Living the Present Moment

Don't think of a purple elephant! What do you do? ... You think of a purple elephant. Let's use the science of the mind in our favor. What you focus on is what persists. Let's practice shifting our focus onto space. If your mind goes to the tightness and dense spots, just shift your focus back to space. Meditation is training the mind. As we focus on space, we also focus on possibility, openness, and ultimately healing. Listen to today's meditation by Dr. Joel Ying, MD.

What if you could hit the pause button? If your inner storyteller is moving down from one worst case scenario to the next, the stress and tension are building up. The body does not distinguish between real stress and imagined stress, so when the mind (and the news) is playing the same story over and over again. It might be time to hit the pause button. In this meditation, we reclaim the story that is running and tune into moments of inspiration, peace, and beauty. The body takes a break from the real (and imagined stories) running through our heads. We harness the power of our inner storyteller to imagine another scene and allow the tension of the body to release.

Learn the technique of Square Breathing to balance the nervous system. When we are stuck in an anxiety state of chronic sympathetic overdrive, breathing meditation can activate the parasympathetic relaxation and down-regulate the nervous system. The breath is always in the present moment. As we slow down to meet the breath, the nervous system will find balance. Square Breathing Imagine a SquareInhale (as you travel up the left side in your mind's eye)Hold (as you move across the top from left to right)Exhale (as you travel down the right side in your mind's eye)Hold (as you move across the bottom from right to left)Repeat

“Meditation is like a gym in which you develop the powerful mental muscles of calm and insight.”– Ajahn Brahm In this time when everyone is struggling with mental balance, I have decided to use this podcast/blog to create a series exploring the types of meditation and offering audio online. We live in uncertain times. While that is perhaps always true, many of the things that I was certain about just a couple months ago have changed and continue to change. The world is full of 24 hour news updates, but sometimes I need to take a break from the worry and anxiety. The brain needs time to relax. Guided Imagery Meditation Today we'll explore a type of meditation that does just that. I laughingly call it ... "Go to your happy place." Guided imagery meditation uses the imagination to travel to your favorite relaxing place. Whether self-guided or guided by someone else, guided imagery as meditation can decrease the stress levels and bring us back to balance. This type of meditation calms your nervous system from the fight-flight-freeze of anxiety and panic. It allows you to enter the rest-digest-relax state of being. This "mini-vacation" helps the nervous system get unstuck from the chronic anxiety state and find balance. Meditation: Imagine Your Favorite Place Silence all the media, devices, and distractions. The world and the news updates will be there when you return.Find a comfortable position and space where you won't be interrupted. (If you share space with others, consider doing this as a group.)Optional: Use a timer. Start with 5 - 10 minutes.Decide if you will do this in silence or with music. If you decide on music, find something that is calming without words that will blend into the background.Here is the important step. Activate your imagination. Imagine going to your favorite place. Arrive there and activate all of your senses of sight, sound, smell, touch, maybe even taste. What does your skin feel like? Is there sunshine or wind? As you look around, what do you see? What sounds do you hear? Let your self experience this place. Explore and walk around if that feels right.If your thoughts intrude and take you somewhere else, just bring yourself back to your favorite place and start again. Meditation is a practice that trains the mind.When the timer goes off (if you choose to use one), allow yourself to come back slowly to your present moment with the renewed sense of this small vacation from the "real world." Guided Imagery Meditation If you have trouble "going to your favorite place" on your own, then guided imagery might be for you. I've included a guided imagery meditation that will take you to one of my favorite places--the beach. Try it out and see if this type of meditation is for you. Enjoy!

"Storytelling is not a lost art, but a found art!" Mary Lou Williams moved to South Florida to retire from a career in teaching and decided to take up a second career as a professional storyteller. In this interview … How and why someone would become a professional storyteller?What is storytelling anyway?Where do you get stories to tell?Learn the history of the National Storytelling Festival. Find a local storytelling group in Florida at flstory.com. Living the Present Moment – Podcast Interview Series “People of Passion and Purpose, Doing Interesting Things, Living the Present Moment” Recorded: Fri Feb 21, 2020, Music: Happy African Village by John Bartmann

"What we are hungry for in the Western world is a reanimation of spirit." ~ Prof. Stephen Cavitt The shaman enters the dream-like state to bring back wisdom, guidance, and healing. There are many ways to navigate the multiple layers of reality. One of those ways is the drum. Many shamanic traditions use the hypnotic beat of the drum to induce a shamanic journey into altered states of consciousness. Stephen Cavitt was called to explore the shamanic teachings while in university also studying creative writing and poetry. What do these two very different areas of study have in common? For him, both shamanic healing and creative writing bring closer contact with the sacred in this world. The shamans believe that everything has a spirit with which we can connect and communicate, everything is alive, everything is sacred. For poetry, the whole goal is to express that which is beyond this physical world. In his academic life, he now teaches English at Florida Gulf Coast University (FGCU) in Fort Myers, Florida. As a healer in the shamanic tradition, he performs individual sessions and group workshops. Join Dr. Joel Ying and Prof. Stephen Cavitt as they explore the shamanic teachings, the spirit of the drum, and the ceremony of drum-making workshops. Interested in a drum-making workshop? Contact Stephen Cavitt at professorcavitt@gmail.com. In this interview … What is a shaman? Learn how the drum can induce the dream-state of the shamanic journey. Discover the spirit of the drum. Living the Present Moment – the Podcast Interview Series “People of Passion and Purpose, Doing Interesting Things, Living the Present Moment” Recorded: Wed Jun 12, 2019; Released: Mon Oct 28, 2019 Background Music: (public domain) Happy African Village by John Bartmann

“Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.” ~Hippocrates  The term "plant medicine" is often appropriated today to mean the mind-altering substances like ayahuasca, mescaline, and psylisibin. These "plant medicine" ceremonies have become trendy as a quick route to escape the mundane ordinary world and have a "spiritual experience." As a certified nutritionist, Ryin Cornett asks us to open our awareness to the fact that we use "plant medicine" everyday. We use caffeine to alter our mind, to wake us up. Others use tobacco to calm them down. We ingest sugar in power drinks to give us energy. These are all derived from plants. From his own health struggles, Ryin Cornett has discovered his own path to healing with food as medicine. On his spiritual journey, he has also studied many paths including the "plant medicine" used in shamanic ceremony, even joining an Ayahuasca Church in Orlando. Join Dr. Joel Ying and Ryin Cornett in this conversation as they dispel some of the myths and explore the topic of plant medicine. In this interview … What is plant medicine? Discover the role of the shaman in ceremony. What is an Ayahuasca Church? Find Ryin Cornett online at dietorliveit.com. Living the Present Moment – the Podcast Interview Series “People of Passion and Purpose, Doing Interesting Things, Living the Present Moment” Recorded: Wed Jun 12, 2019; Released: Fri Jun 14, 2019 Background Music: (public domain) Happy African Village by John Bartmann

"That's not going to happen, it hurt too much just to tell this one, I would never be able to tell the rest of the story."  Jim Gregory began to unravel his painful stories with the support of the oral Storytelling community, and he did manage to tell the rest of the story. As a young white man during the 1960's, he traveled into the South with a team of eight in their teens and twenties to champion the cause of Freedom. Only two of them survived. The Race Wars would later come to be known as the Civil Rights Movement. In his CD, The Hanging of Tom Brown, Jim Gregory gives a first-hand account of people who sacrificed for the cause of Freedom. With masterful storytelling, he brings those times alive and honors those that did not survive to tell their stories. Through the crafting of the stories, he has found healing and catharsis. As a storytelling performer, he often visits schools and communities to bring history back alive, to ensure that it is not forgotten, and bring us hope it will not be repeated. "If you can take one or two logs out of a beaver dam, the dam collapses ... maybe you just need to reach one or two people," he says. In this interview … First-hand account of the Freedom Schools of the Civil Rights Movement during the 1960's Telling and healing from difficult stories About his CD, The Hanging of Tom Brown Find Jim Gregory online at JimGregoryStoryteller.com. Read more about his storytelling CD at HangingTomBrown.com. Contact him at jimgregory2@me.com. Living the Present Moment – the Podcast Interview Series “People of Passion and Purpose, Doing Interesting Things, Living the Present Moment” Recorded: Fri Mar 29, 2019 Background Music: (public domain) Happy African Village by John Bartmann

Legal Aid is a non-profit private law firm that protects the vulnerable by providing free legal representation to low income families for victims of domestic violence, children who have been abused, neglected, or abandoned, families who are at risk of homelessness, seniors and veterans who are denied access to health care or other benefits, and other groups of at-risk individuals. Corey Huffman is an attorney with Legal Aid Service of Collier County with a passion for protecting the at-risk children in the community. In this interview … Corey Huffman describes Legal Aid of Collier County How the legal system protects children What is it really like in the courtroom Find Collier Legal Aid online at www.collierlegalaid.org Living the Present Moment - the Podcast Interview Series "People of Passion and Purpose, Doing Interesting Things, Living the Present Moment" Recorded: Fri Mar 15, 2019 Background Music: (public domain) Happy African Village by John Bartmann

What does it take to build a dream? Maybe an architect. Steven Jallad designs and oversees the building of homes in Naples, Florida. His path to architecture began with a love for drawing and working with his hands. He followed that passion as the thread in his life. The craft of carpentry during the summers kept his hands working while earning a degree in Architecture from the University of Virginia. Traveling to West Africa with the Peace Corps, he built homes that fit a very different environment. This sparked an interest in green design that took him to Colorado for the next 10 years to build "off the grid" homes - designing in the winter, building in the summer. In 2008, he traded in mountain style for beach style and moved to Naples, Florida. Yet, he hangs on to the thread of passion, continuing to build a dream through architecture. His personal journey inspires us to find the passion in life and continue to follow the thread. The thread from A to B is not always a straight line. Even as we make choices on how to weave our life, the loom of life takes us each on her own journey. Through ups and downs, sideways and detours, holding onto the thread is not always easy, but that is how to weave a life of passion and purpose. Listen to our conversation as Steven Jallad takes us into the life of an architect. In this interview … What does an architect do? How do you become an architect? A personal journey finding passion in building homes Find Steven Jallad at sjallad@mhkap.com. Living the Present Moment - the Podcast Interview Series "People of Passion and Purpose, Doing Interesting Things, Living the Present Moment" Recorded: Thu Feb 21, 2019; Released: Fri Mar 1, 2019 Background Music: (public domain) Happy African Village by John Bartmann

In my expanded definition, "medicine" is anything that heals the body, mind, emotions, or spirit. As a physician, this includes the Western medications that I prescribe, but it goes beyond to include so much more. In every conversation, it is important to define the context and agree upon the definitions that we are using. Here my context is the expanded definition of medicine: anything that heals the body, mind, emotions, or spirit. Where will you find your medicine? For me, storytelling is a potent medicine that can heal on many different levels. I am so inspired by its power to heal that I now teach "Storytelling as Healing" at FGCU. In researching for this class, I spoke to many storytellers, and that's how I got in touch with Caren Neile. Caren Neile teaches "storytelling studies" at Florida Atlantic University (FAU) in Boca Raton, Florida. She is a storytelling performer, an author of books, and a public radio host. She helped to start the Healing Story Alliance, a special interest group of the National Storytelling Network. Join our conversation as we discuss "Storytelling as Medicine." In this interview … What is storytelling? The science behind storytelling as medicine History of the Healing Story Alliance ... and more ... Find Caren Neile online at www.thepublicstoryteller.org. Recorded: Thu Jan 3, 2019; Released: Sat Jan 19, 2019 Background Music: (public domain) Happy African Village by John Bartmann

Harvest Bee Farms KT Alaimo, owner and manager of Harvest Bee Farms, is passionate about farming. Devoted to biodynamic farming, he grows "good soil" and good produce is the byproduct. As farmers are aging and wisdom is being lost, he is of the new generation of farmers working to preserve sustainable and healthy farming techniques and wisdom. In this interview, he tells the story of how a college graduate with a degree in history entered the world of farming and the wisdom that he has collected along the way. One of the books that spurred his journey: Michael Pollan's Omnivore's Dilemma                           In this interview … KT Alaimo tells his story of becoming an organic farmer What is USDA organic vs. certified naturally grown vs. biodynamic farming? Learn ways to support locally grown organic farming Find Kenneth T Alaimo ("KT" or "Ken") on Facebook at Harvest Bee Finca Recorded: Wed Nov 21; Released: Fri Nov 23, 2018 Background Music: (public domain) Happy African Village by John Bartmann Interview by Dr. Joel Ying. “People of passion and purpose, doing interesting things, living the present moment.” LivingthePresentMoment.com/podcastshow

“To make the world a better place by making it more musical.” The mission of Music Together has spread to over 3000 locations and over 40 countries. Parents bring their children from infants to 5 years old to a weekly community music experience. With music and songs from around the world, the curriculum creates the safe space for everyone to sing. Yes! Even the babies! I recently learned about this inspiring organization from Luke Burhenn. Living in Ft Collins, Colorado, he has been attending these community events since his son was a toddler. Now music has become an integral part of their lives. Learn more by listening to the interview. Watch Video: What Families Say About Music Together  The Four Principles of Music Together All children are born musical. All children can achieve basic music competence—that is, they can learn to sing in tune and dance accurately to a beat. It's crucial that parents and caregivers participate in class and model music-making for their children in class and at home, regardless of their own musical ability. The environment that best fosters young children's musical growth is playful, musically rich, and developmentally appropriate. In this interview … What is Music Together? Learn what a typical class looks like. Discover one parent's inspiring experience of bringing music into his child's life. Learn more about Music Together and find a class near you at musictogether.com. Recorded: Thu Nov 9, 2018; Released: Fri Nov 10, 2018 Interview by Dr. Joel Ying. “People of passion and purpose, doing interesting things, living the present moment.” LivingthePresentMoment.com/podcastshow

"Writer, Teacher, and Mostly Recovered Nerd," Jean Moroney works with ambitious individuals and teams who know sharpening their mental skills will give them a performance edge. She teaches thinking skills that help us make better judgment calls, align motivation with intentions, and cross the finish line sooner. She believes that we can all learn to become better, faster problem-solvers, more confident decision-makers, and more reliable and resilient self-starters. Jean Moroney has a Master's degree in Electrical Engineering from MIT, and another in Psychology from Carnegie Mellon. She has hundreds of hours of training in Marshall Rosenberg's “Nonviolent Communication,” F.M. Alexander's technique for body awareness, and Ayn Rand's philosophy of Objectivism. Since starting her consulting business in 1998, she has helped experts from Fortune 500 executives to independent entrepreneurs, artists and writers embark with confidence on new, uncertain projects and finish what they start. Her consulting company is Thinking Directions, and you can find her online at ThinkingDirections.com. In this interview … Learn how Electrical Engineering leads to a career in Psychology Discover what it means to "Manage Your Mind" Willpower vs. Value-Power: Learn about her free online event on Sun Oct 21, 2018 Find Jean Moroney online at ThinkingDirections.com. Recorded: Wed Oct 10; Released: Fri Oct 12, 2018 Interview by Dr. Joel Ying. “People of passion and purpose, doing interesting things, living the present moment.” LivingthePresentMoment.com/podcastshow

Imagine a Jewish girl born in Columbia attending a Catholic school, nearly converting, running away to New York, then Chicago, then spending 20 years in Jamaica to start Negril Yoga Center, the first yoga center in Jamaica. Raquel Austin's life story is full of twists and turns and plenty of life changes. She shares her story of following her passion, finding purpose, one foot in front of the the other, one day at a time. Her entrepreneurial drive will surprise you. Even at her age, Raquel is ready to write the next chapter of life changes. Negril Yoga Center is for sale. Check it out online. She is ready to turn it over to the next person who will take it higher. Visit negrilyoga.com In this interview … Life changes ... twists and turns of Raquel Austin The story of Negril Yoga Center Wisdom, looking back on life Find Raquel and Negril Yoga Center online at negrilyoga.com. Recorded: Wed Sep 11; Released: Fri Sep 14, 2018 Interview by Dr. Joel Ying. “People of passion and purpose, doing interesting things, living the present moment.” LivingthePresentMoment.com/podcastshow

Time stood still. Even the air in the room refused to move, when Dr. Larry Friedman launched into a teaching story. As a resident doctor-in-training, we rotate through many different areas of medicine. Looking back at memorable moments during that time, the teachers that captivated me the most were the ones that told stories. In the early 2000's, I still remember the moment when Dr. Friedman told us the riveting story of the race to find the cause of a mysterious illness that would come to be called AIDS and later be attributed to a virus that attacks the immune system, HIV. Dr. Lawrence Friedman, MD, is the Director of the Division of Adolescent Medicine in the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine since 1997. He sees patients, teaches medical students and residents, and is active in research with a particular focus on HIV and AIDS in the pediatric and adolescent population. The Special Adolescent Clinic (SAC) for HIV-infected youth serves as a component of the Ryan White CARE Act Part D family-centered efforts in the Departments of Pediatrics and Obstetrics. I recently contacted him again after more than a decade. As a storyteller, I now realize that his teachings were so captivating because he told us stories. In this interview, he tells us how the story of HIV has evolved over time. With remarkable advances in science, what was once a death-sentence is now a chronic disease. With continued advances, hopefully one day there will be a cure. In this interview … Learn the remarkable story of the discovery of HIV Discover how the story has evolved over time See the story from different perspectives Find out more about Dr. Larry Friedman, MD, on the University of Miami Website. Recorded: Fri Aug 31, 2018; Released: Fri Sep 7, 2018 Interview by Dr. Joel Ying. “People of passion and purpose, doing interesting things, living the present moment.” LivingthePresentMoment.com/podcastshow

If you are like me, fortune tellers are scary! Tapping into some secret knowledge, they make pronouncements about my future. It is as if they are taking away my free will and I no longer have any power to change my life. I am trapped in my life, rather than master of my life. In this interview, Jamie McCall shatters this stereotype as just one of the traps of the intuitive reader and the client. Intuitive reading can be used as a tool for empowerment. Intuition (whether it is your own or someone else's) can help you makes sense of the world in a new way, show you the patterns of your life, and bring greater clarity in your own motivations and actions. With  this new understanding of your own motives and perceptions, new opportunities for change and growth can open. We use intuition everyday when we decide if someone is "having a bad day" or "in a good mood." We use our intuition as a "gut instinct" when we say "that just doesn't feel right." Intuitive readers using oracle cards, tarot decks, tea leaves, astrology, or any other set of symbols, use the same intuition to create a conversation that can lead to insight and new opportunities. In this interview … What is intuitive reading? Using intuitive reading as a tool for empowerment Learn about creating a story to stimulate your own intuition Using intuitive reading in life coaching Find Jamie McCall online at opendreaming.com/jamie. Recorded: Fri Aug 3, 2018 Interview by Dr. Joel Ying. “People of passion and purpose, doing interesting things, living the present moment.” LivingthePresentMoment.com/podcastshow

“It is our stories that make us human.” In medical school, I learned all the technical details about heart transplant. I studied the medical criteria that makes you a candidate, the drugs required post-transplant, and the labs and physical symptoms to monitor. Yet, what I did not yet learn were the stories. Those stories came later in medical internship and residency. I met the real people and learned their stories of love and loss behind the words “heart transplant.” We sometimes fool ourselves as a culture to believe that medical science can solve all the problems of the “heart” with just a surgery or a medication. However, even when we cannot know all the stories behind the weathered faces that we encounter, it changes our own humanity to acknowledge that there is a story there. It changes how we are present to the facts, how we open to listen, and how we honor time. It is our stories that make us human. In sharing those stories, we can also heal the heart. My friend, Sonja Greene-Smith, shares her remarkable and inspiring story of growing up with heart problems and eventually needing a heart transplant. She presents her story of faith, hope, and love. She asks us to tap into all the same things that got her through the challenges. “My fear is nothing compared to my faith,” Sonja tells us. Listen to her story. “What a thing looks like is not always what it is.” Hope inspires hope. Faith inspires faith. Love inspires love. Let her story inspire you. Recorded: Fri Aug 10, 2018 Interview by Dr. Joel Ying. “People of passion and purpose, doing interesting things, living the present moment.” LivingthePresentMoment.com/podcastshow

"One Life. No Compromises." says Andrew Bustamante in his  workshop series. As a US Air Force combat veteran and former CIA intelligence officer, he now brings the skills of international espionage to everyday life. When you change your perspective to "see your world through the eyes of a spy," you can leverage the skills of influence, intrigue and intent to create advantages in your daily life. Listen to this interview to discover how you can bring this spycraft into your "one life" with "no compromises." Create the life that you want using his tips and tactics. In this interview … What is espionage? Using the skills of espionage in everyday life. Learn more about the 3 steps of spycraft: Contact, Exchange, Compromise. Find Andrew Bustamante online at AndrewBustamante.org. Recorded: Fri Jul 27, 2018, on LivingthePresentMoment.com/studygroup Interview by Dr. Joel Ying. “People of passion and purpose, doing interesting things, living the present moment.” LivingthePresentMoment.com/podcastshow

Are you in control of your stuff? Or is your stuff in control of you? Mary Jo Zeller is a moving consultant. She has supported thousands of families in downsizing, relocating, and getting organized. She received her Masters Degree in Gerontology in 1978 from the University of Illinois, Springfield. Her service record with older adults spans 40 years having worked in community based services, retirement communities, assisted living and long term care communities.   She currently is the Director of MySolutions a service of The Arlington of Naples. Interview by Dr. Joel Ying. “People of passion and purpose, doing interesting things, living the present moment.” LivingthePresentMoment.com/podcastshow In this interview … What is clutter Tips on tackling clutter How clearing clutter can improve your life Find Mary Jo Zeller online at www.MySolutions.org. Recorded: Fri Jul 6, 2018, on LivingthePresentMoment.com/studygroup Books on Clearing Clutter