Alchemy For Life Author Mark Bradford

Parasympathetic Nervous System







The network of nerves that creates the system that’s known for the ‘rest and digest’ feelings is the parasympathetic nervous system. This system is what aids in digestion, slows your heart rate and give you general feelings of well being.







I want that. I want a lot of that. I bet you do too.







Sympathetic Nervous System







The opposite is the Sympathetic Nervous System—otherwise known as the fight or flight system. While this is responsible for kicking things into a higher gear, the aforementioned system kicks it into a lower one, while still taking digestion up a notch.







The Color Green







I have always felt (quite literally) the effects of being around green—particularly the green of nature—trees, grass, etc. I’m pretty sure you have as well. There’s more to it than just a simple preference. it has actually psychological effects on us. Guess which of the two systems it also activates?







Lets talk about our parent’s warning about swimming after eating, what you can do to activate the parasympathetic nervous system, and the fact that I say that word like ten times in the podcast and don’t even mess it up.















🙂















Transcript of episode:







Rest and digest. Doesn’t that sound nice?







Well, hey there, welcome back.







What I want to talk about today is not something that’s really linear, but more a number of things that are all connected, like we are, in our system, in our nervous system. Do you remember how we were always told to wait an hour before swimming because we’d cramp up and die and drown? Well, it turns out that’s not exactly true.







In fact, something very close to the opposite of that is true. So, let’s start there. So, a recent sports medicine meta-study found that walking after eating has some tremendous benefits.







It affects cholesterol, the efficiency of how you digest your food, feelings of relaxation. There’s less of a spike in sugar. And if you’ve ever read The 4-Hour Body, you know just how important spiking glucose, or rather, not spiking glucose, can change the way that your body even stores the food.







In addition to all of that, walking also stimulates your vagus nerve. It’s a rather long, large nerve in your body that connects to something called the parasympathetic nervous system, which I just love saying, by the way. Isn’t that a fun word?







The parasympathetic nervous system is also known as the rest and digest system. It’s the opposite of your fight and flight system, and that’s your sympathetic system. So the parasympathetic is basically the opposite.It’s the, oh my God, we went through this really stressful time. Let’s kick in the parasympathetic so that we can rest and digest and calm down and feel nice. So, oddly enough, movement after eating, in fact, you have this little window that right after eating should be used to then start movement, and the movement can be as little as 10 minutes.In fact, the sweet spot’s probably, from what I keep researching, probably about 20 minutes or so. So if you go for like a 20 minute walk after eating, you’re going to kick in your parasympathetic nervous system, and that’s going to do all those wonderful things I just talked about. So imagine that you can literally affect the way that you’re absorbing food and its effect on your body just by taking a little walk.







So I would highly,

Stroke support Group







Recently, I sat in on a stroke support group. The group was for both the individuals who experienced strokes as well as their caretakers/family members. I had the blessing of the admin staff to do so. Was it uncomfortable? Yes did I feel out of place? Sort of. Did I learn something very powerful? Absolutely. I always do.







Comfort zone







We all stay in our comfort zones because they are, well, comfortable. Sometimes that discomfort is really quite a rush because it tells you you are in new territory and about to learn something. And I did.







The lesson







The powerful lesson I learned wasn’t from someone who had one, two, or even three strokes. It was from a dear lady who had had seven. Along with her support dog, she brought an iPad. She was clever enough to type up the things she wanted to share with the group a staff member read her experiences and they were shared. But unfortunately, those were quickly used up and she had far more to contribute. So she began slowly typing but then she noticed the room of silence waiting for her to finish. As her frustration mounted, she decided she would speak.







When she did, she did methodically, with a lot of effort, and with very few words. She seemed to make each one count, but for her she didn’t feel she was conveying thoughts in the same way everyone else did, so she apologized. She did so by moving her hand to her chest, then her mouth, and then her eye while she said “Sorry, talk hard.”







She needn’t have apologized for you see, I could understand her perfectly and I’m sure everyone else could as well. Despite what she thought, she was doing great! In fact, the problem wan’t that she wasn’t using enough words, it’s that we use too many.







Saying much with so little







So the next time you communicate with others—clients, your boss, your employees, potential clients, friends, and family and loved ones. Remember this lesson.







Phrases like:







“I’d love to help you.”







I’m glad you’re my client.”







“You’re important.”







“I’d like to get paid now“







“I need help.”







and







“I love you.”







Those phrases convey so much with just a few words.







I’m Mark Bradford, I’m glad you read this, and you’re important to me.

Knowing your strengths







Do you know your strengths some people do and some people don’t. If you do know your strengths, there is something about them. You may not realize and that’s the subject of this podcast.







Stretching too far







Sometimes when we approach a goal or a task, we look for a way to do it that makes sense. We learn new skills and get better at our approach.







Just keep doing it!







Push harder and harder!







That’s pretty straightforward, but sometimes we encounter things that seem very counterintuitive and this is one of them… it can be disorienting and frustrating to discover it.







What if you push too hard? What’s the downside?







Listen in for what this means, how to recognize it, and the good news of what happens when you do.







It’s one of the most powerful life lessons I’ve understood. And it all comes from a simple phrase.







A strength stretched too far becomes a weakness.

What is an iteration?







An iteration is an updated version of something built upon its previous version. But, and iteration can also be another separate version.







Examples of iterations







When someone bakes a cake, they can create a cake that has chocolate filling, vanilla frosting, and multicolor sprinkles on the outside. They can assess that cake and then realize that it would be better with raspberry filling, so they go back and create another cake with those parameters. Even though they’ve created two separate cakes—the second cake is an iteration of the first.







When someone works on a video or a movie, they have the benefit of being able to iterate that work product. They can add, delete, and adjust sections of the movie. They can apply a filter to specific instances of scenes or people. However, its the same movie. In the end everyone only sees the final product.







Kinda like you?















How we iterate







We live life iteratively. We can’t create duplicates of ourselves, but we do build upon the foundation of the past. Like the movie producer, we are able to add delete and adjust aspects of ourselves.















Let’s talk about how we live life iteratively, and what that means for us, improving ourselves, our relationships, and even our client connections.

Type A Personalities







The phrase type a refers to a pattern of behavior and personality associated with high achievement, competitiveness, and impatience. Does this sound like you? Does this sound like most C-level employees? Does this sound like most entrepreneurs and creatives? If you’re listening to this podcast you most likely are.















Productivity and meaning







You probably derive a lot of meaning from your productivity. You push harder and harder. Many people immerse themselves in their career and blink and then suddenly it’s 20+ years later.







And they have to retire.







And that word is terrifying. Why? Because you found meaning in what you’ve done and now you’re not allowed to do it anymore. And it has become your identity. It’s who you are.







Terrifying.







But there is hope and direction. You can still feel the meaning. You may actually find more meaning in this new direction.







Check out Job, Career or Calling for more insights into how this all works. And let’s chat for 10 minutes.









* Productivity and obligations are just that – obligations.







* If what you do for a living (productivity) also fits in one or more columns (learning, fun, health, etc) then it becomes more meaningful. It’s no longer a job or even career. It’s much more.







* Your career can become your identity, and when you lose the ability to perform that job (retirement) it can feel like you are losing your identity.







* You’ll find that the most meaningful things in your life fit in more than one column of the balance sheet







* You can not only take a turn, but bloom into a bigger flower for the thing that brings you not only meaning, but joy (and get paid for it).

White Space







The first known use of ‘White Space’ was back in 1946, and it means the area of a page without writing or pictures. It’s the part between the words, the part that allows us to pause and consider. it allows us to compartmentalize one set of thoughts from another.







Social Media and the looooooong post







Have you ever noticed posts on social media sometimes people post a few words, hit a couple hard returns, then say a few more until the post is about a foot tall? They do this to manipulate the way you read it. Each line becomes (presumably) an impactful statement. Guess what they are force-feeding you? That’s right, white space. So instead of a meaningful paragraph separated by some whitespace, you get white space on







every







single







line.







Why saying nothing is as important as saying something







It takes stamina to consume any form of communication whether you are reading a book, listening to an audiobook, a conversation, or watching a speaker. Pauses matter. In fact, sometimes they matter just as much as the words they separate.















Attention spans and the desire to complete sentences







But there is a danger, especially when communicating in person, or in a conversation. If you have ever had thoughtful pauses in a conversation, more often than not, that will be interpreted as confusion, hesitation, lack of confidence, or uncertainty. Those who perceive this will then interrupt you and/or try to complete what they think you want to say. It’s also an open invitation for those that do not feel like they are heard, or have an unbalanced desire to add to the conversation.







Fiction, dialogue and ADHD







Fun fact – when I first started writing (even before I wrote my trilogy years later) I was so fascinated with dialogue that it intimidated me and inspired me to examine it very deeply. When I finally wrote my trilogy (after three nonfictions that did not contain dialogue) I developed a very specific way of writing it. I allowed it to stand on its own. I did not violate any rules of style but did develop a fairly unique way to present it.







The interesting thing is it became second nature and I didn’t think much of it… until a review specifically mentioned it. The review said the book was an easy read. It wasn’t in my humble opinion. it’s a deep slow burn with lots of layers. When I read further I found the review specifically mentioned the layout, and the reviewer explained that he had ADHD and this 400-page book was one of the few he enjoyed reading—because of the white space.







Listen to this episode—it’s got ample white space, and hopefully it gives you something to ponder as to not only how you communicate, but how you stay true to your thoughts.