• Volume 2-Issue 9, Work

    The heartful presenter – part 4

    Influence minds and win hearts In the last 3 articles, RAVI VENKATESAN has talked about the reasons public speakers fail, the 27 Cs of good communication, and he has taken a deeper look at body language and voice modulation. In this article, he explores the ‘power of pause’. The tips and tricks provided in this article of the series have consistently been rated as the most valuable by the hundreds who have participated in our Heartful Presenter training. Let’s look at why the art of pause is so important, and how to pause. PAUSE TO ENGAGE THE AUDIENCE IN CONVERSATION As it turns out, we speak much slower than we can listen. The average person speaks at 125 words per minute, and can listen to 400 words per minute or even more. So what happens with the 75% mental capacity that is not used in listening? There is a natural tendency for the mind of your listener to wander, even if the subject matter is interesting. By structuring your content to have logical points of reflection, you can draw in your audience’s attention. For example, if you make a point, you could follow it by saying, “Consider that for a moment,” and pause. Now your audience is thinking about the point you made, instead of their mind wandering. You have moved them from ‘disengaged’ to ‘participating’; passive to active. COMBINE PAUSE & RETENTON TECHNIQUES The research about how much of a talk people retain varies wildly, however everyone agrees that a lot of what is said is forgotten. Providing spaced repetitions and context, are great ways to improve retention. All these rely on pause: Spaced repetition Here is an example: at the beginning of a talk you say, “The West faces a severe demographic challenge, with the average age in…

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  • Nature, Volume 2-Issue 9

    Pan Gu and Nü Wa

    THE DREAMTIME This creation story comes from classical Chinese mythology. It is rewritten from Classic of Mountains and Seas, an anthology of stories collected in the first century BC that were nearly as ancient then as the anthology seems to us today. Pan Gu and Nü Wa Long, long ago, when Heaven and Earth were still one, the entire universe was contained in an egg-shaped cloud. All the matter of the universe swirled chaotically in that egg. Deep within the swirling matter was the huge giant, Pan Gu. For eighteen thousand years he developed and slept in the egg. Finally one day he awoke and stretched, and the egg broke to release the matter of the universe. The lighter purer elements drifted upwards to make the sky and heavens, and the heavier impure elements settled downwards to make the earth. In the midst of this new world, Pan Gu worried that Heaven and Earth might mix again, so he resolved to hold them apart, with the heavens on his head and the earth under his feet. As the two continued to separate, Pan Gu grew to hold them apart. For many more thousands of years he continued to grow, until the heavens were thirty thousand miles above the Earth. Then for much longer he continued to hold the two apart, fearing the return of the chaos of his youth. Finally he realized they were stable, and soon after that he died. With Pan Gu’s death, the Earth took on a new character. His arms and legs became the four directions and the mountains. His blood became the rivers, and his sweat became the rain and dew. His voice became the thunder, and his breath became the winds. His hair became the grass, and his veins became the roads and paths. His…

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  • Self, Volume 2-Issue 9

    Excellence

    SRIMATHI RATHOD describes her own journey towards excellence, and how even the idea of excellence has evolved for her. How does excellence drive us from within? I was in my mid-twenties when I came across the book A Passion for Excellence by Tom Peters. It was a new concept for me. I was used to excelling in academics and in my work, and I liked to do a job well. I was brought up with the belief that the work we do carries our signature and I did not like to be associated with shabby work. As I grew both in my career and age this became a dominant facet of my personality. I began thinking of the real difference between ‘a job well done’ and excellence. Is a grading of ‘excellent’ different from excellence per se? An idea started taking deep root in me that a job well done is connecting two dots in a straight line while excellence is a multidimensional graph. I started asking myself questions: What was my attitude in getting the job done? Was I desirous of promotion, of attracting my superiors’ attention, or was there any other vested interest? Did I ride on the shoulders of others unfairly? Did I give all participants their rightful due? Did I create a stressful environment? Did I turn a cohesive group into a disruptive one? Even if one of these was not ideal, even if the final deliverable was beyond expectations, I learnt to accept that my work was short of excellence. Now I know that excellence drives us from within. It has character, values and righteousness and an ability to balance self-interest with the interest of everyone and everything else in the environment. The key is balance. Think of a very elaborate and tasty dish from…

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  • Inspiration, Volume 2-Issue 9

    The march to freedom – part 3

    KAMLESH PATEL continues his narration of the ultimate journey to freedom. In this issue he takes us still further into the realm beyond experience, beyond consciousness, into the realm of God. THE SCIENCE OF SPIRITUALITY Evolution of Consciousness Series Let’s first see how far our wayfarer has come on his journey to freedom. In part 1 we explored the awakening of the chakras in the heart region, and then in part 2 what happens in the first few chakras of the mind region, when he experiences liberation from the ongoing cycle of birth and death. So let’s rejoin him at chakra 10, the beginning of the sub-region known as Prabhu, and continue onwards in this vast region of mind. He is now in the realm of God. Stephen Hawking wrote in his book, A Brief History of Time, “If we do discover a theory of everything… it would be the ultimate triumph of human reason – for then we would truly know the mind of God.” The region of Prabhu is all about this, the Super-Mind of God. But reaching here cannot be done through the purely scientific approach of reason: reason is too cumbersome and primitive a mental approach. To know the Super-Mind of God, direct perception is required, through the awakening of the superconscious states. Reason is the indirect route to knowledge, limited by the mental functions of consciousness, thinking, intellect and ego in the best-case scenario, and contaminated with the additional filters of samskaras in a worse-case scenario. Direct perception is unfettered by any of these limitations. Through the purification of the heart and subsequent awakening of the higher chakras, direct perception is the natural state of a true Yogi. It is not that a Yogi cannot use reason, as it is a useful tool, but he…

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  • Children, Volume 2-Issue 9

    The great stories of Pure Generous Heart

    Pure Generous Heart: you may be thinking, “Now that’s an odd name.” Well, I must admit it is, but in these stories you will see his big heart, which is beautiful, pristine, generous, compassionate and loving. It is our heart that is our best friend. In times of sorrow it comforts us, in times of joy it radiates love, and when it comes to making a decision it guides us in the right direction. The stories of Pure Generous Heart resonate with our deepest feelings of love, compassion and purity. The adventures of Pure Generous Heart are never boring, as you will find out for yourself. Happy reading! SEEKING HEART LEARNS ABOUT LIFE Seeking Heart is tireless, insatiable, and indefatigable. Even though very young, he has seen many moons, experienced and lived through many things, impulsively yet wholeheartedly. He feels on top of the world! Seeking Heart is an expert in extremes; for him to lose himself, to forget himself in his passion is to find himself, it is like an intuition burgeoning from the core. First there was sailing the seas with its winds, its heaving swells, and its intense fears; then there was diving, preferably in apnea; then snorkeling in underwater caves and chasms in the deep darks of the earth; then the great vertigo of the jumps, soaring high and free as the bird, to name a few. Yes, Seeking Heart seeks, without respite, without moderation and without ceasing. One fine day he meets Pure Generous Heart. Here is how this unusual encounter takes place. It is the end of a fine afternoon and in the final light of the day, the sky turns a deep ochre, shaded with veils of the growing shadows. But Seeking Heart is not a poet. He grips with his fingers, secures his…

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THIS MONTH'S ISSUE

Self

The secret of abundance

in Self, Volume 2-Issue 9

Have you ever wondered how to be peaceful and create peace around you? MEGHANA ANAND embarks on her own peace mission and shares her experience. Recently, a little message inscribed...

Relationships
Work
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Vitality

Nutrigenomics

in Vitality, Volume 2-Issue 9

DR PARTHA NANDI encourages us all to make use of this new field in nutritional research: harnessing the power of food to change our genes and improve our health. From...

Nature

Pan Gu and Nü Wa

in Nature, Volume 2-Issue 9

THE DREAMTIME This creation story comes from classical Chinese mythology. It is rewritten from Classic of Mountains and Seas, an anthology of stories collected in the first century BC that...

Children
Quotes

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THE SCIENCE OF SPIRITUALITY

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COLLECTOR'S EDITION 2016