In a previous post (“The Relevance of Career Success in Personal Fulfilment”), I shared with you the happiness formula which derived from years of research by top scientists. As a reminder, here it is again: H = S + C + V

H – stands for happiness.

S – stands for the set point in the brain, which accounts for 50% of our happiness experience.

C – stands for conditions of living, which accounts for 12% of our happiness experience.

V – stands for voluntary choices, which accounts for 38% of our happiness experience.

Given that 50% of our happiness experience on a daily basis is based on how our brain’s neural network is configured, the obvious question is:  Are people that are biologically predisposed to be pessimistic, doomed from the start?

The old theory was that infants mapped their neural networks as a natural part of their development, after which the process stopped and the brain became hardwired. Recent scientific findings assure us that this no longer holds true.  Thanks to a concept known as neuroplasticity, the brain can remodel and remap its connections. You have total influence over the form and structure of your brain.

Because your brain is fully adaptable, malleable and flexible, as you are reading this article, your brain is remodelling itself right now. You can promote neuroplasticity simply by exposing yourself to new experiences. In fact, the most powerful experience at your disposal to alter your brain, specially for career success and overall happiness, is through the daily practice of silent meditation.

In a recent study by researchers at the University of California (UCLA), the scientists found that regular meditators have enhanced capacities when it comes to decision making, emotional awareness, attention and focus. The study showed how people who meditate twice a day for 15 to 20 minutes, can easily move from habitual negative feeling states including depression, stress and anxiety to an expanded experience of emotional wellbeing and happiness.

The bottom line is that  your brain is incredibly dynamic—you are not “hardwired.”  Our brains are incredibly resilient and flexible; the marvellous process of neuroplasticity gives you the capability, in your thoughts, feelings, and actions, to develop in any direction you choose,  and that includes the direction of happiness and career success.

I would like to know your thoughts on this topic – please write your comments below.

César Gamio, Master Educator, Chopra Center University

Work-life balance implies two things that in this day and age, no longer hold true: Compartmentalisation and distribution. The first meaning that your professional life is separate from your personal life and the latter referring to some form of time allocation that needs to take place to evenly distribute those activities in order to remain sane.

The viewpoint of treating your work and personal life as two separate activities is intrinsically flawed. If you have an argument with a colleague at work or if you simply had a bad day at the office, you will bring that emotional state into your family and social interactions. Conversely, if a loved one is sick or if you are experiencing financial troubles, this frame of mind will carry over to your job or main occupation. Work and personal life are two aspects of ONE life; they are both completely intertwined and interlinked with one another. Separating the two is simply not possible.

As far as the distribution aspect that the word “balance” implies, put it this way: if you dislike your job and your personal life is a shambles, then work-life balance suggests that you should evenly distribute your misery. Simply absurd.

What people are looking for deep down is personal and professional fulfilment — not balance. When it comes to professional fulfilment, people are looking for opportunities to use their strengths and talents, to feel respected, valued and to know that they are making a lasting contribution. As far as personal fulfilment, most people desire healthy, fun and loving relationships as well as opportunities for self-development that will make them enhanced versions of themselves.

When I look at my life, it is very clear that there is a total lack of “work-life balance” in the traditional sense. I give seminars, workshops, personal coaching and participate in speaking engagements in many countries around the world. Sometimes I find myself preparing for a speech on a Saturday evening and playing with my children on a Tuesday morning during regular business hours. Every week is completely different; there is not an even distribution of hardly any aspect of my life, apart from the time I set aside for exercise and silent meditation. Luckily, I find fulfilment in most of what I do and the irregular time distribution amongst these activities is the least of my concerns.

There is quote from a Zen Buddhist master that has been nestled in my mind for years, a quote that I consider a personal favourite, which hopefully will strike a chord with you:

“The master in the art of living makes little distinction between his work and his play, his labor and his leisure, his mind and his body, his education and his recreation, his love and his religion.

He hardly knows which is which.

He simply pursues his vision of excellence at whatever he does, leaving others to decide whether he is working or playing. To him he is always doing both.”

If you achieve personal and professional fulfilment in your life, what is there to balance? What do you think? Let me know your thoughts…

César Gamio, Chopra Center Master Educator

Given his passion for science and his devotion to bringing peace and happiness to the world, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, along with the best and brightest scientists, created the Mind and Life Institute to foster collaboration with western science.

A few years ago, the Dalai Lama commissioned a scientific study to a very large group of the most prominent social scientists and physicists, to study the concept of happiness. The questions that drove the project were: What makes us feel happy and fulfilled? How can we attain personal fulfilment? Two years later, the scientists returned with their findings and a happiness formula : H = S + C + V

H – stands for happiness

S – stands for the set point in the brain

C – stands for conditions of living

V – stands for voluntary choices

The variable “S” (set point in the brain) refers to our mechanisms of perception. We all have a semi-fixed place on the happiness spectrum based on our outlook on life. Happier people see the opportunities, where unhappy people see problems depending on how their brain is wired, in other words, how their neural network is configured. The set point determines 50% of our happiness experience on a daily basis.

The variable “C” (conditions of living) refers mainly to career and material success as well as personal wealth. This value in the happiness formula determines about 12% of your daily happiness experience.

The variable “V” refers to the choices that we make on a daily basis. Choices for personal pleasure bring transient happiness, while selfless choices bring inner fulfilment through purpose and meaning. For example, by making other people happy, meaningful relationships bring more permanent happiness. Voluntary choices account for 38% of our happiness.

One of the conclusions of the study on how we can attain personal fulfilment, was that it is fine to have career success and material comforts around you, but that will only account for 12% of your happiness. To really be happy, you need to expand your awareness and overcome your egotistical mind and then choose selfless actions, or ways to be of service to others. This leads to true and lasting happiness and wisdom.

And what about our brain’s set point, which accounts for 50% of the happiness formula – are people that are biologically predisposed to be pessimistic, doomed from the start?

Find the answer in my next article.

César Gamio

Chopra Center Master Educator

Is there a history of heart disease, diabetes, inflammation, cancer, Alzheimers, migraines or any other mental or physical illness in your family?  If so, it’s very likely that contained in every cell of your body, are the genes responsible for triggering those chronic conditions.  Whether you like to hear it or not, you may be carrying a vast array of ticking health bombs in the form of “bad” genes that could potentially impact your health.

Fortunately, there is a way for you to defuse those bombs. Approximately 5% of disease-related genes are fully penetrant, meaning that the disease will develop regardless of any type of intervention. Through healthy lifestyle choices, we can keep the remaining 95% of disease-related genes dormant. A booming field called epigenetics reveals how lifestyle and environmental factors can regulate gene expression.

Healthy lifestyle choices allow you to up-regulate your good genes, which means that you can turn on the genes that prevent chronic illnesses. Inversely, through these same healthy choices, you can down-regulate the genes that create these chronic conditions in the first place (including the 500 genes that have been identified as crucial in developing heart disease, many types of cancer, and inflammation).

Regular exercise, restful sleep, a balanced diet, minimising stress (particularly work-related stress), healthy emotional relationships and the practice of Yoga and silent meditation, have proven to positively influence gene expression. Recent studies have shown that even if you have led an unhealthy lifestyle up until recently, incorporating these healthy practices now will positively impact your health by silencing disease-related genes within 90 days.

Your thoughts, feelings, behaviour, mood, social interactions and personal relationships will influence the activity of your genes as well, and therefore hold the key to your physical and mental wellbeing. Be mindful of this fact when choosing a job, a role or a project when it comes to work.

So remember that you genes are not your destiny. Your health fate is not sealed; it’s in your hands.

César Gamio

Chopra Center Master Educator

Senior Advisor to the Global Center for Conscious Leadership

It’s Wednesday and I have some major updates on Mercury for you today.


I love this quote from Steve Jobs for today’s forecast: “Do not let the noise of other’s opinions drown out your own inner voice. Have the courage to follow your heart and your intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become.”


Mercury and Venus will continue to work their way in close tandem through Capricorn until mid January. What is most interesting about these two as they move through Capricorn (and Aquarius too), is that they will be under the control of Saturn and Mars.


To add to the complexity of this transit, they will also be closely conjunct when they receive an exact aspect from Rahu early in the morning (pst) on January 14. Rahu represents tremendous desire and the combination of the Mars/Saturn exchange can be fueled by Rahu and lead to potential frustration. Venus and Mercury will be influenced by every malefic planet most significantly starting early morning January 13 through the morning of January 15. Mark your calendar in bold with BREATHE on these dates!


So how do these transits potentially influence us? Excess vata, and some pitta will prevail during mid-January. Particularly if you are naturally prone to Vata disturbances and you are (sidereal) Taurus, Gemini, Virgo or LIbra rising. Or, if you have key planets like Sun, Moon or your lagna close to the 18-22 degree range of Virgo, Capricorn, or Taurus (like I do!). NOW is a good time now to start taking measures reduce your vata!


Pranayama and yoga is excellent for Vata disturbances. Dr. Lad has an amazing pranayama video on the Ayurvedic Institute site – highly recommend! I will be revisiting this one myself in the next week! Or take a hike, go swimming, walk on the beach. Whatever you can do to remain grounded during this short time period.


For those who find mantras to be very calming, you can chant the traditional mantra for Mercury “Aum Bum Budhaya Namah” on Wednesdays or you can change a mantra to Vishnu, “Aum Namo Narayanaya”. If you are not sure about pronunciation just copy and paste these mantras in to youtube and you will find many wonderful audio recordings.


At the same time Sun will be straddling the gap between Pisces and Capricorn and very weak January 13-15. All of these transits combined point to the fact that it is not a great time to make important or life changes decisions like starting a new business or learning how to base jump.


Finally, Moon is debilitated early afternoon January 15 through January 17 and with Saturn. Another period to mark on your calendar with BREATHE. 🙂 Sleep may be disturbed during this time — another day to eat a vata reducing diet and spend some time grounding yourself before sleep.


Communication, business matters, education and relationships in general may feel the stress of the current Mars, Saturn exchange (check my post about this exchange a few days ago) until Mercury, Venus and Sun finally make their way through Capricorn and Aquarius. More to come on this as we have a Mercury retrograde phase coming soon.


But for now it is best to not allow the noise of other people (or planets!) drown out your own inner voice! Trust your heart and your intuition. And wear some green on Wednesdays!


Digital art: Mercury microphone mandala — Pamela McDonough


www.yantramandala.com


schedule a reading with Pamela here

The good news is that Venus
(Shukra) the planet of love, beauty, art and procreation has finally
left its sign of debilitation (Virgo/Kanya) and has moved into its own
sign of Libra (Thula) for the next three weeks. 

This article shares some important upcoming influences to Venus in the next three weeks.

While Venus is transiting Libra
there will be some icnteresting planetary interactions along with the
entanglement of Venus in the Solar eclipse on October 23rd. There will
also be a meeting between Venus, the Sun and the servant, Saturn. 

Shortly after the Solar
eclipse,Venus will meet the Sun on October 25. Whenever a planet
transits close the Sun it is almost like an eclipse of the transiting
planet. 

Think about it like this; if
you were looking at the Sun in the day sky and there was a planet next
to it, which one would you see shining brightly? 

The Sun! It is so big and bright that you are not be able see anything that comes close to it. 

The various meanings and things
that Venus symbolizes along with the indications of the sign Libra
(procreation, trade, relationships) will not be strongly supported
during the eclipse and the conjunction with the Sun.

Once Venus moves past the Sun
it will still remain in a very close relationship with the Sun through
the first week of November. At the same time Venus will be hemmed in
between the debilitated Sun and exalted Saturn while in Libra. This is a
very interesting configuration. 

This places the planet of love
and relationships in the middle of these two planetary enemies. It may
have us considering where the balance is in our personal relationships.
Or we may seek a new-found humility as we interact with those we love.

Broadly, this transit also may
raise issues around justice in terms of the distribution of wealth,
opportunities, and privileges (particularly as it relates to
relationships) within any given society.

Venus finally breaks free from this Sun/Saturn sandwich on November 12 after a meeting with Saturn in early Scorpio.

Between the eclipse and the
interactions of the Venus with Sun and Saturn this would suggest that
important issues and decisions related to Venus and Libra (also at it
relates specifically to your chart, may best be delayed until
mid-November).

Thank you so much for taking time to read my blog!

You can schedule a reading with me here to better understand how this important transit may affect your life experience.

Namaste,

Pamela

www.yantramandala.com

~ Painting by Josephine Wall