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New Existentialists

Becoming the Change

01/03/2013

It’s 2013, and we are now embarking on yet another new year. We have 365 days to accomplish the goals we have set, 365 days to make our mark on the world and 365 days to change the course of our lives. Gandhi once challenged us to “be the change we wish to see in the world,” and I would like to do the same. Many of us set off on the New Year with a list of goals we want to accomplish and a list of things we want to change, but I would like to extend the challenge to a deeper, more fundamental level. I recently attended a spiritual gathering, and during the night,...

Posted at 11:00 AM

New Existentialists

Waxing Existential: The Essence of Aloha

01/02/2013

The man selling fresh fruit a couple of blocks from where I am staying in Maui first explained the best way to cut and eat a pineapple. After purchasing the perfectly golden delight, I asked what the meaning of “aloha” is to him. “Oh, many people say it for everything,” he said. “But most people don’t know the real meaning. It doesn’t come from the lips—it comes from the heart.” He made a gesture, his fist pounding his heart, his eyes clear and strong. There are many reasons why people come from all over the world to visit Hawaii. The...

Posted at 11:00 AM

New Existentialists

When Is "Fluff" Not So Fluffy?

12/28/2012

Holiday time in the United States means lots of things to lots of people, but for movie buffs (aka cinema aficionados, film snobs, and DVR space hogs) like me it means the return of the classic Christmas movies. And also the classic Christmas specials—the cartoons and Claymation rank right up there for me. Many people quickly dismiss these movies as—pardon the mixed metaphor—Christmas schmaltz. Overly sentimental, too much sugar, not enough substance, happy endings, memorable songs all seem to detract from these movies’ viability as “serious” works of art...

Posted at 11:00 AM

New Existentialists

Phenomenology’s Relationship With Empirical Science

12/27/2012

Since Husserl, phenomenological philosophers have dialogued with the empirical sciences in an attempt to contribute to a more complete human science—a science that speaks to the fullness of being human. The job of our philosophers, in this context, is to invite an opening up of an epistemological conversation that renews the sciences’ exploration of human phenomena. Our job as phenomenological psychologists is related but different—to open up a way, through a renewed theory of knowledge, to alternate human-scientific praxes. Our work as psychologists, while rooted in...

Posted at 11:00 AM

New Existentialists

For What Do We Grieve?

12/26/2012

I have read hundreds of posts, articles, and blogs since the horrible murders of the children and adults in Newtown, CT. I searched for words, images, thoughts, insights, or perspectives that would somehow describe the emotions and turmoil I was experiencing. There was a sense of desperation, a sense of hopelessness that left me feeling incredibly vulnerable and isolated. As I sat with this rollercoaster of ache and confusion, I tried to capture this desolation in words, but nothing came. As I searched, internally and externally, I received a post from a blog to which I subscribe. In this...

Posted at 11:00 AM

Mind-Body Medicine

Jim Cahill, New Student in Saybrook’s School of Mind-Body Medicine, to Appear on Radio Broadcast on the Use of Biofeedback in Pain Treatment

12/21/2012

Jim Cahill is a new student enrolled to begin the master’s program in Saybrook University’s School of Mind-Body Medicine, in January 2013. Jim Cahill is a certified biofeedback practitioner, and is the developer of Mindfulness-Based Biofeedback Therapy(tm), combining ancient Indo-Tibetan self-regulation techniques with modern biofeedback. He was on the Board of Directors of the Biofeedback Society of California, edited the magazine California Biofeedback, and practices at both Scripps Center for Integrative Medicine and Scripps-XiMED in La Jolla, California.

Jim will appear at 8 PM Eastern time on Saturday December 22, in a radio interview with Dr. Paul Christo, a prominent pain specialist and past Director of the Blaustein Pain Treatment Center and the Multidisciplinary Pain Fellowship Training Program at The Johns Hopkins Hospital. Dr. Christo hosts the Aches and Gains radio show on WBAL (1090 AM).

Posted at 04:16 PM | Permalink | 1 Comments

New Existentialists

Reflections on Zombies Before Today’s Apocalypse

12/21/2012

The current fascination with zombies and the Zombie Apocalypse seems to clearly reflect of some of the deep-seated concerns with American culture. In his book, Horror and the Holy, Kirk Schneider suggests that monsters often represent two human extremes: constriction and expansion. Dracula embodies Hyper-constriction (deadening qualities) as he sucks the life out of his victims. Frankenstein demonstrates hyper-expansion (deity-like qualities) since he has super-human strength and intelligence. These extreme possibilities present the opportunity for horrifying acts, and horror provides the...

Posted at 11:00 AM

Mind-Body Medicine

Saybrook University Trustee, Dr. Rick Hanson, offers "Just Twelve Things" -- Rich Guidelines on Finding Resources for the Soul.

12/21/2012

Rick Hanson, Ph.D., is a Trustee of Saybrook University, and an expert on mindfulness, neuroscience, and the cultivation of compassion. Dr. Hanson is a neuropsychologist and author of Buddha’s Brain: The Practical Neuroscience of Happiness, Love, and Wisdom (in 22 languages) and Just One Thing: Developing a Buddha Brain One Simple Practice at a Time (in 9 languages). Founder of the Wellspring Institute for Neuroscience and Contemplative Wisdom and Affiliate of the Greater Good Science Center at UC Berkeley, he’s been an invited speaker at Oxford, Stanford, and Harvard, and taught in meditation centers worldwide. His work has been featured on the BBC, NPR, FoxBusiness, Consumer Reports Health, U.S. News and World Report, and O Magazine and he has several audio programs with Sounds True.

Dr. Hanson's weekly e-newsletter – Just One Thing – has over 67,000 subscribers, and also appears on Huffington Post, Psychology Today, and other major websites. For the holidays, he offered his readers the following special compilation called "Just Twelve Things." He has given permission to reprint the item for the School of Mind-Body Medicine community. The Twelve Things include upcoming workshops, blogs, poetry, courses, all supportive of mind-body-spirit learning. Our thanks to Dr. Hanson for his service to Saybrook University and for this blog entry.

Posted at 08:30 AM | Permalink | 0 Comments

New Existentialists

Behold, the Suffering God: Christmas within the Shadow of Newtown

12/20/2012

In the midst of the holiday cheer, carols, and season’s greetings cards, there is something else that demands our attention, something that cannot be silenced and will not go away. I speak of it not because I’m a pessimist, or even a grave realist, or because I want to dispel any of the seasonal magic to which we are desperately clinging, but simply because it is there, haunting our cultural consciousness like a Dickens Christmas ghost. Of course, there is nothing new and shocking about the massive disconnect between the “peace on earth” and “good will toward...

Posted at 11:00 AM

Rethinking Complexity

The Mindful Socially Innovative Organization

12/19/2012

Most human-centred social ventures spend much of their time in the domain of complexity. What makes these complex is not the human part, but the social. As we interact with our myriad beliefs, attitudes, bases of knowledge, and perceptions, we lay the foundation for complexity and the emergent properties than come from it. It’s why we are interesting as a species and why social organizing is such a challenge, particularly when we encourage free-flowing ideas and self-determination. Because of this complexity, we get exposed to a lot of information that gets poorly filtered or...

Posted at 02:13 PM