The hidden power of smiling

Heya, here's a short life enhancing video that my friend Mike shared. In it, researcher Ron Gutman reviews a raft of studies about smiling, and reveals some surprising results.

[In case the embedded vid doesn't work for you, here's the link:

TED: The hidden power of smiling ]

And if you'd like more info about the power of smiles, check out my post Smile about this it'll put a smile on your face :-)

life enhancing smiles,

Grant

Smiling for happiness and health

The Dalai Lama gave a teaching recently. The final question asked of him was, “What can we give to you?” He beamed at the audience. "That is easy," he said. "Just give me your smiles. It makes me feel good when I see people smile at me. And if you smile at each other that would also be very good. So please give me your smiles.”

from: Way of the Inner Smile

Smiles are life enhancing :-)

Smiles are life enhancing! A huge body of research backs up that smiles make you feel good, provide long lasting health effects, positively influence those around you and can even make you live longer.

In one study (Smile to Live Longer) Professors Ernest L. Abel and Michael L. Kruger at Wayne State University found that the larger your smile, the longer you may live. Controlling for confounding effects such as education, marital status etc., the retrospective case study found that those subjects who smiled the most lived up to 7 years longer than those who didn’t smile at all. That’s a full seven years of additional happiness filled with smiles! Makes me smile just thinking about it :-) and certainly seems life enhancing to me!

Smiles engender smiles

Other Social Psychology research on social mimicry and emotional contagion has shown that smiles engender smiles back from others. This leads to self-reinforcing positive relationships. These in turn influence your mood and your outcomes with others.

Smiles are healthy

In the field of Psycho-Neuro-Immunology - the study of how thoughts and feelings influence our immune function and vice versa - the effects of smiles and positive mood on increasing immune function has been very well documented. Smiling increases immune cell activity and function. It’s been shown to reduce stress and lower blood pressure. It’s healthy to smile!

Smiles make you feel good

In one classic experiment by Strack, Martin and Stepper (1988):

“subjects were told they were taking part in a study to determine the difficulty for people without the use of their hands or arms to accomplish certain tasks, participants held a pen in their mouth in one of three ways. The Lip position would contract the orbicularis oris muscle, resulting in a frown. The Teeth position would cause the zygomaticus major or the risorius muscle, resulting in a smile. The control group would hold the pen in their nondominant hand. All had to fill a questionnaire in that position and rate the difficulty involved. The last task, which was the real objective of the test, was the subjective rating of the funniness of a cartoon. The test differed from previous methods in that there were no emotional states to emulate, dissimulate or exaggerate. As predicted, participants in the Teeth condition reported significantly higher amusement ratings than those in the Lips condition. The cover story and the procedure were found to be very successful at initiating the required contraction of the muscles without arising suspicion.”

This experiment has been repeated many times and has robustly shown that simply emulating a smile produces measurable changes in neuro-hormones, rated levels of happiness and other physiological measures of positive affect. You don’t even have to be smiling on the inside to get the positive effects, though of course imagine the amplification of these positive effects when you are really smiling and not just holding your mouth and face muscles in the position of a smile.

More reasons to smile

And if all this isn’t enough to make you smile, then check out ‘Little Known Reasons and Benefits of Smiling’ for 33 more reasons to smile :-) or take a read of ‘Smile! The Remarkable Personal Benefits of Smiling’ for more information about research on the benefits of smiling.

The Inner Smile Exercise

Here’s a great exercise that I came across and have been using that combines NLP with deep insights from the ancient philosophy of Taoism. The Inner Smile exercise works amazingly well to positively align and influence your head brain with your heart and enteric (gut) brains through a process of inner smiling.

1. Sit comfortably, hands joined. Focus on your breath until you are breathing gently, smoothly, deeply, evenly, calmly and softly. Relax your forehead, let your eyes, ears and tongue soften. Allow your face to become expressionless.
2. Imagine yourself in one of your favorite, most beautiful places in the world surrounded by the vitality of nature. Begin to smile, as you experience the joy and happiness of this favorite place. Amplify your smile, feel it in your face, your mouth, your eyes.
3. Let your smiling awareness flow down over the cheeks, down through the jaw muscles and tongue, and down through the neck and throat, soothing and calming as it goes.
4. Smile down to the thymus gland in your chest and into your heart. Sense them open like a flower in the morning with love, joy and happiness bubbling out of them.
5. Smile down to the rest of your organs: lungs, liver, pancreas, spleen, kidney, sexual organs and reproductive system. Thank each of them for their work in protecting you and keeping you vibrant, alive and healthy.
6. Return awareness to your eyes and recharge the energy of your smile, drawing in more of the limitless golden light of the energy around you in whichever way you sense it. Amplify this as before.
7. Roll your tongue around your mouth until you have gathered some saliva. Smile to the saliva and draw the smiling energy and golden light into the saliva transforming it into healing nectar. Really feel this. Really taste the golden sweet smile into your saliva.
8. Swallow the saliva in two or three easy positive gulps. Follow it with awareness down your esophagus, smiling as it goes, feeling the healing nectar soothing and refreshing your esophagus.
9. Continue smiling through the rest of your digestive tract: your stomach, small intestine, gall bladder, large intestine, rectum, anus, bladder and urethra. Thank these organs for their work in giving you energy through ingestion, digestion, absorption and elimination.
10. Return your awareness once more to your smile and your eyes and recharge your smiling energy, directing it all around you in this, one of your favorite, most beautiful places in the world.
11. Return to the here and now, filled in heart, mind, body and soul with your inner smile - filled with the joy of life deep within you now.

[Adapted from: The Inner Smile Exercise - Inner smile meditation]


Give this exercise a go right now. It's wonderful how it works and how powerfully it influences your heart brain and gut brains to calm them, balance them and fill them with joy. [You know you have more than just a brain in your head, you have complex, adaptive and functional neural networks in your heart and gut, and you can learn to tap into and align their innate and intuitive wisdom as explained in my book with Marvin, mBraining]

And remember as you smile, that Mahatma Gandhi said,

“Be the change you want to see in the world.”

many life enhancing smiles,
Grant

Gifting is life enhancing

Here's something I'd like to share with you... in a sense it's a gift to you, that you can use immediately to add life enhancing value to your life.

A simple and powerful strategy

My beloved and I have for many years now enjoyed a simple yet powerful life strategy called 'Gifting' - which is about gifting behaviours and things to each other and to the people we love, without them having to ask for them or expecting them. The gifts are usually small or simple things that can make a big difference over time.

As an example, we gift to each other 'putting toothpaste on the toothbrush'. What this means is that whenever one of us goes to brush our teeth, we put toothpaste on both toothbrushes, our own, and the other person's -- thereby gifting to each other a tooth-pasted toothbrush, that is ready to use. It might sound trivial, but by gifting in this way the person receiving the gift doesn't have to put toothpaste on their own brush and receives the delight of having that small piece of work done for them.

Now, if we both do this gifting equally, over time, on average, we've both done 2 toothbrushes half the time, amounting to the same amount of toothpasting work as if we'd only done just our own. However, by doing gifting, we've done the same amount of work as not gifting, but we have the wonderful experience and knowledge of receiving a gift half the time, and the pleasure of giving a gift the other half the time. In other words, by gifting we both get much, much more on a day by day basis, for the same overall amount of work. It's a synergistic process in which 1 + 1 equals far more than 2!

Gifting across your life

We do this gifting with as many things as we can, things like toilet-roll replacing, like cleaning up the kitchen, putting things away, doing the dishes, bringing in the washing, lighting the fire or putting wood on it, and things like taking out the rubbish etc. etc. etc. You get the idea. Any item or element of work around the home or anything that adds value to the other person's life.

By both focusing so easily on gifting for each other, we get the same amount of work done, but it feels so great to do, and we end up with lots of positive feelings, thanks and appreciation. Of course a key part of this strategy is 'Thanking' which involves using intermittent reinforcement to thank the person for their great and ongoing gifting.

And another key component, for it to work well is to never expect the gift. If you expect the other person to put toothpaste on your brush, and you get peeved or upset when it isn't done, then you are operating from expectations of reciprocity and you are no longer in the 'land of gifting'. You've moved into bartering and tit for tat. That's not what gifting is about. Gifting is about kindness and gifts of loving that are given freely from the heart. So make sure that if you agree to do gifting together, that you also agree never to do expectations or demands that require a particular act or gifting instance.

Its all about feeling and showing love, appreciation and not taking anything for granted.

Clear outcomes and intentions

Now let's chunk up from this strategy of gifting for a moment. Do you see how, by thinking about what our outcomes are for doing great life'ing together, we have generated simple strategies, that when put into ongoing action, and made into positive addictions, really have made a life enhancing difference in our life. Most people do the opposite of that, and don't equally gift, or show/experience appreciation, but instead force expectations on each other, and everything becomes a demand and a chore, and everyone ends up getting less out of life. And by not getting clear about specific outcomes and the values that drive them, they end up, for no good reason, doing suboptimal and life denying behaviour. Most people have the best of intentions, but no skill in doing themselves generatively and life enhancingly. We can do ourselves differently to that, can't we :-)

Seth Godin's thoughts on gifting

I was reading Seth Godin's blog the other day, and he had some cool distinctions on gifting. Seth is a bestselling author, entrepreneur and agent of change. He has written some very powerful and interesting books.

What's a gift?

"I met a big-shot former Fortune 500 company CEO who explained to me that he used to have three secretaries. One for his calendar, one for his usual work, and one who did nothing but send people gifts.

I think when it's sent by a corporation and chosen by a secretary, it's not a gift. It's a present. Or a favor...

A gift certificate from a rich uncle is a present as well, it's not really a gift.

A favor is something we do for someone hoping for an equal or greater favor in return. (Hence the phrase, "return the favor." No one says, "return the gift.")

A present is something that costs money, sure, and it's free, but I don't think it's a gift.

A gift costs the giver something real. It might be cash (enough that we feel the pinch) but more likely it involves a sacrifice or a risk or an emotional exposure. A true gift is a heartfelt connection, something that changes both the giver and the recipient.

The way I understand gifts is that the giver must make a sacrifice, create an uneven exchange, bring himself closer to the recipient, create change and do it all with the right spirit. To do anything less might be smart commerce, but it doesn't rise to the magical level of the gift. A day's work for a day's pay is the win/lose mantra of the industrial era. More modern is to view a day's work as a chance to generate gifts that last."

Interesting thoughts, that go to the heart of gifting. And I like the idea of making every work day a day of gifting... because when you gift to others, ultimately you are gifting to your self and your own life and world. And that is incredibly life enhancing.

Give yourself the gift of Gifting

So there you go, a cool, simple and powerful strategy. Put gifting into practice in your life. Talk to your partner or beloved and explain the concept and negotiate agreement on doing it together equally. You'll do the same amount of work in your life, yet gain the synergy of giving and receiving gifts of heartfelt love on a daily basis. I can't tell you how wonderful it is to walk into the bathroom and find the toothpaste lovingly placed on your toothbrush, ready to use. It's a life enhancing and magical experience that happens daily in our home. And I hope you make it happen in your life too.


Want to learn more, get a copy of my book: Avoiding the Enemies to HAPPINESS!

with great and life enhancing thoughts
Grant


What I Love About

What I Love About You offers a fresh way to say "I love you." This fill-in-the-blank book prompts you to say what is in your heart, but may not always be at the tip of your tongue. Tell the most important person in your life just how much they mean to you by completing the scores of unique, evocative checklists, short answers, and phrases in this attractive gift book.

How to live to be 100+

TED is life enhancing: http://www.ted.com

TED is "Riveting talks by remarkable people, free to the world"

TED is a small nonprofit project devoted to 'Ideas Worth Spreading'.

It started out in 1984 as a conference bringing together people from three worlds: Technology, Entertainment, Design. Since then its scope has become ever broader. More than 500+ life enhancing 'TED Talks' are now freely available online, with more added each week. TED is based on the power of ideas to change attitudes, lives and ultimately, the world.

To introduce you to the value of TED (in case you weren't already a TED aficionado) and to share some incredibly life enhancing research on how to live longer and with greater health, here is a TED talk on 'How to live to be 100+'. I hope you enjoy it and find it as fascinating as I do.

Into the blue zones... how to live to be 100+

What do Seventh-Day Adventists in California, the residents of Sardinia, Italy and the inhabitants of the islands of Okinawa, Japan have in common? They enjoy the longest, healthiest lives on the planet. National Geographic writer and explorer, Dan Buettner assembled a team of researchers to seek out these "hotspots of human health and vitality", which he calls Blue Zones, and to figure out what they do that helps them live so long.

Dan and his team have distilled the secrets of the world's longest-lived peoples into a single plan for health and long life. In this TED talk he shares the 9 common diet and lifestyle habits that keep them spry past age 100.

In Summary:

The 9 principles for health and longevity can be summarised into:

Right Outlook - Sense of purpose, Enjoy your life, Follow your passions.
Move naturally - Remove laziness, Setup your life so that you naturally exercise and get out in the nature that surrounds you
Eat Wisely - Eat right @ right time
Connect with others - Family, friends, community and have long meaningful relationships

Make sure you live a full life where you engage with your community, the people in your life and the nature that surrounds you. Don't let modern society stress you out. Celebrate your life. Do calm abiding, forgiving, appreciation, savoring and compassion for yourself and others. And check out the life enhancing wisdom that TED has to offer.

wishing you a long enhancing life,

Grant

Life Enhancing 'Green Exercise'

We were out in the back dunes the other day...

...exploring, walking and taking photos of native orchids and other botanical wonders...

...and we came back so enlivened and refreshed that I really wanted to share with and remind you to make the time/effort to get out in nature, get away from the abstracted man-made world and reconnect with your natural environment.

Of course, we all know that exercise is good for both the body and mind... and a recent BBC Medical Science news article I came across backs this up with research showing that "Just five minutes of exercise in a 'green space' such as a park can boost mental health"

"There is growing evidence that combining activities such as walking or cycling with nature boosts well-being."

So to support you to get out in nature, here's a summary of the BBC Medical Science News article:

Green Exercise: Good for Mind and Body

"Just five minutes of exercise in a "green space" such as a park can boost mental health, researchers claim.

In the latest analysis, UK researchers looked at evidence from 1,250 people in 10 studies and found fast improvements in mood and self-esteem.

The research looked at many different outdoor activities including walking, gardening, cycling, fishing, boating, horse-riding and farming in locations such as a park, garden or nature trail.

Green and blue

A bigger effect was seen with exercise in an area that also contained water - such as a lake or river.

Paul Farmer, chief executive of mental health charity Mind, said the research is yet further evidence that even a short period of green exercise can provide a low cost and drug-free therapy to help improve mental well-being."

Get out in nature

So here's a life enhancing suggestion: Sometime today or tomorrow, take 10 minutes to go for a walk in nature. Go to a nearby park. Spend more time in natural settings. Get out into the garden. Find a tree lined street. Reconnect with the outdoors. Next weekend drive to the beach or country and go exploring. Do some green exercise and you'll come back refreshed, alive and regenerated.

And surely, that is life enhancing!

smiles,

Grant



ps If you'd like to see more of the beautiful images from our walk down the ocean, check out my beloved's photographic portfolio at http://passionflower2.deviantart.com/gallery/

Life Enhancing Activities

"Miracles are not accidents. We create them through our choices."

Masami Sato

 

You know, I've been pondering about what makes something life enhancing or not. And as far as I can tell...

Life Enhancing Activities promote:

• Increased self-esteem
• Pleasure
• Comfort
• Wellness
• Education
• Creativity
• Choice and Flexibility
• Success
• Independence
• Spiritual well-being
• Connection

Useful yardsticks

So if you are ever wondering if what you're doing is life enhancing, just rate it against the above criteria. And if it falls short, ask yourself whether your actions are life enhancing or life denying. If they aren't life enhancing, if they don't promote positive values in your life, then you might want to stop and replace them with more life enhancing ones.

You know, it's just a life enhancing thought....

....that's worth putting into action!


life enhancing smiles,
Grant


The Scientific American Brave New Brain: How Neuroscience, Neuroimaging, Psychopharmacology and Epigenetics are Enhancing the Future of Mental Power

Life Lines: 365 Life-Enhancing Meditations and Inspirations on Love, Peace, and Spirit from Around the World

Belief Therapy: A Guide to Enhancing Everyday Life

Generosity makes a life enhancing difference

"You make a living by what you get. You make a life
by what you give."

 ~ Winston Churchill

I found an interesting online article that read:

"It played like a scene from a holiday movie -- a mystery couple, who didn’t leave their names or numbers, walked into a restaurant, finished their meal and then set off a chain reaction of generosity that lasted for hours."

and it got me thinking about ‘Generosity’ and how it’s such a positive and generative behaviour. So I decided to do some research and share it with you here, because as it turns out, and not surprising really… generosity really is life enhancing.

Positive Psychology Research

There is a growing body of research on the benefits of cultivating kindness and generosity. A focus on generosity has been shown to increase levels of happiness and well-being. In one study by Stanford University psychologist Dr. Sonja Lyubomirsky, subjects were asked to carry out 5 intentional acts of kindness per week over a 6 week period. The results showed that compared to a control group, performing acts of kindness and generosity significantly increased reported levels of happiness and positive mood. With those who performed all the weekly acts in one day reaping the biggest gains over the course of the study.

This backs up numerous studies that show that people who do volunteering and altruistic behaviour are generally happier that the norm. Doing good deeds and helping others doesn’t just benefit the recipient, it pays back in kind.

One thing to note from the research however… varying the acts of generosity and kindness lead to bigger increases in mood than repeating the same altruistic act over and over -- Creativity counts when it comes to kindness.

Generosity Feels Good

And Generosity feels good. In one study, researchers at the National Institutes of Health scanned the brains of volunteers as they were asked to think about  scenarios involving either donating a sum of money to charity or keeping it for themselves.

The results showed clearly that when volunteers placed the interests of others before their own, the generosity activated a primitive part of the brain that usually lights up in response to food or sex. What this indicates is that the effects of Generosity are basic to the brain, hard-wired and pleasurable.

As an aside and linking to my last blog entry, there is also a fascinating connection between Generosity and Oxytocin – the trust and bonding hormone. In one study of 100 men, it was found that Oxytocin increased generosity 80% compared to those given a placebo. It would also not surprise me to find a reciprocal relationship. That when we do acts of kindness, our Oxytocin levels increase.

Generosity is Healthy

There is a huge body of scientific evidence that benevolent emotions, actions and attitudes such as kindness and generosity contribute to the giver’s health and longevity.

For example, Dr Stephen Post at Case Western Reserve University has conducted over 500 scientific studies that demonstrate the power of kindness and generosity to enhance physical and psychological health.

The studies show that:

• Altruism is associated with increased lifespan and a substantial reduction in mortality rates, even after differences in socioeconomic status, prior health status, smoking, social support, and physical activity are accounted for
• Giving and generosity is associated with increased survival rates in breast cancer patients
• People who do volunteer work have lower rates of mortality and decreased incidence of heart disease
• Generosity is linked to increased immune function
• Altruism is positively associated with lowered anxiety and depression
• Helping others is associated with higher levels of mental health

As Dr. Post puts it “It’s good to be good, and science says it’s so”.

"The three things we crave most in life -- happiness, freedom, and peace of mind -- are always attained by giving them to someone else."

Peyton C March

Gifts to Others vs Gifts to Self

Here’s an interesting finding: “Pro-social spending (spending on others) resulted in more happiness than personal spending”.

Can money buy happiness? That’s a question that researchers at the University of British Columbia and Harvard Business School attempted to find out…

Via a number of studies, they found that the ways in which people spend their money makes a significant difference to their happiness and that yes, money can buy happiness, especially when it’s spent on someone else.

In one of their studies of 632 Americans, they showed that prosocial spending was associated with significantly higher levels of happiness, whereas surprisingly personal spending was unrelated to happiness.

Isn’t that interesting! It’s somewhat counter-intuitive, since in our materialistic society we tend to think that buying stuff makes us happier. But numerous studies have shown that the positive affect from material purchases is very short-lived and has no real impact on our ongoing levels of happiness, meaning and life satisfaction. A month after buying that new car, your mood typically reverts to the norm.

However, as all the research described above shows, generosity and kindness, doing good things for others, and buying things or donating to other people makes a positive difference. Not just to the recipient but also in your own life.

Now to my mind, that really is life enhancing.

An incredible example

While researching on generosity and kindness, by sheer happenstance, I received a DVD in the mail of a film called ‘Blindsight’.

This is the story of Sabriye Tenberken, an amazing and inspiring woman, who along with 6 of her students attempted to climb Lhakpa Ri, a 23.000 feet high peak next to Mount Everest. What makes this story so gripping and incredible is that both Sabriye and the students are all blind.

Sabriye’s life is a compelling tribute to kindness, bravery and generosity. If you like you can check out her story and her ‘Braille Without Borders’ project at her website:  Braille Without Borders

Sabriye is a 2006 Mother Theresa Award Winner and 2005 Nobel Peace Prize nominee who became fascinated with the study of Tibetan culture as a young blind German woman and created the first Braille text for the Tibetan language.

Amazingly, she travelled alone to Tibet and into the frozen Himalayas to find blind children, considered demonic by their culture, to attend a school she established specially for them.

I was so inspired by the movie that I immediately googled on Sabriye and ordered a copy of her book ‘My Path Leads to Tibet’ from Amazon, which I have now read. It’s an incredible story, I highly recommend it.

I also jumped onto paypal and sent them a donation to do my little bit to support the wonderful work they are doing. And I have to be honest, it did feel good to help them.

Be Generous, Give Freely, Be Happy

And in case, after reading about how life enhancingly positive and beneficial generosity and kindness is to everyone involved, you’d also like to donate to Braille without Borders right now, here’s the link to Sabriye’s donations page: >> Support Braille Without Borders

Just click on the PayPal button on her page to pay in the currency of your preference. Every dollar you send them will make a positive contribution to changing someone’s life for the better.

Practice Random Acts of Kindness

And what about the story that got me started thinking deeply about generosity?

Well, it turns out, the mystery couple who visited the Aramingo Diner in Philadelphia, decided to anonymously practice a random act of kindness by paying double: for their own meal and for the tab of whoever came next to pay. As one of the diner employees reported “They asked us not to say anything until they left, say, ‘Merry Christmas, that person picked up your check.’”. And for the next 5 hours, patrons got into the same spirit and paid the favor forward. As Lynn Willard, one of the waitresses, declared, “It was magical. I had tears in my eyes because it never happened before. I’ve been here for 10 years, and I’ve never seen anything like that”.

Yes, a true story that proves how a small gesture of kindness can create ongoing magic.

Make a difference

So now you know, generosity is life enhancing in many, many ways. Generosity really can make a difference. It’s healthy, it fires off the pleasure centers in your brain and it increases happiness. Do it creatively and intentionally. The more you do for others the more both the world and your own life will be enhanced.


Generously wishing you much wellness and happiness
Grant


Some interesting books on the science and art of generosity:

Why Good Things Happen to Good People: How to Live a Longer, Healthier, Happier Life by the Simple Act of Giving

The Giving Heart: Unlocking the Transformative Power of Generosity in Your Life

The Generosity Factor

Pampering your self

You deserve to be pampered! Indeed, even more than that – you require pampering. It’s life enhancing, healthy and rewarding to enjoy a good pampering, a relaxing massage, a sublime facial, a life enhancing session of caring self indulgence.


Too often, we are bombarded with messages from society that pampering is wrong or sinful. That we don’t really deserve it. That it’s a sign of weakness. These messages are rubbish!

Pampering is about experiencing human touch and caring. Pampering is about support. It’s a reward for being alive. It stimulates your immune system. It supports feelings of warmth and lovingness which in turn heal the heart and mind.

Pampering is a celebration of being alive and enjoying the sensuousness of life. Cherish your body. Pamper it with massages and spa treatments. Have a hand, foot or scalp massage. Relax back into a warm scented bath. Surround yourself with candles and gentle sounds.

Feel good about your pampering. Every human deserves it!

Your health and balance require you to enjoy and stimulate your senses and every part of your body. This gentle, pleasurable stimulation sends messages to your heart-brain and gut-brain and brings balance to your autonomic nervous system. Pampering provides parasympathetic signaling and buffers against stress.

Make pampering a regular part of your wellness and health maintenance. A healthy mind requires a healthy body. So give yourself the life enhancing gift of joy and pleasure.

Positive psychology has scientifically shown that positive feelings and emotions produce spirals of mental and physical well-being. You truly do deserve and require a deliciously life enhancing pampering. So schedule one in right now!!!


Want to learn more, get a copy of my book: Avoiding the Enemies to HAPPINESS!

wishing you much life enhancing wellness,
smilings, Grant

Refreshing the Spirit with Al Bakker

As you know, this blog is about Life Enhancing and how to inspire yourself to live a wonderful life. To support this, I've been doing email interviews with people who inspire me and who I think live amazing lives.

This blog is also about what I call 'Life Enhancing Devices' (LEDs) - things that truly add value to our lives. And one of the key LEDs for me is kayaks. They allow us to go places and do things that are truly wonderful, inspiring and uplifting. They are a great form of exercise and can provide a very calming and meditative experience.


So today's blog entry is an interview with someone who I believe lives a wonderfully enhanced life, and who inspires me to get out and do more paddling, adventuring and living.

This person is Al Bakker, the founder of Southern Sea Ventures, a company that offers awesome kayaking adventures in some of the most beautiful places in the world.


I've been on a number of Southern Sea Venture kayak trips, and I think that what Al and his company does is fantastic and life enhancing. I'm always amazed at the new trips he is organising and the great paddles that he does. Al searches the globe for new and amazing paddling adventures and then opens them up so the rest of us can safely enjoy these life enhancing experiences. As Al says "Exploring the world’s beautiful places by kayak is a wonderful way to refresh the spirit. The quiet and unobtrusive dip of a paddle is a panacea to life in the modern world. I feel privileged to be able to show people different places and share skills that give them enjoyment."

Al has paddled whitewater and sea kayaks for 36 years in North America, South America, the South Pacific, Japan, Australia, NZ, Antarctica, South Georgia, the High Arctic and Greenland, Russian Far East and all across Europe. He has led commercial sea kayak tours for the last 21 years and developed sea kayak, rafting and cross country ski programs in many countries. Al is also a qualified SCUBA diver, Nordic ski instructor and examiner, swim instructor and examiner and holds swiftwater rescue and national lifeguard certification. He has worked as a helicopter ski guide, rafting guide and wilderness first aid consultant and is a keen photographer.

I caught up with Al via email as he bobbed across the Greenland sea heading towards the Arctic, and asked him why he felt kayaking and outdoor adventuring was so life enhancing.


* Hi Al, trust you are well and still out living amazing adventures!

Yep, enjoying getting to some lovely spots and feel privileged to be able to.


* What do you do to enhance your life? What is life enhancing for you?

I always try to balance work and play. It is easy to get overwhelmed with running a business and sorting out details but I find that getting out in the mountains or on the water is refreshing. It doesn’t have to be paddling but sometimes it is easier to get to some out of the way places by boat. Sharing some quality outdoor time with someone you care for is real important for me.


* What is so life enhancing about Kayaks and paddling? Why do you do it? What makes it so special?

Kayak tours are my business so that is part of it but my wife and I very much love to get out and paddle on our time off. Not so much for short paddles but on an overnight or week long trip.
It gives us a chance to leave the phone at home, breathe some fresh air and just live a simple day without distractions. Cooking a camp meal, setting up a tent in the wind, working out how to take the extra bottle of wine in the kayak is all fun.

For me, part of what makes paddling special is sharing it with someone. Whether it is going out for a surf or on a 2 week trip. I don’t paddle competitively and never have so it is recreation and work, and I like keeping it for that.


* You seem to fill your life with adventure and challenge... how do you motivate yourself to do the life enhancing activities such as kayaking in Antarctica and creating amazing new paddling trips?

Mate, one has to earn a living somehow! Seriously though, having the opportunity to paddle in the Antarctic and other places is not taken lightly. I very much appreciate how lucky I am to be able to do it. But it is equally enjoyable seeing others get the same enjoyment out of it. So. Making it possible for folks to get to some difficult places is really one of the most rewarding aspects about having such a tour business.


* Why do you think 'life-enhancing' is important? What's important about having dreams, goals and inspiring purpose?

I guess I would prefer to say it is important to take some time out from whatever job or stress you are in and do something that makes you feel good, whether it is playing music, taking pictures, hiking in the mountains, paddling a new river or seeing a new country or area in a sea kayak. I like the details of picking a trip, planning it, preparing but when on it, I don’t like to have every day structured and try and make it as flexible as time constraints allow so you can make the most of whatever comes up. From meeting an interesting fisherman, or a wildlife encounter or lazing around camp. Dreams or goals for me, make the difference of getting beyond the daily routine and commitments that just living can impose on your 24 hours.


* Who are your role models for 'life-enhancing'? Are there any exemplars that live enhanced lives that you look to for inspiration in your own life?

Many throughout my life, but my current hero is an 82 yr old who has been on a number of our trips. Started paddling 5 –6 years ago and get out of his kayak and climb back in upside down and roll it back up. He paddles 3 times a week and just loves to get out. I see many things in people I work with that is inspiring and constantly amazed at how families balance their work with being parents and still finding time to learn or play.


* What would you put on the list of the most: Life Enhancing Devices, Life Enhancing Values, Life Enhancing Beliefs, Life Enhancing Skills/Strategies and Life Enhancing Behaviors?

Enthusiasm, good humour, an interest in learning, curiosity, being aware of what is happening around you, and patience. One particularly rewarding pastime is watching wildlife. Simply being patient enough to watch, smell, and observe and see what the animal is doing can be fascinating.



Thank you Al for sharing your thoughts and experiences.

What Al says resonates with me. The experience, skill and flow of paddling a kayak, of moving your craft through the sea, of exploring amazing parts of the world, and sharing that with others are all so incredibly life enhancing.


If you've never paddled a kayak, then do yourself a big life enhancing favour and go hire one for a few hours, get some instruction and have a play. Better yet, book yourself on a kayak adventure trip. Most trips are suitable for beginners and will teach you the skills you need to enjoy the experience safely.

And if you are already a paddling aficionado then I encourage you to get into your boat and do some more paddling soon 'cause kayaks really are such wonderful LEDs.

Finally, let me point out that kayaking is not without risks. You should always wear and use appropriate safety equipment and take lessons from qualified instructors. Paddle thoughtfully and safely and you'll live to enjoy kayaking for many years ahead.


much happy paddling
smiles, Grant

Life enhancing fluffy white stuff

Well... seeing as we are enjoying one of our regular sojourns up in the snow, I figure it's timely to blog about how playing in the snow is very, very life enhancing :-)


I don't think it matters what sort of snow play you do, whether it's downhill skiing, snowboarding, x-country skiing, riding a skidoo or just tramping and camping out back-country with a pair of snow-shoes strapped to your feet, they all add refreshing life enhancing value to your life. I've done them all, and every year we get out and about in the snow using every available form of snow play equipment, and we always come back feeling more alive, filled with delight and having had/done an awesome time.

So what is it about the mountains and snow that is so wonderful?

To begin with there's the beauty. Snow flakes falling and drifting from the sky, painting a pristine world of cleansing, calming white, creating a visage that lifts the spirit. The snow blankets the ground and dusts the trees with icing. Crystals hang from branches. Sun glints and rainbows across the softness like diamonds cast by natures hand. In the snow, everything seems more real, clearer, more alive.

Then there's the exhilaration of movement, speed, acceleration as you move and glide down the fall line. The feeling of riding a snowboard or a set of skis, over moguls, cutting swathes through the powder is akin to the petro-sexuality of motorbike riding. It's visceral. The adrenalin is addicting. It's blissful.


Added to all that, there's the value and effects of exercise. Snow play gives you a great workout. More oxygen flowing through your lungs and blood stream, bringing muscles alive. Washing the toxins from your system.

The flow of skiing, boarding or even snow-shoeing provides a 'broaden-and-build' positive emotional experience. It increases levels of serotonin and dopamine flowing in your system. It expands your creativity. It's pretty much impossible to carry the stress of work or life into a day of snow-play. To successfully and safely ski or board from the top of a mountain, you need full attention and the whole of your being committed to the unconscious competence of rider and device as one. This engagement is meditative and engenders peace and joy in your spirit.


Finally I guess I'd like to add that it's just plain awesome fun! Snow play brings out the wide-eyed spirit of the child. And the apres ski adventures add to the fun. If you stay up in the snow-fields then there's wonderful food, great company, lots of good wine, the odd sauna and spa experience and delightful walks after dinner in the star filled sky, crunching over fresh fallen snow crystals. Ahhhh, does life get any better than this?!!

So, if you aren't already a convert to snow-play, I seriously and playfully suggest you add some snow-play life adventure to your life. And if you are already an aficionado of the snow, then may I encourage you to go do some more of it. Make sure you get out and enjoy the life enhancing beauty and delight of playing in the fluffy white stuff every year of your life.

Treat with care

Just one small reminder and caveat... snow is cold and slippery, you need to be skillful, careful and treat it and alpine environments with respect. Be aware of the risks of hypothermia and always dress appropriately and take the necessary safety equipment with you. If you love and utilise the snow intelligently it will love you back and add immense value to your life.


happy life enhancing snow play,
and many smiles, Grant