Rx 32 Reach Out and Connect with Someone

March 29, 2022 ~ SD Shanti ~ Leave a comment

Dr. SD Shanti

It’s easy to fall into a frame of mind dominated by the demands of our to-do lists. This gets translated into feelings of time-starvation and stress which can feel like we are swept away by currents beyond our control. Other times, high levels of stress can even feel like a tsunami coming right at us.

Such situations can make us feel helpless and even hopeless, as we confront the magnitude of challenges we are faced with.

But a simple message, email or short phone call to say hello to someone can have a huge impact on you and others. This is especially the case if you know people who are experiencing difficulties. Even if we cannot change their situation, reaching out to them and letting them know that you are thinking of them is a way to offer them social support.

Reaching out to others has positive effects on both parties: it not only benefits the recipient of the message, but the sender of the message also benefits by creating conditions for genuine human connection.

Without two people, there is no connection – only isolation.

Although isolation may be good for work that requires deep concentration, we are created to flourish in connection with others. That’s what the psychology of Attachment Theory is all about: the importance of genuine bonds between people; and this is relevant for everyone, starting from infancy and extending into later life.

Without a genuine connection to others, we wither like a plant with no water.

So I invite you to take a moment, even if it might feel counterintuitive during your busy day, and reach out to at least one person whom you have not been in touch with for a while.

I don’t mean “networking” for the sake of business. I mean just reaching out because you are genuinely interested in their wellbeing. If you already interact with many people, consider reaching out to someone outside of your immediate circle of family, friends and co-workers.

Who might that person be? And what if you reached out every day to people whom you may not ordinarily reach out to?

This kind of daily touchpoint of genuine human connection serves as a multi-vitamin for the psyche. It just might be the thing that helps us not only stay afloat but also navigate turbulent waters.

Rx 31 Share the Light Within Your Heart

March 22, 2022 ~ SD Shanti ~ Leave a comment

Dr. SD Shanti

Life is difficult for so many people on so many fronts. At the moment, there is the well-publicized war in Ukraine along with many other conflicts around the world. People suffer from illnesses. People make desperate pleas for money. Others have lost jobs and fallen into hard times.

The list of suffering is long and varied and enough to make one want to hide under a blanket until the end of the world. In such moments, it is important to recognize the transformative power of love.

Even when we feel depleted, love in all its variations lies dormant within us. It is the one thing that has enabled humans and other animals to survive for thousands of years. It is the one thing that has enabled people to heal from tragic losses. Love is one of the most important aspects of human resilience. Just as there can be no life without sunlight, there can be no life without love.

If you are in a difficult place, ask yourself how you might connect with others so they can share their heart’s light with you. Even the briefest of connections can help to spark hope and purpose in the metaphoric darkness.

By the same token, even if you feel bereft or bankrupt, remember the agentic power of love. Whether you realize it or not, you have within you the power to touch other people’s lives.

You don’t have to work major miracles. Just the simple practice of love – be it a kind word, a moment’s attention to someone in pain, holding the door open for the person behind you as you enter a building, giving up your seat in a bus to a pregnant woman – costs you nothing.

Yet, for the recipient, it can mean the difference between veering into darkness versus steering in the direction of hope.

With so much darkness in the world, you don’t have to look far to see how you might shine your light in the direction of someone in need.

Maybe you cannot stop war, or solve the world hunger problem or resolve a host of other plagues. But I know for sure, that by sharing whatever light you have within you, you can and will touch people’s lives profoundly.

Your heart’s light is much like the light of the sun: boundless and life-sustaining. I invite you to consider how you might share your light such that your heart shines brightly to the best of its ability.

Rx 30 Recognize and Acknowledge Love in its Various Forms

March 15, 2022 ~ SD Shanti ~ Leave a comment

Dr. SD Shanti

In many instances, historical events and health statistics represent the spectrum of human suffering: armed conflict, famine, health inequalities, poverty, epidemics, interpersonal violence, and so much more…

Yet, each of these events and each statistic is much more than simply a historical event or a well-measured data point. We are in fact, talking about humans experiencing major life-altering events that take their toll on people’s bodies, minds and souls.

Ultimately, human suffering remains a mystery, especially when painful events are senseless. Yet, in the face of this mystery, we are called to forge ahead, grounded in the faith that despite chaos and meaninglessness, life is also balanced by an innate organizing principle. Additionally, we have been given the capacity to transform meaninglessness into meaning.

Just look at how seeds sprout when planted in fertile soil and watered regularly. There is rhythmicity in the changing of seasons – spring always follows winter. Animals of many kinds devote energy and effort to caring for their young. People who have undergone traumatic events transform into advocates and activists to ensure that others won’t have to suffer as they did.

Right alongside the ubiquity of suffering, there is also the ubiquity of actions grounded in love and kindness. When lives are shattered, be they through illness, violence or a host of other ways, it is love, in its multitude of forms, that enables people to go on even when things seem impossibly difficult.

Just as we brush our teeth and take showers for our physical well-being, it is equally important to adopt a mental hygiene program that regularly takes inventory of all of the instances of love that surround us. Recognizing the goodness that surrounds us, despite tragedy and chaos, is what keeps our hearts hopeful and free of calluses.

I would like to share some examples of love in action that I have been privileged to witness in the past two weeks: a businessman in Maine visiting elderly people in nursing homes, comforting people with incurable illnesses; a university administrator in the midwest spending weekends empowering men so they can more effectively care for themselves and others; a businessman in Connecticut mentoring low-income youth in Asia, to pursue higher education; a woman in Switzerland and a man in Israel mobilizing people to collect and deliver humanitarian supplies to the Ukrainian border; and perhaps most poignant of all, a nine-year-old Swiss girl, upset by the events in Ukraine, offering her teddy-bears to children who lost theirs fleeing war.

I invite you to actively identify examples of love in action within your life. This is how we can gather evidence to make the case for hope, even in a seemingly hopeless world.

There are a thousand ways in which the world can break our hearts. But my dear friends, there are one thousand and one ways in which love can comfort, mend and possibly even heal our hearts. By keeping our eyes open and acknowledging the existence of love in its multitude of forms, we can keep the chaos and despair at bay.

Rx 28 Plant the Seeds of Love

March 1, 2022 ~ SD Shanti ~ Leave a comment

Dr. SD Shanti

We can fly to the moon and we can explore the deepest oceans, yet our human hearts have not kept pace with technological advancements.

War and other forms of violence and bloodshed are vestiges of our old selves.

What kind of world do we want to leave for our children and grandchildren?

What if we invest as much in peace and violence prevention as we do in war and weapons? What if we systematically plant and cultivate the seeds of love?

What might the world be like in the next fifty years and beyond if we had a curriculum that taught adults and children everywhere essential elements of compassion, cooperation, peaceful discussions, and non-violent conflict resolution?

What if movies and television programs were saturated with actions that depict loving-kindness rather than aggression? What if along with teaching children reading and writing, we teach them about the active practice of empathy and caring for others? What if we taught all parents everywhere ways of raising children without resorting to violence?

I invite you to sit with these questions for a moment and envision the resulting world if we were to bring these ideas to fruition. This is a legacy you can feel proud of – and a legacy that will ripple forward into future generations.

It is time for our hearts and minds to keep pace with our technological advancements. There are many ways to plant the seeds of love as an antidote to violence. We can do so as individuals, as communities, as nations, and as one collective family on this planet.

Rx 26 Write a Letter of Gratitude Day: February 18

February 17, 2022 ~ SD Shanti ~ Leave a comment

Dear Reader,

Expressing gratitude and appreciation strengthens relationships and contributes to people’s happiness and wellbeing. It is one way to increase feelings of love in your life and in the world.

I invite you to write a letter of gratitude to someone who has played an important role in your life. To help you get started and offer some inspiration, here is a short video with information on how to do this.

While any day is a good day to write a letter of gratitude, February 18th is an ideal day, as it is the birthday of the late Chris Peterson, one of the founders of the field of positive psychology. You can learn more about his key message in the video. He was a remarkable man – a scientist and beloved teacher and colleague with a huge heart and this is one way to honor his memory and his legacy.

You may feel nervous writing a letter, but I promise you the results will be worth it.
Dr. SD Shanti

Rx 25 Increase Love in the World

February 14, 2022 ~ SD Shanti ~ Leave a comment

Dear Readers,

It has been a while since I posted, as the pandemic continues to impose challenges. However, as large numbers of people are still experiencing distress and unmet needs, I looked for how to keep the mission of Prescriptions for Hope going, i.e. to prevent violence and depression and improve the health and well-being of populations.

Pursuant to these goals, I am launching today #52WeeksofLove.

Why?

Well…why not?

The pandemic has derailed a lot of things and public health is in the ICU, so we have to find new ways to keep advancing universal goals of health and well-being.

Love – in its multitude of forms – is at the heart of so much that makes life meaningful and worth living. However, we as humans individually, and collectively as humanity, have yet to realize our fullest potential to love one another and love our earth. I don’t mean this in a granola, tree-hugging way. I mean just simple things like being present to those we love and taking time to care for others in need.

I also mean big things on a population level – such as creating healthy workplaces, and promoting love and other pro-social content in mass media, instead of the violence and sarcasm that passes off as entertainment and foments violence, discord and hatred.

Join me over the next 52 weeks in advancing love in small and big ways – be it in your personal life or in the world.

I am working on creating the accompanying web site which will go live in the next days. It will feature resources for you to take action, inspirational materials, and workshops and talks.

Let us work together to increase the net total of love in the world. It is the only way forward and is the only way for us to survive on this planet and create a positive legacy for future generations.

Thank you in advance for joining me in whatever way you can, within your spheres of action and influence.

Sincerely,
Dr. SD Shanti

Rx 21 The How of Lasting Change: Take the Mister Rogers Pledge

June 20, 2020 ~ SD Shanti ~ Leave a comment

Rx 20 discussed what are some of the things that must be done to correct structural inequalities. Yet, how can we come together to create change when people are polarized? This video offers a way for how people can come together and create lasting change: Take the Mister Rogers Pledge.

Although I created this video in 2018 on the 90th birthday of Mr. Fred Rogers, the message is still relevant today. Mr. Rogers was an American television personality who achieved iconic status. He was the producer and host of the much-loved, long-running children’s television show Mister Rogers Neighborhood, which was widely viewed by children of all backgrounds in the United States.

Note: This video has been reviewed by Mr. Joe Negri, who played played Handy Man Negri on the show and by Professor Albert Bandura at Stanford, who is also featured in the video in connection with his landmark work on how children learn aggression and violence through observation of others. Mr. Rogers was motivated to create a show for children because of the educational potential of television, and because he was unhappy about the extent of violence on television already present in the 1950’s.

Mindfulness Webinar Open to the Public, May 20, 2020

May 19, 2020 ~ SD Shanti ~ Leave a comment

Mindfulness is an ancient practice that is helpful in stress reduction and coping with difficult circumstances. It is also backed up by research in the psychology of health and wellbeing and will improve your quality of life, even if you are unable to change a lot of things at this time.

If you would like to participate in an interactive learning experience that is practical and immediately applicable to your daily life, please consider registering for my forthcoming webinar on May 20th at 7 p.m. Pacific Standard Time. You can register here: Access Your Inner Calm – Mindfulness Made Accessible to All.

In this webinar you will experience my unique way of teaching mindfulness, such that you can immediately apply it in your life and benefit from it.

If you have never attempted mindfulness practice, or if your previous attempts at mindfulness have been unsuccessful, I encourage you to give this a try.

My teaching method enables people to immediately apply the learnings even if they lead busy lives and don’t have much time to dedicate to a traditional mindfulness practice.

Since 1996, I have taught mindfulness in universities, hospitals, professional settings, religious organizations, adult education and businesses in the United States, Canada, Switzerland, Italy, Hong Kong and Thailand.

My focus is on practical steps you can take to integrate mindfulness into your daily life, such that it supports clarity when making decisions under stress. In this webinar you will learn how to maintain calm and a feeling of peace, even in difficult situations.

The proceeds from this workshop will support this website and blog. As the COVID-19 pandemic has negatively affected our financial situation, I would be grateful if you might consider supporting our work, and sharing this information with others who may also find the webinar useful.

Rx 17 Notice the Small Things in Your Life That are Sources of Joy and Meaning

May 15, 2020 ~ SD Shanti ~ 2 Comments

Difficult situations can overshadow what is going well in your life, and the COVID-19 pandemic is like a giant shadow over all of our lives. There are many difficulties and challenges we are forced to accept. So many things are beyond our control and simple activities like visiting a friend or relative have become impossible.

As you work thorough the challenges, it is important to recognize and cultivate the good that is present in your life.

What are some of the good things, right in front of you, that you might be overlooking?

You may have to stretch your mind to notice the positive elements in your life. Try noticing the good, however small it might seem in the moment. Such things can be a source of joy and offer an uplift.

You don’t have to jump up and down clapping your hands. Noticing what is good in your life can be as simple as appreciating subtle things, such as the color of the sky, or listening to comedy or your favourite music on YouTube.

Mindfulness, practiced in its simplest form, for instance only sixty-seconds of focused attention, can nevertheless enable you to become aware of things that you may otherwise miss. If you like, you can just watch your belly rise and fall as you breathe and appreciate the intricacy of the human body.

What small things give you joy? Is it the smile of your child or grandchild? Might it be a joke that a friend shared with you in the course of a phone call? I’d love to hear about the simple joys in your life and invite you to share them below.

For Your Information: On May 20th at 7 p.m. Pacific Standard Time, I will be doing a webinar through Changing Hands Bookstore in Phoenix, Arizona. It is is open to the public and all proceeds will support the bookstore and our work during this difficult time.

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected our financial situation negatively. Thus I would be grateful if you might consider supporting our work and sharing this information with others who may also find the webinar useful.