In the style of  shotokan the grand master Gichin Funakoshi states that karate-do is a way of life. The key to perfecting one’s self is repetition. Every experience that you have in the dojo is a step towards developing the mind and body. The journey is life long and there are no limits. Through the guidance of your Sensei and your sincere commitment and determination, there are many physical, mental and spiritual benefits that will develop. One of the more advanced qualities is Zanshin. Generally it means alertness but in martial arts there is much more to it than that. Zanshin is an instinct that we all have that is buried with in us as like all predatory animals. To develop and bring it out there are a series of steps that must be achieved and this is where repetition and guidance is key.

1. Kime - The focusing of ones physical and psychological forces at the same time. To achieve maximum power it is necessary to use all the internal parts of the body in correct order. Tensing too much will restrict movement. Being to relaxed will delay your movement. Make use of the potential power in the abdominal muscle and the rotation of the hips. Focusing on the hara internally and just beyond the point of the external target.
2. Kiai - The Kiai is the result of Kime. When contraction and coordination of the muscles and joints beginning with the abdominal muscle, organs, chest and ribs compressing the lungs and forcing air upward through the throat and mouth. Creating a focused yell. The energy of the entire body and spirit is unified and forced out by great muscle tension ending with a violent impact.
3. Mushin - Mushin is a form of a detached,  free, and uncluttered mind. A mind not fixed on anything and open to everything like a mirror resulting in quick reactions, extra ordinary perceptions and a calmness by turning off internal dialog. In order to achieve mushin you must overcome any mental blocks like fear, thinking too much, self-doubt and hesitation.

Once you develop Kime, Kiai and mushin, zanshin will follow. Alertness will be present before, during and especially after striking so you will be ready for any future attack or counter attacks. You can practise zanshin by being aware of everything everywhere you go. Using all of your senses in order to alert you to who and what is around you. Use zanshin to increase your fighting skills. A student with highly developed zanshin will sense his opponents decision to attack even before the movement (go no sen). Zanshin is a gradual learning process. You will feel it when you experience it like Kime.

A series of fatal accidents around the world over the past decade have been linked to pilot fatigue, in response the International Council of Aviation will put in place new rules next year, to manage pilot exhaustion, in one of the biggest shake-ups in 50 years of commercial aviation.

To see the ABC 7:30 report: http://www.abc.net.au/reslib/200912/r487807_2516710.asx

How would react, if you opened the cockpit door and saw both pilots fast asleep!  It really happened on a commercial flight.
Such incidents are not the norm, but even these rare occasions need to be managed, as in the aviation industry there is little room for error.

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau concluded after investigating the incident in 1999, when a Qantas 747 overshot the runway at Bangkok, that despite both pilots having been awake for 19 and 21 hours respectively, it was not fatigue related (insufficient evidence)!

Last year, the UN body detailed 26 accidents around the world since 1971 in which fatigue was a factor. Here in Australia, the Transport Safety Bureau has investigated six air safety breaches which have been identified as fatigue related in the past 10 years.

Prof Drew Dawson and Dr Matthew Thomas of the Sleep Research Unit at teh University of South Australia conducted an in depth study involving 260 pilots.  They wanted to find out how much sleep people were getting as pilots out on the line and we also wanted to know what was the effect of sleep loss on cockpit performance.   They found that even though pilots are compliant with the rules, there are a small number of occasions when they aren’t actually getting sufficient sleep to be safe.  Pilots who had less than five hours’ sleep were twice as likely to make safety errors.

The incident of this happen is relatively small.  “The broader studies which show us that it’s a small percentage, but every day there would be some. It’s in the magnitude of five to 10 per cent who are operating at the five to six hour sleep in the prior 24 hours. So maybe one in 10, maybe one in 20 pilots”. That is still 10 to 20 pilots too many in my book!

Prof Dawson: “The aviation industry in Australia is surprisingly slow to react to the studies report’s recommendations.  I think the important issue is to acknowledge the level of risk that fatigue poses and to take an appropriate level of response to it. That is, you don’t wanna shut down the industry, but where there is risk, and we know that there are on occasions a low number of events that carry a high level of risk with them, that we should be able to intervene and manage those in a highly targeted way“.

Better check on your pilots, when you go on holidays…

Source: http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2009/s2773888.htm#

Two examples of just how important it is to get deep restorative sleep every night:

1. According to Dr. Philip Tierno of New York University Medical Center, your body makes the most immune-strengthening repairs to our cells during the last and longest period of REM sleep, which begins after approximately 7 hours of sleep.

2. Reducing your sleep by 1½ hours for just one night could reduce your daytime alertness by as much as 32%.

Make every effort to give yourself this gift. Train yourself to sleep 8 hours each night.

People who have lived with chronic insomnia for years, when they start to get a full night’s sleep,  may find their shorter day inconvenient… most of us already feel we don’t have enough hours in a day to get everything done we need to do. As adjustments are made to your sleep schedule, you may find you need to adjust your daytime schedule, as well. Simplify and minimize as much as you can. Eliminate non-essential activity, so you can focus on what’ s vital. Keep your To-Do list short and do-able. And don’t forget to schedule in some personal time.

Fixx contains 18824mg of caffeine per 8 ounce(cup).
Brewed coffee contains ~135mg of caffeine per 8 ounce.
Black tea contains 25 – 40mg of caffeine per 8 ounce.

Past research has indicated that caffeinated ‘functional energy drinks’ (FEDs) are effective in counteracting sleepiness. It is not known however, what impact FEDs have on sleep itself. FEDs contain several active ingredients, including caffeine. They may therefore impact negatively on sleep and hence subsequent performance, deeming their use counterproductive. In a randomised cross-over design, 15 young adults participated in a simulated first night-shift protocol with 2 conditions, Functional Energy Drink (FED) and Non Functional Energy Drink (NonFED). Both involved a period of extended wakefulness (0700–0730 h—24.5 h) followed by an 8-h daytime ‘recovery’ sleep (0730–1530 h).

During the FED condition, a commercially available FED was administered twice during the night. Sleepiness was assessed during the period of extended wakefulness and for a further 6 h after waking. Sleep periods were recorded using a standard 5 channel polysomnogram. Comparison of the sleep periods showed that sleep onset latency remained unchanged as did stage 2 and slow wave sleep. Total sleep time however, was 29.1 min shorter (p < .05) in the FED condition. Sleep efficiency was also significantly reduced from 91.8 ± .9% to 84.7 ± 2.7% (p < .05). It is evident that the residual effects of the FED’s active ingredients impact on some aspects of daytime sleep following a simulated night-shift. Subsequent performance however was unaffected. The results deem FEDs to be effective for a single night-shift and warrant investigation into their use over
successive night-shifts.

Jay, S M, Petrilli, R M, Ferguson, S, Dawson, D & Lamond, N, (2005), ‘The suitability of a caffeinated energy drink for night-shift workers’, Physiology and Behaviour, 87, 925-931, 2005

One of the most retold stories in all of scripture is the story of Gideon and his mighty 300.  To me, the story of the battle is far less interesting than the process of elimination that lead to the battle.  Gideon started the campaign with  a turn out of 32,000 Israelites.  Then God starts to narrow the playing field a little.

Judges 7:1-7

¹ Then Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) and all the people who were with him rose early and encamped beside the well of Harod, so that the camp of the Midianites was on the north side of them by the hill of Moreh in the valley.

² And the LORD said to Gideon, “The people who are with you are too many for Me to give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel claim glory for itself against Me, saying, ‘My own hand has saved me.’ ³ Now therefore, proclaim in the hearing of the people, saying, ‘Whoever is fearful and afraid, let him turn and depart at once from Mount Gilead.’” And twenty-two thousand of the people returned, and ten thousand remained.
⁴ But the LORD said to Gideon, “The people are still too many; bring them down to the water, and I will test them for you there. Then it will be, that of whom I say to you, ‘This one shall go with you,’ the same shall go with you; and of whomever I say to you, ‘This one shall not go with you,’ the same shall not go.” ⁵ So he brought the people down to the water. And the LORD said to Gideon, “Everyone who laps from the water with his tongue, as a dog laps, you shall set apart by himself; likewise everyone who gets down on his knees to drink.” ⁶ And the number of those who lapped, putting their hand to their mouth, was three hundred men; but all the rest of the people got down on their knees to drink water. ⁷ Then the LORD said to Gideon, “By the three hundred men who lapped I will save you, and deliver the Midianites into your hand. Let all theother people go, every man to his place.”

There are 3 Major Observations that really stick out in my mind

1. God loves no win scenarios- God is looking for people who will step out in faith and believe Him for a miracle.  So many of us only step out and do what we already know we can do.  We like to keep things predictable and manageable.  God gets no glory from this type of thinking.  He wants to do something in us that will be evidence of His miracle-working power still alive today.
2. Doubt peddlers are the first to go- I find it remarkable that God’s first criteria for elimination was those who were doubting His ability to deliver the Midianites into their hands.  Doubt is a cancer that will spread like wild-fire.  All of us have moments of doubt and disbelief; however, we must stay in the game.  You truly believe what you do.  When our emotions get out of whack, we need to dig in and shout. “I am not going anywhere”.
3. Alertness and Sensitivity to the leading of God’s Spirit is Everything!- Only 300 out of 10,000 passed the water test.  God only choose those who kept their head’s up  and brought the water to their mouths.  Most people go through life with their heads face down in their situations.  God uses people who will never take their eyes off the big picture.  We must be alert to what God is doing all around us every single moment of the day.  Every relationship, phone call, or unexpected encounter could be a channel for God’s provision or miracle.

A 35-year-old New Zealand man is facing up to 14 years in prison for sentencing his wife to a lifetime of pain and suffering, when he forcibly injected her twice with a sewing needle that he had soaked and dipped in HIV tainted blood.

The diseased blood came from his own body, and he injected his 33-year-old unsuspecting wife while she was sleeping next to him in their marital bed.

It is being reported that the man injected her with the disease because his wife decided to abstain from sex with him…because he was HIV positive, which only makes good sense.

If he truly loved her, he would not want to subject her to his disease, and he should have been appreciative that she decided to support him.

But no…this man is a self obsessed narcissist, and the he only cares about his own self-gratification, and is devoid of love. Unfortunetly for his wife, she realized this far too late for her to preserve her health.

The man claimed that he did it so that his wife would start having sex with him again, as she had refused to do so out of fear of contracting the disease. He gave her the virus by pricking her with a sewing needle tainted with his blood.

The Telegraph.co.uk reports that…His wife told a New Zealand court that she discovered a sting-like mark on her left thigh in May last year. Later that day, when she returned home unexpectedly, she saw her husband in the bedroom with a syringe full of blood.

Two days later she awoke to a stinging feeling in her leg, the Australian Associated Press reported. He denied pricking her, but later she found evidence of “blood sprinkles” on the duvet.

In September, when her doctor suggested a test at a routine checkup, she found she was HIV-positive.

This definitely gives us all something to think about, as this is one of those crimes of passion that seems to rate as an attempt on her life.

This is a case of ‘’slow murder” that is premeditated ,coupled with biological warfare. Life in prison would be a more likely charge in my opinion,but he will soon die from his disease.

I hope that they do not treat him for it, and with hold his medication so he can suffer before he dies. It sure seems like he had a good and loyal wife, who does not deserve what she is going through.

Police charged the man in October of last year. Keep the needles to yourself…and leave them to those that need them in order to survive, but absolutely not to kill, as in this case of marital abuse…

Mainlining... Shooting Up...

Read the full story here,and let me know your reactions to this sick crime…

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/australiaandthepacific/newzealand/6752023/HIV-positive-man-infects-sleeping-wife-with-virus-in-needle-attack.html

Dupre´Logistics monitors it’s drivers.

Statistics suggest that a significant percentage of accidents are caused by human error. A major contributing factor in a number of these cases is fatigue. It is important to understand what fatigue is and how to deal with it. Dupre´Logistics hold their team accountable by measuring fatigue through Circadian Technologies’ CAS System.

Fatigue is more than just a general feeling of tiredness. It is a loss of our ability to remain vigilant, to perform a task, to maintain situational awareness, to think clearly and logically, to react appropriately and to maintain motor coordination skills. Very simply, when a person is fatigued, he is more prone to making mistakes. Fatigue affects everyone, even the most professional and dedicated people. It is not a question of mind over matter. Rather, it’s the body’s natural physiological response to working too much or getting too little sleep or rest.

Fatigue is monitored by examining the following 9 variables:

• Average sleep length per day
• Percentage of time below red and yellow thresholds on duty
• Average duration of episodes below red on duty
• Average alertness score while awake
• Number of recovery breaks per week
• Hours of work per week
• Hours of work per shift
• Biological limitations for sleep recovery
• Time of day activity occurs

Source:  Circadian 24/7 Workforce Solutions and Dupre´ Logistics

Chewing gum in class; an action once reserved for only the most wicked rad rebellious badass kids in class should really be an action performed by the geekiest of nerds.

There have been many studies conducted on the effects of chewing gum on both alertness, stress levels and peoples ability to learn and absorb information however a recent report by the Baylor College of Medicine shows that there could be direct academic advantages to chewing gum as a result of the previously established facts.

With this in mind one must wonder about the strict discipline with which children are met for doing, what is in essence, nothing more than enhancing their ability to learn and perform well in class.

Perhaps it is time for teachers and administrators to think about what is in the children’s best interest and, instead of banning chewing gum, making it an essential part of the schooling experience, like a pen license.

My level of alertness

Graph by: dunno source via Graph Jam Builder

Now if you have ever felt less alert and struggling to finish or even start a task on overcast or foggy days or simply during the late afternoons of winter you will be glad to know you are experiencing something very natural. These days are days of lower light and  scientists have know for a long time that light is a key factor in triggering the mind and body to be alert.

But  can the weather also effect your alertness and effectiveness? The answer is yes. The relationship essentially is very simple. Dark, dreary overcast days are days of less light so you will naturally feel less alert. Summertime is as you can tell a time when people feels full of energy since there alertness is light enhanced.

Sounds simple and as is often the case we may be complex beings but our needs are often very simple.

What can this mean to you?

Start simply, each day it is important when you want to be alert to make sure your environment is well light. If you are working by a computer or studying reports keep alert by having a well lit subject! Also, make sure if you work in a darker building to get outside as much as you can each day to experience whatever light is available.

 Enjoy a well lit day,

David

P.S. If you are curious about the current research on our circadian cycle Dr. Troein of the University of Edinburgh’s School of Biological Science and  scientists from the California Institute of Technology and the University of Warwick are working on this area of our lives. The abstract of a recent study is posted here It is a complex research.

Please share this message and offer me your thoughts.

David Hennessey, B.A. (Psych), W.C.

Developer of  The W.O.N.D.E.R. Technique ® 

So, I like all of these girls so I do not get to decide, my mind is just wandering as I research pictures for my first exclusive story.

My assistant posed this question to me, so I am asking you, the readers, who do you think looks better with the totally or partially bald hairstyle, Britney Spears, Cassie, or Kanye West girlfriend?

Inquiring minds need to know….

CASSIE

Britney Spears

bald Britneybald Britneybald Britney

Bad bald Britney

Kanye West Girlfriend Amber Rose 

(Copyright © 2009)

The “It” in the title refers to my understanding of my personal consciousness as made up of various processes which I am able to identify through self-reflective experience. In the order they come to mind (not the order in which they kick in), they include:

1. Arousal informs me I am more awake than asleep, definitely not in a stupor or coma.

2. Alertness seems to be an attitude preparing me for paying attention. I sense something’s up—or might be up.

3. Attention is a kind of outreach I direct or extend via my senses—looking, listening, sniffing, tasting, touching, or heeding what my body has to tell me. Attending to comes before consciousness of. That is, expectancy precedes its fulfillment in perception.

4. Expectancy is a kind of pre-viewing or pre-engagement made possible by my point of view at the time as informed by my values, interests, concerns, and feelings. Expectancy is situational in that it arises from what has gone before, in either the immediate or remote past. Memory is clearly involved in projecting the familiar onto the current scene of the now. Expectancy is largely abstract (less detailed than actual perception) and conceptual, that is, derived from a set of earlier perceptions, but lacking the concrete particulars of any one of them.

5. Fulfillment of expectancy (or not, as the case may be) is a flash of recognition by which the object of my attention is identified as that which I was looking for, so that consciousness acquires intentionality in being consciousness of . . . one thing or another. Specific details in the now give substance to the abstract envelope of expectancy as if the two aspects of consciousness—abstract expectation and concrete perception —came together in a fulfilling, mutual engagement.

6. That engagement has a quality of salience representing the degree to which my motivated expectancy (hopes, fears, desires) is being met in the current episode of awareness—at an appropriate level of discernment. Enabling me to make a judgment confirming or disconfirming this is what I was looking for, or had in mind in the first place.

7. The comings together of concepts and percepts lead to a sense of understanding, of my self standing under (supporting) this new instance of consciousness, taking it in, reaffirming my grasp of (or relationship to) the world, conveying a sense of my being of that world, providing a strong sense of affirmation that my grasp is appropriate to my situation.

8. If my expectations are fulfilled in a new or surprising way, then surprise and novelty play roles in consciousness, stretching my understanding in order to accommodate or incorporate an instance I did not anticipate, challenging or perhaps enlarging my understanding. This gives me the option of fulfilling my expectations by habitual application of a tried-and-true response to account for, discredit, or dismiss this unanticipated episode of experience. Or, on the other hand, of opening myself up to new experience in such a way that expands my grasp of the current situation. (Note: This is what I was laboring over in my last post, Reflection 151: Error Signals, that effort prompting me to simplify the matter and place it in context in today’s reflection.)

9. All of which can culminate in new learning, or reaffirmation of my prior understanding. At this stage, clearly, memory is involved. Earlier synaptic connections are affirmed, or perhaps an effort to establish new ones as a basis for improving the effectiveness of my actions in the world is made possible.

10. All leading up to reaffirming or improving my being in the world through planning leading to effective action by equipping me to make myself happen more aptly in light of my circumstances, which is the point of being conscious in the first place.

In the order I present them here, that’s: arousal, alertness, attention, expectancy, fulfillment, salience, understanding, novelty, learning, and action. In addition, I would stress the roles of perception, conception, and memory as major players in consciousness, for a baker’s dozen of topics to whirl in the mind much as jugglers whirl Indian clubs in the air. Any scientist of the mind could probably double or triple that number, but that’s as many as seem particularly relevant to me today in keeping this reflection as straightforward as I can make it.

Oh. Really.

Here’s a good one for 3 AM: in the epic, avian-reference laden battle of Team Night Owl vs. The Early Birds, the night owls have it. Go Hooters! Check it out, after the jump.

The folks over at Scientific American are reporting that morning people crash faster and are less alert than us night owls.

A hip little research study at University of Liège in Belgium followed the sleep patterns of more than 15 super-early risers and 16 superhuman night owls. The participants of the study were asked to follow their preferred sleep schedule for a week, and then spent a few nights in a sleep lab. The subjects were also cognitively tested while inside of a functional MRI scanner. Better than a non-functional one, I guess. And the results are in:

After 1.5 hours: both groups equally alert. Attention-related brain activity was roughly identical.

After 10.5 hours: with a Hooters girl as their mascot, Team Night Owl takes the lead! More alert, and out-performing Team Early Bird (mascot: Worm) on a sustained attention reaction-time task. Team Night Owl also exhibited increased activity in brain areas linked to attention.

So what’s the deal? Circadian rhythms. As the pressure to sleep increases, the suprachiasmatic area of the brain (home to the body’s circadian clock) showed increased activity — signaling an alertness boost. This powershot was absent for the Early Birds. Hot wings for everyone, Team Night Owl wins!

Winrgy may:

• Increase energy and alertness
• Improve mental acuity
• Promote conversion of macronutrients to energy
• Augment physical performance

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Basil Essential Oil

(Ocimum basilicum) has a strong, spicy aroma that is invigorating to both body and spirit. Used topically, it can help refresh the mind and restore alertness during times of fatigue. It is relaxing when used in post-exercise massage.

Ingredients (Ocimum basilicum)

How to use

For aromatic and topical use. Refer to the “How to Use’ brochure and label. Apply to tip of nose, on temples and on location of stings and bites. For fatigue, inhale first, and then apply to crown of head, forehead, heart and navel. Dilution recommended.
Keep out of reach of children. Avoid using on infants and small children.

Mark 13:28-37 >>

28 “Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near.

29 Even so, when you see these things happening, you know that it is near, right at the door.

30 I tell you the truth, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened.

31 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.

32 “No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.

33 Be on guard! Be alert! You do not know when that time will come.

34 It’s like a man going away: He leaves his house and puts his servants in charge, each with his assigned task, and tells the one at the door to keep watch.

35 “Therefore keep watch because you do not know when the owner of the house will come back—whether in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or at dawn.

36 If he comes suddenly, do not let him find you sleeping.

37 What I say to you, I say to everyone: ‘Watch!’ “

—

1. According to the Word of God that I have read today, I put “being on guard! Being alert!” into practice by not compromising and always being faithful in all I do – doing good and not bad and keeping my conscience clean before God. This means that if He wants me to do something, I know and do it and therefore my conscience is clear before Him. And to hear His voice and know His voice this also requires me spending time with Him everyday! At every hour and every minute, I want to seek after His presence and soak it all in – aka enjoy His presence and just spend time with Him.
2. Some responsibilities God has given to me through my parents, spiritual leaders, and other institutions are to be a good example to others and perform my duties faithfully. I can fulfill those responsibilities by caring (I need God to fill me with His love daily so I can have His heart) and just being diligent. Practicially speaking, so I don’t drop the ball on ev eryday tasks, I should be wise with my time management. A task list can help and also not overcommitting on things.
3. I must be alert and on guard with my words, habits, and associations so that they all lead me to live a life of purity and not of compromise and sin.

I collected together a couple of different body clocks that focused on various aspects of the body and its mental or physical tasks and after pulling them apart and recombining them the result is this first attempt and is in need of some refining, so shhhh.