Saturday, March 24, 2018

Highlights from a good book

I enjoy writing about the events in my life and my thoughts.  Otten the thoughts are related to some book I am reading. Once in a while, I read a book that is printed on paper but usually, I read on a Kindle Voyage.   Several friends who are more or less my age also read on a Kindle, often the Kindle Paperwhite.


I have a Twitter account using the name "@olderkirby".  When I first used Twitter, I was encouraged to write about what was happening.  Since I am indeed old, sedentary and live a life filled with routine and repetition, I had all sort of resistance to writing "I am sitting down", "I am eating", "I am leaving the table."  I have 3926 statements, postings, called "Tweets". I enjoy seeing remarks in a book I am reading that are clever, memorable, valuable.


I am reading and enjoying Amit Sood's "Mindfulness Redesigned for the Twenty-First Century: Let's Not Cage the Hummingbird A Mindful Path to Resilience".  I use the Kindle Paperwhite to quickly post a Tweet of a passage that is one of those good ones. There are many very good statements in Sood's book so I am disappointed that the Paperwhite, this time, does not function the way it is supposed to.  All of the passages I have Tweeted are supposed to reside in the device and be available in a flie for me to send to my email. But that feature is not working. It has worked in the past. I used it to make the Dan Harris 10% Happier highlights page on my website, Kirbyvariety.


I did make a separate listing of the highlights from Sood's book.-------------------------------------------


A large body of research across several disciplines shows that much of our daily stress is because of brain overload that comes from excessive demands placed on us , lack of control , and an inability to find meaning .


I have never heard a CEO say , " Let's do less with more . "


The targets keep going up . Pressed by their boards , leaders in every industry are pushing for bigger numbers while , in at least some cases , ignoring the pain and burnout they are causing .


It breaks my heart to see that most large hospitals now have pediatric sleep apnea clinics in which obese ten - year - olds are being prescribed CPAP masks so they can sleep better . Kids who are lucky enough to dodge these demons get trapped in bullying , school politics , social - networking sites , and mountain of homework .


It is an effort to expand the reach of mindfulness to the brains that struggle with impatience , contend with constant distractions , and feel frustrated when they can't experience sustained stillness on the mat .


Humanity is hurting and overloaded , and we don't have an effective solution


These practices broke free of rituals and dogmas ( to a large extent ) , became less rigid , and received a thumbs - up from science and celebrities

But even the best evidence - based ideas can languish and remain undiscovered in the attic if they aren't marketed well .


To complement the research studies , yoga received strong celebrity endorsements .


deeper ? I believe a deeper exploration is inevitable , because the curiosity of the human spirit can't be doused .


It didn't matter whether you took three or four circles around the altar . What mattered was that you were kind toward others and yourself .


Practicing kindness in the littlest of activities is more important than most rituals .


Buddha directed his students to wisely choose their focus of concentration so they could negate their maladaptive predispositions .


He reminded them that having a relationship with life included losing it .


Noticing the wars that ravaged the world he lived in , he advised people to renounce inner violence to stop outer violence .


I do , however , have another choice : to think differently , until the new thoughts become habitual .


Until a few years ago , I was training my mind to redirect its attention with a time - tested technique I learned as a teenager : meditation .


In today's world , most elephants , lions , hyenas , wildebeests , buffalo , geese , ants , and honeybees have richer social connections than the average human .

Loneliness can increase sympathetic activity (fight or flight tension) , worsen immunity , increase inflammation , and cause sleep disturbance and several chronic illnesses .


Mindfulness was not designed to make us numb ; it was developed for personal transformation .


Are the media representations of the purported benefits exaggerated ?



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