Somehow, I think my last posting, an essay on time didn't make it to the recent blogs list. A glitch likely. So I'm going to stay on the topic of time, and keep it short in case anyone wants to look back at that one ("On Time"). The here and now is very trendy in psyc these days (i.e., mindfulness - expanding one's non-evaluative awareness of the here and now). So I'll write about the here and now. I'm sitting listening to a talk on systems biology at an interesting conference out in a small rustic retreat somewhere in Minnesota. This is a sponsored invite only conference (around 50 people) designed to bring complementary alternative medicine (CAM) people together with complexity researchers, a very cool idea. We've got a bunch of real high level researchers and practitioners here, from physics through biology and up to the scale of psychology.
I wanted to speculate briefly on some interesting research methods presented by C-K Peng who presented last night (and with whom I followed up at breakfast and who I'm sitting next to at the moment). What C-K has been working on is examinging the complexity in physiological data over time (i.e., heart-rate variability, small movements in balance during standing) to assess health - "balance" in a non-metaphoric sense. What he has found is that consistency, or balance, in complexity across different time-scales helps to predict risk of heart attack, frailty in old age, and other broadband health outcomes (potentially). Sure enough, we are finding similar results at the psychological and social levels as well.
It seems that there is a common principle in life - flexibility = health. But beyond that, integration across time-scales is key too. When parts of ourselves become disconnected to other parts in time, dis-ease (imbalances) may occur - as those parts become isolated and stagnant. Perhaps it is an experience in memory, cut off from the flows of your day to day life. Perhaps it is some aspect of your "right now" experience (like the talk I am currently ignoring and rudely blogging during). Perhaps your heart is not in sync with your breath for some reason. Perhaps my achilles tendon is growing tighter as the rest of my physical flexibility is increasing (e.g., leading to lower back pain). Perhaps your romantic relationship is out of step with your growth as an individual.
So what can we do? Essentially, this type of research can be used immediately simply by reminding us to be mindful of such imbalances, such disintegrations. Simply noticing that you are drifting from your loved one(s) can help. If you are becoming more rigid (i.e., more restricted and repetetive - e.g., obsessive or ruminative), then reach out to more flexible relations with others. If you are growing (i.e., becoming more flexible), then reach out to grow your relationships in step. On the physio level, notice your breath and allow it to re-connect to your broader body consciousness. And in my body, I noticed my achilles on my morning run today and stopped to do some sun salutations by the bank of a foggy lake. And now, I reflect on that moment with true pride. We can allow in our day-to-day opportunities for communion with ourselves and with others, across scales of time and size. Thanks to my new physics friend C-K for showing me some data that helped me make some better empirical sense for how this works.
