Lately I have been exploring the writings and ideas of Dan Siegel M.D. and listening to a set of CD’s about his work that has been very interesting. He is as much a researcher as he is a psychiatrist and his studies of mindfulness and brain function are on the leading edge of what is known today.

If you are interested in expanding your capacities to successfully navigate and actually thrive in life then you will very much want to gain the following benefits Dan Siegel links to mindfulness practice:

Mindfulness allows you too more consciously and successful regulate the body. This means through mindfulness you are able to more consciously direct the inner working of both energy and the relaxation response in your body.
In mindfulness you become attuned to yourself and to others therefore allowing you to have more tuned in conversations. This means you are able to communicate deeply with others.
Emotional balance is achieved through mindful practice. You can monitor and regulate your emotional states because you are tuned in and aware of what is going on inside.
Mindfulness will give you response flexibility, which means you will be able to pause before you act. With this ability you are freed up to be less reactive and more proactive in shaping your world.
Mindfulness brings you insight. Insight is knowing what you think, what you feel, what you sense, what you need, and what will make a difference for you and those around you.
Mindfulness equips you with a great gift for yourself and for others; if provides you with empathy. Empathy means your heart is open and you are able to understand and be there for self and others.
Mindfulness gives you the ability to modulate fear. When fear is present being mindful will allow you to watch what is going on and be able to choose to not be overrun by fear and instead find a place of calmness inside.
Intuition is a great benefit of mindfulness. Intuition can be defined as the wisdom of the body trying to guide you. Mindfulness allows you to tune into this inner knowing in ways that truly benefit your life.
Your sense of morality as it relates to you as social being is clarified and enriched by mindfulness. Through mindfulness you know what is right for you and right action in the world.

It is the end of a busy workweek with lots of early meetings and late night posts here at my blog. I need to go be mindful for a while. Thanks for stopping by and exploring with me the ways you and I can expand and express our human capacities.

Peace Letter #95

Dear President Obama,

It seems your outspoken commander in Afghanistan sees the inevitable of wars that take place in that country, which is that no one wins there. That truth happens to be universal about all wars. No one wins wars, they just eventually kill so many people, cause so much damage, and cost so much that they finally come to an end.

Please move immediately to end the war now before we go further in debt and kill more innocent civilians and our soldiers.

Joseph Bernard, Ph.D.

Join me and send President Obama emails of support and encourage the end of war and the other dysfunctional ways of government at: http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact