Communities of Spiritual Action

by | Feb 23, 2022

Our recent guest, Elena Mustakova is a spiritually-oriented integral psychologist and psychotherapist. Her work integrates mindfulness-based understanding of moment-to-moment human resilience with an overall developmental and psychodynamic perspective on whole-person healing and development.

Elena Mustakova

“Psychological and spiritual health are inseparable, and healing requires work with the brain, mind, body, soul, and transforming the sociocultural contexts which generate suffering.”

Elena Mustakova

Elena collaborates with people from a deep belief in the presence of Spirit in our lives, and with reverence for the unique perspectives each person brings.

In response to the massive search for ways to find wellbeing and purpose under conditions of deepening crises and uncertain global transformations – some that have been a long time coming, others exacerbated and brought to light as COVID-19 swept the continents, Elena wrote Global Unitive Healing 

Global Unitive Healing

With her experience as an educator and social scientist with three and a half decades of work on the evolution of human consciousness and social transformation in cross-cultural contexts, Elena views our current reality as gripping.

“The dramatic intensity of this moment – in which a global pandemic has collided with widespread poverty and corruption, coupled with environmental degradation and rapid climate change, and further complicated by waves of massive radicalization and extremism – is the gripping reality we continue to face.”

Elena Mustakova

Recently on her blog, Medium, Elena wrote:

”I see quietly rising around the world communities of spiritual action.”

What distinguishes these communities from the more familiar church communities and other mass movements sweeping the planet is that communities of spiritual action undertake to heal the divisiveness so prevalent in our societies, which they understand is a central part of the disease ailing us.

  • They seek to transcend differences and harmonize perspectives
  • They involve themselves in deep and patient consultative exploration of foundational spiritual principles
  • They are committed to qualities and attitudes such as trustworthiness, cooperation, and forbearance
  • They champion rationality and science as essential to finding viable global solutions

“In other words, they seek what philosopher Ken Wilber and many others have called integral solutions — in which the value spheres of science, philosophy, spirituality, and art, dissociated by modernity, are once again integrated.”

Elena Mustakova

Elena reports that since these emergent communities understand the society-building power of spiritual principles at this time of universally broken social contract, in some countries, local authorities and institutions have turned to these communities for reliable and trustworthy solutions to specific challenges.

“At this stage of our social and spiritual evolution, the universalist Baha’i spiritual perspective calls for a spiritual and religious understanding of all wisdom traditions as originating in the same source and guiding humanity on its evolutionary journey. It also calls for a social consciousness that corresponds to this spiritual perspective — one of global citizenship.”

Elena Mustakova

How are we going to arise to this tall mandate across our over 6500 languages, and vast religious and cultural diversity, without losing any of it?

“…By becoming conscious of our true reality — our spiritual nature, the spiritual nature of life, and its deep interconnectedness in all its diversity.”

Elena Mustakova

Elena’s book is packed with interesting and inspiring information. By learning the principles she teaches; we just might be able to heal our world.

Global Unitive Healing with Dr. Elena Mustakova

by | Feb 17, 2022

Dr. Elena Mustakova-Possardt Feb 22, 2022
She is a spiritually-oriented integral psychologist and psychotherapist.
Her work integrates mindfulness-based understanding of moment-to-moment human resilience with an overall developmental and psychodynamic perspective on whole-person healing and development.
Elena believes psychological and spiritual health are inseparable, and healing requires work with the brain, mind, body, soul, and transforming the sociocultural contexts which generate suffering.
Elena works with people from a deep belief in the presence of Spirit in our lives, and with reverence for the unique perspectives each person brings.
She is the author of Global Unitive Healing Elena’s psychotherapeutic practice is informed by her experience as an educator and social scientist with three and a half decades of work on the evolution of human consciousness and social transformation in cross-cultural contexts.
Meet Dr. Elena Mustakova

Picking the Brain of a Neuroscientist

by | Dec 10, 2020

You do not have to be a neuroscientist to be on Life Mastery Radio, but when you are, we get to “pick your brain”.  Dr. Ali Lankerani, affectionately known as The Parent Whisperer, not only let us pick his brain, but he willingly shared inspiring information with us.

Dr. Ali Lankerani

Dr. L. helps parents to optimize their children’s success in many areas. He shared 4 with us:

  • Health
  • Wholeness
  • Modelling
  • Purpose

Health

“The only organ that can modulate itself and control what comes into it, and what goes out of it is the brain.”

Dr. Ali Lankerani

Dr. L. explained we choose to focus on information from the brain or not. Before we can ask the brain to do something for us, we must make sure to provide the proper nutritional building blocks.

“If you feed your brain the right things, it will provide a different output for you than if you’re feeding it the wrong things. Nutrition plays a role in your perspective.”

Dr. Ali Lankerani

The brain gives us power based on how many parts are working simultaneously. When we are stressed our brains do not receive the nutrition it needs to help us thrive.

Dr. L. listed the foundational blocks that support the brain. He also called them the foundational pieces of health.

  • Nutrition
  • Rest
  • Oxygen
  • Neuro Stimulation (movement)

Dr. L. related all these pieces to a metronome used to keep rhythm in music.

“The Inferior Olive lies deep within the brain. Think of it as the metronome of the brain. Signals which come too far apart or too quickly can cause us to misunderstand the impulses of the brain. It can affect our perception of reality.”

Dr. Ali Lankerani

Dr. L. explained why strobe lights bother me and make me feel physically stressed and unwell:

“Strobe lights alter your visual field. Jackie, the brain perceives where everything should be, but the strobing lights create a different reality.”

Dr. Ali Lankerani

I was happy to hear Dr. L. say that dancing is a wonderful brain workout.

“It involves all the senses and creates a cohesive picture of reality. While dancing, we are breathing deeper, taking in oxygen, and moving our whole body.”

Dr. Ali Lankerani

Wellness

Related to the metronome of our brain – the Inferior Olive, anxiety propels us into the future (metronome set on a fast rhythm); and depression keeps us in the past (metronome of a rhythm too slow).

“Often, the negative thoughts we have force the brain to find perspectives to validate those thoughts.”

Dr. Ali Lankerani

Meditation is a powerful tool to keep us in the present.

Our current lifestyles have changed our values and geared us more toward IQ rather than EQ. Since this decades long aberration has switched our focus to one part of our brain – the money making, innovating, and schedule-filled brain, other more important areas of the brain – enjoyment, rest, and simple pleasures are no longer cherished.

We are drastically different than our forebears. Nutrition, stimulation, rest, posture, movement, oxygen levels. They have all changed because of our fast-paced lifestyles.

“This exposure makes it’s print on the brain. What we see and do strengthens neural pathways. What we are no longer doing gets pruned out. It causes problems in the rest of our body because it hasn’t caught up yet.”

Dr. Ali Lankerani

Modelling

“Although we have neuroplasticity throughout life, there is a window of time when we can write, rewrite, rewire and/or retrain the personality of our children and teenagers.“

Dr. Ali Lankerani

As parents and influencers of children, we can optimize young lives. Often however, we inadvertently get in the way of a child’s progress because we are leading by example – perhaps a poor example.

Dr. L. is known as The Parent Whisperer because he works alongside parents and children supporting them and empowering them to lead by example to create future leaders and role models.

A healthy brain helps us all to connect, be happy, and fulfill our unique mission. The brain can be rewired. Even the brains of individuals healing from tragic experiences can be retrained.  

Purpose

“If you have been through tragedy, you have an important message to share with the world. YOU can be a motivator and change-maker. YOU can change your brain from thinking of challenges as setbacks to thinking of them as stepping-stones. Share your message, move forward, and make a difference.”

Dr. Ali Lankerani

Every person has it within them to influence others for greater achievement. We should support our brain so we can more easily find our unique purpose. Dr. L. claims we can either feel uncomfortable and try to go around a problem, or we can push through it with purpose.

With purpose you can go through anything willingly.

Dr. Lankerani has a program coming  up called: Role Model Lifestyle Mastery. It is three days of events, exercises, and tools to help you and those you love to thrive by your example.

I have already registered to attend. I hope I will see you there so we can become ROLE MODELS together!

CIA Declassified Documents Prove Psychic Powers are Real

by | Mar 12, 2019

Have you ever thought you might have psychic powers? Precognition; remote viewing; telepathy; life review and near-death experiences are all addressed in Mark Gober’s recent book: An End to Upside-Down Thinking.

On Life Mastery Radio this week, Mark Gober left us with clear and open consciousness about our psychic powers.

Explaining the *Whirlpool Effect, Mark began:

“Imagine reality is a stream of water, where water represents consciousness. Now imagine that within the stream, whirlpools form. Those whirlpools are self-localizations of water. While they may look different from other parts of the stream, the whirlpools are made of nothing more than water.

In the analogy, whirlpools represent individuals in a stream of consciousness. My brain is one whirlpool, yours is another, etc. Since water is the fundamental medium of the stream, it is possible that sometimes water from one whirlpool can end up in another whirlpool (think: psychic abilities). And when a whirlpool dissipates, the water simply flows into the broader stream (think: consciousness continues when the physical body dies).”

*Taken from preface section of An End to Upside-Down Thinking “Why Materialism is Baloney” Bernardo Kastrup

During our interview Mark mentioned he is not a scientist. When writing his book, he took a dispassionate approach to the research. Some of his sources include CIA declassified documents, peer-review research, and meta-analysis.

In fact, Mark finds it amazing that remote viewing (being able to see something in a different location than you’re in) has been stated in CIA declassified documents by the US Government, as “a real phenomenon”

Mark’s interview was fascinating. He has certainly provided evidence (which is massive in quantity) anyone would need to prove psychic power is real.

Do you have wizard-like abilities, or want to develop those abilities? Read An End to Upside-Down Thinking.

Listen to our interview with Mark Gober: Mark Gober Mark 12, 2019

The Moral Molecule with Paul Zak

by | Jun 9, 2016

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June 14, 2016 – Our interview with Paul Zak was an engaging, and applicable-to-real-life science lesson that covered everything from hugs to a fundamental difference between men and women to running major companies.

The thread linking these topics? Oxytocin

Paul Zak is a neuroscientist that studies oxytocin, a chemical naturally released in the brain.

This is an engaging interview for anyone who loves learning about new discoveries in the brain and exploring the complexity of human relationships.

Formal Bio:

Paul J. Zak is a scientist, prolific author, and public speaker. His book The Moral Molecule: The Source of Love and Prosperity was published in 2012 and was a finalist for the Wellcome Trust Book Prize. He is the founding Director of the Center for Neuroeconomics Studies and Professor of Economics, Psychology and Management at Claremont Graduate University. Dr. Zak also serves as Professor of Neurology at Loma Linda University Medical Center. He has degrees in mathematics and economics from San Diego State University, a Ph.D. in economics from University of Pennsylvania, and post-doctoral training in neuroimaging from Harvard. He is credited with the first published use of the term “neuroeconomics” and has been a vanguard in this new discipline.

He organized and administers the first doctoral program in neuroeconomics. Dr. Zak’s lab discovered in 2004 that the brain chemical oxytocin allows us to determine who to trust. His current research has shown that oxytocin is responsible for virtuous behaviors, working as the brain’s “moral molecule.”

This knowledge is being used to understand the basis for civilization and modern economies, improve negotiations, and treat patients with neurologic and psychiatric disorders.

Dr. Zak’s work on oxytocin and relationships has earned him the nickname “Dr. Love.” His current work applies neuroscience to improve marketing and consumer experiences, and to build high performance organizations. 

 

Listen to “The Moral Molecule with Paul Zak 06/14/16” on Spreaker.

Jason Apollo Voss

by | Jun 27, 2011

Fear and anxiety can benefit you regarding making sound financial investments? Exercises that walk you through the knowing of your abilities regarding money and much more! Listen in! 12:00 PM CT Tuesday June 28th. Choose to Move past your boundries! Invest in your intuitiveness of the Knowing..