Shifting to Once a Month Articles
Doing my part to reduce unwanted excess.
I’m reducing these articles from weekly to monthly this year. Those who want the full monty can become paid subscribers and receive the developing materials on my mental hygiene program: OpenMind Yoga.
I love to share what I’m learning and right now that’s about the secret to mental health, increasingly important and personally relevant as we age. It seems clear that the key is discover how to actually use our minds, rather than just living on auto pilot, propelled along by our own long established programming or steered by outside influences.
No wonder we struggle; we never got an instruction manual! And no coaching!
Over the last two hundred years, life expectancy has increased from 35 to 75 years, largely because of improved physical hygiene. Meanwhile, our mental health has deteriorated. One in every three Americans now suffers from symptoms of mental illness and suicide rates have risen 30% over the last 20 years. 10% of those over 65 suffer from dementia and almost one in four have some form of mental impairment. It’s a global epidemic of mental illness, worsening at an alarming rate.
Therapy and drugs are not slowing or reversing this trend. It’s common sense to propose that something radically different is called for. Here’s my suggestion: a mental hygiene revolution. I wonder if, over time, this could accomplish similar miracles to what improved physical hygiene did. Here’s my idea:
Yoga originated as an esoteric practice in Northern India about 5,000 years ago. It was introduced to the West in 1893 by Swami Vivekandanda and is now practiced by an estimated 300 million people world-wide. Benefits are often dramatic, including improved strength, balance, and flexibility, relieving back pain, easing arthritis symptoms, improving heart health, increasing energy, improving sleep, etc.
Could the fundamental yoga principles of breathing and meditation and stretching be adapted to improve our mental wellbeing?
I’ve begun developing my version of yoga practices for the mind. Experimenters are welcome to begin field testing the first one. You’ll reap immediate personal benefits (as reported by early testers: decreased anxiety, improved emotional health, a greater sense of personal meaning, hope for the future, more compassion for others, etc.), as you experiment with an innovative social invention I’m calling OpenMind Yoga.
These materials will be available to paid subscribers. 100% of the $ goes to our foundation. Requesting a minimal fee ($8 a month, the cost of one designer coffee) allows me to only send material to those readers who really want what I’m offering.
Finally, here’s a link to an illuminating podcast from Michael Singer. I’ll summarize with this comment: Our traditional approach of trying to fix things on the outside to improve things on the inside sets us up for war with reality. And, mental illness. Sanity returns when we reverse course and begin to clean up the inside clutter so we can enjoy what shows up on the outside.
I think the simplicity and brilliance of what Michael presents here is potentially life changing. I encourage you to leave a comment after you listen; I’m curious if you get as much out of this as I have.
See you next month.