Flourishing Archives - Madhu Bazaz Wangu
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Flourishing

Thursday, September 25, 2025

Posted on September 24, 2025
in #Stillness and Solitude, Flourishing, Well Being
4 Comments

Someone new to this practice might confuse the whispers of the Authentic Self with a voice in the head. The voice in the head is loud, pessimistic that never stops talking. If you can’t separate yourself from the chain of thoughts, if you unconsciously identify with that voice in your head, become more attentive. Learn to differentiate between the whispers of your inner guide and the critic’s voice. That voice is unproductive and harsh. However, the gentle nudges of your Authentic Self or the inner knowing are true, wise and unexpected.  When you focus on the breath, experience the presence of Awareness behind or in-between the breath, you will know the difference. The whispers of your Authentic Self are from the one who is your inner witness, who knows all about...

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Thursday, August 4, 2025

Posted on September 3, 2025
in Being in Nature, Flourishing, Spirituality, Travel
4 Comments

On our way to Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming, the bus stopped for a photo break of the spectacular peaks of the Teton mountain range. The driver pointed to a log cabin in the distance, a cottage in the middle of a meadow of swaying yellow flowers and wild grass. I hurried to the restroom behind it but noticed a sign board: “The Episcopal Chapel of the Transfiguration” and wondered, what exactly does transfiguration mean? When I returned, people had already seen the chapel and left. Its sparce decoration and plain walls constructed with logs moved me. The space felt cool and comfortable. In front of a large rectangular glass window was a table on which was placed a cross flanked by two glass vases with fresh-cut flowers. I sat on the corner seat...

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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 4, 2025

Posted on June 3, 2025
in Flourishing, Meditation, Originality, Spirituality, Well Being
4 Comments

Most of us in today’s world prefer our meditation practice easy and brief. Because of this we leave behind a lot from the world’s rich contemplative traditions. We morph the practice to user-friendly forms. To gain self-awareness, insights into the subtleties of consciousness and achieve lasting positive traits require lifelong dedication. In addition, ethical attitude and moral guidelines are crucial. What we abandon is ignored or forgotten. A strong motivation to practice for the benefit of All requires complete trust and deep reverence for the practice, dedication to the books and principles that make the practice possible, a good teacher, supportive circle of friends on the path who are themselves dedicated to practice. Finally, a supportive culture that recognizes the people who devote themselves to embody virtues of attention, self-awareness, patience,...

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Thursday, May 29, 2025

Posted on May 28, 2025
in #Neuroscience and Meditation, Flourishing, Meditation, Meditation & Journaling at Ashby Ponds
8 Comments

“In the beginning nothing comes, in the middle nothing stays, in the ending nothing goes,” wrote the Tibet’s eminent twelfth-century poet, yogi and sage, Milarepa. What does it mean, we wonder. Matthieu Ricard, the American yogi who lives in Tibet unpacks this puzzle in this way:At the start of meditation practice, little or nothing seems to change in us. After continued practice, we notice some changes in the way of our being, but they come and go. Finally as practice stabilizes, the changes are constant and enduring, with no fluctuation. Instead of being temporary states they become altered traits of the practitioner. The beginners impact begins from under 100 total hours of practice. Long term meditators range from 1,000-10,000 hours. Yogis tested at Richie’s lab averaged three times more than long term...

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Thursday, May 22, 2025

Posted on May 21, 2025
in #Neuroscience and Meditation, Flourishing, Meditation
2 Comments

By now you know that there are variety of meditations. Different meditations train different kinds of mental habits. We practice loving kindness meditation; full body scan; and guided meditations. I strongly suggest that at home you either practice Analytical Meditation (as we discussed in the Mindful Creators Class) or Focus on the Breath Meditation to monitor thoughts without getting swept away by them. Whatever you practice, will improve.  Mindfulness as you know is awareness or attention, becoming conscious of our consciousness. When we pay attention to the in-flow and the out-flow of our breathing, it connects us to the present moment. Mindfulness unfolds. The brain’s executive center, prefrontal cortex, located behind the forehead, gives us ability to anticipate the future, and recall the past. Neither past nor future events have power...

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Tuesday, May 20, 2025

Posted on May 19, 2025
in #Neuroscience and Meditation, Flourishing, Meditation, Well Being
1 Comment

Here’s some food for the mind: An EEG (Electroencephalogram) waves represent the synchronous firing of neurons, primarily in the cerebral cortex and are detected through electrodes placed on the scalp. There are five main types of EEG waves: delta occur during deep sleep; theta during drowsiness; alpha when we relax or are awake with eyes closed; beta when we are alert, actively thinking or concentrating. Finally, gamma, the fastest brain waves occur during the moments when differing brain regions fire in harmony, such as moments of insight.  Gamma waves occur when the elements of mental puzzle click together. To get some sense of how it feels, try this: What one word can change each of these into compound words: sauce, pine, crab?OR imagine biting into a ripe juicy sweet peach. Suddenly your senses of sight, smell, taste, feel and sound mesh into a single...

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Thursday, 15 May, 2025

Posted on May 14, 2025
in #Neuroscience and Meditation, Flourishing, Well Being
2 Comments

A mind free from disturbance alleviates stress and suffering, a goal shared by science and meditative paths alike. Apart from contemplative calm and composure there is more practical potential within each and every one of us. Such a life is best described as flourishing or a life of Utter Wellness. Aristotle proposed the goal of life as the “Right Mean,” a quality between extremes such as risk-taking and cowardice, between self-indulgence and ascetic denial. He also stated that we are not virtuous by nature but we can become so by self-monitoring. Self-monitoring means the practice of noting our thoughts and acts in silence and solitude. This is something we are learning to practice when we focus on the breath.             Our feeling about life’s events determines our happiness. We find calm and clarity by distinguishing what...

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