Andong--Home of Confucianism in Korea

Andong is a city on the Nakdong River in the Eastern part of South Korea. During the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910), Andong attracted scores of Confucian scholars, becoming a pioneering city in Confucian thought. This city also contained the highest number of private and Confucian schools during that time. To this day, Andong still has around 26 private schools from the Joseon Dynasty period. The city also acted as a home to the noble class during the Joseon period. Queen Elizabeth visited the city in 1999.

Confucianism was introduced to Korea by a Chinese scholar. Although often considered a religion, it is more accurately described as a detailed code for interpersonal behaviour, a practical social and political doctrine. A system of education, ceremony, and administration were developed based on Confucian teachings.

It is easy to see the influence of Confucianism on Koreans today. Respect for elders, even when there are slight differences in age, and loyalty to one's kin and authority figures when required is considered to be very important.

In Andong, we visited the Korea Studies Advancement Center--a large complex with a museum devoted to preserving and transmitting Confucianism. Due to the strong history of Confucianism in this area and the way history has been taught in schools throughout Korea, many people are not aware that Confucianism, like Buddhism and Christianity, was introduced to Korea and that it is not the root of Korean culture.

After taking a training offered through our Korean Traditional Cultural Institute (Kookhakwon), an Andong city councillor realized the error that had been made in the naming of the Korean Studies Advancement Center in his city. He, along with the Mayor of Andong and other city officials and scholars, attended the event hosted by Kookhakwon in Andong this weekend and are interested in correcting the error that was made and in bringing Brain Education and training about the root of Korean culture to their city.

At a lecture sponsored by Kookhakwon, Dr. Lee, who studies the ancient Korean culture of Hanminjok, discusses the three elements of traditional Korean culture: Heaven, Earth, and Human, as distinct from the two traditional Chinese elements of yin and yang.

E-Learning Center Team

The E-Learning Center at UBE offers Brain Education training on-line for teachers and others. After a planning meeting at Korea's Dahn Meditation Center (Chun Hwa Won), the E-Learning Center team enjoyed a hike together.



This Gingko tree is about 1000 years old. It is 31 metres high and 11 metres around at chest height. The branches spread 25 metres east to west and 22 metres north to south. People say that it wails at the time of a national crisis.

Kuk Jo Jeon

This weekend on the way to an end-of the-year staff planning retreat for the E-Learning Center Team at UBE, Kim Jin-Yi and I visited Kuk Jo Jeon, a temple near Youngdong.


That's a Dangun statue in the background, similar to the one at the Peace Park at Kookhakwon/UBE. You may remember that Dangun was the founder of an ancient Korean culture based on the "Hongik" philosophy, or living for the betterment of all humanity and the Earth. There were 47 Danguns who ruled in Korea. This Dangun statue is known as "Healing Dangun". It is said that the energy from this statue can heal your body.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas from Korea!!!

Wishing you and your families lots of love, joy and happiness!

All the best in health and good fortune in the coming year!

Love Jenny

Let's create lots of happiness and harmony next year! Check out these links:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zhqlmdrk5Ns

http://speakingoffaith.publicradio.org/programs/play/audiogallery/soundseen.shtml

A Visit with a Korean Family

This weekend I was invited to visit my classmate's hometown of Gumi. Kim Jin Yi (English name, Jenny) also invited another foreigner, a student from the Phillipines who is studying in Daejeon. Her family had never hosted foreigners before and this was the first time for both Randy and I to visit a Korean family's home so it was a great experience for all of us.

Kim Jin Yi, Randy, Kim Jin Yi's older sister, her mother, and I

First, we enjoyed a delicious meal together, with dishes prepared specially by Kim Jin Yi nim's mother. Then we played a game called Yut nori that is traditionally played on New Year's Day or Chuseok (Korean Thanksgiving).

The losing team gave healing to the winning team.

Kim Jin Yi nim's father is an Oriental Medical Doctor. He did cupping and acupuncture on my lower back to help balance and stimulate the circulation of energy in the body.





The next day we visited Jikjisa Temple, a Buddhist Temple. The temple was founded in 418 A.D. The name means "Pointing straight into mind to see true self achieves Buddahood".

Gojoseon: Ancient Korean History

Nowadays, many universities are seeking to combine knowledge and expertise from different fields of study. At UBE, I am very fortunate to be exposed to a variety of fields of study, including but not limited to: neuroscience, education, educational anthropology, educational psychology, sports psychology, archaeology, peace studies, ancient Korean history, ancient Korean thought and philosophy, and politics. The breadth of the faculty's interests is a reflection of the implications that Brain Education has as a comprehensive approach that can integrate and be applied to many different fields.

One of the faculty here, Dr. Bok Gi Dae, is involved in archaelogical research. He is known here at UBE as the "Korean Indiana Jones". Last night I met some of the other researchers who are collaborating with him on this research, including professors from the Departments of Anatomy and Anthropology at Seoul National University and Dankook University.

Dr. Bok's research provides physical archaeological evidence of the ancient Korean nation of Gojoseon, which existed throughout the Korean peninsula and ancient Manchuria (now China). This research has greater implications for issues related to Korean identity, culture, North-South reunification, and Korean relations with other North-East Asian countries as Koreans attempt to recreate a history that has been distorted by those seeking to conquer them.

Lee Joon Young's Happy 1st Birthday

This weekend I was invited to a Happy 1st Birthday Party for Lee Joon Young,the son of one of the staff who work at the E-Learning Center here at UBE. It was held in a big banquet hall with a buffet and there were many other 1st Birthday Parties happening at the same time. (That's the invitation on the left).

It was quite an event, complete with fuzzy characters who led everyone in singing and dancing. The family were wearing their traditional Korean clothing (hanbok), there was a cake-cutting ceremony, and a ceremony where the birthday boy chose from different objects which predict the kind of future he will have.

According to www.lifeinkorea.com, the items and their meanings are:
-bow and arrow: the child will become a warrior
-needle and thread: the child will live long
-jujube: the child will have many descendants
-book, pencil, or related items: the child will become a successful scholar
-rice or rice cake: the child will become rich (some resources say choosing a rice cake means the child is not smart)
-ruler, needle, scissors: the child will be talented with his/her hands
-knife: the child will be a good cook

Can you guess what Joon Young chose?




He chose a pen!

According to the same website, in the past, due to a lack of medical information, Korea's seasonal temperature differences, and many childhood related diseases, the death rate for children was extremely high. Many children died before their first birthday. After the age of one year, the survival rate steeply increased, making this milestone a very happy one for the child's parents. The tradition of celebrating a child's first birthday in particular continues today.

Evolving the Brain

One of the speakers from the movie "What the Bleep Do We Know?" is Dr. Joe Dispenza. I recently watched a video interview with Dr. Joe on a website called The Conscious Media Network. After an accident that left him with multiple broken vertebrae and fractures, he decided not to have surgery and instead began the process of healing himself.

He imagined recreating each and every vertebrae, while at the same time letting no thought go "unchecked"--if he noticed any stray thought or feeling or apprehension, he would start over again. As time went on, this process became easier and it took less and less time. He noticed measurable changes in his body--in pain levels and sensations--and realized that he was rewiring his brain.

In 10 and 1/2 weeks, he was back at his chiropractic practice walking and seeing patients. Dr. Joe had vowed that if he was ever going to walk again, he would spend his life studying about mind-body connections and the power of mind over matter. His new book is called, "Evolve Your Brain - The Science of Changing Your Mind" and describes what actually happens in your brain to create behavior.

As Joe says, "Until just a few decades ago, science had led us to believe that we were doomed by genetics, hobbled by conditioning, and should resign ourselves to the proverbial thinking about old dogs not being able to learn new tricks. However, what I discovered in studying the brain and its effects on behavior for the last 20 years has made me enormously hopeful about human beings and our ability to change. We have just needed to know how to change, and today, neuroscience has a very solid explanation for how mind over matter works; it's no longer a pie-in-the-sky concept. The science of changing our mind is now available, and I wrote Evolve Your Brain to help make this science accessible to everyone."

Here's a link to the interview with Dr. Joe:
http://www.consciousmedianetwork.com/members/jdispenza.htm

HSP 12 Steps

Late Thursday evenings, I practice HSP 12 Steps with some of the other staff and students at UBE. HSP 12 Steps is one of the training programs that was developed by Ilchi Lee. HSP stands for health, smile (happiness), and peace. The training helps to strengthen your body and develop confidence. Each successive step requires greater muscle strength, balance, and trust in yourself.

The training starts with Step 1, push-ups, and progresses through a series of steps to the final step, walking on your hands. When I first started doing this training, I thought that me being able to walk on my hands would be impossible and I came up with a whole list of reasons why I wouldn't be able to do it.

This training, though, proves that anything is possible if you do it diligently and sincerely. Step by step, as I gain strength and confidence, I can honestly say that some day soon I will walk on my hands. Right now, I'm working on Step 9--walking on your hands in place against a wall.

HSP 12 Steps, or sometimes a more scaled-down version of it, is practised in schools as part of the Brain Education approach. At Kookhakwon, the building next to UBE, staff practice HSP 12 Steps together everyday at 3:00 p.m. You can see men and women, young and old, working together to improve their practice.

Here's a video of Ilchi Lee himself doing HSP 12 Steps training as part of his daily routine:

http://www.brainwavevibration.com/videos/video_view.aspx?idx=13

Quite an inspiration!

The BR English Program: English Language Instruction and Brain Education

BR English is one of the many organizations based on the principles of Brain Education. Through cooperative learning opportunities, BR English teachers use Brain Education principles and practices to help students learn and improve their English. In the process, students develop confidence in their ability to speak a foreign language, as well as making improvements in their physical, emotional, and social health.

While some students attend after-school BR English programs, others are fortunate to have the program in their school.

On Friday, I met with Danielle Little, to find out more about the organization and her work. Danielle is on the Education and Program Development teams. As part of her work, she trains teachers, provides workshops, and promotes and develops curriculum for the BR English program.

Recently, the South Korean government has put a greater emphasis on English-language education so whole school boards are looking for effective tools to provide English-language instruction.

Busan, the second largest city in Seoul, which is already implementing Brain Education in its schools, has recently shown interest in adding BR English to its programs. In addition, the BR English program provides a model for English-language instruction that can be used by countries around the world.

For more information about BR English:

http://www.brenglish.co.kr/common/html/english/english.asp#d

Brain Education Department at the Global Forum on Education

Faculty and students from the Brain Education department at UBE attended the Global Forum on Education in Seoul November 27-29, 2008. The International Conference was co-hosted by the Korean Educational Research Association and Seoul National University. Many of the students in the Brain Education department are teachers using the Brain Education program in their classrooms and schools and, as part of their graduate program, doing research about its applications.

The campus of Seoul National University against a backdrop of beautiful late-fall mountains.

Seoul National University's history is interesting, parallelling Korea's recent history, from independence in 1946 through the Korean War to the present: http://www.useoul.edu/about/ab0102.jsp

After the conference, faculty and students met to discuss the conference, to enjoy dinner together, and later...


Noraebang!

Dahn Mu Do

On Friday, I attended a Dahn Mu Do class at the Sinsa Dahn Mu Do Center in Seoul. Master Kang, the Head Instructor at the center, spent some time in Canada as an instructor at the HSP Ranch, Dahn's Canadian Meditation Center, and he helped to renovate the new Burlington Dahn Yoga Center.

In Canada and the U.S., Dahn Mu Do (or Dahn Hak Do) is offered at Dahn Mu Do Centres or, as is the case in Burlington, at the Dahn Yoga Centre. I happen to know the instructor at the Burlington Center--he is a great instructor! Marek got his black belt after doing an intense 21-day training with Master Kang at HSP Ranch and has since continued his training in the GTA and taught at the centre.

Dahn Mu Do is a challenging but gentle form of Brain Education that is similar to Tai Chi. By practising Dahn Mu Do, I have improved my balance, the flexibility in my joints, the strength in my lower body, and my confidence. Through breathing, posture-holding, and other exercises, I find my mind becomes calmer and I am better able to control my energy, emotions and stress.

Dahn Mu Do is an energy-based non-combative martial art which can be used to heal and transform both body and mind. People of all ages and in any condition can do Dahn Mu Do. In Texas, a group of juvenile offenders benefited from Dahn Mu Do classes through the Dahn Foundation, a not-for-profit organization that helps to bring Dahn to the community:

http://www.dahnfoundation.org/L3-Programs-JuvProbation.html

Here's a video of a demonstration by Master Kang:

http://tvpot.daum.net/clip/ClipView.do?clipid=9102125&q=%EA%B0%95%ED%83%9C%ED%9B%88&searchType=0&sort=wtime&svctype=1

For more information about Dahn Mu Do:
http://www.dahnyoga.com/dahnmudo/

Brain Education and the Development of Global Human Resources

From November 4-6, 2008, the third annual Global Human Resources Forum was held in Seoul under the theme of "Creative Talents for Global Collaboration". This forum facilitated the exchange of best practices from all over the world for developing creative and global human resources with a focus on innovative approaches to education and human resource development and greater collaboration between organizations, companies, and governments to ensure shared global prosperity. Keynote speakers included Jack Welch, former CEO of GE.

A session on the Development of Brain Science and Maximization of Creativity included presentations by Dr. Hee Sup Shin, one of the first National Scientists of Korea, Dr. Gruzelier, from the Department of Psychology, Goldsmiths, University of London, and Ilchi Lee, the founder of Brain Education and President of the University of Brain Education.

In his presentation, Ilchi Lee summarized his work over the past 30 years, developing programs to help people restore their health and happiness and ability to be more creative and productive. He acknowledged Dr. Gruzelier's research on the ways neurofeedback can teach people to manage their brainwaves and improve their creativity, musical ability, and other abilities.

Ilchi Lee suggested, though, that we have the ability to change our brainwaves without the use of this technology and offered Brain Wave Vibration as a simple, effective exercise to affect our brainwaves, our hormones, and thus, our emotions.

"You don't have to be a brain scientist to use your brain well. Everyone with a brain can make use of their brain," Ilchi Lee said. He emphasized that choice is the first step to using the brain well and offered Music, Action, and Message as key elements to use in managing our brainwaves and our lives. He then led the session participants in Brain Wave Vibration to emphasize the importance of taking action.

Ilchi Lee shared the recent results of research done by Dr. Hideo Arita at Toho University in Japan on the effects of Brain Wave Vibration. The studies showed that after 15 minutes of Brain Wave Vibration, participants showed increases in blood flow to the brain, in alpha waves (brainwaves associated with deep relaxation and enhanced creativity), and serotonin levels (low levels of serotonin have been related to depression). Participants also showed improved concentration and on a psychological test, increased vitality, decreased tension, anxiety, and fatigue.

Ilchi Lee described how Brain Education as an approach and Brain Wave Vibration as a specific methodology are being used to help improve the well-being and productivity of individuals and organizations in schools, communities, and companies around the world. In addition, Brain Education is creating a new professional qualification for people who are interested in helping others learn to use their brains well called a Brain Management Consultant.

Ultimately, Ilchi Lee offered Brain Education as an educational approach that creates hope and cultivates the HongIk spirit, which means one who works for the benefit of all humanity, in the development of future leaders and places of work around the world.

21-Day Miracle Training

Today, I started 21-Day Miracle training again. This training is a brain-based self-improvement program designed to help create new habits. By focusing on one goal for 21 days, you are giving your brain a chance to establish connections in support of your goal.

When this program was first introduced on http://www.ilchi.com/, I used it to help strengthen my body. For 21-days, I did running, pushups, and other exercises to help make me stronger. When I finished, I started another 21-days of training with the same goal, but different activities, to help me achieve it.

Lately, I have gotten away from doing this. After watching one of Ilchi Lee's lectures, I realized that if I can make my life a series of 21-Day trainings, I can change myself a lot and create many miracles. Otherwise, I will just keep thinking about the changes I want to make and not actually do anything about them.

The first step in 21-day Miracle Training is to choose a goal. Lately, I have been very sleepy in the morning, so my goal is to be able to wake up at 7:30 every morning with lots of energy :).

It is important that a goal contain language that reflects what you want to accomplish, not what you don't want to accomplish, because what you tell your brain will manifest itself. So, for example, instead of "Get rid of my back pain", you could choose "Have a healthy back."

The next step is to choose three rules that will help you achieve your goal. If you ask your brain, the answer will usually come to you very quickly (your brain knows what you need to do--we're just not always listening :). My three rules are:

1. Do Jung-Choong Breathing every day for 30 minutes (to help accumulate energy).
2. Don't drink coffee or eat four hours before going to sleep (so my body and brain can have a restful sleep).
3. Go to bed before 1 a.m. (this may seem late but people stay up late here--there's something about the energy in Korea that makes it hard to go to bed early).

After creating your plan, it is good to record it and share it and your daily progress with one person or a community of people. This helps provide support for your plan, although as you'll experience, all of the motivation and will has to come from inside of you.

I recorded my goal and rules on ilchi.com and will be able to check my progress every day. There is also a journal to record your experiences of yourself during the training. If you're looking for inspiration from others, you can read the goals and rules others have chosen.

Many people have created groups on ilchi.com around goals that they have in common. So, for example, there are groups for education, volunteer and outreach activity, self development, family and relationships, health & wellness, and young people. There's even a group for members of the Burlington Dahn Yoga Centre!

I've heard that many educators in the New York area have been introduced to this program through the Brain Education Teaching Workshops. They have used it to help use the positive experiences they had during the workshop to create positive habits in their classrooms and in their own lives. Great!

For more information about 21-day Miracle training, see:
http://www.ilchi.com/what-is-21m?/

Good luck creating new habits and miracles in your lives!

Maximizing Creativity with Brainwave Training

Today was an exciting day at UBE. Guest lecturer, Dr. John Gruzelier from Goldsmiths, University of London, presented on "Maximizing Creativity with EEG-Neurofeedback (Brain Wave) Training", a presentation he also made a few days earlier at the Global Human Resources Symposium in Seoul.

Neurofeedback is a technique that has been used successfully to treat epilepsy, ADHD, schizophrenia, substance use, and brain injury. While it has several clinical applications, Dr. Gruzelier's current focus is on using Neurofeedback to enhance optimal performance in non-clinical populations.

What Dr. Gruzelier and his colleagues have found is that through Neurofeedback training, or through training people to slow down their brain waves using a neurofeedback system, they can improve their performance, including their creativity. This has shown to be true for both novice and expert artists, including instrumentalists, vocalists, and dancers. Dr. Gruzelier emphasized that anyone can develop their creativity and abilities through this technique and others.

The state induced by slow wave training has been termed hypnogogia and is the state between wake and sleep. This is the state that can be experienced by doing Ji Gam or Energy Meditation, a technique used in Brain Education training. Many scientists, writers, and others have documented the creative insight they have experienced while in this state. Images of the brain show that there is increased connectivity between the left and right sides of the brain.



Earlier in the afternoon, Dr. Gruzelier was also an honoured guest at a ceremony to mark the beginning of construction of a new Brain Education building at UBE. Dr. Gruzelier spoke about the important role that UBE and KIBS play in providing research that supports the benefits of Brain Education so that it can be shared around the world. He commended Ilchi Lee for his work in Brain Science and for his spiritual leadership. Dr. Gruzelier noted that he shared in Ilchi Lee's goal of helping individuals develop the potential of their brains for peace.

Change Your Brain, Change Your Life

Change Your Brain, Change Your Life" is by Dr. Daniel Amen, a clinical neuroscientist, child and adolescent psychiatrist, and medical director of the Amen Clinic for Behavioural Medicine. In his work helping people apply mental health principles to their lives, he began to wonder why some people experienced positive change and others, none at all.

The answer came to him when he was introduced to brain SPECT imaging (imaging that detects blood flow and activity in the brain). These images showed functional differences in the brains of people with dementia, depression, schizophrenia, and head injuries as compared to "normal" brains. Also, before and after images showed how treatment with medication actually changed the physical functioning of the brain.

Dr. Amen started using SPECT studies to treat his patients and soon realized that treating patients according to the "abnormalities" in their brains could improve their lives. He used a combination of "prescriptions" depending on the area of the brain being targeted including exercise, nutrition, positive self-talk, changes to interactions with others, music, Biofeedback, and medication and witnessed positive changes in people's brains and in their lives.

His motivation to share the work that was being done at his clinic came from seeing many children, teenagers, and adults who had clear brain abnormalities whom society was just writing off as bad human beings.

To quote Dr. Amen:
"Seeing these scans caused me to challenge many of my basic beliefs about people, character, free will, and good and evil that had been ingrained in me".

"I believe it benefits almost everyone to know as much about how his or her own brain works as possible...Since the brain controls our behaviour, optimizing its function can help nearly anyone's ability to be more effective in life."

"We are far too quick to attribute people's actions to a bad character when the source of their actions may not be their choice at all, but a problem with brain physiology."

"The actual physical patterns of our brain have a dramatic impact on how we think, feel, and behave from moment to moment."

Dr. Amen makes the point that he is not encouraging everyone to get a brain scan, although this may be helpful for some people. What he is suggesting is that by understanding how our brain works, we can gain a deeper understanding of our feelings and behaviour and the feelings and behaviour of others.

Brain Education is a program created to help us understand and, as Dr. Amen says, "optimize the functioning" of our brains. First by sensitizing ourselves to our brain and body, we develop a greater awareness of the condition of both.

With this awareness, we can choose from a variety of "prescriptions" such as exercise, energy meditation, Brain Wave Vibration, and even laughing, that results in positive changes in our brains and in our lives.

The Power of Music and Dance: Noraebang and Nobody

A noraebang (literally song room) is a private Karaoke room that you can rent by the hour. I was really resistant about going to noraebang when I was invited in New York but it turned out to be a lot of fun. Because it's in a small room, you can really sing your heart out and it doesn't matter how bad you sound. Actually, I found that as time went on and we sang more and more, I was less self-conscious and my singing got better (or it seemed that way to me, anyway).

I haven't been to noraebang in Korea yet but I sometimes create my own noraebang in my office. I found lots of songs with lyrics on youtube. It's a great way to release stress and change my mood.

Every Tuesday night, I teach English to a group of Dahn masters who work at Kookhakwon. Tonight we did a little noraebang with "It's My Life" by Bon Jovi. Here's the link just in case you're interested ;):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EU4nOERhczc

"Nobody" by Korean girls-group, Wondergirls, is the most popular pop song in Korea right now. After English class, I joined in a group who were practising the dance for an event tomorrow in Cheonan. Here's the music video with English subtitles. Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YnVycboTpI0

You may be wondering, Why all this singing and dancing?

More and more research is being done to show the positive effects of music and movement on the brain. Music is one of the important tools that is used in Brain Education. In fact, Ilchi Lee talks about changing your brain and life by integrating positive music, message, and action.

I am consciously choosing to integrate music into my life more because I know it is one of those right-brain things that makes my soul happy and gets me out of my thinking, analytical brain. I may not be the best singer or dancer but to me, that's not the point. Through music and movement, I can change my energy and the kind of energy I am sharing with others.

Genius and Success

In our Brain Education and Consciousness class, we are reading the book, "Power vs. Force" by Dr. David Hawkins. Like "A New Earth" by Eckart Tolle and other books like it, it is the kind of book that I feel changes me as I'm reading it, although the content is difficult to explain in words. I've read it before, but reading it again, I have more faith in the power of Power vs. Force.

Dr. Hawkins wrote the book, based on his Ph.D. thesis, in which he used a technique called kinesiological testing or muscle testing to callibrate the level of consciousness of human behaviour. The results were universal--words like "love", "peace", and "joy" made people's bodies stronger and thus callibrated higher, representing "Power". Words like "shame", "guilt", and "fear" made them weaker and callibrated lower, representing "Force".

Because we are all connected, the level of words, thoughts and behaviours we choose affects our own well-being but also the well-being of others. I often look at the levels of consciousness to notice where I am at any given time and what kind of energy I am sending out to the rest of the world. Hawkins goes onto describe how the use of power and force is related to health, sports, politics, the arts, and other aspects of our lives and our world.

Tonight I did a presentation (with the help of my classmate, Kim Jin Yi who translated what I said and the notes into Korean) on three chapters from the book, "Power in the Arts", "Genius and Creativity", and "Surviving Success".

To summarize what I summarized:)

• Art, music, and architecture that endures does so because of its beauty and its ability to benefit all of mankind.
• Although genius is often confused with a high IQ, it is something that is available to all of us and is more accurately desribed as a high degree of insight in any given area of human activity.
• Success is not about one "has" (material wealth) or "does" (one's positions or activities) but is about one has "accomplished" as a result of one's life experiences.
• The ability to create beauty, to access genius, and to achieve Success is in all of us.
• The way to access these intrinsic abilities is to choose them (or accept them) and to recognize that they are gifts to be used in order to create beauty and success in the outside world.

As Ilchi Lee, the founder of Brain Education, said: "I really don't believe in greatness that is bestowed as a rare gift to a few lucky ones. Rather I think everyone has greatness inside them...Greatness must simply be chosen. And if you choose it, it will happen."

Balancing the Brain: Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor

I've been wanting to write about Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor for a while now and was inspired by the news of her appearance today on the Oprah show.

Dr. Taylor was one of the keynote speakers at the International Brain Education Conference held this year at the United Nations. I was honoured to have the opportunity to meet her at the UN when she arrived. When I shook her hand to welcome her, I felt her warm, open heart and her strong energy.

Dr. Taylor's story has touched many. Inspired by her brother's struggles with schizophrenia, she became a Harvard-trained brain scientist who advocated for people with mental illness. At the age of 37, she experienced a stroke and had the unique experience of watching herself as she lost functioning in the left side of her brain and her language and analytical abilities.

Through the stroke, she gained a greater awareness of the right side of her brain and developed her intuition, creativity, and sense of inner peace, an experience that has changed her life. She is now dedicated to helping others balance their brains to improve their quality of life and the lives of others--through the arts, meditation, yoga, and other methods such as Brain Wave Vibration.

You can read more about her appearance on the Oprah show here:


You can also watch, listen to, or download Jill Bolte Taylor's series of interviews with Oprah on the Soul Series webcast, recorded for Oprah's XM Radio show:

Learning Korean is Good Training for Life

I believe things happen for a reason. I've learned that in many ways, my life is a kind of training and the events in my life--the things I experience and the people I meet--help me to study myself. When I can see myself more clearly, I can choose the kind of life I would like, and then take action to create that life.

I think there are many reasons why I am learning Korean, many of which I probably don't even know about yet. By learning something new, I can see the way I learn. I knew I was a visual learner, but I'm also coming to understand that I learn by understanding the meaning of something and connecting it to what I already know.

Learning Korean also makes me vulnerable. As a kid in school I never knew what it was like to be at the "bottom" of the class. The academic subjects came easily to me and, if they didn't, I could choose something else I was good at. Similarly, if I tried a new sport or skill that was too difficult for me, I could just quit and find something else I was more interested in (a.k.a. I felt competent in).

So, I ended up practising what I was good at and the other parts of my brain and body became underused.

By learning Korean, I'm experiencing what it's like to struggle with learning. Sometimes when our teacher asks me a question and I don't understand, I watch the teacher's mouth move, but it's like I don't hear anything. It seems like the whole class is waiting and watching. I can feel my brain and body getting more and more tense. I'm thinking to myself, this is not "Relaxed Alertness" (one of the optimal conditions for learning mentioned in a book I'm reading, "12 Brain/Mind Learning Principles in Action" by Caine et al.). I'm waiting for the hole in the floor to open up, but it's not happening:).

The good thing is that being challenged by Korean is teaching me some very important things about myself : how to persist, how to learn something new that doesn't come naturally (or doesn't seem to), how to create my own optimal conditions for learning no matter what's happening around me, how to build competence and confidence from the inside out rather than just rely on the external recognition that comes from being good at something, how to have patience for other people who are learning new things, the list could go on and on.

Everytime I have one of those classes where I am waiting for the hole in the floor to appear, that's a pretty good clue that the approach I'm taking to learning Korean is not working. So, I go back to the drawing board and think about what changes I need to make in my attitude or habits.

Life has a way of giving us challenges so we can overcome things that are holding us back. Through learning Korean, I am overcoming my fear of not doing well or of not knowing the answer to something and building true confidence and competence based not on knowledge or skill, but on determination and persistence.

In the meantime, I keep telling myself the same things we teach the kids in Brain Education: "Trust your brain.", "Don't give up on your brain", "Keep smiling", and "Don't forget to exhale".

More Pictures from Sokcho

Here are some more pictures from the Ilchi Ki Gong Festival in Sokcho. My camera battery died at the festival just before the Canadians performed so I missed getting a picture of their performance but started taking pictures with my cellphone. These pictures have been on my phone for almost 2 weeks. I was determined to post them.

To transfer them to my computer, I had to 1) buy a USB cable to connect the phone to my laptop and 2) get help downloading a driver for the cable from a Korean website so that I could transfer the pictures. I am thankful for a helpful salesperson at Kyobo bookstore in Cheonan and for one of my colleagues here at UBE who is great with computers and also my HSP 12 Steps trainer (more on this later). I hope you enjoy these!

Marek and Josee accepting an award on behalf of the Canadian team

A cute little boy imitating the sounds of a cow on I-Brain while his mom enjoys some relaxation time.

The Eastern Sea

Raw Fish: This was good Brain Education. I did a lot of smiling and exhaling and created many new synapses, I think :).

New Brain Wave Vibration Website

The upgraded Brain Wave Vibration website has information about what Brain Wave Vibration is, how it is helping people heal their bodies and their minds, and news and research related to the brain.

http://www.brainwavevibration.com/index.cfm

Hope for the Flowers

I first saw this book in the Kyobo bookstore in Cheonan about two weeks after I had arrived in Korea. The hand lettering and simple but lovely pictures caught my eye, as did the word "hope".

The story is about two caterpillars who get tired of eating and getting bigger. They decide to climb "the pile" of caterpillars that everyone is climbing, only to find that there is actually nothing at the top.

All along, they have this voice inside of them that makes them think there is more to life than just eating and climbing the caterpillar pillar. Finally, they find that the way to find who they really are and their true purpose is to risk their lives by becoming a butterfly.

The story, written in 1972, has been shared around the world as a parable of hope. It gives hope that amazing transformations in individuals and in the world are waiting to happen and that in what seems like an ending, a new beginning is created.

Introduction to Brain Education for Cheonan Officials

On Tuesday, October 7th, a Korean newspaper hosted a lunch reception for city officials and educators from the city of Cheonan and the surrounding area as an introduction to Brain Education. The reception was opened by a group of children performing Yullyo or Pyoong Ryu Do (traditional Korean drumming and dancing)--their energy and enthusiasm was amazing. Their performance was followed by a demonstration of Brain Education exercises and activities by a group of students from a local elementary school. Their faces were so bright.

The principal of the school then spoke about the impact that Brain Education (BE) has had on his school. His school is a small "country" school near UBE, where half of the students do not live with their parents and where poverty, alcoholism, and drugs are issues the families struggle with.

Through implementing BE, students have developed confidence and the ability to release their stress and frustration. Students displayed less behavioural problems, better focus and concentration, and greater empathy for their fellow students and teachers. The principal described research that was done to show these effects as well as research that showed changes in the students' brain waves. Several of the students went on to participate in the National Olympiad competition held here in Korea.

I was asked to speak to the audience to share my experience with Brain Education, why I had come to Korea, and my plan for the future. I introduced myself in Korean and then the rest of my sharing was translated by one of the teachers in the BR English program--a program that combines principles of Brain Education with learning English.

I talked about my desire to help people and how Brain Education provides practical tools for helping people young and old develop their potential. I shared the benefits I had experienced through BE and the positive impact on schools in the US and on the students I had taught at Burlington Centre. I talked about the hope that BE has for helping to solve the world's problems through IBREA and its work with the United Nations. I shared my wish to become a Brain Management Consultant--someone who helps people to manage their brains well for the purpose of creating health, happiness, and peacefulness in individuals, communities, and around the world.

After several congratulatory messages from government officials, Ilchi Lee, the President of UBE and IBREA, led the audience in Brain Wave Vibration. Afterwards, principals and city officials alike looked refreshed and you could tell they had a greater awareness of their bodies--they were pointing to different parts of their bodies and asking about exercises that could be helpful. Over lunch, I joined a table of principals, who were curious to hear more from the principal who had shared about the success of BE in his school and about the success of the program in many schools throughout Korea.

It was a great experience to be a part of this event. I was moved by the children's performances and by the principal's sharing about the changes he has seen in his school. He truly is interested in the holistic development of his students. The event itself was quite formal but the energy in the room became lighter and more relaxed as the city officials and principals watched the children, heard from the principal, and experienced Brain Wave Vibration.

I am hopeful that similar events will be held in Canada to introduce Brain Education as a way for organiziations and communities to help individuals and families achieve physical, emotional, and cognitive health, creativity and productivity, and harmony.

On the last day of their tour, the Canadian group visited the Changgyeong Palace and the Gyeongbok Palace Museum in Seoul, where I met them at the end of the day. Sporting their beautiful new Korean clothing, the Canadians seemed to fit easily into the serenity of the palace grounds.

While some of the Canadian contigent was reflecting on their stay here in Korea and eager to return home, others of the group were preparing for a temple stay in Seoul or for further travels in Asia.

I am thankful for the opportunity to have been part of the tour and to have spent time with the Canadians. Over the 10 days they spent together, they received and created some wonderful energy that I know they will carry back to Canada and share with others.

To all of the participants of the Canadian Meditation Tour, Kamsahapnida (Thank you) and Saranghamnida (I love you)!