7 Ways To Feed Your Brain

When it comes to maintaining physical health, we all know how important a balanced diet is. However, we seem to be less clear about what we need to maintain a healthy mind.

Dr. David Rock, executive director of the NeuroLeadership Institute and author of Your Brain at Work, believes we are living in a “time when too many people’s mental well-being is being stretched through multi-tasking, fragmented attention and information overload,” and asserts that we are now facing “an epidemic of overwhelm.”

In response to this epidemic, Dr. Rock, in collaboration with Dr. Daniel Siegel, has created what he calls the Healthy Mind Platter. This platter offers seven essential mental activities that are necessary for optimum mental health, and provides the full set of ‘mental nutrition’ that your brain needs to function at its best. Here they are:

Focus Time

When we closely focus on tasks in a goal-oriented way, taking on challenges that make deep connections in the brain.

Play Time

When we allow ourselves to be spontaneous or creative, playfully enjoying novel experiences, which helps make new connections in the brain.

Connecting Time

When we connect with other people, ideally in person, richly activating the brain’s social circuitry.

Physical Time

When we move our bodies, aerobically if possible, which strengthens the brain in many ways.

Time In

When we quietly reflect internally, focusing on sensations, images, feelings and thoughts, helping to better integrate the brain.

Down Time

When we are non-focused, without any specific goal, and let our mind wander or simply relax, which helps our brain recharge.

Sleep Time

When we give the brain the rest it needs to consolidate learning and recover from the experiences of the day.

Of course it’s all about balance.

Just like it wouldn’t be healthy to eat only carbohydrates, so too you shouldn’t just live on Focus Time without much Sleep Time. The point is to understand the full spectrum of essential mental activities, and then try to provide as many oppourtunities for your brain to develop in different ways.

When I first came across the Healthy Mind Platter I was deeply challenged to find more balance in what I was putting into my mind.

How do YOU feel about what you’re feeding your brain?

Truth Without Love is Brutality

“Truth without love is brutality, and love without truth is hypocrisy.” 
― Warren Wiersbe

I think sometimes, as Christians, we forget this.

We think that as long as our ideas are philosophically and theologically true, we can share them in ways that are offensive and divisive. And so “being right” becomes more important than showing love or reaching people.

Now that’s not to say we should’t speak the truth, because we know “love without truth is empty” and not really love at all.

But let us not fall for the trap that truth comes at the expense of love, or vice versa.

As Donald Miller writes:

We commonly believe that the Evil One wants us to teach bad theology, and I suppose he does. But what he wants to do more is to have us teach right theology in a way that devalues human beings, insults and belittles them, and so sets them against the loving message of God.

So if we teach right theology in a way that is condescending, we are just as guilty as being heretics. That’s why the Bible spends as much or more time talking about love as it does about doctrine. My guess is we love doctrine because it makes us feel superior, but neglect love because it calls for personal sacrifice and vulnerability.

And so we become personality heretics, speaking the truth, but teaching heresy.

Tension is Required

“The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposing ideas in mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function.” – F. Scott Fitzgerald.

When I was young I saw life in black and white. Right and wrong. Good and bad. But the older I get, the more I realise life isn’t that simple. It seems the answers to some of the toughest questions are not always “either/or”, but rather “both/and”… As Carolyn Arends articulates so well,

“Is it faith or works? I demand of the scriptures, and the answer seems to be: “Yes.” Is God a God of revelation or of mystery? Is he as close as a whisper or beyond all things? Yes. Yes. Is the kingdom of heaven now or not yet? Should I be wise as a serpent or innocent as a dove? Should I fall headlong into grace or work out my salvation with fear and trembling? Yes. Yes. Yes.

A lifetime of evangelical thinking has primed me for either/or questions,breeding a deep distrust of both/and propositions. After all, one of the distinguishing features of Christianity is its insistence that there is one way to God. A wariness of pluralistic worldviews is completely warranted. But if I’m not careful, that insistence can mutate into creating artificial schisms that fly in the face of a God who desires to make us whole in radical ways.

When we fall for false dualities, we end up arguing over whether the gospel is concerned with ministering to the poor or proclaiming the Word. We believe our theology must emphasize either a free gift of grace or a call to holy living. In a myriad of areas, we polarize, dichotomize, and greatly minimize the life God has for us.”

Unfortunately this truth is easier to write about than to live.

It takes less effort to settle for black and white. And so we congratulate ourselves for taking a stand, but lose half of what God has for us in the process.

I think most of us would like our faith to reduce tension, but according to the scriptures, it seems tension is required.

A Better Story

There is something wonderfully powerful about STORIES.

Stories are universal – crossing boundaries of language, culture and age. We can all relate to stories, and it is in the context of narrative that the human heart truly responds. In fact, people have been telling and responding to stories since the beginning of time. It’s how most cultures pass on information from generation to generation.

Interestingly, recent evidence from neurology and psychology is confirming that humans think in narrative structures. Concepts conveyed in story form – more than ideas explained with logic and analysis – imprint themselves naturally into human minds.

It’s why we can remember a book or a film from years back, but can’t remember the PowerPoint we saw 10 minutes ago.

There is something about story (especially a good story) that is able to capture our hearts, our minds, and our imagination.

Now, I believe inside each of us is a deep desire to not only connect to a great story, but to be part of a great story.

A thirst for meaning we can’t always explain. A desire to be part of something bigger than our own lives. Part of something that really matters.

But here’s the problem with living a great story… it’s hard!

People want an interesting life, but the truth is interesting is never easy. Telling a great story with your life requires sacrifice and pain and struggle. It is less like winning the lottery and more like training for a marathon. Happy endings are never just handed out. A great story takes risk and courage.

Robert McKee, considered worldwide to be the guru on storytelling, believes that every great plot has three basic elements:

• A person (or group of people)
• Who want something
• And are willing to overcome conflict to get it.

In fact, without ambition or conflict there simply is no story. It’s boring. And it’s the same in real life.

Unfortunately the story our culture is telling us is the story of comfort and security- “get comfortable so you can avoid pain”. Now, that’s not a terrible story, but it’s really not the greatest either. And of course there is nothing wrong with wanting security and comfort, but it cannot be the main theme of our story. There needs to be something more. Something worth fighting for.

I really believe there is such a yearning in our world, and especially in the younger generation, to be liberated from the mediocrity of safe bets – to be delivered from the prison of triviality that is so rife in our culture.

You were not designed to simply survive life. God didn’t come to make you safe, he came to make you brave.

And so, my prayer for you, as you seek to live out a better story, is that you would embrace risk and be willing to overcome conflict.

This prayer, written in 1886, captures my thoughts so beautifully:

“Lord, we do not pray for easy lives. We pray to be stronger men and women. We do not pray for tasks equal to our powers; but for powers equal to our tasks. Then the doing of our work shall be no miracle. But we shall be a miracle. And every day we will wonder at the richness of life, which has come to us through Your incredible grace.”

8 Reasons Why I Love My Vibram FiveFingers

A few months ago I purchased a pair of Vibram FiveFingers barefoot running shoes. And I am absolutely loving them! Here’s why:

1. Running barefoot is natural.

Barefoot running has garnered lots of attention lately due to the mega-bestseller Born to Run by Christopher McDougall. Barefoot running shoes have tripled in sales in recent years, and top athletic companies like Nike and Adidas are declaring barefoot running the next big thing.Why?

Well, simply put, your feet are a marvel of biological engineering. They are designed to adjust your stride, distribute your weight, and minimize the impact on your joints – on the fly. Unfortunately, when you encase them in modern running shoes, your feet lose contact with the ground, they don’t adjust, and they aren’t free to do what they were made to do.

For me, running in my FiveFingers just feels right.

2. Barefoot running reduces injuries

Conventional thinking says, running shoes are designed to provide cushioning and prevent injuries, right? Well, according to McDougall, despite supposedly huge improvement in shoe technology, 70% of all runners get injured every year, and this number has not decreased in decades. Interestingly, running injuries were very rare until the invention of the modern running shoe in 1972. McDougall claims there is a direct correlation between running shoes and running injuries.

So then why do all the running magazines advocate the super expensive, super advanced shoes?

Follow the money. As Michael Hyatt writes, “Running shoes are a $15 billion industry. The companies that make these shoes are not going to admit that their product is the problem rather than the solution. These same companies advertise in the running magazines. The magazines can rate the various shoes and write reviews, but they can’t challenge the whole premise behind the shoes without flushing the bulk of their revenue stream.”

I am not trying to knock regular running shoes. All I know is that when I was training for Comrades in 2010, I was plagued with ITB problems (a common running injury), despite paying big bucks for orthotics, in-soles, and the best shoes money could buy. Since I’ve been running in my FiveFingers I haven’t had a single twinge, and I can actually feel my  gluteus medius muscles getting stronger (proven to help ITB syndrome).

3. It’s the best of both worlds

Of course, because I run predominantly on paved roads, I still need some protection from stubbing my toe, or getting cut on sharp rocks or glass. Running in the Vibram FiveFingers is as close as you can get to running barefoot and still have some protection. It’s the best of both worlds. They provide the physiological benefits of going barefoot with the advantage of having some level of armor against the elements.

4. They are cheaper than regular running shoes

I bought mine brand new online and had them shipped to South Africa for a total of R400. That’s less than half the price I paid for my traditional running shoes! You can buy them straight from the Vibram Store, as well as variety of other online stores, including Amazon.

5. They look weird

I cannot deny it – they are absolutely hideous. My wife calls them “gorilla shoes”. But, while this may be a negative for some, I actually don’t mind. I’m not one to get embarrassed easily, and I actually find them to be a great conversation piece.

6. They last (I hope)

So far the longest I have run in them is 10k, but they seem to be holding up really well. In my old shoes I used to wear the heel out really fast, but because FiveFingers force you to run with less of a heel-strike and more of a forefoot-strike (which has been proven to reduce impact-related injuries), I have not noticed any uneven wear and tear.

Will I stick with them? Only time will tell. I am contemplating running Comrades again in 2013, so we’ll just have to wait and see how they stack up against the increased weekly mileage and longer ultra-distances. But so far so good.

7. They strengthen the right muscle groups

All the literature I’ve read, including Vibrams own website, cautions you to start out slow with the FiveFingers. Even if you are a seasoned runner, your feet have essentially been encased in casts for years. This means that many of your muscles which normally help to stabilise and make micro adjustments have atrophied. But it also means that it forces you to strengthen those critical muscle groups.

Initially the arches of my feet and my achilles tendon had to work a lot harder on runs, but after a few weeks of training, my muscles seem to have adjusted and strengthened, and my gait has definitely improved.

8. There are so many different models

I bought the Bikala LS as they seemed to me the best choice for those who predominantly run on roads, however, there are many different models aimed at a variety of different sports, needs, mileage etc.

The only negative of FiveFingers I can see is that they are terrible for people with webbed feet.

Seriously though, if you are a runner, I think the FiveFingers merit serious consideration, particularly if you, like me, have been prone to injuries and tried everything else. If you are still not convinced, I would urge you to read Born to Run or Barefoot Running Step by Step.

Do you have the Vibrams? Are you running in them? What has been your experience?

What Are You Practicing?

If only I still looked like that!

I was gymnast for many years growing up.

And in gymnastics, like many other sports, when you are training to learn a new skill, you can’t just simply get up and do it. First you must break down the skill into components – simpler, smaller movements we called “drills”.

Each day we would consciously practice those specific movements in a very deliberate way, and we would repeat those movements over and over again – sometimes thousands of times. But eventually, through sheer repetition, we would become good at those movements. And once you had mastered the various “drills”, you could link them together and be able to pull off the skill.

I think our entire lives are a bit like that…

Each day we repeat movements – thought patterns, ways of interacting with others. And in this repeated practice, we are becoming (or have already become) good at these things.

And so if you constantly swear or use bad language, that is a practice, and you are forming that habit. When you gossip, or speak rudely to others, or lose your temper, this is something you are practicing to be good at.

You may already be good at these things. I know I am.

And so of course the big question is, WHAT ARE YOU PRACTICING?

Because we might have all the good intentions to be or look a certain way, or to end up in a certain place, but the harsh reality is that we become good at what we repeatedly do.

In other words, we become the sum of our daily habits.

And so, what if, instead of practicing the bad stuff that holds us back, we consciously and intentionally started to practice the things we really want to be good at? Things like self-control, patience, kindness, peace, forgiveness…

Then, as we link those “movements” together, we will be able to pull off the greatest skill of all: To live well.

 

This post was inspired by an article I read at Zen Habits.