Flourishing Archives - Madhu Bazaz Wangu
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Flourishing

Tuesday, August 25, 2026

Posted on August 24, 2026
in #Authentic Self, #Nature Lover, Being in Nature, Flourishing, 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. Behind these was the restroom. I hurried toward it when I noticed a sign board: “The Episcopal Chapel of the Transfiguration” in front of a chapel. I wondered, what exactly does transfiguration mean? When I returned, people had already seen the chapel and left. I entered, looked around its sparse decoration and plain walls constructed with logs. It 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...

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Tuesday, August 4, 2026

Posted on August 3, 2026
in #Nature Lover, #Stillness and Quietude, Awareness, Being in Nature, Flourishing, Mindfulness and Travealing, Travel
6 Comments

Month 8, “Mindfulness and Travel” is dedicated to traveling within the country and around the world. I’d like to share with you how I discovered awe and beauty in American National Parks.  While trekking in Sedona, Arizona my fleeting thoughts subsided amidst the fiery, awesome, sacred red rock mountains. Other worldly natural beauty felt like possessing some sacred power. I breathed in the sage-scented mesas and walked on orange-dusted pathways. The sun scorched my skin and frequently made me close my eyes. But my deeper Self awakened coalescing with surrounding spirituality. The magnificent Cathedral and Bell Rocks mesmerized. The cliffs, mesas, and fringes of juniper forests set against searing blue sky impressed. Taking our fill we continued our bus ride toward Grand Canyon, arriving at our cottage late at night. Next morning we rose early and realized...

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Tuesday, July 28, 2026

Posted on July 27, 2026
in #Nature Lover, Being in Nature, Creativity, Flourishing, Imagination, Mindfulness and Travealing, Travel
3 Comments

Ashby Ponds under Harvest Moonlight Walking after sunrise and before sunset is popular. But have you walked under a moonless night when the sky is inky black-blue and stars twinkle bright, or when the moon is full? If you have, you know how nighttime walks heighten our senses of hearing and smell, titillate our body and mind. In the dark, the sense of sight diminishes but hearing takes over. Focus on the breath, and the inner stillness feels stronger. Slow your pace, stop, tilt your head upward and gaze at expanse of stars. Wonderment! Awe! You have to walk under the majesty of the night sky to feel it’s serenity and magical spell. It clears the mind, it calms, it makes you forget petty problems that had earlier in the day made you...

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Thursday, 16 July 2026

Posted on July 16, 2026
in Being in Nature, Flourishing, Meditation & Journaling at Ashby Ponds, Walking
0 Comments

Another Peacock Dance, New Delhi, India. Summer 2026 Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) firmly believed that people should regard themselves as part and parcel of nature rather than members of society. In nature one has absolute freedom and wildness. To his consternation he wrote, “only one or two persons in the course of my life understood the art of walking” or who had “a genius for sauntering.” Legs were not made to sit upon, he declared, but to stand or walk upon.  People walk in the highways and across parking lots, “I walk out into nature much the way the old prophets and poets, Manu, Moses, Homer and Chaucer walked in.” True sauntering takes place in the woods and meadows” and not in parking lots and on highways. “The moment my legs begin to...

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Tuesday, 14 July, 2026

Posted on July 13, 2026
in #Authentic Self, Awareness, Death and Dying, Flourishing, Nonverbal Activities, Old Age and Death, Walking
2 Comments

Walking through a well-maintained cemetery is a unique experience. Observing the headstones and monuments of those who have gone before us not only grounds us but also stirs a feeling of serenity that stirs contemplation. For the preliminary exams for my doctoral work, I was to collect the rubbings from the headstones from three New England cemeteries. My topic was symbols and rituals of death from four different cultures. India, China, Mexico and New England. I didn’t find these resting places of long-gone ancestors morbid or depressing. On the contrary, walking through these was calming and tranquil. After making drawings and collecting rubbings, I was inspired to take longer walks on the pathways that webbed the greenery. The moment we’re born, we begin our journey toward death. Each human life’s path might...

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Tuesday, July 7, 2026

Posted on July 6, 2026
in #Neuroscience and Meditation, Attention and Awareness, Flourishing, Journaling, Meditation, Sharper Brain after Retirement, Travel, Well Being
4 Comments

July 7, 2026Dear Mindful Creators Group, Dancing Peacock, 2026, New Delhi, India I thought you might find the summation of Richard Davidson’s new book valuable. (Recently, we discussed a bit of his neuroscientific research with Tibetan monks). His latest work titled, Born to Flourish: How New Science and Ancient Wisdom Reveal a Simple Path to Thriving. Dr.Davidson focuses on transformative practices that train our brain to overcome depression, despair, and loneliness. He writes that we are all born with a natural ability to flourish but that ability needs to be trained for us to live a thriving life. The four transformative practices are: Awareness: Learn to be fully present with your emotions so that you can embrace all of life’s ups and downs. (We practice this with familiarizing ourselves with physical sensations while practicing body scan)Connection: Grow...

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Thursday, July 2 2026

Posted on July 1, 2026
in #Nature Lover, #Reading Poetry, Creativity, Flourishing, Meditation & Journaling at Ashby Ponds, Nonverbal Activities, Sharper Brain after Retirement, Well Being
4 Comments

Framework for Longevity Michael J. Castori What is the secret of Longevity?Invest in bonds Bond with loveParental marital filial people spiritualLove thy neighbor as thyselfNo greater love hath manThan he give up his life for another Bond with natureWith its broad range of animal plant and mineral lifeWith its sun moon stars land sea and airAnd all the creatures thereon and thereinWith its solitude music challenge reverence Bond with a positive mindsetAim high and you won’t hit lowIf things go your way don’t get too highIf things go against you don’t get too low Bond with an upbeat lifestyleEngage in spiritual intellectual social recreational pursuitsThat guarantee health strength and daily breadWoo the positive spurn the negative Bond with existenceAn existence that you deem worthy of your worshipDaily lift up some thought word and deedTo Him to...

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Tuesday, June 30, 2026

Posted on June 29, 2026
in #Reading Poetry, Being in Nature, Creativity, Flourishing, Imagination, Journaling, Meditation, Meditation & Journaling at Ashby Ponds, Reading, Walking, Well Being, Writing
2 Comments

I hope the poems I read in the class this month 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 I thought you may want to know that by the age 85 and older, about a third of people have dementia. Prevention is the most powerful antidote to the 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 be retired but it has not quit...

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Tuesday, 23 June 2026

Posted on June 22, 2026
in Flourishing, Imagination, Meditation, Nonverbal Activities, Oral Stories, Sharper Brain after Retirement
2 Comments

# 1 We 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. # 2 Oral world existed before writing was invented. Verbal thought lived in the inner contemplation and spoken language. Only...

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Thursday, 18 June, 2026

Posted on June 17, 2026
in #Nature Lover, Being in Nature, Flourishing, Travel, Walking
4 Comments

Dear Readers, Here are two poems for you to enjoy. The first one is about my struggle to paint the red Sedona mountains and the other is Valarie CoX's excellent humorous poem about "Cookie Thief." Grandeur Revealed (Sedona) 2021Charcoal lines on a blank canvas,trying to evoke the images that dazzled me once. How do I recapture? Flame-red sentinel against the azure expanse,twisted trees, majestic canyons,sculptor’s statues or creator’s carvings? Grandeur magnetizes but the dread cements.I soak the bristles with sunlight,so heavy it is ready to drip.Where do I begin?  Close your eyes and see. Under crystal blue domewooly sunSage-scented mesas rising like flames orange dusted pathways, terrifying gorges.Intoxicating heatwaves inebriating me. I stretch the neck of my lilliputian bodyand feel miniscule I view the colossal against the crystal dome. Thirsty canvass absorbs dripping strokes sublime and dreadful coalesce.I color the edges orange red, highlight with gold streaks. Grandeur reveals...

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