For More information we recommed reading How We Work: Live Your Purpose, Reclaim Your Sanity, and Embrace the Daily Grind by Leah Weiss, PhD which inspired this post.
"Look deep into nature and then you will understand everything."
- Albert Einstein
Yoshifuki Miyazaki wrote Shinrin Yoku or "Forest Bathing" explaining how 15 minutes of being in nature regulates blood pressure and decreases stress; 1 full day regulates blood pressure and stress for 5 days! Miyazaki's studies also proved that being around nature elements for people that didn't have access to forests like city-dwellers, receive similar results from being in a city park, having a bonsai or fresh cut flowers, or even smelling and feeling wood.
The next time you're feeling stressed, anxious, or imbalanced; spend time connecting to nature and its elements.
For more information about Forest Bathing, check out Yoshifuki Miyazaki's book Shinrin Yoku: The Japanese Art of Forest Bathing
Hawaii is also fortunate to host one of the top Forest Bathing centers. Forbes called Forest Bathing Hawai‘i’s walk in a rain forest one of the top five travel experiences in the world "that should be on every intrepid traveler's bucket list."
Social psychology researchers found that slowing down and allowing for less automatic responding goes a long way in creating a positive environment at work and in life. Pausing gives us the ability to view our emotional reactions from a more objective viewpoint to determine if our response will be constructive or destructive.
This post was inspired by Leah Weiss, PhD and her book, How We Work: Live Your Purpose, Reclaim Your Sanity, and Embrace the Daily Grind.
Leah Weiss is a researcher, professor, consultant, and author. She teaches courses on compassionate leadership at the Stanford Graduate School of Business and is principal teacher and founding faculty for Stanford’s Compassion Cultivation Program, conceived by the Dalai Lama. She also directs Compassion Education and Scholarship at HopeLab, an Omidyar Group research and development nonprofit focused on resilience. She lives in Palo Alto, California with her husband and three children.
Reading can give you the direction you were seeking and often give you ideas you didn't even know you needed.
It’s fall already and by this time next year we will all (I hope) be thinking about who we will vote for in November. I’m not going to go into President Trump’s policies and promises as we will have 5 years worth of those, counting the time he was campaigning. I do urge you to consider what the opposition is proposing because there is a good deal to choose from. Unfortunately, Hawaii being a relatively small State, our impact is limited.
At least two candidates are proposing “Medicare for All.” Medicare by itself is not enough. Seniors that have Medicare already either have employer coverage that supplements their Medicare or they buy a
Supplement or Medicare Advantage Plan. Medicare for All would be extremely expensive but our health system is already extremely expensive and it doesn’t serve everyone. Medicare for All would cut down on the costs for claims administration and other bureaucratic paperwork and could cut the cost of drugs. There is a bill in Congress right now that would do that but chances of passage are slim.
On the negative side, many medical professionals are leaving Hawaii and they cite low reimbursement rates. Reimbursement rates even for insurance companies are set by Medicare. The insurance companies look at what Medicare is paying and set their reimbursement rates as a percentage or ratio of what Medicare pays; generally, a few percentage points higher. That means that medical professionals would be making less money than they are now. And every year Congress would be able to cut the reimbursement level.
We don’t get to vote on whether to have Medicare for All or the Patient Protection Act but the candidate that is elected will decide. President Trump has said he has a plan but we have not seen any specifics. If John McCain had not had the courage to vote against the bill to cancel the PPA three quarters of the country would have been without any medical coverage at all because there was no plan to replace it and it would have taken time for the insurance companies to get any new plans through State Insurance Departments.
Think about it, and vote.
Constantly working without taking the time to notice things can leave us tired and exhausted. We can spend a whole day, week or month being busy without actually doing anything meaningful.
Dedicate just an hour a week to pay deep attention to your surroundings. Shake up the way you see, hear, notice and otherwise perceive the world. One way you can do this is by looking for specific objects on your next walk. See how many vegetables you can find, purple flowers, spider webs or round rocks. You'll be amazed at what you'll find even if it's not on your list.
*The above text is inspired by Rob Walker's book The Art of Noticing. Walker provides 131 prompts to pay attention to the details with all the senses. To learn more visit http://robwalker.net/
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