Mindfulness Mode

J V Crum III helps established entrepreneurs create a Big Impact and Big Profits by growing businesses that make a difference in the world. He is a speaker, coach, Huffington Post Columnist, and #1 best-selling author of “Conscious Millionaire: Grow Your Business by Making a Difference.” J V hosts the top-ranked “Conscious Millionaire Show Podcast.” He is the Founder CEO of ConsciousMillionaire.com, global coaching and entrepreneur training business. J V holds an MBA, JD, Masters in Psychology, and has built and sold successful companies, and is featured in the upcoming movie, RiseUP.

Contact Info

• Website: ConsciousMillionaire.com
  
• Podcast: Conscious Millionaire

Most Influential Person

• Carol Yencar

Effect on Emotions

• Much more equanimous from meditation, from focusing on being conscious and mindful, I react so much less and reflect much more and I'm also much more frequently in a state of just acceptance of who I am and the moment that I'm in which makes for a much smoother ride through life.

Thoughts on Breathing

It's very much part of my mindfulness practice because the meditation I do is Vipassana meditation. I've lived at a Buddhist monastery for seven weeks at a closed retreat and focused just on learning to meditate. There were days where we just did 12 hours of meditation in silence. People would go, Oh, that's horrible, you definitely encounter yourself but I loved it and the whole meditation that I do is focusing on the breath and realizing that's the real life force. The difference between a human that's alive and a human that's dead is whether they're breathing.

Suggested Resources

• Book: Practicing Peace by Pema Chodron
• Book: The Heart of the Buddha's Teaching by Thich Nhat Hanh
• App: No App

Advice for Newbie

Well, I'm going to recommend another book. Thich Nhat Hanh, I love Thich Nhat Hanh and there is a book, it's fifty seven pages long, it's red, I think I have it memorized. I've read it so many times and given it to so many people, and it's his explanation of the Heart Sutra. The Heart Sutra's about a page and a half long, but he really explains in such a beautiful way about how everything is interconnected and to me, that's the heart of mindfulness. It is realizing that who we are and everything around us is all interconnected and that we are on this journey together.

This week’s weather has been hot and sticky, just the kind of weather you’d expect in a dripping wet rain forest with the heat turned up.

This hot weather has me thinking about the farm work we did in the summers. Going back to when I was twelve, at home on the farm. Any day that looked warm and sunny was usually a hay day.

My dad would say, ‘sure hope the hay won’t be too green to bale’. That meant he hoped the hay would be dry enough. Once it was cut, it needed to dry in the hot sun for a day or two. Then he’d put it into windrows.

The wind rower would pull behind the tractor and would grab the hay and spin it into a nice even, fluffy pile of hay in the form of a long row, like a never ending fluffy snake. A day or two later, when the hay ‘wasn’t too green’ 3 or 4 of us would go out with the baler and hay wagon and bale the hay. The 3 or 4 would be me, my dad, my brother Max, and maybe one of my other brothers too.

The smell of the hay is still as clear in my nostrils as it was then. Something dry and crispy about the smell, like wafts of weedy dryness with the sweet mixture of clover and alphalpha.

I would usually be pegged to drive the tractor. This was a job I did not enjoy because it forced me to stare at the row of hay and keep the front right wheel of the tractor exactly to the left of the row of hay as I drove. Even straying one way by a few inches would mean the baler would miss a little bit of hay, and there’d be a yell from the hay wagon. That would be my dad’s voice, booming over the roar of the tractor and the clanging, repetitive sound of the baler, repeatedly banging out 50 pound rectangular bales of hay.

Now that I think back, I realize I had to be totally mindful, forcing myself to keep my brain on one thing for an extended period of time. Ummmm. Maybe that’s why I’m good at meditating today.

Once I got into the swing of driving the tractor, I usually didn’t mind it so much. After all, as long as I kept the wheel of the tractor exactly where it was supposed to be, I was free. I was free to think of anything else I wanted. I could sing a song in my head. I could imagine where I’d be in ten years from now. I could think about the book I read last night, under the covers with a flashlight till 2:33 in the morning. I was free. Wow, what a feeling.

Woops, keep that wheel in the right place. Oh, there goes a field mouse, frantically racing out from under the windrow. Looking back at the wagon, I’d make sure Max and my dad were keeping up with the bales, repeatedly spitting out of the baler, onto the hay wagon.

Looking ahead at the field, I’d realize I’d better get ready for the end of the row. That was the most stressful part. I was supposed to know where to go. Right, left. Which new row to choose? I wanted to do it right. I didn’t want to get yelled at; that’s for sure. I was supposed to still gather as much hay as I could in the headlands and then turn down the row my dad wanted me to. I’d stare at him; try to read his body language. Maybe he’ll give me a clue, I thought, so I don’t feel stupid. Hmmmmm. How am I supposed to know, I’d wonder?

Eventually, the hay wagon would be piled high, like a rectangular tower of solid bricks. My dad and brothers were always proud of how high they could build the load and still keep it solidly on the wagon. The wagon only had a rack on the back, the sides and front had no racks or supports, so the way the load was built, was what kept it together. One by one, every bale was put in its place, each one was important to holding it all in place.

Focusing on that one thing was my lesson. I had to learn to ignore the hot sun, the ear-shattering clanging of the baler, the obnoxious, burning hot diesel fumes pouring out of the tractor, the sharp, angry yells from my dad. I was practicing mindfulness even then, even before I knew what the word meant.

How do you practice mindfulness in your day?

Send me an email, bruce@mindfulnessmode.com and tell me an activity you did in the past which made you a more mindful person.

Till next time mindful tribe, use what we’ve learned today to reach new heights of calm, focus, and happiness. Stay in the mode.

Quotes:

• Focusing on that one thing was my lesson. - Bruce Langford

Books:

The One Thing by Gary Keller and Jay Papasan

Thank You Bonus:

Would you like to help your children become more mindful? This book contains simple exercises related to the senses. Fun for you, fun for your children. Download the book for free right here:

21 Ways To Practice Mindfulness With Your Child Every Day For 7 Minutes by Bruce Langford

Pokemon Go is a terrible game, according to some critics. Others say it has great features and can bring out the best in people. Does Pokemon Go have an aspect of mindfulness? Can it help us live in the moment and move our anxieties to the back burner? Recently, I attended a Gaming Event with my son called ConBravo which was billed as The Celebration Of Everything Geek. It was for gamers, movie, TV and Cosplay enthusiasts and others too.

Dylan Mead was one of those passionate gamers and Cosplayers. In case you didn't know, Cosplay means dressing up like a character from a game, movie or even as a character you've created. Dylan loves Pokemon Go and was even dressed as a Gym Leader from the original world of Pokemon. Today I interview Dylan about the Mindfulness of Pokemon Go. We talk about how the game works, the general concept and challenges and what people like and don't like about it. When you stop to think about it, a game like Pokemon Go can be a positive mindful experience for people everywhere. Hope you enjoy the show.

Contact Info

• Company: Nintendo
• Website: Download Pokemon Go from the App Store on your device.

Most Influential Person

• Pokemon Go has influenced many people. Some say it's in good ways, others would say the opposite. How has Pokemon Go affected your life?

Effect on Emotions

• Helps many people become more focused and grounded. If you are playing Pokemon Go with awareness of the moment and a sense of mindfulness, you will probably become more mindful of your emotions. Making good choices as to how to react to your emotions can help us feel more balanced and in control.

Thoughts on Breathing

• Pokemon Gyms and Gym Leaders are an important part of Pokemon. Do you think of deep, healthy breathing when you think of a gym or when you decide to go to the gym? Considering your breathing habits can be a positive way to improve your health.

Suggested Resources

• Book: 21 Ways To Practice Mindfulness With Your Child Every Day For 7 Minutes by Bruce Langford
• App: Pokemon Go is available for download on IOS or Android.

Advice for Newbie

BE CAREFUL when you play Pokemon Go. Be mindful of your surroundings and be mindful of other people. Be safe and respectful while you play. Pokemon Go can be lots of fun and it can even help you live in the moment and enjoy time with family and friends. As in other aspects of life, remember to live mindfully and not be judgmental about others. Put yourself into the shoes of the other person and be a great role model.

Thank You Bonus:

Would you like to help your children become more mindful? Get this book for free right here:

21 Ways To Practice Mindfulness With Your Child Every Day For 7 Minutes by Bruce Langford

Laura Coe is an entrepreneur, author, and certified life coach working to help you find fulfillment one day at a time through daily emotional workout routines, emotional nutrition, and other tools and insights. She co-founded Litholink Corporation, a healthcare company serving over 350,000 patients per month nationally. When it sold to a Fortune 500 company, she left corporate America to pursue lifelong passions. Now she helps break down monumental life-changing philosophy and ancient wisdom in a way that everyone can apply to their own lives.

Contact Info

• Website: LauraCoe.com / EmotionalObesity.com

Most Influential Person

• Pema Chodron (Author of Start Where You Are and Don’t Bite The Hook)

Effect on Emotions

• It’s been the most important piece because it allows me to have the awareness and then to recognize that to be human is to have emotions and to not judge those emotions. Just to allow them to have a life force of their own. I think the mindfulness practices, the ancient ideas that have been around for thousands of years, they really have figured this out.

Thoughts on Breathing

• I teach pranayama to my coaching clients sometimes. We breathe at the top of our chest. When I learned from my yoga teacher that our lungs are actually around our whole rib cage, and in your back. Breathing is one of the most incredible experiences. To take a deep breath, all the way from the base of your belly, all the way through your chest, into your back. It can get rid of so much emotional stress, it’s amazing.

Suggested Resources

• Book: Emotional Obesity: A Philosophical Guide to Lighten Your Life by Laura Coe
• Book: Start Where You Are by Pema Chodron
• App: Headspace
• App: 10%Happier

Advice for Newbie

The most important thing I can say is, let go of these ideas that you find on the internet that you have to go to India on a mountaintop or check yourself into some kind of month long program. Just start with anything. There’s a new app out there called 10%Happier. Just start with something. Take 3 minutes to meditate. Just closing your eyes can be enough for you. My real advice is to just do anything, because anything is better than nothing.

Thank You Bonus:

As a thank you for listening, download your Calm Your Busy Mind Infographic. It focuses on breathing, exercise and mantras. Please leave your name and email you’ll receive your infographic in your inbox right away. Download It here.

Voice Acting and Mindfulness. I recently attended an event called ConBravo where gamers, movie and tv enthusiasts and others gathered together to learn, share and network. It was referred to as the Annual Festival of Everything Geek. There I met Mylez who is a voice actor, devoted to building his voice acting business to a new level. He was inspired by his friend, who voiced for Sonic The Hedgehog. Mylez went on to become a voice actor in his own right, having now been in the profession for seven years.
I asked him the question, ‘as a voice actor, how do you use mindfulness to stay focused?

He explained that he makes it a practice to focus on the task at hand, and nothing else at the given time. He does his homework, thinking of what he needs to do to prepare for playing the role.
He says it is vital to do the homework and be totally prepared. He says he writes out what he needs to do to be that character. He writes out how he will endeavour to get into the character he’s playing.

He referred to the Great Uta Hagen’s Nine Questions:

Who am I?
What time is it?
Where am I?
What surrounds me?
What are the given circumstances?
What are my relationships?
What do I want?
What is in my way?
What do I do to get what I want?

Utah Hagen has had a powerful influence on Twentieth Century actors. She is known for her role in Anton Chekov’s The Seagull in 1938. She also played the original Martha in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? After that she taught budding actors in New York City at the Berghof studio. She wrote two well-known books for actors, Respect for Acting and A Challenge for the Actor. She also taught such famous actors as Jack Lemmon, Matthew Broderick and Al Pacino.

Mylez continued to say that he delves into all the questions an actor would ask himself before getting into character.
Mylez is also an audio editor. He does production for demo reels for up and coming actors.
Depending on what they need, he creates a script, has them voice the character and then mixes it together with music and sound effects to make it sound like it’s an actual scene from a movie. Actors can then use this sample reel to promote themselves to agents.

Mylez ended by mentioning the great Latin quote, lamento mori explaining that it means you should celebrate life every day until it’s your last day on earth, so that you can have a great life and never have any regrets.

Quotes:

• You should celebrate life every day until it’s your last day on earth, so that you can have a great life and never have any regrets.

Books:

Respect for Acting by Utah Hagen

A Challenge for the Actor by Utah Hagen

Thank You Bonus:

Would you like to help your children become more mindful? This book contains simple exercises related to the senses. Children love them. Download the book for free right here:

21 Ways To Practice Mindfulness With Your Child Every Day For 7 Minutes by Bruce Langford

Ramona Rice is a Sports kinda girl. At least that’s how she is known and loved by thousands of her followers. It wasn’t always that way though. Sports was of minimal interest in her life until she met James. James was a big guy, and a big time sports fan,  and Ramona’s passion for James stoked a deep passion in Ramona for all things sports. Ramona even started her own Sports podcast called, The Sports Gal Pal.

Then the unimaginable happened. With a young marriage and two high energy children referred to by Ramona as her Tiny Humans, James suddenly died of a stroke. This was only six months ago. Ramona’s strength, her support team, mindfulness abilities combined with her writing and online content creation skills, have given Ramona the words to share her journey of grief so you can learn from her experience.

Contact Info

• Company: Podcast Websites (Ramona is the Community Manager there) www.PodcastWebsites.com
  
• Podcast: We Should Not Be Friends (www.weshouldnot.com)  Note: Rated R Not Suitable For Children
• Podcast: SportsGalPal (www.SportsGalPal.com)
• Twitter: @SportsGalPal

Most Influential Person

• My children. The way they handle their grief and their joy; their focus on today, they don't worry about today or yesterday.

Effect on Emotions

• Mindfulness helps me see what are truly emotions versus what is really happening. It gives you a clear-cut filter of what you're feeling and what is happening.

Thoughts on Breathing

• My therapist and I work on this. When I go in, he forces me to do breathing exercises so I calm down. It does help just to take a quick before you react. Just take 10 seconds. Do some deep Lamaze breathing, deep yoga breathing, where you breathe into the belly. It's amazing how much stress that relieves.

Suggested Resources

• Book: The Shack by William P. Young
• Book: Why Bad Things Happen To Good People by Harold Kushner
• App: Brainwave 32  (It plays pulsating waves which keep me focused)

Advice for Newbie

Start small, baby steps. Just pick one activity each day to be mindful for and a small amount of time. Whether you chose to follow a guided meditation or you chose to actively pray where you're actually focused on the prayer. Or you do devotional time, journalling. Even if it's something as simple as, I'm going to mindfully wash the dishes and not let my mind race off, but be clear in the present washing the dishes.

Greg Faxon is a coach who works with high-achieving entrepreneurs and converts them into champions. He believes these individuals are the multipliers of society. Greg has a background as an athlete, first a wrestler and then Obstacle Course Racing where mud and trail runs present mental and physical challenges. Greg is intent on changing how the world tackles poverty, so he’s making his own difference through a non-profit organization called Acumen. Greg’s goal is bold; he says: “By the end of my life, I want to have helped more people unleash their full potential than any other person in the world.

Contact Info

• Website: www. GregFaxon.com
  

Most Influential Person

• Tara Brach

Effect on Emotions

• I think it's helped me with that roller coaster that we mentioned. It's helped me create less high highs and less low lows, and have them be not so dependent on outside circumstances. Have me be the agent of how those emotions play out. For example, in the past, I would get really excited if I got a new great client and really bummed out if someone said no, but now there's no attachment, emotionally, to that process. I'm good ether way emotionally. There's maybe things strategically that I can change or improve, but I think that's been one of the biggest ways, helping me have not such big fluctuations in them.

Thoughts on Breathing

• I really do mindful meditation, so it's all focused on the breathing. I don't do mantra based stuff so I think it's all through breath. To me, breathing is huge, breathing is the center of everything.

Suggested Resources

• Book: Radical Acceptance by Tara Brach
• Book: Don't Let the Fear Win by Greg Faxon
• App: Insight Timer

Advice for Newbie

I would say, to do the 60 second thing for a week. Set a really low bar for yourself. 60 seconds, focus on your breathing, count your breath. It's like with habit formation, people talk about it, if you want to form a new flossing habit, just floss your front teeth for a week. That's so easy, you have to do it.  Then eventually you feel, that's kind of silly, I need to floss more than that and so you've do it on your own when you have those quick wins. I would say commit to a week of 60 second breathing.

Children and Mindfulness is our topic today. Clem Harrod and his son CJ have joined me because Clem is a mindful person and is mindful about making sure his relationship with his son is the best it can be. Clem was a previous guest on Mindfulness Mode on Episode 107 Connect With Family Through Mindfulness, Says Orlando Magic Cameraman, Clem Harrod.

Clem teaches others how to stay connected with their children and other family members while traveling. Clem travels frequently for his work and has made it a priority to stay connected with CJ and with his wife.

CJ explains how he and his father communicate when his dad is on the road and he also talks about the conversations they have.

Quotes:

• The way we talk to our children becomes their inner voice. - unknown

Books:

Book Sitting Still Like A Frog: Mindfulness Exercises For Kids (and Their Parents) by Eline Snel

The Art of Mindfulness for Children: Mindfulness Exercises That Will Raise Happier, Confident, Compassionate, and Calmer Children by Alisa Reddy

Thank You Bonus:

Would you like to help your children become more mindful? This book contains simple exercises related to the senses. Children love them. Download the book for free right here:

21 Ways To Practice Mindfulness With Your Child Every Day For 7 Minutes by Bruce Langford

Dr. Michele Summers Colon is a holistic podiatrist, practicing in southern California. She's been quoted in many well-known publications including USA Today, Bloomberg Business Week and US News. Dr. Michele has the ability to help women create balanced, healthy lives by looking at their overall health picture and applying her knowledge of both Eastern and Western medicine. She's maintained a private medical practice for over two decades where she uses her knowledge of yoga, reiki, reflexology and accupressure. Dr. Michele believes that food is medicine and that yoga, ayurveda and meditation are the keys to perfect health.

Contact Info

• Website: drmichele.com

Most Influential Person

• Deepak Chopra

Effect on Emotions

• I'm a lot calmer now.

Thoughts on Breathing

• Breathing is the first thing you learn, especially, when you're trying to meditate. It's actually its own form of meditation.

Suggested Resources

• Book: Getting in the Gap by Dr. Wayne Dyer
• App: Omvana

Advice for Newbie

I think it's a great tool and something everyone should do. If they have trouble with it, start with the guided meditations or with breathing. just inhaling slowly and exhaling slowly three times can calm you down.

Mohamed Omar is a podcaster and teacher of the concept of intention. He shares the philosophy that we are here on earth to spread harmony in creative ways.  We are everybody and everything and every being and we are designed to be driven with passion to serve specific purposes that are in harmony with all life. Through his Simple 7 Steps of Intention, Mohamed will help you live consciously knowing who you are and what your life purpose is.

Contact Info

• Website: www.IntentionalBeings.com

Most Influential Person

• Yogi Ramacharaka

Effect on Emotions

• Calms it down and makes it more on the positive side and expands it. Anything that is beyond compulsive thinking will get you eventually into the creative thinking and insights and more expansion. More finding out of who I am.

Thoughts on Breathing

• There is a yoga technique which has been taught for thousands of years. Everybody reported the same, that when you do breathing exercises you basically become in a state that is superior than your mind. In other words you're able to calm the mind and control the mind in that state. It is called in yoga, pranayama. When I do breathing exercises before meditation, it becomes really good, even better than usual.

Suggested Resources

• Book: Yogi Philosophy by Yogi Ramacharaka
• Book: A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life's Purpose by Eckhart Tolle
• App: TwelveStepJournaling.com
  

Advice for Newbie

Mindfulness, [being in a] meditative state ... this does work in your decision making process, in your daily process. You are a lot more than you think you are when you calm your mind and live in a state of mindfulness.

Bonus

Get your Free guide to meditation, breathing and mantras. This pdf is available at www.mindfulnessmode.calm/calm

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