LET’S TALK ABOUT GRATITUDE

As I shared recently shared in my Instagram stories this past week, I’ve been keeping a gratitude journal for 21 days (a challenge to myself). The 21 days are up and I’ll be continuing this nightly ritual. 

Why? 

1. I knew intellectually that opening my mind to seeing the abundance in my life would help to lessen the “scarcity mindset,” which I am certain many of us possess. However, actually regularly doing this practice myself, I now know a true shift in my perspective is occurring. There’s a softening that I feel - in my mind, in my body, and in my spirit.

   2. It’s made me a happier person. Yes - not kidding - 21 days and I’m seeing things with less bitterness, and fear, and concern. This is NOT to say what’s happening right now on the planet (#climatecrisis) and the injustices and atrocities occurring in our country aren’t on the forefront of my mind. I can both be happy - my “spirit well” can be full so to speak - and fiercely work on what matters. I think it’s actually making me fiercer and have more clarity to act.

   3. It’s bred a whole new practice of following and logging my “generosities” each day. I’m tipping more robustly, giving money to the strangers who seem to need it, and overall finding ways to give more generously.

Do note this is not a bunch of fluff either. Science has shown gratitude rewires your brain in a positive way through neuroplasticity. For example, research has shown gratitude stimulates the hypothalamus (a key part of the brain that regulates stress) and the ventral tegmental area (part of our “reward circuitry”). It also can help to rebalance your limbic system. 

What are some other ways to cultivate gratitude other than keeping a gratitude journal? Write (and send if you can!) a thank you note; count your blessings; mentally thank someone who did something nice for you; meditate.

Tell me, how do you practice gratitude? And generosity? How do you feel it affects you as a human and on a larger scale? Would absolutely love to hear your thoughts!! 💚

PODCAST INTERVIEW: THE POWER OF THE MIND-BODY CONNECTION

Check it out here.

TEACHING THE NEUROSCIENCE OF MEDITATION!

What a joy it’s been to start teaching the neuroscience of meditation for Nalanda Institute’s Meditation Teacher Training at Pure Yoga West. My two other co-instructors Megan Mook and Scott Tusa are truly AMAZING meditation teachers! Looking forward to an awesome next 10 weeks! More to come soon! ♡

THE YEAR OF YES, EP. 23: YES TO GOING SLOW

awesome street art in Williamsburg by Mike Makatron

It’s been about a month since my last post. It’s because I’ve been purposely living life more SLOWLY. Summer is a great time to slow down - the weather is hot and humid, the days are long, and co-workers are away on vacation making getting things done take more time. But by slow, I mean easy, relaxed, and leisurely - not languid, sluggish or heavy.

How does one slow down? 

• DO LESS. Pare down the to-do list to the ESSENTIAL + URGENT items. Leave the others. Disconnect from the e-devices for several hours a day. I loved the New York Times article on JOMO (the JOY of missing out!)

• BE PRESENT. Feel the sun on your skin. Notice the gorgeous summer blossoms and foliage around you. Taste the fresh produce that’s bountiful right now.

• LISTEN. Focus on listening intently to the person who is talking or the sounds that surround you. Don’t interrupt and don’t give your two cents. Just listen. Hear the birds' predawn chirping. Enjoy the sounds of the trees rustling in the wind. Notice the sounds of the summer rainstorms. 

• WALK SLOWER. DRIVE SLOWER. MOVE SLOWER. Yes, you need to get it done. What is five extra minutes? Really, ask yourself if getting somewhere faster to save a few minutes is worth the stress. Do a walking meditation. Wander. Meander. Amble. 

• DAYDREAM. Research continues to emerge showing us that daydreaming is an amazing (ahem, essential) tool to cultivate creativity and new ideas. 

• PLAY. In the garden. At the park. Board games. While swimming. And laugh.

“How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives.” 
― Annie Dillard, The Writing Life

How do you slow down?  🐌

Sending positive thoughts and energy to you to make time for some dreamy, quiet hours. You most certainly deserve it.

The Year of Yes is a weekly photo-and-word installment by Dr. Shah written with the purpose of evoking hope, resilience, and a gentle movement toward healthy change in all of us.

THE YEAR OF YES, EP. 22: YES TO TULSI (HOLY BASIL) 🌿

Tulsi, also known in English as holy basil, Ocimum tenuiflorum L, belongs to the mint family and is a cousin of sweet basil. It is a powerful aromatic herb that has been used extensively as a medicinal herb in Ayurvedic medicine. 

Its evocative scent is mesmerizing. Tulsi's unique fragrance qualities are spicy, sweet and herbaceous-somewhat minty, with a pronounced sweet, warm, clove-like essence.

Traditionally, tulsi is considered a purifier of the mind, body, and spirit. Some texts describe it as an adaptogen (stress modulator). One of the primary active compounds of holy basil oil is eugenol, which is a potent antimicrobial and is one of the compounds that gives it its distinct fragrance. Holy basil also contains other therapeutic components, including the flavanoids orientin and vicenin and phytochemicals such as rosmarinic acid and apigenin. The research on tulsi's other purported benefits looks promising, these include: blood sugar control, anti-cancer properties, and lowering stress hormones. 

As per Mountain Rose Herbs (one of my fave herb shops), holy basil has been “revered throughout India for thousands of years. Ayurvedic texts describe Holy Basil as a pillar of holistic herbal medicine and a goddess incarnated in plant form (the mother medicine of nature).” 

I distinctly remember my Nani - my grandmother - my mom’s mom - had a tulsi plant placed in the courtyard of her home in Gujarat, India. I am visiting her this fall and hopefully it’s still there!!

I decided to grow my own tulsi this year in my window box garden. It's growing like wildfire! I've been using the blossoms and leaves on my meditation altar, chewing on fresh leaves, and sometimes making a tea.

Give it a try! It’s a magical plant indeed! 💚

The Year of Yes is a weekly photo-and-word installment by Dr. Shah written with the purpose of evoking hope, resilience, and a gentle movement toward healthy change in all of us.

THE YEAR OF YES, EP. 16: YES TO KEEPING PLANTS & FRESH FLOWERS AROUND

Fresh cut tulips on my dining room table.

Dr. Shah’s prescription: treat yourself to some fresh flowers or a house plant!

I'm not sure if I've ever met someone who doesn't like plants or fresh flowers in their home and work environment. Pretty green things not only make pleasant decor, but they seem to be very good for your brain health too. Research is revealing that our brains are hardwired to de-stress and engage in new ways when we're in touch with beautiful natural things. That’s some good news!

A growing body of scientific evidence is showing that spending time in nature or even just looking at nature (yes, on computer screens too, seriously!), can improve our minds, attention spans, creativity, prosocial behavior (such as kindness), and much more. Being in touch with nature seems to also improve mental health, decreasing depression and increasing the sensation of "aliveness." 

Walk the Green

Studies have shown that city dwellers have higher risk for anxiety, depression and other mental illnesses than people living in less urban environments. A great way to mitigate some of this risk is to choose daily paths to and from your destinations that include greenery, such as a park or tree-lined street. In fact, the Japanese have "forest therapy" as part of their medical arsenal to combat stress, and a study shows that walking in forests indeed decreases cardiovascular risk. Forest therapy can include hiking or simply spending quiet, mindful time with nature among trees and foliage.

See the Green

Adding some green to your indoor environment is a good idea too - plants, fresh-cut flowers, and even nature-scene screen savers and computer background images. Taking intermittent breaks and looking out of a window at some greenery is also helpful for your health, and not just because sitting for prolonged periods is harmful for your body (read more about that in a coming blog post). A study looking at college students in Australia doing a computer test showed that providing a single 40-second "microbreak" of an image of a green rooftop between tests improved their performance.

Be the Green

So, schedule your day to include "green breaks," however brief (does your office have a courtyard, terrace, or green roof?). Take a quick walk during lunch. Take a bike ride. Do some gardening. Have an after dinner stroll by some trees. Thinking creatively here is key. But whatever you do, make "being green" part of your health insurance policy! 💚

The Year of Yes is a weekly photo-and-word installment by Dr. Shah written with the purpose of evoking hope, resilience, and a gentle movement toward healthy change in all of us. 

THE YEAR OF YES, EP. 9: YES TO FEELING PRICKLY.

The prickly seed pod pictured here surrounds a growing, glossy chestnut. The spiny covering that protects the nut while immature, called a burr, opens wide when the seed is ripe (Paillet 2005). This beautiful creation of mother nature is a good metaphor for our growth experiences in life.

It’s just so darn easy to get stuck into routine, to let inertia overtake you. Many folks avoid stepping out of their comfort zones - like meeting a relationship trouble head on, traveling to a new place, or quitting a job for a more stimulating but challenging opportunity - because it can feel terribly frightening, possibly paralyzing. As we begin to step out into a wild unknown, we can feel alone, lost, uncomfortable, complicated, annoyed … prickly.

So why bother ever trying something new? It is vital to put ourselves in the discomfort of uncertainty and take risks in life so that we grow as humans, exploring our true potential. Being on this path of uncomfortable awakening can bear amazing outcomes, like a prickly chestnut seed pod, opening up to reveal a delicious, smooth, shiny, nutritious, beautiful fruit.

How, then, do we say YES to the unpleasant feelings that will inevitably emerge on the road of new experiences? How do we allow these feelings to show up without resisting them, perceiving them fully, and then letting them pass without getting bogged down?

I’ve been learning a great meditation tool from masters such as Tara Brach and Jeff Warren that anyone can use in these rough moments. It can help you to work with the intense or difficult feelings you’re encountering, facing them head on, allowing you to work through them. In fact, this tool works well in pleasant, calm moments too, though we're less apt to need help experiencing "the good stuff."

The tool is called RAIN, an acronym that stands for:

• R – Recognize what is happening

• A – Accept / allow life to be just as it is

• I – Investigate inner experience with kindness

• N – Non-Identification.

Here's a 10-minute free meditation exercise by Tara Brach to learn how to use it.

This mindfulness tool takes a bit of effort to remember and have ready when you need it, but it can be deeply helpful when you’re stuck in a prickly place. A little practice goes a long way.

Check out these great articles to further explore and learn more about this great tool: Tara Brach's website, Mindful Magazine article by Tara Brach, article by Susie Harrington, Jeff Warren for the 10% Happier app. 

Now let's crack open and let the beauty emerge! ♡

THE YEAR OF YES, EP. 8: YES TO MINDFUL SHOWERING.

Photo credit: Markus Spiske

You may be rolling your eyes right now. Like, what? Try to stay with me for a few minutes.

There’s usually only one time of day when you’re free of everything but yourself - no stuff, kids, pets, devices, other people - and that’s in the shower. What if you could take that precious alone time and make it even more special by adding a little meditation into your day?

I’ve been practicing mindful showering for a few weeks now and it’s become one of my favorite ways to practice mindfulness. Why? Because it’s a routine task during which we’re often lost in thought and don’t have much else to distract us.

Step-by-step instructions:

1. Start with your “beginner’s mind” by just noticing what’s going on. Observe your actions - the removal of your clothing, pulling back on the curtain or shower door, turning on the water, finding the correct temperature. Take note of the water itself - its temperature, sound, wetness. Isn’t it quite the miracle that warm, clean water comes out of your faucet /shower head whenever you want it?

2. Once in the shower, open your awareness to the feeling of the warm water on your body. Notice the pressure of the water flow, how does it feel? Hold the soap in your hands, notice how slick it gets, how it smells, how it feels on your skin. Feel the shampoo and how it foams up, feel the pressure of your fingers on your scalp.

3. Every time your mind wanders off - and it will many times, perhaps to your to-do list, or the time (I’m in a rush!), or something that happened yesterday, or whatever else - bring it gently back to the present, to the physical sensations of the warm water on your body and the weight of your feet on the tub floor. Is there any place you can be but right here, right now?

4. As you towel off, feel the towel's texture, how it soaks up the water, and how it gently scrubs your skin.

5. Finally, observe the difference paying attention makes on this everyday experience you just had.

The practice of mindful showering (or eating, or brushing your teeth, or walking...) is not about thinking, but rather just about awareness of what's going on. On the outset, the practice may seem silly, even boring. However, the more you practice everyday activity mindfulness, the more your mind will start to notice the textures of life, the emotions that come up in your body, and the fact that your thoughts are just thoughts, and not reality. If you'd like to learn more, here is a good article about mindfulness practice for beginners. 

By practicing presence and mindful awareness in the shower, you can get your daily meditation dose in, and get your whole self clean - your body AND your mind. Pretty wonderful, no? ♡