The importance of non-verbal communications

Can a story be told with nonverbal messages alone?

https://vimeo.com/19208251

Tai Chi Chuan Journal 2 Free Moving Chi Gong and Tai Chi forms

“Rather than being your thoughts and emotions, be the awareness behind them.”

A big portion of a book that I read this summer was about emotions. According to it, an emotion is an expression of energy in motion – e-motion. In our Tai Chi classes we deal with emotions a lot: we try to be aware of them, to control them, to make the most efficient use of the energy generated by them.  

Previously, I was curious myself about such subjects. I watched a lot of videos and read books dedicated to the emotion control. Most of them were focused on the same thing – letting go. There are, however, different methods of letting go. Mano, a student of Osho, teaches us to let go all of the old emotions and feelings, which were out of our attention, but still remain in our body and mind, by simply screaming, moving in a dance, jumping, and laughing. Pretty crazy, right? I do it all the time though, when I’m alone.

In our Tai Chi class, during the past weeks, we learned free moving Chi Gong, which I think is another good way to release our emotions and emotional pain body. The clue is in concentrating on the things that bother you – your physical or emotional pain, and then start moving. The movements should come from your heart-mind, not from the “mind” that we use to plan everyday activities or to solve math problems. Being aware of your feelings, while you perform the free moving chi gong movements, is not the same as thinking about your movements. You shouldn’t think about them at all. Things should flow naturally. Your body knows how to relax and release negative emotional “remnants”.  Also, after you let go physical pain, anxiety, impatience, etc. there is some free space which you can fill with peacefulness. Free moving Chi Gong is not only about focusing on negative aspects. It also helps to deal with positive feelings like love, gratitude, happiness, etc. Again, you just need to concentrate on all the good that you are feeling and move!

In class, when performing the free-moving chi gong, I try to observe my feelings and look at the impact the chi gong exercises have on me: I try to compare before and after the activity, and it does feel different. It feels light and free. I would compare it to dynamic meditation. I think it is important to feel comfortable “with yourself” and feel confident “in your skin”. Someone said in class that he doesn’t want to move anyhow and he just stays still. I think the problem is in being unable to connect to your inner-self and discover who you are.

Usually, the only problem that I have to focus on during the Free moving Chi Gong is so far is the lack of sleep. I try to deeply breathe in all the tiredness and then breathe it out. Then I relax my body and mind. I feel how my eyelids are relaxed, and I spread this state of relaxation across my whole body. If there are some random thoughts – I observe them and then picture them as birds flying away from my mind. I observe my breathing pattern. It is usually breathing with my abdominal part – I expand it when I am breathing out and contract it when I’m breathing in.

When I practice Chi Gong at home during weekends and sometimes evenings of Tuesday and Thursday, I feel just a feeling of gratitude and love, and I’m expressing it with Chi Gong. I entirely relax myself and move. My movements are often just yoga stretching, or sometimes I’m just lying on the floor and breathe in and out, trying to “clean” my meridians and fill my whole being with light.

During the past weeks we also learned the Tai Chi Forms, i.e. Preparation Posture, Beginning Posture and the application of them in martial art aspect. We practiced a lot by ourselves and then later we applied this knowledge to our opponents. I consider Tai Chi as a peaceful and graceful kind of all martial arts. We do not harm, we just control the flow of our energy and the energy of our opponents. We efficiently use it by applying tai chi forms we learnt so far. 

Positive Thinking and Habits

On a construction site in the Midwest, when the lunch whistle blew, all the workers would sit down together to eat. And with singular regularity Sam would open his lunch pail and start to complain.  “Not peanut butter and jelly sandwiches again!” Sam moaned about his peanut butter and jelly sandwiches day after day after day. Weekes passed, and the other workers were getting irritated by his behavior. Finally another man on the work crew said, “If you hate peanut butter and jelly so much, why don’t you just tell your old lady to make you something different?” “What do you mean, my old lady?” Sam replied. “I’m not married. I make my own sandwiches.”

According to the book “the Way of the Peaceful Warrior”, every predicament of your life has been arranged by you, consciously or unconsciously, and it is better for you to take responsibility for your life as soon as possible, instead of complaining and blaming everything around you. If there is an aspect of your life that you don’t like, (it can be your health, your body, your grades, or your personal life) you need to find your own path on how to make it “better”, or just accept it the way it is.  If you are aiming for success, there is a large number of important things such as creativity, focus, push, persistence, hard work and practice, which undoubtedly lead to it. However, here I’m going to focus only on such powerful aspect of a personal character as positive thinking because it can significantly affect your reality.

When I went to school in Kazakhstan, we used to have one “Health week” per semester. Usually on those “Health” weeks, we had seminars about HIV, suicide and depression, eating disorders, etc. None of these seminars included “healthy” topics; they were mostly outlined on negative things because the majority says that the absence of illness is health. Similarly, most of us think that we need to succeed first in order to be happy. We say “I have a good job, now I need a better one, only then I can be happy”. I believe we need to reverse such way of thinking just because if we don’t succeed we suffer, and in case we succeed, we set another goal; even if we finally get what we want, we still suffer because we can’t hold onto it forever.  However, if we try to reverse our “success formula” and try to think positively, our performance will significantly improve.  It is important to think positively because more than 80% of your work outcome depends on your optimism level and on your ability of considering stress as a challenge, not as a threat; only 10-20% is based on your IQ.  So how do we start thinking positively? If we start writing at least 2-3 things for which we are grateful, if we start making random acts of kindness, and if we meditate for at least 15 min a day (it was proven that meditation helps people to overcome depression and stress) we can easily turn it into a habit. Positive actions and thoughts will help you to achieve your goals faster.

Here is, by the way, a good video about "implanting habits", or how to start a change with a tiny habit and be awesome!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AdKUJxjn-R8

One of the seven habits of highly-effective people, according to Stephen Covey, is to begin with the end in mind. I think the power of positive visualization helps you to succeed in any beginning. When I was a child I kept visualizing a lot about me going to America. Its best educational system attracted me a lot, and I made a lot of drawings about my future life in America. Of course, I worked hard to get a scholarship, but I guess my power of visualization and my passion contributed a lot to my success. Like Steve Jobs used to say, that if there is no passion for an idea/job/project any rational person gives up when it gets hard. It is also always helpful to visualize the prosperity of your business, and it is important to think that it will help many people, not only you.

Beautiful song

makes me smile! :):)

Every morning starts with...

Shi Ba Shi

1 Awakening the Qi

2. Open the Chest

3. Paint a Rainbow

4. Separating the Clouds

5 Repulse the Monkey

6. Row the Boat

7. Lift the Sun

8. Turn to Look at the Moon.

9. Twist Waist and Push with Arm

10. Wave Hands through Clouds

11. Scoop the Sea and Look at the Sky

12. Push the Waves

13. Flying Dove Spreads its Wings

14. Punch the Mud

15. Flying Wild Goose

16. Circle the Sun

17. Step and Bounce the Ball

18. Quieting the Qi

Push that box away!

The nail that sticks up will be hammered down. This is a rule of social conformity. From ancient times, people generally tend to imitate other people, consciously or unconsciously.  There is an example from an old video on YouTube, where the three actors face the back wall of an elevator, and the fourth person, who unknowingly was videoed, by looking at everybody else, also decides to face the back wall. Here is a question, how did we survive the “threats” of environment in a long human history behaving like this? It might seem very surprising, but besides of negative effects on decision making processes and personal freedom, this conformity bias, as a large part of cultural evolution, brought us some superior outcomes. Well, perhaps conformity is very helpful in collaboration, observation, or social problem solving aspects, but if it was enough, we would never know growth and success.  Conformity feels comfortable, like a safe and warm box, and when you get rid of that box, leaving that “comfort zone” to try something new, you come to creativity, which is a very important life skill. 

Conformity was never sufficient in solving problems we encounter every day.  According to Albert Einstein, "Problems cannot be solved at the same level of consciousness that created them", so we have to be flexible and imaginative because causes, conditions, and solutions of problems that we encounter are never the same. ENIAC, the first computer that was built in 1947 had thirty separate units, power supply and forced air-cooling; in addition to that, it had 19,000 vacuum tubes which were supposed to be changed about every twenty minutes because if one bulb stopped working it would literally take “forever” trying to understand which one was that. Why aren’t we using computers like that anymore? The answer is simple - we need innovations, to make our lives easier. Looking at all the latest technology, we see tons of applications of human creativity. One of the best examples is the latest IPhone by Apple (who are just experts of how to “Think Different”) which recognizes human fingerprints, and performs lots of other tasks.

On one of the first topics of our Business Opportunities in Engineering class we covered a lot of aspects of creativity, and now I will try to focus on questions like “Why can it be hard for us to be creative and what kinds of obstacles we encounter when we try to turn our ideas into actions?” Also I will talk about my “lessons” of creativity taken from my own experience.

Once I read that NASA performed some creativity tests on children, the result of which was that 98% of them had scored as “highly-creative”. However, when they retook that same test couple of years later, only 30% remained in a “highly creative” range. How can we explain the lack of creativity and why does it vanish as we get older? I think one of the reasons is that we get under a significant influence of family, school, university, clubs, and other social institutions. In other words, we get into a “box”, or system of standard rules, such as “There is only one right answer”. People are getting used to live in a comfortable system. Some studies show, that even if a person spends more than a decade in prison, he doesn’t want to leave it anymore, because the world outside is so different, unpredictable and “uncomfortable”.

I think, in general, fear and doubts kill creativity and dreams more often than failures. People are afraid of making mistakes and are scared of being criticized or misunderstood, and there always will be someone who judges and misunderstands. You just never have to stop and pay attention to killer phrases like “Don’t be ridiculous”, as well as you don’t need to explain yourself. I totally agree with what Steve Jobs said once: “People who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do”. It does seem crazy when you try to be creative and extraordinary, just because it is NOT STANDARD and it’s not what other people usually expect from you; it doesn’t have to be successful, but at least it is different and it teaches you something new.

There is one thing I can tell you about creativity – it is all around us, and it is all inside of us. You can find beauty and ideas everywhere. One can cherish perfection, as well as one can be inspired by imperfections, just because they make a significant difference. Whenever I feel that creativity is “locked” inside of me – I let it go with a help of such activities as painting, coloring mandalas, playing musical instrument, exploring and learning something new. Whenever I feel I’m overwhelmed with classes, I give my mind a good respite from my
“noisy” and “ineffective” thoughts with a help of running, meditation, and meeting people. There is always an infinite amount of opportunities provided by my life, so you just have to push that box away and grab what you need, even if it’s impossible - my teacher is used to say that “there is less competition in doing impossible things”. A rule of thumb is not to resist the challenges which you encounter, but to learn through them. I learn a lot about myself in “bad” days, and the lessons of my “bad” days help me to move on and be creative. I considered my major to be highly challenging, but now I just laugh at such an early conclusion since I see how much it has to offer me, and how much it shaped my way of thinking.

There are so many ways and places when you can feel yourself as an excellent source of creative ideas; for example, Thomas Edison slept in his lab, so he could instantly right down ideas he saw in his dreams. J.K. Rowling sketched down Harry Potter’s world on a piece of napkin when she was traveling on trains, and Rene Descartes was working on his ideas when he was lying in bed. I have found it very interesting that usually the best ideas come to us when we are fully relaxed, not when we are on our work place, stressing out about homework and projects we have to do. Often I hear that the greatest ideas are coming at night, when a person wakes up or about to go to sleep. There are a lot of examples, like a Russian scientist Mendeleev claims that he saw the periodic table of chemical elements in his dream, and as soon as he woke up he took it down on a piece of paper. Another similar story happened to a famous Russian writer Gogol, who had a lethargic sleeping pattern; he used to wake up with ideas for his great novels like “Dead Souls”, “Vii” etc. When I was a child I used to write poems before I went to bed. I was trying to understand why it happens so, and found some good explanations in one of the most recent books that I read, which describes the energy levels on which our brain is functioning. The one that is responsible for our creative thinking in a relaxed state is alpha level.

As I have mentioned, all the aspects of creativity are important to us if we want to grow and succeed because it really does seem sometimes that “Knowledge is limited and imagination encircles the world”. Try to think outside of the box, or just get rid of it.

This speaker is great, by the way! I like the way she looks at creativity:

Tai chi chuan

Since most of my time is devoted to the self-work, I had an idea to try some martial arts too, to develop discipline and to know how to control my energy flow and to make the best use of it. For the reason that I’m not an advanced practitioner of any martial art, I wanted to start with something convenient, and suitable for me. To take Tai Chi class was a perfect decision in my case, because Tai chi has tons of benefits in physical and mental health, it helps you to develop inner strength, cultivate Chi, I can practice it indoor and outdoor, it has a very long and rich history. It is not only powerful as a martial art, but also as a good way to meditate or heal. It helps you to focus on your own body and feel the flow of Chi, or Qi (life energy, or bio-energy) through the “channels”.

There are a lot of styles in Tai chi, and the ones that we are going to cover are Yang style and Chen style. Yang style is a system of gentle, continuous and slow movements, which help you to balance your energy and feel relaxed. Chen style is a powerful martial art, with the use of “soft-arm techniques” and swords. My objectives are to learn a lot about the philosophy of Tai Chi and to know all the features of the styles that we are going to learn, and practice them by myself. I would also like to know more about the pressure points, which, I guess, I can apply in healing, or defense.  In addition, I would like to understand how to breathe correctly and how to control my own movements, body posture, etc.

This semester I’m taking a lot of credits of Engineering and Business classes , and I am very glad that I have registered for Tai Chi Chuan, since it helps to reduce stress of everyday life.

Here is a quick summary of my first two weeks of practice:

In class we performed some Qi Gong warm-up exercises, basic arms-swinging, rotating and stretching.  We meditated for about 10-15 minutes, and also worked with our Qi, and Qi of our classmates. We tried to feel it, rebalance it, define the presence of it in someone else. In conclusion we tried to understand its impact on our body and heart-mind system. I personally felt more aware of myself and fully present, when I was trying those moving and static meditation exercises. Every Tai chi class is a great beginning of a day. 

Looking quickly at the history of Tai Chi, we see that it is coming from the Chinese Book of Changes (I-Ching, 2800 BC), which is about the understanding of natural phenomena and Universe. It rises from the idea of Yin Yang - balance of opposites. The wholly organized system of gentle movements was "officially established" by Chen Wang Ting in 1660s. It is just so impressing how people in China wake up every morning and fill in all the streets and squares performing these beneficial exercises.

Singapore!!!

I was accepted to the National University of Singapore by a study abroad program of Penn State University, and I am going there Spring 2014. I can't wait to blog about my life in Singapore, the wonderful and prosperous country. My GeoBlog application letter: 

I am  deeply grateful for the opportunities that are provided by Penn State. I will blog about the things that might be interesting and helpful to people who want to take a chance and apply for the study abroad program. I think one of the most important things that applicants want to know is the educational aspect. Basic things like how much time I spend in labs, what kind of problems an engineer might encounter, how overall engineering experience is "different" relative to a pennstater's perspective. Hopefully such stories will encourage more engineers to try a global engineering experience. Also, another important thing is the cultural aspect: events, traditions, cuisine, out-of-class activities, and unique opportunities one can try in Singapore. I will talk about the national holidays and how/where it is best to celebrate them. I'm sure, there are lots of things I will be able to talk about like popular classes and hobbies of local students, population, weather, accommodation, sport events, pop culture, etc. I would be happy to answer any question to help the future applicants. 

The following text is taken from www.lonelyplanet.com: 

At first glance, Singapore appears

shockingly modern and anonymous, but this is an undeniably Asian city with Chinese, Malay and

Indian traditions from feng shui to ancestor worship creating part of the everyday landscape. It's

these contrasts that bring the city to life.

Sir Stamford Raffles founded Singapore on the Singapore River, which is still the heart of the

city, encompassing the central business district and the popular entertainment and dining

precinct along the quays. Most of Singapore's tourist action is centered around Orchard Rd,

Chinatown and Little India.

In the crowded streets of Chinatown, fortune tellers, calligraphers and temple worshippers are

still a part of everyday life. In Little India, you can buy the best sari material, freshly ground

spices or a picture of your favorite Hindu god. In the small shops of Arab St,the cry of the imam

can be heard from the nearby Sultan Mosque.

Singapore and Its Stereotypes

by Kamila Dagilova

Travelling is a nice way to enrich your life experiences, meet new people and see different places; however, it takes a lot of preparation before you go abroad, and it often happens that we don’t have enough time to learn about those cultures and places. By watching random videos on YouTube and reading web articles about the places you plan to visit, it is easy to become a victim of “stereotype” thinking.  Stereotyping is just an easy way of thinking, because it simplifies our social world, and some people just ignore “deep” details. But things can be a lot complicated.

There are a lot of stereotypes about Singapore, the place where I’m planning to go this spring. This enables me to pay close attention at those particular things, to verify how close they are to reality. One of the stereotypes that I learned, conveys positive impression; it is about the thing that Singapore is the cleanest place on the Earth. Also, one of my friends told me that you are not allowed to chew gum in Singapore, because they want to prevent public littering, and fine or incarcerate people, who don't obey the rules. This was quiet surprising! I cannot agree or disagree with that stereotype yet, because I haven’t seen the streets of Singapore with my eyes, but it does make me have high expectations and step back from chewing gum in public places during my first days in Singapore.

Another thing that I have heard is that it is important to know feng shui, if you want to understand the culture of Singapore, because the feng shui symbols appear almost everywhere. For example, all the buildings and roads are made using the rules of feng shui, according to which, the sharp angles are not allowed, and shapes of the buildings should symbolize the elements of nature.  In addition to that, a prime minister of Singapore explains that the prosperity of the country is due to “good feng shui”, and even their currency has a symbol of Ba Gua, which brings luck to every resident of Singapore. I personally know some basics of feng shui, and I hope that I will learn more while I’m there.

There are some advantages in knowing some stereotypes, like for example, a stereotype about the thing that “all the rooms of all the buildings in Singapore are very air-conditioned because it's hot outside”. This stereotype is helpful and prepares me to take some warm clothes with me, so I can avoid sickness. However, there are, obviously, disadvantages in stereotypes as well, when people actually start believing that these “generalizations” about a particular group of people or places are true, and they often rely and base their decisions on them, which can cause a lot of problems in the future. For example, one of my American friends, before coming to Kazakhstan, the place where I live, was influenced by negative cultural stereotypes about Kazakhstani traditions and people, after watching a British-American mockumentary movie about Borat. However, according to her, the experience she had there was completely different from herexpectations, so stereotypes are rarely a good thing to rely upon.

"Enlightenment – rising above thought" to be continued...

Here is a story of Enlightenment:

One person had searched everywhere for enlightenment, but could not find an answer - until one day, he saw an old man walking slowly down a mountain path, carrying a heavy bag. Immediately, he sensed that this old man knew the secret he had been desperately seeking for many years.

" Old man, please tell me what you know. What is enlightenment?"

The old man smiled at him for a moment, and swung the heavy

burden off his shoulders, and stood straight.

" Yes, I see!" cried the person. "My everlasting gratitude. But please, one question more. What is after enlightenment?"

Smiling again, the old man picked up the bag once again, slung it over his shoulders, steadied his burden, and continued on his way.


"I love the Buddha’s simple definition of enlightenment as “the end of suffering.” There is nothing superhuman in that, is there? Of course, as a definition, it is incomplete. It only tells you what enlightenment is not: no suffering. But what’s left when there is no more suffering? The Buddha is silent on that, and his silence implies  that you’ll find out for yourself. He uses a negative definition so that the mind cannot make it into something to believe in or into a superhuman accomplishment, a goal that is impossible for you to attain. . Despite this precaution, the majority of Buddhists still believe that enlightenment is for the Buddha, not for them, at least not in this lifetime."

Picture taken by me at Tea Institute Penn State

Diamond

In this post I am simply sharing the "precious diamond" I have found in one of the books I read this year. I always highlight interesting phrases that I like, but I am lazy to copy them down... These sentences, however, might be very helpful. They can describe very well my feelings about certain aspects of my life. 

Religious vs. Spiritual

I always tell people that I am a spiritual person, although, I think it is a little bit incorrect because everything comes from the same teaching, and it's weird to say that "I belong to this, not that", "I am this not that"...All these divisions cause wars and other sorts of negativity. How about "I am everything", "I belong to everything and everything belongs to me, and there are no borders"? Here is a good statement from The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle: There is and always has been only one spiritual teaching, although it comes in many forms. Some of these forms, such as the ancient religions, have become so overlaid with extraneous matter that their spiritual essence has become almost completely obscured by it. To a large extent, therefore, their deeper meaning is no longer recognized and their transformative power lost.

(Taken from the Internet)

God vs. Being

The word God has become empty of meaning through thousands of years of misuse. I use it sometimes, but I do so sparingly. By misuse, I mean that people who have never even glimpsed the realm of the sacred, the infinite vastness behind that word, use it with great conviction, as if they knew what it is that they are denying. This misuse gives rise to absurd beliefs, assertions, and egoic delusions, such as “My God is the only true God, and your God is false”, or Nietzsche’s famous statement “God is dead”.

The word God has become a closed concept. The moment the word is uttered, a mental image is created, no longer perhaps, of an old man with a white beard, but still a mental representation of someone or something outside you, and, yes, almost inevitably a male someone or something.

Neither God nor Being nor any other word can define or explain the ineffable reality behind the word, so the only important question is whether the word is a help or a hindrance in enabling you to experience that toward which it points. Does it point beyond itself to that transcendental reality, or does it lend itself too easily to becoming no more than an idea in your head that you believe in, a mental idol?

The word Being  explains nothing, but nor does God. Being, however, has an advantage that it is an open concept. It does not reduce the infinite invisible to a finite entity. It is impossible to form a mental image of it. Nobody can claim exclusive possession of Being.  It is your very essence, and it is immediately accessible to you as the feeling of your own presence, the realization I am that is prior to I am this or I am that. So it is only a small step from the word Being to the experience of Being.

 If there isn't, then time is covering up the present moment, and life is perceived as a burden or a struggle. 

                                                         (Taken from the Internet)

Wealth and mind

Everything that I have makes me happy and vibrantly alive!!!I don't need anything. And you?

I realized that nothing I ever did could possibly add anything to what I already had.

Those who have not found their true wealth, which is the radiant joy of Being and the deep, unshakable peace that comes with it, are beggars, even if they have great material wealth. They are looking outside for scraps of pleasure or fulfillment, for validation, security, or love, while they have a treasure within that not only includes all those things but is infinitely greater than anything the world can offer. The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle.

Water lily. Picture taken by me at Arboretum Penn state

Here and Now

I usually have no use for the past experiences when I am "here and now". But sometimes, my life, my spiritual guru, sends some moments, which are hard to let go. My trip to Mexico was one of the fascinating experiences that happened to me last year.
All the way from a snowy american town State College to a tropical Caribbean tourist destination Cancun, I was overly excited to take winter boots and coat off and enjoy gentle humidity and sun shines of Mexico on my skin; but most of all I was excited to make a list of "must-visit" places that were advertised by friends and Internet. What was amazing in Mexico are the beautiful nature, wonderful history, local hostile people, unforgettable shopping, and of course warm ocean! What was dissatisfying is the shortness of winter days which made it impossible to cover everything we wanted to see. I did go to Chichen Itza - a great pre-Colombian city built by Maya, which is located in Yucatan, (~ four hours from Cancun). I can talk for hours about the magnificence of this "mythical" site. Its various architectural style (it was not entirely "Maya-style") verifies that the population of the city was culturally diverse. The distinctive set of traditions, beliefs and art of Maya civilization, as well as the sacredness in the air always attract people from all over the world to visit this large city. From our amazing tour guide Abel, we found out a lot of interesting facts about Maya, like they were the first people who invented "zero", and further developed the math. They were also the only ones who had a written system of language in pre-Colombian America. Their medicinal and astronomical inventions still surprise everyone.
Briefly, you have to be there to understand how special this place is.

 Feliz Navidad and Feliz Ano Nuevo

 Divine

 Virgin white sand beaches

 Houses of La Isla Mujeres