mtg.upf.edu/system/files/publications/CHI2011_mealla.pdf

Body, Mind, Spirit Together with Tensegrity

Buckminster Fuller mentioned anywhere draws my attention. Tension joined to "living in" a better body helps my mapping.

Review of the Book: Anatomy Trains: Myofascial Meridians for Manual and Movement Therapists

 Near the conclusion of the review, just before the worthwhile comment section, comes this pointer:

[For those interested, here is a link to a 20-page read-only PDF that provides an overview of much of what is included in the book.--OH]

From that PDF overview:

Larger Considerations

One of the sequelae from the recent industrial and electronic revolutions is a society increasingly alienated from its body. While a few hone their kinesthetic skills through sport and dance (while others hone their reflexes with sophisticated computer games), many more are losing muscle mass, losing an accurate body image, and generally losing ‘touch’.

Physical education and manual therapy, in both their traditional and holistic forms, seek to restore balance, awareness, proper functioning, and a healthy relationship with the physical self. New models, such as the concepts outlined above and other systems-oriented views, open new avenues for a populace weakened by constant sitting, fixed focal lengths, improper footwear treading relentlessly flat surfaces, cheapened sexuality, reduced contact with the natural world, lack of activity, and poor education concerning their physical selves from infancy on up. One major challenge for the 21st century is to adapt body systems forged in a Neolithic world to the socially crowded and almost entirely man-made environment we are rapidly constructing worldwide.

We are accustomed to the idea of IQ – measuring the intelligence of the brain. We are becoming more accustomed to EQ – the idea of emotional intelligence. What is needed is a map to the territory of KQ – kinesthetic intelligence, the intelligence of the body in motion. From the skill and awareness that makes an awkward body graceful to the inherent sense that warns us of impending danger; from the precise coordination required in a basketball lay-up to the body memory involved in plucking just the right strings on a harp; from the wisdom of rest and activity cycles to the cellular letting go required to forgive – there is great intelligence in the body that is not yet well understood. Therefore it is not being taught, and therefore it is being progressively lost, except for small pockets within Eastern and Western medicine where what the great physiologist Walter Cannon called the 'wisdom of the body' is being honored and developed. The most reasonable part in us is the part that does not reason.

These various lines of inquiry into KQ could be gathered under the banner of ‘Spatial Medicine’ (as opposed to the medicine of Matter [allopathic or nutritional], or the medicine of Time [psychotherapy or shamanism]). What can we learn from how humans are arranged in space, and how they perceive and work with their spatial arrangement? Osteopathy, chiropractic, orthopedics and physiotherapy would qualify as Spatial Medicine. So do the entire alphabet of new (and old) therapies from Alexander, Bioenergetics and Continuum, through Feldenkrais and Gyrotonics, to Rolfing, Somatics, and Tai Chi, all the way to Yoga and Zero Balancing. All these (and the many more not named) are inquiries into our spatial relationships and their meaning, and all seem to contribute to the whole picture. Shifting the positions of bones, altering the length of fascial and myofascial tissues, and training the neuro-muscular system all aim for the same goal – easy, generous, poised movement, structural stability, and the extension of healthy movement into later life.

In short, a systems view (as opposed to the symptoms view) of our structural and movement selves is required to counter the destructive effects of the world we have created for ourselves. The anatomical details so vividly and economically set forth in this book can help with the task of finding, restoring, appreciating, and properly using our amazing locomotor system. So can new overall organizing schemes like the Anatomy Trains – the ever-smaller can be put into service of the ever-larger, and vice versa. True human intelligence – what Norbert Weiner called ‘the human use of human beings’ – will be attained not by transcending the physical self, but only through our full participation with our marvelous physicality.

Listen to Your Heart - Go with It

Sometimes you hear your heartbeat. you can almost always take a pulse reading and the chest strap with wrist display wireless fitness equipment does an excellent job of collecting data and displaying an array of information. For about $20 in parts this receiver (exploded view) allows headphone, earbud, or other audio connection monitoring of each heartbeat.

This is the most powerful feedback tool I have experienced. It is a surprizing advance in a pursuit. The following text was posted earlier at QuantifiedSelf:

RE: suggestions for simple data vizualization tools?

Keep it simple and real time, except for long term trends on more complex questions or issues. Sonification of HRV is my target. Got interested before cardiac ablation resolved atrial fibrillation and continue exploring with a simple Polar monitor and attachments based upon the Polar Heart Rate Module - RMCM01.

SuperCollider programming is still developing, but my real-time heart beat in my ears turned out to be a terrific feedback instrument. Never much for exercise groups or formal equipment, going with the flow of the tick of my heartbeat lets me explore movement in new ways. Walking down the street now has dance elements woven into the internal visualization of body and mind state. Bliss is remarkably easy to recognize and propagate - shifts in attention are markers for a drifting state that is absorbing on many levels. Having this tool allows for lots of tiny experiments with interesing results.

This is a much smaller second version. The first had two AAA batteries. With 6 hours on the battery I'm considering slimming down the other unit. The other end of the plastic plumbing fitting can take a larger battery.

Update 9/20/11
Wore a Polar Chest Transmitter and display watch to a dental appointment. Encouraged by a NuCalm System experience, noise isolating earbuds were used with the audio pulse unit. No science here, but I've had pain, panic, and problematic dentistry and relaxing was never this easy. I neared sleep twice. There was a mouth block disabling jaw movement witb a dam and local numbing for a root canal. Not bliss, but focused calm with a reminder pace.

Mindfulness Rules

With mindfulness there is greater awareness. With practice, the need for gear to monitor being or doing becomes superficial. You have the best possible sensors, processing power, and limitless memory capacity for storage and reflection. Why bother with biofeedback?

OK, you need a few hints. Download the free .pdf, study the text and prosper.

http://www.springerlink.com/content/w931n733l4575424/

So is guidance inb the exploration of the benefits of of mindfulness available for curious individuals? Yes.

www.urbandharma.org/pdf/mindfulness_in_plain_english.pdf

But wait, there's more, a whole page of links to ebooks such as:
 

Anapanasati - Mindfulness of Breathing

Loving-kindness Meditation

Meditation on a Coke Can

Long-Term Meditators Self-Induce high-Amplitude Gamma Synchrony


http://www.urbandharma.org/udharma5/ebooks.html 

Brief Guides to Better Being

Brief Guide to BetterBeing:
less TV, more reading
less shopping, more outdoors
less clutter, more space
less rush, more slowness
less consuming, more creating
less junk, more real food
less busywork, more impact
less driving, more walking
less noise, more solitude
less focus on the future, more on the present
less work, more play
less worry, more smiles
breathe

Briefer Guide to Better Being:
Eat better, move more, avoid unhealthy substances and connect with others in healthy ways.

Briefest Guide to Better Being:
Smile, Breathe, Go Slowly, enjoy.

Briefer from http://5healthytowns.org/ , brief and briefest from http://zenhabits.net/

Financial Times Takes a Look at Self-Monitoring

Maybe it is narcissism but preparing for the increasingly rapid rate of change especially with the Senior Bubble and Health Care Bubbles make strategic choices for self-management possible. Lots of examples of current uses, devices, and pipeline development make it a worthwhile read.

Financial Times Article: Invasion of the Body Hackers

Radical Change or New Age?

If you think it they will come:

The Electricity of Touch: Detection and Measurement of Cardiac Energy Exchange Between People R. McCraty, M. Atkinson, D. Tomasino, W.A. Tiller In: K. H. Pribram, ed. Brain and Values: Is a Biological Science of Values Possible. Proceedings of the Fifth Appalachian Conference on Behavioral Neurodynamics. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Publishers, 1998: 359-379.

Download the complete paper.