, emotional responses, mood regulation and pain/pleasure sensations. This has a similar mode of action as some antidepressant medications.

The increase in serotonin levels, combined with the increase in serotonin receptors, cause the characteristic withdrawal symptoms (such as agitation and irritability) when coffee intake is stopped. The brain has come to expect more action in its serotonin receptors, and when its abundant supply of happy chemicals is abruptly cut off, it gets crabby.

Indirectly, chronic caffeine intake may impact neurochemistry by reducing cofactors – chemical partners – necessary for neurotransmitter synthesis. For example, coffee inhibits the absorption of iron, a key mineral involved with the synthesis of serotonin and dopamine. Additionally, we need the activated form of vitamin B6, pyridoxal-5-phosphate, to synthesize serotonin, dopamine and GABA. Coffee consumption can decrease amounts of circulating B-vitamins, which could affect neurotransmitter synthesis in another way.

Thus, caffeine impacts whether certain chemicals are available; how receptive our brains are to them; and whether we’re even making those chemicals in the first place.

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Free Stuff – Roast Your Own Coffee Beans

Brought to you by the creators of Precision Nutrition, Spezzatino Magazine is an encyclopedia of food, with each issue focusing on a single food such as: basil, grapes, wild game, tomatoes, fish, coffee, chocolate, and more.

In volume 8, our biggest and best issue yet, we focus on coffee. (And this article comes directly from the magazine.)

Because you’re a Mindful Muscle reader, we’d like to share with you some additional goodies, including another article on how to roast your own coffee at home, which may be healthier than drinking the commercial varieties.  So click the link above, check out volume 8, and get your free stuff.

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Caffeine and Your Hormones

Both scientists and lay people know the effects of caffeine consumption on hormones relatively well. For example, quickly perusing the internet brings up numerous sites claiming that caffeine “wears out the adrenal glands”. But not surprisingly, this may not be entirely accurate. While we know many things about the impact caffeine has on human’s stress physiology, certain mechanisms of how it occurs are still relatively mysterious.

Caffeine strongly affects the activity of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis: the linked system of hypothalamus and pituitary glands in the brain, and the adrenal glands that sit atop the kidneys. The HPA axis influences the body’s ability to manage and deal with stress, both at rest and during activity.

The adrenal glands secrete two key hormones: epinephrine and cortisol. Epinephrine, or adrenaline, increases respiration rate, heart rate and blood pressure; while cortisol frees up stored glucose, which we need in greater amounts during times of perceived stress.

As you can imagine, for our early hominid ancestors, the ability to quickly access and use stored energy was a helpful feature. However, while this is an excellent acute response to an immediate stress (such as being chased by a bear), it’s a damaging response when the stress is chronic (such as the cumulative demands of our daily modern lives).

Studies in humans have shown that caffeine increases cortisol and epinephrine at rest, and that levels of cortisol after caffeine consumption are similar to those experienced during an acute stress. Drinking coffee, in other words, re-creates stress conditions for the body. While scientists have some ideas about how caffeine increases HPA hormones, the exact mechanism still remains unclear.

Compounding the problem, people tend to consume more caffeine during stressful periods (as nearly every student during exam season knows well). They add stress to stress, potentially making things even worse. Rat studies have shown that caffeine consumption during chronic stress increased cortisol, blood pressure, and other negative hormonal events. Chronically stressed rats who consumed caffeine ended up sicker, and died sooner, than rats experiencing chronic stress without caffeine consumption.

However, again, chronic caffeine consumption leads to a degree of physiological tolerance and thus among people who drink coffee regularly, blood pressure, heart rate, excessive urination, epinephrine production, and even anxiety and stimulation may not be as strongly affected.

Other hormonal effects of caffeine appear to be related to competitive actions for metabolism in the liver. Like a gridlocked city, the liver only has so many “roads”, or metabolic pathways, available. More “cars” (i.e. chemicals) on the “roads” slow things down.

For instance, the liver detoxifies caffeine using the CYP1A2 enzyme system, which is also responsible for initial metabolism of estrogen during Phase I clearance by the liver. This is one reason caffeine is likely metabolized more slowly in women taking oral contraceptives or postmenopausal hormone replacement therapy.

While research showing the effects of chronic caffeine consumption on circulating levels of estrogen isn’t yet available, researchers have suggested that caffeine consumption may lower the risk of breast cancer by upregulating the CYP1A2 isoenzyme and thus improving estrogen metabolism.

Caffeine and Your Immune System

The immune system is a vast and complex system that communicates extensively with itself and connects to every other system of the body.

For simplicity’s sake, we’ll separate the immune system into two sections: the Th1 side (T-cell mediated system) and the Th2 side (B-cell mediated antibody system). The Th1 side is our innate immune system – the system that develops early in life – and is our first line of defense against pathogens such as viruses and bacteria.

On the other hand, the Th2 system is acquired: as we are exposed to pathogens throughout our lives, we produce antibodies to them. Antibodies recognize foreign invaders if exposed to them repeatedly, and will launch a stronger and swifter attack if a second invasion takes place. Because of this system, someone will experience a reaction to poison ivy only after their second exposure.

The two sides of this system act as a teeter totter: when one side is dominant, the other side is suppressed. Research suggests that chronic caffeine exposure shifts the immune system to a Th2 dominance. This may help the treatment of Th1 dominant autoimmune conditions, but in the average person, it may elevate the Th2 system excessively, creating an overzealous Th2 immune response. A dominant Th2 system predisposes individuals to hypersensitivity reactions such as asthma and allergies. To date, there have not been any correlations between chronic caffeine consumption and increased prevalence of Th2 associated conditions, but based on existing knowledge of caffeine and the immune system, the link seems plausible.

In my clinical naturopathic practice, we have seen certain autoimmune conditions improve with caffeine consumption, while others get worse. If someone with rheumatoid arthritis (an autoimmune condition that causes joint pain and inflammation) says they get significantly more joint pain when they drink coffee, one could hypothesize that their Th2 system is dominant, and the caffeine is promoting destruction of their joints by further stimulating this already overzealous Th2 system.

Putting It All Together

No known studies demonstrate statistically significant correlations between coffee over-consumption and the unwinding of the neuroendocrineimmune system. We just don’t know for sure yet how all the puzzle pieces fit together.

However, certain theoretical pathways can be created, and have been observed clinically. We can also make some informed speculation based on what we already know of the neuroendocrineimmune system’s interrelationships.

Effects on the Metabolism

Chronic coffee consumption increases insulin resistance, a situation in which the body cannot effectively deliver glucose into the cells of the body. In this situation, insulin, which helps transport glucose into the cells, cannot do its job well because the body’s cells are less receptive. This typically occurs with a diet high in refined sugars and starches. Thus, the body must release ever-larger amounts of insulin to do the job. Like parents tuning out their screaming toddler, the body becomes less and less sensitive to insulin’s effects, which means more circulating glucose, which means more insulin release… and so on.

It’s a vicious cycle. And, unfortunately, it’s a cycle that currently occurs in the majority of North Americans. Combine the standard Western diet high in refined carbohydrates with stress and a high caffeine intake, and you have a potential recipe for metabolic disaster.

Insulin stimulates the release of interleukin-6 (IL-6), which is a Th2 cytokine (a cell signaling molecule). If IL-6 is chronically elevated (in this case, from high insulin levels), it may lead to a Th2 dominance and potential hypersensitivity from an overzealous antibody response. This can result in acquired sensitivities to foods and chemicals.

Interleukin-6 also stimulates the release of cortisol, which, as a glucocorticoid hormone, increases the body’s glucose level. This leads to an increased demand for insulin, which is problematic because of the insulin resistance that started the cascade in the first place.

Let’s recap: a diet high in refined sugars and starches leads to more circulating glucose. More glucose means more insulin needed to dispose of it. More insulin means cells tune out, which means even more insulin dumped into the bloodstream (especially if people continue to eat this high-carbohydrate diet). More insulin means insulin resistance — possibly aggravated by high caffeine consumption. More insulin means more IL-6 and more inflammation and hypersensitivity. More IL-6 means more cortisol, which means more glucose… and here we are, back at the beginning of a very nasty cycle.

Consider this as you cradle your extra-large coffee and glazed donut this morning during your white-knuckle commute to work.

Effects on Brain Function and Mood

The elevated blood sugar and insulin don’t just stop at inflammation. They can create imbalances in the neurotransmitters serotonin, dopamine and GABA, which can lead to sub-clinical mood problems such as mild depression (aka “the blues”), low motivation, irritability, and impaired cognition. People with chronically high glucose, insulin resistance, systemic inflammation, and stress typically have “fuzzy brain”, memory loss, lethargy, and/or a short fuse.

Coupled with the potential iron and B-vitamin deficiencies created by coffee, which, again, cause impaired synthesis of key neurotransmitters, this may result in mood states where people feel the need for coffee to keep themselves functioning properly. Have you ever felt that you desperately needed coffee for a pick-me-up? Do you tell people, “I’m a grouch until I get my coffee?” If so, you may be experiencing this situation.

Caffeine in moderation is likely not an issue for most people. Indeed, it may actually have health benefits. (See the article on traditional Chinese medicine and coffee, in the Spezzatino Coffee issue) Problems occur when we drink coffee all day long and combine it with sedentary lifestyles, poor diets, and chronically elevated stress.

We drink much more caffeine than our great-grandparents did. Not only has our coffee consumption increased, but the market is saturated (pardon the pun) with other sources of caffeine. There is much more refined sugar available to us, and our lives move at a much faster pace. The industry standard size for a cup of coffee is six ounces. If you’re North American and under 40, I bet you don’t even own a six-ounce glass of anything – never mind finding a cup that size at the local coffee shop!

It’s the perfect storm: caffeine, stress, sugar, and sedentary living. This combination and its complex relationships with your neuroendocrineimmune system may be affecting you more than you realize.

Systems in our body are closely interconnected. Stimulation of one area can have far-reaching effects, especially if the stimulation is dramatic and/or prolonged. Large amounts of caffeine likely have numerous negative impacts on the body that research has not yet elucidated, but if we piece the available studies together, such impacts appear to be very real possibilities.

Follow the evidence that your body offers you. Pay attention to how you feel when you drink coffee. Do you feel good for a short period, then shaky and irritable? Do you notice more pain or other kinds of physical distress? If you’re experiencing any of the symptoms I’ve mentioned above, ranging from anxiety to inflammation, consider bringing a little decaf into your life.

To get your nutrition program straight, click here…

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About Author

Dr. Bryan P. Walsh is a Precision Nutrition advisor. PN consists of some of the top experts in the fields of health, fitness, and human performance. They provide books, videos, nutrition and lifestyle courses, coaching services, and online support community.

Dr. Walsh graduated from the University of Bridgeport College of Naturopathic Medicine. He combines a passion for nutritional biochemistry and science-based therapies, yet maintains a broad view of wellness, believing in the infinite capacity for the body to heal itself given the appropriate conditions and environment.

To check out his web site, visit www.drbryanpwalsh.com

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Mindfulness meditation is not yet hailed as a creditable therapeutic technique, although it is currently tested by many therapists as a beneficial practice for everything from depression to chronic pain. And while all sorts of different psychologists are experimenting with it, they know that without more evidence of benefits, mindfulness meditation will be discarded like so many other holistic techniques often have been in the past. To be certain mindfulness meditation retains credibility, psychologists are making sure that all tests and experiments keep up, if not ahead, of any hype that may develop from whatever success stories it produces.

I’ve come across some variations for the definition of mindfulness meditation, but the gist is the allowance of emotions to come and go while meditating. It is the practice of being in the moment, without getting lost in one moment, or one emotion. Attention is kept on the breath and, as usual, if attention wanders, is to be brought back. Instead of wallowing in bad emotions, one is to acknowledge them, and then let it go, and bring awareness back to breathing. Courtesy of a guy called Buddha, and thousands of years and followers, we already know meditation has its benefits. So what’s with the sudden interest in mindfulness meditation in particular?

It seems some therapists are excited about what’s been happening for their patients who practice it. They see it as a new tool for helping patients, one that doesn’t involve trying to change your thought process, or push bad emotions away, but instead allowing yourself to feel any and all emotions in an accepting mindset. These people found that mindfulness meditation allowed them to let go of worries and stress not only during the meditation, but also throughout the day.

As far as statistics go, one study showed that after weeks of mindfulness meditation, suicidal tendencies¹ in patients decreased drastically. Another study showed that patients with chronic pain² found the meditation technique helpful in dealing with the pain.

Jon Kabat-Zinn is one of the figureheads of mindfulness mediation, having created the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction, a practice that has helped people cope with a variety of problems like stress, anxiety, and depression. The MBSR was developed over ten years, and Kabat-Zinn has written dozens of articles and books on mindfulness meditation and his studies.

And while it’s good to have evidence to back up these claims of reduced stress and less pain in patients, skepticism is always around the corner. Some of Kabat-Zinn’s research was funded by the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, an organization that has drawn criticism for lack of concrete evidence of any of its research, either for or against alternative medicine. There are people who feel this organization is a waste of money and resources because it hasn’t proven anything in any holistic field.

I don’t necessarily think it’s a waste of money—my own opinion is that alternative medicines often are only as effective as the mindset of the patient trying it. Like hypnosis—if you’re skeptical or cynical, then you’ve already shot it down. And there are always going to be skeptics. Mind over matter can be critical; unless a patient is willing and open for the experience, inconclusive results in any holistic field are to be expected.

But with so many good vibes out there about mindfulness meditation itself, it seems a shot worth taking, either in conjunction with another form of therapy or on its own. I know how hard it is to try and completely ignore some emotions, and a meditation that encourages it instead of attempting to banish, is a meditation worth trying.

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About Author

Maura Stackpoole is an advocate for yoga and other mindful practices, and is a graduate from Michigan State University. She is also the editor and publicist for Mindful Muscle (http://www.mindfulmuscle.com).

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References

[1] Williams, J.M.G., Duggan, D.S., Crane, C., and Fennell, M.J.V. (2006). “Mindfulnessness-Based cognitive therapy for prevention of recurrence of suicidal behavior”, J Clin Psychol 62:201-210.

[2] McCracken, L., Gauntlett-Gilbert, J., and Vowles K.E. (2007). “The role of mindfulnessness in a contextual cognitive-behavioral analysis of chronic pain-related suffering and disability”, Pain 131.1:63-69.

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In the foreword to The Essential Kabbalah: The Heart of Jewish Mysticism, Daniel C. Matt, one of the world’s leading Kabbalah scholars, and the author of a multi-volume English translation of The Zohar, the summa mystica of this ancient tradition, states: “Kabbalah, the Jewish mystical tradition, is precious and well hidden. Its symbolism, and multiple layers of meaning have attracted and confounded readers for centuries. Having studied Kabbalah for some twenty-five years, my attraction has not abated, my confoundedness has not been eliminated, but seasoned with wonder.”

What is Kabbalah, and what makes it so mysterious to the uninitiated, and constantly endearing to those who delve into its secrets for years?

In Hebrew, “kabbalah” means several things: “tradition” or “receiving” or “that which has been received,” and also “reception” as in the welcoming sign that greets the tourist arriving in Israel when entering hotels. The spiritual seeker will likely ignore this mundane meaning of the word, and train his eager thoughts instead on the mystical sites of the country where the sages of this tradition are buried, and where thousands of contemporary students of Kabbalah pilgrim yearly. For it is in the north of the country where two important mystical foci are located: Tzvat, one of the four holy cities of Israel most closely associated with Kabbalah, and Meron, the burial site of Shimon bar Yochai, the alleged author of the Zohar, attract tens of thousands of local and international spiritual seekers, making Israel one of the world’s top mystical destination.

Such a large following means one thing: the study and practice of Kabbalah are no longer restricted to the land that endangered it as a tradition. Presently, major American universities offer courses in Jewish mysticism, classes ranging from beginner’s level to advanced study of the original works in Aramaic and Biblical Hebrew open to students from various backgrounds and faiths. Similarly, European universities have recently expanded their curriculum to include such topics, and several advanced programs are being offered in highly respected programs throughout the world. Moreover, the Kabbalah Center in Los Angeles, and its national and international satellites are offering a plethora of lectures and programs, both on location and through its online Kabbalah University programs.

So, what did/does it mean to be a student of this ancient mystical system originating millennia ago in Israel and making headlines today as the spiritual practice of choice for major entertainment and business household names?

In the past, the study of the literary and mystical corpora that made the body of the Kabbalist teachings was restricted to married male Jews, over forty, with children and a considerable familiarity with the mitzvoth (rules/commandments) of the Jewish faith, as well as with the Torah (basically the first five books from the Old Testament), and the Talmud (a central text of mainstream Judaism, in the form of a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, customs and history). This esoteric knowledge, delivered in highly metaphorical language, and explaining complex cosmological and psychological concepts in equally categorical terms was believed to be dangerous for the uninitiated, who could fail to rise to the high state of consciousness necessary to “receive” these teachings and greatly misinterpret and misconstrue them. However, when the most advanced Kabbalist teachings made their way into the hands of learned men like Isaac Newton, and Albert Einstein among many others, they allegedly helped push the boundaries of scientific inquiry and participated in the production of some of the world’s most revolutionary theories, including the laws of motion and gravitation, relativity laws, the zero point energy concept, and the wave-particle duality concept of energy. It is no surprise then that the recent import of the last two theories in particular prompted renewed interest in Kabbalist studies for scientists, mystics, and laymen alike.

For the latter, the most inclusive source of learning is the Kabbalah Center in Los Angeles. This school emphasizes the practical aspects and rewards of the Kabbalah system, which it highlights in courses and lectures open to all peoples, regardless of gender, age, marital status, or ethnic origin. Bilingual study guides, graduated courses, and lectures are available at the several national and international sites of the center, and on line through the Kabbalah University (www.ukabbalah.com). As with any other school of thought and practice, individual results are contiguous with personal effort and persistence, which are greatly encouraged by the readily available personal teachers of the center.

One of the most commonly recognized symbols of this practice is the red string worn on the left wrist. The applied Kabbalah student is wearing the red string around the left wrist for several reasons: because the left hand, arm and side of the body are most receptive to outside influences, to prevent his/her reactive judgments towards others, and to protect against any such towards himself/herself. Every morning and as many times throughout the day as possible, the student will tap into higher levels of consciousness by restricting immediate reactions and observing the Kabablistic precept of “cause and effect”: there is a cause for all effects/results in our life. Just because we cannot see, or failed to see this cause/causal seed does not mean that no such thing existed/exists beyond our realm of perception.

By way of explanation, imagine yourself in South America, felicitously (and safely) placed above the breathtaking canopy of the Amazonian forest. From your vantage point, you can see, in the heavy mist imbued with heady fragrance and myriad sounds, the tips of many branches and can guess from a distance, and witness the muffled undergoings of the life show below. As the sun rises and the mist evaporates, your eyes follow down those branch tips to the thicker arms of a majestic tree, and you realize that those spearing tips that in the veiled morn seemed to be far away and independent from each other, are actually part of the same arboreal system, with sturdy roots firmly planted in the ground. So, “somewhere in time,” a seed fulfilled its mission and produced the splendor now enchanting your eye. Moreover, the interconnectedness of something that appears to be separate and unrelated, i.e., the branch tips, are visible as intricate parts of the same unit, the tree, and everything that surrounds it.

As a Kabbalist you take this same concept of causality and effect and apply it to your every action, i.e.: plant some “good seeds.” So, how does this spiritual/horticultural activity manifest in our 21^st century daily lives?

The serious Kabbalist starts his day by reciting the Ana Bechoah, or the “prayer of the Kabbalist” (see diagram below). In itself, the prayer is a compilation of the “42 names of God” or letters believed to help human consciousness tune in with the pure energy of cosmic consciousness.

Line by line, consciousness is up-tuned to higher levels of understanding and appropriation: each line corresponds to various energy levels present in the body, and the manifestations/corrections they produce roughly mirror those resulting from uptuning the chakras in the Hindu and Buddhist spiritual practices. Here, the work is done at the sefirot level, i.e., the Kabbalist centers of energy placed as follows (diagram below):

Through daily, continuous practice, the student gradually brings his/her consciousness to ever-higher levels of functioning and balance. S/he then walks into the mundane carrying this knowledge and brings mindfulness into everything s/he does, says, or believes, as the individual self has been attuned to the perfect consciousness of the universe. Paramount is the idea that as earthlings, we are all, by cosmic design, drawn to finding answers to our existence, but that we are doing so, in different ways. Kabbalists and others pursuing spiritual enlightenment can help speed up this process by focusing on the bettering of the self and being mindful at all things and actions, at all times.

One way of maintaining this high level of consciousness is to always revisit the concept of “the big picture,” in our case, that epiphany moment above the Amazon forest. All is connected, everything that surrounds us is the manifested effect of a causal action we (all) did in the past. A seed, literal or metaphoric might rest comfortably on a shelf for years. With the right consciousness, in the right conditions, with proper care in the right soil, might create a fruitful tree with myriad other seeds, which through sharing, will feed, shelter, shade and multiply myriad times over, ad infinitum. All of this, from the same seed that could have lazed forever in dark shadows… The concept of the seed, is of course, in other forms, present in all spiritual traditions, most famously, as Jesus’ “parable of the talents” or in more contemporary takes, for those of us into Science Fiction, in Octavia Butler’s phenomenal “Parable of the Sower” novel.

Ultimately, what Kabbalah could provide for the avid seeker of spirituality is of course, subjective and proportional with the time invested in study and practice.

Personally, I cannot praise it enough!

Back in 2004, Anton Shamas, one of my professors at the time suggested that:

“I am a Kabbalist who doesn’t know it yet” and with this incendiary statement sent me “go and read!” So, I did: Barry W. Holtz’s Back to the Sources, Editor Lawrence Fine’s Essentials Papers on Kabbalah, Moshe Idel’s Absorbing Perfection: Kabbalah and Interpretation, Daniel Matt’s Zohar, the Bergs’ extensive collections on the applicability of Kabbalah to daily life, etc. I also took several amazing courses on Jewish Mysticism at University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, taught by professor Eliot Ginsburg (many other universities offer such courses these days). I wanted to learn Aramaic and Biblical Hebrew, so in the summer of 2006 went to Israel and did so…joined the Kabbalah Center (www.kabbalah.com) same year and been studying ever since, happily living a “fruit-full” Kabbalist life.

Here is to you, those who wonder about Kabbalah, and all of us who search: to being kind to others, to learning endlessly, to living life in Light, let’s go and read…

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About Author

Corina Kesler is currently pursuing a Phd in Comparative Literature at University of Michigan (since 2003). Her present utopian interests have been shaped by her growing up in a communist country self-declared “utopian,” and from spending extended time in a Romanian Orthodox monastery.

Her dissertation project’s premise is that the utopian impulse has disguised itself in late forming nations of the world and that in these cases, the utopian impulse took mystical, mythological and temporal form much more often than in the case of the canonical tradition that favors rational constructs, dialectical approaches and spatial forms. To test her hypothesis Corina has read extensively on various utopian traditions, participated actively in national and international utopian conferences, visited and volunteered at several international utopian projects in England, Romania and Israel.

www.corinakesler.com

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