We just heard from Suzanne about the scientific basis
upon which this course is based.
Now, let's talk about ways that we can integrate these ideas and concepts
into our daily lives.
Listening is such an important part of our lives.
There's both active listening and passive listening.
When I talk about active listening, I mean when you listen to a song
and you really want to get some impact-- some effect-- let's say,
or when you sing a song-- a mantra-- for yourself-- a chant of some sort.
And you're looking for a result. You're actively
listening, absorbing the information, and hoping
that it will change the way that you feel,
or encourage you to feel a different way.
Passive listening, on the other hand, is very useful
when you're trying to unwind and just calm down at the end of a long day,
maybe detach, maybe think of nothing.
So both of those are very important.
And as we go through the course, you're going
to find music for yourself that you will apply
when you want to be actively listening or passively listening.
Secondly, giving yourself permission to express yourself not just artistically,
but in all areas of your life.
This is one of the core concepts that we hope
that you'll take away from this course.
In my work with Berkeley students, I often
find when we're working on a piece together that there are
certain lines that they shy away from.
Maybe there's something in their life that they relate almost too closely,
and it's too personal, it pinches.
I find that if we start talking about it, if we break the process down,
if we break the line down, and we break the meaning down, and we dig deeper,
they usually will let me know.
Oh, this reminds me of my childhood.
There was a very traumatic incident, and I never really dealt with it.
And we try in our class to really uncover what the problems are.
And usually by the next week when they come in with the same song,
they're able to express it in a completely new way.
And so again, with this course, what we hope
is that you will find music that helps you unblock
certain areas of your life, certain memories, or certain prejudices
or biases you might have toward something.
We hope that you will find music that gives you courage and inspires
you, motivates you to take risks, or to be unafraid.
Thirdly, transforming situations, understanding
that you really are in control of how you react to any situation.
Many things happen in life that we have no control over.
But we do have control over how we respond to them
or whether we respond to them at all.
For instance, when you're in a traffic jam
or you're in a conflict situation with someone at work,
you do have the ability to decide-- wait a minute,
this doesn't warrant my anger or even my attention, or my frustration.
And if I just take a moment to collect myself,
to think about the situation objectively,
I might be able to walk away from it or not
absorb whatever negativity might be in the room at the time.
Similarly, when we use pranayama or other yogic breathing exercises,
we're able to find that we can tune out the things that
are unnecessary and tune in to ourselves, find our place of center,
find a place of stillness, find a place of joy, where then we
can take deeper breaths rather than shallow, slower breaths
rather than fast, and really understand what does the situation need from me.
That's how you transform a situation.
You don't let emotions lead you to breathe differently.
You use your breath to change how you emote.
Fourthly, using the ancient healing and mindfulness
practices in daily life in a more modern, contemporary way.
For instance, in the past if people would
go to church or to a mosque or a temple to chant
and to pray and have a sense of community with others
and to feel that spiritual euphoria.
Today, one of the things you can do, whether you are of a religious bent
or not or whether you are spiritual or not, is to find a couple of friends
and improvise with them.
Circle sing.
If you don't have people around you, maybe use a looping machine
and improvise with yourself.
Dance.
Have fun with it.
In the same way, like ancient mantras, ohm, or om mani padme hum,
you could think of modern twists to that.
Maybe I can do this or all is well.
And finally, technology.
I find that a lot of people have this misconception
that technology and mindfulness and wellness don't go together.
But the very fact that Suzanne and I are able to interact with you wherever
you are in the world online is proof that technology is such a boon
and such a vital part of our lives.
So why not use it in a way that's beneficial to ourselves?
One way that I found is really amazing and really I
am able to use technology in a beautiful way is my alarm clock.
I really don't like waking up startled.
It's really the worst way to wake up in the morning.
So for the last 10 years or so, I've had a favorite song of mine that plays.
It's really peaceful.
It just kind of gently wakes me up in the morning, and it's great.
Then loopers-- looping apps, websites-- that help you create your own songs.
You name it.
There's just so much technology out there that is ready for you
to empower yourself and be able to become more creative, more adventurous,
and take more risks on a creative front.
That being said, it's also a good idea to sometimes wean yourself off
of technology or even social media.
I like to try to have a one day fast where I
don't have any connection with social media at all.
I log out of Facebook and Twitter and Instagram, and even email
if I'm able to.
And I just try to center, go out, walk around in nature,
take in the sounds outside, make sure that I am active.
And it's really great.
And it also helps me sort of get in tune with what I really need to focus on.
So use technology, harness it to serve yourself.
And just like the rest of this course, take
all the points that really work for you and mold them to help yourself.