Tim Ryan
Ask yourself, “Am I feeling stressed?”
Don’t think about your answer. Don’t judge it. Just recognize it.
Recognize your stress. Say, “I notice I am feeling stressed.”
Scan your body. Think about your feet. Can you feel them? Can you feel the souls of your feet? Breathe.
You feel what you think. If you’re mentally stressed, you’re physically stressed.
Tim Ryan, a congressman, shares some seemingly magical anti-stress practices like this in his book A Mindful Nation. In today’s episode I address the elephant in the room: there’s a U.S. congressman who practices meditation.
He says, “It’s not fringe. It isn’t woo woo. It works.”
Too many Americans use drugs to get rid of stress. They’re numb. It’s basally a zombie apocalypse.
According to Tim we can be a medicated nation or a mindful nation. Mindfulness is “paying attention on purpose to the present moment without judging,” Tim says.
Pay attention, you can do that. You’re doing that right now.
On purposes — be conscious. Aware.
To the present moment — don’t look to the future . Don’t think about what you’re having for lunch or when you’ll respond to that email. Think about now. Where are you? Who are you with? What are you doing right now?
If you’re on the train, then be on the train. If you’re with your children, then be with your children.
People make this mistake all the time. When they’re physically on the train, they’re mentally at work and when they’re physically at work they’re mentally somewhere else (home, the bank, the grocery store or somewhere into next week’s to do list.)
This is why I don’t believe in setting goals. Stop trying to go somewhere. Be here.
That’s how you win. That’s how the Seattle Seahawks won the super bowl. They had a sports psychologist and a mindfulness program. “They weren’t laying in the field against the Broncos in savasana pose doing a body scan,” Tim says, “They were in the game. They were focussed and aware.”
In this episode you’ll learn how to improve your quality of life.
Besides, Tim is the only politician I know who doesn’t look like he’s aged 50 years. That has to count for something.
In This Episode You Will Learn:
- How to use mindfulness and meditation to improve your quality of life
- How to handle your stress
- The importance of paying attention and being aware
- How prescription drugs are turning people into zombies
- Plus much more…
Links and Resources Mentioned In The Show:
- Read Congressman Tim Ryan’s book, A Mindful Nation: How a Simple Practice Can Help Us Reduce Stress, Improve Performance, and Recapture the American Spirit
- Follow him on Twitter and Facebook
- Learn more about his work here
Thanks so much for listening!
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