20 Tasks to Simplify your Life

I aim to keep this post simple, but also to reflect on what I've done with my "summer off." I had a fear that if I turned down work, I would never be offered work again. This all-or-nothing type of thinking is not healthy. I also had a stigma associated with collecting unemployment. But this financial safety net has allowed me the freedom to buy and do things to make our lives better. This in turn makes us happier and better members of our community.

1) old mail = shred

I have a bad habit of letting mail pile up on our dining room table and then putting it in a bag and then putting that bag in the garage. I did this for years. Then I watched "hoarders" on netflix and got in gear. I started shredding this stuff by hand and then remembered that I could just as well take it to school. Plus side, I found some unused gift cards!

2) old papers = shred

I have a habit of keeping all student work and fearing throwing it out either because I thought I would forget what I've done in the classroom and also for reasons of confidentiality. Our mail services at CSUN has a program where you can request a trashcan for shredding and they do it for you. So I purged out so many old papers.

3) craft supplies = organized

I think it's every crafting diva's dream to have a 'craft room' where all the supplies are organized and accessible and projects can be started and stopped with ease. I can't say I have a 'craft room' but I do have a 'craft closet' and an oversized guest bedroom where I can do my papercrafts. Husband says no needles on carpeted floors, which I get, so the sewing machine is still in the garage.

4) bike supplies = organized

I'm sure it's also every gearhead's dream to have an organized garage where they can do maintenance and cleaning, to keep their equipment in tip top shape for the next adventure.

There's a funny store here in Northridge called "Mr. Stuff" and they have some really random inventory. One thing we bought there is this cart on wheels, which works really nicely for bike stuff. We've had it for 10 months now and I would say it is one of the best purchases I've made in the last year. It holds inner tubes, bike lights, helmets, locks, gloves, hats, bandannas, pumps, bags, all the things you need to grab and go. We built a bike rack to hold all our bikes and we have a bike stand to use when we need to clean or fix the bikes. These investments have lowered our stress and anxiety to make living a bikelife more enjoyable.

5) medicines = returned to pharmacy

I'm not sure if you have old prescription medications in you medicine cabinet, but I did. I had three bottles from 2008 and one from 2012. I knew that you can't flush them down the toilet because they can contaminate the municipal water supply or end up in the ocean, but I didn't know what was the best thing to do with them. Turns out Walgreen's pharmacies in California have a dropbox for this purpose. Not every location has one, so check online before you go.

6) electronics = recycled

We had two old cell phones, two old digital cameras, and a bunch of batteries that we dropped off at the Solvents/Automotive/Flammables/Electronics (S.A.F.E.) center. Now that I'm re-reading their flier, I should have also taken some old spray paint. Even though dear husband points out that landfills are sealed so that toxic wastes do not escape, I feel like this option may lead to reclaiming the trace amounts of rare earth elements that are present in our devices.

7) work office = organized, purged

This is an every semester thing, but it's important. I go through the stacks of chaos and rearrange important items into 3-ring binders. What paper can be recycled is put into a recycling bin. What paper must be shredded is sorted into the shredding bin. What supplies can be diverted into other chemical storage areas are moved from the office to the "Chem Club Room."

8) bedroom = new pillows & sheets

Not that this would bother everybody, but it bothered me. Our fitted sheets kept coming off the mattress. We had one set of cheap sheets, which didn't work at all. We went back to buy a more expensive set of sheets, which also didn't work but we tolerated them for over a year. Finally, I took those gift cards that I found going through the old mail and converted them into very expensive Martha Stewart sheets from Macy's. I also got new pillows. There are some things that you just can't buy used and I believe that pillows are one of those things.

9) home office = new bookshelf

There's a bookshelf that was in our garage when we moved in over a year ago. It's really nice and I always felt that it should be upstairs in the "library" a.k.a. guest bedroom a.k.a. craft room. But it was really heavy. Luckily, since we've been doing a new workout program, we're stronger. We finally carried that upstairs and it's just beckoning me to fill it with books.

10) computer = backed up

The cost of removable hard drives has come down so far. I got a new computer and used a removable hard drive to transfer files from the home computer to the new work computer. There's something satisfying about using a new, fast computer to search your old files.

11) bills = auto pay

It sounds so silly, but I've been paying bills each month manually over the phone. I finally got the monthly bills on autopay and it feels so great.

12) vitamins = restocked

I haven't been a big believer in vitamins, or maybe I should say that I go in phases. Anyhow, I threw all the expired vitamins out and bought new ones. Yeah, one could argue that calcium doesn't go bad like acetaminophen goes bad, but you never know what coatings and inert ingredients may do when left unattended or worse in hot storage units or in a hot garage. 

13) contact lenses = restocked

I am not sure why I'm so averse to doctor's offices, maybe it's the cost or the fear of finding out there's something seriously wrong with me. I also don't like to face the idea that I should get new glasses (for me a $600 investment). But I finally found a new optometrist in our new neighborhood and got the exam to get the new 1-year inventory of contact lenses.

I should say that part of simplifying your life involves adulting. Tasks such as sorting out what your insurance covers like ob-gyn, dental and vision. We've delved into doing this and although scary and intimidating, it's important to know what you don't know (known unknowns and unknown unknowns). That way when you really need it (in an emergency) it's already sorted.

14) seeds = harvested

Not everyone has a garden, and I get that, but I do. I feel so great now that my seeds are sorted. I use old cosmetic bags to sort them into families, that way when I want to share seeds or plant something I don't have to dig through the entire library.

15) car = washed, oil changed, registered, insured

Living a bikelife tends to lead to neglecting our car. We only have one car and it's very tiny. I swear I haven't taken it to a car wash in like 5 years until recently. Also, it was important to establish a new relationship with a service station for oil changes. The DMV has a kiosk where you can pay your car registration, and now there's even one of those kiosks at the grocery store!

16) junk email = unsubscribed

This may sound like a silly thing, but instead of spending idle time deleting junk emails, I spent a few hours (while waiting for the oil change and at the optometrist) unsubscribing from all the email lists that I am on. I got this idea from my students years ago (before I got a smartphone) and I finally spent the time doing it. Now when I check my inbox, it's all stuff I actually want to look at.

17) podcasts = subscribed

I spent time (and energy) looking for stuff to listen to on long drives (where there is not good radio reception) and now I'm on the podcast bandwagon. I downloaded an app called Castbox which automatically downloads podcasts I've subscribed to so that I can listen to them offline. I also want to say that Hoopla has changed my life. I listen to audiobooks there, which can also be downloaded.

18) laundry = washed

I love my laundry situation now. I finally got around to cleaning the washer and dryer (which used to live outside) and I bought more laundry soap. There's a luxury that I don't take for granted in having W/D hookups and the space for my drying racks. I have a fabulous clothing rack on wheels that is so easy to move around the garage. And hot days are perfect for drying laundry.

19) closet = sorted, purged, updated

What I have done in my closet is simplify, label and keep lean. Labeling all my drawers and bins helps dear husband contribute to putting away his and hers laundry.

20) bathroom = cleaned, purged, organized

Finally, cleaning the bathroom involved throwing away old lotions and cosmetics that are expired. See also 5, 12 and 13. It was fun going to the drugstore to get new contact lens solution and sunscreen and vitamins knowing there are empty spaces which they can go to. I read that one of the reasons people don't like dockless bikeshare in cities is because the bike seem like they are never "put away." Now I didn't grow up in a house where things got put away, we had quite a cluttered upbringing, and some say that clutter is a symptom of creativity, but also I've read that when things are put away it brings a sense of calm and peace. I like the sound of that.

#DefineYourself! -- Define Your Unique Self Or Else Others Will Define You...

In today's fast paced and ever changing world, the concept of "defining oneself" is more critical than ever. That is why I came up with the hashtag of #DefineYourself! It is a clarification and a celebration of what a person stands for. Let me explain further briefly below.

Each of us would like you think that we are extremely unique in this world.  WRONG.  We are more similar in our desires and needs than we would like to think. That is not to say that each of us are not unique. 

The hashtag #DefineYourself! is a designation (a marker if you will) to tell the world how you are unique relative to the rest of us.  If you type in the hashtag #DefineYourself into either 'Twitter' of 'Instagram' the results will be mainly about your physical appearance -- which is critical toward defining oneself.  Although, I would add that there exists many other 'dimensions' in which a person can define themselves which have nothing to do with appearance and are just as important -- if not more so.

In adding these multiple dimensions of 'uniqueness' -- the addition of the exclamation point "!" to the hashtag #DefineYourself.  Why you might ask?  If you type into 'Wikipedia' the phrase "exclamation mark" -- the following result is shown below in the introduction:

The exclamation mark (British English and Commonwealth English) or exclamation point (American English) is a punctuation mark usually used after an interjection or exclamation to indicate strong feelings or high volume (shouting), shows emphasis and often marks the end of a sentence. Example: "Watch out!" Similarly, a bare exclamation mark (with nothing before or after) is often used in warning signs.

The example in the excerpt is "Watch Out!" -- which is appropriate to emphasize the use of the exclamation mark.  Similarly, instead of restricting a definition of oneself to a single dimension -- i.e. physical appearance -- which is now commonly used on social media, the exclamation mark in the hashtag #DefineYourself! is a cry out to use a more 'complete' definition including the many other definitions of 'uniqueness' that each person holds in the world.



At this point, you may be wondering what type of 'uniqueness' can each of us highlight in our lives.  An example of this might be highlighting the 'unique' components of a cosmetic formulation as highlighted in the series Anti-Aging Skin Series (which I write) on this blog site.  On a more personal level, a person could write about their Mental Awareness Journey through life -- with updates and learning experiences in real time.  Another example might be a 'dimensional analysis' blog post written about the total number of Turkey's sold in the United States on Thanksgiving Holiday -- highlighting the excess of food of the meal.  Other example might be a short 'Tweet' on 'Twitter' (or other social media outlets) highlighting your unique qualities or outlook on life. The point is that the hashtag is meant to highlight your uniqueness in the world today.

With this in mind, use the hashtag and tell the world about yourself. Otherwise ... others will try to define you in their terms. Have a great day.

Superbloom

Adapting to the drought was difficult, since I have a desire to grow edible fruits and vegetables in my (front and) backyard.  I picked up mainly succlents and cacti in 2016.  But then we got to the start of 2017, which turned out to be the sixteenth wettest stretch in Southern California since World War II.

Take for example, this container I planted several years in a row with California and New Mexico native wildflowers.  This year, a spray of Lasthenia californica (common name: goldfields) & Eschscholzia californica (common name: golden poppy) appeared.  The photo above was taken on March 31, two weeks after settling in our new location in Northridge, CA.

The container garden made the move with us, and all the plants have survived relocation.  Many of my succulents are flowering, Graptopetalum paraguayense (common name: Ghost plant) has pretty grey leaves with a pinkish cast and a delicate little flowers on an extended stem.  You can see a bit of Senecio mandraliscae (common name: Blue chalk sticks) below.

I love the chocolatey color of Echeveria compressicaulis leaves and it looks like it's putting out an impressive raceme.  I can't wait to see how the flowers look when they open. It is framed in this photo by Crassula tetragona (left), Crassula argentea (right), Sedum pachyphyllum (upper right), and Portulacaria afra (above).

I love how this photo makes it look like the perimeter of each leaf is hand-stitched.  This is Crassula pellucida subsp. marginalis 'Variegata' (nickname: Calico Kitten).  If that's not one of the sweetest things you've ever seen, I don't know what's wrong with you.  You get just a glimpse of Graptopetalum paraguayense to the left.

The beauty above started flowering before we moved.  Sedum clavatum is comprised of frosty blue-green rosettes named for 'clava' meaning "club" for the baseball shape of the sepals.  The complexity of these tiny flowers is mesmerizing. A compact inflorescence of many white star-shaped flowers appears in spring to early summer that take a pink hue with age.

I always know the end of the school year is near when I see my Echinopsis chamaecereus (common name: peanut cactus) flowering (see prev. post). You can also see a handy pollinator. I've already had good luck with harvesting seeds, so I know the winged creatures are doing good work. We've also seen many of the crane fly this season, but they are not attributed with much pollination work.

I love the more squat Rebutia krainziana and its bold orange flower.  I've been reading about the sacral chakra and the mantras associated with it: I am inspired.I am creative.I am joyful.I am in control.I am unique.I am special.I Feel. RIP to my Opuntia basilaris and Gymnocalycium mihanovichii. One got too much water and I'm not sure what happened to the other, but they're both shriveled up and dead now.

Last but not least, I will leave you with a flower of Capsicum annuum. Three out of the seven pepper plants I had last year survived the winter.  However, I won't really know which is which until they produce fruit!  The tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) 'Cosmic Eclipse' is still producing as well.  I don't know how they'll fare in the heat of the summer, but I'll enjoy them for as long as they live.

Succulent Clones

December 11, 2016

January 29, 2017 
(7 weeks = 49 days later)

December 11, 2016

January 29, 2017
(7 weeks = 49 days later)

December 11, 2016

January 29, 2017 
(7 weeks = 49 days later)

It's about progress not perfection.  And patience.

Extreme Personality Traits And Making Small Changes

Are you a person who has extreme tendencies?


What are extreme tendencies?


What is extreme behavior?


The answer to these questions is centered around the behavior of focusing your attention or behavior (habit) on one task and going all in.  An example is of the disease of alcoholism.  Typically, as the disease progresses, the whole behavior becomes centered around the use of alcohol.  Extreme behavior is not limited to the use of drugs and alcohol.  In fact, many people suffer from being a 'workaholic' -- spending an unusually large amount of time at work.  Work becomes your life.


Why do I mention this behavior?



After returning from vacation, I had a short break from writing blogs on various sites -- which was much needed.  Over the vacation, I realized that I had taken some time off from checking in with my journal on the site "Kaiserwellnesscenter.com".  Periodically, I write about my mental journey.  These electronic journal entries are different from the learned "mental awareness" articles found on this blog site.  The last time I checked in was a few months ago.



Therefore, I wrote another entry which can be accessed by clicking -- HERE.



I hope that you find useful content on the journal entry that will help you move toward a healthier lifestyle.  In the coming week, I should be continuing the "Anti-Aging Skin Series" with the ingredients from Jergen's Skin Firming Lotion (as promised).



With that being said, I will finish the next post to publish soon.  Have a great day!

The Benefits of Gardening

Works Cited:

Armstrong, D. A survey of community gardens in upstate New York: Implications for health promotion and community development. Health & Place (2000) Vol 6 pp 319-327.

Galluzzi, G.; Eyzaguirre, P.; Negri, V. Home gardens: Neglected hotspots of agro-biodiversity and cultural diversity. Biodiversity and Conservation (2010) Vol 19 pp 3635-3654.

Hale, J.; Knapp, C.; Bardwell, L.; Buchenau, M.; Marshall, J.; Sancar, F.; Litt, J. S. Connecting food environments and health through the relational nature of aesthetics: Gaining insight through the community gardening experience. Social Science & Medicine (2011) Vol 72 pp 1853-1863.

Hartig, T.; Mitchell, R.; de Vries, D.; Frumkin, H. Nature and Health. Annual Review of Public Health (2014) Vol 35 pp 207-228.

Maller, C.; Townsend, M.; Pryor, A.; Brown, P.; St Leger, L. Healthy nature healthy people: ‘contact with nature as an upstream health promotion intervention for populations. Health Promotion International (2005) Vol 21 pp 45-54.

Milligan, C.; Gatrell, A.; Bingley, A. ‘Cultivating health’: Therapeutic landscapes and older people in northern England. Social Science & Medicine (2004) Vol 58 pp 1781-1793.

Shinew, K. J. Leisure spaces as potential sites for interracial interaction: Community gardens in urban areas. Journal of Leisure Research (2004) Vol 36 pp 336-355.

Twiss, J.; Dickinson, J.; Duma, S.; Kleinman, T.; Paulsen, H.; Rilveria, L. Community gardens: Lessons learned from California healthy cities and communities. American Journal of Public Health (2003) Vol 93 pp 1435-1438.

Wannamethee, S. G.; Gerald Shaper, A.; Walker, M. Physical activity and mortality in older men with diagnosed coronary heart disease. Circulation (2000) Vol 102 pp 1358-1363.

What Did I Learn From Writing About Mental Health?

I promise that this post will be brief.  Really, do you believe me?  Well, lets get on with this and you will see.  Over the past month, or should I say in the month of May, I wrote two blog posts regarding mental awareness.  The first was about the realization of the physiological responses and the consequences of not responding to them.  While the second was about the role that mental dialogue plays in the success of reducing stress while elevating the health and wellness of ourself and others around us on a daily basis.




I decided to update my "mike's mental awareness journey" page with two posts regarding the process of writing the two posts for this site.  Specifically, what did I learn from these two blog posts -- research, watching, reading the content to assembling them for you to read.  Here is the first post -- click here -- which is brief.  




Really, I have over the last few years really started to understand the importance of noticing when I am stressed and the physiological responses -- my response toward it.  Further, how to deal with stress is centered around getting control of your mind.  I have learned that the best way for me to do so is to start doing job or chore around the house.  That is:  take the stress and the physiological response and utilize that energy to complete a job that I dislike doing -- taking out the trash, dishes, laundry, etc.




These methods work well when you are at home or at work for diffusing stress.  But what about if you are on vacation?  Or at a family event?




On these occasions, the role of forming a positive mental dialogue is critical.   In fact, for me this played out in reality last weekend while on vacation.  You can read about that experience here.  My wife and I were able to turn a terrible situation into a positive one by changing our mindset -- our mental dialogues.




I hope that these two blog posts help encourage you to look within yourself for the signs of stress.  Further, toward changing the self-defeating thoughts into positive constructive thoughts to create a mental dialogue which allows you to accomplish goals that have been obstacles since.




Until next time, Have a great day!

What Kind Of Mental Dialogue Do You Have?

What kind of mental dialogue do you have running through your mind right now?  Is it something like..."why am I using my time to read this article?...should I be doing something else?..."?  Or is the question popping up in your mind the following:




Why is he asking this question?  Where is he going with this question?

Environment Can Influence Mental Dialogue

Have you ever been influenced by your environment?  Have you ever tried to obtain a goal with a positive outcome only to be over rode by the local environment?  Let me ask the question another way:




Have you ever heard a statement from an authority figure or role-model that resembles the following quote?  The quote is about surrounding one's self with successful people:

The people you surround yourself with influence your behaviors, so choose friends who have healthy habits.

Super simple right?




The reason why I ask these questions is because the mental dialogue which you let happen dictates the success and motivation that you have to complete tasks that you define as challenging.




The type of dialogue that each of us let occupy our minds on a daily, hourly, minute by minute, second by second -- basis defines a large part of our success in life.  How do I know this?  I don't necessarily.  People often underestimate the power of the environment on their success toward achieving a goal.  That is not an excuse to blame that environment for your failure (that should be stated at the outset).  As I stated, I do not have any direct scientific or research based evidence -- myself.




But, psychologist Philip Zimbardo does know the answer to this question.  He is the psychiatrist of the famous experiment at Stanford University called "The Stanford Prison Experiment".  In that experiment, his aim was to answer the following questions (taken from the documentary):




1) Does the institution or the situation outside of you come to control your behavior?




2) Or do the stuff inside us (values, morality, ethics) allow you to rise above the negative environment?




What the experiment revealed was that given the set of correct circumstances, an evil environment can turn a good person into a bad person?  Years later, the term was coined by Dr. Philip Zimbardo as the "Lucifer Effect."




In the previous blog post, I wrote about the quote: "Mind Over Matter: If You Don't Mind, It Does Not Matter."  That is true to a large extent.  Where the breakdown occurs leading to failure-like behavior (not achieving one's goals) is the following:

What dog am I feeding?

Why is this question stated as a quote?  The quote is from the podcast "Unbeatable Mind" by Commander Mark Divine (formerly) of the US Navy Seals.  Once you understand the concepts of gaining control over the mindset (from the former blog post), then the circle is complete.  That is controlling the "mental dialogue" that is occupying your mind is the final step in completing the loop of success.  Let us look at the concept of "mental dialogue" in more detail below.

Mental Dialogue Comes From Within Our Minds!

Without going into too much detail the result was: that an evil environment took over "good people."  Right about now you may be asking yourself the following question:




What does this have to do with mental dialogues?




Everything...Let me explain.  Years later, Dr. Zimbardo extended his research to include the mental dialogue that each of us play in our mind every day.  One day, a patient came to his office who had an issue with playing 23 memories in his head each day.  Dr. Zimbardo worked with him a couple of weeks and could not find a way to help the patient "move on" past playing these 23 memories each day in his mind.  How would you cure this patient?

Some years ago a young man I'll call James came to see me in my Stanford University office for help with his shyness.  In the course of our conversation about the origins of his awkwardness around people, he told me that almost everyone he met reminded him of someone who had hurt him or rejected him in the past, so he could not risk being open to them.  And then he related a very interesting image: his life, he said, was organized around the eighty slides that he had arrayed in what he called his "Kodak Carousel mental slide projector."  Once the slide show started, the images were projected into his current consciousness in a predictable and reliable sequence.  So his present sense was the slide on his mind's screen, his past sense was the slide he just viewed, and his future sense was determined by the slide or slides coming up next.  My first thought was that this seemed like a reasonable metaphor for memory.

What he told me next, however, was quite unsettling: James's slide tray was filled with slides of negative experiences only--rejections, failures, missed opportunities, mistakes, miscalculations, bad deals, and more. His present sense, then, was always of a past negative event; his past sense was also of a negative event; and his anticipated future slide was always a predictable negative event from his past!  Worse, his mental slide show was out of his conscious control--it could be turned on at any time by triggering experience; so repeatedly viewing all of these horrific images of his past negative experiences, so vividly projected, further burned them into his brain.

I thought hard about a treatment plan, and arrived at a solution that seemed to fit his particular imagery.  I informed James that kodake had just developed a 120-slide carousel, which meant that he could new be able to add 40 new slides to his old show.  I encouraged him to explore his memory to find any events that were positive: successes, good birthdays, friends, favorite foods, movies, books ... and for each positive image he was able to recall, we created a new, vividly bright slide and inserted it random;y into his mental carousel.  Although the negatives still dominated the set, there was now some occasional relief.  He could see that his life had many good people, experiences, successes, and more that were balanced against the bad.

We gradually replaced more and more of the bad slides with good ones from recent positive experiences.  Over a period of months, this impromptu treatment program began working to provide James with a a more balanced, nuanced conception of his life over time and of his ability to shape his current life.  It also had a profound impact on me, encouraging me to think more deeply about the nature of our temporal orientation and the real impact that our individual concepts of past, present, and future have on our lives. 

Wow, what a revelation for a treatment on his part? right?




How can you extend the your mental carousel?




The above story shows the power of carrying a terrible mental dialogue.  The fact that the gentleman did not have a single "positive element or slide" in his carousel shows the power of the mind.  If we decide to be stubborn, the possibility of overcoming that state of mind can sometimes take several years.




To start to head toward a close of this post, I would like to return to the question the Commander Mark Divine asked in the podcast listed above (or located here):




Which dog am I feeding?




This concept is awesome.  The podcast was short and to the point.  He speaks about a "crossfit" competition where he temporarily lost control during a competition.  The event taught him a great amount about the power of the mind.  Specifically, how to channel an unreserved tap of energy into the right avenues within the mind is crucial toward success.  The success comes from optimizing the mind and awareness of what is happening to us at a given moment.  Some call this the "central governor theory" or by other names.




What is the aim here?




This process is a fine process.  To modify the physiology of the mind to expand the threshold to accept more pain for growth.  In order to do so, a person must be able to understand when we have crossed over the threshold and enter the regime of injury.  Once a person starts to feels fatigue, the mind releases a flood of signals to the sympathetic system to start the process of "shutting down."  At this point, the body has started to shift toward a "shut down" process.




Understanding the shift of thought in order to expand one's threshold is important for growth.  Why?  In all aspects of our lives, we experience the dialogue in our minds -- whether we choose to accept this or not.  For Command Divine, he breaks the dialogue into two sides: the "courage wolf" and the "fear wolf."




Hence, the question above: Which dog am I feeding?




When pain or fear starts to slip into a person's mind, the "fear wolf" is howling and that howling is extremely loud.  The loud noise in our mind prohibits us from hearing the "courage wolf" -- who is hungry and waiting in the background to be fed -- too.  More likely, people are often encouraged to feed the "fear wolf" rather than silencing it and feeding the "courage wolf."




How does a person control both wolfs?




In his podcast, Commander Divine suggests to slow down and take deep breaths.  During that time, take note of the origins of where the "fear wolf" is getting fed.  Try to change those thoughts (which are negative) toward positive thoughts (success thoughts).  The process starts to feed the "courage wolf" and once the ball starts rolling, success follows.




Over time, the process gets easier.  Remember, "Mind over matter: If you don't mind, it doesn't matter."

Conclusion ...

Controlling the mind throughout the day is extremely complicated.  Although, working at understanding the origin of the negative thinking (i.e., feeding the "fear wolf") is critical toward overpowering those thoughts with positive thoughts (i.e., "easy day, I got this...").  During the generation of positive thoughts, the "fear wolf" is starved (failure of the power of fear) and success sets in (i.e., "courage wolf" is feeding quickly).




Learning to understand how to think under duress is extremely critical toward overcoming anxiety and fear with success and motivation.  As I mentioned above, the environment in which  a person chooses to reside in has an effect over their long and short term success.  This is coupled to the mental dialogue that a person lets into their mind.




The time has come to stop writing.  Now, the job is yours to go out and get success and motivate others to attain whatever dream or goal they would like.  Have a great day.

"Mind Over Matter: If You Don't Mind, It Doesn't Matter"

The title is a quote that I heard while watching the series on television (cable - I guess) on the training series of the United States Navy Seals -- BDU Class 234 years ago.  Watching this series will either tire you out completely, or motivate you to get up and make a change in your life.  Maybe watching the series will do both -- who knows.  Each of us have our own obstacles toward tackling stress.  I chose the quote above as a "thesis" statement with the following paragraphs as an elaboration of what is stress and how can each of us deal with having stress more easily living each day.

What Is Stress?

Whenever a system deviates away from "equilibrium" the system is in a state of stress.  How that system recovers depends heavily on the system itself.  For human beings, the process of recovery depends on our individual self traits coupled with our ability to move ourselves back to equilibrium.  First, a better definition of "stress" might be the best way to really start to understand the feeling and solutions toward overcoming the negative aspects.  Additionally, later in the blog post, the realization of the positive attributes of using the state of "stress" positively will be discussed.  Many of the readers will be surprised at the different perspectives of "stress" that are available.




Many of us recognize the state of being stressed that is commonly portrayed in society on an everyday basis.  Usually, that state is associated with the feeling of fear, anxiety, and a heightened state of awareness.  If the word "stress" is typed into a search engine followed with the word "Wikipedia," the following image or page will appear:

As you can see, there are many definitions of stress available on "Wikipedia."  Of course, the stress (as mentioned above) that humans typically experience -- is usually a feeling of overwhelmed mixed in with fear and anxiety.  Stress (psychological) is defined by "Wikipedia" by the following excerpt:

In psychology, stress is a feeling of strain and pressure. Small amounts of stress may be desired, beneficial, and even healthy. Positive stress helps improve athletic performance. It also plays a factor in motivation, adaptation, and reaction to the environment. Excessive amounts of stress, however, may lead to bodily harm. Stress can increase the risk of strokes, heart attacks, ulcers, dwarfism, and mental illnesses such as depression.[1]

Stress can be external and related to the environment,[2] but may also be created by internal perceptions that cause an individual to experience anxiety or other negative emotions surrounding a situation, such as pressure, discomfort, etc., which they then deem stressful.

Humans experience stress, or perceive things as threatening, when they do not believe that their resources for coping with obstacles (stimuli, people, situations, etc.) are enough for what the circumstances demand. When we think the demands being placed on us exceed our ability to cope, we then perceive stress.

This type of stress is identifiable to most of us as we traverse our daily routines.  Understanding how to identify stress points in our daily lives is very critical.  Especially, if we hope to overcome stress. From a biological standpoint or chemical standpoint, what is stress?  The biology or physiology of stress is rather complex.  First, the traditional chemicals that affect the "neural chemistry" of stress are listed below -- taken from the "Wikipedia" page:

Corticotropin-releasing hormone:

Corticotropin-releasing hormone is the neurohormone secreted by the hypothalamus during a stress response that stimulates the anterior lobe of the pituitary gland by binding to its corticotropin-releasing hormone-receptors, causing the anterior pituitary to release adrenocorticotropic hormone.[42]

Adrenocorticotropic hormone:

Adrenocorticotropic hormone is the hormone secreted by the anterior lobe of the pituitary gland into the body's blood stream that stimulates the cortex of the adrenal gland by binding to its adrenocorticotropic hormone-receptors, thus causing the adrenal gland to release cortisol.

Cortisol:

Cortisol is a steroid hormone, belonging to a broader class of steroids called glucocorticoids, produced by the adrenal gland and secreted during a stress response. Its primary function is to redistribute energy (glucose) to regions of the body that need it most (i.e., the brain and major muscles during a fight-or-flight situation). As a part of the body's fight-or-flight response, cortisol also acts to suppress the body's immune system.

Cortisol is synthesized from cholesterol in the adrenal cortex.[43] Its primary function is to increase blood sugar through gluconeogenesis, suppress the immune system and aid in fat and protein metabolism.[44]

Norepinephrine:

Norepinephrine is a neurotransmitter released from locus coeruleus when stimulated by the hypothalamus during a stress response. Norepinephrine serves as the primary chemical messenger of the central nervous system's sympathetic branch that prepares the body for fight-or-flight response.

Serotonin:

Serotonin is a neurotransmitter synthesized in the raphe nucleus of the pons of the brainstem and projects to most brain areas. Serotonin is thought to play an important role in mood regulation. Stress-induced serotonin dysfunctions have been associated with anxiety, fear and depression-like symptoms.

Neuropeptide Y:

Neuropeptide Y is a protein that is synthesized in the hypothalamus and acts as a chemical messenger in the brain. Traditionally, it has been thought to play an important role in appetite, feeding behavior, and satiety, but more recent findings have implicated Neuropeptide Y in anxiety and stress, specifically, stress resiliency.[45]

How do these chemicals actually play into the process of stress?  Meaning, when a person feels "stressed" what is going on in the brain with the chemicals listed above.  According to the Neuroscientist Dr. Kristen Race in her "TED Talk" titled "Settle Down, Pay Attention, say Thank You: A How-To" the stress response proceeds as follows (after the image of the brain):

The stress response in the body proceeds as follows:

Let's take a look at what it looks inside the brain:

1) my eyes sent the image of the bear

2) to the relay center in my brain called the thalamus.

3) The thalamus perceived the bear as threatening

4) and sent a signal to the amygdala

5) which activated a set of responses designed to promote survival.

6) This floods our nervous system with chemicals.

7) Our heart pounds faster.

8) Our breathing becomes quick and shallow.

9) Muscles tighten and senses sharpen.

Upon reading the first bullet point, you might be confused.  The excerpt above was taken from the talk highlighted above about the speaker's (Dr. Kristen Race) reaction to seeing a bear in the woods on a trip years ago.  In her talk, she describes how different parts of the brain play different roles during a stress response as follows using the encounter with the bear:

 Now, that message also goes to the prefrontal cortex.  This is the part of our brain responsible for attention, impulse control, problem solving, decision making and forward thinking.  It's the part of our brain that registers positive emotions and helps us work and learn efficiently.   

Basically, we have the smart part of our brain, the prefrontal cortex, and the alarm part of our brain in the limbic system. The alarm part of our brain reacts faster and, at times, can be stronger than the smart part of our brain. 

In this instance, my prefrontal cortex was slow to access the information I had learned about bear because the alarm response had taken over.   

If we were to look at it on a graph, it would look something like this. At our baseline, we feel calm and at ease, and our prefrontal cortex is in charge.   

When the alarm is triggered, our limbic system is in charge. This is a classic fight-or-flight response, or stress response.   

There are, however, stress responses triggered all the time in our lives that aren't necessarily life-threatening, but the chemical reaction and what happens inside our brain is the same.

Here is the corresponding diagram that she uses to illustrate the "spike" in the stress response while the pathways are being activated:

Source: Kristen Race

How does this graph look if a person is chronically stressed over a given day, year, or a number of years?





Here is a diagram that is used in her talk to illustrate the response of "chronic stress" shown below:

Source: Kristen Race

What type of an effect does this series of spikes have on the "immune system"?





To answer this question, we need to turn again toward "Wikipedia"(biology) for the following description shown below:

Stress is the body's reaction to any stimuli that disturbs its equilibrium. When the equilibrium of various hormones is altered the effect of these changes can be detrimental to the immune system.[46] Much research has shown a negative effect stress has on the immune system, mostly through studies where participants were subjected to a variety of viruses. In one study individuals caring for a spouse with dementia, representing the stress group, saw a significant decrease in immune response when given an influenza-virus vaccine compared to a non-stressed control group.[46][47] A similar study was conducted using a respiratory virus. Participants were infected with the virus and given a stress index. Results showed that an increase in score on the stress index correlated with greater severity of cold symptoms.[46] Studies with HIV have also shown stress to speed up viral progression. Men with HIV were 2–3 times more likely to develop AIDS when under above average stress.[46]

Stress affects the immune system in many ways. The immune system protects the body from viruses, bacteria, and anything that is different or that the body does not recognize. The immune system sees these as intruders and it sends messages to attack. The white blood cells, leukocytes, are very important to the immune system.[48] White blood cells have several types including B cells, T cells, and natural killer cells. B cells secrete antibodies. T cells attack intruders and natural killer cells attack cells that have been infected by viruses. These leukocytes produce cytokines which fight infections.[48] But they also are the immune systems communicator in telling the brain that the body is ill. When an individual is stressed or going through a stressful experience the immune system starts to produce natural killer cells and cytokines.[49] When levels of cytokines are higher they combat infections and therefore the brain gets communicated the body is ill and it produces symptoms as if the individual was ill. These symptoms include fever, sleepiness, lack of energy, no appetite, and basically flu like symptoms. These symptoms mean the body is fighting the illness or virus.[48] This is useful for when the body goes through the stress from an injury. But the body has now evolved to do this process during stressful events such as taking exams, or even going through a life changing event such as a death of a family member or a divorce.[49] That is why many times when individuals are stressed because of life changing events or situations such as those, they get these symptoms and believe they are sick when in reality it can be because the body is under stress.[49]

As you can see, the effects are numerous and deleterious.  Or should I say, this is the current understanding and thinking surrounding stress and the toll that is taken on the immune system.  Therefore, to minimize the effects (negative effects) of stress, we must learn how to identify the state of feeling stressed and learn how to capitalize the moment in a positive way, or counteract the negative state quickly.  The possibility of removing stress from one's life is impossible.  In fact, that would be unhealthy.  Stress is good to challenge us in a sense and keep us sharp.  This brings me to the next section of the blog post -- proactive use of stress.




Does the physiological process of "stress" have to be viewed from a negative perspective?  Is there a way to use the "state of stress" as a positive attribute?  In order to do this, we need to recognize the feeling of being stressed and utilize the state in a positive way.




Instead of reacting to the state of stress as a negative reaction, why not use the state as a proactive way to motivate success?




The transition from reacting to stress and utilizing stress in a proactive way is in line with current thought of stress and the concept of mindfulness.  Proactive is equivalent to being "offensive" rather than "defensive."  Having an "offensive" mindset can control their mindset and have a script in their mind that is healthy along with an increased level of commitment toward a healthy life.




Returning to Dr. Kristen Race's diagram approach, what would such a mind look like?





Living in control and see through the clutter (of stress) to have a proactive mindset, their mindset would appear like the following:

Source: Kristin Race

Wow!  What a concept right?  How does a person achieve this control over their mindset?  Lets explore the title of the blog post a little more in detail and see what positive attributes may come about as a result.

Mind Over Matter!

As I alluded to above with the work of Dr. Kristen Race, the stress response does not need to be a negative aspect of our lives.  Instead of "reacting" to stress, why not use the stress in a proactive way.  In order to do so, we must be able to identify stress.





What exactly does that mean -- to identify stress?  Do I need to take a test to see if I am stressed?





No, I do not mean that you should take a "stress test" of which there are many available online.  That is unless you would like to.  Shown below is one such example of a "stress scale" -- the Holmes and Rahe Stress Scale:

  

Lets return to the title which states the following motto: "Mind over matter: if you do not mind, it doesn't matter."  The quote is extremely powerful.  How can a person turn this quote into a proactive statement.  Commander Mark Divine does so with the following statement in his video titled "Mental Toughness Navy Seals" with a quote:

"Victorious warriors win first and then go to war, while defeated warriors go to war first and then seek to win"

Notice how the preparation is the key element in the above quote.  Preparation is a large part of relieving stress.  Especially, when a person feels stress residing in their body or building up.  There are multiple avenues by which to deal with the stress that builds up in a person's body.  Exercise and meditation seem to be the best way to lead a proactive approach to avoiding the build up of stress in your body.  Commander Mark Divine is the author of the book titled "Unbeatable Mind."  I have yet to read the wonderful book, but have heard quite a bit about the book while listening to his podcasts -- which are freely available on his website -- click here and enjoy.




Warriors like Commander Divine have mastered the technique of controlling their mind.  In the title, "Mind Over Matter: If You Do Not Mind, It Does Not Matter" there is a powerful meaning which everyone should ascribe to mastering.  The power of controlling your mind is overwhelmingly powerful.   Each of us has the ability to learn how to do so.  Furthermore, each of us have the ability to do so with our own mind!  Reading widely and practicing a variety of techniques is not going to solve your problem of dealing with your stress and controlling your mind.  But you know how to control your own mind -- better than anyone else.  Meaning, you have to explore what works for you.  What works for you may not work for others.




Sometimes I laugh to deal with stressful situations -- is that alright?




Of course, not only is laughing healthy, you will be practicing what cutting edge science is discovering a powerful way to utilize stress in your body.  Current research by Dr. Kelly McGonigal suggests that this is the case.  I recently watched a wonderful TED talk by the Psychologist Kelly McGonigal titled "How To Make Stress Your Friend" which opened my eyes to a new vision of stress.

In her talk, she talks about a variety of stress responses that can be constructive rather than destructive.  During the typical stress response as discussed above, your heart rate will elevate and as a result the blood vessels will appear like that shown below -- with a thick wall rather than a thin wall:

Source: Kelly McGonigal

This constriction is believed to be the reason that stress is associated with the onset of cardiovascular diseases.  Now, what was revealing and absolutely amazing about Dr. McGonigal's insight into a study down at Harvard was that perception of stress was a "game-changer."  In a study done, two groups of patients were formed with opposite perceptions of stress.  One group was told that stress is good for them, challenging their bodies and will help them live longer.  Whereas the second group was told of the negative impacts of stress on the body and the shortened lifespan that could result with years of chronic stress.  What do you think the results indicated?




In the first group, the blood vessels measured indicated that they appeared normal - relaxed (i.e., in the diagram above -- thin walled -- less constricted).  Whereas in the second group, the walls of the blood vessels increased in thickness and constricted while their blood pressures rose.  This profile resembles the state of a cardiovascular disorder.  Not good.




What if we could have our bodies
Another surprising revelation of the TED talk was the contribution of the chemical "oxytocin" to the stress response.  Stress makes you social -- really?  Yes, check this out.  Oxytocin is shown below:

Source: Kelly McGonigal

Now, oxytocin makes you want to forge relationships and gather help from others to deal with the stressful situation -- seek support.  A biological response to help you deal with the stress -- get help or support.  The human heart as shown below has a number of oxytocin receptors on the surface:

Source: Kelly McGonigal

What does this mean?  Well..what this means is that the process of seeking support and gather help from others during a stressful period actually will strengthen the heart muscle.   What?  Really?  Indeed, that is what the study says.  Wow.

Conclusion...

Where do we go from here?  From what has been presented above, I think the concept of taking a proactive approach toward utilizing stress in a positive manner is a key element to our health -- both of the body and mind. That means that the time has approached to ask one's self: How do I make this stress productive?  The chemicals are already present, might as well use them productively.




Searching over the internet for stress videos elicits a huge number of responses.  Everyone is a professional on how to identify stress and how to deal with the onset.  What I would like to convey is this:




You are the only person that knows exactly when you are stressed!  Furthermore, you are the only person who knows exactly how to get rid of that stress!




Understanding the above statement is critical to your success in dealing with stress.  With the enormous amount of content available online regarding stress, one would be led to believe that the stress in everyone's lives would be alleviated.  That is not the case.  Each of us need to learn what technique works for us individually.




I do this by exploring my mental awareness on my blog located on our website: kaiserwellnesscenter.com.  On that site, I have my mental awareness journey -- click on the left hand side titled "Mike's Mental Awareness Journey" to access page of entries.  What do you use?  What has been successful for you?  Leave a comment below.  Until next time, have a great day.

How Do We Handle All Of The Information Coming At Us?

Have you ever heard a friend, colleague, or family member speak of the quantity of books that they have digested (read) in a short amount of time?  Has that conversation (one way) caused you stress?  Maybe you are not a book enthusiast, therefore, the thought has not crossed your mind.  Or, maybe the answer is yes and you have an inner dialogue with yourself asking the following question:




Why don't I have time to read that book that I have been reading for a year off and on?




I have had this dialogue plenty of times.  Furthermore, I have had the dialogue with friends who have the ability to digest a book in a day.  This seems impossible to me.  I used to spend time worrying that I have not been prioritizing my day to accompany the time to sit down and read the stack (rather large stack) of books that I have desired to read over the last few years.  I have been successful in reading.  Just not as fast as I would like.  If I could read faster, then I could digest and understand the deluge of information being hurled at me through books, e-mail, the internet, and newspapers along with journals.  Sound familiar?

What Is Referencing?

What is referencing?  To start with, the word reference implies that a bibliography or citation of a book, journal article, or magazine article is cited as a "reference."  If you visit the definition on "Dictionary.com" you will find the first definition stating the following: "an act or instance of referring."  Of course, scroll down the page further, and the verb form of the definition will be apparent as shown below:

I am attracted to number 13 "to arrange (notes, data, etc.) for easy reference."  Why?  That definition serves me very well in handling the daily deluge of information arriving in front of me via a screen or on paper.  My stress and anxiety are lowered as a result of using this approach toward handling incoming information.  Let me explain further.




Years ago, when my grandmother was still alive, we had a wonderful conversation over lunch -- which I will never forget.  I asked her what book she was currently reading.  She responded with "why do I only need to be reading one book at a time?"  This struck me as odd at the time.  Years later, I identified quite comfortably with her response.




She went on further with "... what happens if I do not like a book?  Am I compelled to read the entire book?  Maybe I only like part of the book?... After all, what is the purpose of reading a book?"  Entertaining these questions took a while -- a few years.




Years later when I was in graduate school studying chemistry, I would have similar discussions with my lab mates.  One of them was quite "well read" as a student of a variety of subjects.  While another held the personal view of the following:




"Having the knowledge of a large amount of books (having read them all) is not as important as having access to that knowledge."




This was pretty powerful for me.  Meaning, knowing where to find the information is just as important as holding that information in one's head.  After all, he said that the mental demand of such storage might well be overwhelming to a persons health -- in a negative way.



Just today, I was watching a talk by an entrepreneur named Tai Lopez.  The title of the talk is "Why I read A Book A Day (And You Should Too): The Law Of 33%" and is worth sitting through.  The length of the talk is around 15 minutes long.









Why am I mentioning this talk?




Often in life and more so today, the amount of information being thrown at us is analogous to drinking water out of a fire hose turned on full blast.  I find this completely overwhelming at times.  I find myself asking myself, how can I remember where I found this article, book, interesting thought?

Use Referencing?

Yes, use the concept of referencing.  Keep a track of the articles with a journal with a brief entry for each interesting article.  The same applies for a book that you find extremely interesting or just an excerpt from a book or a journal article.  The act of writing the excerpt or thought down alleviates your mind from feeling "bogged down" with trying to remember the location and importance of the thought at the moment -- at a later point in time.




Wait, but that is not all.... Be proactive!




In the video above, Tai speaks of reading a book each day.  In all honesty, the title is what drew me to the talk.  I sat through almost the entire talk to hear about reading a book everyday.  I thought that he might read a book each day.  No, he is not a speed reader.  And surprise, no he does not read an entire book each day.  But, he does pick up a book (a new book or sometimes an older book with good advice or thoughts in it) and sifts through the book.




He states in his talk that he reads the "table of contents" then proceeds to the ending.  Sometimes, he will read an excerpt out of an interesting chapter title.  This might sound like cheating.  Remember what my grandmother said, "Why do you have to finish the book?"  In fact, she was a proponent of reading parts of the book, then taking time off only to return later or sometimes not at all.



Does this sound familiar?




The simple act of reading parts that catch our eye, or all of the book is the same in the sense that the act is "referencing" the material.  The same can be applied to any material that comes our way.  With that being said, each person has their own method.  Stick to the one that works for you.




My partner -- Kayla is a skimmer.  She skims through books and articles.  She is referencing at lightning speed.  I am always amazed at watching her.  Whereas -- me -- mike is a slow reader and "references" at a much slower pace.  Both methods have their advantages and disadvantages.  What works for you?  How do you handle the information that is thrown your way?  Leave a comment.

Conclusion...

At the moment, I am writing a blog post on "stress" and the effects on our bodies and minds that harboring "stress" has on us.  Stay tuned.  Until then, find a method to handle the tremendous amount of data coming at you.  Don't try to memorize it all.  Or do -- if that suits you.  For me, I take the approach of "referencing" the material to return and digest the information in bits and pieces at my leisure.  That way, I might be reading an excerpt and have a thought which I want to write about but cannot wait until I am finished reading to write about the thought.  Is that confusing?  It was in my mind too.



Each of us deserves to live a good life.  How do you digest knowledge to minimize your stress in life?  Until next time, have a great day.

What Has Been Happening The Last 3 Months -- "Mike's Mental Awareness Journey" Update?

Note: Initially, I was going to direct you to the page where the post below was intended to be published -- which is located on my "Mike's Mental Awareness Journey" webpage on www.kaiserwellnesscenter.com.  Instead, I decided to publish the update here too.  Without further ado, enjoy the update on my mental awareness journey over the last 3 and 1/2 months.





Original Post:

The last post that I wrote regarding my mental awareness was back at the beginning of the year.  I had just come off of a vacation – learning the importance of “disconnecting from your devices” was the theme.  What has happened since in my mind?  Any great mental revelations?  You must be thinking that I must be either going to be insane or full of a large amount of information that I feel the need to get off my chest.  Well, fortunately enough for you, neither is the current situation.  Below are three different mental awareness realizations that have occurred over the last 4 months:

Health-Wellness:




The first realization that has had an impact on both my mental and physical health for a period over the last couple of months.  I am not perfect.  I happen to be stressed a little more than usual for reasons that I will get to in a minute has opened me up to the possibility of contracting the flu that has been going around.  I went to a super bowl party after spending part of the weekend at my Mother’s house.  If you have read my previous posts on this site, my parents have a tendency to push full schedule throughout the weekend.  The previous few weeks had been stressful.  By the time I showed up at my father’s house and ate a ton of few with deserts, I opened my health up to catching the terrible flu that had been going around. 




I returned back home and went to work while starting to feel worse over the week.  Over the next couple of weeks, I got worse.  My father used to tell me that “rest” is the best way to let the body heal.  I took a few days off (a couple).  After, I started feeling good.  I continued to feel “off and on” with a cough for a couple of more weeks.  Right about now, you are probably asking yourself why am I carrying on about feeling sick?  Especially since people get sick all of the time.  Working at the university has exposed me to a great amount of variation of strains of the flu.




The reason why I carry on is that sometimes when we get sick, we start to feel somewhat depressed and stress only exacerbates the flu symptoms further.  People tend to not factor in the two reasons for making the flu worse.  Stress will only prolong the flu symptoms and further weaken the immune system.  Depression is not any better.  That is why if I get sick, I try to rest and keep a positive attitude and try to heal.  Sometimes that is a challenge.  I still have a slight cough now a couple months later.  What is going on?  I have heard that people who have gotten sick have also started to feel symptoms of “bronchitis.”  I can report that over time, I am feeling better.




Additionally, I remember a thought from my childhood.  He used to tell me that the flu circulates in our bodies every three weeks.  I you do not take care of yourself when the flu comes back around, the possibility of getting sick AGAIN is possible.  So, remember, no stress or anxiety, and rest, and stay healthy after feeling better.  That is part of what has been filling up my time over the last few months.

Starting Up A Non-profit Organization:




Even when a person is feeling great, starting a non-profit organization is not an easy task.  I imagine that this stress has continued to prolonged state of “on and off sickness.”  I should backtrack a little about the origin of this organization.  Originally, the idea of ‘Kaiser Wellness Center’ originated out of a trip down to the beach.  That was part of the process. Kayla has had this idea in her mind for quite a while.  The idea was to demystify science and health/wellness through educating the public.  The other part was to grow and share our experience along the way.  We are normal people.  That is part of the wonderful aspect about ‘Kaiser Wellness Center’ is that the organization is an organic growth of disseminating knowledge to the public.  How did this translate into the beginning of a non-profit organization?




Be true to yourself.  If you feel something is right, then ideas will grow into a concrete realization.  Out of Kaiser Wellness Center grew our organization “Bikecar101.”  There is no surprise that currently, an obesity problem is emerging.  Our society is not getting healthier by increasing the weight that they care carrying around.  I am at fault too.  In order to deal with this emerging problem, there is a motivation among the transportation institutions to elevate the amount of people that are engaging in “Active Transportation.”  Further, we need to track our progress – which we do on our site.  Over the course of the last few years, we have realized that if you really want change, you need to promote change yourself.  How is that accomplished?  First, serve as a role model. 




We started riding the train along with our bicycles to work on a daily basis.  One of the largest addictive properties of a healthy lifestyle is that others are attracted to the benefits such behavior.  Why?  Normally on the train, a typically commuter seems to be quiet and “stand-off-ish.”  This is directly opposite of a rail car filled with commuters with bicycles.  Each person loading and unloading a bicycle onto a train car understands the frustration.   When you board the train and strap your bicycle down – you can then sit down and relax for the remainder of the ride – which is great.  Bicycle commuters tend to share the frustration of being classified on the fringe of the road and up until now – on the fringe of the train (in terms of storage space) too.  That is where we come into change.




As advocates for promoting residents of Southern California and beyond to engage in “active transportation,” we have to push politicians and public transit agencies to change to accommodate a growing bicycle culture.  How do we know?  Over the course of a couple years on the train, we had a few people come over and tell us about the fact that we motivated them to take a step forward and bring their bicycles on the train.  Four of those people now serve on the Board of Bikecar101 (one informally – Duke).  What a great result?  Living a healthy and happy life is addictive.  Even when a person (fellow train commuter) did not bring a bicycle on board, they still wanted to sit around us and laugh with us.  Healthy people who are relaxed by engaging in active modes of transportation tend to attract others.  Typically, the people have been interested in changing for the better.




Do I sound “arrogant” yet?  Believe me, I am not.  I am quite a humble person.  My wife tells me often – sometimes that I am too much.  I believe the reason aside from being happy that people feel comfortable approaching us is that we are NORMAL.  That is a cornerstone of the Kaiser Wellness Center.  We are normal people that want to promote a healthy life.  Change does not occur overnight.  But it does happen in small steps.  We are super happy to have started this organization.




The main point is to advocate for and educate the public on how to engage in active transportation on board the public trains.  Of course, active transportation is not isolated to a use of a bicycle with a train.  The point being is that people need to be educated on how to change.  I say that with all do respect.  That was our first experience after using a bicycle on the train.  We would travel all around cheerfully and enthusiastic about bringing bicycles on board the trains, and the first question of three we would get is: “You mean that you actually take your bicycle on board the train?” People do not actually believe us that we take our bicycles on board.  That was a realization in of itself.  Furthermore, that was hint number one that we needed to bring change.




Hint number two was the fact that each bicycle organization other than us, has been headed toward pushing a “bike-share” program.  “Bike-share” programs are great for tourist.  But for those who want to bring our own bicycles on board, have to fight the organizations that are trying to restrict space.




Hint number three was the fact that the public was in disagreement with us regarding the growth of ridership on board the train (even without bringing a bicycle).  We strongly believe that the combination of the Southern California train systems with a bicycle can reach an overwhelming majority of geographical locations in the area.  That is not to say that the travel time is minimal.  Although, considering traveling on the freeway system here, the times are becoming comparable during rush hour.




Not to carry on.  We know that starting this organization was the best idea that we have had in a long time.  Which is not to say the process is easy.  The most stressful aspect of the paperwork is that we are chemists and not business people.  We are experienced in research.  Therefore, we have a fairly high tolerance toward learning how to improve.  In order to carry out the paperwork process, keep an open and humble mindset. 




The same can be said of improving one’s lifestyle choices.  Education is the key in the entire process.  We are encouraged to educate the public about engaging in active modes of transportation by using our experience in education.  Which brings me to the last subject of this lengthy post – update – rambling session.




Educating The Public:




As I have alluded already to in the previous paragraphs above, education is the key.  Education is the key.  The easiest way to educate people is to use yourself as an example.  I love to learn.  I love to learn about myself.  Especially, if the result of the education is an improvement in my health.  Part of the process involves the inspection of data over time.  Each individual is different.  Change occurs at different rates for different people.  The best approach a person can take is to make education available.  Why do I know this is true?  Aside from working at a university, the following is true:




In a recent study in Europe, a group of tourists were educated before engaging in tourism – specifically, diving in the Mediterranean Ocean.  A scientist decided to study the effect of educating a group of tourists before a diving expedition.  Additionally, the group was given a quiz before the education and then following the diving experience.  The results were staggering.  I wrote about the study on another blog postlocated here.




The point of the study was the same regarding the health of the population of America.  Overall, after educating the public about the marine ecology, the overall health of the ecosystem was elevated.  Over time, the improvement of the ecosystem has continued.  Furthermore, the tourists have helped local divers and regulators make policy regarding spending on improving the environment.  The process of enlisting the help is called “citizen science” and is emerging as a strong proponent to help motivate a sustainable world.  We all need to work together to promote change.




I feel like I have rambled on enough.  I will try not to wait 3.5 more months to write an update.  Until then have a great day.  And remember, each of us deserves to feel health and happy.  Lets all encourage others to join the effort to improve life.