Mindfulness and Multiple Intelligences: 8 Ways to Pay AttentionWritten by Maya Talisman Frost
How are you smart? Let me count ways. Harvard professor Howard Gardner was first to describe concept of Multiple Intelligences. According to this widely-accepted theory, we are each born with a certain amount of intelligence in each of eight areas, and we have potential to harness or develop each of these throughout our lives. In 1983, Gardner first described seven intelligences: linguistic, logical/mathematical, spatial, musical, bodily/kinesthetic, interpersonal and intrapersonal. He later added an eighth: naturalistic. Nothing too earth-shaking about this. We all know gifted writers (using words), engineers (using numbers), artists (manipulating spaces), musicians (inspired by sound), athletes (using physical skills), counselors (understanding others), and biologists (passionate about nature). But here's one I find most interesting: intrapersonal. According to Gardner, someone with great intrapersonal intelligence enjoys spending time alone, likes being still in their own space, is especially adept at understanding themselves, and is inspired by contemplation. Now, remember that each of us has at least a little of all eight kinds of intelligence, with one or two areas being most dominant. Although we can increase our abilities in all areas, we are naturally attracted to certain activities. A person with dominant or developed intrapersonal intelligence is likely to be innately interested in silent contemplation and naturally drawn to meditation.
| | Accepting our Rejected ThoughtsWritten by Tony McGlinn
Sometimes we are in a position to look into lives of other people. It could be through a book, or a movie, or a story we hear, or occasionally it could be someone that we meet. Sometimes when this happens, we see qualities that we truly admire, and we think that we would like to have those qualities. Perhaps we just look at person and think that we would like to be like them. Maybe we hear what they have said and think that we would like to be able to say things like that. It could be that we would like to have what they have, or do what they do. When this happens, what we are thinking about are our own rejected thoughts. Sometime in past we have rejected a thought or thoughts, that person we are admiring has accepted. When, perhaps when we were very young, we rejected thought that we could have what we have just been admiring in someone else, we accepted a lesser thought, and allowed that lesser thought to become part of our self image, and therefore part of our definition of ourselves. Our self image lives in our sub-conscious mind. Because of way sub-conscious mind works, we can only have one self image with regard to any particular quality. If we really want to have qualities we are admiring, and there is no reason why we can’t, then we need to change our self image. The first step is to be prepared to do just that. Think about this for a minute. Are you prepared to let go of what you have learned in past, that you believe is true about yourself? By that I mean to examine ideas that you ‘know’ are true about yourself, and then to take new idea that you are considering, and to examine that idea, entertain that idea, to see if it will improve your view of yourself. Will accepting that new idea, and rejecting idea that you currently ‘know’, result in a happier, healthier or more prosperous life. If answer is yes, and you are prepared to do it, then you have possibility to change your self image.
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