Human Longevity Project..the conversation continues

How healthy societies find purpose, gratitude and community was the topic of this episode.  What they are finding is that our modern culture is not the highest and best for human beings.

We are experiencing so much information at such a fast pace that is impacting our brains and over-stimulating our nervous systems on a daily basis.

We find this level of activation in our systems normal, so we don’t even question our stress levels and the impact this is having on us.

Over-stimulation creates sympathetic dominance which causes vasoconstriction..high blood pressure, tight muscles, etc. abound.

Daily we are bombarded with traffic, emails, stock market, fake news, always putting us into fight/flight.  Our amygdala is sending chemical messages of “not safe” “protect”, which creates a chemical cascade of over 1400 biochemical changes in our bodies!

We don’t engage with the natural world, like our elders would do.  We have to make decisions constantly and eventually we become less efficient in making them.

They spoke of a crisis of consciousness!  We don’t take the time we did having a slower pace to “check in” with ourselves.   The chaos in the world is a reflection of our own inner chaos.

We need to return to a deeper sense of community, choosing rituals that have meaning, spending time just sitting and conversing.

In Greece they come together to dance!  I belong to a group of women who sit by the fire!  Kirtan is another way to dance and sing.

We tend to only interact with those who are like us which limits our ability to see through others eyes.   Our elders share their pre-digested stories to help us learn so we don’t make the same mistakes.

Twenty years ago they asked about friendships, most said that they had at least 3-5!  Now, people say maybe 1.  Isolation because we are so busy on computers, cell phones, social media, etc.  All of this disconnects us from each other.

Alan Watts asked 50 years ago:

Who am I?  What do I desire?  What do I really know? (based on a direct experience vs what I was taught to be true)  Where do I fit in?  How do I sustain living life in a state of openness vs past beliefs?

Take these inquires to heart!