Monday 29 August 2011

Natural Disasters, Fear and YOU

A 5.9 earthquake in Virginia??  Hurricane Irene?  Is the world coming apart at the seams?  My son felt the Virginia quake quite strongly as far away as Toronto, the city I grew up in and where I never felt a quake in two decades of living there.  Yet that city has felt two in the last 14 months.


Of course, my son was on the 12th floor of an apartment building, whereas I was here in Ottawa and closer to the epicenter but felt nothing, probably because I was in a ground floor meeting room at the time.  The higher up you are in a building, the more you'll feel it.  

As I listened to people's random comments over the next few days, there was one common theme - earthquakes and natural disasters are becoming more frequent and it feels like the planet is falling apart around us and under us.


Fear and Your Personal Resilience


It's nearly impossible to listen to all the low level fear-mongering and not walk away with a bit of the anxiety yourself.  As a community of people committed to developing our personal resilience, this should be a big concern for all of us because fear:


  1. Raises your stress level and damages your health
  2. Makes you prone to misinterpret what's going on around you
  3. Clouds your judgment and gives rise to poor decision-making
And we are all fed an non-stop diet of fear and anxiety through the media.  You're told the economy is going down the toilet, Western civilization is on its last legs, there are super bugs waiting to eat you alive and now the ground under you is shaking as well.  


If you allow yourself to listen to all this there is almost no way you'll be able to keep your focus on cultivating inner and outer harmony in your life. 

For a little taste of Hollywood's contributions to the madness, turn up your speakers and "enjoy" this little clip:









"Rumors of my demise have been greatly exaggerated..." 


But Is All This Really True?

Let's take earthquakes first.  Is it really true that the frequency and magnitude of earthquakes are on the increase?  Here's what the US Geological Survey has to say:

"We continue to be asked by many people throughout the world if earthquakes are on the increase. Although it may seem that we are having more earthquakes, earthquakes of magnitude 7.0 or greater have remained fairly constant. (...) According to long-term records (since about 1900), we expect about 17 major earthquakes (7.0 - 7.9) and one great earthquake (8.0 or above) in any given year." 

Just propaganda to make you feel better?  Well, considering worldwide earthquake data is available instantly at your finger tips from many sources around the world, that seems unlikely.  Moreover, a casual glance at the hard data seems to support the USGS' contention - there has been little change in earthquake frequency and severity over the past several decades.  

Some people will look at earthquake fatalities, particularly with reference to 2010, and say, "Look, it's getting worse!"  However, the fatalities are entirely a function of where the quake happens to hit and in 2010 a major quake hit Haiti, one of the most vulnerable communities on the planet, causing over 350,000 deaths.  The fact that a vastly stronger quake hit Chile later the same year yet caused only one thousand deaths because of Chile's outstanding preparedness just goes to show you what a poor measurement the number of fatalities is.


The Joys of Instant, Free, Worldwide Communications


Over just the past 20 years, our ability to identify and track earthquakes has greatly increased because there are now more seismograph stations than ever - about 8000 worldwide.  


Think about this: when there was a major earthquake in the 1980s in, say, Indonesia, you could probably hear about it on the TV news.  There might even have been a video, though not necessarily.  And if you missed the TV news, you might find it in the newspaper, though probably not on the front page.  


If that same earthquake happens today, the videos will be all over Youtube within minutes, you won't be able to open your browser without having the video in front of your eyes and then your friends on Facebook will start talking about it too.  So the subjective impression we have that disasters are happening more often is just that, a subjective impression not always borne out by the facts.  




What About Global Climate Change?

To those living in denial about the reality of global climate change I have one thing to say: call my office and we'll arrange a meeting in Toronto.  That's where I'll show you the 30' x 40' piece of turf where we created a skating rink in our backyard for about three months of the year for over 20 years.  

No one can do that in Toronto anymore.  There's not enough snow.  It never stays cold enough for long enough.  For the past 20 years or more it's been impossible to replicate what we did back in the sixties and seventies.

The British Royal Society, perhaps the world's most prestigious scientific organization, has this to say about climate change:


"There is strong evidence that changes in greenhouse gas concentrations due to human activity are the dominant cause of the global warming that has taken place over the last half century. This warming trend is expected to continue as are changes in precipitation over the long term in many regions. Further and more rapid increases in sea level are likely which will have profound implications for coastal communities and ecosystems."

To the climate change deniers out there, it's time to wake up and read the memo.  




An Exercise For You


Here's an exercise you can have some fun with.  This will show you whether or not the media / social media are increasing your anxiety levels.  


Days 1-3


  • Be sure to watch the TV world news and national news daily
  • Keep up with your social media contacts as well
  • Scan at least the front page of your local newspaper - even better, read a few pages 
  • Then, right after you've done that, sit quietly and see if you can detect anxiety within.  Put a number on that anxiety from 1-10, where 10 is very severe.  Write it down.
  • Then feel free to use EFT or any other method you wish to clear away the anxiety
Days 4-6


  • Be sure NOT to expose yourself to the world or local news in any form
  • Stay off social media - three days won't kill you and your Facebook and Twitter buddies will survive
  • Stay away from television, movies, Youtube, etc.  This is a total media fast.  Read something inspiring instead!
  • At the end of each day, do the same test as for days 1-3 and write down your results.
Then please feel free to share your results with us, either on this blog or by emailing our office.  We'd love to have your thoughts on all this!


~ Dr. Symeon Rodger



























 

Tuesday 23 August 2011

A MUST-HAVE Tool for Your Personal Resilience

No one recovers from Lou Gehrig's disease or "ALS" as it's sometimes called.  It's worse... way worse than cancer.  It's a death sentence, where 85% of the victims die in 20-48 months.  There's no real treatment and certainly no cure.  At least, that's what we assumed...

Dr. Ben Johnson, himself a medical doctor, had those same assumptions going through his head when he himself was diagnosed with the dread disease.  Then he came across a very new (at the time) health protocol called the Healing Codes  and gave it a try out of desperation.  The result?  He was symptom-free in a matter of weeks and still is today, nearly a decade later!


The Guy Who Made It Happen


This past Thursday night I had the honor of talking with the founder of the Healing Codes, Dr. Alex Loyd.  Alex holds doctorates in psychology and naturopathic medicine and does he have a story for you!  


You can listen to that story right here on the replay of Thursday's call.  If there's one interview you should really make time for during the next few days, this is definitely it:


=================================
To listen to the replay, click this link:
http://InstantTeleseminar.com/?eventid=21889254



=================================


You'll learn about Dr. Alex Loyd's personal struggle - life with a severely depressed spouse.  His wife, Tracy, was terribly depressed for years.  And if you've ever lived with someone going through depression, you know that words can't express how draining it is.  Yet Alex persevered through this for twelve long years - that's nearly martyrdom in my opinion.  


You'll learn about how Alex discovered what we now call the Healing Codes, although "discover" probably isn't quite the right word.  And then you'll experience his total shock at how effective this protocol really was and at what a wide range of physical and emotional challenges it was blowing right out of the water.  Have a look for yourself...














What He Didn't Know at the Time


When Alex was living through these initial successes, including the cure of his wife's chronic depression, he had little idea how his method worked, only that it did.  Now we have a much better idea what's really going on.


And for the first few years, there were hundreds, if not thousands of letters and emails coming in from people outlining the amazing results the Healing Codes provided.  However, that's just anecdotal evidence - even if there's a ton of it - and not exactly scientific proof.  


Since that last time I interviewed Alex - back in 2006 on the topic of mindset - scientific studies of the Healing Codes have been done and Alex will tell you about those too.  


Another big change since that time is that the cost of the Healing Codes has gone down dramatically.  Five years ago the price was still almost $900, because of the high cost of printing binders full of paper and shipping it.  Fortunately, digital delivery of some components has allowed them to chop the price down to less than a quarter of that. 


If you'd prefer to cut to the chase and take a few minutes to read the facts, you can learn all about the Healing Codes here





In our quest for physical, mental, emotional and spiritual resilience, the Healing Codes are, in my opinion, one indispensable tool we should all have on hand and use regularly.  


~ Dr. Symeon Rodger


Tuesday 16 August 2011

Toss 90% of Your Diet and Fitness Books into the Trash Can

What??  Am I exaggerating here?  Toss 90% of your diet and fitness books into the trash can?  

Let's be honest, a hefty percentage contain outdated, partial or skewed information anyway, so there's no great loss.  For the rest, you may find they add more confusion than clarity to your life and have led to "paralysis by analysis" for you.


Enter, The 4 Hour Body.  Goodbye, paralysis!




It Started With a Very Long Road Trip


Last week I spent 18 hours on the highways of southern Ontario in a 55 hour period and 12 hours of that were solo, so I really needed something to listen to.  My cousin, a true renaissance man with a fanatical interest in human resilience (and most other things!) had suggested the audio book version of Timothy Ferriss' recent bestseller, The 4 Hour Body.  


Well, the audio book was great, but abridged, so the first thing I did when I got home was to grab the book itself - double the revenue going from my pocket to Mr. Ferriss ;-)


If you've read his previous magnum opus, The 4 Hour Work Week, you know Tim is a divergent thinker and a very entertaining and thought-provoking writer.  Better that that, he always tests his theories and gives you advice you can easily put into practice in your own life.  And this is where The 4 Hour Body delivers in spades.


At first I thought the title was contrived; just a take-off of the previous book's.  Not the case, however; it turns out that a total of 4 hours of exercise is all the exercise you need in a whole month to do a total body makeover.  And Tim's right on - most people vastly overestimate the "gym time" needed to build sculpted and functional muscles, reduce body fat and get you looking and feeling your best. 




Diving Into the Book 


Tim effectively breaks down the artificial mental silos we use to separate weight loss, diet, nutrition, fitness, body image and performance, and then pulls it all together for you in a series of usable programs you can apply to yourself.  And you don't have to read all of this 550+ page monster.  Just select what's most important to you.  Want to lose weight?  Read pages 44-156.  Want to gain weight?  Try pages 157-224.  Want to get stronger?  Then pages 404-432 are for you.


And there's plenty of science in the book to back it all up.  Fortunately, Tim keeps all but a minimum of that out of your way while he explains the programs to follow, and then lets you peruse the scientific research at your leisure.  

Important scientific note here: Tim is a meticulous data cruncher, as he says, and measures everything!  This alone should shift your thinking about how you approach life in general.  My own resilience work is built on the same premise: if you can't measure it, you can't prove it.  (This, by the way, was the same scientific logic ancient spiritual traditions built their practices on.  Then we invented "religion".  God help us all!)


At first sight, the book's a bit eclectic, covering an interesting spread of topics:


  • Weight loss
  • Weight gain
  • Building muscle and strength
  • Improving sex, including the female orgasm
  • Perfecting sleep
  • Reversing injuries
  • Running faster and farther
  • Swimming and Swinging (swinging as in baseball)
  • Longevity
But then, Tim's an eclectic kind of guy, so the whole thing hangs together quite well.





Here's a fun video trailer for the book...




Afterthoughts


All this is not to suggest that I have no issues with the book.  Tim's mention of microwaving his food makes me cringe and more attention paid to the living, enzymatic quality of food as opposed to the simple categories of proteins / fats / carbs would have been helpful.  That said, if you follow his "Slow Carb" dietary suggestions, I can almost guarantee you'll send your health and fitness into the stratosphere.


His longevity chapter is, paradoxically, the shortest in the book and could have done with some more research, including investigations into the world's premier longevity tradition, i.e., Taoism.  


And I could go on.  However, the fact remains that if you read this book and put its programs into action - whichever ones apply to you personally, of course - you'll be a lot better off for it.  So grab yourself a copy and enjoy!


~ Dr. Symeon Rodger









Thursday 11 August 2011

Sun Salutations, Downward Dogs and Exalted Warriors

It hit me almost as soon as I got out of the car... a very subtle aroma of fine incense.  Entering the reception area, a young lady handed me a clip board with a health questionnaire to fill out and told me where to go next.

However, this was not my acupuncturist's office or any other kind of medical establishment at all.  It was about to be my first Yoga class in at least twenty years...


How It Started 

What was the attraction?  Well, aside from my constant drive to test out new-to-me and different forms of training in personal resilience, I'd been really wanting to expand my hip and leg flexibility for a while and summer is the ideal time for this kind of work (the heat and humidity facilitate safe stretching).  And what better way to stretch out of your comfort zone than Hatha Yoga? 

Indian Hatha Yoga is what people in the West usually think of as Yoga - the use of interesting and sometimes challenging postures that you hold for periods of a few seconds to a few minutes.  In reality the idea that Hatha Yoga = Yoga is like saying that the pre-game warm-up = the Superbowl.  Yoga is a vast subject.

Anyway, after changing into my conspicuously un-Yoga like exercise attire (I would have fit in perfectly with a Tai Chi class ;-), I took my mat into the appointed room and made myself at home... in a nervous kind of way.  

As more people entered, they all sat quietly and never acknowledged each other by more than a passing smile.  It was then that I noticed I was the only one wearing shoes - major breach of etiquette apparently!  Who knew??  

All this describes the first of two Yoga classes at different studios I attended last week.  The first was an hour long beginner's class and the second a 90 minute class for all levels.  In both cases I was already resigned to my fate as the class klutz, convinced everyone else would have rubber-like joints and glide effortlessly into scarcely believable positions.  






Here's a great video to help you get started... and you're NOT a dummy!


What I Learned 

I'm really happy to say in retrospect that I emerged from both classes with my dignity intact.  Apparently I was already at least in the mid-range of flexibility and even the instructors (who both did an excellent job) didn't come off as having an unlimited range of motion.

One thing that really surprised me was how good a cardio workout these classes were!  I shouldn't have been surprised, though, because people make that same comment about Tai Chi and Qi Gong all the time.  Just because something appears to be slow, rhythmic and gentle does not mean you're not working your ass off ;-)


And the sweat!  It was pouring off in buckets like I've seldom seen before.  In the second class I was actually running out of dry T-shirt space to wipe my forehead with so the sweat would stop running into my eyes!  And that's a good thing, because sweating is a superb detoxification process.  Have a really good sweat and, as one health professional told me today from her own experience, "you'll feel like a newborn baby." 

Before my first class, I was a little afraid the instructors would be calling out Sanskrit names of postures one after the other, like "Adho Mukha Svanasana!" and that everyone else would assume them easily while I'd be sitting there stunned, thinking the more polite equivalent of "WTF?!".  Fortunately, instead of the above string of incomprehensible Sanskrit syllables, the words "Downward Facing Dog" echoed through the training hall.  Now that I could understand!  It really helped that during a couple of recent business trips I'd picked up copies of Yoga magazines in US airports and refreshed my memory about which postures were called what... at least in English! 






And here's some more advance stuff I was NOT doing last week.  I include this not only so you can see a beautiful demo done by a beautiful woman on a beautiful sandy beach, but also to underline the fact you don't need to do the advanced postures to benefit.  As with most disciplines, 90% of the benefit comes from the more basic practices - fancier is not necessarily better. 




The REAL Take-Away


It's easy to go to a Yoga class, have a good stretch, feel energized and then go about your day just as you always do.  It's quite another to maintain your Yogic grace, poise and awareness all day long, to say nothing of delving into its deeper aspects in terms of physical health, emotional self-management and spiritual development.  


This is where the vast majority of people doing Yoga lose out.  And you can substitute Qi Gong or Tai Chi or any number of other profound disciplines for the word "Yoga" in the preceding sentence.  If your practice ends when the class ends, the benefits won't be far reaching or really transformative in your life. 

Yoga is capable of profoundly reconnecting your mind and body, detoxifying your system, boosting your immunity, calming your nerves and taking your life to a new level.  Going to class is a great starting point, but there's so much more to be savored and enjoyed.

Now, if only I could get into the splits (without screaming) and sit painlessly in that damned full lotus pose!

~ Dr. Symeon Rodger :-) 

Tuesday 2 August 2011

EVERY MAN Needs to Read This...

When I was a young man, my track record with the opposite sex could only be described by three words... crash and burn.  Here I was, handsome, intelligent, athletic, even nice... everything a woman could want... or so I thought.  I just could not seem to figure it out!!


Sound familiar?  Do any of the following statements describe your life thus far?
  • Women don't seem to pay much attention to you
  • You're mystified by your wife's / girl friend's behavior
  • When you meet attractive women, they continually put you in the "friend" category
  • You're a really nice guy, with the best of intentions, and it's getting you nowhere with women
  • Attractive women actually scare you
  • Your sex life is full of miscommunication or conflict
  • You believe that NO ONE has the slightest idea what women want
  • If your success with women were a book, it would be thinner than "20th Century Italian War Heroes"

Romantic relationships are incredibly important to almost every human being.  In a very real sense, they complete our own being and are one of the most important factors in our overall happiness (and therefore have a huge impact on our health as well).  Yet SO many men and women fail to get what they're so desperately seeking from their romantic relationships.  


So, obviously, there's a huge screaming need here for some help in building truly RESILIENT man-woman connections.  


I'd like to introduce you to the men and women coaches of the Authentic Man Program or "AMP":


Turn Up Your Speakers and Enjoy the Video!


This video is long, but definitely worth your attention.  For most men, it will be nothing short of "shock and awe", especially the feedback from AMP's female coaches.  


Here at Global Resilience Solutions, we're looking for exactly that - resilience solutions to various areas of your life where you need major help.  And I'm both astounded and pleased to say that AMP has earned our highest recommendation.  We've been evaluating their programs for over a month and they have surpassed all expectations, for reasons I'll get to in a moment.  In fact, AMP is one of the top two programs we've come across so far this year!


Now at first glance, you might think AMP is a "pick-up" program; one of those internet programs that teaches guys the right words to say and ways to behave to pick up girls and (not to put too fine a point on it) to get laid.


However, although AMP will dramatically improving a guy's success with women, it contains NO gimmicks at all.  It's not about manipulating women through clever tricks, but about really connecting with them on a deep level as other human beings and meeting their deeply felt need to encounter a man who is fully present in his heart and his body, embracing his experience and solidly grounded in who he really is.


And that's what AMP is all about - helping you as a man to:


  • Understand how women really perceive men in general and YOU in particular
  • Get out of your head and into your body
  • Connect with, embrace and share your emotional experience
  • Reconnect with your natural masculine power, which is what women really want from you 

In a society that has a strong tendency to emasculate men - a by-product of out political correctness that serves neither men nor women - AMP can put you back in touch with who you really are.  And this is why we give it top marks...


It reintegrates mind and body, teaches fundamental body-work to help you do this, and will completely change your understanding of how the sexes really interact.  And because it's such a holistic program, it will improve ALL your relationships; not just those with women.  


And if you're a women who couldn't resist reading this post out of sheer curiosity, and you know your primary relationship is not where you'd like it, then this is worth a look-see for you too! 

For more information on the Authentic Man Program, just click here.

Wishing you all the happiest of relationships!

~ Dr. Symeon Rodger