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We can all hear. But do we listen?

Listening is a great skill to possess.If you take the time to listen to what others have to say, you will learn more about the person and connect with them at a more personal level. Be careful not to judge or criticize – just simply listen.

Here are 4 techniques to help us listen more effectively:

1. Eye contact. Make eye contact with the speaker and avoid other distractions such as your smart-phone. Stay focussed on the person and listen to what they have to say.

2. Ask questions. Take interest in the lives of others. People love sharing stories and talking about themselves. Ask them open-ended questions such as “Could you tell me more?”, “What are your thoughts?”. These questions will give people an opportunity to elaborate on a given topic and will keep the conversation going.

3. Don’t interrupt. Let the conversation flow.  If you interrupt someone, it denies the speaker the opportunity to fully express their opinions or feelings. To practice this skill, hold back the urge to speak immediately and pause for a few seconds before responding.

4. Empathetic listening. Listen with your ears, eyes and heart. Imagine how the speaker feels even if you don’t agree with everything that they say. Put yourself in their shoes to fully understand their point of view.

Practice these strategies regularly and you’re on your way to becoming a better listener.

“If you want to conquer the anxiety of life, live in the moment, live in the breath.”
Amit Ray – Om Chanting and Meditation

Hi Friends,

Over the next 28 days, I’d like to invite you to join the breathing challenge. All you’ll need is 5 minutes a day to perform some conscious breathing. Here are some health benefits:

1. Increase Focus: Conscious, slow breathing oxygenates the brain. Try 2-3 deep, slow and conscious breaths the next time you are about to make an important decision. You’ll notice that your ability to focus will improve after some deep breathing.
2. Sleep Better: Conscious breathing can stimulate the pineal gland, which is associated with sleep patterns. You may sleep better and deeper throughout the night.
3. Reduce Stress: This fast-paced and modern lifestyle tends to cause stress and hence most of us would form a habit of quick and shallow breathing. Deep and conscious breathing activates the parasympathetic nervous system, which in turn creates the natural relaxation response.
4. Healthy Cells: Our body cells use the oxygen we breathe to generate energy from the food we eat. Conscious and deep breathing provides more oxygen to these cells so they can function more efficiently.
5. Lower Blood Pressure: The heart muscle is supported by full, long, slow and deep breaths. This practice reduces blood pressure and heart rate.

Start today. For the next 28 days, you can practice conscious breathing and apply the following techniques. Choose the technique that works best for you depending on the time of the day:

To practice anywhere, anytime

• Close your eyes if you can.
• Sharply inhale 5 times through your nose without exhaling.
• Pause for 5.
• Exhale completely through your mouth as if you’re fogging up a window—slowly and evenly.
• Repeat 15 times.

To practice at home

• Sit cross-legged in a dark, quiet room.
• Close your eyes.
• Using your thumb, cover up your right nostril, and breathe deeply through your left nostril for a count of 6.
• Pause for a count of 2.
• Remove your thumb, and cover your left nostril with your forefinger, and exhale completely through your right nostril for a count of 6.
• Repeat 10 to 15 times.

To practice at work

• Close your eyes if you can.
• Inhale through your nose evenly and deeply for a count of 8.
• Pause for a count of 3.
• Exhale completely through your nose for a count of 8.
• Pause for a count of 3.
• Repeat 10 to 15 times.

To practice if you can’t sleep

• Keeping your eyes closed, and lying flat on your back in bed, deeply inhale through your nose for a count of 6.
• Pause for a count of 3.
• Slowly exhale completely through your nose for a count of 6.
• Pause for a count of 3.
• Deeply inhale through your nose for a count of 8.
• Pause for a count of 3.
• Exhale completely through your nose for a count of 8.
• Repeat steps, each time increasing the count by two until you stretch your breath out for as many counts as you can—try to get to 12! Once you’ve done this, repeat 10 times.

To help you keep track of your progress, please print off the Record sheet. Make sure you practice each day to feel the benefits.

Print this sheet –> the-28-day-breathing-challenge

Stay healthy and practice conscious breathing. Congratulations on taking this step to improve your quality of life.

References:

http://www.alive.com/health/conscious-breathing/

http://www.chopra.com/articles/breathing-for-life-the-mind-body-healing-benefits-of-pranayama

https://www.bobsima.com/my-blog/10-health-benefits-conscious-breathwork/

Your valuable comments and feedback are always welcome. Please fill out the following contact form.

Don’t ride elephants. Love and treat them with respect instead. In my most recent visit to Chiang Mai, Thailand, I had the privilege to share food, have a mud bath and bathe in the waterfalls with the most friendly Thai elephants. 

Step 1. Get to know elephant. Share some bananas and sugar cane as these are their favourite food. Elephants can eat up to 360 kgs of food and drink 50 gallons of water per day.

Step 2. Follow elephant to the mud bath. Rub mud all over elephant as they love this A LOT!

Step 3. Follow elephant to the nearest waterfall for a swim to wash the mud off. If elephant happens to lay down on his/her side, you need to stand behind their back and help splash water. 

Step 4. Smile a lot and enjoy the company. 

Happy elephants, happy earth. 

Location: Elephant Jungle Sanctuary, Chiang Mai, Thailand.

#ahimsa 

Your friend,

Binh 

Life doesn’t get easier. You just get stronger. Back in 2001, I started my Masters degree in Speech Pathology. It was a challenge. Even though my English was good, I sometimes thought, “Who am I to teach people how to speak?”, “What if I don’t pass my exams?”. Thoughts like these crossed my mind all the time. However, I didn’t let them get the best of me. One day, I took out a huge piece of paper, wrote “I AM INVINCIBLE.” on it and stuck it on the wall in front of my desk so I could see it all the time. Each day, I repeated this sentence up to 100 times. Only a few years ago, I found out from Tony Robbins, an amazing life coach, that this is an incantation or positive affirmation. An incantation is something that you write down and repeat to yourself so many times until every cell in your body starts to believe it and live it. Whenever things became difficult or before an exam, I quietly repeated to myself “I am invincible” many times and that gave me the strength and courage to complete various tasks and accomplish my goals. 

I graduated as a Speech Pathologist in 2003! 

Write down your incantations and say them every single day. Some examples are:

I am healthy.

I am strong.

I am loved.

Keep repeating them with passion and on a regular basis and see how your life changes for the better. Believe in yourself. Keep working hard to achieve your goals and never back down. You don’t know how strong you are until being strong is the only choice you have. 

You are invincible!  

Your friend,

Binh

“Gratitude turns what we have into enough.” – Melody Beattie.

Packing my car with books, some clothes, and a few CDs, I left Brisbane – a very special place in my heart where I spent 8 years of high school & university. 
On an evening of April 2004, my mate Evan & I made an overnight trip from Brisbane to Sydney. I got a job there and decided to relocate. Evan offered to help me out. We took turns to drive the old Misubishi that was given to me by my parents for my 21st. We stopped twice for Maccas. I fell asleep as a passenger a couple of times. The music was blaring to keep us awake!

11 hours later, we arrived at the break of dawn. 
I opened my eyes, took a deep breath, and sat up straight at the sight of the iconic bridge. Wow! My new home. It was hard to describe the feeling – a mixture of hope, uncertainty and excitement!

We got to our backpacker’s in Glebe – my home for a week before finding a place to live. 
The next day, Evan went back to Brisbane. Before boarding the plane, he grabbed my hand and handed over a 50-dollar bill. I said: “What’re you doing?”
Evan simply replied: “You’re here on your own, this could come in handy.”
“It’s all good. I’m starting work next week and will get paid. You keep it.” – I looked away, feeling a bit emotional. 
“Don’t worry. Take me out to dinner next time.” – Evan insisted, pushed the money back into my hand, then walked towards the boarding gate….
Evan and I are still great friends, and I did buy him dinner when I visited Brisbane last time. Up to this day, I’m still very thankful for that 50-dollar bill. 
Never forget the people who are there for you during challenging times and be grateful for them. A small act of kindness can go a long way and make a difference in someone’s life. 
Big hugs,

Binh 

MIAs set you up to win!

Life can be busy and we can easily lose track of things. Sometimes, instead of focussing on the list of things to do, it’s better to take 1 or 2 most important actions that will bring us closer to achieving our goals.

MIA = Most Important Action

“MIAs can give you massive leverage in time, finance and freedom, even if you ignored everything else.” – Natalie Sisson

ONE Most Important Action that I am going to take in the next 15 days (and for the rest of 2015) is to tell as many people about “Accent Training” as possible.

At 15, I came to Australia speaking English with a strong accent. Over the years, I’ve been lucky to learn from my local friends/family and train myself to speak clearly. My mission is to help immigrants, just like myself, speak clearly and integrate into the Australian culture. This way, other aspects of their lives can also be improved such as social relationships and career.

My dream for 2015 is to help at least 100 people improve their accent.

What’s your MIA for the next 15 days?

Please feel free to comment and share your thoughts.

Thank you,

Binh

Do you have a morning ritual? How do you set yourself up to have an awesome day?

Here is my morning ritual or The Hour of Power to get me started.

The alarm goes off. It’s time to get out of bed. In order to set myself up to win, I have to be ready physically and mentally. Here are 6 things that I do on a regular basis:

1. Have a big glass of warm water with a few slices of lemon. This will help alkalize my body after a long night sleep.

2. Spend 10-20 minutes on a rebounder, getting the blood pumping and waking myself up.

3. Make a green juice and drink it all up, throw in some spinach, celery, cucumber, kale and ginger. Outcome: alkalizing effects on the body.

4. Practice thankfulness: think of all the things that I’m thankful for such as the air that I breathe, my family, colleagues and friends. There’s always something to be thankful for.

5. Meditate and do my breathing exercise: sit in silence and breathe in (8 seconds), hold (32 seconds) and breathe out (16 seconds). The body needs a lot of oxygen and therefore this exercise is crucial.

6. Incantations: repeat to myself 3 positive affirmations.

“All I need is within me now and I have the courage to see it through.”

“Every day and in every way, I’m getting better and better;
Every day and in every way, I’m getting stronger and stronger.”

“I love my life and I am so blessed.”

So there it is – my morning ritual. Everyone is different and you should create one that suits your needs. Comments are always welcome!

Be happy and healthy.

Binh

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2014 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

A San Francisco cable car holds 60 people. This blog was viewed about 1,800 times in 2014. If it were a cable car, it would take about 30 trips to carry that many people.

Click here to see the complete report.