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According to the results of several studies, remote prayer or mental intention certainly can and does have a physical effect on physiological systems.

One laboratory (Bengston and Krinsley, 2000) has published findings in the Journal of Scientific Exploration demonstrating the curing of cancer in mice by such methods. In a controlled experiment, these scientists employed a noncontact form of “laying on of hands” in an attempt to cure mice of transplanted mammary adenocarcinoma. There were three groups such that one had a group of healers place their hands just above the mice with healing intention and no contact. The other two groups were control groups (one in the same room and one in a separate room from the experimental group) that were treated exactly the same except they were not given mental intention with hands.  Following three replications, 87.9 percent (29 out of 33 mice) were cured of the cancer in the experimental group compared to 69.2 percent (18 out of 26 mice) being cured on site. None of the control mice off site were cured. Furthermore, when the scientists re-introduced tumor cells to the treated, cured mice, the cells were rejected, suggesting a long-term physiological effect.

Scientific reports of this type of mental phenomena date back to the 1960s. A study published in the Journal of Parapsychology shows these effects can occur from a distance on fungus cultures in a laboratory (Barry, 1968). In this study, ten subjects were told to use conscious intent to suppress the growth of fungus. Each subject concentrated on the cultures for fifteen minutes from a distance of approximately 1.5 yards. The cultures were then incubated for several more hours. An impressive 151 out of a total of 194 culture dishes demonstrated retarded growth.

More recently, remote prayer has been shown to have significant beneficial effect on hospital patients. Harris et al. (1999) published significant results in the Archives of Internal Medicine for a double-blind experiment involving 990 consecutive patients admitted to a coronary care unit (CCU). Patients were randomized to either receive or not receive remote, intercessory prayer. The team of outside intercessors prayed for patients in the prayer group daily for four weeks. Patients were made aware that they were being prayed for, and the intercessors never met the patients and were given only the patients’ first names. The medical course from hospital admission to discharge was summarized in a CCU course score derived from blinded, retrospective chart review. The results showed that the prayed-for group had about a 10 percent advantage compared to the usual-care group and this difference proved to be significant (P = .04).

What does all this mean? Perhaps it means nothing at all. Or maybe, it means we could benefit greatly from re-conceptualizing what is possible and practical in placing health and well-being into our own hands. If nothing else, let it be a reminder that there is still an enormous amount to learn about our minds and there is so much potential in the power of our thoughts. In line with these findings, the former editor of Nature, Sir John Maddox, stated, “The catalogue of our ignorance must…include the understanding of the human brain…. What consciousness consists of…is…a puzzle. Despite the marvelous success of neuroscience in the past century…, we seem as far away from understanding…as we were a century ago….The most important discoveries of the next 50 years are likely to be ones of which we cannot now even conceive” (Maddox, 1999).

Barry J. 1968. General and comparative study of the psychokinetic effect on a fungus culture. Journal of Parapsychology. 32: 237-43.

Bengston WF, Krinsley D. The effect of the “laying on of hands” on transplanted breast cancer in mice. Journal of Scientific Exploration. 2000;14(3):353-364.

Harris W, Gowda M, Kolb JW, Strychacz CP, Vacek JL, Jones PG, Forker A, O’Keefe JH, McCallister BD. 1999. A randomized, controlled trial of the effects of remote, intercessory prayer on outcomes in patients admitted to the coronary care unit. Archives of Internal Medicine. 159(19):2273-2278.

Maddox J. 1999. The unexpected science to come. Scientific American. 281(6):62-67.

The universe is constantly moving toward a state of chaos. Indeed, incredible amounts of energy and work are required to keep matter organized. This natural tendency for disorder is known as entropy. Entropy is evident in everything that we do, in every space that exists. There is constant flow seeping through the cracks of every structure set in place. Perhaps we are most vulnerable in the realm of the nonphysical, for very few have mastered the art of creating structure out of something as evasive as a cloud or even more intangible, like a thought. The written language is arguably the closest humans have come to pulling scattered thoughts together into a form that is comprehensible. At the other end of that same spectrum is the absence of language as can be found in silent meditations.

It is so easy to get caught up in the chaos of our own and other people’s thoughts. Our experience of every moment in life is subject to responses to every internal and external stimulus in the universe. How often have you woken peacefully to have your entire day shaken up by one little phone call or email carrying the ripples of someone else’s sadness, anger, or confusion? I dare to say distraction is more often than not our normal state of existence. So how do we learn to ride that powerful wave of chaos and not wipe out in the wash? And then, once we learn to ride, how do we master the ride with the kind of stealth and grace that others can look upon with complete and utter awe? Isn’t this the skill to strive for? It matters not what wave we choose to take on in life. What matters is how we ride it.

This ultimate challenge must be taken on at the level of the mental, the physical, and the emotional. Each of these realms is like a circle, or a sphere, ever so persistently contracting and expanding. Each is a boundless entity, breathing in, out, and all around the source which is center.

Bring it back to center. Bring all back to center. Whatever the moment and experience is, always be able to bring yourself to center. The instructions are simple yet the knowing is never enough. A certain shift must first occur. Transformation of the knowing into the Being is how we access what we call Center. Being breath, being silence, and being acceptance. The body manifests in the realm of the physical where our breath serves as source. Thoughts manifest in the realm of the mental where silence serves as source. Feelings manifest in the realm of the emotional where acceptance and peace serve as source.

In source is center and from center, there is choice. Where there is choice there is a sacred freedom, the freedom required to gracefully master the art of creating form from chaos. Here, we no longer wait for the perfect wave to arrive. Here, we simply create the perfect wave of our lives.

Always remember…bring it back to center.

Learning: what does it have to do with Happiness?

Learning may be more fundamental to happiness than one might initially think.
What do you think of when you think of learning? Have we evolved as a species in the way that we learn? Or could we be experiencing a crisis in learning as we advance in the realm of science and technology?

At a conference on professional life coaching and personal growth, a major theme persisted, emphasizing that it’s not so much what we learn but more the process of learning that matters in the pursuit for happiness. It would make sense to first define happiness. For different people, happiness means different things. According to Merriam-Webster, happiness is a noun referring to a state of well-being and contentment (i.e. joy) or a pleasurable, satisfying experience.

Interestingly enough, scientists have demonstrated in the laboratory that the part of the brain long agreed upon as the ‘pleasure center’ is activated during associative learning in rats (Young et al., 1998). Specifically, rats are trained to associate two neutral stimuli, a flashing light and a tone. The tone was subsequently paired with a mild footshock using standard aversive conditioning procedures. The procedure can be likened to what Pavlov demonstrated with salivation becoming the conditioned effect of the bell ringing once the sound of the bell was associated with the presentation of the delicious piece of meat. Thus, conditioning is a very basic kind of learning. In fact, I would be so bold as to suggest that associative learning is the fundamental process underlying all learning.

What Young et al. (1998) showed in their study is that learning, by itself, is rewarding. Being that the neurochemical correlate to reward is the release of dopamine in the mesolimbic dopamine system and observing such release when learning had occurred suggests that not only is there pleasure in learning, but the pleasure is designed to motivate learning. Both rats and humans experience pleasure when learning occurs. Indeed, it doesn’t even matter what the subject is learning. It can be the association between two stimuli that are in and of itself neutral and quite boring such as a flashing light and a tone. Though it’s worthwhile to note that the scientists had to first associate the tone with a mild footshock, suggesting the potential importance of the emotional system to facilitate the learning process.

Going back to the definition of happiness being an experience of pleasure, one can begin to see exactly what learning has to do with happiness. There is pleasure in learning. It makes perfect sense. Why wouldn’t we be biologically set up to find pleasure in learning? We would be in a lot of trouble if learning were absolutely un-enjoyable. Can you imagine?

So what do our moods and emotions have to do with learning? The relationship between emotions and learning is clearly seen in many modern educational systems. Did you know that, according to a UNICEF study, 60% of a child’s ability to learn is impacted by emotion? According to this study, when a child has the experience of being loved and reports being happy, they are able to learn and remember 60% more material than a child who does not have the experience of love and happiness. How interesting is it, then, that so many schools claim there are not enough resources to maintain a proper educational system? Many schools insist that children’s education suffers because of the lack of funds for supplies and technology when what they really need is love and compassion. Sadly, our children often become emotionally malnourished in modern educational systems.

Philosophers, some as prominent as Freud and Jung, have suggested that a shift in the emotional domain makes learning take off exponentially. Witnessing the crisis in learning that is happening in modern day America, it’s not difficult to see how this might be true. Indeed, when the environments of our schools do not welcome the full expression of a child’s emotional experience, there is disconnect not only from the emotions but also from the teachers and the objectives they are there to learn. This sense of disconnection carries into adulthood. One must wonder if this sense of disconnection breeds a different kind of learning, the kind that relentlessly acquires more and more knowledge, pushing the envelope of technology, leaving behind the ability to be intimately and fully connected with the experience of life.

Bottom line: Love, compassion, and being connected to our emotions impact the learning process in a way that promotes happiness. There is wisdom in our emotions that goes beyond the rational mind. It’s time we honor that wisdom and dissolve the crisis of the western mind.

Young, A.M., R.G. Ahier, et al. (1998). “Increased extracellular dopamine in the nucleus accumbens of the rat during associative learning of neutral stimuli.” Neuroscience 83(4): 1175-83.

I had no idea what I was getting myself into when asked to participate in a transformational workshop called The Red Pill Weekend. As a life coach, I’m always up for any event designed to push a human being beyond their edge and into a whole new realm of their human experience. What I got to witness in this particular space, however, was beyond anything I could’ve ever imagined.

What does it mean for a man to really embrace the totality of his masculine self? The Red Pill Weekend enrolls dozens of male participants to dive deep into this question. On the surface, there are all the expectations and conditioned ways of being that have been instilled by many modern day civilized societies such as ours. And then there’s a whole world of raw maleness boiling beneath the surface and when it erupts from time to time, we call it all but what is essentially nature in the form of the masculine. We call it inappropriate, dysfunctional, and perversion. In extreme cases, we even call it criminal. Indeed, entire lines of defenses have evolved in today’s world to protect us (especially us women) from the shadow world of the masculine.

While I’m still swimming in the mystery of what it means to embrace masculinity, it’s an aspect of my femininity I felt unfolding that has me moved to tears after stepping into the red pill experience…

In a moment, a strange and unfamiliar shift occurred in me. There it was, as clear as can be, this enormous misalignment of the feminine and the masculine, with this moment being a glimpse of what is happening at a higher level in the world. I looked around the room at all the men. Some were screaming, some were silent, some were crying, some were passionately in immersed in themselves, owning themselves, in their totality, for the first time in their lives, owning every aspect of their human experience. In that moment, I got what the red pill was about.

Truth. I found myself stunned by all the truth being unleashed in that room. I showed up to facilitate in the transformation of men embracing their full selves. Little did I know I would discover a dark and hidden truth about myself. And to be honest, I’m still stunned. I’m stunned by what it feels like to own my truth and I’m stunned by this whole new appreciation for men. And not just the present woman in me, but the little girl in me, the lover in me, the mother in me, the Goddess in me, the sister in me, the victim in me, the healer in me… all feeling the light of a whole new reality. I’m not exactly sure what any of it means, but all of a sudden, there is a new-found hope. There is hope and wonder. I can’t help but wonder what’s possible now?

May 2, 2009

I had the pleasure of facilitating a panel on the topic of intuition during this all day workshop. This was a fantastic session and I had the honor of leading the discussion with author, speaker, and business coach, Jonathan Manske. The session proved valuable, with the focus on learning how to listen to your own inner voice. To see flyer, click below:

Investing in Women Workshop Flyer

May 30-31, 2009

I am very excited to be participating as a female coach in this upcoming Red Pill Weekend. The Red Pill is Colorado’s version of The Authentic Man Program. This will be my first time working with who I know to be an amazing team of transformational life and relationship coaches. After getting a taste of the work in the training session this past monday, I’m seeing the potential for masculine/feminine dynamics in our society to be taken to a whole new level. For more information, click below:

www.redpillweekend.com

www.authenticmanprogram.com