Sunday, September 8, 2013
Saturday, September 7, 2013
Friday, September 6, 2013
Thursday, August 29, 2013
Wednesday, August 28, 2013
Monday, August 26, 2013
Saturday, August 24, 2013
Friday, August 23, 2013
Thursday, August 15, 2013
Wednesday, August 14, 2013
Tuesday, August 13, 2013
Monday, August 12, 2013
Saturday, August 10, 2013
Active Imagination: Exercise Instructions
On the heels of a presentation to graduate students in psychology at HIS University in Corona, California, I promised to post instructions for an exercise in active imagination which we discussed as one helpful resource in working with recovery:
Spiritual Resources for Counseling Addicted Individuals in Recovery
HIS University
August 8, 2013
Active
Imagination Exercise
1) Images:
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
2) Emotions:
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
3) Dialogue (yourself [lower case] + IMAGE [upper case])
• Negative shadow: “The worst part about you is...”
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
• Positive shadow: “What is it that you want from me?”
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
4) Images as metaphors ---
• Negative shadow: “The part of me that...”
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
• Positive shadow: “The part of me that...”
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
5) Waking context:
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
6) Integration (incorporating shift):
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Resources:
Johnson, R.A. (2009). Inner
work: Using dreams and active imagination for personal growth [Kindle version]. Retrieved from http://www.amazon.com/kindle-store/dp/B002SVQCUG
Weathers, R.S. (1990).
Dream theory and research. In R. J. Hunter (Ed.), Dictionary of Pastoral Care and Counseling. Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press. (copy available at Dr.
Weathers’ website: http://www.drbobweathers.com
[under “Books and Publications”])
Tuesday, June 11, 2013
A New Blog Focusing on Music, Jazz, Drumming...and Beyond
This is a quick announcement to indicate that I've just created a new blog (here on blogspot.com) entitled: "Music in the Now" (further distinguishing it by using my full birth name, Robert Stanley Weathers).
Please go to:
http://robertstanleyweathers.blogspot.com/
Here I will be focusing on my lifelong love for music, particularly all manner of drums and jazz (with a bit of classical music and, no doubt, rock'n'roll thrown in for good measure!).
This current blog (site below), on creativity, will continue to feature reflections on creative process, spirituality, and other art-forms than music alone.
http://drbobweathers.blogspot.com/
So, may I suggest: "Double your pleasure" by visiting both blogs!
Please go to:
http://robertstanleyweathers.blogspot.com/
Here I will be focusing on my lifelong love for music, particularly all manner of drums and jazz (with a bit of classical music and, no doubt, rock'n'roll thrown in for good measure!).
This current blog (site below), on creativity, will continue to feature reflections on creative process, spirituality, and other art-forms than music alone.
http://drbobweathers.blogspot.com/
So, may I suggest: "Double your pleasure" by visiting both blogs!
Sunday, June 9, 2013
Thursday, June 6, 2013
Goethe, Jung, and Babe Ruth: On Safety as Dangerous
“The dangers of life are many, and safety is one of those dangers.”
--- Goethe
It is ironic, wouldn't you agree, that one of the greatest obstacles to a truly creative life is too overpowering a yearning for safety?
Carl Jung spoke of the creative life, one in tune with art, spirituality, and the present moment, as requiring the opus contra naturam. Literally, it is indeed "a work against nature," going upstream, to resist the entropy toward the familiar, and to choose for bringing two or more previously unlinked ideas into a single space. (This is what Harvard psychiatrist, Albert Rothenberg, calls "homospatial process," or more simply, creativity.)
Years ago, out of a dream, the following words came to me: "Sometimes a brilliant mistake is preferable to a more mediocre correctness." Here then is to risking safety, even risking to make a mistake, in order to invite in the creative act...
Babe Ruth may have said it most clearly: "Never let fear of striking out get in your way."
Wednesday, June 5, 2013
Regarding the New Subtitle to This Blog
Why "The Present Moment in Art, Spirituality, and Everyday Life"?
My goal is to draw together reflections on the creative process (art), spiritual practice, and their applications to everyday life. "The present moment" refers to my appreciating the contributions of contemporary spiritual author, Eckhart Tolle; his intellectual forefather (and namesake), German theologian Meister Eckhart; and the innovative work (on vitality and the present moment) by leading developmental psychologist, Dr. Daniel Stern.
Enjoy, and please feel free to participate!
My goal is to draw together reflections on the creative process (art), spiritual practice, and their applications to everyday life. "The present moment" refers to my appreciating the contributions of contemporary spiritual author, Eckhart Tolle; his intellectual forefather (and namesake), German theologian Meister Eckhart; and the innovative work (on vitality and the present moment) by leading developmental psychologist, Dr. Daniel Stern.
Enjoy, and please feel free to participate!
The Present Moment in Art, Spirituality, and Everyday Life
I have just added a new subtitle to this blog:
Dr. Robert Weathers: Creativity In The Now
The Present Moment in Art, Spirituality, and Everyday Life
Tuesday, June 4, 2013
Dr. Robert Weathers Quotes Integral Recovery Pioneer, John DuPuy
I like how this quote points toward the inextricable link between our bodies, our minds, the creative soul, and spiritual fulfillment:
"As an old Quaker man once wrote, the key to lifelong happiness is to be a lifelong athlete."
from Dupuy, John (2013). Integral Recovery (Suny Series in Integral Theory). Excelsior Editions/State University of New York. Kindle Edition.
"As an old Quaker man once wrote, the key to lifelong happiness is to be a lifelong athlete."
from Dupuy, John (2013). Integral Recovery (Suny Series in Integral Theory). Excelsior Editions/State University of New York. Kindle Edition.
Wednesday, May 29, 2013
Dr. Robert Weathers Quotes Psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi from His Classic Book, "Creativity"
Creativity is a central source of meaning in our
lives for several reasons. Here I want to mention only the two main ones.
First, most of the things that are interesting, important, and human are the
results of creativity…The second reason creativity is so fascinating is that
when we are involved in it, we feel that we are living more fully than during
the rest of life…Perhaps only sex, sports, music, and religious ecstasy—even
when these experiences remain fleeting and leave no trace—provide as profound a
sense of being part of an entity greater than ourselves. (pp. 1 & 2)
Wednesday, May 22, 2013
Monday, May 20, 2013
Thursday, May 16, 2013
Tuesday, May 14, 2013
Meditation and the Emergent Self: A Quote from "Integral Recovery" by John Dupuy
Wilber has said, in various talks, and this has certainly been confirmed in my work, that one encounters three things in deep meditative practice: (1) the submerged self, leftover trauma and business from the past, (2) our present developmental stage, and (3) our future or emergent self. And it is this contact with our future or emergent possibilities that often fuels our meditative practice with the inspiration to stick with it.
A Sense of Wonder: Dr. Robert Weathers Quotes Eckhart Tolle
"There is clearly an intelligence at work that is far greater than the mind. How can a single human cell measuring 1/1,000 of an inch in diameter contain instructions within its DNA that would fill 1,000 books of 600 pages each?"
Saturday, May 11, 2013
Thursday, May 9, 2013
Tuesday, May 7, 2013
Monday, May 6, 2013
Friday, May 3, 2013
Monday, April 29, 2013
Tuesday, April 2, 2013
Thursday, March 28, 2013
Tuesday, March 26, 2013
Wednesday, March 20, 2013
Tuesday, March 19, 2013
Monday, March 18, 2013
Creativity in the Workplace: Handling the Pain-Body with Emotional Intelligence, Part 2
(See previous blog on Eckhart Tolle's pain-body.)
Here is where the work of Daniel Goleman, on emotional
intelligence, may be especially beneficial.
Goleman articulates four different aspects of emotional intelligence (EI,
for short) which pertain: 1) self-awareness, 2) self-management, 3) social
awareness, and 4) relationship management.
In a nutshell (the thoughtful reader is recommended
to Goleman's series of related books): self-awareness requires that I first of
all attend to what's going on inside me.
Particularly, when a co-worker comes at me --- as above, for example,
with habitual criticism and negativity, presumably activated by their own
pain-bodies ---- I must first of all carefully note what gets stirred up inside
me. Why, you might ask?
If I only react in kind to negativity from a
co-worker --- that is, criticize or attack back --- then it's simply pain-body
fighting it out with pain-body. Neither person
wins, and the sum total is increased negativity and conflict.
So the first step is honest self-appraisal
(Goleman's self-awareness). Second, it
is followed by Goleman’s “self-management,” or what I like to think of as
self-care. Here are three suggestions:
1) Take
care of ourselves physically, so that we are more resilient and resourceful,
generally speaking. This would include:
adequate rest, balanced diet, and very importantly, regular exercise. When we’re rested, our blood sugar is OK, and
we’ve had vigorous physical outlets, we’re in the best shape possible to handle
unpleasant co-workers.
2) Rely
on good friends (including co-workers we trust) to help us sort through
difficult situations. Friends lend
perspective, plus it can really help bolster us up to have emotional support
from those we care most about.
3) Maintain
some form of prayer or meditation (even if simply focusing daily for a few
moments on peaceful breathing) to afford us a different, deeper baseline than
that offered by the adrenaline-pumping pain-body.
Third, we need to be sure to pay attention to our
unpleasant co-worker’s attitude and behaviors.
Goleman calls this “social awareness.”
As in our earlier discussion of the pain-body, we can typically pick on
a co-worker’s mood, including pervasive negativity, well before they confront
us directly with it.
Fourth, and vital here, is what Goleman calls “relationship
management.” An emotionally intelligent
response to a belligerent or difficult co-worker requires skillful handling
interpersonally. A few practical tips
here:
1) Assert:
state clearly --- in “I-messages” --- to your co-worker what they have said or
done that has affected you directly.
2) Listen:
inquire into their understanding of what happened. Oftentimes, active listening with a
compassionate ear can defuse an otherwise incendiary situation.
3) Collaborate:
here is where you and your co-worker come up together with a plan to do things
differently.
4) Set
boundaries: if there cannot be a meeting of the minds (in #3), then “escalate”
the assertion by suggesting what steps you plan to take if there can be no
effective resolution between the two of you.
Key to all of the above is to aim for not
adding fuel to the fire (the pain-body) by regulating our own selves to begin
with (self-management, or self-care, as previously delineated). This way, when we do need to set firm
boundaries, or even report non-cooperative behavior to our superiors, we do so
out of a place of positivity; leaving us feeling clear and with a burden
lifted, rather than confused and now burdened with a bad mood or worse.
Creativity in the Workplace: Handling the Pain-Body with Emotional Intelligence, Part 1
What do we do when a co-worker, or even a boss,
habitually criticizes us, steals our best ideas, maybe even has it in for
us? Two suggestions, one each from two
of the best-selling authors in the world today, may be of service here.
First, Eckhart Tolle has described --- in his books,
"The Power of Now" and "A New Earth" --- what he calls the pain-body. This pain-body is the sum total of all the
emotional (or physical) trauma we have experienced across our lives, especially
during those sensitive years of early childhood and adolescent
development. Abuse and neglect, what
psychology calls attachment injuries, get stored away in the emotional centers
of our brains.
For Tolle, the pain-body maintains its own
homeostasis, or sense of equilibrium, by perpetuating various kinds of
emotional armor: whether in attacking others, avoiding them, or even (usually
quite unconsciously) inviting others' attacks and abuse.
In any case, the pain-body is universal; though its
density, or what Tolle calls its "heaviness," obviously varies a lot
between individuals.
Now what does this pain-body have to do with the
workplace examples provided above? Not
only do we observe, if we're alert and vigilant, how it is that some co-workers
carry particularly heavy, or intense, pain-bodies; but also that every
individual maintains a certain quality, or felt sense, of their own unique
pain-body.
The amount, and kind, of negativity any given
individual's pain-body manifests is immediately observable; nowhere as visibly
as when that pain-body, or emotional negativity, is turned toward us!
Part of the problem here is that we each carry our
own set of reactivities and emotional vulnerabilities, all rooted in our own
pain-bodies. Any response to another
co-worker’s negativity has first to be routed productively through the maze of
our own subjectivity, including pain-body.
Friday, March 15, 2013
Dr Robert Weathers on Creativity in Education: Mindful Awareness Practic...
Fourth and final in a brand-new series of guided meditations by Dr. Robert Weathers
Dr Robert Weathers on Creativity in Education: Mindful Awareness Practic...
Third in a new series of brand-new guided meditations by Dr. Robert Weathers
Dr. Robert Weathers on Creativity in Education: Mindful Awareness Practi...
Second in a new series of brand-new guided meditations by Dr. Robert Weathers
Dr Robert Weathers on Creativity in Education: Mindfulness Awareness Pra...
A brand-new guided meditation by Dr. Robert Weathers, first of a new series
Thursday, March 14, 2013
Wednesday, March 13, 2013
Monday, March 11, 2013
Friday, March 8, 2013
Dr. Robert Weathers on Two Ways of Experiencing Pain
Check out my latest post on experiencing Two Ways of Experiencing Pain here.
A Look Back --- and Forward --- On Jump-Starting the "Creative Spark"
You might say CalSouthern’s Master Lecture Series was inspired by inspiration. It was May 2009 and Dr. Barbara Grimes, Dean of CalSouthern’s School of Behavioral Sciences, and Dr. Robert Weathers, curriculum developer, were in Oslo, Norway, attending a conference presented by the European Association of Distance Learning.
Read more about the CalSouthern’s Master Lecture Series: A Look Back—and Forward here.
Read more about the CalSouthern’s Master Lecture Series: A Look Back—and Forward here.
Thursday, March 7, 2013
Recovery from Addiction: New, Holistic Approaches By Dr Robert Weathers
Checkout my latest Video on Recovery from Addiction: New, Holistic Approaches.
Don't forget to checkout Dr. Robert Weather's YouTube Channel for more videos.
Don't forget to checkout Dr. Robert Weather's YouTube Channel for more videos.
Wednesday, March 6, 2013
More on "Tips for Transformative Learning"
In response to my recent blog on "Tips for Transformative Learning," one reader asked:
"Can
you spell out some of the drawbacks/how learning is restricted when we approach
learning with a more experienced mind, recognizing familiar material, and
categorizing things into familiar cubbyholes?"
Tips for Transformative Learning
In the Eastern tradition of Zen, there is the notion of “beginner’s mind.” To adopt this attitude, of beginner’s mind, requires that we stay always open to new insights. Even when encountering what may feel like familiar material, we are to approach it with a childlike receptivity. Perhaps we first visited this material a year ago. But we are no longer that same person. Now we have the opportunity to digest and incorporate this information from a vantage point one year more mature.
Read the entire article on Tips for Transformative Learning by Robert Weathers here.
Read the entire article on Tips for Transformative Learning by Robert Weathers here.
Saturday, March 2, 2013
Further Reflections on Composing a Creative Life
Last week, under the title “On Composing a Creative
Life,” I blogged the following poem, perhaps my favorite of all:
We Are Many by Pablo Neruda
Of the many men whom I am, whom we are, I cannot settle on a single one.
They are lost to me under the cover of clothing. They have departed for another city.
When everything seems to be set to show me off as a man of intelligence, the fool I keep concealed in my person takes over my talk and occupies my mouth.
Of the many men whom I am, whom we are, I cannot settle on a single one.
They are lost to me under the cover of clothing. They have departed for another city.
When everything seems to be set to show me off as a man of intelligence, the fool I keep concealed in my person takes over my talk and occupies my mouth.
Friday, March 1, 2013
Creativity in Education Series: Creative Block and the Surrender of the Ego
Checkout my latest video on Creativity in Education: Creative Block and the Surrender of the Ego
Don't forget to checkout Dr. Robert Weather's YouTube Channel for more high-definition and completely updated video presentation
Don't forget to checkout Dr. Robert Weather's YouTube Channel for more high-definition and completely updated video presentation
Creativity in Education Series: Einstein, a Little Birdy, and Personal Creativity - YouTube
Creativity in Education: Einstein, a Little Birdy, and Personal Creativity - YouTube
Don't forget to checkout Dr. Robert Weather's YouTube Channel for more high-definition and completely updated video presentation
Don't forget to checkout Dr. Robert Weather's YouTube Channel for more high-definition and completely updated video presentation
Creativity in Education Series: Tips for Transformative Learning - YouTube
Checkout my latest video on Creativity in Education: Tips for Transformative Learning
Don't forget to checkout Dr. Robert Weather's YouTube Channel for more high-definition and completely updated video presentation
Don't forget to checkout Dr. Robert Weather's YouTube Channel for more high-definition and completely updated video presentation
Wednesday, February 27, 2013
Sunday, February 24, 2013
Ralph Waldo Emerson's "Each and All"
Each and All
Little thinks, in the field, yon red-cloaked clown,
Of thee, from the hill-top looking down;
And the heifer, that lows in the upland farm,
Far-heard, lows not thine ear to charm;
The sexton tolling the bell at noon,
Dreams not that great Napoleon
Stops his horse, and lists with delight,
Whilst his files sweep round yon Alpine height;
Nor knowest thou what argument
Thy life to thy neighbor's creed has lent:
All are needed by each one,
Nothing is fair or good alone.
Friday, February 22, 2013
On Composing a Creative Life
We Are Many
by Pablo Neruda
Of the many men whom I am, whom we are, I cannot settle on a single one.
They are lost to me under the cover of clothing. They have departed for another city.
When everything seems to be set to show me off as a man of intelligence, the fool I keep concealed in my person takes over my talk and occupies my mouth.
by Pablo Neruda
Of the many men whom I am, whom we are, I cannot settle on a single one.
They are lost to me under the cover of clothing. They have departed for another city.
When everything seems to be set to show me off as a man of intelligence, the fool I keep concealed in my person takes over my talk and occupies my mouth.
Wednesday, February 20, 2013
Tuesday, February 19, 2013
Rumi on Being Yourself, with Humility
God picks up the reed-flute world and blows. Each note is a need coming through one of us, a passion, a longing-pain. Remember the lips where the wind-breath originated, and let your note be clear. Don't try to end it. Be your note. I'll show you how it's enough.
Monday, February 18, 2013
Creative Block and the Ego’s Death
Have you ever noticed that creativity may not come
naturally --- or as a friend of mine says, “through the front door”? For example, why is it when I have an open
hour or two (or occasionally, longer) to compose new music (a lifelong hobby)
that I oftentimes will find myself resorting to mundane or repetitive tasks
instead; which cut into my available time for creative projects? I’ve even mentioned to friends, with
befuddlement: “It’s amazing how interesting vacuuming all the floors can be
when faced with wide-open time for creative purposes?”
Friday, February 15, 2013
Thursday, February 14, 2013
Why Not Just Say No (Video Blog)
Dr. Robert Weathers challenging too-simple notions of addiction and willpower, by incorporating current evidence from neuroscience. Click below to watch Dr. Robert Weathers...
The Labels We Use (Video Blog)
Dr. Bob Weathers helping us to pay a bit closer attention to the labels we use to describe others and ourselves, particularly regarding the experience of "intoxication."
Tips for Transformative Learning (Video Blog)
Dr. Bob Weathers discussing some helpful tips for learning in a way that changes YOU, the active learner practicing "beginner's mind."
Wednesday, February 13, 2013
Just Say "Yes"
One rule of improvisational theater is to mentally say "Yes" to any creative impulse. This allows for stories to develop, for life to bloom. In relationships, similarly open-minded imagination allows for love to bloom. (The Center for Healthy Sex)
Monday, February 11, 2013
Creativity and "Unknowing" by Dr. Robert Weathers
Though it may be called a nescience, and unknowing, yet there is in it more than all knowing and understanding without it; for this unknowing lures and attracts you from all understood things, and from yourself as well. (Meister Eckhart)
Creativity Beyond Just the Mind
All the things that truly matter - beauty, love, creativity, joy, inner peace - arise from beyond the mind. (Eckhart Tolle)
Tuesday, February 5, 2013
Einstein, a Little Birdy, and Personal Creativity by Dr. Bob Weathers
Albert Einstein once observed: “The significant
problems we have cannot be solved at the same level of thinking with which we
created them.” Last evening I had a
first-hand experience of this truth…
I was staying at a good friend’s house. I opened the back door (to head to her Jacuzzi),
only to have a little sparrow fly directly into the house.
Once I regained my wits, I immediately went about the
task of shooing the little bird back outside, where it belonged. But it had different plans!
Monday, January 28, 2013
Friday, January 25, 2013
Work as Antidote to Relationship Needs and Frustrations
In response to my earlier blog post about Dr. Mark
Epstein's excellent book, "Open to Desire" (which see here), one
reader asked:
"What would you say to someone who chooses to block off mundane existence and focus only on work to survive?"
Great question, in my opinion!
"What would you say to someone who chooses to block off mundane existence and focus only on work to survive?"
Great question, in my opinion!
Cultivating Your Personal Creativity by Dr. Bob Weathers
In response to my earlier blog post about Dr. Mark Epstein's excellent book, "Open to Desire" (which see here), a reader asked:
"What would you say to someone who chooses to block off mundane existence and focus only on work to survive?"
Great question, in my opinion!
"What would you say to someone who chooses to block off mundane existence and focus only on work to survive?"
Great question, in my opinion!
Thursday, January 24, 2013
Mindfulness, or How to Change Your Brain for the Better… in 8 Weeks or Less
This past week, I asked
myself the question: if someone I care about knew something that could significantly
reduce my stress --- whether immediately, or over the long haul --- and chose
not to share it with me: would I be OK with that? NO, I wouldn’t be OK!
In that spirit then, I
want to explore mindfulness; that is, how each of us can retrain our personal response
to stress. Indeed: how we can change our
brain for the better…in 8 weeks or less!
My plan then is to: underscore
how mindfulness has captured center stage in psychology and education; define
mindfulness; reasons to considering practicing mindfulness; show you how to do
it; and tie it into the work of psychotherapists and educators.
Open To Desire
For anyone who has
struggled with renouncing anything --- whether a bad relationship, an addictive
behavior, or simply a recurring, negative train of thought --- I cannot
recommend too highly the wonderfully articulate and powerful book by Buddhist
psychoanalyst, Dr. Mark Epstein: “Open to Desire.” Here’s a brief excerpt:
In a recent discussion with Western psychologists on the managing of destructive emotions like anger, greed and envy, the Dalai Lama was asked by one of the participants if there were any emotions that he could think of that might preserve or reinforce the calmness of mind that he thought was so important, and so lacking in today’s world. The question came somewhat out of frustration. The way the Dalai Lama had been talking about emotional experience, it was starting to seem as if he saw all emotions as afflictive. This was puzzling to many of the Western participants, who seemed more likely than their Tibetan counterparts to give value to their emotional lives. Were there no positive aspects of emotional life that the Dalai Lama could think of?
His answer was very interesting.
In a recent discussion with Western psychologists on the managing of destructive emotions like anger, greed and envy, the Dalai Lama was asked by one of the participants if there were any emotions that he could think of that might preserve or reinforce the calmness of mind that he thought was so important, and so lacking in today’s world. The question came somewhat out of frustration. The way the Dalai Lama had been talking about emotional experience, it was starting to seem as if he saw all emotions as afflictive. This was puzzling to many of the Western participants, who seemed more likely than their Tibetan counterparts to give value to their emotional lives. Were there no positive aspects of emotional life that the Dalai Lama could think of?
His answer was very interesting.
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