30th August 2021
Hi welcome to my first blog, it is the end of summer in Scotland and the air is starting to chill. So my idea with a blog is more of a free flow of thoughts and ideas, which is much different from the structured and edited approach the video projects take. I feel it could be a great medium to generate more ideas, express or form thoughts and to just share in general what I have been learning recently, as well as just a way to de-stress!
Since graduating I had a lot of time with the perfect opportunity under Covid lockdown, which separated many people from the loud outside world. Like many others I was able to explore my own thoughts and ideas more. It is interesting how much external influences can distract us from our own motives or thoughts. Apart from learning about my own culture a range of podcasts, YouTube videos books and audiobooks inspired me.
This included the book 7 habits of highly effective people which I find is a good starting point to really bring awareness to your own propose. Really clearing a lot of unnecessary obstacles in life. Dr Jordan Peterson’s lectures and podcasts were particularly interesting learning about human psychology and the current state of society and how we evolved. In the same vein is the book Sapiens by Yuval Harrari which I am currently listening too.
Dr Rangan Chatterjee’s podcast “Feel Better Live More” which I stated at the start of 2021 was very inspiring for me with a range of guests. This encompassed many aspects of a balanced life from stress, to children, to sleep and overcoming fear. One particular guest Dr Gabor Mate drew my particular interest with his line “not why the addiction, but why the pain”. Indicating that under every addiction or compulsive behavior from over eating too many Jaffa cakes to alcoholism can be derived from a sense of uneasiness or pain.
I personally find the addiction to the mobile phone and addictively designed apps to be particularly interesting. They combine the value of “social worth” and attractive colors, sounds and notifications specifically designed to keep the brain wanting more. The creator of the Facebook like button even had to quit and take years to withdraw himself. Gambling is restricted for adults, but our kids are fresh bait to the tendrils of the highly evolved dopamine machine. Just the other day I got my second vaccine. I looked around to my fellow 20 something’s and teens for some comradery. All with no exceptions, sitting zombie-liked hunched over. One motion occurring, their thumb, up and down, up and down. In a world where you are the product; your time and your attention, it is getting harder and harder to look up from our small bright companions.
Dr Mithul Stroni talked about the chronic stress underpinning so much of the chronic disease that we find in todays world. Especially with excessive blue light exposure, humans being the only animals to delay their sleep on purpose and finding ourselves in an unnatural environment without being able to adapt to it. It is personally very interesting that humans nowadays must sit for hours inside a box room very detached from nature in front of a screen. The detrimental effects must be compounded in many ways.
Belgian psychotherapist Esther Perel, another guest which I found very interesting, focused more on human relationships and the fundamentals behind them. Why some cause pain why others succeed. The dynamic and power behind relationships in all situations from within families to between nations underpins our society.
Conversely the relationship with oneself I found very interesting from Dr Richard Schwartz. IFS or Internal Family Systems is a psychological model explaining why people behave in such ways. Where in trauma e.g childhood one part (exile) gets hurt and in order to defend this another part (the protector) may malfunction and criticize others or oneself. This ends up in a repetitive loop sometimes leading to bad consequences. However understanding this model is a powerful therapy which can heal relationships, create a deeper understanding of oneself and others, and recognize feelings as they arise.
Wim Hoff is next, who is a Dutch man with extreme energy! Otherwise known as the iceman. He even climbed mountains in just his shorts. Humans nowadays have a whole vascular system that is never exercised as we wear jackets live in comfortable homes with thermostats. Our vessels become underused, we have more inflammation (stress, heart diseases) and we are very sedentary. With Wim Hoff’s breathing techniques (which are basically thousands of years old) he has able to scientifically validate and teach volunteers to raise their immune system to fend of E.coli after getting injected! The breathing techniques helps train your body for stress as well as cold water exposure. Using cold water exercises your blood vessels to constrict, this is powerful as through the blood vessels white blood cells (for infection) and oxygen (for metabolism) are carried to every cell.
Lastly Eckhart Tolle has great wisdom in dissolving anxiety, negative emotion and clearing judgment through focusing on the present moment in life. The right brain and left brain separation and how they function is interesting. As well as separating your conscious awareness and recognizing your thinking without being identified with it. His teachings combining East and Western philosophy including Greek Stoicism, Zen Buddhism and other world religions are very powerful although they are hard to grasp at first and to many may feel a bit intangible…
So hope you enjoyed my first blog of ramblings and some cool insights hopefully 🙂
-Jhoty
Jhoty 