May_09 - Mastering Your Five Vital Intelligencess

XXX 2009
War Child: Healing the Moral Crises of Our Time
By ALAN DAVIDSON
A Boy Soldier in Sierra Leone
At 14, Ishmael Beah executed rebel prisoners: "I shot
them on their feet and watched them suffer for an
entire day before finally shooting them in the head so
that they would stop crying." Beah was only 10 years
old when a bloody civil war broke out in Sierra Leone,
his West African home. Two years later, in 1993, the
rebel army, known as the Revolutionary United Front
(R.U.F.) attacked his village, slaughtering nearly everyone in their path. ―I went from knowing my family
was alive one minute, and then the next minute
knowing they were all dying,‖ Ishmael recalls.
―I ran away, along paths and roads that were littered
with dead bodies, some mutilated in ways so horrible
that looking at them left a permanent scar on my
memory. I ran for days, weeks and months, and I
couldn‘t believe that the simple and precious world I
had known, where nights were celebrated with storytelling and dancing and mornings greeted with the
singing of birds and cock crows, was now a place
where only guns spoke and sometimes it seemed even
the sun hesitated to
shine.‖
Inside Your Through Your
Body Mastery Issue:
Ishmael ran for years,
~~~
hiding in the vast forests
Strong Medicine………….....2 from the violence, and
eventually found refuge
The Physical Culture Creed..3
in a village protected by
Your Emotional Type……….4 the Army. But the Army
Through Your Body Mastery soldiers soon gave him a
Members Out and About…..5 machine gun and taught
him to kill. For 10 long
Genius: A Modern View…....8 years of civil war boys as
The 5 Keys of Mastery……..9 young as nine were
Pumpkin, the Cat………….10 forced into service, or
told to take their
Book That Changed My Life: chances in the forests.
with Joan Garbo……...…...11 Ishmael, exhausted from
Through Your Body Member years of running, wanted
Profile: Sherri Richards…..12 revenge against the cruel
rebels who‘d killed his
family and ruined his
~~~
country.
To overcome the boys‘ fears, their saviors plied them
with brown-brown,‖ a potent mix of cocaine and gunpowder . High on drugs the boys stoked their bloodlust watching violent war movies like First Blood with
Sylvester Stallone. Every time Stallone‘s Rambo
character mowed down his enemies, the boys cheered
and compared Rambo‘s body count to their own. ―We
went out and fought, shot people, then came back
and did drugs and watched war films,‖ Ishmael remembers. The potent blend of brown-brown and violent movies kept them in a fog and buried their pain
and guilt.
Ishmael admits that the first time he killed someone
he was devestated. ―It does something to your spirit,
and you are traumatized. But as this goes on, it becomes normal and easier. It becomes the only thing
that you know how to do.‖
Heal Yourself, Heal the World
Earth has suffered from one crisis or another since
someone started telling stories around the campfire.
But just because we humans have survived crisis after crisis doesn‘t mean that we are any better prepared for them now. Nor do we understand them any
more fully.
Here are a few of the difficulties facing us today: wars
and their ―collateral damage,‖ dehumanizing poverty,
destruction of our environment, sex and slave traffic
of our young girls? But which of them represent the
world‘s worst crisis?
The #1 moral crises facing our world today is our lack
of human maturity. Most people in the world are
stuck in a fearful and selfish, ―What‘s in for me?‖
mentality. It‘s our fear and our shortsighted selfishness that causes the world‘s crises to repeat themselves like a bad record skipping on a turntable, over
and over, without stopping. Without each and every
person growing their
...continued on page 6
Strong Medicine: How to fuel your body like the muscular
millionaire who discovered Charles Atlas by MARK ADAMS
A $5,000 custom suit that no
longer fits is what I call an
incentive to get back into
shape. I learned that fact a
few years after deciding to
become a work-from-home
writer. In juggling three
young boys, constant assignments, and an open invitation to peek into the refrigerator, I quickly added 20
pounds to my 170-pound
frame. Eventually, one of
those assignments was a
book project about Bernarr
Macfadden, the guy who started America‘s health craze
back in the 1910s and 1920s.
Although he has been largely forgotten, Macfadden‘s
influence remains so pervasive that it‘s almost invisible. Oprah, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Dr. Andrew
Weil all stand on his shoulders. Not only did he discover Charles Atlas and propel him into international
stardom, practically inventing bodybuilding in the
process, but he also popularized alternative medicine.
Macfadden published the country‘s first prominent
health magazine, Physical Culture, as well as a five volume compendium (it ran 3,000 pages) of advice on
healthy living and preventive medicine, which included
information on vegetarianism, pleasurable sex, and
preventing heart problems through exercise. This was
in 1912.
In sifting through Macfadden‘s life work, I decided to
test his ―findings‖-- everything from fasting to a shortterm milk only diet. Some of his advice was weird (an
all grape diet?) but the majority of his nutrition tips
were nuggets of wisdom years ahead of their time. My
energy boosted to levels I hadn‘t reached since adolescence, I ran my first marathon, and I beat my chronic
chest and knee problems. That suit? It now fits as well
as the day I bought it. Here are a few of my favorite
pearls of early 20th century wisdom from the father of
American fitness and nutrition.
Three Meals a Day Might Be One Too Many
Multiple studies have recently confirmed what Macfadden knew years ago: eating less prevents a host of health
problems such as heart disease and cancer. Macfadden ate two large meals a day – a brunch and an early-bird
supper. When I ate to my heart‘s content at 10:30 AM and 5 PM, my total daily calories fell by 20 percent.
Hunger is Your Friend
Many diet plans bend over backwards to prevent their followers from feeling hungry. Macfadden taught me to
control my hunger instead. The secret is to think of a growling stomach as a simple reminder that you‘re doing
good work, much like a sore muscle after a productive workout. Those hunger pains will eventually lose their
intensity, and you‘ll overcome the desire for an unnecessary snack.
Reboot Your System
Absolutely nothing—not a vacation, a shopping spree, or a martini – has knocked me out of a mental and physical rut more quickly than fasting. Macfadden believed that humans should emulate other mammals, which stop
eating when they don‘t feel well. Food is medicine, Macfadden reasoned and no food is strong medicine. I credit
the many three day fasts I did with fixing some ailments I hadn‘t imagined were curable—namely my chronically
sore knees and a nagging respiratory ailment. If a no food fast seems too extreme, eat small meals instead and
simple sustenance instead, such as brown rice or raw food.
Chew, Chew, Chew
It turns out that Grandma (who probably heard it from Macfadden) was right: You do need to chew your food
more. Doing so makes it nearly impossible to overeat. Studies have shown it takes about 20 minutes for the
stomach to give the brain the red light, so chewing until a mouthful of food has all but dissolved prevents you
from a mindless feeding frenzy.
Eat More Raw Foods
Few dietary cults are more fanatical than raw foodists who won‘t eat anything heated above 116 degrees.
(Macfadden called this philosophy the ―natural diet.‖) I found the practice fairly tedious, but I will say that a few
days of eating nothing but uncooked fruits, vegetables, and nuts flushed toxins from my body (which felt akin to
taking a sauna during a hangover) and transformed my body‘s chemistry so much that I smelled of—get this—
strawberries. One Mcfadden raw-food ―shortcut‖? Drink freshly squeezed juices.
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Published by Alan Davidson and
The Physical Culture Creed
By Bernarr Macfadden
We Believe:
That our bodies are our most glorious possession; that health wealth is our greatest asset;
that every influence which interferes with the
attainment of superb, buoyant health should
be recognized as a menace.
We maintain that weakness is truly a crime;
that sickness is the penalty of violated health
laws; that every man can be a vigorous, vital
specimen of masculinity; that every woman
can be a splendidly strong, well-poised specimen of femininity, IF THE LAWS OF LIFE
ARE RIGIDLY OBSERVED.
We believe that the requirements in the
building of glorious health are:
First: Pure air or sunlight whenever obtainable; through the ventilation of living rooms.
Second: Wholesome diet of Vital foods, well
masticated, eaten only at the dictates of a
normal appetite; frequent fasting of a day or
two if needed.
Bernarr Macfadden taught that a diet made up mostly
of fresh fruits, vegetables, and whole grains is vital to
good health. This was a revolutionary concept at a
time (1900) when little was known about nutrition.
The common thought at the time was that people
should eat a lot of calories. Macfadden contradicted
the popular beliefs of the time about diet. Today we
know that his teachings about diet were amazingly
accurate.
The core belief of Macfadden‘s philosophy of health
was that toxins and low levels of nutrients in the
blood caused by poor diet, lack of proper exercise,
stale air, lack of sunshine, tobacco, alcohol, drugs,
etc. were the real reason for sickness - that germs
could cause illness only in the person whose blood
was polluted with toxins or contained insufficient nutrients. He believed that germs simply acted like
scavangers. If the blood was unpolluted and nutritional levels were sufficiently high, then the person
would have immunity to all germs. By no means, was
he the first to advance this theory of health, but he
was the first who was able to successfully present the
theory to a nation-wide audience.
d www.ThroughYourBody.com
Third: Reasonably regular use of the muscular system through the entire body in work,
in the gymnasium, on the athletic field, or
otherwise.
Fourth: Thorough cleanliness which requires
frequent baths-cold baths for tonic, hot baths
for cleanliness-through dry fiction with the
open hands, brush or towel is also valuable.
Fifth: Right mental attitude; thinking is a powerful factor in maintaining vital health, and can
be constructive or destructive. The mind can
build up or tear you
down.
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Your Emotional Type by JUDITH ORLOFF, M.D.
off from their emotions, dismissing them as too
"soft" or illogical.
Known for keeping their cool in heated situations
and excelling at debate, intellectuals struggle with
emotions and may be slow to engage in anything
playful or lighthearted.
Are you an intellectual?
Do you believe you can think your way to any solution? When presented with a problem, do you immediately start analyzing the pros and cons rather
than notice how it makes you feel? Do you prefer
planning to spontaneity?
If so, try this:
Breathe If you're mentally gridlocked, simply inhale and exhale deeply and slowly, in through your
nose, out through your mouth.
Exercise Whether you're Rollerblading, walking, or
poised in a yogic sun salutation, exercise imparts an
in-the-now body awareness that gives the intellect
much-needed rest.
Practice empathy Ask yourself, "How can I respond from my heart, not just my head?"
The Empath: Emotional Sponge
World-class nurturers, empaths are highly sensitive,
finely tuned instruments when it comes to emotions.
Because they interpret the world intuitively, they
What Emotional Type are You? The Intellectual, The Empath, tend to feel everything (sometimes to an extreme)
and can therefore fall prey to stressful emotions,
The Rock, or The Gusher
anxiety, panic attacks, and depression, especially if
Emotions have gotten a bad rap in our culture. They're often seen as they don't set and maintain firm boundaries.
signs of weakness or the things that get in the way of our ability to The right mix of intellect, feeling, and groundedness can help them
function and cope.
get centered.
I disagree. In my 20 years as a psychiatrist specializing in energy
and intuitive medicine, I've witnessed firsthand the power our feelings have to spiritually awaken us and offer a positive, courageous
way to deal with stress.
Are you an empath?
Have you ever been called too emotional or overly sensitive? If a
friend is distraught, do you start feeling that way, too? Are your
feelings easily hurt?
Dealing with emotions effectively isn't about stuffing them away or
feeling them less. It's about establishing balance, shoring up those
areas where we're most vulnerable, and making the most of our
natural strengths. The key lies in understanding your natural style
of relating. What's the default setting of your personality, the one
you revert to -- especially under duress? Do you lead with your
intellect? Share your feelings freely? Shut down?
If so, try this:
Enlist your intellect When you're emotionally wrung out, think
things through to counter anxiety. Repeat this mantra: "It is not my
job to take on the emotions of others. I can be loving without doing
so." This forms the intellectual foundation for coping.
Decompress Take calming mini-breaks throughout the day. Head
outside for some fresh air, go for a walk, or find a private place to
close your eyes and meditate. Focus on exhaling pent-up negative
Following, I've outlined four different profiles from my book,
emotions, such as loneliness and worry, feeling them dissipate with
"Emotional Freedom." See what resonates with you and what does- each breath.
n't. No type is better than another as long as it's in balance. The goal Safeguard your sensitivities Make a list of your top five most
here isn't to stereotype your responses, but to identify your own
emotionally rattling situations, then formulate a plan for handling
strengths and weaknesses -- and ultimately, be your best self.
them so you don't get caught in a panic. For instance, if your comfort level for socializing is three hours, always take your own car so
The Intellectual: Heavy Thinker
you can leave an event early.
Bright, articulate analysts, intellectuals often take refuge in their
heads, filtering the world through rational thought. Impeccable ana- The Rock: Strong and Silent
lyzers with a killer sense of logic, they often risk cutting themselves Consistent, dependable, and stable, rocks offer security and rarely
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Published by Alan Davidson and
lose their cool.
You can sob,
complain, or
rant; they won't
pull away or
judge. But
unlike empaths,
there's a solid
border between
themselves and
the world.
Because they
tend to internalize their
own stressful
emotions, they
need some
nudging to
bring them out. Don't expect them to exhibit or reciprocate emotions -- or handle relationship conflicts head on. Rocks can find
balance by engaging in freer, more spontaneous interactions.
ThroughYourBody Mastery Members:
Out and About!
Sondra Ray, Mark Sullivan, Lee Little, and Alan
Davidson at Sondra Ray’s~ Live, Love
Flourish event in Houston.
Are you a rock?
Is it easier for you to listen than it is to share your feelings? Do you
often feel like you're the most dependable person in the room? Are
you generally satisfied with the status quo in your relationships
(though others try to draw you out emotionally)?
If so, try this:
Stir things up Decide to initiate emotional exchanges rather than
only respond to them. Remember that showing emotion is as much
a form of generosity as being dependable is. With loved ones, expressing your feelings generates sparks, which generates passion -yours and theirs.
Express one feeling a day In a daily journal, record an emotion
you're experiencing. Don't mince words. Maybe you're pissed off.
Content. In love. Whatever it is, bravo! Now tell someone. If you
don't suppress your emotions, your stress lessens, and there's more
of you to connect with.
The Gusher: Nonstop Flow
Spontaneous, direct, and trustworthy, gushers are virtuosos of their
emotions and need to share them. Their compulsive emotional
purging, however, can inhibit their own self-sufficiency and sometimes even drive others away. But they're also able to quickly metabolize negativity and move on.
Auriel Bortolussi of Houston, Left and
Chaka Varley from Austin, Right at Sondra
Ray’s~ Live, Love Flourish event.
Are you a gusher?
Do you get anxious if you keep your feelings in? When a problem
arises, is your first impulse to pick up the phone? Do you have
difficulty sensing other people's emotional boundaries?
If so, try this:
Before soliciting support, check in Ask yourself how a certain
situation makes you feel. Mad? Seething? Experience those emotions before acting out or involving someone else.
Use positive self-talk Tell yourself, "I did my best. I even deserve
kudos for graciousness." Affirm everything you did right; try to
forgive when you might have fallen short.
Tune in to your intuition Spend a few moments meditating to see
what impressions or "aha"s come to you. Don't cheat yourself out
of the chance to build your emotional muscles.
d www.ThroughYourBody.com
Alan, Judy Tuttle-Wurth and Mark Boring @ the MS-150 ride.
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Continued form page 1
There are many a prescriptions for change. For my
money a thorough Body, Mind, Spirit, Shadow practice
is essential for healing each and every person‘s body,
heart, mind, and spirit on the planet. When enough
folks grow their consciousness, we‘ll reach a tipping
point in our human development. This tipping point is
a radical shift that will lurch us forward in our evolutionary progress to sanity, health, and wellness.
the body we see (and so often criticize). Physical IQ
determines our ability to move, to walk, to twist and
bend. Sensation is the foundation of Physical IQ. Being
centered in our bodies, along with grace, strength,
flexibility and stamina round out this Vital IQ. We develop those qualities through different types of awareness, exercise and exertion, including pushing the
body‘s performance beyond expected limits.
My prescription for healing is Your Five Vital IQs, the
five layers of consciousness that define each of us:
your body‘s physical, emotional, mental, moral, and
spiritual intelligences that must be nurtured and treasured as parts of our whole self. The integration and development of these five layers of the body‘s consciousness is IT, our reason de etre, our real reason for being.
It‘s living through your body, with the sum total of energy, into enlightenment and full being.
Emotional Intelligence
So what are these keys to a magic life?
Physical Intelligence
The physical represents the densest, but certainly not
the least, layer of consciousness. It can be described
as the foundation—the bones, muscles, tendons, ligaments, and joints,—that comprises our gross anatomy,
Our emotional intelligence evolves through a growth
process of: the Selfish, then Care and concern for others, then Cosmic Care, your realization that everyone
else is no more or less unique than your self. Each
level is part of the whole and necessary to the evolution
of emotional IQ. Babies and young children are obviously concerned with their own needs and desires;
their very survival depends upon it.
The second level emphasizes care for others, like family, community, country, and tribal ancestry. The
third, Cosmic Care, represents the realization that all
of us deserve kindness, and caring equally for our human brothers and sisters, animal friends, the planet
and universe we live in. It is the source of compassion
of a Mother Theresa, the work of Doctors Without Borders, the forgiveness of His Holiness the Dalai Lama.
Emotional intelligence encompasses
most of the body‘s systems—
circulation, respiration, digestion,
elimination, and reproduction—as
well as pain, anger, sexual arousal,
and the ―fight or flight‖ reflex. So
techniques for developing emotional
intelligence include breathing exercises (remember Lamaze?), diet and
exercise, music, laughter and humor, and Sacred Sex.
And perhaps most important for
emotional health is the acknowledgment of our ―shadows,‖ or the baggage we carry through life and by
which we judge ourselves and others. If we can heal the shadows by
looking at them in a new way, we
kick start our Emotional IQ.
Mental Intelligence
Most cultures value intelligence and
mental dexterity. Mental intelligence includes three aspects of
mind. The unconscious mind (also
called the ―reptile brain‖) is linked
with the more elementary brain
functions: sleeping, moving, surviv-
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Published by Alan Davidson and
ing. Pure cognition, nothing fancy. Individuals who act
before they think fall into this stage. They can be prisoners of limited belief systems and fail to examine
other possible courses of action. They may be in thrall
to their genes.
Moving on, the brain exhibits more subtle processes in
the conscious level, such as dreaming, analysis, thinking of other choices and paths to problem solving. For
most of us, this is the level we settle into—advanced
thinking but not genius, yet able to handle quite complex concepts and ideas. It is at this level that we focus, to look at a question from another side, to learn
subjects like mathematics and music.
The third stage, the super-conscious, can best be described as an all-encompassing experience of wisdom.
It is not simply great brain power but the evolution of
consciousness.
Moral Intelligence
The Moral IQ requires discernment, or the ability to
know right from wrong. But are there absolutes for
these positions? How much are morals affected by cultural differences?
There are variations of the Golden Rule in almost every
culture and religion; treating others as you would be
treated pretty much sums it up. Most people acknowledge the values of others within their community and
make choices based on what they understand about
what is good. Moral intelligence is not just knowing
right from wrong, however, but also includes behavior
and the pursuit of justice. Learning to consciously listen before speaking is also part of this IQ.
the random acts of kindness and rejuvenation. Improvements in each layer swirl around each other until
they overlap and become a constant center of thought
and action: what quantum physicists call ―the stillness within all movement.‖
Spiritual Intelligence
Return to Wholeness
In an earlier day, the 13th century Sufi mystic Jalaluddin Rumi, who spent his entire life trying to understand love as a reflection of the Divine, wrote that love
was infinite and in all things. Everything, every atom,
sought love‘s perfection—and that pursuit was nothing
less than glorifying God.
Ishmael Beah spent three long years of his precious
childhood murdering in Sierra Leone‘s jungles. Eventually workers from UNICEF rescued Beah. He underwent rehabilitation and he found his way to the US.
Fortune smiled on Ishmael and he was adopted by an
American woman, Laura Simms, a facilitator for the
―Young Voices‖ conference at the United Nations. Beah
attended college, earning a degree in Political Science.
The fifth layer of consciousness includes the spiritual
connectedness we share with all things: humans, animals, plants, the environment, our world and beyond.
It also represents our capacity for gratitude, for joy, for
love, and most especially for forgiveness, which must
be total. Such an idea is central to most established
religions. Only by forgiving can one receive forgiveness
and unconditional love.
Ishmael Beah created the Ishmael Beah foundation which is
dedicated to helping former child soldiers reintegrating into
society and improving their lives.
Ishmael‘s return to wholeness has been a long painful
path to restoring his body, mind, and spirit. He says
he has found peace and is grateful just to be alive. To
wake up in the morning and hear birds sing. And not
have to run in fear and hide. Beah wrote Long Way
Gone; Memoirs of a Boy Soldier telling his harrowing
life in the civil war. He explains that transforming his
Peaking one‘s layers of consciousness does not require experiences into something positive allowed him to essome gigantic act that covers all the bases and bestows cape from hell. "When you are bitter you want revenge
rebirth in any or all of the five intelligences. Instead,
and that does not solve the problem - it just exacerthe process is an accumulation of all the little things,
bates the madness."
d www.ThroughYourBody.com
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Genius: The Modern View
Some people live in romantic ages. They tend to believe
that genius is the product of a divine spark. They believe that there have been, throughout the ages, certain
paragons of greatness — Dante, Mozart, Einstein —
whose talents far exceeded normal comprehension,
who had an other-worldly access to transcendent
truth, and who are best approached with reverential
awe.
We, of course, live in a scientific age, and modern research pierces hocus-pocus. In the view that is now
dominant, even Mozart‘s early abilities were not the
product of some innate spiritual gift. His early compositions were nothing special. They were pastiches of
other people‘s work. Mozart was a good musician at an
early age, but he would not stand out among today‘s
top child-performers.
What Mozart had, we now believe, was the same thing
Tiger Woods had — the ability to focus for long periods
of time and a father intent on improving his skills. Mozart played a lot of piano at a very young age, so he got
his 10,000 hours of practice in early and then he built
from there.
The latest research suggests a more prosaic, democratic, even puritanical view of the world. The key factor
separating geniuses from the merely accomplished is
not a divine spark. It‘s not I.Q., a generally bad predictor of success, even in realms like chess. Instead, it‘s
deliberate practice. Top performers spend more hours
(many more hours) rigorously practicing their craft.
The recent research has been conducted by people like
K. Anders Ericsson, the late Benjamin Bloom and others. It‘s been summarized in two enjoyable new books:
―The Talent Code‖ by Daniel Coyle; and ―Talent Is Overrated‖ by Geoff Colvin.
If you wanted to picture how a typical genius might
develop, you‘d take a girl who possessed a slightly
above average verbal ability. It wouldn‘t have to be a
big talent, just enough so that she might gain some
sense of distinction. Then you would want her to meet,
say, a novelist, who coincidentally shared some similar
biographical traits. Maybe the writer was from the
same town, had the same ethnic background, or,
shared the same birthday — anything to create a sense
of affinity.
This contact would give the girl a vision of her future
self. It would, Coyle emphasizes, give her a glimpse of
an enchanted circle she might someday join. It would
also help if one of her parents died when she was 12,
infusing her with a profound sense of insecurity and
fueling a desperate need for success.
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by DAVID BROOKS
Armed with this ambition, she would
read novels and literary biographies
without end. This would give her a core
knowledge of her field. She‘d be able to
chunk Victorian novelists into one
group, Magical Realists in another group and Renaissance poets into another. This ability to place information into patterns, or chunks, vastly improves memory
skills. She‘d be able to see new writing in deeper ways
and quickly perceive its inner workings.
Then she would practice writing. Her practice would be
slow, painstaking and error-focused. According to
Colvin, Ben Franklin would take essays from The Spectator magazine and translate them into verse. Then
he‘d translate his verse back into prose and examine,
sentence by sentence, where his essay was inferior to
The Spectator‘s original.
Coyle describes a tennis academy in Russia where they
enact rallies without a ball. The aim is to focus meticulously on technique. (Try to slow down your golf swing
so it takes 90 seconds to finish. See how many errors
you detect.)
By practicing in this way, performers delay the automatizing process. The mind wants to turn deliberate,
newly learned skills into unconscious, automatically
performed skills. But the mind is sloppy and will settle
for good enough. By practicing slowly, by breaking
skills down into tiny parts and repeating, the strenuous student forces the brain to internalize a better pattern of performance.
Then our young writer would find a mentor who would
provide a constant stream of feedback, viewing her performance from the outside, correcting the smallest errors, pushing her to take on tougher challenges. By
now she is redoing problems — how do I get characters
into a room — dozens and dozens of times. She is ingraining habits of thought she can call upon in order to
understand or solve future problems.
The primary trait she possesses is not some mysterious
genius. It‘s the ability to develop a deliberate, strenuous and boring practice routine.
Coyle and Colvin describe dozens of experiments fleshing out this process. This research takes some of the
magic out of great achievement. But it underlines a
fact that is often neglected. Public discussion is smitten by genetics and what we‘re ―hard-wired‖ to do. And
it‘s true that genes place a leash on our capacities. But
the brain is also phenomenally plastic. We construct
ourselves through behavior. As Coyle observes, it‘s not
who you are, it‘s what you do.
Published by Alan Davidson and
The Five Keys to Mastery:
What makes a Grammy winning musician, an Olympic athlete or a
Nobel Prize-winner different from the rest of us? What do they
know that we don’t? The surprising answer is…nothing.
As a founding father of the Human Potential movement, bestselling author George Leonard (The Ultimate Athlete, Mastery) has
spent a lifetime uncovering the elements that allow the “superstars”
of our culture to soar. In this extraordinary program, he’s “cracked
the code” and reveals five simple steps that will immediately transform your life into the one you were meant to be living.
Key #1~ SURRENDER TO YOUR PASSION
A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single
step; follow your bliss; follow your heart; answer
your calling; go for it; go for broke; seize the day;
give it up; find yourself; do you; keep it real; jump
in; play your position; live with passion; be true to
yourself.
―When you follow your bliss – the thing that truly electrifies you – four things automatically happen: 1. You
put yourself in the path of good luck. 2. You meet the
people you want to know. 3. Doors open where there
weren‘t doors before. And 4. Doors open for you that
wouldn‘t open for anybody else.‖ –Joseph Campbell, Author, The Hero with a Thousand Faces
"The day to day activity of showing up in the lab, exchanging ideas, formulating ideas, is immensely satisfying. It‘s a wonderful intellectual sensuality that once
one has experienced it, you don‘t want to let go.‖ –Eric
Kandel, Neuroscientist
inspired by GEORGE LEONARD
Mentor; teacher; coach; advisor; tutor; role model;
consultant; Counselor; instructor; trainer; scout;
your instincts; guiding spirit; master; confidante;
friend; partner.
―The
mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains.
The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher
inspires.‖ –William Arthur Ward, Author, Fountains
of Faith
―I‘ve got teachers for everything. Teachers for business,
legal work, guitar making – you name it. Because that‘s
one thing I got right. I knew that if I tried to do this by
myself, I was a dead man.‖ –Paul Reed Smith, Entrepreneur
Key #4~ VISUALIZE THE OUTCOME
Imagine; envision; picture; perceive; determination; think up; dream; fantasize; daydream; pray;
break it down; focus; make a plan; have a notion;
frame the problem; conceptualize; strategize;
score; set goals; deadlines; objectives; see it now;
build a model; reach for the stars; go for the gold.
"I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set
him free." -Michelangelo
―People were laughing at me the last day of school.
They said: ‗What are you gonna do, man?‘ I said: ‗I‘m
gonna hang out with BB King and Michael Bloomfield
and Eric Clapton.‘ They actually laughed and said:
‗Wow, you‘re trippin‘‘ I go: ‗No. You‘re trippin‘.‖–Carlos
Santana, Musician
Key #2~ PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE
Failure; commitment; diligence; persistence; patience; perseverance; experience; success; dedication; tenacity; repetition; one day at a time; step
by step; little by little; baby steps; routine; regimen; keep at it; exercise; seasoning; study; training; never give up; discipline; repetition; consistency; rehearse.
Key #5~ PLAY THE EDGE
The sky’s the limit; think outside the box; challenge yourself; push the envelope; push your
boundaries; climb every mountain; find your
threshold; pioneer; new wave; front lines; raise the
bar; go for broke; be all that you can be; no pain no
gain; no guts no glory; take risks; do your best; all
things are possible.
―I have not failed 700 times. I have not failed once. I
have succeeded in proving that those 700 ways will not ―Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed
by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you
work. When I have eliminated the ways that will not
work, I will find the way that will work.‖–Thomas Edison, did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the
Inventor
safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.‖ –Mark Twain
―Don‘t feel that the little things you have to do day after
day are distancing you from your dream. Everything
―I can teach someone how to be a hard worker. I can
brings you closer to your dream. It‘s just a mindset.‖–
teach risk-taking. But it‘s that thing about wanting to
Stephen Toblowski, Actor
Key #3~ GET A GUIDE
d www.ThroughYourBody.com
expose yourself and face down your truths, your ugly
truths….that‘s the stuff that stops people from being
big stars.‖–Ivana Chubbuck, Acting Coach
9
Pumpkin, the Cat of Consolation
By SUZI BAILEY
I met Pumpkin in 1996. Some people would say he
was a "stray" cat, but I've come to understand that he
is actually a "wandering minister" who chooses certain people or families who need a special gift of love.
Folks who live on my street, Chickamauga Lane, know
Mr. Pumpkin the cat because he is a very friendly fellow. He stops by regularly to visit anyone who welcomes him, sometimes even when they don't!
nah, found a kitten
and brought him
home. Pumpkin was
not pleased with Pippin, the new boy cat.
Pippin is a bit aggressive to say the least!
We tried everything we
could think of to help
One summer, Pumpkin sauntered inside my neighbor's the two cats get along
house for a "visit" and no one saw him enter. They were in the same home, but
nothing worked.
packing up and leaving for a 10 day vacation! After a
week of searching for him, we thought he had disappeared. When our neighbors returned they found
It broke my heart when
Pumpkin inside their house and he was okay! He'd sur- Pumpkin went in search of a new home. He found Tom
vived on left-over dog bones and got water from the toi- and Sandy, who lived at the other end of Chickamauga
let to drink! Thankfully, they'd left the toilet seat up!
Lane. Perhaps not coincidentally, Tom and Sandy had
Pumpkin revealed his impeccable manners by using
also recently lost their family dog and they too had
only ONE bathroom rug on which he'd relieved himself. never had a cat of their own! I think it must have been
My kind-hearted neighbors were happy to only have
"time" for Pumpkin to find Tom and Sandy. He was
that one rug to toss in the garbage and we were all de- great joy to them for the three years they lived here.
lighted that Pumpkin was safe and unharmed!
Last year Tom and Sandy had to move out of state and
Pumpkin appeared in my life six years ago just when I we all decided together that it would be best not take
needed a "furry friend". It was the winter of
Pumpkin with them, since ministering to the folks on
1995/1996, and a very sad time for me. My dear dog
Chickamauga Lane appears to be Pumpkin's chosen
Pepsi, died on February 10th, 1996. For the first time
vocation in life. After Tom and Sandy moved away,
in 16 years I was returning home from work with no
Pumpkin picked the Muskgrove's to be his newest
one waiting "just for me." However, there was this big
"home base" family where he is welcomed, fed, and oforange cat visiting in my cul-de-sac that winter. He
fered laps to nap on.
would "hang out" in my garden and my neighbor's children named him Pumpkin.
I can‘t extend enough praise and thanks to them for
caring for this beautiful, magical, marvelous cat. He
After Pepsi died, a friend mentioned to me that the
also visits Helen who lives a few houses down from the
sweet orange cat at the top of my hill was "much too
Muskgroves'. Helen has said, "I think that cat has
skinny under all that hair for a cat his size." Since I
ESP!" The Muskgroves and many of my friends have
had never had a cat in my life before, I knew very little made this comment about Pumpkin: "There is someabout them. I had been distracted by my grief and had- thing very special about him... his eyes, his face... he
n‘t even noticed how skinny he was or that he never
just looks so wise. And he seems to always know what
seemed to "go home". Then the light bulb went off in
we’re thinking and saying!"
my head! This darling cat didn't have a home! I hurried
to the store to buy cat food!
I take walks down the street with chicken treats for
Pumpkin. He gets along perfectly with my new dog
The charming, gentle Pumpkin quickly became part of Abby. (Abby was "trained" by Pippin to respect ALL
our family. We appreciated his intelligence, gracious
cats, which Pumpkin appreciates, I‘m sure.) Even
manners and funny antics. I began to look forward to
though it's been many years since he lived with me, he
coming home from work, because Pumpkin was always knows my whistle, and will come running to greet me,
right there waiting for me. I also feel Pumpkin helped
talking and "chirping" the whole way to my feet where
me get through one the most difficult times of my life.
he immediately flops down and rolls over for a scratch.
A year later, my neighbor Sally's beloved dog died. She
told me that Pumpkin began to visit her more often
and she believes that Pumpkin also helped her during
her time of grief.
I send my thanks to ALL the kind folks on our street
who stop to speak to Pumpkin, who invite him in for
visits and offer him special treats. He is a missionary to
human beings, the "Cat of Consolation" on Chickamauga Lane, a furry friend who blesses all who have
During the summer of 1998, my step-daughter, Savan- the opportunity to know him.
10
Published by Alan Davidson and
Sheri Richards, Member Profile cont. from pg 12
& diabetic wounds.
After all it wasn‘t easy moving an extended family halfway across the country and settling in together. Most
important to Sherri, ―She learned to be more accepting
of others and to focus on the positive aspects in each
person versus the annoying aspects that everyone has;
―except me,‖ she jokes.
Sherri‘s spiritual journey along the way has been fascinating and she admits it took her while to get ―it‖. The
―it‖ being that she needed to listen to her body and
embrace it. Her early childhood taught her to ignore
her body and her emotions that she would experience
physical pain and begin looking for any disruptive outlet. That was quite a journey itself, she laughs. ―It took
Today Sherri is a business consultant to small busiawhile, but I finally got what a magnificent instrument
ness entrepreneurs and has even found a way to inour bodies are and how much they communicate all
corporate body, mind, and spirit healing practices into day long about so many things, when I pay attention.‖
her work with her clients. For example, she often
Sherri‘s list of spiritual teachers whom impacted her
works ―with people to use emotional words to describe life is long and varied but each one individually awakthe company they want to have, so we can deliberately ened a part of her, everyone from Jesus to her grandwork to create that organization. I find people are often parents, Carl Jung, Andrew Harvey, and Marianne
very good at what they do, but their expertise is not in Williamson to name just a few. Today Sherri medirunning their business. I help them learn to be better tates, writes in a journal, reads inspired books and
business people, so they can create the company they passionately dances Nia as a blue belt. Sherri‘s long
dreamed of.‖
dream of dancing has been fulfilled through Nia, ―It
was wonderful to find a place to dance where my body
In addition to her consulting, Sherri represents an
type doesn‘t matter and I can wear dancerly clothes!‖
educational company called Massageprep that helps
therapists prep for their massage exams and she also
Sherri was introduced to Alan through a Nia newsletworks with a local spa using light therapy. Sherri is
ter and his philosophy of listening to her body spoke to
constantly impressed by the degree of somatic technol- her in a meaningful way. She loves that his work is
ogy that is evolving and its ―fascinating implications.‖
serious, fun, insightful and accessible. Ever ―since I
Somatic Technology is the development of non-evasive
methods (no knives or poisons) to treat existing health have begun to more deliberately pay attention to my
body and ―listen‖ to the wisdom and guidance it is
conditions such as acne, rosaceae, & seasonal allercommunicating to me, I am fascinated by work that
gies. For instance, the local spa she works with uses
technology that was developed by NASA to treat
supports this premise and helps me to better underwounds in space and works ―a lot like photosynthesis stand and work with my body.‖ Every month I learn
in plants.‖ The light technology actually creates energy something new and when his newsletter comes out ―I
in cells and releases nitric oxide into the blood stream
get comfy in my favorite chair with a tasty beverage
which improves blood flow and circulation. Limited
and learn more about how my body works.‖
trials show it to be effective in treating pressure sores
The Book That Changed My Life
by JOAN GARBO
I read Your Erroneous Zones in the 1970‘s, right
before I went for EST training, the precursor to today‘s Landmark Forum training. It ended up really
touching my life. Zones was an extremely strong
validation for the movement in life I was in.
It was like reading about the EST training before
actually attending. It enabled me to take real, personal responsibility for my life. Years later, when I
was actually working for the EST company, I had
the opportunity to meet the author Wayne Dyer
and talk with him. I told him how much his book
was a part of the turning point in my life; and how
it really taught me to never assume anything.
Joan Garbo is a fabulous Speaker and business coach. Reach her at www.JoanGarbo.com
d www.ThroughYourBody.com
11
Through Your Body Mastery
Sherri Richards
Member Profile -By NICOLE PEPPIN
―A decision is a conclusion based on everything you
believe about yourself.‖
~Barbara Stanny
Sherri Richards plans to live past 100 and as she puts
it be a ―fit, feisty and sparkly older lady.‖ Sherri‘s
spunky mentality is a reflection of her personal struggles along the road of life and her realization that she
needed to listen to her body‘s wisdom.
Sherri learned to ignore her emotions. She was raised
as young girl in a family of men where crying and
other emotional outbursts weren‘t accepted. Sherri
wasn‘t an up-happy child, far from it actually. She
loved ―to sew, read, dance, cook, listen to music and
hang out with my friends, horse and dogs.‖ Growing up
she lived a bit of a nomadic life. Her family moved often
from town to town; so her father who studied to be a
Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine could go to college,
medical school, and eventually an internship. When
she was seven, her father accepted a position with a
small practice in the logging hills of Oregon. We lived in
the boonybins and even had cows, ―who are by the way
very calming creatures,‖ she says. Looking back it is
In her Junior year Sherri had a devastating break-up
easy to see that Sherri was a very emotional child and
with her boyfriend that altered her life path. She chose
didn‘t have a healthy way of expressing those emoto do her next semester abroad in England. Living in
tions.
London completely rearranged her world view about
her broken heart. It led her to the philosophy ―that
However, her family‘s lifestyle and her father‘s profeswhen one door closes, a window opens.‖ It also opened
sion did teach her several important life lessons. The
her eyes up to the many hundreds of perspectives that
first she learned was the importance of quality cuscan surround a single event.
tomer service. Because they lived so far out her dad
often made house calls or traveled to the nearest hospiBack from Europe she headed down the typical path of
tal, some 35 miles away. On these trips Sherri and her
job, marriage, children, and then MBA. On her 30th
little brother would often tag along and find themselves
birthday she made the tough decision to divorce her
meeting the most interesting people. Her second lesson
husband. It was a decision she didn‘t take lightly. Her
was learning to be comfortable with all kinds of people
parents divorced when she was a child. Decades later,
in all kinds of situations.
she still felt the devastating effects of that and the
painful introduction of her step parents. She and her
Sherri went on to college with the big-dream of being a
husband chose to be okay about their divorce. She
dance major. But ―in those days dancers were supsays a very wise man ―once told her that events are a
posed to have a very specific body type and I was told
reflection of the emotion that we give to it.‖ Today both
flat out that I didn‘t have it.‖ So Sherri embraced her
she and her ex-husband are happily remarried; belove of clothing and textiles and became a Home Ecocause of their commitment to their children, they are
nomics major. She enjoyed Home Ec until she learned
able to have happy, heart-warming extended family
about cash flow, and income statements in business
gatherings.
101. She fell in love with business and switched her
major again. ―I was mesmerized by the way the pieces
Her proudest achievement is the sense of community
all fit so perfectly together, and had such an impact on
and love her blended family achieves.
...cont. pg 11
each other,‖ she says.
12
Published by Alan Davidson and www.ThroughYourBody.com