Mindmasterclass dot Com: Health and Medical Blog

For women starting a small business — especially women who have a zillion other things to do like tend to children and home and partner — how you map your time is going to mean the difference between sanity and serenity or guilt and go nuts.

I feel like a phony as I write this. After all, I am no one to talk about time mapping or management as I still am in “respond to crises as they come” mode.

However, I have recently been introduced to Julie Morgenstern’s Time Management from the Inside Out, second edition: The Foolproof System for Taking Control of Your Schedule–and Your Life. What I’ve gotten from this book is a new system and approach to time.

First of all, time is not to be “managed” nor “saved” nor even “spent.” Time just is. And it is our experience of it that creates problems! So I have adopted Julie’s time mapping concept and now have a general map of the day/week on the wall behind my desk. At any given time I can look up at the current time slot to see what kinds of activities I said I should be doing at this time. If it’s 7:45 a.m., for example, I’m going to be having family time with my 3-1/2 year old son, my 9-month old and my husband.

At around 9:30 a.m. my work hours begin. I will work consistently until it is again family time around 12:30. My son and I will enjoy lunch together and perhaps read a book and snuggle in for an afternoon nap.

Mind you, I cannot always abide by the map I’ve created for myself. It is evolving, a work-in-progress. But what I see as possible with this new approach to my business/personal life, is that while I’m with my children, I’m not feeling resentful or anxious that I haven’t gotten to my work. And while I’m doing my work, I’m not feeling guilty or frustrated that I can’t spend time with my children.

This alone is the first major breakthrough I’m experiencing because I had gotten to a point where my day was pretty much joyless because of all the angst. Now I know there is a time allotted for each activity and I can take a stand for each.

I can also see clearly where I have given minimal amount of time for myself — allowing myself some leisure, reading a book, taking a nap, watching Dr. Phil or getting a pedicure. Whatever it is. While I’ve built a sliver of self time into my week, I can now see — visually — where there could be more.

FYI, I used a simple Excel spreadsheet to create this map. I used color formatting for the different cells to code the activities.

This week I’m also having a breakthrough in fun and leisure. I’m taking off one day to take my son to Sesame Place. I have — unbelievably — absolutely no guilt or anxiety over the fact that I won’t be getting any work done that day. Pretty unbelievable. I give credit to my time map as I can see where there is plenty of work time scheduled in this week and I will get to it.

I’m also thinking in terms of “dancing close to the revenue line,” another concept Morgenstern discusses in her book Never Check E-Mail In the Morning: And Other Unexpected Strategies for Making Your Work Life Work. Many successful entrepreneurs talk about this idea of putting your money-making activities first.

We are all so prone to getting into our email and the daily minutiae and wrapping up of loose ends, the real “meat” of our business often gets squeezed into the next time slot, and the next and the next.

Julie talks about doing the top revenue-boosting thing before 10 a.m. in the morning. That way, if your whole day goes to pot, you will be sustained by that productive and effective spurt you had first thing in the morning.

And after all, the reason we’re in business for ourselves is to enjoy our lives and experience freedom on a daily basis. Now then, I’m off to enjoy my life!



By: Kennerly Clay

About the Author:

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1. Continue efforts in case of failures till you get success.

(a.) Ant and its philosophy:

(i) Whatever obstacles are placed in front of ant, either it goes around under it or above it.

(ii) Ant never quits and it is focused on its goals.

(iii) When it is summer, it plans for winter i.e. it has tremendous planning ability.

(iv) Commitment to do its best.

(v) Team is together empowering to achieve more.

(vi) Humility is strength not weakness.

(vii) Team and team intelligence.

(viii) Communication chain – move in chain.

2. Failures to be treated as learning experience.

3. (a) O God! Give me the strength to change what I ought to change.

(b) Give me the courage to accept what I can not change.

(c) Give me the serenity to know the difference.

4. There is absolutely no need for an external peaceful atmosphere for one to pray or meditate, it is possible to pray without mantras and shlokas provided one has peace within.

5. Contemplation:

(a) the most intelligent of all is a person who refuses to profit from his miseries.

(b) You can not demystify the mystery of life

(c) Kindly follow the traditions.

(d) I do not dance because I am happy, I am happy because I dance.

(e) Prayer is not to lighten your burden but to strengthen your back

(f) Fear is similar to darkness, absence of love is fear.

(g) Plan for your future, there is no harm in that but your fear about the future would only ruin your happiness.

(h) Life is a series of examinations, we need to pass them with flying colours; this is the gift we can offer to god.

6. Greed is one of the sources of unhappiness. If we allow it to expand unreasonably,

Then joy or peace of mind would be casualty. Happiness and satisfaction are within us. Water poured into a cracked pot will not remain in it; similarly people without contentment can not be happy. Think for a while! Is there any difference between the dog biting the dry bone and those human beings gaining pleasure from cigarettes and alcohol.

7. The joy and happiness are not outside us but within us. Story of a rich man not having peace placed all his wealth at the feet of a yogi. The yogi ran away and the person thought he had been cheated, so he ran behind the yogi and ultimately got hold of him. The yogi returned the wealth. The person was very happy. With the same wealth he was unhappy and now with the same he was happy.

8. The kingdom of Heaven is within you, do not get lost in the trivial aspects of life.

9. Unhappy mind often gives small things a big shadow. Therefore, do not miss seeing the bigger gifts of life.

10. Life is like a lock and understanding is like a key. Let alertness be your inner guide and not tension. Be alert and attentive to what a man is and not to what he has been. If you are tense, you are wrong. If you are joyful, you are right.

11. Knowledge is often a mask we wear to hide our ignorance. Let us open wide the window of wisdom. A house full of fowls and animals was all stinking. The husband complained to the swami. The swami told to open the windows but that will allow pigeons to fly away. So to save the pigeons, we do not open the windows of wisdom and continue to suffer of stinking.

12. Treat each experience as a unique experience. In this wordless experience, you start relaxing. Then you will find your life not being a series of vacuum or emotional dungeons.

13. Do not complain too much. The wheel that squeaks the loudest is the one that gets replaced often. Depression, fear, anger, disgust are generated by our thoughts and the thoughts are where we allow the words to flow freely without moving our lips or tongue thoughts take place. We should not make negative statements such as “It is so boring “, “I’m so tired, “I feel so bad, etc. Buddha went for alms but the house lady rebuked. He did not mind as “he did not accept those words”. Never call yourself a failure.

14. Most of us are lazier in mind than in body.

15. Whenever ugly heads are raised by depression, low self esteem etc. It is a good idea to boost ourselves telling, “I am born to be successful”; “I am a great achiever”. Call “Rama”,”Rama”, when bad thoughts come. Heart attack patient comes to doctor and talks about lottery. He tells the doctor that in case he got a lottery for four laws, he shall give one to him. On hearing this, the doctor got heart attack.

16. A king tells a sage that he had vast wealth and kingdom but still was not happy. The sage told him that “He will be happy when I die”. The king readied himself to kill him. The sage told him “I” does not mean “He”, but “I” means ego i.e. “Iness”. So petty egos hide the vast happiness of heart.

17. Do not be trapped in the tradition of “ego” but purify it. Attitude of egoless ness creates attitude of joy. Executives who are very busy in office are chided by wife for sitting late hours in office. He asks swami the way out. Swami told that one executive came from office early and his wife complained that he was always around. So it is not quantity of time spent with wife but quality. So if you speak for ten minutes with love that should be enough.

18. Ego is edging lead out. A shallow man is one who is full of oneself. Transform ego into prayer.

19. There are two types of boring people – those who talk too much and those who listen too less. “We know every thing “philosophy”. Hawker selling fans for life. Raja asks for one but it got broken in a day. Raja called him but the hawker told that it should have been placed at one place and face moved around it. That way it would have lasted for life

20. We create maps and want people to fit into our maps. We are experts in justifying our follies.

21. God creates opportunities but expects us to search for them.

22. We face problems in life and get disturbed but if we are opportunistic, we should take problems as opportunities. A journalist was sent to cover independence celebrations on a vessel but the journalist returned without any coverage. When other journalist asked why he was not preparing any report, he told that there was some trouble in the ship, so there was no celebration. The other journalist ran to the ship and made out a report after checking out the reason for the trouble and it made a good report.

23. You know the art of destroying. I know the art of joining. Many view even a small matter through a magnifying glass and get terrified. A lady worked up with her son not listening to her and got afraid if she shall marry him with the girl of his choice. The marriage of the son was far away and she had fear of the marriage and not to the listening at that time. Do not consider the problem as punishment; take it as a challenge and you will feel energized. A palace was put for sale and 10% of proceeds were to go for charitable cause. The palace was likely to fetch high value. So the owner was not prepared to give so much for donation. He therefore devised a method. He put the palace and a cat for sale and told that the price of palace was one thousand rupees and that of the cat one million rupees and that the two shall have to be bought together. This way he donated one hundred rupees (10% of the sale price of palace). Therefore prayer is not a demand draft. The divine honors no drafts when there are no deposits. So let there be a

Deposit first and that too of gratitude in your prayer.

24. Anger: There can be so many reasons for getting angry. When we deem ourselves to be inferior. There is a reaction and it shows up as anger. There is neither hell nor heaven. Hell or heaven is states of mind only. Reactive mind is hell and responsive mind is heaven.

25. Marriage is a commitment to change each other’s habit for better living. Mental hospital case where one patient standing upside down had been calling Laila! Laila! A visitor asked him why he had been crying. He was told that he wished to be married with Laila but could not. So he has been crying for her. The visitor then saw another patient too crying Laila! Laila! On asking for reason he was told that he had by force been married with Laila and is not happy with her. So he is crying. The major trouble in married life occurs when couple begins with a firm resolve that they should have no difference of opinion whatsoever. But when differences arise they are not able to compromise due to ego and no compassion.

26. Do not worry about the future. We are manipulative but we ourselves are not aware pf our manipulations. Today is tomorrow of yesterday. One should not worry for the past or the future. Worry about the present only.

27. This moment, this minute is absolute. What is inseparable wealth in our life, the reply is this minute, this moment. Be alive to the present and stay clear. No one can climb a mountain just by gazing at it. One has to act only.

28. Male or female, old or young, there is great power within each one of us. On a son’s birthday in Italy, a football match was arranged. The two teams were fighting for the ball. The son told to give one more ball and each team shall have a ball and no more fighting. Rather than enjoying what one had, he cribs for what he does not have. Humanity’s favorite sport is search for happiness. So search for it wisely. Mullah returns from work. The wife finding a long hair on his coat fights that he had been with a lady. Next day again she finds a white hair and fights that he had been with an old lady. Third day he saw to it that there was no hair. Then the wife fought saying that he had been with a bald lady.

29. Treat problems as challenges and have fun with life. Many people have faith in their doubts and doubt in their faiths. An enlightened man is never confused by what he can not understand but a fool is sure to be. Making SIX from NINE by a single line.

30. Each one has his own perception. Woodcutter’s wife goes across the river to meet a grocer after fighting with her husband. She is eaten by a cheetah. Who is responsible!

31. Most of us constantly think as to what we can get from others and we rarely contemplate what we can give to others. God once came to earth. Everyone begged for one thing or the other. God went inside the mankind as he could not satisfy all. So even God cannot meet everybody’s demands. To know and not act on what you know is equal to not knowing at all. Taking a cup of tea with great sense of prayer and gratitude. Discover the power of gratitude and existence will comfort you. Value the power of gratitude. Let it be your mantra or inner song then you will grow and not just swell.

32. Failure is a fertilizer for success. Learn from failures. Failure in life is one who lives and fails to learn. A shoe company sends a man to find out potential of shoes selling in an African country. He came and said there was no scope as every one lived bare-footed. The owner said there was a great potential as every one walked bare-footed, so all will need shoes. .

33. Contemplation:

(a) Fear not tomorrow, God, the almighty is already there.

(b) Be thankful if your work is little harder than you want as you will get used to harder work. A knife can not be sharpened on a piece of velvet.

(c) Be grateful for what you have and not sad for what you do not have.

(d) Be a possibility thinker.

(e) If you do not plan, you will perish.

“Fresh fish sold here” was a sign board. All our problems are like the signboard of the fisherman. Once we learn to view the problem in right perspective, our problem will disappear. In order to face problems what we need is ‘objective vision’ and in order to see something, we need awareness.

34. Think of doubt as an invitation welcoming you to think. Man loves objects and uses people instead of loving people and using objects.

35. Lord Krishna has expounded in Gita ‘Learn to view equally both sorrow and joy; be open to joy; be open to sorrow. Try to learn from both – clarity will emerge. This clarity will bring you bliss.

36. An untrained mind creates its own problems of unhappiness. Misidentify with an unhappy mind and treasure your experiences. The past should only tutor us and not torture us. Very few people live; most of us are committing suicide by unwisely desiring. Hope for the best and accept the worst. Joy is not the absence of problems. There are certain flowers which will not yield their fragrance until they are crushed.

37. There are joys and distresses in our lives. Remember joys and forget distresses. On a birthday of house lady, everyone gave presents. Her husband gave a beautiful saree. She was very happy. Went to temple, where she got the sari spoiled with lamp oil. She forgot all joys and distressed with sari having been spoiled.

38. Drishti, shrishti and vadaa. Our thoughts affect our body. A man after getting ready went to office. Every one on way and in office asked why he appeared tired. He actually fell sick. We must consider that our happiness is more important than our beliefs.

39. (A) Better be with enlightened people in prison than fools in paradise.

(b) Education means destroying the problematic mind and not stuffing the memory.

(c) Imagination is more important than knowledge.

(d) Imagination, inspiration and commitment to excel is the mother of creativity.

There is a negative belief in us. We have to kill that and try to be positive.

40. (A) Acting on a good idea is better than having a good idea.

(b) The most difficult things to open are a closed mind and heart.

41. People lie down and slumber all the time saying that every thing is so boring. During holidays, students sitting idle at home say it is boring. English, Arab and Indian found a piece of cake. They decided to put it in a container and sleep deciding that whoever gets the best dream could have the cake. Next day Englishman said he saw God, who took him to a garden and showed a lot of wonderful things. Arab said God appeared in his dream too but he took God to his garden and showed him Arabian magic. Indian said God appeared in his dream too. He looked at him and said “You such a fool having cake and still dreaming. First go at once and eat the cake.” So he ate the cake as he could not disobey God. Hearing this, the other two were baffled. They opened the container and found the cake missing. “Whichever activity provides us with great joy, we should never postpone doing it”. Learn to enjoy little things as there are many of them rather than wasting time to have the big things only.

42. For every problem we say Oh! God, “My wife is not good changing her character”. “My children are not O.K. and so on. So we continuously keep nagging God to change others around us but do not change ourselves. Do not postpone being happy. Our prayers are so often mechanical.

43. Life lived happily is the measure of a successful life. Discover the treasure of happiness within. Happiness is the result of not investing in misery.

44. The worst boss anyone can have is a bad habit. Habits are either the best of servants or the worst of masters. Develop a habit of being happy and pure. A rabbit to be delivered to a lady ran away. Rather than catching the rabbit, the servant stood quietly. Other people asked him to catch the rabbit but he said where should the rabbit go, he had the address safe with him. Therefore, do not get satisfaction with address and allow the rabbit to run away. Being foolish is a great punishment. An employee was not well. His colleagues suggested that it was already three o’clock and the manager will not return. He went to his home and saw boss’s car parked outside his home. He stealthily went inside his house and saw the manager in bed with his wife. He returned to office unnoticed and told that he escaped from being caught. Now who caught whom? If one is foolish, look what price he has to pay for it. It is not enough to collect degrees from universities, one should also be intelligent.

Be a winnower and not the sieve. The sieve allows good stuff to pass through pores while retaining the waste and the winnower discards the stones and chaff and retains the good grains.

Enjoy yourself and enjoy today. Do not waste time by grieving over a bad yesterday. Who knows tomorrow may not be as good as today.

By: D D AGARWAL

About the Author:

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ck in 2003, the Journal of Alternative and Complimentary Medicine’s Oct. 9th issue reported a study finding that Tai Chi “could decrease blood pressure and results in favorable lipid profile changes and improve subjects’ anxiety status. Therefore, Tai Chi could be used as an alternative modality in treating patients with mild hypertension, with a promising economic effect.” This study laid out a way to save our society, perhaps billions of dollars annually, and possibly save some patients with mild chronic hypertension the potential negative side effects of chronic lifelong medication. However, this largely hasn’t occurred.

I caught a glimpse why when I was staying in the beautiful mountain town of Otavala, Ecuador, with a woman known for her knowledge of traditional Indian medicines. A tour of young American medical students stopped here to listen and learn from the Indian woman’s tour of her herbal gardens. As I followed them, I asked a group of young bright medical students if they were aware that Tai Chi was found to reduce high blood pressure. One lovely young woman replied, “Oh, yes, I’ve heard that, but I would never prescribe it.”

I asked why, and she responded that she couldn’t because she didn’t know if it would work. Although Tai Chi studies do show that Tai Chi indeed helps lower high blood pressure, it is true that it does not reduce it in every person. However, it is also true that every drug prescription does not work on every person either. I suggested to the young medical student that she consider that many times I’ve been to the doctor, and he’s pulled out a prescription pad and explained, “Let’s give this a try, and see how it works for you, and if it doesn’t do the job, we’ll try something else.” Most of us are familiar with this, and by the confused look on the student’s face, I’m assuming her memory banks were bringing up similar images.

So, why are our medical universities giving students the impression that they should not be prescribing Tai Chi, since we know it can help lower high blood pressure for many, who if it is successful with them, can enjoy a lifetime free of chronic and costly medications? And not only do that, but offer a plethora of GOOD SIDE EFFECTS including a stronger immune system and healthier respiratory system. This is a deep and important question we need to be asking as patients and consumers, and health professionals must begin asking this question regularly in order to fulfill the duties of their Hippocratic oath. For, today we have even a much better understanding of Tai Chi’s potential than we did a few years ago, so ignorance or inconclusive data is not an acceptable explanation from our medical universities that train our future doctors, without teaching them about Tai Chi research, and what it portends for their future patients.

Today, we are clearer on exactly why Tai Chi is such a powerful therapy for high blood pressure sufferers. In a March 17, 2005, article by the Mayo Clinic staff posted at mayoclinic.com they lay out what a “stress response” is, and the effects it has on the body. This is at the core of high blood pressure problems and the physical changes chronic stress responses illicite that creates or aggravates hypertensive conditions.

In their article, they explain that a stress response, or “fight or flight” reaction involves our pituitary gland releasing adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH), which sets a domino effect signaling other glands to produce additional hormones, such as adrenal glands which flood the blood stream with stress hormones, such as “cortisol” and “adrenaline.”

When ordinary life’s daily frustrations trigger this effect over and over again, the results can be damaging to the mind and body. Many of us experience this domino effect of triggers and hormones daily, which is why about 1/3 of Americans, or over 90 million Americans, suffer from high blood pressure.

Cutting edge scientists like Dr. Herbert Benson, President of the Mind/Body Institute at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, are discovering a stunning reality through their research. In a wonderful article by Jeanie Lerche Davis at WebMD Medical News entitled The Mysterious ‘Medication’ of Meditation (http://my.webmd.com/content/article/25/1728_ 57992.htm), she writes of how such researchers are discovering that “meditation can indeed be medication – creating long lasting physiciolgical effects that reduce high blood pressure and even help unclog arteries to reverse heart disease.”

Dr. Benson, who is also associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, sought to prove how this effect could be shown objectively, and had five long-time meditation practitioners take MRI brain scans while meditating. Dr. Benson informed WebMD in the aforementioned article by Davis, “There was a striking quietude across the entire brain which was documented through MRI . . . The areas of the brain that became active from that quietude were those that control metabolism, heart rate, etc., . . . We knew meditation caused a relaxation response, but we couldn’t prove it. We knew that if you thought in a certain way, with repetition, that physiologic changes would occur in the body. Here now is proof that mind, in the form of repetition, is affecting the brain, which affects the body . . . “

Stroke Magazine reported on a study funded by the National Institutes of Health, conducted by Dr. Amparo Castillo-Richmond, from the Maharishi University, more specifically on high blood pressure afflicting black people. The meditating group saw a reduction in the thickness of one of the arteries that supplied blood to the brain. Which indicates that blood flow is increasing. The group only using diet and exercise saw their artery walls getting thicker, which indicated that less blood was flowing through to the brain. This finding led Dr. Castillo-Richmond to make the profoundly exciting assertion, “It’s possible to reverse heart disease through meditation.” In fact, not only hypertension, but up to 90% of other illnesses sending us to the doctor are being caused by stress, according to Dr. Herbert Benson. Which makes Dr. Benson’s and Dr. Castillo-Richmond’s findings that meditative techniques can so dramatically alter our stress producing “fight or flight” response in healthy ways even more wonderful.

Dr. Benson explains, that the relaxation response triggered by repetitive forms [like tai chi, yoga, etc.] can result in decreased metabolism, heart rate, breathing rate, blood pressure, and also slower brain waves.” Benson asserts that it is the repetitive nature of acts like praying the rosary, yoga, or tai chi’s physical repetitive muscular actions that provides the profound hope for reducing anxiety, mild and moderate depression, anger and hostility, hypertension, cardiac irregularities, and all forms of pain, which are made worse by stress.

This concept of Tai Chi being an effective tool for reducing or even avoiding incidence of high blood pressure or other illnesses all together, is echoed elsewhere. Mayoclinic.com also recommends Tai Chi for relaxation training in an article entitled, “Relax: Techniques to help you achieve tranquility” which also explains why relaxation is important and what you might experience by practicing tools that will help you relax.

They detail how you can improve body responses to stress, such as: Slowing your heart rate; Reducing blood pressure; Slowing your breathing rate; Reducing the need for oxygen; Increasing blood flow to the major muscles; Lessening muscle tension.

They go on to explain that practicing relaxation techniques may help you experience: Fewer symptoms of illness, such as headaches, nausea, diarrhea and pain; Few emotional responses such as anger, crying, anxiety, apprehension and frustration; More energy; Improved concentration; Greater ability to handle problems; More efficiency in daily activities. So, time and time again as we begin to examine one particular benefit of Tai Chi, such as lowering high blood pressure, we see a whole universe of potential opening up before us.

An article from Archives of Internal Medicine, as reported on NBC’s local WCAU Health (http://wcau-tvhealth.ip2m.com/index.cfm?pt=itemDetail&Item_ ID=112735&Site_Cat_ID=77) explained a Tai Chi research program at Tufts-New England Medical Center in Boston revealed a great deal. The article authors wrote, “Overall, these studies reported that long-term Tai Chi practice had favorable effects on the promotion of balance control, flexibility and cardiovascular fitness and reduced the risk of falls in elders . . . Cardiovascular and respiratory function improvements were noted in healthy people and those who had undergone coronary artery bypass surgery as well as people with heart failure, hypertension, acute myocardial infarction, arthritis and multiple sclerosis . . . Benefit was also found for balance, strength, and flexibility in older subjects; falls in frail elderly subjects; and pain, stress and anxiety in healthy subjects.” They add the actual ways that Tai Chi provides these benefits are not well known.

The fact is that less than .5% of the National Institute of Health’s budget goes to research alternative therapies, leaving yoga, meditation, tai chi, massage, herbal therapy, aroma therapy, and the entire massive field of alternative health systems to struggle over .5%, or a little over $100 million of the $28 billion (approx.) annual budget. Given the above studies, it boggles the mind that such a small portion of the health research dollars are going to Tai Chi.

To recap, about 1/3 of the American population suffers high blood pressure. Tai Chi is proven to be a beneficial therapy that not only has no bad side effects, but dramatically improves immune function, respiratory function, lowers the incidence of anxiety and depression, and profoundly improves the balance of practitioners. Tai Chi does more, but for our purposes here these profound realities are enough to show exactly why it is truly unbelievable that Tai Chi is getting so little scrutiny in medical research dollars, when it can save so many from chronic suffering and perhaps some from a lifetime of chronic costly medications.

It is time we all began to ask the question that all good consumers should ask, “What is the best way/product for my health?” If Tai Chi is that product, the next question is, “Why isn’t every physician offering it as an option to their patients with hypertension, as a prescription?” “Why aren’t all insurance policies covering such prescriptions for Tai Chi?” Ask and ye shall receive. We must become informed and demanding health consumers, in order to get the best health options available.

This article does not advocate self-treatment, and encourages all to make health choices in conjunction with their physician. However, if your physician is close-minded to anything but a certain group of health options, even when research indicates your choices may be wider, than it is time to have a good talk with your physician about possibly widening your options.

By: Bill Douglas

About the Author:

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All the experiences you faced up to now are processed in two ways. One is in your conscious state and one process takes place in your sub conscious state. Your inner mind-map is created by you in your sub conscious state, therefore you don’t actively remember the results and conclusions of this process. But you indeed act according to the results and conclusions of this process. It’s time to draw your inner-mind map consciously. The best way to start with is to get rid of all kind of unnecessary information. Certainly most people had bad experiences by one means or another at some time in their life. If you didn’t actively process these negative experiences, most probably you are carrying this burden with you in your sub conscious bag over years.

The following practice will give you the possibility to get rid of all unnecessary information that you carried with you in your sub consciousness. When you actively work on these experiences, you can consciously change your inner mind-map of your sub conscious self. If you live a passive life, in which you don’t knowingly control your thoughts, your inner mind-map is constituted miscellaneously by all kind of outer influences either good or bad. By consciously giving form to your inner mind-map you will ensure an easier life for yourself. Before starting to draw the new lines of your fresh inner mind-map, it is very helpful to get rid of all negative and unnecessary information. By the end of this exercise you will feel very relieved. Your body and soul will be cleaned and you will feel very strong and powerful.

a) Final Goodbye

To start with this exercise you need to travel back in time and pick up all negative experiences, which are still hurting you. Be careful in picking up the right things. Even though you might think that you are over a particular issue, you will see that sometimes this might not be true. Therefore just try to remember all negative experiences. Later you will visualize them to eliminate them one after the other. During this visualizing you will see if your body reacts to the pictures in your mind or not. You will be surprised how much importance some issues still have for you, even though you thought that it is already past and forgotten.

Bearing this in mind, try to travel back to times when you experienced negative emotions. If you want to get rid of them for ever, this final time you will have to face them once again. When your emotions reach the peak point, in this very moment talk to this negative experience. Visualize all the scenes with all the connected emotions one again in front of your inner eyes. If you show bodily reactions to these emotions, such as sweating or heart beat its a clear sign that this negative experience is still burdening your inner sub conscious self.

When you talk to this negative experience, you need to be very calm. Your voice should posses a noble wisdom, while talking to it. Put yourself in a very high position and look at is from above. Tell it that it has no control over your life and that you won’t allow it to depress you. Tell it that you alone are can decide, who or what will be part of your life. And also tell it that you decided to relegate it out of your life. Project this victory on your voice, you are strong. When you feel weak, quickly remember that you have shown true courage to face this experience once again, and you have also bravely banned this experience out of your life, for ever. Decidedly tell this negative experience that your heard and soul is fully cured of this issue and that it made you only stronger. Tell it that you are so strong now that you can easily get rid of it. Say goodbye and with a satisfaction in your voice, nominate this negative experience as the big looser of this game.

Now, take a deep breath and when breathing out feel how you for ever let go of all these negative scenes in your mind, which caused all these negative feelings. All are gone now. Enjoy your cleansed soul for a while and feel the purity inside. Now you are freed of them and demonstrated true courage. You have shown yourself and the universe that you are able to control your thoughts and that you are able to decide over your own life. Now you are truly qualified and deserve to be rewarded by the universe. Believe in your strength and protect your true mental freedom, and everything is yours.

Take a few minutes to regenerate. Feel how the victory is filling every single cell of your body. Feel how the freedom spreads in every corner of your mind. Feel the relieve of unloading all the unnecessary burden in your sub conscious self. You can be really proud of yourself. You successfully managed to bravely face all the negative emotions and you decidedly got rid of them. Celebrate your victory of being a strong and purified person. Appreciate this big step, because right now you just built another mile stone on your quest of changing your life.

b) Forgiving

Forgiving can be regarded as the continuation of the relief process. Forgiving your past failures will relieve you as much as throwing away old burden. When both steps are accomplished your will truly feel in ease. Especially when you forgive yourself your power and strength will be amplified more than ever before. Take your time to find out what exactly is bothering you the most. Travel back in time to detect the main persons and situation, who or which you think was harming you the most. It doesn’t matter if this person is you.

First try to imagine the face of this person as detailed as possible. When you visualize this person with enough clearness start to talk to him. Tell this person about all your emotions that you were feeling in the past. Do not hesitate in choosing the right words. Just talk as you like and say whatever you want to say to this person.

After telling him/her all your feelings back at that time, now take a few silent minutes and think about your current situation. Realize how much things changed. If your feelings towards this person didn’t change, then realize that you are about the change things in your life. Use this excitement as a motivation and decidedly work on changing your life. Take a deep breath and tell him/her that you are tired of carrying him/her along with you through your whole life. Tell him/her that you decided to change his/her priority in your life. You don’t want to spend any further energy to hate or ignore this person. You are fully in peace with yourself and know that you have to move on. And exactly because of this you want to show him/her that he/she is no more part of your life.

Don’t be confused if you want to forgive yourself. You can say the very same words also to yourself. Because you are not the person anymore who did this particular mistake in the past. This past person is no more part of your life. Your life flows, goes on and on. You must flow with it and change yourself every instant towards good things. Don’t get stuck in the past, this will stop the flow and hinder your vitality. Instead give yourself a new change and promise yourself that you will do things so much better than ever. Remember that once you forgive a mistake, this mistake is never ever repeated again, if this person (no matter if its you or somebody else) sincerely regrets his mistakes.

When taking a deep breath in, see it as a symbol to fill your life with new fresh and vital thoughts just as you fill your lungs with new and fresh air. Both will bring you a lot of power and energy. When breathing out see this process as a symbol of letting go of ever old, used, negative and toxic thoughts in your life just as you get rid of toxic air when breathing out. Then open your eyes and smile. Silently or loudly celebrate your victory. You are always the winner, it only depends on how you think. Love yourself for bringing up the strength to face this situation. The rewards is much more joyful and relieving than you would have imagined. The mile stone you just set on your quest of changing your life will definitely reward you with the manifestation of your wishes and desires in your life. Here we briefly tried to show how helpful forgiving can be for your health and mental maturity health and mental maturity you can read an extensive description, which was too long to be presented here.

Conclusion:

This practice will discharge all the unnecessarily used areas of your brain. Before the cleansing procedure your brain was sub consciously working incessantly to keep this memory alive. You never told your brain to stop this process, so it continued and continued up to now. With this practice you will unlock the jam of impulses in your brain areas, where these negative thoughts were silently and constantly produced. Now your brain power can be equally distributed over all nerve cells, so that the actual areas can be fed with electrical impulses. You will feel a big difference in your concentration. You have just multiplied your brain capacity tenfold.



By: Anna Emilie Eight

About the Author:

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The field of medicine is one which is very crucial to humanity and must be devoid of egocentrism, monopoly and similar sentiments and dogmatism that at the long run will transpire into an inimical and detrimental outcome which will negatively impact on the primary beneficiary- the patient. The fundamental goal of any healthcare delivery system should be how to meet the challenges of providing the best possible healthcare services that is pragmatic, efficient, proficient, timely, and accurate, and at the same time less expensive.

                 

Consequently revisiting the Medical laboratory science profession and trying to reposition, rejuvenate and restructure its current curriculum to meet and if possible surpass the currently achieved standard of healthcare services is very crucial and almost nearly indispensable if the country hope to modernize and achieve the primary goals of the medical and healthcare profession and aspirations.

Without an iota of doubt, this noble profession is as complex as humanity itself and any approach thereof in trying to elucidate the best way to uplift the field must definitely take into cognizance such complexity and diversity. Medicine as we used to know has evolved a great deal and today represents greater diversity than seen in the 19th and even the 20th century. From a general perspective when link with the healthcare profession as a whole, this laudable and very imperative field can be broadly divided into Clinical and Laboratory with specialty such as diagnostics falling into the later even when they might not be directly related, while on the other hand nursing and pharmacy among others may fall into the clinical aspect of the medicine.  

The fundamental inclination to this brief summation is essentially related to how does the status quo hope to modernize the medical and allied healthcare profession in such a way that the medical laboratory technology discipline is allow to reach its full potential in becoming the true corner stone of modern medicine and its professionals are given the due recognition by the state? I wish to reiterate the fact that my perspective may vary from some of my colleagues principally as a result of my background training which by omission or commission imbibe in me the mentality of seeing my profession from a noble and pragmatic angle in terms of its usefulness, necessity and indispensability in the provision of a comprehensive healthcare services.  

Consequently the call for modernization of the profession is not in any way one which blatantly request for a synonymous training scope with that of physician or pathologist, instead it is a call for the incorporation of curriculum that will enable the medical technologist to be able to professionally and legally interpret, aid in the diagnosis, therapy, management and prophylaxis of a given medical condition without compromising either the patient or the primary healthcare provider. This again raise the concern about why it is necessary for the field to determine that monopoly and egocentrism within the multi-complex discipline should be relegated to the background and instead focus and emphasis must be on providing the best healthcare delivery system.  

I am very quick to point out that as a consequence to the emergence of varieties of complex scenarios which cloud the easy elucidation of the causative organisms or agents implicated in diseased conditions, the role of the medical laboratory scientists have changed dramatically from that of primarily responding to just the healthcare provider,  to now include the determination of the exactness, that is the accuracy and that the same time the best possible treatment and prevention of the cause as necessitated by the contemporary curriculum. Medical Laboratory Scientist are therefore evolving to become more independent in decision making and in some cases have tremendously helped to reduce both cost and waste as a result of their timely intervention, a fact that has been widely recognized within the status quo but never allowed to be publicize for reason beyond imagination.  

The modernization of the medical laboratory profession should be able to make an average graduate to be capable of comprehensively utilizing the new curriculum to assist in the interpretation, diagnosis and treatment recommendation of the condition(s) as it relates to the laboratory test(s). This in my opinion can be achieved with the help of adopting a scheme of studying that may be similar to that of the Physician Assistance training, in respect of pragmatically understanding the clinical implications of laboratory data, but with less emphasis on clinical and invariably greater inclinations to the laboratory management of diseases and other medical conditions.  

In order for the field of medical laboratory profession to pragmatically achieve such goal of making it to become a 21st century specialty, which will be responsive to primary healthcare providers and the patients, there is no doubt that Physicians and Pathologist must buy into the idea of allowing what is best for the patient to become a reality rather than becoming sentimental- which is understandable. Relying on the conviction that the patient comes first, I do believe that the prevailing status quo can work itself out and aid the field to become ready.  

At this juncture I wish to briefly but modestly narrate an incident that happened during a flight from Frankfurt Germany to Washington Dulles Airport in which a passenger on board developed symptom of acute fatigue and thirst leading to fainting. The flight attendance immediately announced that there was a medical emergency on board and seeks the intervention of any medical personnel. Without giving the credit to myself alone, I recognize among other things that the pulse rate and the blood pressure was okay and the dry mouth might be sequel to dehydration and or anxiety. The passenger had to lie on the floor with the head slightly down in comparison to the leg in order to allow for greater blood flow to the brain. With the vital signs okay and the patient having regain consciousness I advice that he should given as much fluid as possible and in the absent of pure glucose-D drink the juice on board did suffice for this purpose. Fortunately there was no need for fluid infusion and by the end of the day it all went well.  

Upon arrival in the USA I was later presented with an American Express gift certificate and a thank you letter from the medical director of the airline in addition to the many on board gifts and appreciation. The above narration is not about wanting anybody to thank me further, but rather as an example of how knowledge if well utilized can save life! I had a background training that to a greater extent recognize the essentiality of first aid and being a part of the primary healthcare delivery system. I am not a doctor or physician, but rather a medical laboratory scientist whose professors recognizes the fact that during the course of our training we must know how to deal with some situation without compromising life and at the same time impersonating.   Is it therefore possible to train medical laboratory scientist in such a way that they too can have the knowledge base to intervene if need be in a medical situation to the extent that life can be preserve as far as it depends on that knowledge?  

There is an absolute necessity of training the modern medical laboratory scientist in the fashion that they are vastly knowledgeable in the area of physiology, anatomy, biochemistry and pharmacology and some basic clinical maneuvers in addition to the most fundamental essentiality of performing diagnostic and or laboratory tests.   We all cannot be a nurse, pharmacist or Genetics, nevertheless we can lend a professional helping hand by being able to assist in the most comprehensive manner the bone of contention and by so doing elevate the practice for the benefit of the patient and the system at large.  

By and large, any curriculum that hopes to accommodate the tentative modernization that I am asking for may take a minimum of 3 years post graduation from the medical laboratory technology program. During the 3 years period, the prospective student shall receive the necessary educational and professional training needed to enhance his or her capacity to midwife in the most qualified manner the laboratory results, the clinical interpretation from a laboratory management perspective and recommend if need be further test(s) or elimination of some already ordered ones.  

Two years shall be spent on correlating clinical and laboratory studies in relation to patients through the thorough studying of the physiology, anatomy, biochemistry and pharmacology, and also pathology. The last year of study should be concentrated in a given area of the clinical laboratory discipline namely; clinical biochemistry (chemical pathology), hematology, microbiology, immunology, coagulation study, urinalysis and instrumentation (automation), laboratory information services (LIS), genetics, among others.  

In a nutshell in order to reposition the field of medical laboratory science to become better equip to deal with the challenges of the 21st century medical and health concerns, there is an absolute necessity to upgrade or modernize this area of healthcare that is very crucial and in some cases nearly indispensable as far as the diagnosis, treatment, management and prevention of a medical condition is concerned. Its professionals who are involved in the carrying out of diagnostic tests in order to generate results that is use to substantiate or refute a given provisional diagnosis and or in adequately and scientifically managing the conditions must be treated with respect and be given due sue place of honor among the committee of professions.  

The patients stand to gain the most if we can allow our selfish interest or desire for monopolistic inclination to be sacrificed in order to move the United States of America healthcare delivery system forward in order to become second to none in the world and by so doing once more provide the kind of leadership that mankind is expected of the country. As the saying goes necessity is the mother of invention and the medical laboratory profession is in itself a child of necessity that should be allow to grow, rather than being truncated or marginalized at the detriment of the patients.  

Ours is the generation that has the pragmatic potential for change as epitomized by the inauguration of the 44th president of the United States of America in President Barack Obama which some cynic pundits have concluded will never happen in the country. The attestation to the pragmatism, broadmindedness and the desire for concrete actions and solutions to the nefarious problems facing the nation especially in context of the economic maladies has been one of the fundamental reasons why the president defeated his opponent in the November 4th 2008 general election.

Physicians, Pharmacists, Nurses and the other allied healthcare professionals could be making history and changing the spectrum of the profession for the best if only they are willing to support the aspiration of the medical laboratory scientists in orchestrating the necessary modalities that will bring about a lasting and durable change and career progression with the ultimate goal of positively impacting on the healthcare delivery system and further leading to a reduction in the cost of doing business.  

It has never been my dream to train as a physician as epitomized by my aspiration to pursue the medical laboratory science profession during my undergraduate studies at the University of Calabar College of Medical Sciences. However I was also made to understand within my professional and academic training that I will be very useful and respected as a medical laboratory scientist especially based on my job discretion, performance and potential to make a pragmatically positive difference. In the United States of America the above conviction seems to be a mirage and consequently it may not be good enough for those who aspire to be like me.

We must change, since the later is just inevitable; life without change is not worth living and that is why I do hope that somehow the healthcare profession and its professionals can help the medical laboratory profession to transition from its current status to that which will enable the citizenry to better utilize their profession at full capacity rather than the prevailing circumstances in which the job and responsibilities are more or less haphazardly distributed in context of how laboratory data are generated and yet the generators have little or no input as to how these results are consequently utilized to bring about the diagnosis, treatment and management of the conditions that might have necessitated the request in the first place.

I am proud of being who I am and look forward to achieving the peak of my career which based on my mentors may culminate in the award of a doctorate degree in the field of medical laboratory profession in addition to the capacity to touch lives through researches and other veritable tools that will help bring about further progress, innovation and discovery in the health and medical profession.

May God bless the noble professionals in this field of healthcare, who have continued to give their best with little or no recognition at all for their indispensable services that have been miniaturized into the generation of laboratory data as against the real values and capacity that abound in this very noble profession, amen.