Wholistic Health and Wellness Practicer

EAR Statements are similar to active listening and reflective listening, but they go one step beyond, showing that you heard clearly. They show that that you give the other person your empathy, attention, and respect. This giving of yourself often strengthens your connection with the other person, yet it doesn't have to be deep or complicated. It often helps to practice giving an EAR Statement before a difficult conversation. Role-play an upcoming situation with a friend to get comfortable saying the words you want to use. Setting Limits With an EAR Statement One of the best situations to use EAR Statements is when you have to set limits at work, home, or elsewhere. You can say something like this: “You may not realize it, but when you do _______, you may offend some people. I can understand that this may feel frustrating [empathy] and I respect your good intent [respect]. So you may want to do _______, instead. Of course, it’s up to you. I just want to help. What do you think?” [a...

Many people began meditating during lockdown, seeking inner peace and harmony, and as lockdown restrictions lift, they intend to continue. At both the religious and secular heart of meditation is a focus on breath, which is particularly poignant during the Covid-19 pandemic. Focusing attention on breathing is common to Hindu and Buddhist practices and to Jewish, Christian, and Sufi traditions. They all offer different meditative techniques, including chanting, meditating on visual artforms and sitting in silence, alone or in groups. Religions have their different approaches to prayers and worship, but meditation illustrates that there are also significant commonalities. It is sometimes assumed that meditation only exists in Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism, but meditation also is rooted in the Abrahamic faiths. In Judaism Abraham Maimonides commented that the biblical prophets “did not prophesy at will. Rather they focused their minds and sat joyfully and contentedly in a state of medita...

The trait of openness involves the degree to which people are generally open or receptive to all sorts of things.  This isn’t about interpersonal openness—being open in how you interact with other people—but rather an intellectual and experiential openness or receptivity to new things.  Stargazing at night to appreciate the beauty of the universe and enjoying the experience.  Openness to Experience Openness, as it applies to this trait should be interpreted as something like receptivity, as in the sense of being open to trying a new experience or being receptive to a new idea. Now we come to the fifth and final trait of the big five: openness or sometimes researchers call it “openness to experience.” The term, openness, as it applies to this trait should be interpreted as something like receptivity, as in the sense of being open to trying a new experience or being receptive to a new idea. People who score high in openness are more intellectually curious and imaginative th...

The problem with so much of the meditation and mindfulness we see today is that it does just the opposite.  Why include the body in meditation?  Many of us are disconnected from our bodies. This leads to a sense of not feeling whole, being ill at ease, and often just being unhappy. Being cut off from ourselves, also leads us to disconnect from others, leading to everything from loneliness, to intimacy issues, to violence.    We ignore our bodies at our peril – pushing ourselves too hard, suppressing emotions, creating imbalances in our nervous system, ignorant of our bodies’ innate wisdom. Critically, when we are distant from our primary “home”, we lose touch not just with ourselves, but also with our values, other people (empathy is embodied), and the natural world. Embodied connection isn’t just central to a healthy life, it is the essence of being alive, and what makes life worth living. Many people have started practicing mindfulness in recent years in a quest to...