Mind & Body
Living a Thoughtful Life
Keegan Mik
STS Senior Thesis
Fall 2014
Goals
• How do we live thoughtful life?
• Initially had strong intuition but little formal knowledge
• Relationship between mind and body
• Power of the mind
• Effect of the body
• Historical background
• Mentality
• Modern trends
Mind
Overcoming Fear
• Fear is the oldest human emotion
• Primal motivator for survival
• Necessary but potentially troublesome
• Mastery over fear is enlightenment
Zen – History and Method
• Omnipresence of duality
• Koans for instruction
• Mushin no shin “mind of no mind”
• Mind is unconscious of itself
• Free to act spontaneously
• Fluid action through intuition
Zen – Controlling the Monkey Mind
• Natural state is mindlessness
• Monkey mind wanders, lacks
discipline
• Can be controlled through
intentional mindfulness
Meditation – Building Mindfulness
• Meditation promotes discipline
• Can be strengthened by practice
• Many methods:
• Guided
• Moving
• Sensory
• Mindfulness
Meditation – Underlying Science
• Slows flux of beta waves in the brain –
responsible for information processing
• Better focus, less stress
• Reduced anxiety
• Improved creativity
• Greater compassion and empathy
• Stronger rapid memory recall
• Prolonged cognitive functioning later in life
Flow – Characteristics
• Positive psychology – emulate mentality of successful outliers
• Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi – what are our best moments?
• State of total engagement in an activity
• “Spontaneous flow” of consciousness
• Peak experience achieved during everyday activities
• Similar to mushin in Zen thought
Flow – Triggers
• Clear goals for success
• Immediate feedback
• Immersive, engaging environment
• Strong technical proficiency
• High level of challenge
Body
Yoga
• Over 5000 years old
• “To join or yoke together”
• Exercise, breathing, meditation
• “Ashtanga” – eight-fold path
• Engage with the present moment
• Restore internal harmony
• Produce spontaneous calm
Wilderness
• Our most natural environment
• Reconnect with primal drives and emotions
• People are intrinsically explorers and fighters
• Good for the soul
• Adventure sports
• Nature immersion
Adventure Sports
• More potent form of exploration
• Nature as final arbiter
• Life on the edge
• Seeking flow, mushin
Nature Immersion
• Japanese practice of shinrin-yoku (forest bathing)
• Relaxing in nature reduces stress
• New scientific studies on forest therapy
• Same effects as meditation, but without effort
Implications
• Confluence of modern technology with old-school mantras
• Potentially can transform the way people take care of themselves
• Many paths to find mindfulness and live a thoughtful life
• Can be found doing anything that brings you joy
Resources
Blaser, Carmen. “Nebelschleier über Berner Hügel.” 500px. 500px, 4 Dec. 2014. Web. 5 Dec. 2014. <https://500px.com/photo/91738883/misty-shroud-above-berner-mound-by-carmenblaser>.
“Calming Mind Brain Waves.” Fast Company. Fast Company, Aug. 2013. Web. 2 Dec. 2014. <http://f.fastcompany.net/multisite_files/fastcompany/imagecache/inlinelarge/inline/2013/08/3016649-inline-calming-mind-brain-waves.jpg>.
“Challenge vs Skill.” Wikipedia. Wikimedia, n.d. Web. 29 Nov. 2014. <http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f6/Challenge_vs_skill.svg/1000px-Challenge_vs_skill.svg.png>.
“Enso Zen.” The First Morning. WordPress, Mar. 2011. Web. 2 Dec. 2014. <http://thefirstmorning.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/enso_zen1.jpg>.
“Forest viewing and walking.” National Center for Biotechnology Information. U.S. National Library of Medicine, 2 May 2009. Web. 2 Dec. 2014.
<http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/core/lw/2.0/html/tileshop_pmc/
tileshop_pmc_inline.html?title=Click%20on%20image%20to%20zoom&p=PMC3&id=2793346_12199_2009_86_Fig1_HTML.jpg>.
Ho, Fan. “Afternoon Chat.” Fan Ho: Hong Kong Yesterday 1950s-1960s. SFO Museum, 1959. Web. 6 Dec. 2014. <http://www.flysfo.com/museum/exhibitions/fan-ho-hong-kong-yesterday1950s%E2%80%931960s>.
“Hollyford Valley Fjordland National Park New Zealand.” HD Wallpapers. mi9.com, 22 Nov. 2009. Web. 6 Dec. 2014. <http://www.mi9.com/wallpaper/hollyford-valley-fjordland-national-parknew-zealand_74049/>.
Jorgenson, Blake. “Thrill-Seeking in British Columbia.” The Best Adventure Photography: Exposure 2014. Outside Online, 20 Mar. 2014. Web. 1 Dec. 2014.
<http://http:/media.outsideonline.com/images/exposure-james-heim-skiing-ipsoot.jpg>.
“Kinfolk-Hygge3.” N.d. Web. 5 Dec. 2014. <http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-b976hvc9QVM/UNdB9pf_hJI/AAAAAAAAAPM/0GEq8DJPDqQ/s1600/kinfolk-hygge3.jpeg>.
“Lotus Headstand.” Pinterest. Pinterest, n.d. Web. 4 Dec. 2014. <https://www.pinterest.com/pin/462463455458143278/>.
“Milky-Way.” 2013. Planetary Science. Web. 6 Dec. 2014. <http://planetary-science.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/milky-way.jpg>.
“Monkey.” Square Space. Square Space, n.d. Web. 4 Dec. 2014.
<http://static.squarespace.com/static/524a41cde4b016b87cc86281/t/524b2f51e4b0958929ea8c19/1380659026578/monkey2.png>.
Munsey, Charlie. “Buckle Up on Oregon's North Umpqua River.” The Best Adventure Photography: Exposure 2014. Outside Online, 17 Dec. 2009. Web. 1 Dec. 2014.
<http://media.outsideonline.com/images/munsey-kayak-drop-oregon.jpg>.
Wright, Krystle. “Off-Line in Washington.” The Best Adventure Photography: Exposure 2014. Outside Online, 22 Sept. 2014. Web. 4 Dec. 2014.
<http://media.outsideonline.com/images/exposure-slacklining-washington-pass-north-cascades.jpg>.
“Yin Yang.” Wikipedia. Wikimedia, n.d. Web. 29 Nov. 2014. <http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/ commons/thumb/1/17/Yin_yang.svg/1024px-Yin_yang.svg.png>.
Yosemite HD. Dir. Sheldon Neill and Colin Delehanty. Vimeo. Project Yosemite, 2012. Web. 22 Mar. 2014. <http://vimeo.com/35396305>.
Questions?