LOVE/PEACE/HARMONY LP4
- Details
- Created on Monday, 18 January 2016 15:31
- Written by Marian Moore
Marian @ Krysan
THE WELLBEING CONSULTANCY
Planting Golden Seeds in Northumberland, Tyne & Wear, and Durham
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LEARNING PACKAGE 4 of 5
MODULES 16 - 20
L O V E / P E A C E / H A R M O N Y
Dear Friends
WELCOME TO MY WORLD
OF STORYTELLING
The audience I had in mind when compiling this Learning Package was a group of people living in a hospital ward or studying with others out in the community. Today, I also extend a welcome to everyone who may be home alone. The main aim is to get people thinking about issues that affect their lives.
The five-minute storytelling technique is used to orientate each module, this being followed by a conversation around a related question re a self-improvement or self-healing strategy.
The Guru in the Room idea is also introduced. Here, I recommend using a CD, The Happiness Training Plan by Miriam Akhtar and Dr Chris Johnstone. This is available from Amazon. Alternatively, the short TED-Ed videos are well-worth looking at. But, the choice is yours.
It is as well to note that the package is designed with simplicity of use in mind. It is not meant to be set in stone but rather leaves the door wide open for facilitators and the audience to bring their own creativity and natural flair to this learning experience.
The course design is based on my own experience as a teacher/consultant during the 1970/80s, a time of great change in educational philosophy. The course content is from my extensive writings on the World Wide Web over a seven year period (2008 to now).
If necessary, each of the five modules in LP4 will stand alone, or even mix and match with the contents of the existing Learning Packages and others yet to be imagined. This is a free resource and you are invited to try it for size. It would be appreciated if you were to get in touch with me to say how you get on. My contact details are at the end of the page.
Enjoy: learning can and should be fun.
TARGET AUDIENCE:
You, me and us
TOTAL CONTACT TIME:
5 x 1 hr = 5 hrs (tea & cake included)
COURSE FACILITATOR:
Anyone who has a heart.
RESOURCES:
www.krysan.org links plus anything else that comes to hand, eg newspaper article, book, video
PHILOSOPHY:
Never tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do and they will surprise you with their ingenuity.
L O V E / P E A C E / H A R M O N Y
AN OVERVIEW OF
MODULES 16 - 20
MODULE 16
THEME | WONDERFUL LIVES
http://www.krysan.org/index.php/everybodys-business
Ten years ago, I set about quietly internalising lessons learnt from the study of wellbeing and started out on a journey of will that has taken me into a new life. This shift was no mean feat for a woman who was once completely overwhelmed by the pain of living, frozen-fast and unreachable in an alternative reality for twelve years. MM
MODULE 17
THEME | I AM WHAT I AM
http://www.krysan.org/index.php/the-elephant-in-the-room
All I can tell you with any certainty is that for twelve years (1989 - 2001), I was very afraid, often too afraid to speak. But, thanks (some would say) to the 'plasticity of the human brain' to recover its function, I was fortunate. Serious mental illness was not to prove a life-time affliction. God moves in a mysterious way ... MM
MODULE 18
THEME | GOLDEN MOMENTS
http://www.krysan.org/index.php/positive-psychology-164
An astute observer of human nature in our time, psychiatrist Alice Miller, understands the opposite of depression not to be gaiety [or happiness] but vitality. How full of vitality are we these days? And how full of vitality are our institutions of worship, education, politics, economics? MM
MODULE 19
THEME | CORDON BLEU
http://www.krysan.org/index.php/imagination
Cordon bleu thinking is required here and remember, no shirking. Stay alert; be aware. We are indeed entering the Never, Never Land of unchartered territory and I really do want all of us to return to real life unscathed, but not unchanged. Everything you can imagine is real. Hang on tight. MM
MODULE 20
THEME | BE THE CHANGE
http://www.krysan.org/index.php/truth
"There are only two ways to live your life: one is as though nothing is a miracle; the other is as though everything is a miracle." ALBERT EINSTEIN
MODULE 16
Theme | WONDERFUL LIVES | Created on Monday, 26 March 2012
WELCOME TO PEACE, LOVE, HARMONY
TIME TO LISTEN | 5-minute reading
Ten years ago, I set about quietly internalising lessons learnt from the study of wellbeing and started out on a journey of will that has taken me into a new life. This shift was no mean feat for a woman who was once completely overwhelmed by the pain of living, frozen-fast and unreachable in an alternative reality for twelve years. MM
EVERYBODY'S BUSINESS
A new millennium. A eureka moment.
A life saved.
With a book under my arm, and Qwerty at my fingertips, I set about reshaping my life by bringing order where there had been chaos, and attempting to make sense out of heartbreak and tragedy. A career as a storyteller was first just an idea, next imagined and then gradually turned into a reality. By 2008, my creation of the mind had morphed seamlessly into an emotional wellbeing business, and sharing thoughts, feelings, theories and facts has now become a way of life. No Power Point - no flip chart - no whiteboard - just a traditional storyteller using traditional skills. And so, lessons learnt over a life-time are handed on to others. Default to joy.
Think, wellbeing
Think, laughter
Exposure to the life-story genre has proved especially apt for young people setting out on a career in health and social care, be this as medical doctors, social workers, or mental health nurses. Even journalists in training and their editors have come onto my radar. That I have been there and got the T-shirt is something that also has currency for mental health services looking outside the box in a search for new models of care. At long last, a determined hunt is on for treatments that work towards recovery, rather than against it; and so transformation of our beloved (but expensive) National Health Service is under-way. As systems shudder and shift, critical friends are needed as never before. Take heart ...
Think, recovery.
Think, transformation.
'Innovation' has become the latest buzz word throughout the land. As someone with a vested interest in creative ageing (and a job to do), shortly I'll be exploring the related notion of 'ageing with vitality' on this website. As always, good communication is key. Helped along with a nudge here and there, there will surely come a tipping point and the distress (and loss) caused by ageist attitudes will belong to the past, to less-enlightened times. Significantly, investment in new Memory Protection Services is high on the agenda locally and nationally. Likewise, finding extra funding for dementia research has become a priority. Even the British Prime Minister has got himself involved.
Care. This is everybody's business. (400 words)
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AFFIRMATION
As we move along the recovery path more light comes into our life in the form of choice, possibilities, emotions, purpose, value and direction. Gradually we embrace again all these wonderful qualities lost to illness as we emerge out of our shadows into our own light.
TIME TO TALK | 10 minute conversation (+ 10)
Can people decide to be happy? What makes you happy? How can we spread a bit of happiness?
GURU IN THE ROOM | 15 minutes presentation (+ 15)
Happiness Training Plan CD ... TED-Ed Video ... Action for Happiness Website ... You, yourself?
OPTIONAL/PRIVATE STUDY | 30 minutes webpage (+ 30)
http://www.krysan.org/index.php/everybodys-business
MODULE 17
THEME | I AM WHAT I AM | Created on Sunday, 20 November 2011
WELCOME TO PEACE, LOVE, HARMONY
TIME TO LISTEN | 5-minute reading (+5)
All I can tell you with any certainty is that for twelve years (1989 - 2001), I was very afraid, often too afraid to speak. But, thanks (some would say) to the 'plasticity of the human brain' to recover its function, I was fortunate. Serious mental illness was not to prove a life-time affliction. God moves in a mysterious way ... MM
A SOUL JOURNEY
I've travelled many roads since 2001. Currently, I'm applying myself to an investigation of the mind using the bio-psycho-social model of care. But, it has to be said that the last piece of the jigsaw - the one largely ignored by science and scientists - relates to the spiritual. When I finally got my tattered, bruised and somewhat shrunken brain round that - to me - now rather obvious fact, I could get on with my life.
I see the active ingredient in my soul journey as love - pure and simple. Like it or not, love is the over-arching concept without which the current model of care simply does not work - not for me. It leaves me bereft. Is that what you want? I think not. Add a liberal sprinkling of compassion to the mix and maybe a drop or two of the milk of human kindness and then we might be getting somewhere.
Transformation doesn't happen in a vacuum.
It was a long haul to get me to my destination, that is to the point where I could take back the power and reconfigure my life. In the interim, my fear of the unknown has gradually faded away. I report back to anyone even half interested that fear has been replaced by awe and wonder. It is this amazing journey (and its unintended consequences) that I now explore on occasions such as this.
In a nutshell.
Having been given a gentle nudge by a three-year old exactly ten years ago, I was put in a good position to revert back to my emotional default setting of joy - and there I have remained. As Nature intended.
END OF TALE
Not quite - it's time to talk.
The elephant in the room is still there and pops up in the most unlikely places. But, now it doesn't matter to me - not one iota. And, truth be told it never did phase the members of my family as much as one might suppose. In the years of my existential absence, they simply got on with their lives. Births, deaths and marriages happened (as they do in all families over time). Tears of joy and of sadness there were aplenty - but that's a private matter and must remain so ...
On my travels around the United Kingdom as an emotional wellbeing consultant, I have discovered generations of young (and not so young) people increasingly more accommodating of difference - of any kind. They too care about equality and human rights for all. What's more they are prepared to weigh and reflect on the narrative evidence of folk like me and are careful, even protective of our stories. (450 words)
___________________________
AFFIRMATION
As we move along the recovery path more light comes into our life in the form of choice, possibilities, emotions, purpose, value and direction. Gradually we embrace again all these wonderful qualities lost to illness as we emerge out of our shadows into our own light.
TIME TO TALK | 10 minute conversation (+ 10)
Can people decide to be happy? What makes you happy? How can we spread a bit of happiness?
GURU IN THE ROOM | 15 minutes (+ 15)
Happiness Training Plan CD ... TED-Ed Video ... Action for Happiness Website ... You, yourself?
___________________________
OPTIONAL/PRIVATE STUDY | 30 minutes (+ 30)
http://www.krysan.org/index.php/the-elephant-in-the-room
MODULE 18
THEME | GOLDEN MOMENTS | Created on Saturday, 04 February 2012
WELCOME TO MY WORLD
TIME TO LISTEN | 5-minute reading (+ 5)
An astute observer of human nature in our time, psychiatrist Alice Miller, understands the opposite of depression not to be gaiety [or happiness] but vitality. How full of vitality are we these days? And how full of vitality are our institutions of worship, education, politics, economics? And, health ...? MM
CHILDREN OF GOD
Now, I turn for inspiration to the psychiatrist Alice Miller who has worked for over twenty years with severely depressed youth. She speaks of children, 'not as creatures to manipulate or to change, but as messengers from a world we once deeply knew, but we have long since forgotten'. With good reason, she asks: 'What would happen if all parents and all of society treated our children as if they were children of God?'
What, indeed?
As a teacher of firm-convictions born of long-experience, the initial attraction of Miriam Akhtar's brand of positive psychology was through her work with young people and her conviction (matching mine) that by focusing on the positive, you can also alleviate the negative. Here's what Miriam has to say about one of her most memorable experiences of working with the young,
"... I ran a pilot of positive psychology for vulnerable adolescents with alcohol problems. They drank to escape from their problems, as a short cut to get happy and as a quick release from the stress they felt. These young people lacked stability in their lives - most were in temporary accommodation, estranged from their families, living in hostels or 'sofa' surfing." AKHTAR, 2011
You'll have got the picture. These people of tender years were dealing with abuse, violence, drugs, crime, family breakdown, ill-health, bereavement, literacy and financial difficulties. Virtually all had dropped out of education, some were young offenders with tags on their ankles and there was one pregnant teenager.
Golden Moments.
'Instead of taking the approach of focusing on their alcohol problems as per the normal 'disease model' treatment, those issues were put to one side with only one of the 16 hours of the programme directly addressing their binge-drinking. Instead, the course concentrated on wellbeing, resilience, meditation, strengths, positive relationships, goal-setting and the body-mind connection." AKHTAR, 2011
Miriam further reports that, as the weeks went by, the members of the group started feeling better and began to flourish. Indeed, there was a transformation, 'the most exciting side-effect of the focus on wellbeing was that drinking dropped dramatically - by two-thirds - with some giving up alcohol altogether'.
She says, "Incidentally, the pregnant teenager, who was so pessimistic that her key worker described her as 'almost afraid to think of what good can happen for fear of what bad might happen', went on to give birth to a baby daughter and named her ... Faith." AKHTAR, 2011
And so, positive psychology turned out to be a spectacularly successful approach. (450 words)
___________________________
AFFIRMATION:
As we move along the recovery path more light comes into our life in the form of choice, possibilities, emotions, purpose, value and direction. Gradually we embrace again all these wonderful qualities lost to illness as we emerge out of our shadows into our own light.
TIME TO TALK: 10 minute conversation (+ 10)
Have you experienced an act of kindness recently? How did this make you feel? Have you heard of the Feel Good Factor? How can we help it to spread?
___________________________
GURU IN THE ROOM: 15 minute presentation (+ 15)
Happiness Training Plan ... TED-Ed ... Action for Happiness ... You, yourself?
___________________________
OPTIONAL: Private study 30 minutes (+ 30)
http://www.krysan.org/index.php/positive-psychology-16
MODULE 19
THEME | CORDON BLEU | Created on Friday, 20 April 2012
WELCOME TO LOVE, PEACE, HARMONY
TIME TO LISTEN | 5-minute reading (5 +)
Cordon bleu thinking is required here and remember, no shirking. Stay alert; be aware. We are indeed entering the Never, Never Land of unchartered territory and I really do want all of us to return to real life unscathed, but not unchanged. MM
... imagination
I present evidence now of a life (mine) fuelled by imagination, creativity and epiphany moments. The integration of these three aspects of mind can result in mega shifts in awareness which reveal - in a moment of clarity - the solution to a difficult problem or life situation.
Right time. When in employment as a senior teacher twenty-five years ago, I became fixated on introducing 'education for enterprise' into the classroom. This was when 'chalk and talk' was the norm and 'experiential learning' was an unknown quantity.
A new and more forgiving philosophy welcomed in the modular curriculum and coursework, this together with personalised learning and enterprise education. Open-minded teachers everywhere experimented with new technology and learned fast, this alongside a generation of young people who loved every minute of it.
My lasting memories are of co-operation, enthusiasm and energy. Learning should be fun - and it was. And so, we witnessed a revolution in educational thought, birthed from grass-roots thinking at chalk-face level. Transformation in schools occurred in tandem with unprecedented economic and technological change and - as an insider - I'm still unsure which came first. Was it the chicken or the egg?
And, the world didn't collapse. Advances were incorporated into teacher training; everything and everybody shifted; and education became everybody's business. Could it happen today? Of course it could. People haven't changed, but the economy and technology certainly have.
Right place. When I became self-employed as an emotional wellbeing consultant four years ago, I became fixated on how best to spread the notion of happiness and wellbeing in a demoralised world ravaged by materialism. I considered all the angles, including:
How to turn my idea into a business not simply for profit.
How to go through a business start-up on a shoestring?
How to find a value-for-money web designer within my budget?
How to acquire skills good enough to administer the site myself?
Every challenge has been met with imagination and creativity. As always, courage and willpower and (this time round) Dell computers are in evidence. As in days of yore, there is much burning of midnight oil and I have found working from home an absolute joy. The result is that I have a successful business and a significant presence on the web. Everything is as it should be; everything 'good enough' - for me.
Right idea. When I became a governor of a mental health trust a little over a year ago, I became fixated on the notion of recovery - why some people do and some people don't. This has meant training to be a service user researcher at a northern university, learning new skills and refining old ones. I also help in the spreading of good news about positive psychology, seeing this as having much to offer to those dealing with emotional difficulties - patients, carers, and staff.
People at many levels and of many political persuasions are orientated towards the transformation of health care and this is ongoing. Challenges to the status quo come from all directions - new ones every day. To my way of thinking a 'good enough solution' may be something we will have to accept - for now. Thereafter, I foresee imagination and creativity as holding the key to the future wellbeing of our beloved NHS and of the country.
Epiphanies welcome ... apply within ... (550 words)
______________________
AFFIRMATION:
As we move along the recovery path more light comes into our life in the form of choice, possibilities, emotions, purpose, value and direction. Gradually we embrace again all these wonderful qualities lost to illness as we emerge out of our shadows into our own light.
TIME TO TALK: 10 minutes conversation (+ 10)
Have you experienced an act of kindness recently? How did this make you feel? Have you heard of the Feel Good Factor? How can we help it to spread?
GURU IN THE ROOM: 15 minute presentation (+15)
Happiness Training Plan? ... TED-Ed video? ... Action for Happiness website ...? You, yourself?
______________________
OPTIONAL: 30 minutes private study (+ 30)
http://www.krysan.org/index.php/imagination
MODULE 20
THEME | BE THE CHANGE | Created on Tuesday, 21 August 2012
WELCOME TO LOVE, PEACE, HARMONY
TIME TO LISTEN | 5-minute reading (+ 5)
"There are only two ways to live your life: one is as though nothing is a miracle; the other is as though everything is a miracle." ALBERT EINSTEIN
A GIFT OF GRACE
Here is a story about a gift of grace — this set in a cold prison cell in Toledo, Spain in 1578.
Richard Lang writes: "I am thinking of St. John of the Cross, one of the greatest of Christian mystics, alone in prison in Toledo, Spain in 1578, unjustly condemned. He is weak from illness, hungry, suffering from frostbite. His cell, about nine feet by five, had previously been a lavatory for an adjoining guest room and has only a tiny hole, high up in the wall, to give light. His bed is a board on the floor with two old blankets.
"Clothed only in the tunic of his habit and with only his breviary to read, he is feeling profoundly alone. He knows not how long he will be incarcerated. Perhaps he will die there. I imagine him visited by the demons of hopelessness and despair, of anger and hurt. Another dark night of his soul. Living mostly on only bread and water, subjected to public lashings, for the first six months he hasn’t been allowed to wash or change his clothes.
"Most of us have not been in such dire circumstances, but perhaps we can imagine his condition. Yet St. John of the Cross, embracing his aloneness, facing his abandonment by the world, stumbled yet again upon God. God who is nothing, God who is No-thing, God who is totally Other yet more ourselves than our blood – this Mystery he discovers again, now, alive within the very centre of his soul.
"Stripped of everything he finds that, wonder upon wonder, he is not stripped of God. Emptied of all he had come to rely on, deprived of contact with his friends, he again finds his cup overflowing. These prison walls do not contain him. This moment is a gift from God, a blessing from his innermost nature. Being here is being in just the right place for now. Gratitude flows.
"During this period of imprisonment St. John of the Cross wrote some of the greatest lyric stanzas in Spanish literature, among them a major portion of The Spiritual Canticle.
"What happened next? In August of 1578 St. John of the Cross made a dramatic escape from the prison. He went on to write The Dark Night of the Soul and The Ascent of Mount Carmel.
"I don’t think we really value our Source until we discover how desperately in need we are of our Source and Centre and Resource."
Interview with Douglas Harding, His Life and Philosophy. (450 words)
______________________
AFFIRMATION:
As we move along the recovery path more light comes into our life in the form of choice, possibilities, emotions, purpose, value and direction. Gradually we embrace again all these wonderful qualities lost to illness as we emerge out of our shadows into our own light.
TIME TO TALK: 10 minutes conversation (+ 10)
Can people decide to be happy? What makes you happy? How can we spread a bit of happiness?
GURU IN THE ROOM: 15 minute presentation (+15)
Happiness Training Plan? ... TED-Ed video? ... Action for Happiness website ...? You, yourself?
______________________
OPTIONAL/PRIVATE STUDY
http://www.krysan.org/index.php/truth
LOVE, PEACE, HARMONY
LEARNING RESOURCES
GURU IN THE ROOM
*The Happiness Training Plan is a self-help programme with simple, practical steps to help you to greater happiness. The strategies are based on scientific research and draw on the latest findings of positive psychology, the science of happiness.
The CD describes 12 strategies, each taking about five minutes to listen to. The strategies are:
1 Express Gratitude
2 Use Your Strengths
3 Live With Purpose
4 Find Your Power
5 Get Physical
6 The Happiness Diet
7 Learning Optimism
8 Bounce-back-ability
9 Improving Relationships
10 Spiritual Happiness
11 Rest & Renewal
12 The Fun Factor
This self-help audio CD is available either through Amazon or amazon or through our website (either as a CD or as a download) at www.happinesstrainingplan.com
Faith Guides Our Journey
“If we believe that tomorrow will be better, we can bear a hardship today.” ― Thich Nat Hanh
Sharing and expressing the same core beliefs as others brings with it a fellowship of the heart, and this bond of companionship makes our life journey more rewarding and enjoyable. Our spiritual growth is amplified when we connect to others in a group that shares our goals.
This is the Indian concept of Satsang, which refers to people coming together based upon a shared truth to uplift and transform themselves. Finding and participating in such groups gives you more than strength and companionship; it provides an expanded version of your own spiritual self.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Thanks go to all who contributed their love, peace and harmony to this module, particularly my friends Dr Janis Smith, Miriam Akhtar and Richard Lang.
ALSO thanks to my friend Lorraine Nicholson
for the beautiful inspiration and, of course, the affirmation
re emerging into the light!
Marian Moore
E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Twitter: @krysan1
(c) Open Learn @ krysan.org
January 2016