Thirst Quencher

PURELY WATER

Water - the simple, single most important ingredient to improve your health. It's so simple yet, we don't drink enough of it. It's the same for me - even though I'm aware of the benefits, I have to constantly remind myself to drink throughout the day. If I'm feeling a bit tired, water is the key. Stomach ache? Water again. So, why do we struggle to drink it - and why is it often as an after-thought? As a rule, I'll have a glass of warm water with lemon juice in it every morning. I'll have another glass with my breakfast and if I'm riding to work or getting the tube, another glass before I leave the house. That's 3/4 Litre just in the morning. Throughout the day I'll drink 2-3 more in the morning and another before lunch. These tactical glasses of water not only get me up and moving around - give me a break from the computer screen and fill me up so I skip going fro an 11 o'clock snack and have a smaller meal at lunch. Drinking water throughout the afternoon also helps keep the hunger pangs at bay and keeps the mind focussed better and for longer than if you opt for a quick caffeine or sugar fix - which will give a temp boost but leave you with a lull after.

Keep a bottle on hand. I like to have a 1L re-usable plastic bottle that I fill twice a day - pouring into a smaller glass makes it less of a mission to get through.

Save Money And The Environment
Drink from the tap. Don't like the taste? Add a slice of lemon, cucumber or get these great sugar free Nuun hydration tablets. Not only are they really great for re-hydrating post workout, they are also a calorie-free alternative to expensive sugary pub drinks when you're out with friends - just get a pint of water with ice and drop in the tab! They have a great range of different flavours to try.

There's no evidence to show drinking bottled mineral or spring water is any better for you - and we're also contributing to the landfill problem by buying so many plastic bottles. But it can be inconvenient getting water from a tap, so bottled is the way to go. I've bought myself a couple of these - and keep one in my pocket so I can always have water on hand - I feel much better using this than buying and throwing away plastic bottle all the time.

True & False

TOO TRUE

Every day we learn something that we accepted was true yesterday, is now false. Especially when it comes to food.

Red wine. It was believed we should drink small amounts as it contains antioxidants and could actually be better for us drinking this particular kind of alcohol to prolong life as apposed to being a tee-totaller. It's popped up again recently and there's a reversal on this thinking suggesting it's now NOT something that's good for our health. The odd glass of wine can work wonders after a stressful day or enjoyed with friends.
Butter. Avoid it. Use spreads and olive oil. NOW it turns out - it's all based on flawed research.
Cereals. I grew up on Coco Pops, Shreddies, Corn Flakes, Sultana Bran...cereals oh yeah and white bread. I'm still alive and pretty well? Yet, there's now a real hate campaign on grains. AVOID! I have to say, I'm kinda taken to this one as there's so much negativity surrounding it and haven't touched cereal in a few years now. But, stick to the least processed variety and the ones lowest in sugar and pretty I'm sure it'll be fine.
Bread. Staple of the French, Italians and Europeans. AVOID. I'm only eating decent wholegrain or rye bread occasionally now but really, is it that bad?
Fruit juices. Get your five a day. WRONG. Low in fibre, high in sugars, acid, and calories. Just eat some fruit or make your own juice using fresh fruit and vegetables. Get a decent cold-press juicer.

And the list goes on - here's 7 more foods that have had a reversal.

Thing is - we're being constantly advertised to with deceptive marketing spiel and the media is full of fantastical rubbish designed to get us reading their papers etc. It's no wonder people are so confused what's good and bad for them - and this is just the food. Exercise is now being linked to shortening life and even taking health supplements could increase chances of cancer. What does it all mean? It means stop reading the papers (especially The Daily Mail!), question the information being fed to you via advertising and gossip, make your own investigations, do what you enjoy in moderation and if there's anything that you know makes you feel bad, keep a diary of what you do & eat and asses the results yourself. Over time you'll see/feel the results and know. We're all different and what works for some, doesn't always work for all.

Question 'truths'
I'm now half way through Counter clockwise: mindful health and the power of possibility, written by Ellen Langer. She encourages us to be more mindful and question science, research and results. We are all different and nothing is set in stone, yet, science bases it's results on facts - facts that can not be clear cut if you take into consideration there's so many factors not included in this research that affect everything and everyone, so we need to have 'shades of grey' answers. The consequence of this type of black & white reasoning is that we set our minds to 'facts' and it's this definite inflexible mindset that makes the result and consequently we become inflexible too. Telling ourselves something is bad, can and will end up becoming true if we allow our minds to tell us so.

The Power of Propaganda

JUSTIFYING THE ACT OF KILLING

I've just watched this amazing film called The Act of Killing which features the gangsters who were responsible for the Indonesian killings of 1965-1966. This is an amazing documentary, in that it gets the people who were feared/revered & ultimately seen (and believed themselves) to be heros for halting/wiping out the communist party and anyone one suspected of being connected to it, to tell their story.

These were turbulent times. The fear of spreading communism and in particular stemming from a paranoid America, spurred on campaigns of propaganda to depict the communists as evil and cruel.

Indonesia had gone through recent economic and social collapse in the 50's and changes were underway to establish this group of islands with different cultures and religions under one national umbrella and identity. What follows is a nightmare scenario, with death squads ruling the roost and all sanctioned by the government. 

The propaganda film watched annually on the 30 September by Indonesians, to commemorate the military coup G30S and bringing about the New Order, translated as Betrayal of Indonesia Communist Party was used as a way to brainwash the youth and justify the killing of many innocent Indonesians, a lot of who were of Chinese origin. 

What's interesting and comes through in this film is how the main characters, now in their 70's, are coming to terms & dealing with their guilt. They recount their stories through a series of bizarre reenactments - using their love of American movies both as inspiration for the actual way they killed and as a colourful representation for displaying to the world their actions. The main Character Anwar, haunted by the ghosts from his past, is weakly holding on to the propaganda film as justification for his killings and we watch as realisation dawns on him that what he did was wrong and he's left to face his demons. 

I was fascinated at this film. Not only is it shockingly raw in showing our human nature, but also entertaining and bizarrely amusing. I laughed at the absurdity of the situations many times and liked the main character, Anwar despite what heinous acts he'd committed in his past.

History repeating

I've never been to Indonesia and not learned anything about their history/culture until now. On further reading about the 30 September coup, it appears MI6 had a hand in spreading fear and mistrust of the communist party and likely more involvement in manipulating and instigating. What I found quite disturbing are the similarities happening in Indonesia to the German Nazi party & SS - in particular the Pancasila Youth. Some of the footage shows the leaders reinforcing an extreme aversion to communism - citing the importance of being a free man or 'gangster' at the foundations of freedom. It seems madness that this movement has not only survived to this day but has gained more strength in numbers! 

Justification

JUST BECAUSE

There's always a reason for why. We don't just follow blindly, we do all the things we do because we justify them in our minds first. Of course we do, we're rational beings, right? When we action a task, we would first have thought about the reasons for doing it - and after, made a justification why it's a good idea or not. Turns out, this isn't the case. We don't always have a good reason why because the word 'because' is all we need. And you'll see how many times I've used this word to justify in this post alone!

The copy machine study

A study was conducted in 1977 by Helen Langer, 'The Mother of Mindfullness' where she asked her research assistants to jump the line at the photocopier, asking just three questions to those in the queue. The answers to these questions showed that by having a justification - whether it made sense or not, was all that was needed. The results from her studies into behaviour were groundbreaking in that they help us to understand why we make decisions - good or bad. She has also made extensive studies about the illusion of control, ageing and mindfulness theory - and a book written in 2009 which I'll be adding to my reading list called, Counter Clockwise: Mindful Health and the Power of Possibility.

I've just read about this experiment with the Xerox machine on another one of James Clear's fantastic blog posts. It shows quite simply, how we'll allow decisions to be made even if there's no rational reason for making them. 

So what does that really mean for us making our plans for improvements?

It means that we have to constantly check our own reasoning and always question the thinking and opinions from so-called experts. There's so many ways to be caught out with marketing, popular opinion/trends, dogma/propaganda - it's all down to us at the end of the day - so if our own brains are deceiving us...we're not going anywhere. And worse - if left un-checked, this deceit can fix strong ideas in our minds that affect the rest of our thinking and we become inflexible to new ideas. 

It's really interesting once you understand that we are capable of making bad/unreasonable decisions. Because we can then see how it's possible to make more decisions & excuses based on these previously made decisions which have become cemented in our minds once we've justified them to ourselves as the truth.

Important decisions
We make many decisions throughout our day. Some of these are clearly very important like 'Is it a good time to cross the road? - yes it is, because I've checked and the road is clear'. Other thoughts are harder to make a clear decision on because they feature lower down on our priority list for important tasks. We'll have a set of possible outcomes which require more thought power/time and often in this position, we'll lazily attach a decision to these lower actions - using the higher more important decisions as a basis for justification. So, in this example: Should I get up early today? It's a decision we make based on having many positive outcomes that we know of - but unless there's a fire in the house, it comes down to making a reason why every day - and we get up purely because of that decision. Therefore, If we have a clear important reason that we can use to manage lower ranking ones - we stick to that one without question...we just need a positive & important reason.

Down tools syndrome

Yesterday, I woke with the alarm at my usual time of 5am and it was clearly not enough sleep for that day. So I justified staying in bed a little longer and that ended up being 'til 7am. It's ok. My reasoning was sound - I'm feeling a bit off-par at the moment and a bit of extra sleep will be good for me to recover from a slight cold. It's a decision to get more sleep rather than wake up so early when I don't really have to for life-saving reasons and therefore halting the cold from getting any worse.

The bit that's not ok. I then used this important reasoning to stop me doing my jobs. One by one they came up and I pushed them back/postponed and cancelled them - because I had to avoid getting a cold. It was amazing to observe this behaviour in myself - like having a health & safety officer in my head! He was shutting down the factory because of a potentially serious threat to the workers when all that was required was a temporary adjustment to the working hours. Luckily, the managers who make decisions on important factors like making money, are in a position of power to question why, because they've been known to be right on many occasions before, so my factory stayed open and I was very quickly up and running on full capacity again. 

To stay on top of these thought processes to ensure we do the things that are benefitting us the most - we just need to have a high level priority 'why' at the forefront of our minds. 

Art as Therapy

ART APPRECIATION

Visiting the Hayward Art Gallery the other day has reminded me again just how great London is. Southbank is teeming with creativity and we have so many other great galleries and theatres all around London, that we really must get out more to appreciate the great work artists are doing.

Appreciating art gives us a moment to stop and think about what it is to be human. There is so much emotion embodied within works of art. I visited The Tate Britain some time ago and as I had a bit more time, I paid for the headphones so I could learn a bit more about the installations. It was a really informative afternoon and rather than just walk from piece to piece, I was able to really listen and understand what each of the artists had been trying to say, expressing their emotions on canvas or with their artworks.

I've just seen the entry for the BP Portrait Awards have now have closed - meaning the artworks have all been submitted and are currently being judged. I like trying to guess the winners myself and it's an exhibition we try and see with family which makes I nice day out too. So I will definitely be taking in the exhibition later on in the year (Exhibition from 18 June to 20 September). The picture at the top of the page 'Man with a Plaid Blanket' in last year's winner and was painted by Thomas Ganter.

Tate Modern

One of my favourite buildings in London - and a great space for viewing art - is Tate Modern. This is a place that I go to when I need a bit of an art inspiration fix. Just sitting in the turbine hall or up in the cafe looking out over Millennium Bridge at St. Paul's Cathedral are enough to give me a boost and there's always something interesting going on. They're currently building an extension which will have even more great things to see. 

Conflict

I'd been meaning to go to The Tate and see the Conflict, Time, Photography exhibition for a while - the photographs of  destruction caused during war are very powerful images and something that particularly interests me. So, after my boxing training yesterday, I took a walk in the sun through St Katherine Docks and over Tower Bridge down along the river. On route, I had a short stop at the riverside with a coffee to just sit quietly in the sun by a fountain away from all the tourists. After, I walked by The Tower and watched a military parade and gun salute opposite The Tower of London - a display for The Mexican Prime Minister who is visiting London right now. There was a great exhibition happening on the other side of the river too next to the Major's building, also centred around Mexico. I got to try a VR demo on the Oculus Rift headset in there, which simulated flying around Mexico City on a microlight! They also had a VW Beatle covered in over 1.5m beads designed to symbolise the psychedelic effects experienced from ingesting a particular Mexican hallucinogen. These beads were stuck there individually by a Mexican family and took 9000 hours to complete. I took lunch after at Wagamamas which is a great place to be mid afternoon when the crowds have gone. All in all, it was a great afternoon wandering around looking at great inspirational artwork and some of my favourite London architecture, St Paul's and The Tate.

Richard Tuttle's 'I Don't Know. The Weave of Textile Language.' in the turbine hall at Tate Modern.

The view of St Paul's Catherdral from the Cafe in The Tate Modern.

My first stop of the morning taking in a quiet moment by the river...

Art as Therapy
I read another of Alain's books recently which talks about the healing properties of viewing and understanding art/artists and the therapeutic properties of experiencing art in our lives. It really helps to open your mind beyond the day-to-day. I will try and take in even more art exhibitions, most certainly on a more regular basis to really make the most of this great city.

Support For The Misguided

CLINK

The charity organisation Clink have been successfully running a chain of restaurants since 2009 - providing qualifications and training for finding prisoners a job after release. I posted a few weeks ago about registering for a table at the prison and this week we went along to sample the food and services. The restaurant itself was laid out well in the old prison governors house - so nice in fact, that you had to remember you were in a jail. The atmosphere was very relaxing, the staff attentive and polite.

Being Served
We were able to talk candidly about the serving staff's experiences in the prison and their aspirations for when they were released. The guy who served us, was about to complete the last 2 weeks of an 18 month term and his training qualified him to take a position in catering & hospitality once out of prison. It's a great opportunity for these young men to learn some skills, build up confidence and prepare themselves for being re-integrated into society equipped with the tools for a brighter future.

Serving Others

While I was in the prison, I spoke with the governor about providing graphic design tuition to the inmates. Having a computer and the knowledge for using the software to make logos, design, illustrate and publish work on the Internet, plus opening up the opportunity to advertise services to the world means released prisoners will be equipped to make money independently and not re-offend.

I've just been reading more of Geoff Thompson's book 'Warrior' and the chapter I'm currently on, talks about mentoring or helping others to help themselves. This is something I would like to do more of once I've made the positive changes in myself and can then mentor through example. I have been reading so much life changing information from others over the last 6 weeks and in turn, shared links/referenced/passed on the knowledge from others who have so generously given me their wisdom. This seems like the best thing for everyone to be doing - learning and giving. 

Geoff pops up in my posts from time to time. I'll often have an email from him on a topic, a new video to watch or spare moment to read a bit more of Warrior and it's a little bit weird when these moments happens, because his words have a particular relevance to the time that I'm reading them. So again, another strange coincidence today, the first passage I come to talks about helping the misguided. So, I hope he won't mind me sharing this passage because it has real meaning for this post: 

"The Christians say that when you serve a prisoner you serve God (a literal prisoner, or a person that is imprisoned by addiction or ignorance). The Buddhists also believe that service is the noblest thing we can do as a member of this species."

I made enquiries about doing some work with prisoners a few years back. There is a lot of bureaucracy in government run institutions, so I hit a dead end. This time, I passed on my details to the governor and the guy who served us so maybe something will come of my connections from inside the institutions this time around. In the mean time, I'm going to look into taking a teacher training course, contact a computer training academy and when the prison education services contact me, I'll volunteer some time and be in a good position to set up a program for budding artist and designer offenders to create their own posters, t-shirts and artwork to generate their own income stream and create steps for a positive future. 

Peter Pan

TIME WITH KIDS

Being around kids - laughing & playing games is a really great way for us to stay young at heart. As we get older, we take on many of life's tough challenges which can have a negative impact on one's life force. Over time, these things can make us bitter and cynical if we're not mindful of it. Having to be a responsible adult needn't mean being serious and stern all the time. We can still be playful, energetic, play games and have fun in life just like a child does - while still getting the jobs done.

Embrace your inner child
If you're not a parent yourself, don't have a niece or nephew or any friends with kids - try and get back that inner child with some of these wikiHow techniques. Skipping down the street, clapping and cheering enthusiastically and generally being less reserved in public - you may get some funny looks or scorned - but that will only be from those who have forgotten how to be young - remember this quote: "You don't stop having fun when you get old, you get old when you stop having fun."

Geocaching

Find some fun things you'd like to do - here's ten more tips if you don't have any kids with you. I had my first Geocaching experience over the weekend. This is a really great idea! It's a kind of treasure hunt and often the geocaches are in places of interest, so really great way to inspire a walk, ride around town or fun reason to take the kids out for the day 

Injustice

SPEAK UP!

There's so much injustice all around us. Horrible things going on right now in another part of the world that we are allowing to happen by not speaking up. Looking at some of the footage from the war crimes in Iraq, committed by American military - atrocities that the US Government have tried to cover up and hearing about some of the terrible abuses of women in Pakistan - stoned to death for 'bringing dishonour' on their families, we can see where abuses of power and ignorance are creating much misery. We need to do more about it.

There's also stories closer to home about abuse of power, corruption and greed and this is in a seemingly developed nation in time of peace. But we haven't advanced much as human beings if you look at all the misery and suffering in the world. With all the knowledge and technology available to us in this modern age, why do we still have:

– Poverty
– Starvation
– Gender in-equality
– Mistreatment of the elderly
– Orphans
– Racism
– Physical & mental abuse
– Sex trafficking
– War
– Abuses of power

Apathy, plus a general lack of concern or empathy towards others appear to be at the heart of it. There's so many people walking around like the 'living dead', not even in charge of their own lives. All seemingly in too much of a rush to stop and think. People are turning a blind eye because we're all too busy, caught up in our own affairs to really care about others. Surely, if we took the time to look up - we'd 'see' an easier way for us all to live happier lives. It just takes more of us to come away from doing pointless and selfish actions to use our minds for the greater good so we can rid the world from all of this injustice.

An Analysed life
Epicurus believed that all we needed for a life of happiness, were three things: friends, freedom and an analysed life. So here I am in the alps with 7 friends, gliding down a mountain with the sun in my face, taking it all in and being grateful for what I have. Life is sweet. I'd say Epicurus was right - but without good health and some money, it becomes difficult to have this kind of life. This moment is a true luxury for me and I'm aware how fortunate I am to have been brought up in a time, country and loving family, which has given me this opportunity to enjoy life so much. When I come back from this trip, I'm going to make sure I'm giving some more of my time and money over to charity - so I can do some part to help someone else have a moment of happiness too. 

The School of Life

LEARNING HOW TO LIVE

It always amazes me when I observe how supposedly intelligent and 'wise' people are doing things that are not beneficial to themselves or anyone else. They're stubbornly stuck in their ways because they truly believe they know what is right - when clearly there are better more beneficial ways to do things...if one looks hard enough. A lot of people chose the easy and lazy option and it seems to be the older, well-educated and outwardly respected folk that get stuck in their ways the most. They don't like to have their thinking challenged and they stop learning & growing as a consequence.

Watching some more of Alain De Botton's short documentaries and reading The Consolations of Philosphy again, I've learned another truth today - we have to understand that failure and hardship are to be embraced as a way to improve ourselves. We should abandon comfort for true fulfilment. Nietzche said, 'That what does not kill me - only makes me stronger'. This is why, I've pushed myself in the gym, when I could have stayed at home - this is why I get out of bed early when I could so easily stay in bed and why I chose to avoid the comfort zone.

Another one of Alain De Botton's projects, The School of Life, has some great courses and a helpful list of good reads for better understanding how to live life. I cycled past it the other day. It's located in one of my most favourite areas of London - Bloomsbury. It's well worth having a look at the website, even if it's just for some reference for what to read. Alain also has his TV documentaries, Ted talks etc. on there too, which you can watch for free. You can learn about another great project Alain's involved with, Living Architecture - where you can book a room at some fantastic properties in the UK.

Burnout

PTSD

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. It's not just the armed forces that get affected. I've been reading some articles today about the effects of being subjected to sustained high levels of stress, the infectuous nature of working with trauma sufferers and fallout from being in this kind of environment for too long. Our front line could be the 9-5, the trauma sufferers our colleagues and the fallout can be the consequences from not dealing with something we're not even unaware of being affected by...

Numbness

When exposed to high levels of stress for sustained periods, soldiers have been observed to display behaviour changes in the form of; mood swings, anger outbursts, lack of empathy and numbness. There's also been studies to show how these same traits can be found in the office workplace - indicated by a clear increase in stress-related symptoms being diagnosed over recent years. A friend of mine who worked in the stock market, had to leave his job because it was affecting his marriage so much. He wasn't as aware of the changes to his character as his wife and friends were at the time, because he spent a major portion of his time at work. This kind of work, although well-paid, is known to be a hi-paced and stressful job. Being in media, there are known high-stress factors affecting certain roles, but being in an ever-more competitive market, the acceptable levels of stress have increased significantly across a multitude of roles and certainly not just representative of those with the highest salaries. So it's inevitable that more people are now working in an elevated state of stress which is not healthy for long periods and is likely why I've noticed the behavioural characteristics my friend, a high-earner from the stock market was displaying in more of my colleagues who are merely doing a regular job in lower paid roles. 

The signs that we're over-stressed don't show up as much until we're outside of the toxic environment. Our partners and friends will point out to us the times we're clearly out of balance. These can show up with an unexpected outburst in minor stress situations, for example; when driving a car. Other sure signs are fatigue - being exhausted at the end of the working week with no energy for the weekend's activities or isolation - unusually quiet/withdrawn & feeling flat/numb in what are usually known to be fun and upbeat situations. 

The feeling of numbness is hard to describe. You can be doing something fun or not so much fun and there'll be no great deviation from the line of zero emotion. There's no/little spike of excitement when there should b,e or emotion when something bad/sad has happened. It is interesting that I've been able to witness and observe these feelings in myself and mostly rectify numbness quickly & easily by readily having something on hand to jar the dulled brain back into life. For others, where they've not been made aware of their symptoms until they are close to burnout, it's maybe not been so easy to fix. 

Life Mantra

There's a simple way to keep on top of how you're feeling and that's to write things down. I've been doing this consistently since 2010. Every year I make a list of the things I want to achieve at the beginning and evaluate them at the end of the year. This is great practice as there's a master plan in place. But, you'll have some known truths about yourself that will help or hinder your achievements and this is where your mantra comes in. I write down what things negatively affect me - like being in a stressful work environment, dealing with difficult characters or having to repeatedly do things that irritate me. I'll then have a list of positives that I can also get from being in those environments/situations and have some extra known tasks, activities and tricks that I can draw on to help adjust the balance if the day is particularly tough. Some examples of these easy to obtain positivity enhancers are:

- Doing some exercise at the gym

- Riding my road bike

- Going for a walk

- Eating a nice meal

- Watching or listening to some comedy

- Watching an inspirational TED video

- Listening to music or a pod cast

- Sleep

The not so easy to get immediately but best positivity enhancers are things like; taking quality time out, ie. getting away for a weekend break or longer with partners and friends. These need to be factored-in regularly and there needs to be time for assessment and self-reflection. I now make regular checks every day when writing a blog and it's helped keep track of a number of things - in particular, the life/work balance. 

Get out and move on

Whatever your reasons for remaining in a bad situation/environment/job, when you realise that the positivity enhancers are being over-used and their restorative effects becoming weaker/not as long-lasting...it's time to look at options before burnout takes hold or manifests into something even more serious. 

The work-live balance

This article link gives a bit more info on the topic of working in toxic environments. I believe there's a lot more studies required, especially around having increased connectivity periods - the 24-7 smartphone phenomena means we're spending less time away from thinking about work. Certain firms in Europe like Volkswagen are realising the impact of having a poor work/life balance and are now regulating how much time is spent at work either physically or virtually by restricting hours and connectivity times. 

I have friends that are showing signs of burnout written about in here and I've observed some of these symptoms in myself too. High pressure is ok and can actually produce better, more rewarding results but we need to be more aware of the damaging effects that come from being exposed to sustained high-stress situations in toxic environments. If it's making us ill - It's time to get out. 

The power of buildings

THE RIGHT ENVIRONMENT

If your job revolves around working on computers like mine does, the advantages of having mobile technology now mean you can work from pretty much anywhere. You have a choice. If you are fortunate enough to live near the sea or your home office window opens out onto a sublime view of the mountains or rolling countryside, you'll have nature there to inspire you every day. Being a city dweller, it's not as easy to take inspiration from nature unless your house has a garden, backs on to a park/woods or overlooks a river, so we have to create our environments to inspire us.

Architecture

Beautiful buildings are 3-dimensional structures of working art. They are designed to have function but also form, with focus on shape, texture, colour & light - in clever ways to make us feel secure, enlightened & powerful. To be around beautiful architecture, you have to be in a place to view it and up til recently, I had a fantastic view of St Paul's and The River Thames from my workplace. Seeing the sun reflecting from the dome of this monumental British cathedral - the light creating an ethereal glow - I'd get a nostalgic sense of belonging to something great. The images of St Paul's standing defiantly amid the devastation from the blitz - propaganda, I know but still powerful enough to evoke emotions of pride, dignity and courage through adversity. 

Creating environments

Now I'm working from a home office, the environment is confined to just the internal space of a small room and therefore, the environment has to be improved with the use of furnishings, lighting and enhanced with objet d'art, plants & music. This can also be a great place for creativity but to really take advantage of the technology readily available to me and easy accessibility via public transport to the many beautiful places in a city like London, I need to make use of other great spaces to work from. This might be a gallery, library, restaurant, cafe or bar.

One place that immediately springs to mind is the cafe in The Victoria & Albert Museum. Not only is this a beautiful building from the outside, but it has so much inside in the forms of exhibitions and the cafe is buzzing with creative energy.

The power of art as architecture

Louis Khan was someone who really understood how to create emotional connection to buildings and the environment. The opening image on this blog is one of my favourites. I don't know enough about the great minds behind some of the world's most amazing architecture, but It's definitely an important topic I'll be looking into more, as buildings & man-made structures will be my source of inspiration while living in a city.

For further reading I'll look into these:
The Power of Architecture
The Power of Buildings

Another great source of inspiration on architecture that I listen to is called 99% invisible - one of the recent podcasts that really moved me, is the one on the World Trade Centre.

I also found this article on using the power of your environment to promote positive change this morning that's worth a read too.

Mindfulness

BEING AWARE

Look around you. How many people are aware of their surroundings? Who's switched on & savvy and who's present in the moment? Not many. And that's because most people are somewhere else while they go about their day. The way you can tell is to look people in the face. They should be able to pick up your gaze even with only their peripheral vision, but a lot of people will not even see you looking at them if you're directly in their field of vision. These are life's sleepwalkers. 

A lot of the time, we slip into our autopilot mode - the threat of danger is low and we either switch off completely or we allow this time to think of banal thoughts, like what's for dinner etc. Sure, having a nice tea is good but why not keep your mind primed and really focus on making your thoughts more effective instead? I found some great techniques for developing your situational awareness which will help you to remember places, people and events - boost memory and elevate levels of consciousness. I'm already realising how important meditation is for setting up your mind after waking and before sleeping - and these extra techniques should help for memory retention.

Practicing a little bit of self-awareness every day is great for improving observation of the world around us. What I'd also like to do at some point in the near future, is dig deeper to really get to know myself by taking a very powerful course at a silent retreat. The participants stay still and silent for 10 days and in this time discover many things about themselves. It's called Vipassana meditation and there are centres all around the world. The centres, funded by donations only, are becoming very popular as more people choose to learn about themselves, so advance booking at one of these centres is often required. 

Being a very active person - my mind races all over the place, so, Very likely, it is going to be tough for me to remain quiet and meditate for so many hours but I've read about people getting some amazing results by stripping away all the noise and getting to know who they truly are. 

Down days

TURN IT AROUND

You can't be on the up every day feeling a million bucks. It's just not possible - especially when you've been burning the candles at both ends and drinking a lot of booze. There's gonna be a lull. You're gonna have some days when you're just not on your game and there's a strong temptation to stay in bed and sleep it off. Thing is, you could wallow in it and chances are, your body will slowly recover from the lack of sleep, the clouds will depart and your sunny side will shine out again....eventually. However, the best way to get your personality back and effectively 'turn it around' - is to jump out of bed, splash cold water in your face, eat a decent breakfast and do something exhilarating where the sugars from the night before can be burnt off quicker and your mind switched back on. I'm now sitting in a bar having a cheeky half, feeling pretty lively and upbeat after taking a 2hr adrenalin fix. 

Living the one pint mind-set 

I heard this mentioned yesterday - how maintaining a one pint mind-set is the best way to live. I can go for that - one drink definitely gives you a little pep, makes you more confident/sociable and lifts a mood. And I can confirm it's true for me right now, as I'm ready for anything again - the trick is to stick to just one...!

Old is just as good

TUNE OUT TO TECHNOLOGY

Often, the old fashioned methods are just as good. Every week in our Yoga/Pilates classes, there's a 10 minute bit at the beginning of the class where the teacher is either fiddling with the sound system or gone off to get someone to sort it out. This is because, the new system supports bluetooth. This is great. It means anyone with a bluetooth activated device, can link up to the stereo and select, adjust the volume and play music right from their phone. Trouble is, without understanding the technology and how to 'problem solve' when it's not working immediately, the old cable method works far better. I see this kinda thing all the time - most people just don't have the grasp or the desire to learn how to use technology. I also find myself spending far too much time updating, downloading, restarting and being stubbornly determined to succeed when the technology isn't working. I'm wasting my valuable time. Now what I do, is think what the older and faster way would be and try to do that instead.

Don't get suckered
New may not mean better. I don't like the new flat screen large format TVs. I find their hyper-realism can make older films look a bit strange - sometimes like they are shot in a studio (which they often are), but somehow, the magic has gone. This isn't something I would have noticed on my old CRT telly. I also miss the adventure of going in to a video rental store and picking out a film. Luckily, we have possibly one of the last video/DVD rental shops right here in Balham! The store is full of film memorabilia and there's a load of quirky B movies in here to chose from. I know we have a Netflix account and iTunes - but there's films in here that you'll never get online - 80's horror flicks that never went past VHS.

So, before splashing out ££££ on a new 'smart TV' - give yourself a reality check and realise this fact: we don't need to buy a new TV - because the charity shops are selling perfectly good ones for £20 - you can even get them for free from some places. This goes the same for phones - why spend £700+ on the latest gadget when you can get one barely a year old for less than half the price, or even one that does pretty much the same thing for a fraction of that price. If you're buying because you're believing the hype, then you're getting suckered!

Plex & Roku

I've just discovered a great bit of kit that means my parents can now watch all the great films, TV and utilise the benefits of having everything on their computer at the touch of a button to watch on their old (but still decent) non-digital CRT TV.

The Roku 2 costs just £50 and is really easy to set up on a home WIFI network and Plex can be installed on your iPad or iPhone (or android devices etc.) for even greater features too. We tested it out last night and watched an old little-known classic from the comfort of my parent's living room, called Galaxy Quest.

Beer benefits

FUN WITH FRIENDS

If you consider that I've been focussing on ways to improve myself - this next statement may come as a surprise: I've just had a full day of drinking beer and I feel great! I've avoided alcohol since 1st Jan so I could make progress with my plans for self improvement. It's also been a sensible move to avoid alcohol so I can better manage a tricky period in my life. However, I've just had the best sleep in ages after a fun day of hanging with a great group of lads. 

My mind has been preoccupied with other serious matters over the last 4-6 months and in this time, it's clear to me now, that I'd completely lost my mojo. So, although the no drinking has really helped with my focus, this break away with friends has already been the best decision I could have made - and to think I very nearly cancelled this reunion gig. 

I look forward to spending a few more days away from my thoughts, just laughing, chatting and doing all the things a group of lads together on a break away enjoy doing together...like drinking loads of beer!

Safe Sanctuary

RETREAT, REGROUP & REWARD

It's been a tough start to the year and it's time to pull back the troops from the front line, dress the wounds, heal and recharge the energy levels. 

Self Assessment

The most important thing I've learned about making life changes since starting on this new lifestyle from 1st Jan this year: Self assessment - ie. taking daily checks on any progress....schedules, goals and energy levels for making these good things happen. Without maintaining good mental & physical health - none of these positive achievements would be possible. Checking the status quo every day means any deviations from sleep/diet can be corrected and the energy levels can be kept in the green/amber rather than red zones. It's amazing how seemingly small things like skipping a meal or having one hour less sleep, can affect our productivity. Without regular assessments, we don't really pay proper attention to these energy dips until they manifest in physical/mental drops in performance - ie. injury & illness. 

Know your limits

When you're young, you have an amazing capacity to heal/recover/adjust to deviations from any sleep and energy changes. Your body's natural ability for healing means even sustained periods of general abuse/mistreatment can be corrected easily. This ability to heal, although still possible over longer time periods is not as easy to do and may not be a full recovery as we get older. 

The painful truth

I can remember feeling invincible at 26. I used to push my physical limits, always working and playing hard. I would always bounce back from overdoing it. From the early to mid 30's, there's been a change in appearance - greying hair, lines around the eyes and ailments popping up 'seemingly from nowhere' but I've been living the same lifestyle in my mid to late 30's that I did in my 20's and still thought I was 'bouncing back'. I've repeatedly dropped my energy levels into the red zone and the last few years have thrown up some clear signals that the body isn't 26 anymore. We don't want to face up to the fact, but once we do accept ageing and hatch a plan to manage damage limitation, we can adjust our levels of input/output and allow ourselves more quality healing time. This is essential if we want to keep doing the things we enjoy and stay looking and feeling vital/younger through to old age. 

This is why - although I have some major responsibilities on at the moment, I'm taking time by myself to visit my safe sanctuary in order to get my energy levels back on track. This will see me return fresh and ready for the next battles ahead. 

Technology

ALL IN THE PALM OF OUR HANDS

In this modern day - we're all becoming ever more reliant on technology - especially the kit in our pockets. There seems to be an app for everything these days. How did we get things done before computers? As it turns out, we got things done just as well thank you very much. This is my new thinking. Tech is great, but we already have a decent device built in - our brains - and I'm going to start using mine more.

The age of imagination

I'm in the age group that grew up BC (before computers) where we used our brains to make the best of our environments. Fun was improvised from combining imagination with a stick, a cardboard box & role play - not an iPad. We were fortunate to live in an era when kids went out to play all day long, doing things like building ramps for our bikes or making tree houses. At 13, I also had a computer for Christmas and I enjoyed playing games on it for limited periods of the day - because I enjoyed hanging out with my friends going for adventures on my BMX more. Whenever I wanted to meet with friends, we'd call, arrange a time and stick to a specific meeting place - and there'd be only really good excuses for a no-show and we'd be rarely more than just a few minutes late. TV would be allowed, but there were only a few channels and films would mean a special trip to the cinema. So Lego and Mechano were good alternatives for creating some fun - a book or drawing were also options readily available on-hand too. 

Memory Man

It seems we've lost the ability to retain info as our smart phones replace our brains. I'd become so reliant on my iPhone lately that I'd struggle to remember the events from the day until I checked my notes. I am in danger of becoming like the character from the film Momento - taking pictures just to remember what I'd been doing on a daily basis. 

Power of the pen

I used to carry a small notebook and pen around with me and jot down everything that I needed to remember. The process of writing - the physical actions of scribing and underlining, used to help cement the thoughts in my mind. With the advent of smart phones and the many reminder-note apps available, the process of making todo lists has become so easy that my phone has loads of them. They remain there still unchecked, likely because there are so many and the value of them has diminished. This is likely in part, because they have become so easy to make that they immediately get taken over by the next reminder. I have to jot down things before sleeping just to remember them in the morning or else they'd be gone from memory and this never used to be the case. 

Time wasting

So I need my phone to write my blog. I've ditched my computer for a few days and only checking emails intermittently and yet I spent ages farting around with my phone yesterday. No signal, wifi not connecting, blog not updating (losing recent changes), low battery, plug socket dodgy so not charging...sound familiar? This consumed valuable minutes yesterday as I tried to do some some tasks that took away from being in the present moment - and wasting time that I could have been enjoying. 

Time and a place

My time is going to be managed much better from now on to restrict using the computer or any smart tech unless it's really needed. I'll use memory visualisation and association techniques where possible or carry a pen and paper so not reliant on battery life. Phones will not be used when I'm in company unless it's a benefit for all...

Strategic moves

LIFE IS A CHESS GAME

There are people who play it and other less smarter people who get played. I mentioned in an earlier post that life is a game. It is - and if we want to have a better chance of succeeding in the game of life, we can create an advantage by thinking more before acting and planning ahead. We need to have a strategy.

Stay Sharp

In order to implement our strategy well, we need to be 'switched-on'. Chances are, if you're prone to day dreaming, wrongly believe that others have your interests covered or you're just used to being reactive rather than proactive, you'll likely have a few stories where things have not gone your way. Some may say they're unlucky but I truly believe you make your own luck in life. 

We are constantly battling against outside forces to ensure the majority of our waking hours are positive & happy. There's so many things that can 'crop up' without warning to affect our day. So it makes sense to be mindful of as many potential hiccups before they happen. Some days, we know there's just going to be tough situations coming up and in order to rise above these daily challenges - we have to be alert and ready for battle. This means having good food, sleep and time to prepare ourselves to be in a focussed state of mind.

A lot of people seem to think I'm carefree, happy-go-lucky or worse, unconcerned and clueless to what's going on around me. Thing is - I'm actually a very thoughtful and 'secretly boring' person. I am very organised and efficient - to the point of obsessiveness. I use this side of my character to structure my life but I don't really want my friends to know I'm an OCD nutcase, so I keep this side hidden away from sight. 

That's why it often appears that I'm relaxed and easy-going - because I've already taken my role play situations - ie. acted out a few future moves in my mind, assessed likely outcomes, looked at the 'what if's' and predicted the end game. In this process, I've reasoned how important certain things really are to me and how they will affect other 'pieces' or people in the move/game. 

Just like a Grand Chess Master, I'll imagine different scenarios/outcomes - to remove any unforeseen surprises and any consequent emotional responses like frustration or anger from surfacing. The major benefits of thinking this way are that you've already placed allowances for damage limitation. If there's time/energy required for managing other's expectations or potential disappointments that could have arisen from those outcomes - you'll be set up because you've been smart enough to factor in some contingency plans. The result being - even if things don't go entirely as planned - there should still be a positive mind set and ultimately success in the end. 

Southbank Surprises

CONCRETE JUNGLE

We had such beautiful weather in London this weekend, so we walked around Southbank, sampling food from the many 'tastes of the world' food market. I love this part of London - the concrete architecture, galleries, BFI, bars and great things to do all year round. After having some beautiful snacks at the market, we took in an exhibition at the Hayward Gallery called History is Now: 7 Artists take on Britain. It was a massive display of British history and there was so much to take in, that we had to take a little cheeky snooze in one of the cinema rooms where a film was talking about the changes in community at a north London housing Estate. The exhibition covered some great topical events from the last 60+ years. Some of my favourites were of the un-PC advertising from the 70's and 80's mainly.

There was also a massive educational display focussing on the BSE and the Foot & Mouth epidemic that affected Britain (and eventually surfaced in Europe). I knew it was from mixing other animal remains, like sheep brains in cow's feed, but I hadn't realised this practice was know about for hundreds of years before - how could we have been so stupid? Anyway, I'd forgotten just how long this had run on for - no wonder the farmers were suicidal! I'm now lining up to watch Kuru: The Science and the Sorcery - which talks about similar symptoms tribesmen from Papua New Guinea had after eating human flesh.

The coolest bit for me was the Bloodhound surface-to-air missile positioned up on the roof, which is facing Russia - symbolic of the cold war. While we were at the Southbank, we also visited one of our favourite little hidden bars called Concrete - really great little venue - especially for this time of year and great for a bit of inspiration as it has a chilled vibe with rarely anyone in there to distract you from your thinking...We also spotted the Living Architecture hotel placed on top of the Purcell Room - A Room For London, a small hotel room inspired by Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness - which was also the inspiration for one of my most favourite films, Apocolypse Now. This installation was meant just for 2012 - but the ballot is open for a couple to stay 1 night up until the end of 2015.

Inspirational Reads

GREAT BRITISH COLLECTIONS

It's a busy day for me today. I've been up early at boxing this morning, then had an MRI scan on my neck. Amazing luck for me - it is another beautiful day here in London and I'm cycling around taking in some of he sights like a true tourist.

After meeting a friend for lunch, I dropped in on another old work colleague who used to box with me in the mornings. He's now running a pop-up restaurant at the Jeremy Bentham pub near Euston. Only running since 3 months ago - they are already creating a bit of a stir - get in there before it gets too popular! Check out their menu at slowrichies.com

So, afterwards, I nipped into the British Library (pictured above with St Pancras behind). They have a free exhibition of 1000 year old bibles, The Quo'ran and other fantastic old books - beautifully scribed in colourful inks & gold, bound in leather. There's music scores from great composers like Beethoven and Chopin, napkins with the lyrics jotted down on them by The Beatles and diaries with excerpts from Scott referencing perils experienced during his expeditions & Gallileo, with sketches illustrating mountains on the moon (Here is another reminder of a great injustice for humanity - as Gallileo, like Socrates, was sentenced to death standing up to defend his beliefs & truth). There's going to be a series of discussions throughout March discussing 800 years of The Magna Carta - one of, if not the most important, defining document written for Britain - essentially giving power to the people with 'The rule of law'. This law was also carried through to the bill of rights and Constitution of The United States and is the reason why we live in a free society. I will definitely make some time to attend these talks.

Talking Masters

Outside the museum there's a bronze of Issac Newton and this is really cool...our statues have a voice! Just look up online talkingstatues.co.uk and for Isaac at speak2.co/Isaac

I would have liked to take in The British Museum too - but this place deserves a day all to itself - and it was super busy anyway, so I sat in a Caffè Nero where I am now still, waiting for another old friend as I write my blog. We're heading off to an iOS geeks convention to get some info on programming - for an idea I have, I'll feed back when I have more info...

Amazing People

POWER OF THE MIND

There's some extraordinary people out there who are doing things that defy science and logic. Ram Bomjon Gadhi is one of those people. I was looking up some info today on meditation as it's something I'd like to introduce into my day, when I stumbled upon this boy and was so transfixed, I ended up watching the entire documentary. The BBC initially visited India, in order to film Ram over a few days. They wanted to see if the meditation and boy's alleged divinity was all just an elaborate hoax because there were claims the boy had remained in the same mediative state without food or water for 10 months. Ram was actually planning on meditating for 6 years as did Budha, who was born very close to Ram in the same area of India. The documentary discusses with 'professionals' the life-threatening symptoms we would normally expect to see when a person stops taking nourishment for only a few days. We get to hear from other holy men that have supposedly gone without any food or drink for many years. There appears to be no solid scientific explanations for any of these amazing feats of endurance and ability to exert such control over the body.

The power of meditation

I've watched another powerful documentary recently about prisoners in one of America's toughest jails, who have taken up Buddhism. The story follows the lives of some of the most violent and dangerous prisoners as they use their House of Healing meditation techniques for self-healing and to face up to their demons. The documentary, The Dhamma Brothers, is available on Youtube and Netflix. 

There are some things that we just cannot explain through science. The world is a wondrous place and there's so many amazing people in it. There's stuff we'll never understand and if these prisoners have shown me anything - it's re-affirmation that we have the capacity to look inwards and never too late to make great changes. I believe we should help our prisoners find themselves again and allow them the chance to give back to society. If this means they do good things from the confines of a cell - ie. too much of a risk and never to be released or if they are non serious offences and can be re-educated in order to work again within society - it's going to be better than just locking them up. 

Fine Dining at Brixton Prison 

I'm going to check out The Clink over the next week or two - which is a charity that supports prisoners by educating them to work in kitchens. There has been a huge success rate for lowering the re-offence figures of those that have taken the programme. 

The Supernatural

Seeing as I was drawn to supernatural feats this morning - I also watched another interesting documentary called The Boy Who Lived Before, about a boy who claimed to have been re-incarnated. It was pretty eerie stuff - and there were so many coincidences in this documentary that it's given some good reason to believe that reincarnation is real...