BLUE MIND

Price Lake, Blue Ridge Parkway, NC

Referring to his book Blue Mind, Marine biologist Wallace Nichols tells USA Today that “The term ‘blue mind’ describes the mildly meditative state we fall into when near, in, on or under water.  It’s the antidote to what we refer to as ‘red mind,’ which is the anxious, over-connected and over-stimulated state that defines the new normal of modern life.”  He notes that research has shown that being near blue water can enhance our mental health and help us achieve “an elevated and sustained happiness.”

And what’s the genesis of our red mind which conjures up images of bulging neck veins and blood vessels about to burst?  Neil Pasricha posits in the opening of his international bestseller, The Happiness Equation, “because life was mostly short, brutal, and highly competitive over the two hundred thousand years our species has existed on this planet.  And our brains are trained for this short, brutal, and highly competitive world.”

So, what’s his antidote?  Pasricha includes one of my all-time favorite observations in life from Viktor Frankl after surviving the horrors of a Nazi concentration camp; “Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.”  I’ve often written that there are many experiences in life that are beyond our control—with one exception—how we respond!  Pasricha states that if he knew everything about you “I could only predict about 10% of your happiness.  The remaining amount is not determined by your external world but by the way your brain processes it.”

I’ve learned over the years that one of the best responses to our chaotic culture is drawing on the ancient practice of mindful meditation.  Frankly, it’s a wonderful practice of calming your mind to achieve a peaceful and cleansing goal of reducing the daily stress of life.  Experiencing peace doesn’t mean that our lives are always joyful.  It implies that we have found the path to calming the mind in the midst of a normal hectic life.  Mindful meditation can be practiced almost anywhere if we focus on our favorite “go-to” quiet place in our mind.  Peace and relaxation can be found on vacation and day trips out into the serene beauty of nature.  All of my mindful quiet places occurred in the early morning light near the calm waters of expansive mirrored bodies of water.  

It’s truly amazing how this practice can transition the glowing Red Mind accumulated from the daily external world around us and slowly use its kaleidoscope power to morph into the calming Blue Mind that enables us to calm troubled waters and try again tomorrow.

A SACRED QUIET PLACE

Sunrise over Price Lake, Blue Ridge Parkway, NC

My wife Karen and I were introduced to the ancient practice of mindful meditation years ago. Frankly, it’s a wonderful practice of calming your mind to achieve a peaceful and cleansing goal of reducing the daily stress of life. Experiencing peace doesn’t mean that our lives are always joyful. It implies that we have found the path to calming the mind in the midst of a normal hectic life. One of the first teachings we discovered was to focus on the present moment by surrounding our senses with a calming environment such as aroma therapy candles, pleasant music or silence, a gentle breeze on the exposed skin, and the beauty of a magnificent landscape. We learned that mindful meditation can be practiced almost anywhere if we focus on our favorite “go-to” quiet place in our mind. We found peace and relaxation on vacation trips out into the serene beauty of nature.

Quietly standing next to the mirrored surface of a Blue Ridge Mountain lake surrounded by the reflections of colorful autumn leaves has become my latest quiet place of nirvana. As I stood at the waters’ edge, I could subconsciously hear the soothing sound of water cascading over the spillway in the distance. My previous quiet place was imprinted in my mind’s eye on an overcast morning in Israel on the Sea of Galilee. As our wooden boat motored out to the center of the water our captain cut off the engines and instructed everyone to remain silent as we simply drifted in this sacred place. A light squall slowly sprinkled rain drops around the boat and the accompanying breezes sent them gently descending on my face. My first quiet place remains vivid in my mind as Karen and I hiked into Maroon Bells National Park outside Aspen, Colorado. We emerged from under the aspen trees and into view of two magnificent Rocky Mountain peaks encompassing a still lake surrounded by the aspens and a few beaver dams. A gentle breeze rustled the leaves as they shimmered in the sunlight. All of these memories occurred in the early morning light near the calm waters of expansive mirrored bodies of water.

Deepak Chopra has noted that “Meditation is a way of entering into the quiet in the mind that is buried under the 50,000 thoughts the average person thinks every day”. The key to quieting the left-brain ego chatter which organizes our outside lives and dominates our thoughts is to calmly go within the right brain as an observer and discover our true soul that transcends this mortal life. We enter that present moment quiet place by simply becoming aware of our breath of life. I recently ran across a play on words related to mindfulness breathing that simply encourages us to “Inhale love, exhale gratitude”. When we focus on loving others and loving God in our lives and returning our gratitude back into the world, we experience the true joy of life. And we become more aware that we are all interconnected to the true power of the universe who reminds us in the Psalms to “Be still and know that I am God”.

CHASING THE SUN HAIKU

Early Risers, Kiawah Island, SC
Swaying Sea Oats, Wrightsville Beach Island, NC

Find Yourself in the Islands

Morning sun rises,
saturating beach and sky,
with glowing red rays.

Morning joggers run,
early risers walk the shore,
others meditate.

Breezy sea oats sway,
sand pipers scurry in foam,
all chasing the sun.

Sit in the warm sand,
listen to the tide roll in,
seek and find yourself.

HARMONY

Man in the Maze Buckle, Hopi Reservation, AZ

The Man in the Maze is a common symbol of many Native American tribes. Some see it symbolizing our relationship with the earth and others see it depicting our journey through life. I see it as a symbol that has captured man’s imagination for centuries—a labyrinth. A maze implies that we have many chances to make good or bad decisions on our life’s pathway. But a labyrinth enables you to slowly walk along a righteous path of grace that ever so slowly enables you to spend time in meditation as you leave the trials and cares of the outside world behind. You continue your walk to ultimately be centered with the central core of the universe—God within. It is a way to ponder the direction of your life at any time and strive to become less self-centered and more God-centered. Once you arrive at that place, it is good to pause in stillness and listen to the quiet whisper of our Creator in the wind. Ideally, our life’s journey will lead us to that quiet stillness of centeredness with God that leads to a peaceful harmony with our surroundings.

Life is a sacred journey and a labyrinth is a metaphor for life’s journey. It is about growing our character and soul. It is about taking courageous steps along the path, knowing we do not walk alone as we stay the course. The entrance signifies our birth and once we complete the journey to salvation and enlightenment we exit to a new more enriched life. The literal single-path walk of turnings enables us to lose track of the sometimes stressful outside world and quiet the mind. We are then better prepared to exit back out into the world with a refreshed understanding and resolve.

“Furthermore, we have not even to risk the adventure alone; for the heroes of all time have gone before us, the labyrinth is fully known; we have only to follow the thread of the hero-path. And where we had thought to find an abomination, we shall find a god; where we had thought to slay another, we shall slay ourselves; where we had thought to travel outward, we shall come to the center of our own existence; where we had thought to be alone, we shall be with all the world.”--Joseph Campbell