health

HARD-WIRED FOR COLLABORATION: PHYSICAL TOUCH INCREASES PERFORMANCE

Physical touch stengthens creative problem solving and performance. In Born To Be Good: The Science of a Meaningful Life (Norton, 2009), Dacher Keltner cites research indicating that simply giving a reassuring physical touch (a high-five, a chest bump, a shoulder pat) can increase performance on the basketball court, in intimate relationship, in the classroom, everywhere! Humans are wired to seek collaborative effort to "share the load" of problem solving.

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MICHAEL JACKSON: CREATIVITY AND BIPOLAR DISORDER

Kay Redfield Jamison studied the relationship between creativity and madness. She terms manic-depressive, or bipolar, disorder "a terminal illness," e.g., if not treated with appropriate medication and/or psychotherapy, ending in death. Did Michael Jackson and other extremely creative people who died prematurely from addiction, suicide, and reckless living suffer from manic-depressive disorder? Is there a way to treat the "super-human" energy of creativity without dimming its spark?

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INTUITIVE FOCUSING: FROM MUD POTS TO GEISERS AND TECHTONIC SHIFTS PHOTOS YELLOWSTONE CLICK!

Photos of Yellowstone mists, mud pots, steaming cauldrons, geisers are used to illustrate the ever-changing nature of the psyche and the Intuitive Focusing process, a simple self-help skill for "sitting with" this teeming creativity and finding words and images which allow a techtonic shift, an Instant "Ahah!" of insight and creative problem solving. The Creative Edge Focusing Pyramid allows the use of Intuitive Focusing at home and at work, alone, in conflict, for group problem solving.

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“WHY CRY?” PART 5: BOOKS AND ARTICLES ON TEARS, CRYING, BEING TOUCHED AND BEING MOVED, INNER CHILD HEALING, ACTIVE GRIEVING, TRANSFORMATION

Many books and articles lead to acceptance of tears as transformative and spiritually meaningful, including Frey, Crying, Gaylin, Feelings: Our Vital Signs, Ross, The Fountain and The Furnace, and Chodrin's The Way of Compassion. Dr. McGuire also lists her own many articles on tears, inner child healing, afect in Experiential Focusing Therapy, "being touched and being moved," and Active Grieving.

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“WHY CRY?” PART 4: CRYING FOR A VISION, OPENING OUR EYES TO TRUTH

David Michael Levin's book, The Opening of Vision, and particularly the Chapter "Crying For A Vision," is discussed as pointing to the importance of crying in allowing us to experience truth, to be touched and moved, to experience care and compassion, to "see" what must be seen and to act accordingly.

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“WHY CRY?” PART TWO: VIDEOS OF MBTI “THINKER” VS. “FEELER”

Comparing a Thinker and a Feeler on the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), we see videos of Eugene Gendlin, creator of Focusing, describing theory in a felt-sensing yet Thinking way, compared to video of Kelly Corrigan, being "touched" and "moved" as she describes "Women and Strength. Why are tears associated with moments of transcendence, awe, love?

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