An Open Letter to the LA Police Chief

Below is a letter from MBA Co-Founder, Isaiah Seret to the Los Angeles Chief of Police regarding the challenges young people face today. MBA is the Mind Body Awareness Project. The MBA project has developed a unique mental training program consisting of mindfulness meditation and emotional intelligence exercises designed to strengthen youth’s minds, relieve their toxic stress, and build their ability to make better decisions.

Research has shown that there are benefits of mindfulness meditation, especially in the area of chronic disease management. The MBA was one of the first to bring this cost-effective rehabilitation service into a classroom setting. Customized for an urban youth population and delivered by our extremely dynamic instructors in a language and framework relevant to their lives, these programs have been successful in helping teens to develop empathy, gain impulse control, and equipping them with the tools they need to live meaningful lives.

The letter reads …

Dear Sir –

The young people in high schools today, especially those considered ‘at-risk’, face many challenges. Whether it is the major challenges of broken or abusive families, coping with poverty while everyone on the TV seems to be a millionaire, unplanned pregnancies and babies, or the slightly more minor challenges, like self image, trying to fit in, keep friends, be attractive and deal with all the cruelties that occur in their everyday drama, it is undeniable that these kids face difficult life issues at a very young age. While many of these challenges are often unavoidable, it is unfortunate that these young people do not have better tools to cope with these challenges in a healthy way.

Like all people, each and every one of them is caught up in a constant search and struggle to feel content. In order to achieve this, many of these teens essentially try to un-plug their minds from their problems. The main way to un-plug for the majority of these kids is by ‘getting high’, which comes with a whole string of secondary problems. Getting high can be achieved through many methods, not just drugs. Physical and mental violence allows one to ‘get higher’ than the person they abuse, and hustling to make money, legal or illegal, can give one a ‘higher status’. There are many ways to get high, healthy ones too, but essentially by getting high, these kids are able to rise up out of, or at least get away from, their primary problems.

When talking with these kids, however, you will not hear them say that they are trying to escape from their pain. They are usually not that self-aware. They know what they like and they know what they don’t like, and they will tell you. You will hear something like, ‘I like to kick it with my friends, get high, or whatever.’

This ‘whatever’ attitude has another side. It is the statement ‘whatever’ that can express their ambivalence towards everything they don’t like. ‘Whatever’ is how today’s youth express their extreme apathy towards teachers (and other adults) that cannot relate to them, and classrooms and institution that do not engage their interests. Breaking through this ‘whatever’ is the educator’s biggest challenge.

An Anecdote –

Upon introducing a meditation class at the Mission High School health fair, I was blown away by the degree to which these kids were disengaged. After teaching in Juvenile Halls, were there is at least an attentive audience due to an extreme lack of alternative stimulation, the kids I faced inhigh school were basically looking at me with one question. What can you do for me in this second? They assumed, ‘nothing’.

I ended up doing an exercise where I wrote on the board two words. ‘Like’ and ‘dislike’. I asked them to tell me all the things they liked, and all the things they did not, without holding back. Their faces lit up, they looked at me instead of away from me, and started calling out various things that I proceeded to write on the board. At the end, we did an exercise in which we concentrated on each side, first ‘dislike’ and then ‘like’ for about 30 seconds each. ‘Like’ made them feel good, relaxed, content, excited and ‘dislike’ made them angry, tense, and sad. In doing this, they immediately saw the power of thoughts over their body and mind. They were introduced to the power of their mind. However, this exercise revealed something different to me. It revealed that these kids have interests, passions, and inspirations, and that they yearn for an environment in which they can express them. We as educators need to tap into this, honor their yearning and offer them healthy ways to both express it, and along the way, become more self-aware. The self-awareness holds the key to knowing who we are and dealing with life’s challenges in a healthy way.

Best Wishes –

Isaiah Seret
Board of Directors
The Mind Body Awareness Project

In southern Ohio, The Mindfulness Project, founded by Richard Sears and Frank Wood seeks to accomplish a similar mission of supporting teens in an effort to instill long-term goal is to bring hope and power to young people in order to help them find real freedom. To learn more about our work in mindfulness, please contact us.

Frank Wood is a licensed psychologist in Cincinnati Ohio. My contact information is 513-381-6611 or info@greatercincinnatipsyhologyassociates.com

The Basic Human Problem …

An ambitious student comes to see his psychologist and teacher. As soon as the student sits down, the teacher asks, “What is the basic human problem?” The student ponders this, then answers, “We’re not awake.” The teacher says, “Yes, but those are just words. Y are just thinking.” And, he sends the student away.

Perturbed, the student continues to ponder, “What is the basic human problem?”, and was determined to figure it out. A week later he returns. The teacher says, “Well, have you figured out what the basic human problem is?” The student replies, “Yes. The basic human problem is that we thing too much. We’re identified with our thinking. We believe our thoughts.” The teacher answers, “Again, you’re just thinking. You have to see the basic human problem in yourself.” The student leaves feeling very dejected.

Wanting to find the right answer, the student pulls out all his books and reads and studies. When he returns to see the teacher, he’s almost stuttering, he’s so sure he knows the answer to this question. Seeing the state he’s in, the teacher asks, “What is the basic human problem?” The student says, “There is no problem!” He’s so happy with his answer. The teacher just stares at him and says, “Then what are you doing here?”

In that moment, the student instantly deflates. His shoulders drop; his head drops; he feels totally humiliated. Peering at him, the teacher says, “What are you experiencing right now? The student, without even looking up, says, “I just feel like crawling into a hole.” At this point the teacher says to him, “If you can fully experience this feeling, then you’ll understand the basic human problem.”

Some words to consider … hmmm. (from being zen by Ezra Bayda)

I am Frank Wood, a licensed psychologist in Cincinnati Ohio who brings hope and power to his clients. Let me know if I can help you! Contact information – 513-381-6611 or info@greatercincinnatipsyhologyassociates.com

The 84th Problem

One afternoon a farmer (it could have been a troubled spouse or an angry teen) who had heard that this one psychologist was a wonderful teacher came to this psychologist seeking relief from his suffering. "I'm a farmer (again could have been a spouse whose been cheated on, a teen whose parents just don’t get it)," he said to the psychologist, "And I love farming. But last summer we had a drought and nearly starved, while this summer, we had too much rain and some of my crops did not do as well as I would have liked."

The psychologist sat and listened to the farmer. "I have a wife, too. She's a great woman, a wonderful wife. But sometimes she can really nag me. And to tell you the truth, sometimes I get a little tired of her." The psychologist continued to listen and smile, as the farmer continued. "I've got three kids. They're all really great. I'm really proud of them. But sometimes they don't listen to me and don't pay me the respect I deserve."

It went on like this for awhile, and then when finished with his litany, the farmer waited for the psychologist to solve his problems.

"I can't help you," said the psychologist. "What!" responded the farmer, "I've heard that you are a great master. How can you not help me?" "Well," the psychologist replied, "First of all, everyone has problems. In fact, everyone's got about 83 problems. Of course, you may fix one now and then, but another one will pop up in it's place. If you think about it, everyone you know and all that you care for is subject to change -- it's all impermanent. And you yourself are going to die someday. Now there's a problem."

The farmer was red in the face. "What kind of teacher are you!? How is this supposed to help me?!"

The psychologist retorted. "Well....perhaps I can help you with the 84th problem."

The farmer asked "What 84th problem?"

"The eighty-fourth problem is that we don’t want to have any problems."

Final comment - I am Frank Wood, a licensed psychologist in Cincinnati Ohio who brings hope and power to my clients. Some of them are spouses, others are teens, and yet others are older adults. Let me know if you'd like some help! Contact information – 513-381-6611 or info@greatercincinnatipsyhologyassociates.com

Meditation Lowers Stress and Supports Forgiveness Among College Students

In the study Meditation Lowers Stress and Supports Forgiveness Among College Students: A Randomized Controlled Trial Oman and others sought to evaluate the effects on stress, rumination, forgiveness, and hope with college undergraduate students and used a model of the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction course which offered 8 weekly 90 minute groups that offered meditation-based stress-management tools.

For those of you like me who have kids in college … even for those who have grandkids in college, you likely are aware of the stress that accompanies life for college students, as well as the colligiates desires to think and rethink and rethink life’s meaning. As well, those who have the benefit of hopeful collegiate children well appreciate the value that brings to their studies.

In this study, the authors observed meaningful post-treatment differences between MBSR and the control group (those not enrolled in the MBSR group), the treated participants demonstrated significant benefits for stress and forgiveness while only marginal benefits for rumination. These authors concluded that meditation-based stress-management practices reduce stress and enhance forgiveness among college undergraduates.

For more information on upcoming MBSR courses designed for area college students, please call Greater Cincinnati Psychology Associates. Such programs merit further study as potential health-promotion tools for college populations.

I am Frank Wood, a licensed psychologist in Cincinnati Ohio who brings hope and power to his clients. Let me know if I can help you! Contact information – 513-381-6611 or info@greatercincinnatipsyhologyassociates.com

Mindfulness as sports meditation?

It is incorporating mindfulness strategies into sports. It is another type of "movement meditation," along with walking meditation, hatha yoga, dance meditation, etc.

Some thoughts on sports meditation …

CONCENTRATION – Sports often demand a focused, here-and-now attention. When this is absent, players miss the ball, while others suffer injuries. With mindfulness, athletes learn to direct their awareness, even their own distracting thoughts of fear, frustration, and uncertainty. And yet, it does not always require concentrating with a forced effort. With mindfulness, an athlete is able to become naturally fascinated by the moment-to-moment aspects of their sport and perhaps drawn into a specific aspect of it. In this moment, we attain a type of inner stillness despite the external motion.

PRACTICE OF MINDFUL MEDITATION – Athletes are often more proficient when they have an awareness of the other competitors, and of their body's actions, as well as the relevant external details (be it a pulling guard, an icy patch on the ski slope, or the impending hill in a marathon). Through the practice of mindfulness, we increasingly become open to sensory input, thoughts, or bodily sensations. This works even when athletes are engaged in non-competitive situations.

BREATHING – Our breathing offers us a means of connecting with the moment … it is an anchor that permits the athlete a way to increase awareness of the body’s part of the sport. Be it the foot's contact with the ground, the contraction of muscles, our grip on the lacrosse stick, the wind as it chill in the air as it hits the player before a new quarter begins, or the sweat which drips from the forehead during half-time. As in non-sports mindfulness, the point is not to make judgments (e.g., "incorrect foot placement"), and the athlete does not use the awareness to improve body positioning or the outcomes (e.g., distance or speed); instead, simply noticing our movements and our body's feedback (e.g., pain, effortlessness, strain, etc.).

EXTERNAL ENVIRONMENT – Yes mindfulness of the environment as we are attentive to the ball, the floor or grass beneath us, the snow or rain in the air, the sounds of the crowd, or the goalie’s direction of players, the movements of other players, even the odors. We notice the results of our actions (e.g., the flight of the baseball after we hit it), but we do so without any analysis of those results. Mindfulness in sports is not to judge as "successful" or "unsuccessful"; it is simple observation/awareness.

For more check out our website is - www.psych-insights.com/tmp

I am Frank Wood, a licensed psychologist in Cincinnati Ohio who brings hope and power to his clients. Let me know if I can help you! Contact information – 513-381-6611 or info@greatercincinnatipsyhologyassociates.com

Cutting Up An Ox

There is a practice, of non-doing which is, at it’s core, a part of doing … below is a poem …

Thanks, Jon, Amy, Richard, and for those who are OK with non-doing!

Cheers to the balance of 2009 and the prospect of 2010!

The poem’s title is “Cutting Up An Ox”

Prince Wen Hui's cook
Was cutting up an ox.
Out went a hand,
Down went a shoulder,
He planted a foot,
He pressed a knee,
The ox fell apart
With a whisper,
The bright cleaver murmured
Like a gentle wind.
Rhythm! Timing!
Like a sacred dance,
Like "The Mulberry Grove,"
Like ancient harmonies!

"Good work!" the Prince exclaimed,
"Your method is flawless!"
"Method?" said the cook
Laying aside his cleaver,
"What I follow is Tao
Beyond all methods!"

"When I first began
To cut up oxen
I would see before me
The whole ox
All in one mass.
After three years
I no longer saw this mass.
I saw distinctions.

"But now, I see nothing
With the eye. My whole being
Apprehends.
My senses are idle. The spirit
Free to work without plan
Follows its own instinct
Guided by natural line,
By the secret opening, the hidden space,
My cleaver finds its own way.
I cut through no joint, chop no bone.

"A good cook needs a new chopper
Once a year--he cuts.
A poor cook needs a new one
Every month--he hacks!

I have used this same cleaver
Nineteen years.
It has cut up
A thousand oxen.
The edge is as keen
As if newly sharpened.

"There are spaces in the joints;
The blade is thin and keen:
When this thinness
Finds that space
There is all the room you need!
It goes like a breeze!
Hence I have this cleaver nineteen years
As if newly sharpened!

"True, there are sometimes
Tough joints. I feel them coming,
I slow down, I watch closely,
Hold back, barely moving the blade,
And whump! the part falls away
Landing like a clod of earth.

"Then I withdraw the blade,
I stand still
And let the joy of the work
Sink in.
I clean the blade
And put it away."

Prince Wen Hui said,
"This is it! My cook has shown me
How I ought to live
My own life!"

Now that is a lesson!
My blurb … I thought I'd let you know about some work Richard Sears and I have recently been listed on mindfuleducation.org as Ohio's first organization dedicated to supporting schools with mindfulness. Research over the past few decades has found that mindfulness training develops attention and concentration, social-emotional awareness, body awareness and coordination, and also improves interpersonal skills. We realize that mindfulness lays the foundation for education in that it sets the stage for more optimal conditions for learning and teaching. In 2010, we look forward to sharing lessons on mindfulness in schools in southwestern Ohio, southeastern Indiana and northern Kentucky. Our website is - www.psych-insights.com/tmp

“Peace on the Inside – For Kids in the Juvenile Justice System,” Yoga Journal, October 2009

To quote the Bible, there is nothing new under the sun. So in that vein, I am re-posting a post from Kinder Associates. They are the bomb in school based mindfulness programs and their website is www.wellnessworksinschools.com.

For kids in the juvenile justice system, the article reports “…yoga and meditation programs offer the rare and life-changing opportunity to find calm and comfort within. The gifts of both yoga and mindfulness---tuning into one’s experience, learning to distinguish one’s perceptions from reality, controlling one’s mind, connecting with others, holding positive thoughts---are especially helpful to ease the stress, fear and pain that troubled youths so often experience.” Gabriel Kram, director of consulting services with MBA Project in Alameda, CA is “pleased to see the growing acceptance of contemplative practices as effective tools to help at-risk kids. We see those that participate tend to have greater control of their emotions, there’s a marked increase in peaceful resolution; and they’re more likely to ask for help when they need it.”

Blurb about my work - The Mindfulness Project which seeks to provide education/training on mindfulness in professional, educational, medical settings and for organizational growth. And, we have recently been listed on mindfuleducation.org as Ohio's first organization dedicated to supporting schools with mindfulness. Research over the past few decades has found that mindfulness training develops attention and concentration, social-emotional awareness, body awareness and coordination, and also improves interpersonal skills. Our website is - www.psych-insights.com/tmp