Lawsagna

Music as medication

Music can entertain, shift our mood, relieve stress, promote cognitive development, make us better at recognizing emotion in sound, and now scientists search for evidence that music can heal, according to The New York Times article  "Composing Concertos in the Key of Rx" by Matthew Gurewitsch:

But could music ever take its place as medicine?

One expert who is betting that it will is Vera Brandes, the director of the research program in music and medicine at the Paracelsus Private Medical University in Salzburg, Austria. “I am the first musical pharmacologist,” Ms. Brandes said last fall in Vienna. In that capacity she is developing medication in the form of music, dispensed as a prescription. To market the product line, she helped found Sanoson (sanoson.at), a company that also designs custom music systems for medical facilities.
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In a pilot study, which in 2008 received a citation at the annual scientific meeting of the American Psychosomatic Society in Baltimore, Ms. Brandes and international associates investigated the effects of music on patients suffering from hypertension for which no organic cause can be found.

“Conventionally hypertensive patients are treated with beta blockers, which suppress their symptoms,” Ms. Brandes said. “Music can address the psychosomatic root causes.”

According to her study, listening to a specially designed music program for 30 minutes a day, five days a week, for four weeks, patients experienced clinically significant improvements in heart-rate variability, a major indicator of autonomous nervous function. In her next study Ms. Brandes will subject these findings to a full-fledged clinical trial.

Click here to read the full article.

Don't turn off your brain when receiving advice from a financial expert

A recent study into the neural mechanisms through which external information, such as professional advice,  is integrated into financial decision making may shed light on how Bernard Madoff was able to deceive so many people.  ScienceDaily reports:

A study using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) shows that expert advice may shut down areas of the brain responsible for decision-making processes, particularly when individuals are trying to evaluate a situation where risk is involved.
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Study participants were asked to make a series of financial choices between a guaranteed payment and a lottery while undergoing fMRI scanning. During portions of the testing, the participants had to make decisions on their own; during other portions, they received advice from a financial expert about which choice to make.

"Results showed that brain regions consistent with decision-making were active in participants when making choices on their own; however, there occurred an offloading of the decision-making process in the presence of expert advice," says Jan B. Engelmann, PhD, Emory research fellow in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, and first author of the study.

The lesson is... don't outsource your critical thinking, especially when you talk to an expert.

Click here to read the full article.

"What Is Love?"

Sally Kempton wrote a beautiful piece titled  "What Is Love?" for Yoga Journal.  Here's an excerpt on the practice of love:

The practice of love—actions and attitudes that create an atmosphere of kindness, acceptance, and unity in ourselves and in those around us—is not only the basis of spiritual life, it is also the basis of civilization. We can't always feel gratitude, but we can remember to say thank you. We can't always like other people, but we can try to pay attention when they talk to us and help them out when they're in trouble. We may not feel good about ourselves all the time, but we can practice treating ourselves gently, slowing down and breathing when we want to rush, or talking back to our inner voices of self-criticism and judgment. When it comes to daily life, feeling love may actually be less important than acting loving.

... How can I, in spite of what I may be feeling at a particular moment, offer my best to myself and other people?

Sally Kempton offers several practices to reconnect to the source of love:

Close your eyes for a moment and imagine you are sitting in the center of a vast flow of love. Imagine that love is flowing toward you like water or passing into you like a gentle wind. Whether you actually feel this love or not, keep imagining that it is flowing toward you and into you.

Another way to receive love is to imagine that just outside the window of your room sits a compassionate and loving being, someone wise and incredibly forgiving. This person is watching you through the window; her glance protects you and surrounds you with sweetness.

Allow yourself to receive the love that is flowing toward you from this being. If thoughts come up to block it—like "I don't deserve this" or "This is just an exercise; it's not real"—notice them and let them go as you might in meditation, saying, "Thinking," and then breathing the thought out. Your only task is to receive.

When you open your eyes, look around you with the thought that the love you have been contemplating is still flowing toward you from whatever you see and from the air itself.

Click here to read the full article.

Brain Awareness Week

March 16 – March 22 is Brain Awareness Week.  Here are some interesting resources I like to use to raise my brain awareness:

The Dana Foundation is a gateway to lots of brain information on the web.

Your Brain at Work: "This site shows you how you learn, and gives you tips for learning better."

Scientific American Mind Magazine.  The current issue features an interview with Howard Gardner, a professor of cognition and education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, titled "Building the 21st-Century Mind."  Also, you may want to check out "Six Ways to Boost Brainpower."

Bodies in Space from The George Greenstein Institute: "coaching bodies, brains and minds."

Brains on Purpose, the Neuroscience and conflict resolution blog by Stephanie West Allen, JD in collaboration with Jeffrey M. Schwartz, MD.

Brain Science Podcast with Ginger Campbell, MD

Finally, I'll be hosting a free teleclass this Friday on the brain, learning and change.  Click here to get more information.

What do you do to keep your brain healthy and vibrant?

Barbara Fredrickson and Sharon Salzberg on "Positivity"

Last Sunday, I attended the discussion between neuro-psychologist Barbara Fredrickson and meditation teacher Sharon Salzberg as part of the Brainwave series at the Rubin Museum of Art in New York City.  The topic was how positive thinking influenced the mind.  Specifically, they talked about the effects of lovingkindness meditation practice on positive emotions and about the results of Dr. Fredrickson's research, described in her new book "Positivity: Groundbreaking Research Reveals How to Embrace the Hidden Strength of Positive Emotions, Overcome Negativity, and Thrive."  

The conversation began with the question about the roles of positive and negative emotions.  Psychologists have known for a long time that negative emotions are so salient and effective in seizing our attention because our survival has depended on them.  The fear of a tiger, the disgust at the sight of rotten food - those negative emotions have been there to protect us.  But why do we need positive emotions and how can we experience them more often?  This is the inquiry of the positive psychology. 

Dr. Fredrickson's research points out that positive emotions tend to broaden our focus, enabling us to discover more tools and solutions to life's challenges and ultimately making us more resourceful.  When we experience negative emotions, our focus is narrow.  This tunnel vision precludes us from switching perspectives and seeing creative solutions.  Positive emotions let our minds open, or "bloom."  In Dr. Fredrickson's study, the lovingkindness meditation practice has been shown to increase the frequency of positive emotions.  In the lovingkindness mediation, you gather your attention around words and phrases of love and peace that you repeat rhythmically and direct to yourself and others.   Those participants who saw a bigger increase in positivity from the start of the program also showed more benefits after three months of practice.  In the long term, positive emotions result in more resilience and life satisfaction.

All emotions are transient.  The point is not to try to be positive all the time, but rather to increase the frequency of positive emotions.  Dr. Fredrickson discovered that experiencing positive emotions in a 3-to-1 ratio with negative ones makes people more resilient and creative in meeting life’s challenges and achieving their goals.  You can find out your ratio and get other online tools at Dr. Fredrickson's website http://www.positivityratio.com.  As Sharon Salzberg beautifully said, what counts is the willingness "to begin again," to redirect the mind towards more positive alternatives.       

An interesting question was raised during the Q&A about the cross-cultural variance with regard to positivity.  Culture influences what we consider a positive experience.  For example, in cultures where individualism is praised, people feel positive when they stand out and accomplish something on their own.  In collective cultures, feeling connected to a group, fitting in, may be more important to increase positive emotions.  Reflecting on my own cross-cultural experiences, I wonder if the broad focus also facilitates cultural adjustment.  It would be interesting to see studies on this.

Watch your reactions: a Zen parable

I came across this Zen parable in the Yoga Journal article "Living on the Edge" by Ezra Bayda: 

On the first day of a four-day meditation retreat, a student went in to see the Zen master with whom he'd been studying for many years. Sitting at the teacher's feet, he asked, "Can you tell me how I'm doing in my practice?" The Zen master thought for a minute, then said, "Open your mouth." The student opened his mouth, and the teacher peered in and said, "OK, now bend your head down." The student bent his head down, and the Zen master looked into his hair, then said, "OK, now open your eyes really wide." The student opened his eyes, and the Zen master glared into them and said, "You're doing fine." Then he rang his bell.

Because the teacher rang his bell, the student had to leave. The next day, he returned, quite perplexed by what had happened the day before. "I asked you how I was doing in my practice yesterday," he said, "and you made me open my mouth, bend my head, and open my eyes. What did all that have to do with my practice?" The Zen master bowed his head in thought. Then he said, "You know, you're not really doing very well in your practice, and the truth is, I am not sure you are ever going to make it." Again he rang his bell.

The student walked out. You can imagine how confused and angry he felt. The next day he went back, still fuming, and said, "What do you mean, I'm not going to make it in practice? Do you know that I sit in meditation for an hour every day? Sometimes I sit twice a day. I come to every retreat. I have really deep experiences. What do you mean I'm not going to make it?" The master just sat there, apparently thinking. Then he said, "Well, maybe I made a mistake. Perhaps you're doing pretty well after all." And again he rang his bell.

On the last day of the retreat, the student went back to see his teacher, utterly exhausted. He felt distraught and confused, but he was no longer fighting it. He said to the master, "I just wanted to know how I was doing in my practice." This time, the teacher looked at him and with no hesitation, in a very kind voice, said, "If you really want to know how you're doing in your practice, just look at all of your reactions over the last few days. Just look at your life."

The wisdom of this Zen parable seems to apply to so many life questions:
How am I doing in my business?  How am I doing in my relationships?  How am I doing as a parent?  Our reactions are often the first indicators of how things really are. 

The Complete Lawyer: Focus on Coaching and Mentoring

The March Issue of The Complete Lawyer focuses on "The Critical Importance Of Coaching And Mentoring For Today's Lawyer."  I couldn't agree more, and yes, it is a self-serving statement, coming from a coach.  Here are some of the great offerings:

"Use Coaching To Develop Your Lawyers' Skills And Expand Your Firm's Potential" by  Susan Beneville and Sandee Magliozzi

"Senior Male Mentors Help Women Lawyers Get Promoted To Shareholder" by Ellen Ostrow

"Today's Economic Pressures Work Against Natural Mentoring" by Marian Lee

"When Is Coaching Really Coaching?" by Debby Stone and Laura Biering

"Master The Four Elements Of A 'Coachee's' Success" by Arnie Herz

"Mentor By Example With Excellent Delegation" by Julie A. Fleming