MANNYFEST DESIGN

Welcome to Mannyfest Design! I’m Manuel, otherwise known as Manny. I love sharing my meditation practice as it is key to shaping my mindset, values, and purpose. Within a decade of exploration of energy management, I have found that meditation is just as transformational for others as it has been for me, and it can also be for you. Read on and join the meditators journey! 

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CHASING THE HIGH

One of the biggest challenges is to face ourselves. This is the primary reason that most of us would rather fill our schedules with activities that take our attention away from looking at ourselves. Instead, we are drawn to pleasure, and much like a drug, we seek a fix minute by minute. Each interaction and behavior we have, can give us a specific chemical release or a high. There are four happy chemicals that drive our behavior: Serotonin, Dopamine, Endorphins, and Oxytocin.

We release these chemicals the moment we check our phones for messages, text, email, or likes from social media posts, or whenever we kiss or hug our loved ones, to whenever we eat, watch our favorite shows, or even doing our daily tasks. We can create an endless list of behaviors, and we will find that they all vary in duration and intensity in the level of pleasure or chemical release. Depending on the level of pleasure we naturally develop habits to increase or decrease its frequency. As we repeat the behavior over and over, then we form it into a habit as it eventually becomes automatic.

Most of the time it’s easier to build a habit that provides immediate release of such chemicals and it is what happens with sex, food, music and drugs. This is why it is easier to end up addicted to what comes easy, however these behaviors can be costly. They can drain us not just in terms of money, but also in terms of health, and time. Marketing works in this way to drive us to consume and consistently spend our resources.

Conversely, it’s more difficult to have a healthier habit whenever the reward, or chemical release is prolonged or is unpredictable. We are often not motivated to repeat a behavior when we don’t know when the reward will be received, if at all. We experience this when we try to be consistent with scheduled exercise and studying. These often have a delayed reward system unless one finds a way to enjoy the process. This is where a positive and creative mindset comes in handy. Some choose to listen to their favorite music while working out or studying. Thereby associating immediate reward and chemical release with what could be a grueling task.

Now back to self-reflection. Although it can be scary for some, it can also be the most rewarding once it helps to produce the happy chemicals. As a result of knowing ourselves better, we gain control of our behaviors and are then able to make better use of our valuable resources such as our health, energy, and time. We begin to be more intentional as to how we spend our time and gear our chemical releases to healthier behaviors that have a larger pay off, like feeling fulfilled and experiencing long term joy. We are then able to take on bigger projects and exciting adventures that challenge us to collaborate, be creative, contribute, and grow. In the process we are able to increase our skills and knowledge base. By chasing the healthy high we enhance our ability to take on our life goals and mission.

Self-check:

1. Journal your daily activities and write down next to each behavior which happy chemical you are trying to access.

2. Ask if your behavior that releases these chemicals are aligned with your life goals.

References:

https://www.chatelaine.com/health/wellness/natural-ways-to-increase-your-serotonin-levels/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3817523/

https://technologyadvice.com/blog/information-technology/activate-chemicals-gamify-happiness-nicole-lazzaro/

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HEALING STATE

We activate our innate self-healing whenever we shift our brain wave states closer and closer to a sleeping state. This doesn’t always have to literally mean actual sleep, but instead it can include meditation. When we enter slower states of brainwave pattern starting at alpha, followed by theta, and finally delta, we increase our being present in our body, our alertness, our sense of creativity, our intuition, and we strengthen our mind and body connection for healing. Each time we practice meditation we train our minds to enter these beneficial brainwave states at any given moment, and specially even during stressful situations. We can tap into our state of deep recovery by consciously entering deeper states of meditation.

Self-check:

Sit in meditation and identify which brainwave pattern you are mostly engaging in and for how long are you able to remain in such a state.

References:

https://brainworksneurotherapy.com/what-are-brainwaves | http://neurofeedbackalliance.org/understanding-brain-waves/

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To All My Relations

High quality relationships help to bring out the truth from each other. We support each other to be courageous and face our deepest fears, until we can release ourselves from their debilitating hold. In turn we feel free, energized, and renewed. Truth, consistency, devotion, contribution, and growth are the foundations of a happy relationship.

The most important relationship that we can nurture is our relationship with ourselves, and everything else is secondary. Love yourself before you can love someone else.

Our fear of losing too much of a good thing or missing out begs into question, what is our personal value without these counterparts? Is our feeling of being whole dependent only on external factors that are possibly fleeting? Are they worth the risk of losing ourselves along the way? Being in love allows one to endure almost anything. Is it worth to sacrifice one’s ambitions and goals in life in exchange of experiencing any version of love? How can one successfully balance both? Are we simply looking for validation, someone’s company or do we also want growth?

Other questions that can place our personal value in perspective:

How will your level of contentment be at the time of your death?

Have you done all of what you wanted to do?

What were your contributions to those that you left behind, your family, or the world?

What will you be grateful for? 

What regrets and resentments will you hold on to?

High quality relationships are brave enough to breakdown each other’s bullshit. This kind of relationship help to evolve us to a greater version of ourselves. This relationship is fuel to experience an elevated form of love. These relationships include our relationship with ourselves, our friends, our family, and our life partners.

Self-check:

Imagine you are sitting across yourself. What questions would you ask yourself to extract inner truths, and assess your growth and happiness?

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A post shared by MEDITATE.CONNECT.CREATE (@mannyfestdesign) on May 3, 2016 at 2:57pm PDT

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Eating Information

Consumption is all about how we nourish ourselves with food and information. We consume both around the clock and based on their quality they can produce a variety of consequences.

We highly value productivity and it’s even more important to be mindful of how we recharge by way of consuming food and information. More and more information overload is experienced by many, causing a spike in our level of anxiety. This has led to adding social media diet on top of our usual food diet. Both has an impact on our overall health and well being.

Self-check:

Which food do you feel most energized after eating it?

Which food do you feel most tired after eating it?

Does the the information you come across energize you or not?

PC: Ryan McGuire

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Move with a Purpose

This statement brings me back from when I first heard it numerous times in Basic Training. “Move with a purpose!” my drill Sergeant would scream at the top of her lungs. Most enlistees would run in disarray, frazzled by someone yelling. It helped to know that all of it was a temporary discomfort and that there are two sides to each coin.

“What is the purpose?” Although I knew that in the most general sense it meant to move faster but more importantly I had to ask in regards to life “Why do we do what we do?” Before enlisting I made a commitment that all of my efforts will circle back to the healing arts. The energy I create, the money that I earn, will be invested back into my life project.

The purpose of this blog category of movement is to explore how our various types of action or exercise, create more energy for ourselves or do they drain us of energy. Do they allow us to fly or do make us fall?

Did jumping out of a plane give me more energy? YES!! It definitely gave me that rush of adrenaline. However 30 minutes afterwards it left me longing for a nap. The act of fulfilling one of my goals however is a lasting energetic well that I can tap into at anytime. It was a sense of accomplishment of facing, and embracing the fear of death. Taking the leap, I chose to enjoy the ride, and celebrate life. I chose to fly.

The purpose of enlisting as a service member was clear, and so was my purpose of skydiving. Both of which continues to create an abundance of energy for me. My heart knows  that I’m moving with a purpose.

How has your own actions enhanced the quality of your energy?

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A post shared by MEDITATE.CONNECT.CREATE (@mannyfestdesign) on May 6, 2016 at 9:39am PDT