• Interview, November 2018 / 31 Oct 2018

    Well-being is a skill

    Best known for his groundbreaking work in the study of the brain and emotions, DR RICHARD DAVIDSON is Professor of Psychology and Psychiatry at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the Founder-Director of the Center for Healthy Minds. During a webinar hosted by AMIR H. IMANI, Dr Davidson explains how mental training to cultivate well-being can have a positive impact on happiness, creativity and productivity in the work place and at home. Q: Hi Richie! RD: Hi. It’s wonderful to be here. Thank you for having me. Q: You are speaking about ‘Well-being Is a Skill’. Even the title gives me a sense of responsibility for what goes on in my mind. When I was reviewing your book and your lectures, it came to me that I should be aware of letting go of what is on my mind when it’s time. Otherwise whatever we are holding is affecting the brain, the mind. So I personally have become much more responsible about this since I reviewed the beautiful work at your lab. Please tell us more about your findings. RD: Thank you so much, Amir. Let me begin by simply giving a little background. I am a neuroscientist and a psychologist by training, and I’ve been interested in a central question for my entire career: Why is it that certain people are more vulnerable to life’s challenges and other people more resilient? And how can we nudge people along this continuum to flourish, to become more resilient? That question is one that we continue to address in different ways, as new research opportunities emerge and as new measures become available and so on. In the early part of my career I focused a lot on how we respond to adversity. And then in 1992 I met the Dalai Lama for the first time,…

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  • November 2018, Taste of life / 31 Oct 2018

    Sailing high – an art essay

    BRIAN JONES is a Member of the Royal Society of Marine Artists, who exhibits in their annual exhibition at the Mall Galleries in London. His work has been published by Yachting Heritage in their limited edition books, and he has completed commissions for the Royal Navy and other influential private collectors in the UK, USA, Europe and the Middle East. Born on the Kent coast in 1945, ships and sea have always been a great influence in my life. After completing my formal education I was keen to go to art school, however in the late 1950s boys were encouraged to ‘go out and get a proper job’. This I did. I embarked on a successful career as a chef, which led to various college teaching jobs and finally I became head of a catering school. In the 1980s I began to paint seriously again, selling to local galleries and private collectors. In the late ’90s I wanted to devote all my time to painting and took early retirement moving to Looe in south-east Cornwall. I now have my own studio and enjoy the influence of the Cornish coast and all its maritime connections. I am most influenced by the grace and beauty of the classic yachts of the 1920s and 1930s and current regattas around the world. I have a deep interest in ships of Nelson’s Navy and the river Thames in its heyday. In all my work I try to convey an atmosphere of what it was like at the time, with as much accuracy and movement as possible. I have been influenced by some of the great marine artists both past and present including W.L. Wyllie, Norman Wilkinson and Montague Dawson, and my favorite artists are Terrick Williams and Edward Seago. Republished with permission from the artist:…

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  • It changes everything, November 2018 / 31 Oct 2018

    Memorable experiences: 5 tips to consciously create them

    How do you create joyous experiences in everyday life? Here MANJUNATH T shares some tips from his own experience to enrich each day with memorable experiences. Try a small experiment: What made these experiences memorable? Did you realize it during the experience, or did you know only when you reflected on it later? Are good memories expensive? Do they happen by chance or can we consciously create them? If your mind was flooded with too many experiences and you had trouble shortlisting them, then probably you are a joyous person. You have the ability to create positive experiences not just for yourself but also for others. If not, the good news is that you can consciously create them. Based on the collective wisdom of anthropologists, neuroscientists and spiritual thinkers, here are 5 tips: Giving creates more lasting memories than receiving Do you remember how you celebrated your birthday three years ago? You probably cut a cake, ate at a wonderful restaurant, and received expensive gifts. Do you have trouble recalling? Then your brain probably classified this as a mundane experience and flushed it out of your memory after some time. Next time, try something different. Go to an orphanage or an old age home and personally serve them a meal with your personal involvement. This may turn out to be a very memorable birthday! And if your birthday is too far away, then don’t wait, just do it. See the result of this experience. Invest in experiences rather than things If you have to choose between receiving a thing versus an experience, go for the latter. A Forbes article1 quotes a 20-year study by a Cornell Professor, Dr Thomas Gilovich, about the ‘Paradox of Possessions’. He found that though things outlive experiences, they do not have a profound impact on…

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  • Be inspired, November 2018 / 31 Oct 2018

    Karma, Jnana & Bhakti Yoga – part 2

    From before the written Vedas, the three fundamental elements of yogic practice have been described as Karma Yoga, Jnana Yoga and Bhakti Yoga. In part 1, DAAJI enlightened us on how these three elements arose, and went into detail on karma and jnana. Here he focuses on bhakti and the interplay of all three in our path of Yoga. The heart is the midpoint of our whole system, and its attention can be diverted towards any aspect of worldly life and also towards spiritual life. So the heart’s energy can be expressed in action, in knowledge, and also in the subtlest aspects of existence. In a balanced person, the heart gives importance to all three elements, and our higher purpose is very much in focus. For this higher purpose, and even to bring love and enthusiasm into daily life we need bhakti, which is our lifeline for the upward journey. BHAKTI What is bhakti? If we could ask Mirabai, she would probably say, “I don’t know anything about bhakti.” If we could ask Kabir Saheb, or Teresa d’Avila or Rabi’a, I don’t think their answers would impress us either. Yet all these saintly people are the personification of bhakti for us. Most people understand bhakti as devotion. But actually it is much more. Remember the state before creation, when everything was resting in a state of absolute oneness? What qualities lead us towards that state? It is a combination of so many things: enthusiasm, will, interest, faith, courage, devotion, attachment, respect, and most of all love. Especially love for the universal principle we call God. Bhakti is something we cherish so deeply inside our heart that the Ultimate becomes everything for us. The result of adding bhakti to any action or thought is that it is enlivened. Bhakti is the spark…

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  • Focus, November 2018 / 30 Oct 2018

    Gifts

    Sunday morning, up with the lark I think I’ll take a walk in the park Hey, hey, hey, it’s a beautiful day! My dad used to wake me up almost every morning with these lines from Daniel Boone’s Beautiful Sunday when I was a toddler. The sound of his humming in my ears is one of the best and last memories I have of being with him. The end of the year is special in many ways. It’s time not only for festivities and celebrations across the world but also for deeper reflections and new beginnings. Two years ago Christmas was more special than usual: it opened my heart to the joy of sharing and togetherness. The sense of belonging I gained from reuniting with my paternal family has helped me tide over some of the deepest fears that have accompanied me since childhood. Ever since I’ve been rejoicing the gifts this season has brought to me. UNIQUENESS My mother once told me, “There are as many universes as there are individuals.” Each of us has a definite role in existence; none is out of place. It is like a jigsaw puzzle: even if a single piece is missing or out of place, the picture is not complete. A growing realization of this fact has helped me to resolve inner conflicts that are often reflected in the form of jealousy, competition, a sense of being deprived or wronged and so on. The more I live this understanding, the more I become open to receiving from the world around me. TOGETHERNESS I often like to listen to my mother-in-law’s story about how dreamy the world appeared to her as a little girl, from the window of her house on a rustic street in one of the suburbs of South India, until the…

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  • November 2018, Thought in action / 30 Oct 2018

    Cultivating leadership values – part 1

    KRISH SHANKAR is the President of the Bengaluru Chapter of the National Human Resource Development Network, and Executive Vice President and Group Head of Human Resource Development at Infosys. Krish has over 30 years of experience and has facilitated organization-wide transformation and capability development, and been instrumental in building a strong talent pool through a series of leadership development initiatives. He is an avid reader, and loves wildlife photography and trekking. A football enthusiast, he is passionate about teaching and exploring new ideas in Human Resources and organization development. In this exclusive interview, he speaks with V SRINIVASAN and SHARAT HEGDE in his hometown of Bengaluru, India. Q: Krish, as an HR leader, you have served in several eminent global organizations. What are the values which you have deeply cherished as an individual and which have really helped you to serve at the highest levels? KS: Over the last 30 years, the best thing is that I’ve learnt from a lot of people, a lot of leaders, and when I really look at the best people, some of their values are the ones I have internalized and applied to my life and built around. The first value is all about being genuine and authentic. It is not always easy, but if you can be genuine and authentic, and people know that what you say is what you mean, I think that’s the first step. The second value, which is behind all of this, is transparency. I have found that whatever the difficult problems or tough things, if you’re transparent about your intent – why you want to do it – and if people see the purity of the intent coming across, then even the toughest problems can be managed. For example, when you have a tough performance conversation with somebody, by telling…

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THIS MONTH'S ISSUE

It changes everything
Thought in action
Focus
simplicity

Simplicity

in Focus, November 2018

LLEWELLYN VAUHGAN-LEE challenges us to examine the ceaseless demands of today’s world that so easily fill up our days. With our smart phones and computer screens we often remain caught...

Be Inspired
Taste of Life
Interview
Well-being is a skill

Well-being is a skill

in Interview, November 2018

Best known for his groundbreaking work in the study of the brain and emotions, DR RICHARD DAVIDSON is Professor of Psychology and Psychiatry at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the...

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