The Emotion Machine

Watching Desire While Correcting Bad Habits

No one is perfect. We could all do some good by doing a little more of this and a little less of that. That is why personal development is a never-ending process.

If you want to change a behavior you could always go see a Cognitive-Behavioral Therapist. But that can be an expensive option, and most people don’t have severe behavior disorders like what you may find in some cases of post-traumatic stress disorder, builimia nervosa, OCD, clinical depression, autism, and schizophrenia (those who would most warrant a visit to a professional therapist).

But just because we don’t have a mental illness doesn’t mean we shouldn’t intend on improving our habits. And why not become a better person everyday?

This is why I constantly recommend people learn the art of mindfulness; just a couple weeks ago I wrote an article that discusses how to apply mindfulness of both body and mind during everyday chores like showering, cleaning, and eating/cooking. Once you develop the fundamentals to mindfulness you can apply your practice to almost anything.

Over time it is not uncommon to notice that when you apply mindfulness to an activity you are also changing the way you react and interact with it – psychologists could call this a certain kind of observer effect.

Usually when we raise awareness on an issue (whether it is a personal or even political one) we become more motivated to correct it.

In the same way we can correct bad habits by becoming more aware of them, especially as they happen. In many ways this is the cornerstone and purpose of Right Mindfulness, as the Buddha lays out in his Noble Eightfold Path.

Start by choosing a bad habit of yours. Some of the most common habits people wish to correct are:

1. Cigarette smoking
2. Unhealthy eating
3. Alcohol and drugs
4. Short temper
5. Wasteful spending
6. Cheating
7. Nail biting
8. Talking on phone while driving
9. Procrastination (actively choosing to put off work in order to do something else)
10. Sleeping late

Try to recognize the desire to do these bad habits when it arises.

At first, you will probably miss it – so just be mindful of your mental and physical state while you are actually performing the bad habit.

What type of satisfaction do you get? Is it long lasting or short lasting? Do you feel good after you have completed the act? Or is there a component of guilt or shame to it?

These types of observations will better prepare you to be mindful of the whole process of your actions. Once you spot the initial arising of desire, then you are put in a position to make a change.

For an example: let’s pretend you like to enjoy a cigarette after you eat a meal. You are already going to have a good clue as to when the desire to smoke a cigarette will arise. But after you finish your meal don’t go right towards a cigarette. Just sit there and watch how your body and mind react to the situation. Is it really that urgent to have a cigarette, or can it wait?

You may continue sitting and find that you actually don’t want a cigarette. Your awareness of your situation may have already somewhat dissipated that “autopilot-like reflex” to smoke after every meal. Of course it will take much practice before you actually instill this behavior into your psyche.

It is more likely that your desire to smoke will eventually arise, especially if it is a bad habit you have had for years. But instead of reacting to it as if it were an impulse – just sit there and watch desire.

Watch how your body and mind try to convince you that you need a cigarette.

The longer you can suspend the action – and sustain your attention on desire itself – the more you will come to know about how you are motivated to do certain behaviors. This can become very useful knowledge when you want to quit bad habits and even pick up good ones.

What does desire feel like? Does it slowly intensify overtime until you feel like you can’t bare it any longer? Or does the feeling pulsate? Perhaps one moment you really want a cigarette, but as you wait longer the feeling seems to dissipate and you can go on without one.

Keep watching.

Does the desire then re-arise even stronger? Or does it begin to mellow out?

While you watch this feeling of desire remain mindful of the thoughts in your head as well. Are they trying to persuade you that this is a stupid idea, or that you should just smoke anyway? Ask yourself, “Do I really want to change this behavior? Do I have enough good reasons to quit? Do I have the strength of will to do it?” Don’t let your ego bend your will. Keep the mind sharp. Ask the right questions, and try your best to suspend action and sustain attention towards this process of desire.

If you know in your heart that you need to change this detrimental habit then put the energy into being mindful of desire as often as you can.

Only by being mindful of your body and mind can you truly know yourself and what motivates your actions. Know the types of situations that trigger the bad habit. And know desire – its impermanence – and the tricks it tries in order to feed the ego.

My best advice is to watch desire whenever you can. Dissect it like a scientist. Break it up into parts. Watch how it changes. Watch how it affects both the body and mind. And most importantly, watch how it comes and goes. Whether you decide to continue doing the bad habit or not – desire almost certainly never lasts forever. Be especially mindful of that.

Raising Taxes On Drug Addicts: A Cigarette Hypocrisy In America

Scientists already know that nicotine is one of the most addictive drugs next to heroin. Those who are dependent on cigarettes on a daily basis are at risk of being labeled drug addicts. But how easy is it to tell the difference between drug addiction and choice of habit? And what is our obligation as a society to help those who are addicted and prevent others from getting hooked?

It isn’t just that smoking cigarettes is addictive; it is deadly too. And when we start seeing loved ones dying early due to lung cancer then the issue becomes more and more urgent to address.

There is, however, a distinct hypocrisy in how the U.S. government is trying to manipulate others to quit smoking.

On one side of the coin the government knows and propagates much information on the hazards of smoking cigarettes through different ad campaigns, as well legislation that requires cigarette companies to print warning labels on every pack. They recognize it as both a highly physical and psychological addiction, and rightfully so.

Many smokers understand that smoking is bad yet they still can’t quit. But what then does the government do to deter people from this nasty habit?

One popular choice is to raise taxes. President Obama signed a law earlier this year to raise taxes from 39 cents to $1.01 per pack of cigarettes and from 19.5 cents to 50 cents per pound for chewing tobacco, making it the single largest cigarette tax hike in our history. But how effective is this strategy and in what ways does it have unintended consequences?

For many in our country, cigarettes are not felt to be a luxury but a necessity. In economic terms, we would say cigarettes have a low elasticity in demand, meaning individuals are usually willing to pay more for the same quantity. We know full well how difficult cigarette withdrawals can be, we know how addictive nicotine is, yet government puts individuals in a situation where they are forced to fork more money out of their pockets to sustain their addiction. Some of these people are already experiencing difficult financial troubles. Is this right?

Raising taxes on cigarettes does more harm than good. Sure, some may grow the courage to quit. In fact, according to the Washington Post, 17.5% of New Yorkers quit after the first tax increase and ad campaign in 2006, but it doesn’t distinguish which was actually more effective: the tax increase or the ad campaign?

We can’t necessarily trust government pseudoscience on whether or not tax increases actually lower smoking rates. But even if tax increases do help some to kick the habit, the majority of smokers are being taken advantage of. It is even worse for those who are addicted the hardest.

This is no way to help people.

I would like to see society focus more on helping others through education rather than tax coercion. This means respecting others free will and free choice, but still looking out for their best interests.

To start, I appreciate the efforts of both profit and non-profit ad campaigns, education programs, and treatment facilities that help those who are willing to seek it.

But what about those who aren’t yet willing to seek help but may in fact need it? To what extent do we have the right to intervene on someone’s personal habits?

We then find ourselves back at the original question posed earlier: To what extent are individuals smoking by their own free choice, and to what extent do they need to be saved from themselves? What right do we have to intervene? And how much intervention is too much if we want to continue living in a free society?

These are the types of questions that we need to ask ourselves as a society. The answers will have major implications on future government policy – not just with cigarette smoking – but other health risks such as poor eating habits and the obesity epidemic.

How helpful is government force in correcting these problems while still respecting others’ free choice?

Or are there more effective (and less harmful) ways we can move society to a better state of health?

U.S. Trend Forecaster Gerald Celente Predicts Rise Of Third Political Party

Gerald Celente, director of the Trends Research Institute, says the second American Revolution has already begun and it could result in the formation of a “Progressive Libertarian” party.

While the media tries to downplay the latest protests as strictly attributed to right wing radicals, Celente says:

“This has nothing to do with right and left. This has to do with people that are losing their homes, losing their jobs, seeing government sell them out and charge them for bailing out the ‘too big to fails,’ while they are losing everything. It is a government out-of-control, while people are losing control of their lives and their futures.”

Celente, who is a self-proclaimed political atheist, says President Obama’s Bush-like policies are giving Americans more and more reasons to be critical of government.

According to Celente, there is a false choice between Republican and Democrat candidates, “It is a two-headed, one party system” – and Americans are beginning to see through the lies on both sides of the aisle.

“That is what this second American revolution is about. It is bigger than libertarianism as we see it, we are forecasting a new third party by 2012. We are calling it – for a lack of a better name – Progressive Libertarian.

Progressive in terms of issues such as food safety, education, health, and the environment. And Libertarian in the truest sense of the constitution. You know – not having foreign entanglement, The Federal Reserve… and the issue of printing money.”

Celente is no Nostradamus. He is better. The Washington Times has claimed, “Celente’s accurate forecasts include the 1987 stock market crash, the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the 1997 Asian currency crash and the 2007 subprime mortgage scandal.” Here on Celente’s site you can find a bigger list of the major trends he claims to have predicted.

What I find most interesting about Celente’s name for this new third party is how contradictory it seems in light of our current political environment.

In the states, the “Progressive” movement seems (in many ways) in opposition with the “Libertarian” one. But perhaps it is this growing disdain for government corruption that is uniting these two philosophies, and in many ways reuniting our country.

And perhaps it is also true that Americans from all over are beginning to think a little further outside-of-the-box when it comes to political issues. Certainly in order for there to be a true and just democratic process in this country then we need to recognize ideological forces outside of just the Republican-Democrat continuum (which seems to be rather intellectually bankrupt).

What I would like to see is individuals not clinging dogmatically to any collectivist ideas but instead to evaluate their positions from an independent perspective. Let’s not forget what George Washington had warned us about political parties in his Farewell Address on September 17, 1796:

“However [political parties] may now and then answer popular ends, they are likely in the course of time and things, to become potent engines, by which cunning, ambitious, and unprincipled men will be enabled to subvert the power of the people and to usurp for themselves the reins of government, destroying afterwards the very engines which have lifted them to unjust dominion.”

Better Health In America: Moving Towards A Plant-Based Diet

The following information is based on a lecture at Binghamton University on September 17th, 2009 by physician and nutrition expert Dr. Michael Greger. He has been published in several academic journals and is the author of two books titled, “Bird Flu: A Virus Of Our Own Hatching,” and, “Carbophobia: The Scary Truth About America’s Low-carb Craze.”

Over the past year Dr. Greger has paid close attention to recent findings in diet and nutrition and was kind enough to share some of these important findings and insights with Binghamton students and faculty members. The theme of his talk was “Optimum Nutrition 2009,” and focuses on a switch towards a more plant-based diet for Americans.

You can read more about Dr. Greger at his official website. (Also, be sure to attend one of his events if he comes to a place near you, as he is an internationally recognized public speaker and an incredibly fun guy to be around).

1. AMERICANS CONSUME TOO MUCH ANIMAL PROTEIN

One of Greger’s biggest critiques on the current eating habits of Americans is that we eat too much animal protein. Why is this a bad thing? Because an increase in animal protein intake correlates with higher cholesterol, higher blood pressure, and a greater risk of heart disease – one of the top killers in America next to cancer.

Over consumption of red meats like beef can have an especially detrimental effect on our cholesterol levels and overall health. One recent study showed that when pregnant women consumed more beef that it negatively affected the sexual development of males in the womb.

Solution: According to Dr. Greger, scientific evidence suggests that the healthiest way to eat is a vitamin-rich diet of whole plant foods. For optimum nutrition, Greger suggests that we include an array of whole grains, beans, nuts, seeds, fruit, and as many vegetables as you can eat, but also specifically dark greeny leafy vegetables, berries, and green (or white) tea.

One of the best reasons to switch to a plant foods diet is that most meals will be low in calories (especially when compared to meals with animal meat), but at the same time more nutritious in vitamins and minerals. We eat less, but still replenish our bodily functions and energize our bodies.

On a side note, many may worry that a switch to a more plant-based diet may result in a lack of protein, but many nuts and vegetables provide plenty so that a dieter should not have to resort to protein supplements.

2. AMERICANS DON’T EAT THE RIGHT VEGETABLES (IN THE FIGHT AGAINST CANCER)

Even when Americans do eat their veggies they still aren’t making the best choices. Among the most popular plants consumed in the west – tomatoes, lettuce, potatoes, and spinach – none of these are particularly good at fighting cancer as other alternatives in eastern countries. Again, perhaps these eating habits shed some light on why cancer (and other medical illnesses) is growing so prevalent in the United States.

Solution: Vegetables that have shown to be better cancer fighters are cabbage, soy, ginger, and umbelliferous vegetables such as carrots, celery, cilantro, parsley and parsnip. The number one rated fighter against cancer was garlic.

3. AMERICANS TOO OFTEN CHOOSE CONVENIENCE OVER CONSCIOUS-EATING

It is far easier for a busy mother or college student to go to a fast food restaurant – or resort to some other convenient fatty food – than to prepare a healthy meal. This is part of a growing problem. It isn’t that Americans don’t understand what constitutes good eating, only that we have become complacent in continuing our bad habits.

Solution: If we want to change our diet then we need to become more aware of how we choose our meals when we choose them. It requires our conscious effort. Our diets already fluctuate subtly from week-to-week, but by shedding a greater awareness on what we eat as we eat it we can begin to take greater control over our diet, and hopefully move it in a more positive direction.

What I call “conscious eating” includes looking into the nutritional facts of what we are consuming on a day-to-day basis, making incremental changes over time, and maintaining the will to eat and live healthier.

4. IMPORTANT MICRONUTRIENTS TO PAY ATTENTION TO

Dr. Greger also recommends these important micronutrients (some of whose needs can be fulfilled in our food and others which may require supplements).

A. Vitamin B12 (at least 2000μg each week – ideally as a chewable, sublingual, or liquid supplement).

B. Omega-3 Fatty Acids (250mg daily of algae-derived DHA).

C. Vitamin D (most of which can be absorbed by the sun during summer months, but may require a 4,000 IU supplement during the winter).

D. Calcium (most greens are rich in calcium except spinach, chard, and beet greens, recommended 600mg daily).

E. Iodine (for those who don’t eat seaweed or iodized salt, a 150μg daily supplement should be sufficient).

F. Iron (especially for menstruating women but men should check for an iron overload disease before any attempt to increase intake).

G. Selenium (Northern Europeans may need to take a supplement or eat about 20 Brazil nuts a month).

FINAL WORDS ON HEALTHY EATING

Diets do not change overnight; they take time and sustained effort. This does not mean that changing one’s eating habits is an exhausting process, but that it is something that needs to be on your mind whenever you are planning to eat.

The core lesson of Dr. Greger’s lecture is that by switching from a dependency on animal protein to a more plant-based diet we can simultaneously tackle a wide variety of health issues that are linked to poor eating habits. Optimally, Greger recommends we rid our diets of animal protein completely; but realistically, any change from less animal meat to more plant foods will probably have a positive affect on our health.

For A Healthier Mind Psychologists Recommend Spending More Time With Nature

Whether you are a college student cramming for a final exam or a teenager with ADHD, the important of maintaining a healthy and cognitively fine-tuned brain can never be underestimated.

But what is the best way to improve our attention and our ability to retain information?

So far psychopharmacology has had the most influential impact on how we treat those with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. Drugs like adderall are also becoming a common cognitive enhancer amongst college students.

Some doctors believe these psychostimulants are getting abused. Studies have shown how similar drugs such as modafinil boost dopamine levels in the brain, which in return cause a greater chance of an individual getting addicted to the drug later in life.

Surely there can be better ways of improving our brain-functioning than having to depend on pills? Of course there are some individuals who have a chemical imbalance, but that isn’t typically how psychiatrists diagnose a patient with ADHD – it is only their justification for resorting to pills as proper medical treatment instead of probing deeper into why children today are suffering from these poor attention skills.

For example, how do we know the rise of ADHD is not due to the environmental factors of living in an industrialized, overstimulating society? Surely these kinds of factors can affect our brain chemistry, but it doesn’t mean that our brain chemistry was the origins of the disorder.

If I am right – and I am certainly not the first person to bring up this idea nor will I be the last – then changing our living habits and our environment may be a much better and long-lasting cognitive enhancer than resorting to the temporary solutions that drugs typically offer.

One study by Berman, Jonides, and Kaplan (2008) (pdf), tested the effects of different environments on attention and found:

“Attention Restoration Theory (ART) provides an analysis of the kinds of environments that lead to improvements in directed-attention abilities. Nature, which is filled with intriguing stimuli, modestly grabs attention in a bottom-up fashion, allowing top-down directed-attention abilities a chance to replenish. Unlike natural environments, urban environments are filled with stimulation that captures attention dramatically and additionally requires directed attention (e.g., to avoid being hit by a car), making them less restorative. We present two experiments that show that walking in nature or viewing pictures of nature can improve directed-attention abilities as measured with a backwards digit-span task and the Attention Network Task, thus validating Attention Restoration Theory.”

PsyBlog reports that when participants went for a nature walk they did 20% better on a memory test then participants who took a walk through a busy city.

With knowledge like this why wouldn’t we try changing some of our living habits? These studies have implications that can affect everyone: students, those with ADHD or Alzheimers disease, and even your regular Joe and Jane. It is important that we find some space and time to spend with nature, especially if we are typically accustomed to the busy reality of our industrialized world.

Why not visit a local park one afternoon, do your homework in the nature preserve, or spend the weekend hiking in the Catskill Mountains? For some of us winter is right around the corner so we should have a good incentive to go outside while it is still nice. Your Xbox 360 and Macbook will still be there when you get back.