A Youthful Mind

This writing is from Deepak Chopra’s book, Grow Younger Live Younger :

“The body is a field of molecules.

The mind is a field of ideas.

Wherever a thought goes a molecules goes.

Fresh and youthful thoughts

Create fresh and youthful molecules.

Psychological age influences biological age”.

“The body is a field of information and energy

That we experience objectively;

The mind is the same field of information and energy

That we experience subjectively.”

A Youthful Mind is

*  an enthusiastic mind.

*  spontaneous

* fluid and adaptable

* alert to the rich inner and outer sensations of life.

* nourished through the exploration of new domains. See your environment with fresh eyes.

* Learning and Growing

* Playfulness, Lightheartedness, and Laughter

A youthful mind is a growing mind. Here are just a few suggestions to keep your mind growing:

·       Read – the classics, novels, Shakespeare, science fiction, fantasies. Try genres you do not usually choose.

·       Read poetry –Rumi, Tagore, Hafiz, Blake, Longfellow, Frost, Ginsberg, and the modern poets.

·       Read spiritual literature – the Bible, the Qur’an, the Bhagavad Gita, the Upanishads, the Dhammapada

·       Take classes at your local college

·       Learn a foreign language

·       Take piano lessons

·       Learn to dance

·       Take art classes

·       Learn to cook

·       Take writing classes

·       Join a choir

·       Take pottery classes

·       Learn a new computer program

·       Take a poetry-writing classes

·       Go to workshop-on love, on human potential, on success, on spirituality, on health

·       Take a horseback-riding lessons

·       Take a photography class

·       Visit new places

·       Travel to foreign lands

·       Go to museums and art galleries

·       Watch foreign films

·       Go to concerts

A youthful mind is playful and lighthearted. It laughs easily, genuinely, and with abandon.

Laughter is the best medicine for body and mind. Scientific studies have showns that laughter can enliven the immune system, raise pain thresholds and ease depression. We encourage you to have the intention to lighten up and be open to the wonder and delight of living a human life. Remind yourself, remind your friends, and remind your loved ones not to allow terminal seriousness to consume the life force.

Suggestions for Playfulness and Laughter:

·       Spend time with children

·       Go to toy stores

·       Play with your animals

·       Go to an improvisational theater show

·       Watch funny movies

·       Go to a comedy store

·       Rent old Candid Camera episodes

·       Watch Marx Brothers movies

·       Go to the beach

·       Take a ski trip

·       Watch I Love Lucy reruns

·       Ride your bicycle

·       Go bowling

·       Rent Rollerblades

·       Go to a baseball game

·       Start a pillow fight

·       Tell jokes

·       Play board games

·       Tickle someone

·       Have a staring contest

·       Throw a costume party

·       Go to an animal-free circus

·       Dance

·       Have a tea party

·       Go to an ice cream shop

·       Bake cookies

·       Blow bubbles

·       Play miniature golf

·       Go to the batting cages

·       Watch people at shopping malls

·       Go to an amusement park

·       Paint with watercolors

·       Rent a sailboat

·       Go on a picnic

·       Make up lists of fun and playful things to do

Laughter is a symptom of spirituality. Laughter is the flow of love, coursing through your body. Laughter is the nectar of present moment awareness.

Invite more enthusiasm into your life.

Invite more playfulness.

Invite more lightheartedness.

Invite more laughter.

One of our favorite playful and lighthearted cosmic revelers is the fourteenth-century mystic Hafiz, whose poems have been translated recently by Daniel Ladinsky. Hafiz invites us all to join in the cosmic dance:

What is laughter?

What is this precious love and laughter

Budding in our hearts?

It is the glorious sound

Of a soul waking up!

Play and enjoy. It will keep you young in body, mind, and soul. That’s it J

Namaste _/l\_