Tag Archives: Therapy

Health and Diet, Lifestyle

Learning to Fly: Hurry up and Learn Meditation or be left Ungrounded: Books

Above: Photo Collage / Publishers

Meditation is a proven way to improve mental and physical wellbeing: digital interruptions notwithstanding…

Very few activities, free no less, have the power to improve our lives as much a a regular meditation schedule, adhered to with fidelity and regularity. And yet, with digital interruptions and background static rising and increasing in intensity, it seems nearly impossible to find the time.

For me this transpires something like this: At 8am I set my timer for 15 minutes of peaceful, transcendental meditation that will, hopefully, start my day off right. Inevitably, within a minute or two there’s a text, then a “scam likely” phone call, then the leaf-blower from the street erupts in a cacophony of nearly atomic proportions (ok that’s not digital), and I either abort or have to keep restarting the timer.

There is a new apple iOS 15 feature (currently in beta but coming to the general public in September) called “Focus” that can temporarily mute all interruptions for a set time or activity. Kudos to Apple for providing a blinding obvious feature that allows you to mute or at least minimize the domination of your life by their product.

In the end, even when faced with what seems, at times, like an endless struggle to carve out the time and, yes, focus, to concentrate on something that is without the slightest doubt a boon to my existence, the end goal is clearly worth it.

When I manage to mute and muzzle all the interrupting and constant message and warnings and notifications and actually stick to the plan (15 minutes 2 times daily in my case) the positive results are obvious.

My day is less disaster more bliss and, when I achieve this modest minimum time investment on multiple consecutive days, there’s a feeling that my life is actually improving, rather than being held hostage by a digital daemon.

You, too, can reduce stress and potentially heal your body and mind in this way, with two simple steps.

First learn to meditate, either from a book, for example in the selection below, or from a teacher (my Transcendental Meditation teacher provided me with a mantra like in the Woody Allen film) and then find a way to cut through the digital chaos of modern life to practice on your own and reap the rewards.

Wherever You Go, There You Are: Mindfulness Meditation in Everyday Life 

Originally published back in 1994, even after 20+ years has continued to top bestseller lists.

This books is both simple and a straightforward introduction to Buddhist meditation practices. Dr. Kabat-Zinn lays out within the text mindful meditation techniques any one can use in everyday living.

For more on this time-honored book, check out “Wherever You Go“

Dear Universe: 200 Mini-Meditations for Instant Manifestations

Dear Universe invites you to harness the power inside you to achieve anything your heart desires. Author Sarah Prout shows readers how to best utilize your feelings in order to create success, love, joy, and all the abundance you deserve.

There are 200 mini meditations, 100 to rise above and conquer fear and another 100 to embrace love.

To look into this book of empowerment, check out “Dear Universe“.

Total Meditation: Practices in Living the Awakened Life

Deepak Chopra is synonymous with many as the holistic health guru, and Chopra has been at the forefront of meditation in the West for over 30 years.

Total Meditation offers an exploration of the physical, emotional, relational and spiritual. He teaches readers how to wake up and gain new levels of awareness to cultivate clarity.

Learn more on “Total Meditation“.

8 Minute Meditation Expanded: Quiet Your Mind. Change Your Life.

This 10th anniversary edition, gives beginner to the art of meditation the exact tools needed learn to effectively meditate. Even for the busiest of people, the time-frame of 8 minutes is relatively easy to handle.

Inside readers get step-by-step instructions, frequently asked questions on meditation, and even “trouble shooting” if you get struck.

Get a jumpstart on meditation by checking on “8 Minute Meditation“

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Apple, iPhone, iPhone 13 Pro

iPhone Subscription Service Could Launch This Year according to Gurman

Video
photo / Apple

Are Hardware Subscriptions a Bad idea? Perhaps, but it might be perfect for power users

There has been, over the last few years, a gradual push within Apple (and, god knows the world at large) for more subscriptions and more bundling of products across the entire ecosystem.

This is also, in my view, part of a larger planned convergence of all products and services into a giant Apple universe of products that ‘just work. The rumors are based on the new report by Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman where he claims to have knowledge of the matter and says he expects this concept to launch in late 2022 or early 2023.

There is already an iPhone upgrade program which allows you to pay as you go and get a new iPhone yearly, however this is no a true subscription model. A closer analog would be the Apple One bundle, an all-in-one subscription program for up to six apple services.

They include Apple Music, Apple TV +, Apple Arcade, iCloud+, Apple News +and Apple Fitness +. The monthly charge for Apple One ‘Premier’ which as it sound is the full package is only a little more than half of what the cost would be for the individual items.

And since an iCloud storage upgrade to 2 TB is included, the actual cost benefit is even higher for users that wold be upgrading to that level of iCloud storage anyway.

The fact is that many so called ‘power users’ upgrade often at full price and get a new Apple device yearly, or even buy multiple new devices at least every other year.

Good for Apple, of course, how about the rest of us?

While many industries and companies are working hard to make a transition to monthly subscription services that include hardware, for everything from web sites trying to re-imagine the auto-leasing program parameters in a way that is permanent with the ability to upgrade periodically, to a hardware subscription service like the software plus hardware bundle from Peloton Interactive inc.

Although this relentless drive to create a new subscription service for hardware products in addition to the already nearly ubiquitous presence of subscriptions in digital services, which is, generally, a set fee per month is standard for a plethora of software and web based products.

With Apple products becoming more integrated into the ecosystem of software, hardware and services that interact and even synergistically support each other, it only makes sense that this has the potential, again, to make the most sense for the most avid users of Apple hardware.

From the perspective of tech giants like Apple Inc., having a large percentage of recurring sales guaranteed through monthly payments, would enable the financing of the inevitable new yearly iterations of new versions of its major devices, and could be seen as a new way, perhaps a better way, to capitalize for the research and development those many new hardware deices require.

Having long since committed to a schedule that guarantees new models for nearly all it’s hardware every year, which often include a reduction in the price of the device, free upgrades (mostly for software), a hardware subscription program such as the one we could imagine (based on the Apple One example above but for hardware) would be a hot topic, if not Apple’s biggest push internally.

A hardware subscription bundle, by any other name…

Naturally there are many ways this could play out. How the cost of an iPhone (based on a one to two year upgrade cycle) would jive with the cost of the phone divided by twelve or even twenty four is one possible configuration.

There’s also the question of current installment plans and how they would be handled for presumed upgraders, if various perks such as fresh hardware, free Apple Care, the freedom to move to the iPhone of their choice, all, however, with lack of true device ownership. Or perhaps even the merger of Apple One services such as the Apple Music Subscription into a huge ‘bundle of bundles’.

Bottom line? Make it juicy and they will come…

Of course, those like myself (and maybe you?) who might be potential users of the program are waiting to hear… drumroll please…. a specific price, a date, either this year or next year, and the hardware lineup included.

Would this be just iPhone or also iPad or Apple Watch, even Mac? Or a truly massive new program that would be the biggest of all monthly installment programs in the world today, and would include everything from fitness content, to a menu of hardware and software, to a magical calculation of your Apple Worth Rank that would allow you to get more devices, software and services the higher that the cost of devices would be.

And all of the above, or whatever actually comes to pass, divided by a second magic number between 12-18 and then calculated to be a little more than half (oh Apple is so clever at this) of the full original prices and then charged to Apple Card users at a slight discount and the rest of us on a normal monthly basis.

If your head is spinning but you are still reading this, you might actually be one of the few that would embrace the upcoming service and would be happier with a determined monthly fee for the plethora of Apple products that you know you will consume anyway for the rest of your life.

By the same token, if you are insanely upset at even the notion, let us know in comments below.

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Apple, iPad, iPhone, iPhone 13 Pro, M1 Max, Mac, MacBook Pro, macOS 12 Monterey, OS Software

Apple’s Pro Lineup is Expanding: Just like the Minds of Creators

Video

Not a problem but an opportunity to get ahead of the trend

In episode 3 of season 21 of ‘Law and Order’, aired last week, an attempt at a joke was made. It was only half-a-chuckle worth of humor and mildly outdated. The upshot was that anyone under 30 is a wannabe social media influencer and anyone over 30 hates social media and influencers.

This is true only in the sense that there is a perception that the new and ubiquitous side-hustle is to selfie-video yourself into a million followers on TikTok mindset is exploding, which it is.

And that it’s happening concurrent with the post-pandemic rejection of traditional employment. The logic being that to start a YouTube channel (TikTok etc) and get a life as a creator that is worth more ( albeit with well known downsides) than a 9 to 5.

Once again there’s a disconnect between Apple with its finger on the pulse of society and high tech appetites, and the ‘media’, ever stuck in an imaginary war between ‘consumers’ and ‘pros’.

So what is “Pro” in a world where everyone wants to produce pro content?

A, now funny, bunch articles published on the eve of Apple’s recent hardware reveal event on March 8th, detailed exactly why there would definitely not be a release of an upgraded ‘mac-mini style’ workstation. The general idea was that the consumer market is bigger and more important and, therefore, Apple would be smart ad postpone the ‘less important’ pro products.

Of course, that turned out to be wrong and the highlight of the event was the release of what’s now called the Mac Studio, including the double stacked mac-mini-styled knock off of the insanely expensive Mac Pro and the partner Studio Display. Many of those articles have been deleted, likely due to the embarrassment of being 100% dead opposite of what transpired.

Next Mitchell Clark , in The Verge, writes that Apple has a “Pro Problem” and is somehow lost in its branding. Apparently, according to the post, Apple is too quick on the trigger to brand something Pro and will have no choice but to start a new, presumably, semi-pro line up using the the new ‘Studio’ moniker.

While this has, in a sense, um, already happened, it is a sign of something entirely different and much more meaningful that is being either willfully ignored or lost in the forest for the trees.

To be fair, the article is, ultimately taking a positive spin on this, positing that changing all “pro” products to the tag “studio” would be smart and that the term “pro” is too restrictive.

What this side-steps is the reality of what the entire Pro-plus-Studio product category is all about. The idea that anyone that uses Apple desktop or MacBook Pro gear for digital content creation would also own an iPhone and possible an iPad is now a given.

What’s new is the huge strides that Apple is making on a daily basis in the ability for all Apple products to add value to all other Apple products. This is a complex transition that literally began at the inception of each product line and will reach a peak of interoperability in around March of 2024 (prediction).

And the Pro lineup, whatever it will be called at that time is, and will continue to be, at the forefront of that transition and insanely great transformation.

Always cheering makes for a dull story

As an aside, it is a well known media technique to couch an Apple ‘puff piece’ in the guise of a takedown. It makes sense, if you endlessly gush on the genius of Apple’s strategy and products, you come across like a fan-boy-ass-kisser and worse, like a shill trying to make bank on Apple just by applauding anything that comes down the pike.

The truth is that this anti-but-really-pro thing works.

The premise of this article, that Apple knows exactly what it’s doing and that there is a monumental shift taking place in society where the meaning of ‘Pro’ is not getting muddied by Apple, but rather, expanding and morphing into something new and huge, is less sexy than just saying, Apple’s lost and they muffed it, dude.

With or without Apple, the meaning of ‘Pro’ is changing, by the minute

The imaginary line that exists between a Pro user and a consumer is blurring. And, according to the verge article, it’s Apple’s fault by designating its high end Phones as Pro and Pro Max, while at the same time also ‘real’ pro gear like the Mac Pro and the Pro Display XDR.

What is really happening is that there is a rapidly growing demographic that needs the kind of computational prowess that was once insanely expensive, but at a semi-pro price.

If you are an influencer or a wannabe (supposedly this is ‘everyone under 30’, right?) and you are getting by on skimpy iPhone apps but want to get into software like Final Cut Pro, Logic Pro and so on, but need the power to produce in a hurry, what are your options?

Until the new Mac Studio Lineup those options were very pricy. Very. But now imagine a world where you could have an iPhone 13 Pro or Pro Max, a Mac Studio set up and, if you get a few sponsors or subscribers, a MacBook Pro with M1 Max for the road.

By all accounts you now have a full production ensemble with the power (more powerful than Mac Pro is already the headline) to do what would have had a price of tens of thousands of dollars, closer to 20k, just a year ago.

Now it’s only slightly more than what the non-pro cost in 2021.

The tail wags the dog or does it?

The real, and obviously more complex reality, is that Apple is both leading and following the real demographics in the Pro revolution that is already afoot.

The shift from influencers using glamorous instagram photos of lavish lifestyles (fake or not) to get status has changed into video driven authenticity and art leading the way and this trend is already impacting everything.

Facebook has a TikTok account now. Instagram has shifted to video first and is trying to escape photos altogether, the ‘creativity’ element in being a content creator is off the charts and getting more competitive by the second. NFTs are still not dead and being added as a thing to mainstream apps and platforms.

So, no, Apple does not have a “Pro Problem” they are trying to tailor the solution to the market. And the solution is more pro users than ever (what used to be called ‘pro-sumer’ in a now archaic and ridiculous sounding phrase) are getting more powerful tools and at a lower than ever cost.

Sorry not to be able to do a faux Apple take-down on this time. Does Apple make mistakes? Hell yes. Just this time it is the biggest non-mistake ever, and it wold be incredulous or worse to say otherwise. Glory to the Mac Studio and ‘Pro” users everywhere.

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Lifestyle, Psychology

Some Advice on Depression you might actually be able to Use

Well intentioned ideas are not always what works

When you don’t suffer from any mental health issues, like that of depression, it can be very easy to have “helpful” advice and well-intentioned  interventions you may think will alleviate someones’ depressed mood.  Yet the truth is there is no steadfast or  correct answer, every person experiences depression very uniquely.  Some respond to medications and therapy/counseling great, while others it doesn’t work.  Some have found that a change in diet and adding exercise have helped , while, again with others it did nothing.

Photo by Hisu lee on Unsplash

Whether it is just the beginning of the new year and you want to take healthy and proactive steps to improve your mental health, or wanting to find new ways on how to better manage your depression, the below may be helpful. 

Read More: Contain your Negative Chatter and Shift towards a more Positive Perspective 

A recent article from Cosmopolitan, shared five pieces of advice on depression that the author, Kate Lucey, found useless for herself as being someone who has been diagnosed as having depression. 

  1. Utilize the times when you feel less bad
  2. Communicate with family, friends, loved-ones that depression is a mental health illness
  3. Get a plant / add some greenery to your world
  4. Follow positive social media accounts that make you happy 
  5. Allow yourself to feel however you need to feel

I found that each piece of advise above to have a positive or helpful impact on my own mental health.  

Click to see “Chocolate Truffle Hearts” on Google Shopping and Amazon.

It is important to first acknowledge the times that you feel bad, awful, depressed, or however your mood declines.  Whether that is physically writing it down in a journal or to yourself, making a point to note your change is mood is key.  Once you become routinely more conscious about your mood change, you can better utilize the times when you feel OK. 

Allowing yourself to feel crummy is extremely helpful as well.  It seems common for many, including myself, to try to block out or try to “snap out of it”, when really all that is doing is further sabotaging your ability to actually accept your depression and allow yourself to emote ( a good cry can prove carthartic). 

Holistic is a fuzzy term but the whole person really does matter

Adding some green to your life has proven to help mental health. If you are able to get plants in your home, bringing in some greenery is a very good idea.  If you have a crazy kitty that decides to eat any plants you bring, I found walking around the neighborhood and focusing on the green plants, trees, flowers, and overall beauty of nature, takes me out of my head and makes a difference at the end of walks. 

Lastly, increasing more of things that makes you feel good and less alone is great.  Most of us are still living pretty restrictive lives due to pandemic, so social media, or streaming is a large portion of my life.  I find when following funny, cheesy, or positive content help to lift up the spirits.  

If you are struggling with mental health and need support here are a few resources: (National Alliance of Mental Health/ NAMI.

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Health and Diet, Lifestyle

A Remedy for the ScreenTime Epidemic from an Unlikely Source: A Neurophysiologist’s Experiments with Isolation, LSD and Dolphins

Long before Spas and health retreats popularized sensory deprivation as “Floating Therapy”, an early pioneer in the study of human consciousness, Dr. John C. Lilly, was pivotal in the exploration of the effects of sensory deprivation on the mind. These experiments where considered radical at the time, as was his use of himself as research subject and his parallel research into LSD and it’s effects on human consciousness, together with other famous names from the sixties such as Timothy Leary and Allen Ginsberg.

Lilly is best known for his intra-species communication studies, particularly with Dolphins, and even built a lab for humans and Dolphins to live together in order to attempt to communicate. These radical ideas and studies, chronicled in his two books: Programming and Metaprogramming in the Human Biocomputer: Theory and Experiments and The Center of the Cyclone, whose first publication in 1972, ultimately led to both the acknowledgement of high intelligence in Dolphin, as well as health and mental health benefits, to what is now commonly called “Floatation Therapy”, an apparently less negative name than “sensory deprivation”.

Fast forward to 2019 and we find ourselves in a world where over-stimulation of our senses, particularly our excessive visual and mental focus on “screen-time” is not only the norm, but a problem of epidemic proportions. Apple’s “ScreenTime” feature, designed to limit the use of its own products, is a testament to how all pervasive this issue has become.

With all the outside noise, commotion and our daily “endless” tasks to do, the mind and body can often feel the weight of life’s stressors. Popping up all across the country, spas are now offering services with float tanks as one of the ways to take a pause and detach for a little while from all of life’s distractions and relax.

At these centers, users enter a flotation tank, also known as an isolation or sensory deprivation chamber.  The enclosure is sound and light proof and filled with salt water, usually heated at around 93 or 94 degrees Fahrenheit, to best match skin temperature. The tanks are usually filled with water 12 inches deep and approximately 800-1000 pounds of magnesium sulfate (medical grade epsom salt) are added. The combination of warm water and salt create a higher water density and allows for optimal buoyancy that any body type can float upon.

Depending on your location, prices for a session can range from $40 to $100, yet owning your own isolation tank can cost upwards of $10,000!

Image of a man floating inside of a sensory deprivation isolation tank, also known as a salt water floatation tank, often used in meditation, therapy and alternative medicine. Photo / Adobe Stock

Read More: 2020 Pulitzer Picks: “The Nickel Boys” Makes History, “A Strange Loop” and Susan Sontag Bio Take Gold

The Science of Floating

Floatation Therapy was first developed in the 1950’s from the work of John Lilly’s research on sensory deprivation and the effects on the brain. Sensory deprivation involves significantly reducing or eliminating outside stimuli like light and sound. Other research studies refer to the phenomena as REST – restricted environmental stimulation technique.

Athletes are among one of the types of people that utilize the therapy, NBA star Stephen Curry floats to help relax, recharge mentally, and to create a clearer focus and relief from body aches. A pilot study in 2016, published in the Journal “Performance Enhancement & Health”, found that athletes that floated after exercise training showed some improvement in physical condition (muscle soreness) and mood.

The popularity of the therapy is growing fast, partially due to the benefits found by top level athletic performers such as Stephen Curry, mentioned above, and a host of celebrities, athletes and historical figures, such as Carl Lewis, Joe Rogan, John Lennon, Elle Macpherson, Rachel Hunter, Jeff Bridges, Kristin Wiig, Russel Brand and even Navy Seals.

Dr. Justin Feinstein, a Director at the Laureate Institute for Brain Research (LIBR), studies the clinical impact floating has on people that have anxiety, and he is breaking new ground as one of the few researchers to study this phenomena.  In the 2018 study, Feinstein sampled fifty participants that had anxiety disorders and found that, post-float, the experience reduced self-reported anxiety amongst all the participants and showed mood improvements in subjects, compared to pre-float condition. 

https://youtu.be/VMxW8dKzG1s

Mental and Physical Benefits

Floating was created to artificially promote relaxation, engage meditative thoughts, and ultimately quiet one’s thoughts. However, while being in a relaxed state, additional benefits including reduced body tension, pain relief, positive changes in mood, decreased stress, better sleep and even increased creativity has been reported.

Brainwaves have been known to shift while in the water from Beta to Theta – taking the floater into the relaxed state both of body and mind. Our normal Beta stage occurs when we are awake and are utilizing our cognitive functions (e.g. communication and problem solving); compared to the Theta stage, a more unconscious state that occurs during light to REM sleep and has been linked to increased creativity.

Read More: Disney is Releasing an Avalanche of Star Wars Content on May 4th to Disney+

The “How-To’s” to Floating

Spas offer float experiences that commonly last for thirty to sixty minutes, however, more experienced floaters can have longer sessions.

Floaters have the option, based on personal preference, to go nude or wear a bathing suit. Most centers require that you shower before the session to remove any grooming products from your body, as well as showering after to remove the epsom salt.

To achieve the optimal relaxation, it’s best to close the door or lid completely, which will vary on the type of tank. Upon entering and lying down in the water you will immediately become buoyant, this, coupled with the dark will take a few minutes of adjustment, so do not worry if it initially feels awkward or uncomfortable.

For first time floaters, we would recommend that you do the following:

  • Insert waterproof ear plugs to avoid prolonged water exposure to the eardrum.
  • Apply petroleum jelly to any cuts or scrapes (since exposure of salt to open wounds will create a painful stinging sensation)
  • Do not shave prior to the flotation session

Whether you are an athlete, someone with anxiety, or busy and stressed, floating is a way to force yourself to literally do nothing. The wonders of what a little bit of nothingness can do has the potential to unlock many benefits to your mind and body. Learning to relax does take practice and trying out floating is just one way to learn!

**If you are a person that cannot handle enclosed spaces, (although the lid/door can be open) floating may not be a treatment to try.

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