REVIEW:
LAURENCE GONZALES AND HIS BOOK
DEEP SURVIVOR

Laurence Gonzales expands on Kelly McGonigal's theories of stress by giving his readers 295 pages of riviting story-telling about adventure seekers who match their skill and wits against violent forces of nature, the equipment they use, and their own inner survival mechanism. We feel we are sitting on the edge of our seat in a movie theater of a great block-buster with our scientist friend sitting next to us, supplying us with commentary   about what is going on in the brain and defense system of our heros...why some make it out alive and why some don't. 

The science is precise and detailed, but is does not get in the way of the captivating thriller narratives depicting narrow escapes. There is no doubt that you as the reader are smelling the surroundings of these adventures as he portraying what is going on in the external scene and what is scientifically taking place in your body and brain. 

Should we say that the book is inspiring? That would diminish the science. Should we say that the book is educational in its discussion of the biological responses? That would diminish the dramatic impact of the book. Let's just say that it takes you on these high stakes harrowing experiences and you come away shaking from the thrill of the adrenalin rush...and learning a little more about how to cope with the next stressful adventure...and perhaps looking forward to it.

Even the lessons learned throughout the book about how to cope with stress seem to have already been imbibed by the time you get to the end of the book and read his 12 guidelines for not sabotaging yourself when facing mortal danger:
1. Perceive - accept the harsh reality of the situation, but don't let it become your main focus. Focus on what opportunity you have available.
2. Stay calm -humor can balance you.
3. Get organized. Make a specific plan of action in small chunks.
4. Gird your loins and take action.
5. Take joy in tasks you complete.
6. Imbibe gratitude 
7. Play (sing, play mind games, recite poetry, philosophy) These activities expand and refine the brain which helps to strengthen your coping mechanisms, but these activities also act as positive diversion when trapped in stressful waiting games.
8. Appreciate beauty - "When you see something beautiful, your pupils dialate. This appreciation not only relieves stress and creates strong motivation, but it allows you to take in new information more effectively."
9. Belief. Develop a deep conviction that you will reach your goal.
10. Surender. Let go of your fear of dying.
11. Be determined. Do whatever it takes to survive.
12. Never give up.

Bye for now. Hang in or just hang on!

"How to Make Stress Your Friend", Ted Talk of Kelly McGonigal, PhD from Stanford, health psychologist, lecturer, author, instructor of psychology at Stanford University.

In this lecture Kelly apologizes to her public for previously giving stress a bad rap. Now, according to a study completed by Harvard University, stress is a good thing if you run along with its benefits. In the presence of stress the heart will pound: that is a given. But then, it is attitude from there. If you have a negative attitude toward this heart pounding and the cause of stress, your blood vessels will constrict and that is where all the health problems, including high risk for death, start because your blood vessels are jammed up and will not allow the proper flow of blood. But those who take stress as a positive challenge do not experience this constriction of blood vessels and therefore stress is not a contributor to ill health.

In fact, McGonigal points out, stress produces a focus and feeling of well being by releasing the "cuddle hormone" oxytocin, that makes you want to go out and communicate with others or do something good for others. I imagine we are talking about the foxhole mentality where there are no barriers to communication on the front line of a war.

At the end of her lecture she was asked if we should avoid taking a job that is stressfull or not and she said to go ahead and take the stressful job. She said to look at life this way,"Chasing meaning is better for your health than trying to avoid discomfort....trust yourself to handle the stress that follows."

Books:

• The Willpower Instrinct: How Self-Control Works, Why It Matters, and What You Can Do to Get More of it. (2012)
  
• The Neuroscience of Change: A Compassion-Based Program for Personal Transformation (2012)
• Yoga for Pain Relief: Simple Practices to Calm Your Mind and Heal Your Chronic Pain (2009)

View more of her

• kellymcgonigal.com
  
• see many lectures and interviews with Ms. McGonigal on You Tube

Commentary:
Her work is science based and while science is a good intellectual platform for personal change, transformation never actually takes place on the intellectual level; it occurs on the wisdom, intuitive, and action level. So her work is a good starting point and sometimes you need to hear "the research" to tell you why positive thinking is important because if the intellect is not satisfied, it can become a bitter foe.

-Enjoy the Ride!

 

A friend of mine recommended a You Tube video of this gentle, gracious and laser-focused, no hype teacher who shares her guided commentary to help students unravel tangled mental ghosts and negative thinking from their mind. The idea of Byron Katie Mitchell, who always goes by simply Byron Katie, is that when we harbor resentment or remorse from the past, we end up with a heavy case of the downers. And fears of the future are only crippling. We all realize this on one level or another, but it is hard to get out of the quicksand of our mind when we are standing in the quick sand.

She has developed a way to talk back to the negative thoughts from ourselves and others that unnecessarily and tragically make our life miserable. She takes us through a system that helps us to control our negative thoughts about our experiences and turn them around into something positve; she bases her approach on the idea that life brings us gifts on a constant basis... even when they appear to be negative. We just have to make the right interpretation...and face up to the reality about these situations and attitudes inside us...face up with our own inner truth, not lies we have been allowing ourselves to believe.

She has a set of simple questions that we can ask ourselves and an approach to answering those questions. Amazing. I was watching her on You Tube and felt mentally more genuinely positive just through watching her, although she does have nine day sessions and shorter workshops and lectures around the country. Most of the workshops carry a fee but she occasionally has a one-lecture freeby.

Just log on to You Tube and pull up her name.
You can also go to her web sites
www,byronkatie.com
www.thework.com

Here are a couple of her book titles:

• Question Your Thinking
  
• I Need Your Love--Is That True?
• A Thousand Names for Joy

I have given her a Kick It Living 10 rating because 
her technique is a 10: 
very efficient: good personal growth for the amount of energy you expend
her speaking presentation is a 10:
she gets right down to business and doesn't waste your time with marketing of herself and idle chit-chat.

Enjoy the Ride, Homies