Blog | Mindfulness, Meditation, Journaling & Walking in Nature
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Writings and Readings Blog

Madhu Bazaz Wangu

Tuesday, July 8, 2025

Posted on July 7, 2025
in Being in Nature, Meditation, Nonverbal Activities
4 Comments

For many, walking is a favorite nonverbal activity. Whether it is a stroll through a garden, a quick sprint in the neighborhood, or a leisurely walk in a foreign country, this form of exercise invites contemplation, exploration, and enjoyment of familiar as well as unusual. The American Physiology Society recommends moving if you have been sitting for three hours. Sitting for too long reduces oxygen levels to the brain, increasing the risk for dementia. Movement gets your blood circulating, which helps send more oxygen to your whole body, heart, and brain. Any vigorous physical activity makes your body release endorphins, the feel-good chemicals. Endorphins relieve stress, anxiety, and pain the way opioid drugs do. They are the cause of the post-pleasure you experience after exercising. Silver Goblet, Acrylic, Madhu B. Wangu During...

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Thursday, July 3, 2025

Posted on July 2, 2025
in Walking
4 Comments

Since we moved to Ashby Ponds, meditation and walking have turned out to be par excellence nonverbal activities for me. But for you and many others, equally good nonverbal activities are gardening, any visual arts, playing a musical instrument, traveling, dancing, cooking and so on. Wordless hobbies give our mind time to daydream and contemplate about ourselves.  Before moving to Ashby Ponds, I used to cook three to four times a week throughout the year—Indian, Italian, Chinese and American dishes. Outdoor, during early spring I tended to our garden—cleared the soil of fall debris around the perennials: tiger lilies, rose bushes, gerbera daisies then planted annuals: impatience, zinnias, naustrasiums etc. Our garden bloomed and blossomed in variegated flowers and lush leaves in changing seasons. Now my nonverbal activities are limited to meditation, working...

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Tuesday, July 1, 2025

Posted on July 1, 2025
in Daily Reflections 2025, Meditation & Journaling at Ashby Ponds
6 Comments

Though this post feels like it is meant only for seniors (Mindful Creators Group at Ashby Ponds), go ahead and read it anyway. I feel it would be beneficial for younger, middle-age generation (Mindful Writers Groups) as well, albeit in future. Different phases in life bring different transitions. It just so happens that we all are in the final stage of our lives. Some of us living here at Ashby Ponds are comfortable and at peace. But some others with a major health issue or death of a spouse may feel thwarted or terribly lonely. Some may experience sadness/relief after years of caregiving to a spouse with dementia who passes away. Yet some others may dislike being dependent as they are no longer physically fit and thus unable to live on...

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Thursday, June 26, 2025

Posted on June 25, 2025
in #Neuroscience and Meditation, Nonverbal Activities, Well Being
4 Comments

Today I’m going to talk about how to sleep better. Yes it is that important! Seven to nine hours of sleep, including the afternoon siesta is one of the most effective things we can do to reset our brain and body and increase quality life span. As we sleep the body replenishes itself. This affects every system, “From the brain to the heart, the immune system and all the inner workings of our metabolism. While we sleep the body heals tissues, strengthens memory and even sharpens brain.” Sufficient sleep keeps us attentive, sharp and creative. The brain has a “clean cycle” system for washing away metabolic debris and junk. Failure to remove this brain trash may be linked to higher risk of developing dementia. In three words—Sleep is medicine.So what can...

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Tuesday, June 24,2025

Posted on June 23, 2025
in Flourishing, Meditation & Journaling at Ashby Ponds, Sharper Brain after Retirement
6 Comments

Today's inspiration is geared more toward Ashby Ponds' Mindful Creators than Mindful Writers because, if I remember correctly, the age range of MWs is younger. But it never hurts to know things in advance to prepare for future health benefit. So here it goes: By the age 85 and older, about a third of people have dementia. Prevention is the most powerful antidote to this illness. You can’t prevent something you cannot see and dementia is one such illness. It increases exponentially after age 65. The mental decline is linked to lifestyle: physical inactivity, unhealthy diet, social isolation, poor sleep, lack of mentally stimulating activities and misuse of alcohol. All opposites of the eight good habits we’ve been reading about and hopefully practicing.  Prevention should start early. Our Ashby Ponds community may...

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Thursday, June 19, 2025

Posted on June 18, 2025
in Flourishing, Sharper Brain after Retirement, Well Being
2 Comments

Longevity New Research # 1So that you knowWe have been told that our brain has “Left” hemisphere and “Right” hemisphere, and each one of us is either dominated by the “Right hemisphere” or the “Left”? However, the recent research using brain scanning technology has revealed that brain’s two hemispheres work together intricately. They are codependent.  It is still true that the right brain is more creative and artistic and the left more technical and logical. But the processing of reading, math and language is understood to take place in both hemispheres. And more importantly for us to know that regular meditation practice connects and coordinates the two hemispheres. And the more they connect the more optimally we perform on any given task New Research #2So that you know: We have five senses, if we include...

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Tuesday, June 17, 2025

Posted on June 16, 2025
in Journaling, Sharper Brain after Retirement
6 Comments

I hope the Inspirations so far have motivated you to read more poems. Here is a link to mindful poetry for you to explore: https://cih.ucsd.edu/mindfulness/mindful-poetry In my previous email I mentioned the practice of following disciplines to a sharper and smarter brain: meditation & journaling, sleep, nutritious meals, walking, reading, socializing, any creative project and something that you feel passionate about, something that gives purpose to your life. Based on these eight, do you have a weekly routine? Body without brain is just flesh. Our 3.3-pound brain monitors our body and heart. Amazingly fragile, it has incredible ability to perform sophisticated tasks such as language learning, performing complex skills, trying new creative hobbies, living amicably in social groups and so on. All these activities help increase attention, reasoning and memory.  The brain grows,...

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Thursday, June 12, 2025

Posted on June 11, 2025
in #Reading Poetry, Creativity, Imagination, Reading
4 Comments

In Praise of PoetryPoetry grows on us. Reading poems aloud can turn into an enjoyable exercise, but more importantly, it helps refine our thinking and enhances journaling. You may not want to become a poet but you learn to have a grasp on words and how they have power to stir deep feelings and emotions in you that you may not have experienced before.  Reading poetry is a private, intimate experience. It widens our emotional space by stirring self-examination. It helps us deal with paradoxical emotions we don’t understand. Poems have messages that speak directly to us. When a poem links with our heart, it feels like the poet has shared a secret. The relationship between the poet, the poem, and the listener inspires awe and delight. A boy reading sitting...

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Tuesday, June 10,2025

Posted on June 9, 2025
in #Neuroscience and Meditation, #Reading Poetry, Imagination
6 Comments

Who doesn’t want to sharpen their mind at any time in our life, especially during the final stage? We now know that the brain can be enriched, made faster, fitter and sharper at any age by practicing, that is doing something over and over again (neuroplasticity). We also know a sharper mind is more resilient which improves when we go through challenging experiences. Each day counts.  Body and brain are deeply connected. What is good for the body is good for the brain. Here are eight practices brain needs. You may be already exercising some of these. So one by one try to add the ones you are not: 1. Sleep for seven to eight hours a night2. Eat three nutritious meals a day3. Walk/Exercise four to five times a week4. Daily...

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Thursday, June 5, 2025

Posted on June 4, 2025
in #Reading Poetry
2 Comments

In the book, Unblock Your Creative Flow, the month of June is dedicated to writing poetry. If I get a slimmer second edition of the volume published, I would devote the spring season to READING poetry instead of writing it. It's only after we read or listen to plenty of poems that we may feel inspired to write one.During May and the first half of June why not sit at the edge of a pond, under the shade of a tree and listen to birds singing chorus? Feel a pleasant breeze caressing the skin while you take pleasure in reading a poem or two? This month we'll read poems by William Wordsworth, Robert Frost, Mary Oliver, Valarie Cox, Hafiz, Rabindra Nath Tagore, Marianne Williamson, Michael Castori and Jon Kabat Zinn.  As a...

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