Buddha's Brain by Rick Hanson Ph.d.

I can’t ignore a book entitled:

Buddha’s Brain:

The Practical Neuroscience of Happiness Love and Wisdom

Three things I immediately like about neuropsychologist Rick Hanson’s book.

• He focuses on small changes that reap big brain mojo.
• He describes brain science in the context of contemplative practice.
• He’s not overly wordy.

“You’ll learn what the brain is doing when the mind is happy, loving and wise. You’ll learn many ways to activate these brain states, strengthening them a bit each time. This will give you the ability to gradually rewire your own brain – from the inside out—for greater well-being, fulfillment in your relationships, and inner peace.” –excerpt from the book

Fast-Food Meditation: NOT

I’m leery of fast food awareness so I appreciated Hanson’s brave use of the word “gradually.” He’s honest about it.

Buddha’s Brain does offer material that’s immediately useful–strong cognitive tools to bolster us while gradual changes take root. Hanson’s description of brain plasticity and neurons is one of the best I’ve encountered for non-scientist types. In fact, I generated a presentation slide depicting neuronal connections, inspired from his work:

In the spirit of full disclosure, “that’s disgusting” in no way reflects on Hanson’s book. I’m just weird. 

The above slide features a stuffed neuron from GIANTmicrobes. They sell all kinds of plush creepiness. Action figures too. I’m especially fond of ebola below.

But I digress…

Hanson’s topic, the power of contemplative practice, isn’t new. I’ve read books on the subject and I’ve also written them. Still, I found Buddha’s Brain engaging and inspiring. I was originally attracted to the science, but this is also a great book about meditation in general. Hanson’s easy style, how-to practices, and personal experiences all contribute to his considerable authority on the subject. He makes me want to meditate.

Bottom line, this is a worthy read for anyone looking to understand and experience the brain boosting gains from contemplative practices.

Hanson’s website is equally as appealing, chock full of articles and support material.

Hey, it’s not just meditation, it’s science.

What books have you enjoyed on this topic? What’s your favorite microbe? Don’t be a stranger. I’d love to hear from you.

The karmic backlash when you write about excuses is they retaliate en mass. For a person already plagued by them  (I’m a writer, remember?), dealing with a galvanized frontal assault is pretty wild. Here’s how it happened…

The Battle of Excuses

Several weeks ago I blogged about creating a treadmill walking station. There are a thousand healthy reasons to use a walkstation but for me, it’s about staying alert. Walkstations are supposed to help maintain energy levels throughout the day. I get sleepy in front of a monitor even when I’ve just exercised.

What I didn’t mention was my treadmill is an ancient behemoth that weighs a friggin’ ton.  Moving it from the garage into the house wasn’t a simple logistics issue; it was like dragging a truck. Several lame excuses converged: “It can’t be done without a forklift; I can’t afford to waste my time; It might screw up my back; My garage is too messy for anyone to see it; I have other more urgent matters; It’s too big; It’s too ugly; The kitchen needs cleaning.”

The treadmill didn’t move inch one. In the excuse war, I was losing.

Excuses 1; Dawn 0.

Two weeks passed…

What treadmill? I thought. I’m too busy kayaking and swimming and doing active things (all lies btw). Friends finally got disgusted and helped me strongarm it  into the breakfast nook. Take THAT excuses!

Dawn 1; Excuses 1.

Now I could finally get started. I checked all the treadmill desk websites. In general I needed a wood desktop of some sort, a support beam, a hammer, nails, and other DIY stuff. Being decidedly UNhandy, I opted to do more research. There are several good DIY examples as well as a network of “office walkers.”

During this time, I enjoyed the comradery of several familiar excuses and rationalizations: “I really don’t have time for this; I don’t do hammers; This is too hard; I have bigger fish to fry; This is ridiculous; I’m tired; I’m a writer, not a carpenter; The dog needs to be walked; Who reads this stupid blog anyway?”

The treadmill mocked me daily with, “So much for noble plans, you lazy putz.”

Excuses 2; Dawn 1.

Two more weeks passed…

The final straw was when I fell asleep in front of the monitor and missed a deadline. Again.  (I’m a single mom with two kids and a lot of irons in the fire. I have a well greased neural pathway for sleep.)

Furious, I marched into the kitchen, raised my fist and proclaimed, “Damn you Treadmill, you’ll not get the better of me!“ Then I charged into the garage (yar!), tunneled through years of crap and uncovered an empty refrigerator box. I yanked it from the pile,  stomped the heavy cardboard flat, duct-taped a few support sticks on the underside and, voila! Desktop! 

Dawn 2; Excuses 2.

Here’s my new walkstation.

The side view of my walkstation. Can you see the tip of the cane helping to support the desktop? Thanks, Mom.

Here is the underside of my walkstation desktop. Mom's cane is the support system, along with a few odds and ends.

Walking while working. If the cane slips it's a hassle but oh well. It works!

Now the Excuses and I were neck-in-neck at the stretch. I had to do something to push me over the finish line — I had to actually start using the thing.

Okay, turning it off and on is a hassle but hey, it works. 

Question: Wouldn’t I rather junk this self-made thing for a sleek and sexy Steelcase Walkstation?

Answer: Uhmmm yeah.  I’m not an idiot. But this is what I have for now. Check out those sexy shoes.

Astounding Results

The walkstation has totally reworked my falling asleep habit pattern. Slow walking while typing washes my brain with energizing oxygen and the non-distracting movement keeps me alert. Holy smokes, the research is correct.

My focus time is so waaay up.

I’ve probably tripled the time I can focus on one activity, effectively tripling my productivity. Man, it’s even better than ADHD meds. The only thing I can’t do is detailed art. For that I must stop walking. But I’ve walked up to 8 miles without a thought and gotten more work done than I ever thought possible.

I am SOLD, Baby!

Dawn 3; Excuses N/A.

Today’s battle of Excuses VS Dawn is over. Dawn WINS. Bwahahahahahah.

Coming Soon! Interview with blogmeister Michael D. Pollock.

An insightful 2-part interview with Michael D. Pollock, creator of the Bigger Life Blog: How to Make a Living Online By Making a Difference in the World. Michael will discuss ways to partner business and values, while making the best use of your blogs and blogging. Part 2 will be Michael’s seven thoughts about  ”How to Keep Going When You Feel Like Giving Up.” Great stuff, all. You can bet I’ll be reading it while I walk. <grin>

I’m writing a series about refuting the validity of favorite excuses. What are your favorite excuses and how do you handle them? I welcome input and opinion.

Excuses are the rational backbone of procrastination. The smarter the person, the more rational the excuse. What follows are some of my personal favorites. You’ve probably thought of them at one time or another:

I can’t decide

I should have started sooner

I don’t follow through

There’s no time

I’m too tired

It’s too hard

I’m not motivated

What if I fail?

Excuses are built on grains of truth. They’re normal and convincing. That’s what’s so insidious about them. It’s tough to separate the truth from the foul. <Bawk-bawk-buhGAWK> Two reliable assessment methods I use are:

• Ask a good friend for the truth. “Kathy, am I being realistically cautious or am I just a big sissy?” Good friends are honest and they’ll support you no matter what.
• Check your gut. Brains are often biased. Stomachs speak truth. Put your hand against your stomach and ask,”am I being wise or am I procrastinating?” What answer do you feel in your stomach?

There are many helpful strategies.

Excuse wrangling requires flexibility, creativity, and some fancy emotional footwork. Try to dance yourself away from the argument. Don’t take it too personally: the more you react, the tighter it grabs.

Instead of: ”Oh NO, it’s back! I always feel this way! I hate it!”
Say to yourself: ”There’s that same ‘ol excuse ambling through my brain again.“

Because excuses morph frequently, allow yourself to cultivate a full quiver of comebacks. You’ll end up using them all at one time or another.

Once you decide that you’re being a wuss,  you’re ready to dissect the excuse de jour. We can start with I cant decide what to do.

1. A subscription to Scientific American Mind. Cutting edge research and thinking.

2. 59 SECONDS: THINK A LITTLE CHANGE A LOT by Richard Wiseman. A specific, debunked set of how-tos in a simple, engaging read. No bull.

3. THE WAY WE’RE WORKING ISNT WORKING by Schwartz, Gomes, and McCarthy. A timely book that puts into practice Schwartz’s keystone philosophy explained in The Power of Full Engagement.

4. GETTING THINGS DONE: THE ART OF STRESS FREE PRODUCTIVITY by David Allen. The Bible for everyone who wants to get their to-do lists under control. But beware, it requires commitment.

5. THE BRAIN THAT CHANGES ITSELF by Norman Doidge, M.D. The neuroscience of behavior change. Really cool and quite hopeful.

6. THE POWER OF FULL ENGAGEMENT: MANAGING ENERGY, NOT TIME, IS THE KEY TO HIGH PERFORMANCE AND PERSONAL RENEWAL by Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz . The book I live by. This is an incredible work with tons of research for us data-heads.

7. THE HOW OF HAPPINESS: A SCIENTIFIC APPROACH TO GETTING THE LIFE YOU WANT by Sonja Lyubomirsky, PhD. Another major work in the field of positive psychology. Easy to read, practical, exciting.

8. 7 SEVEN STEPS TO A PAIN FREE LIFE: HOW TO RAPIDLY RELIEVE BACK AND NECK PAIN by Robin McKenzie. I totally swear by this guy’s work.

9. MEDITATION FOR OPTIMUM HEALTH: HOW TO USE MINDFULNESS AND BREATHING TO HEAL YOUR BODY AND REFRESH YOUR MIND by Andrew Weil M. D and Jon Kabat-Zinn. There are a ton of excellent meditation books, websites, and blogs. This is a CD. Listen to it. You know it works.

10. DRIVE: THE SURPRISING TRUTH ABOUT WHAT MOTIVATES US by Daniel Pink. A fascinating work about old accepted motivators and why they don’t succeed well. He also describes what does work. A must-have book.

Make Your Resolutions Stick

January and February are the traditional months for hauling out your New Year’s resolutions complete with built-in self destruct sequences. The yearly Lose-Ten-Lbs, Exercise-Daily, or Stop-Being-Late goals may be sincere and well executed, but they’re doomed to fail as soon as you become anxious or overwhelmed.

It’s your biology. The stressed-out brain resists giving up energy to anything demanding willpower or delayed gratification.At the right moment, it will fall back into the comfortable, well-worn neural pathways and instant relief of old habits. This is how the brain manages its energy. It’s an efficient system with an unwelcome side effect: sabotaging healthy behavior change.

Read pdf of full article.

Article 3 in the series, “How I Resurrected My Blog and Stuck With It” will publish on January 25.

“If it feels good, do it.” — Timothy Leary

Below is an excerpt from a fine article by  author, Wired and NYT correspondent Jonah Lehrer. Check out his fascinating science blog, Frontal Cortex.

“The first thing to note about giving away money is that it feels really good. For instance, several brain scanning experiments demonstrate that donating to a worthy cause leads to activation in the dopamine reward pathway. It’s the same part of the brain that’s turned on when we have sex, or eat a slice of chocolate cake. In fact, there is typically more “reward-related” activity when we donate money than we receive an equivalent amount. Giving is literally better than getting, at least from the perspective of the brain.”
read entire article

Sure, we all know about the intrinsic value of giving. But its doubly cool when generosity cozies up to sex and chocolate cake.  Ah, the neuroscience of charity. A real turn on.

After reading Lake Superior University’s list of banned words, I’ve been trying to come up with a list of my own. Turns out there’s a lot more stuff to ban than just words:

1. Jeans that reveal butts when seated or squatted.
2. People advising about weight loss.
3. Laugh tracks.
4. Mucus.
5. Celebrity without skill, talent, or honor.
6. People who don’t like animals.
7. Litter.
8. Anyone who doesn’t think I’m fine.
9. Dog poop. Add cat poop to that. Poop in general.

I’m sure I’ll think of many others.

How many people really think about their brains? Your brain iisn’t an organ like, oh, your bladder. The consequences of ingnoring your bladder are loud and predictable. But the noble, remarkable brain is always silent.

I never thought much about my brain beyond smacking my forehead when I forgot stuff. That is, until I became acquainted with the work of Dr. Daniel Amen and several other neuroscientists.

Dr. Amen (pronounced Ah’-mun) is passionate about brain health; he says you should do more than care about your brain; you should love it.. Amen isn’t some yahoo with a clever idea. He’s a Clinical Professor of Psychiatry and Human Behavior at the University of California, Irvine School of Medicine and a leader in applying brain imaging science to clinical practice.

Amen does brain imaging showing which parts of our brains we’re using and which parts are turned off. The good news is that we can turn these underused areas back on — or at the very least, improve their functioning — by doing specific kinds of things. Even better, we can prevent deterioration in first place by living brain-healthy lives.

Dr. Amen believes if you love your brain, you’ll think twice about doing evil to it: not sleeping enough, drinking too much, living in toxic stress, eating too many french fries, etc. You know, the typical North American lifestyle.

Let me get this straight. Productivity starts with making good decisions. Decisions happen in the brain. I need to love my brain in order to do right by it. Yikes. No wonder I suck at productivity.