Experts’ Best Diet Tips for Weight Loss

Hoping to lose a few pounds in time for bathing suit season — and tired of all the hype about "miracle" weight loss cures? To help you get answers about what really works for weight loss, WebMD turned to eight noted diet and nutrition experts for their own favorite diet tips.  

Here are their top 10 diet tips and tricks for weight loss success:

Expert Diet Tip No. 1: Never Go More Than 3-4 Hours Without Food.

Eating several times throughout the day helps keep hunger at bay while keeping your energy up, experts say.

"Fight the battle of the bulge by filling up with smaller meals featuring protein and fiber that are spaced evenly throughout the day," says Elizabeth Ward, MS, RD, a nutrition consultant who has written several books on diet and nutrition.

If the mini-meal approach doesn’t appeal, plan a healthy snack between lunch and dinner so you don't get too hungry at night. "A midday snack gives you energy to finish your work day and hit the gym on your way home," says Pamela Peeke, MD, Discovery Health TV chief medical correspondent for nutrition and fitness.  

And, what makes a healthy snack? "The key is to include protein and not rely on carbs alone, like pretzels and a piece of fruit," Peeke says.

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General Blog

LEADERSHIP — Managing the Unimaginable


“It is not the mountain we conquer, but ourselves.” Sir Edmund Hillary (1919-2008) New Zealand mountaineer and explorer.

If you are someone who is overworked, stressed out, burned out, under-paid, and underappreciated, then read on to see what successful people do to be winners in their lives.

In today’s environment you are being pulled in umpteen different directions at once. Each direction wants a part of you. The parts are getting exhausted and worn out, but you keep plugging along believing there is no other way. And you sincerely want to be your best, do your best, and be the fixer, problem solver all-in-one.

Click here to read the complete article.

General Blog

Brain Scanners Can See Your Decisions Before You Make Them


This schematic shows the brain regions (green) from which the outcome of a participant's decision can be predicted before it is made. Courtesy John-Dylan Haynes.

You may think you decided to read this story — but in fact, your brain made the decision long before you knew about it.

Click here for full article

Here is another article that appeared today in " Neuromarketing"

Some people worked it out; others did not. The significant point, though, was that the EEG predicted who would fall where. Those volunteers who went on to have an insight… had had different brainwave activity from those who never got it. In the right frontal cortex, a part of the brain associated with shifting mental states, there was an increase in high-frequency gamma waves (those with 47-48 cycles a second). Moreover, the difference was noticeable up to eight seconds before the volunteer realised he had found the solution. Dr Sheth thinks this may be capturing the “transformational thought” (the light-bulb moment, as it were) in action, before the brain’s “owner” is consciously aware of it. [Emphasis added. From The Economist – Incognito – Evidence mounts that brains decide before their owners know about it

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General Blog Neuroscience & Psychology

Four Traits Of A ‘Power Manifestor’


I get a lot of questions from people about how to get actual real world results from the Law Of Attraction. It's not so difficult to manifest an empty parking space or a beneficial coincidence, but it takes something more to manifest the bigger things like first class travel, houses, cars, jobs, relationships, health and material wealth.

There are a small percentage of people who regularly and consistently manifest the big things. I call these people Power Manifestors.

Over the years, I've noticed that the more I developed certain qualities within myself, the more powerful I became at manifesting the bigger things regularly and consistently. I've put together a list for you of some of the traits that helped me become a Power Manifestor. This is by no means an exhaustive list, but the four traits below are the most fundamental to making the Law Of Attraction work for you more often…

TRAIT #1: BEING IN FLOW
Here's a powerful metaphor for you. Have you ever watched a river flow from the top of a mountain down to the sea? If you have, you'll have noticed that the river always seems to take the path of least resistance to reach the sea. It will find the most effortless way to get down the mountain. You won't find a river trying to flow uphill!

Your life can flow like a river too, always seeking the most effortless path to your destiny. When your life begins to flow, your problems that once seemed insurmountable, naturally work themselves out as your life leads you on the path of least resistance to success.

So, what is flow? The best definition I have ever heard is from a great book called 'The Power Of Flow' by Charlene Belitz and Meg Lundstrom: "Flow is the natural, effortless unfolding of our life in a way that moves us toward wholeness and harmony."

Have you had times when your obstacles suddenly disappeared, one after another? When you felt you were in the right place at the right time and events in your life came together in a beneficial way? That's when you were in the flow. So, what does flow have to do with the law of attraction or manifesting? EVERYTHING!

You see, until you find your flow, you will not be able to consistently work the Law Of Attraction to your advantage and will find yourself struggling to see real world results from your visualization efforts. Like many others, your manifesting will be limited to empty parking spaces…

How can you get into your flow? Power Manifestors regularly do activities that keep them in flow. One of the easiest ways to step into your flow is to do the things that bring you joy and do these things often. For example, I love taking a week off and riding my motorcycle somewhere exotic, like Africa or Central Europe, camping on the side of the road and living out of a backpack with just a few pairs of clothes and a laptop.

Whenever I go away on a trip like this (I make sure I get away at least once a month), magical things begin happening in my life. It's almost as if the joy of the open road and the wind in my hair blows away any negativity I might have collected and my attraction abilities increase tenfold.

Here's another example of a flow state. Have you ever had the experience of time speeding up or slowing down? That's a good indicator that you are in a flow state. Take a moment and write down what you were doing when you had these experiences? Was it a hobby, a sport, an activity at work? Are you doing these activities as much as you would like to? If not, make a commitment to yourself to do these activities more often.

By Bruce Muzik : Click to read full article

General Blog Neuroscience & Psychology

A Collection of Quotes By Prof.Madurasinghe

Even though humans are preoccupied with the development of the mind, the key to unleashing true potential lies in awakening the heart which is central to all living. With a shift from head to heart, it would weaken the hold of " Ego" and have a puissant impact on the person to Live, Love , Learn and Laugh, which is the beginning of enlightened living.

There is a tremendous potential lying within each of us to be realized. Once realized and engaged, we will be able to live life to the fullest with peace, joy and sound mental and physical health.  

To be an effective individual, Competence, alone will not suffice. It should be coupled with an ongoing Commitment to God, exemplary Character and an enlivened “Inner Consciousness . 

The fundamental problem is with our negative thinking and inner "ego impulses" that yield negative poor results which continually drain our energy. 

By allowing the thinking habits to be free from traps laid by the ego for its own fulfillment, and bringing them into heart's focus and captivity we will attract positive energy that correct the outcome and give a greater benefit to all.  

Negative traits, such as pride, hatred, deceit, anger etc. which are within us cause stress and irritability on our nervous systems that cause mental and physical dis-ease. These must be eliminated in order to have a fully productive, participatory role in life. 

When we have overcome the inner impulses and transcended the sphere of relative interactions, we have freed ourselves from the traps of the mind. Then we have really fallen on top of our own minds. 

Negative traits must be replaced with positive units of love ,concern and care for others which will only blossom through our deep inner awareness and openness to reality. This would give peace to us and to others around us. 

All forms of life is precious. Therefore, every effort needs to be taken to protect human, animal, plant life and their rights, and the civil government established in our countries.  

Even though knowledge could be acquired from diverse sources, our full development of comes gradually with the blossoming of wisdom as we live closest to God, regular meditating on higher things, coupled with unhurried, focused, tolerant and humble behaviour. 

 

 

General Blog

Foundations of E-Consciousness

Overview 


Throughout the twentieth century, the dominant paradigm of management has been changing. As a consequence, there has been an evolution in the concept of leadership and in the way executives think about business strategy . The trend in both leadership and strategy began with an emphasis on the concrete or material aspects of business and focused on production. This was followed by progressively subtler interpretations of business enterprise that emphasized the importance of the human element.

Contemporary thinking about both leadership and strategy focus attention on the knowledge base of the firm and emphasizes the value of creativity and learning in organizations.

However , I wish to emphasize that in  the twenty- first  century, management surpasses   even this level and will be  based not only on knowledge but   on  ” knowingness” – a comprehensive consciousness based model which explores inner realities that touch sensitive core values hitherto unexplored.

The transition of management thought towards the emphasis on continuous learning and leadership at all levels in a learning organization is a progression beyond organizational processes. In the latter part of the century, management scholars attempted to identify the true depository of knowledge in organizations. Recognizing that organizations are indeed knowledge- based, they wanted to know how and where in an organization knowledge actually resides.

 

Historically the answer has been that it can be found in the databases, files, and accounting systems of the firm, because knowledge contained there is owned and fully controlled by the Institution. But a deeper analysis revealed that a company’s knowledge lies in the Human Resources.  These apply to all levels of staff. The true depository of knowledge in the institution is therefore the consciousness of the knower himself.

 

My own research has revealed that until and unless the inner core of a person is radically transformed, training undertaken at the outer superficial sensory  level  will not be sufficient enough to penetrate deep down and  make an inner transformation at the “Core” or at an  integral level. This is the level that human beings have often sensed, or have often felt a need for, which is broader or larger or fuller than the ordinary world, and in some sense lies “beyond” the threshold which normally bounds our existence.

 

 What are some of the results of transcendence experiences of the sort instanced above? In the first place, it is likely that these are experiences of a very high order, of the sort Maslow  terms “peak experiences”, in which the individual is most alive, most healthy, and at the peak of his capabilities. Maslow allows for gradations in peak experiences, and would fit this sort of experience high on the scale, perhaps as the intense most type of peak experience. The results that accrue as a result of peak experiences are: positive changes in the self image, positive changes in interpersonal relationships, remission of neurotic symptoms (at least for a time), increased creativity, increased spontaneity and self-expression, and so on, in the realm of psychological improvement. 

 

There is significant evidence that altered states of consciousness hold major personality growth, improved interpersonal relationships, and an enhanced potential for significant psychological benefit, i.e., that ASC experiences are often avenues leading toward therapeutic effect and psychological growth. Some ASCs, in other words, have therapeutic significance for the human person in that they effect positive psychological changes in the person, changes ranging in value from learning control over habit patterns (primarily with Deep Meditation , Bio- Feedback and hypnosis), all the way up to ability to live fully. 

 Such personality changes, most of which are mediated via noetic insight (i.e., self understanding), may be called therapeutic changes if they result in the remission of psychological disorders (e.g., neuroses or psychoses), or the changes may be called personality growth if they are a movement from psychological normality to a state of being which is healthier than the normal.


Therefore , any outside developmental activities devoid of such inner alteration  will only yield short term results which  any Organization can ill afford at this juncture when every effort is being made towards accelerated development.

 Strategies with a  narrow focus would then leave much ” Head” knowledge but little or no “Heart” value shift, thus in the long term leaving the person with an inner sense of restlessness and emptiness  which contributes in no small measure to producing superficial leaders devoid of substance, highly stressed nervous systems and as it has been reveled in Criminology , the possibility of  latent criminal tendencies activated.

Today everywhere we witness a steady erosion of values and morals and  an immense shortage of leaders of substance. Our alcohol consumption, drug addiction, prostitution and suicide rates are leading indicators of our deep inner restlessness and a vacuum within. Vacuous minds can only produce vacuous thoughts so we witness a bandwagon of leaders who promote outer show to cover up their rotten inner core.

The recent international examples, such as, ruthless leaders of the caliber of Bin Laden or deceitful leaders like those in ENRON, make us question the very concept of leadership. It was reported that one top leader of ENRON, Charles Baxter had committed suicide a few days ago. At the superficial level Baxter was also a top leader, ruthless, Type- A, winning the admiration of his subordinates, kind and generous to staff- yet at the inner core he was unsettled and corrupt. ENRON was one of the companies that had the best industrial relations, vacations, bonuses and all that an employee dreamed of.  Alas, they turned out to be dreams only.

There was no harmony or inner calmness within –  but conflict consumed him and led to a depression that cost his life. Today in our own country and at various leading  organizations also there are hundreds of Managers and Executives who are driven by unrealistic demands that may reach their limit if the tendency is not reversed.  Ulcers , High blood pressure & coronaries have a close connection with a stressed up nervous system, and cancer at the root of hopelessness.

Organisation culture and management style can be a source of stress. Poor communications and indifferent leadership also create anxiety. Lack of competence causes stress too. This may arise from poor selection practices at the time of recruitment, promotion or transfer. It may arise because people have been inadequately trained for the new job. Social and economic events outside the employment relationship cause stress and need to be considered.

Research has found that the way people are managed is the biggest influence on employee attitudes. Adoption of enlightened management practices, (e.g. job design, skills development, involvement, work environment and culture, and effective occupational health programmes) is the basis for a positive psychological contract. In turn, a carefully thought through psychological contract supports organisational commitment and job satisfaction – which are associated with higher productivity and profitability.

People who feel under excessive pressure are likely to be working long hours and have a poor psychological contract. Those who find pressure motivating on the other hand also have high levels of commitment, this suggests that a positive psychological contract can help reduce feelings of uncomfortable pressure and help people deal with circumstances. In turn, this will have a payoff in terms of increased performance, job satisfaction and enhanced well-being. However those with a poor psychological contract who are under continual pressure and working harder and longer are likely to suffer stress. This will result in increased sickness absence, job dissatisfaction and quitting the job.

Today we witness a  further alarming trend, a tendency towards cynicism . The only thing that matters is whether you succeed or not . everything is subordinated to success . At this level of reasoning, if you achieve the end the means do not matter. Now that is the hallmark of cynicism.

The teachers and trainers  cater to this group by arranging hundreds of hours of training , with scant regard to programmes that develop use of full brain potential, creativity, reversal of negative emotions of the past etc that releases a person’s true potential. With only the horrendous “Outer show”  and our tendency to focus on short term results, lack of strategic focus, the prospects are bleak and they stand as a monument to the repercussions that  will be felt for decades to come.

Is there as way out 


Along with various value added training programmes that impart knowledge and diverse skills,  specific attention should be focused on the transformation of the leader himself  at the deeper level. With that  inner radiance  now released he or she will be able to lead a calmer, more focused life. This would facilitate an inner dialogue and correct any negative impressions of the past and open the valve of inner release. He will think for himself, develop assertive skills , creativity, higher job satisfaction, and move  away from the IQ trap to EQ – Emotional Intelligence and beyond to SQ , the spiritual intelligence.

Then you will come across an enlightened  leader.

This would also increase the creativity and inter- personal skills that would contribute enormously to bring about a society focused on higher values and maintaining unity in diversity, a sure way of laying a foundation for a culture of inner and outer peace. This truly would then become transformational leadership. Downplaying this element and engaging only at sensory level is bound to fail.

What is unique with E- CONSCIOUSNESS

For the first time I am happy to  introduce the concept of transformation from e- business to e-consciousness which will help tap the ” Collective Consciousness” of the organization to gain lasting results.

The elements discovered and the methodology are all unique and original. We encourage the participants to explore the inner realities and revisit Einstein’s famous equation E=MC ^2 now with consciousness added which emancipates and energizes both simultaneously while helping extinguish the raging fires within that makes one helpless if not hopeless.

The therapeutic effects of Altered States of Consciousness

There is significant evidence that altered states of consciousness hold potential for significant psychological benefit, i.e., that ASC experiences are often avenues leading toward therapeutic effect and psychological growth. Some ASCs, in other words, have therapeutic significance for the human person in that they effect positive psychological changes in the person, changes ranging in value from learning control over habit patterns (primarily with Deep Meditation , Bio- Feedback and hypnosis), all the way up to major personality growth, improved interpersonal relationships, and an enhanced ability to live fully.

 Such personality changes, most of which are mediated via noetic insight (i.e., self understanding), may be called therapeutic changes if they result in the remission of psychological disorders (e.g., neuroses or psychoses), or the changes may be called personality growth if they are a movement from psychological normality to a state of being which is healthier than the normal.

The concept of psychological growth is by no means a simple matter, for if we are going to say that a person has made psychological progress away from  disease and toward health, we must have some pre-established notion of what we mean by disease and health. In some cases, of course, there is very little of this theoretical problem. For example, a man suffering from compulsive eating habits which have lead him to excessive obesity seeks out a psychiatrist who hypnotizes him, suggests that the compulsion disappear, that he return to normal eating habits, and that his weight then slowly return to normal. The suggestion is effective, and within a year the man has returned to normal weight, his compulsion completely gone. The therapeutic process may, of course, have taken several sessions and may even have included some psychoanalysis, but the point I wish to emphasize here is that the compulsion was eradicated. In cases of this sort there is very little, if any, theoretical question about what is disease behavior and what is healthy behavior.

Similarly, there is very little, if any, theoretical problem in cases involving other sorts of compulsions, phobias,  anxieties, and the like, which can be helped with hypnosis, dream work, phantasy techniques, systematic desensitization, and other therapies which involve the use of ASCs. Nor does the theoretical problem about what constitutes disease and health arise in the case of manifest psychoses that involve extreme nightmarish, waking hallucinations of the most painful and terrorizing sort. In these cases, the subject wishes to terminate the symptoms, the psychiatrist considers them sick, and there is no question but that to terminate the symptoms would be a positive step toward greater mental health. Thus, when we are dealing with symptoms which are manifestly maladaptive, painful, and destructive, which both the patient and doctor would like to be rid of, there is no question about what constitutes a move toward health.

The question becomes a bit subtler, however, in the case of a “normal” individual who seeks “greater fulfillment”, or a “fuller life”, or “greater happiness”. In this sort of situation, the struggle is not form disease to health (as in the former cases), but is rather form a state of normally toward something healthier than just the average. Physicians have begun to think in terms of higher and higher degrees of healthiness, and psychiatrists (and psychologists) for a long time have been speaking of supra-normal psychological health. But how can we define that supra-normal psychological health? This will certainly be a concern if  we are ever to claim that one who is already “normal” now makes progress in the direction of greater psychological health, for it can legitimately be asked; just what constitutes greater psychological health?

 Now I do not wish to minimize the importance of this problem, rather I wish to emphasize its importance for the difficult task of assessing personality growth. Yet, on the other hand, it seems to be the sort of question that is best answered by the theoretical psychologists. I shall rely specifically on the ideas of the humanistic school of psychology, sometimes referred to as “third force” psychology, represented by the work of Gordon Allport, Carl Rogers, Fritz Perls, Victor Frakl, and Abraham Maslow. I shall rely specifically on one central concept that has been developed in that school of thought and that is the concept one full humanness, or rather the concept of approaching full humanness. That concept declares that some persons are more or less fully human than others, i.e., that some persons have actualized more of their potential for humanness than others. Maslow, in this connection, speaks of self-actualizing persons, applying the term to those persons who are well involved in the process of actualizing their potential for full humanness. Without examining the matter in all its detail, it will suffice here to mention only a few of the characteristics of self-actualizing persons. They are generally more creative, more spontaneous, are very much engaged in what is to them a life-important task, they seek solitude and enjoy it more than average persons, are more able to fully engage themselves in a task or project or concern, and are less ego-conscious and timid. They are generally more concerned with the traditionally “higher” or nobler values (Maslow’s B-values), such as truth, justice, liberty, moral goodness, beauty, authenticity, and so on. Their interpersonal relationships are more fruitful than most, less superficial, and more in line with Buber’s concept of the I-Thou way of being (Maslow’s B-Love, Rogers’ unconditional positive regard). Self-actualizing persons, to add one final characteristic, are more acceptant of them selves (in Fromm’s sense of self love, or self-esteem), more acceptant of others, and generally more acceptant of the cosmos and their being in it. They are, in other words, healthier persons than the average, and they are healthier in the sense that they are more human, more free, more fully expressive of their person hood.

With this notion of full humanness in mind, for which notion I have relied on the work of the psychologists we can now considered the theoretical question mentioned earlier: what does it mean to say that a person has experienced therapeutic benefits from ASCs, or what does it mean to say that he has undergone personal growth? In light of the above considerations, I take it to mean that he has made progress toward approaching fuller humanness. Perhaps he has removed some obstacles of blockages (therapeutic remission of neurotic or psychotic symptoms), or perhaps he has found the strength to take steps he had never before taken, or perhaps he discovered something which allowed him to move in a direction that he had previously not been able to see.

For whatever reason, personal growth means the movement toward a greater actualization of human potential; in Maslow’s terms, toward greater self-actualization.

Keeping this in mind, it can now be said that in innumerable cases ASCs are responsible for personal growth. In fact personal growth occurs, to one degree or another, in ASC experiences at all experiential levels, from the more shallow sensory level to the most profound integral level. It must also be said, however, that the deeper the level of the ASC experience, the more profound and thorough-going will be the personality growth. For example, the growth that occurs as a result of peak experiences at the sensory level will be far less profound, far less thorough-going, and likely to concern only certain aspects of the personality; whereas growth that occurs as a result of ASC experience at the deepest integral level is likely to be more profound, more lasting, more complete, and likely to concern one’s entire person hood from top to bottom. One is liable, in that case, to find his whole being re-oriented, liable to find that his foundations have been shaken and rebuilt anew, and that he has been, so to speak, reborn as a new person. So personal growth occurs as a result of ASC experiences at all of the various levels, but is more profound, lasting, and complete if it occurs as a result of ASC experiences at the deeper levels.

The personal growth that occurs as a result of ASC experience at the sensory level, the lightest of the four levels, is likely to be along the lines suggested by Maslow as after effects of peak experiences: the person will feel more integrated, less at odds with himself, more creative, more expressive of himself, more perceptive, better able to relate openly with other persons, more acceptant of self and others, etc. This in fact is what is meant by personal growth, but at this more shallow sensory level, the change will likely not be so fully profound as in deeper levels. At the recollective-analytic level, the level of human consciousness that Freud was so aware of with is emphasis on dreams, free association, phantasy, hypnotic revivification, and the like, similar personal growth can take place. Freud was well aware of this, and was also aware that the completeness of growth depended on how deeply a person was able too go into his subconscious, and then how well he was able subsequently integrate that material into his waking consciousness. Freud was well aware that personality growth depends on integration of the different layers of human consciousness, but he was aware of only two of these layers, the waking consciousness and the personal sub consciousness (which is the layer probed at the recollective-analytic level of ASC experience). Personal growth, thirdly, can take place as a result of ASC experience at the symbolic level of consciousness, one stop deeper than the first two, and growth that occurs at this level will be far more profound than at the previous two levels. It is at this level, as C.G. Jung was well aware, that the person experiences the more primitive, the more ancient levels of this being, the deep primordial foundations of his being, foundations which underlie everything that has more recently been built upon them. It is at this symbolic level that the person plunges far deeper than the level of his personal subconscious, and begins to explore the vast regions of the collective unconscious, the regions in which are found the great symbolic archetypes described so effectively by Jung. Here again personal growth occurs, though now it will be far more complete and fundamental than that which occurs at earlier, shallower levels of consciousness. And here again, as Jung was also fully aware, growth occurs as a result of integration of the different levels of consciousness. It is not enough that one simply experience these various levels, but he must somehow assimilate their contents, and integrate the matter found there with the other levels of his being. Profound personal growth toward fuller awareness, fuller humanness, fuller being in the world, can occur as a result of such integration. Finally personal growth can occur at the most fundamental level, the integral level, and here the growth is most profound, most complete, and most lasting, as a survey of the great mystics will quickly show. James and Poulainand Underhillhave recorded such profound changes in a person’s being as a result of mystical experience. Here the experiences are most fully integrated into the total being of the person (hence the term “integral” level), and affect all the various dimensions of his self, and his relations with the world. At this level a person finds himself able to integrate all the various layers of his existence, all the various levels of his consciousness, and able to orient them in   a unified way toward the life goal at which he wishes to aim his being. It is at this level that his foundations will have been shaken most profoundly and the structures rebuilt a new; a new person is born.

We have seen now that personal growth occurs at all the various levels of consciousness, and that the deeper the layer that is experienced, the more fundamental and thoroughgoing will be the growth achieved.

General Blog

Memory Development

Introduction

Very few would disagree that a powerfully developed memory is an asset to any human being. While we talk, read and hear so much about memory sadly only a few have taken the trouble to systematically develop the memory retention and recall. Regrettably students continue running from one class to another without any understanding about their learning styles or study techniques, resulting in poor grades and discouraged youth who worry about a bleak future.

Students who are preparing for academic or professional exams would readily benefit by remembering more with ease. They will also have a greater focus on what they are doing. Those who follow and practice memory techniques will then achieve  better grades with lesser effort. Blank memories would be a thing of the past. Such initial training continues to develop latent faculties as years go by.

Those in Leadership and Executive positions would thereafter effortlessly remember facts, figures and a host of other day- to – day activities. Those who prepare speeches and dread the thought of forgetting the contents right before a vigilant audience can now look forward to an effective delivery with increased confidence.

It is estimated that  an average adult uses only 10 % of his full brain capacity. The older people tend to under utilize the frontal parts of their brains, which deteriorate with age. Techniques such as, making associations and creative visualization have proved very beneficial in such instances.

The good news is that with a little focus and effort, and systematic training, even an average person can  develop a super memory. These tried and tested techniques  are available in Sri Lanka under the personal coaching of Prof. Lakshman Madurasinghe PhD, Consultant Psychologist,  who has taught and used these techniques for over 18 years, and who introduced this programme to Sri Lanka six years ago. He uses over 12 popular  memory tools including Rooms Rooms, Journey method, Pegs and other Neuro Linguistic & Cognitive methods, visualisation etc to enrich your memory and unleash the untapped potential. In addition , students will receive Exam Secrets and study methods which will cover the following:

  • Study environment
  • Mind Mapping
  • Speed reading basics
  • Sensory tracking
  • Learning style identification
  • Goals
  • Study tips
  • What to avoid
  • On the day of the exam what to do

 

The number of items that can be remembered is far greater than the total number of brain cells. It has been estimated that after 70 years of activity, the brain may contain as many as 15 trillion separate bits of information. Thus your memory is a treasure house whose size and strength are almost beyond human comprehension. It is a pity that so many of us store up so much less learning and experience than is possible.  This may be due to the fact that we have not paid much attention to such areas of learning and the traditional education  focuses on accumulation of knowledge without a holistic model of individual development.

How the brain stores its memories is still not fully known. Some scientists believe that each item of memory is contained in a loop of cells connected by tiny tendrils with an electrical current going around and around the loop, which might be hundreds or thousands of cells in length. Other theories suggest that the memory is somehow impressed, or “etched” on the cell, or exists on a chain of cells like knots in a string. We do know that for the first 30 to 60 minutes after being received, any sensory impression is “floating around,” so to speak, in the brain, not yet firmly registered. This may be why, after a sharp blow on the head, people often permanently forget what happened to them during the previous 15 or 20 minutes.                                                                    

The belief that there are several memory stores comes from the fact that memory may reach back for years but may also concern events that occurred just moments ago. We usually think of memory in terms of a past that is reckoned in hours, days, or years. But a moment’s reflection tells us that memory comes into play as soon as the stimulus has disappeared from the scene. An example is a telephone number we look up and retain just long enough to complete the dialling; here the interval between acquisition and retrieval is a matter of mere seconds, but it is a memory all the same.

These simple facts provide the starting points for the stage theory of memory. One of its assertions is that there are several memory systems. Of these, the most important are short-term memory, which holds information for fairly short intervals, and long-term memory, in which materials are stored for much longer periods, sometimes as long as a lifetime. The second, and even more important assertion of the theory is that information enters these two systems in successive stages, to get to the long-term system, information must first pass through the short – term store .

Major Benefits

 First and foremost, memory training can enhance problem solving skills of brain. These skills are known as fluid intelligence.

Another benefit of following memory techniques is that these have great capacity to enhance brain power. In fact, these techniques push the brain to process all that it remembers.

In case, you have learned the name of a person, just imagine how that individual will be important to you in the near future and where would you see him or think about him.

Another important and beneficial memory training would be to tell yourself the reason on why you want to remember a particular thing and the way you will remember it. The process of remembering a particular thing will work towards stimulating the brain in order to hold the name and extra associations in the brain.

Memory techniques can make you solve many problems in a jiffy. All you require to do is to keep exercising with these memory techniques and give your brain power a boost.

Simple, systematic memory training can help some people with early-stage Alzheimer's disease (AD). This finding points to a possible psychological intervention early in the course of this devastating brain disease. It also lends some urgency to early diagnosis, when patients who still have the ability to learn can use it to sharpen their memories and reduce disability.

 

Best known techniques in the world today

Repetition

Link method

Story telling

Connection

Rhyme technique

First letter association

Snap shot

Movie

Journey

Roman room

Alpha method/ numerical phonetic

Concept maps

 

Memory fallacies

            1. Mystery formula

            2. Easy street

            3. Memory cure

            4. Memory super hero

            5. Old geezer

 Medical conditions that affect memory

           1. Cancer 2. Diabetes

            3. HBP  4. Parkinson’s

            5. Thyroid imbalances

            6. B12 deficiency

 Nutrition

          Cut back on fat

          Avoid too much sugar

          Limit Sodium intake – 300mg daily

          Eat a Variety of foods


          Calcium / Serotonin

          Selinium- Gotu-kola

          Gingko- Biloba

          Vinpocetine

          Cut down starch and white sugar

Recommended Books

Tony Buzan
Use your perfect memory The Master memory work book Douglas Mason

Memory- Herbie Brennan

The memory book- Harry Lorayne

Your memory- how it works- Kenneth Higbee

The memory work shop- Cynthia Green

General Blog

ATTITUDE

 Impossible Is Just A Word

Everyone, at some point of his or her life, has dreamed of being somebody special, somebody big. Who hasn't fantasized about being the one who hits the game-winning homer? Who hasn't dreamed of being the homecoming queen? And how many times have we dreamed of being rich, successful, or happy with our relationships?

Often, we dream big dreams and have great aspirations. Unfortunately, our dreams remain just that — dreams. And our aspirations easily collect dust in our attic.

This is a sad turn of events in our life. Instead of experiencing exciting adventures in self actualization, we get caught up in the humdrum of living from day-to-day just barely existing.

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General Blog Neuroscience & Psychology

The Fairer Sex-What do we mean when we say we need more female justices?

Sandra Day O'Connor. Click image to expand.Former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor It's almost an article of faith among Supreme Court watchers that President Obama will fill the bench's next vacancy—and perhaps the one after that, too—with a woman. The current court's sole female member, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, has said she is "lonely" there, and even if she's not the next to step aside and another women joins her, that's still just two out of nine. Americans seem quite certain that isn't enough. Former Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, on learning in 2005 that John Roberts would take her place, declared him "good in every way, except he's not a woman." Americans concur. In a CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll taken just before Roberts was appointed, 80 percent of respondents said it was a good idea to replace O'Connor with a woman, and 13 percent said it was "essential." And with women claiming a large share of responsibility for Obama's victory over John McCain, the demand for a more gender-balanced court is stronger than ever.

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General Blog Law

Managing Anger by Seeing the unseen cause

Like many fields of therapy that deal with emotional problems, anger on the surface seems to be nothing more than an exasperated emotion. A person gets mad and we assume either he has anger management issues or there was something legitimate that elicited the response.

Even in people who have difficulty managing anger, there is usually something that triggers it, no matter how irrational the trigger might be perceived. So in this article, we are going to talk about all the different cause of anger and the many ways it is elicited in people.

However, we are not going to talk about the obvious causes, like someone violating your personal space or possession or something bad happening. We can all agree that these are all valid reasons, even for a person who rarely gets angry, to become angry.

Instead, we are going to focus on the not so obvious triggers; those that set us off without us really being aware as to why. These are the unseen, hidden reasons we don't realize that get us heated, livid, and outraged.

Listed below are 6 of the more common unseen cause of anger that can throw us into a fiery emotional state and a brief discussion of each. By seeing what sets you off, you can be more level-headed when similar circumstances arise, allowing you to have a better grasp of the feelings.

1. Overwhelmed

Getting overwhelmed is one of the main cause of anger. It is seen in people who have difficulty handling the day-to-day stresses in their lives. They lack the ability to deal with stress, which causes them to get overwhelmed. These overwhelming feeling make them feel trapped and unsure of what to do, so they lash out.

These people easily shout and blow their top at someone or something because that's the only way they know how to release the build-up of the overwhelmed feelings.

2. Retaliatory

Retaliating at a person who is angry at you is another cause of anger. The reaction is a direct response to someone getting angry at you. That is, you get heated for no other reason than the mere fact someone else is mad at you.

This is no doubt a defense mechanism reaction to another person's frustration with you, which you threatens your well being, especially if you believe there is no cause or reason for the other person to be mad at you.

If you are the type who gets defensive or offended easily, you more than likely retaliate against people who are angry at you by you getting angry yourself. The problem here is, when two retaliatory angry people get into it with each other, the confrontation can and tends to escalate into something dangerous really fast.

3. Paranoid

Paranoia can also be a source of anger in people, specially those that feel they are being taken advantage of. These people don't necessarily need to be taken advantage of to trigger anger, they just need to feel as though they are.

It is normal for anyone to get upset if someone is trying to take advantage of you, but paranoid people go too far. When a they see a sign, any sign, whether or not it is rational, that suggests someone is trying to pull a fast one on them, they defend themselves against the hurt feelings by erupting into anger.

These people usually have trust issues and low self-esteem, which causes them to get easily offended and insulted by other people's actions, which they express through anger.

4. Threatened

Being threatened is a huge trigger for people. This is usually exhibited when an action or setting goes against or "threatens" someone. The threat could be anything. It could be a person, circumstance, or event that jeopardizes what someone has planned or what they want to have happen.

That someone will get angry for two reasons. First, they will get upset for not getting what they want, and second, they will use anger as a way to flex their muscle to take back control over the situation. Their anger is a way to communicate to the party causing the threat that something is amiss which requires immediate attention and/or remedy.

5. Judgmental

Getting judgmental is another trigger that can spark anger. When you judge someone or some situation, your judgment can easily get you all worked up. Prejudice people are the most guilty of this. They often pre-judge people and circumstances, and when their pre-judgment is mean and spiteful, it is but natural that temper and rage consumes them.

6. Chronic

There is nothing that triggers chronically angry people to be annoyed, irritated, or mad. They are just unrelentingly angry and look for any and every reason to be so. They find reasons in their lives, with themselves, with the people around them, and the whole world in general.

Chronically angry people have no definite cause for feeling the way they do. They, more or less, are addicted to the feeling of anger, so they remain in that state for no apparent reason at all.

Now that you have seen some of the unseen and lesser know cause of anger that put us into a fumingly heated state of mind, review them in detail and figure out which of them elicit anger in you.

Are you easily overwhelmed, do you needlessly get defensive, do you have trust issues, do you get angry when things don't go your way, are you unreasonably judgmental, or are you just chronically angry with no legitimate cause for your ill state?

Once you know what sets you off, learn ways to cope with it. Find an outlet that neither harms you or others. Deep breathing, Emotional Freedom Technique, and exercising are some of the many useful anger management tips that can help you in managing anger. Also, there are some anger management tips that teach you how to release tension and calm yourself through meditation.

Remember, you may not be able to completely change a person or a situation, but what you can change is the way that you deal with your feelings by learning how to react positively to it and not letting it get the better of you.

Mike C.Powers

General Blog Neuroscience & Psychology

Habit

"Man is a creature of habit."

This simple statement is deceptively profound. Most people's lives are comprised of a collection of habits that dictate many of their physical, emotional and mental actions and reactions. Depending on the level of conscious awareness you invest in a habit's creation, habits can either enslave you, turning you into a mindless automaton, or free you to pursue creative, joyful activities that enhance and give meaning to your life. Most people have a mixture of good and bad habits.

Habit is defined as an acquired behavior pattern followed until it has become almost involuntary. Habits can be good or bad, productive or non-productive. Good habits lead to skills, such as learning to ride a bicycle. They also save you time and energy by automating the performance of desirable actions. Brushing your teeth or driving a car are examples. These acquired behavior patterns free your mind from having to concentrate, as would be required of unfamiliar actions.

Bad habits predispose you to undesirable outcomes. Excessive drinking, smoking, drug use and overeating are examples of bad habits that can harm your body and impair your judgment, aside from wasting your time.

Common sense tells us that you want to replace bad habits with good ones, which is the basis of all self-development and evolution. But as almost everyone who has ever tried to quit smoking will tell you, this is not always as easy as it would seem.

Smokers are addicted to nicotine. But according to modern brain science, all habits induce emotional states that produce chemicals in your brain. Consequently, you become addicted to the chemicals secreted by your brain no matter what kind of habit you create!

With every thought or action you undertake, you create electrical pathways in your brain. As Joseph Dispenza says in the movie What the Bleep do We Know?, "neurons which fire together, wire together." Repetition etches these patterns more deeply into your brain.

To replace a bad habit with a good one, you need to break the association with your emotions and the chemicals you've grown accustomed to, and rewire your brain. This requires concentration and will.

If you are unaware or unwilling to acknowledge your non-productive habit, you will have a hard time replacing it. If you are not convinced a particular habit is bad for you, you will have no incentive to change it. But, if you are aware of your unwanted habit and are willing to devote your attention to it, then it can be changed. Deeply focused concentration, such as during a visualization exercise, increases the potency of your thoughts and more deeply affects your brain's rewiring.

Remember, it took regular action to install your unwanted habit – possibly over the course of several lifetimes – so it will take regular action to undo it. This is where your will comes in.

You strengthen your will, as well as your habit, with repetition. Every time you consciously reject the urge to give in to your bad habit, you strengthen your will. Every time you consciously undertake an action to install a new, positive habit, it becomes easier. This is how you rewire your brain and overcome your addictions.

When these habits are of a positive nature, this self-reinforcing cycle produces positive results, but the contrary is also true. This demonstrates a principle that Jesus taught, "For he that hath, to him shall be given; and he that hath not, from him shall be taken even that which he hath."

In other words, consciously acting to install positive habits strengthens your will and further attracts more like experiences. Giving in to bad habits, weakens your will, not only making it harder to install good habits, but doing so may cause you to lose what good habits you already had. Can there be any better reason to develop your will and consciously establish positive habits?

The development of good habits is meant to improve your life, free you from the grip of negative habits and attract even more positive experiences to you. At the same time, always remember to be guided by wisdom and not convention. You should strive to perform good actions based on your own inner wisdom and conscious choice, not based on convention – not even good habits. This is the ultimate freedom.

By Edwin Harkness Spina She is an award-winning author and speaker.

General Blog Neuroscience & Psychology

Self-Esteem: You Are Not Who You Think You Are

David sat in front of me at one of my five-day intensive workshops. A successful businessman with a wife and two grown children, David believed that he was not good enough.

“I’m insufficient,” he said. “I’m inadequate.”

I looked at this kind man and felt deep sadness for him. He did not know who he was.

“Why do you believe that?” I asked.

“I didn’t do well in school, and I’ve made lots of mistakes in my life.”

“So you are basing your worth on your performance, right?”

“Of course.”

David could not conceive of any other way of defining his worth other than through his performance – which he never saw as good enough.

I asked David to look inside – at the essence of himself – and tell me what he sees. All he saw was emptiness.

“David, please close your eyes. Now imagine a wonderful being who loves you very much. Who comes to mind?”

“My grandfather. He died when I was young, but he really loved me.”

“Good. Now imagine that you are seeing yourself through the eyes of your grandfather. What does your grandfather see when he looks at you?”

“He sees a bright and creative little boy, who is very kind and caring. A loving little boy. A little boy who is funny and likes to laugh, and likes to make other people laugh.”

“Is there anything wrong with this little boy? Anything inadequate or insufficient?”

“Oh no! He is a wonderful little boy.”

“David, this is who you really are. You are not your performance. Your performance will come and go and at some point you might retire and not perform at all. Yet that does not mean that you are, therefore, worthless. Your worth is in who you are, not in what you do. Your worth in intrinsic.”

David realized that, because of his highly critical and rejecting parents, he had always been trying to prove himself and always came up short in their eyes. As a result of seeing himself as unworthy and inadequate, he did not treat himself well. He treated himself the way his parents had treated him – with criticism and neglect. He was always trying to take care of everyone else, but rarely thought about taking care of himself. He was constantly abandoning himself emotionally, just as he had been emotionally abandoned by his parents.

“David, if you chose to see yourself as your grandfather saw you rather than how your parents saw you, how would you feel about yourself and how would you treat yourself?”

“I’ve just been thinking about that. I just realized that I treat my dog better than I treat myself! I would never judge my dog the way I judge myself.”

“So what would you do differently if you saw yourself the way your grandfather sees you?”

“I would stop judging myself as insufficient and inadequate. I’m a really good person. I am not at all insufficient or inadequate as a person. And I choose my friends based on who they are as people – not on their performance. So I obviously value the very qualities that I possess!”

“What else would you do if you really valued who you are?”

“I would listen to my own feelings and take care of my own needs instead of taking care of everyone else’s feelings and needs. I would no longer see it as selfish to take care of myself instead of taking care of everyone else. I would be at least as attentive to myself as I am to my dog!”

David was glowing. He was discovering who he really is, not who he thought he was.

People often think that their worth – who they really are – is based on looks and performance. Yet these qualities are transitory. What is real and eternal is who you are in your heart and soul. If you shift your definition of your worth from outer to inner, you will stop trying to prove yourself. You will know that you are already a beautiful being, totally deserving of love.

By Margaret Paul, Ph.D.

General Blog Neuroscience & Psychology