OpenMind Fitness
Maybe it IS all in your head.
We imaginative thinkers often come up with something we believe is original, only to discover that someone else, usually many someone else’s, thought it up years before. That can be humbling, even embarrassing, but when it’s a good idea, it’s also encouraging.
First, here’s a link to a GREAT song; perhaps you can listen as you read. It’s called, Your Life is Now!
(Sorry, no audio this week.)
Back to the subject, connecting with inventions showing up at the same time everywhere. This is the case with my recent use of the term Natural Intelligence (N.I.) and my comments about N.I. vs A.I. It turns out that this is a well established thing. Leen Gorrisen, Ph.D, has written a book called N.I - Building the Future of Innovation on Millions of Years of Natural Intelligence. She wrote:
“Despite endless change and disruption, massive upheaval and cosmic collisions, nature has survived the worst of times and thrived in the best of them for 3.8 billion years. She knows what works, what lasts and what contributes to the future of life on Earth. She is the undisputed master of continuous innovation, adaptation and, ultimately, regeneration. What if we would tap into the NI that stood the test of time to fast track innovation so that we can develop new capabilities, build agile, creative and responsible organizations and healthy and resilient cities and landscapes? We might learn to become life-friendly and self-renewing right where we are and transform our current degenerative value system into a regenerative one, enhancing the world through benign innovation. This may sound like science fiction, but is already happening.”
Check out a short video here and her website here.
Here’s What I’m Doing About This
I’m inspired and hope to interview Leen on my podcast. Also, I’m shifting my focus to deliver more practical value to current readers and the many others I hope to reach (I just engaged a virtual assistant and your contributions are helping to pay her, thank you!). Here’s my story:
I’ve been hired as the part time Executive Director for a new non-profit, The OpenMind Fitness Foundation. Funding for year one has been provided by a South Carolina business man, Gary C. Cooper, who I met through Forbes Books. He and I wrote The Success Paradox, which dropped May 17. It’s an astounding book, recounting his near death experience and miraculous recovery from a terminal diagnosis. Gary and I founded this non-profit to help address our mental health epidemic from a spiritual pov.
I’m not seeing much headway being made with anything that reflects the wisdom in Leen’s presentations. For the most part, it seems like human minds disconnected from Natural Intelligence are doing their best to correct the errors created by that very state of disconnection!
OpenMind Fitness
Imagine keeping our minds fit the same way some of us self-care for our bodies. Physical fitness is a thing, mental fitness isn’t. In fact, it’s taboo to talk about mental problems. We don’t hesitate to mention a sore shoulder and seeing a PT to heal it but who feels comfortable admitting they get deeply depressed and need medication or are seeing a therapist about it?
And, are drugs and talk therapy actually solving anything or just applying band aids?
There’s so much we can do for our minds to prevent mental illness, developing healthy routines and doing them consistently. Exercise and good food for the body, exercise and good mental nourishment for the mind.
So, I’ll be focusing my work in this context from now on. Same material, but angled towards mental health… from a spiritual perspective. And each blog will include one mental health exercise. Here’s the first one:
Practice Your Smile - Brighten Your Day
We brush every day to save our teeth. How about practicing our smile every day to save our minds? My wife came up with a really cool four-step process that quickly becomes automatic, something we can do every day, throughout the day. It’s an immediate state shifter, getting us back on track when we need a course correction.
Smile - use those face muscles.
Think - “I am happy.”
Feel - letting go of thoughts, feel spacious, grateful, happy.
Be - let out a deep breath and feel your sense of self expanding into oneness.
That’s the Smiling Practice. Simple, easy, quick, free, and incredibly effective.