The WellSpring Flow.

Take Control of Your Superannuation

rjlhughes@gmail.com (Bob Hughes) — Thu, 07 Apr 2011 10:47:00 +0000

Your future is coming ready or not. In this episode Superannuation expert Darren Tappouras talks about taking control of your superannuation using a Self managed Super Fund. Make sure your retire with enough to make life interesting. This is the way to do it!

The Hidden Market

rjlhughes@gmail.com (Bob Hughes) — Thu, 07 Apr 2011 10:33:00 +0000

In this episode Phil Lovell introduces the idea of the Hidden Market and how you can use it to take control of your job hunting and career development.

UNSW - NTEU CALL TO ACTION

rjlhughes@gmail.com (Bob Hughes) — Thu, 07 Apr 2011 10:30:00 +0000

In this episode Julie Smith reads a statement from Sarah Gregson to UNSW Professional Staff and asks you to join the campaign for job security.

Economic Anxiety and what to do about it

rjlhughes@gmail.com (Bob Hughes) — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 09:43:00 +0000

There are plenty of people who are feeling anxious as we head into Christmas and the New Year, and that may not be a bad thing according to Australia's leading NLP trainer Chris Collingwood from Inspiritive. He says anxiety is a signal that needs to be paid attention to in this podcast, and he has some tips on allaying your anxiety too.

Originally recorded for The U Curve

Welcome to the U Curve

rjlhughes@gmail.com (Bob Hughes) — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 03:41:00 +0000

Welcome to the first U Curve podcast, the successor to the WellSpring.

In this episode, designed to be carried on our site www.youcurve.net, we explore anxiety around employment with organisational psychologist Ambrose McKinnery, of mckinnery.com.au

As times get tougher more and more employees, employers, and business operators are feeling uneasy. What can you do about it? Ambrose makes some useful suggestions about marshalling support.

Chris Barker's new book

rjlhughes@gmail.com (Bob Hughes) — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 07:57:00 +0000

Chris Barker has been a regular and welcome presence in these podcasts as someone who gives dharma talks at Wednesday night's Lotus Bud meetings.

He's also an academic and writer who has turned his attention to the emotional lives of men in his new book. It's also chronicles a very direct view of his own spiritual journey.

Here he's speaking to Bob about the book, and that journey....

Cultivating Happiness and Joy

rjlhughes@gmail.com (Bob Hughes) — Wed, 06 Jun 2007 20:17:00 +0000

"Cultivating Happiness and Joy" was the title of the dharma talk that Ven. Thich Phap Hai recently gave at the Lotus Bud Sangha at the Buddhist Library in Camperdown.

Joking that the Dalai Lama was addressing similar issues when he comes to Australia soon, Ven. Thich Phap Hai went on to give a wide ranging talk that touched on many aspects of his life as an Australian born monastic within the Order of Interbeing.

Please enjoy this entertaining and insightful dharma talk.

Chris Barker's Dharma Talk

rjlhughes@gmail.com (Bob Hughes) — Sun, 24 Sep 2006 19:56:00 +0000

Recently at the regular Wednesday night Lotus Bud Sangha meeting at the Buddhist Library in Camperdown, Sydney, Chris Barker gave the dharma talk.

He spent some time discussing the work on Authentic Happiness done by Professor Martin Seligman, and his own approach to Buddhism.

Although he doesn't mention it in this talk Chris has a wonderfully pragmatic view of free will. We should regard other people as being substantially predestined, he says, so that we can be more forgiving of them. But we should regard ourselves as responsible for our own actions.

The picture is of the full moon rising over the Chinese Consulate which is in Church Street next to the Buddhist Library.

Zen meets NLP, and other issues...

rjlhughes@gmail.com (Bob Hughes) — Wed, 20 Sep 2006 13:22:00 +0000

The WellSpring has been quiet for some time. But now we're back. In this series of short podcasts Chris Collingwood and Bob Hughes discuss the overlap between Buddhism and NLP.

The Buddhist idea of seeds in our store consciousness is quite similar to the NLP understanding of our unconscious

http://media.libsyn.com/media/thewellspring/edit_1_buddhist_seeds_and_nlp.mp3

Many meditators work with their breath. In NLP internal propriocentric sensations are often used in inducing trance too.

http://media.libsyn.com/media/thewellspring/edit_1_breath.mp3

If you need to relax, Chris guides you through a simple process that is designed to take you away.

http://media.libsyn.com/media/thewellspring/edit_1_3_points_of_attention.mp3

What's mindfulness? Well it's a little similar to an open eyed no self talk state the NLP calls the State of Grace.

http://media.libsyn.com/media/thewellspring/edit_1_mindfulness_state_of_grace.mp3

Robert Fritz's book The Path of Least Resistance got a big response from listeners to the podcast. Chris and Bob take up one of the themes – about how sometimes we're motivated by fear, but not well motivated.

http://media.libsyn.com/media/thewellspring/edit_1_path_of_least_resistance.mp3

Chris's partner Jules has been studying Cognitive Science at the UNSW – Chris discusses the overlap between the academic and the practical applications of NLP

http://media.libsyn.com/media/thewellspring/edit_1_cog_sci_and_nlp.mp3

For more thoughts on subjects like these visit www.zenlp.org

The WellSpring 45

rjlhughes@gmail.com (Bob Hughes) — Mon, 03 Jul 2006 14:17:00 +0000

In this episode:

I'm moved by a speech that Linda Stone gave recently, which was carried on ITConversations, about the Connect Connect Connect generation and how that may be changing. Just as I'm about to finally get a BlackBerry I think she's probably right. I also found myself very moved, pardon the pun recently meditating in a 737. The podcast will probably look more closely at the stillness in the heart of things than we have been.

I've also been much stimulated this weekend by Whole Body Meditations from Lorin Roche, who regular listeners will know is a favourite author of mine. He discusses how there are great benefits to be had from just sitting, and suggests that the rituals and rigour of many ancient meditation techniques may be unnecessary.

In News You Can Use – Commsec have found that Australians are spending more money on gadgets, and staying connected than on health and education. Driving while on a mobile phone is as impaired as driving with blood alcohol at 0.08. And Tai Chi (with Qi Gong) is good for you, American scientists say!

Plus Frank Lowe interviews his mate Adrian about the meaning of life.

The WellSpring 44

rjlhughes@gmail.com (Bob Hughes) — Mon, 26 Jun 2006 03:25:00 +0000

In episode 44:

Welcome if you're a new listener following
the story in Icon from Nick Galvin.

We consider how long spiders have been
weaving the orb web – it could be as long
as 130 million years, and how long humans
have been wearing jewellry – perhaps as
long as 130 thousand years. However that
may be a sign that humans were
'behaviourally modern' that long ago.
And that means that people like you –
your ancestors with thoughts and emotions
like yours were around that long ago.

We also contemplate the possibility that
there will be a CJD epidemic some
decades from now, and the likelihood
of an earthquake in Southern California.
It's when not if the scientists say.
Both are reminders of the chaos that lurks
under the surface of our lives and the
notion of impermanence.

Frank, one of our Podcast course students,
offers his view of the meaning of life,
and his lilypad theory.

We also take a lesson from Lorin Roche's
book Breath Taking on wandering minds.

Find out more about his wonderful work
on meditation and breathe at
www.lorinroche.com

www.wellspringflow.net

Podcast Like A Pro

rjlhughes@gmail.com (Bob Hughes) — Sat, 24 Jun 2006 01:53:00 +0000

Thanks to the story by Nick Galvin in the Sydney Morning Herald's Icon section, we've had a lot of visitors recently. If you're seeking information of the Podcast classes we run in Sydney please go to NetCastNow.Net

You'll find the podcasting information on the upper right hand side.

Or for more information email podcastlikeapro@gmail.com

If you're looking for corporate podcasting information, our sponsor Corpcoms.com provides media relations, corporate training and inhouse podcasting communication advice.

But before you go, please feel free to have a good look and listen around here.

If you'd like to offer feedback. email me at bob (at) wellspringconnection.net

thanks for visiting

The WellSpring 43

rjlhughes@gmail.com (Bob Hughes) — Mon, 19 Jun 2006 02:25:00 +0000

This episode is mostly recorded on the
banks of the Hawkesbury River near
where it flows into the Pacific Ocean
north of Sydney.

In this episode we discuss how
self-esteem makes a difference in the
way we see others. People with lower
self esteem tend to view those close to
them as all good or all bad.

DNA tests now allow you to trace your
ancestors with great accuracy. Are you
descended from someone famous?
What might you learn about yourself
from your family tree? The scientific
basis shows where our antecdents lay.
Get ready for this to become really
popular, combining as it does our genes
and celebrity, the International Herald
Tribune predicts.

As we get older we mellow, a lot,
Sydney Univesity's Brain Dynamics
Centre says. Maybe we accentuate the
positive as the negatives in our lives
accumulate.

Our picture is of the Hawkesbury -
it is the shot that I wandered off to take
after musing on the tree and rock spirits
with Limin.

www.wellspringconnection.net is your
connection to the WellSpring

The WellSpring 42

rjlhughes@gmail.com (Bob Hughes) — Mon, 12 Jun 2006 02:37:00 +0000

In episode 42, we don't discuss the
meaning of life. But we do consider
how far back life goes on earth. It
may be almost 4 billion years! Now
that deserves some contemplation.

There's a mini meditation on
losing your worries. And Limin
Mao joins us to rethink antibiotics.
You may not need to take the full
course. Plus an anti-smoking vaccine.

Robert Fritz has some tips on living
creatively, from his book The Path
of Least Resistance.

Music: Satori's Relaxation CD from
www.magnatune.com

blog.myspace.com/wellspringflow

The WellSpring 41

rjlhughes@gmail.com (Bob Hughes) — Sun, 04 Jun 2006 23:14:00 +0000

In this episode:

We explore the idea that plants under stress produce a chemical, resveritrol, that helps people live longer. David Ewing Duncan raised the idea on a recent Biotech Nation on NPR and ITConversations, and David Sinclair, who heads the aging study at Harvard, is behind the research.

If you motivate yourself by worry, or by setting up big fears about the bad things that are going to happen to you, then you may find that that strategy doesn't work in the long run. Robert Fritz's book The Path of Least Resistance has some interesting observations, which we share this week. You may recall Frances Amaroux recommended the book last week. We got it and she was right

We hear about the meaning of life from leading IT, Marketing and Business journalist Brad Howarth. That's him in the picture, taken by Limin.

And take some tips on meditating from one of the masters: Lorin Roche from his book Whole Body Meditations.

Plus News You Can Use - the latest science research about your health. This week items on exercise, alcohol, dementia and siestas.

The WellSpring 40 (re-edit)

rjlhughes@gmail.com (Bob Hughes) — Sun, 28 May 2006 21:42:00 +0000

In this re-edited episode:

Do you sabotage your present because of patterns you've inherited from the past?

The Love Coach, Frances Amaroux joins us to talk about how we can change those patterns, based on her recent reading of Robert Fritz's The Path Of Least Resistance. She's not offering a quick fix, but she does say that the process has given her great insight into herself. Find out more about Frances, and her Life Partner Quest at http://www.turning-point.com.au/

New research from the University of Leicester's Kim Drake shows that adverse life experiences, like major illness, work problems, being a victim of crime or family misfortunes can shake people's beliefs in themselves. Life's hard knocks may not toughen you up they may just as well leave you more easily influenced.

Women who sleep less under five hours a night are more likely to be overweight than people who get 7 hours or more a night, the American Thoracic Society has heard. Its not because they eat more or exercise less. It may be that lack of sleep slows down the metabolic rate, though.

Listening to music for an hour a day on headphones has been shown in the Journal of Advanced Nursing to reduce pain by up to 21%, and depression by up to 25% in chronic pain sufferers. This follows research that 45 minutes of soft music before bedtime can improve sleep by a third.

Music and sound bits from freesound from bebeto and RHumphries

incidental loops from www.flashkit.com

Adrien Gardner http://www.adg3.com/

and Icebergslim

All played under creative commons licenses.

WellSpring ep 39 Promo

rjlhughes@gmail.com (Bob Hughes) — Sun, 21 May 2006 08:57:00 +0000

This is an audio promo for WellSpring Podcast ep 39 - runs 39 seconds. If there's somewhere you can play it I'd be grateful.

Thanks

Bob

The WellSpring 39 - Prejudice and Gossip.

rjlhughes@gmail.com (Bob Hughes) — Sun, 21 May 2006 07:46:00 +0000

In this episode:

Prejudice and gossip. Why we think ill of some people; why we speak badly of others; and the science behind both. Recent brain scan studies from Harvard show that different areas of the brain light up when we think about people who are similar to us and those who aren't.

Plus gossip, spreading negative tales about others, can be a strong bonding force, even among strangers, according to the University of Oklahoma.

Both phenomena are rooted in our need to have in-groups and out-groups to make sense of our identity.

It's the search for a short term gain over our long term interests – a familiar pattern for humans.

Are multivitamins any good for you? Surprisingly the jury is still out despite the amount of the pills that are taken around the globe each day. The National Institutes of Health say that there are a couple of research conclusions (which we tell you about) but mostly more research needs to be done .

Religion and spirituality help black Americans lower their blood pressure and hence the risk of cardiovascular disease, other new research shows.

And a new super antibiotic may solve the problem of antibiotic resistance, researchers at Merck Research Laboratories say.

And Chris Collingwood from Inspiritive talks about the NLP belief that 'the map is not the territory?.

Promo - Contentment

rjlhughes@gmail.com (Bob Hughes) — Sun, 14 May 2006 19:57:00 +0000

The Promo for episode 38 is at
http://media.libsyn.com/media/thewellspring/The_WellSpring_Promo_1.mp3

The WellSpring 38 - "Now - An Answer To Mortality?"

rjlhughes@gmail.com (Bob Hughes) — Sun, 14 May 2006 06:34:00 +0000

In this episode:

Rick Farley is dead this weekend, at 53, Grant McLennan passed away in his sleep last weekend, at 48. That's moderately alarming for a fiftysomething male who had met them both.

Ruth Ostrow, writing in the Weekend Australian, tells of a ritual where you spend 12 months making each decision as if you were in the last year of your life.

Sogyal Rinpoche says that we westerners are too caught up in the things of the world, to give sufficient attention to impermanence, which is the real issue. Besides when we glimpse it - we're scared. Krishnamurti says the answer isn't in what we've done in the past, or will do in the future. The key to making the most of life, long or short, is to be in the moment. 'Just be here now' may be the answer to 'How long have I got?'

We hear that they most important precursor of being happy, according to British research is to be content.

And Australia's leading NLP expert Chris Collingwood explains how we can fix the effects of problem people from our past.

The picture is from Elizabeth's bookstore in King Street, Newtown, Sydney.

The WellSpring Special Edition from Cebit 2006 in Sydney

rjlhughes@gmail.com (Bob Hughes) — Tue, 09 May 2006 14:47:00 +0000

This is a special edition of the WellSpring Sound Guidance taking you to Cebit 2006 in Sydney.

We explore just two questions:

what's gee whiz about the gadgets on show?

and how do they really improve human happiness?

We talk to experts from Panasonic, Netgear, the RFID Association, G3, Blackberry, and the Open Source Association. Good Gadget Guy Peter Blasina wraps us up, too.

Science underpins our ideas on spirituality, and spirituality informs science. But where does technology fit in? Does it increase our control of our lives? Or is it part of an increasing encroachment of our public lives on our private moments? Are we more in control by having a gadget that gets each new email no matter where we are or what time it is, or more controlled by others? We don't answer those questions, really, but we might get you thinking with this podcast.

The WellSpring 36

rjlhughes@gmail.com (Bob Hughes) — Sun, 07 May 2006 11:56:00 +0000

In this episode:

There's a must listen to story from Peter Wale about memories of his mother and how he's been healing the past.

Dr Mao joins us to discuss what's in your lunch, and what should be. Do you know that 300 grams of hot chips takes a woman 3 hours to walk off?

Can you tell when someone's lying? Mark Frank can, and his system is so good, he has automated it for law enforcement authorities across the world.

New neurological research by Yale University researchers into attraction and aversion shows capuchin monkeys are risk averse. It suggests that we humans are hard wired to be more motivated by the stick than the carrot.

Emory University research into the emotion dread shows that it's a powerful motivating force too. Brain scans show that the pain and attention centres fire up to produce dread.

We have a lovely metaphor about how your conscious and unconscious interact from Jonathan Haidt's new book, The Happiness Hypothesis.

And if you're looking for a job, consider being an evangineer - an evangalist who can engineer the changes they want to see.

Peter Wale's full dharma talk from last week's Lotus Bud Sangha meeting at the Buddhist Library in Camperdown is at
http://media.libsyn.com/media/thewellspring/Peter_Wale_Dharma_Talk.mp3

You can contact us through inbox ...at...wellspringconnection.net

The WellSpring 35

rjlhughes@gmail.com (Bob Hughes) — Sun, 30 Apr 2006 02:38:00 +0000

In this episode:

It's dry in Oberon, as the picture shows. Our theme sound effect of thunder and rain belies our desire to hear just that outside.

In News You Can Use: We discuss teamwork why and how it works, according to the American Psychological Association. Teams of three seem to be most effective but what does that imply for marriages? Plus nature not nurture wins as we look at genes and alcoholism and inherited intelligence. There's more evidence that walking is good for you from Prof Robert Thayer author of Calm Energy. And neuroeconomics - how our brains decide on value.

If you're time poor, or you've read Faster by James Gleick, you might be interested in the ideas of 'time porn' and 'time sucks'. Time porn, says www.wordspy.com is what we see when we watch TV sitcoms where characters have vast amounts of unstructured time. That's possibly because they aren't wasting it watching TV. And 'time sucks' is the effect of computer games, the net or TV.

Re-incarnation may be making a comeback, if you believe Prof Charles Tart in shrinkrapradio with Dr Dave. Charles points out that if there is reincarnation then it may make a big difference in how we live our lives.www.shrinkrapradio.com

We also hear from Dr Ian Gawler, the author of You Can Conquer Cancer, who talks about the deeper meaning of meditation in his life. Www.gawler.org

If you're in Sydney this week Peter Wale is speaking at the regular Wednesday night session of the Lotus Bud Sangha at the Buddhist Library in Church St, Camperdown, and we'll be recording it. I hope to bring you an excerpt in the next edition of the WellSpring.

The WellSpring Flow podcasts are an offshoot of the WellSpring satellite audio channel on Foxtel and Austar in Australia. Find out more on www.wellspring connection.net

The WellSpring 34

rjlhughes@gmail.com (Bob Hughes) — Sat, 22 Apr 2006 23:46:00 +0000

In this episode:

You can protect yourself against Alzheimers by following a Mediterranean diet you could lower your risk by up to 40%

One American company is pushing its business model for implantable microchips that carry your medical history. Would you have one? Maybe not at their price. But with the history in pets how long can it be before we have a workable model for humans?

Some people call it flow, some call it being in the moment, now Israeli scientists have shown what happens in your brain when overwhelming sensory inputs mean you 'forget your self'.

And we talk to Professor Marc Cohen, Head of Complementary Medicine at RMIT. The alternative therapies that have been proven to work are simple, safe and easy to put into your life, he says.

There's a short extract from Zencast 48 of Eckhardt Tolle talking about forgetting to think and living in the now, and we hear Sandra Lee Patterson's piece in the genius of daring.

Our photo is of Buckemall Creek still green despite the drought.

The WellSpring 33

rjlhughes@gmail.com (Bob Hughes) — Sun, 16 Apr 2006 01:09:00 +0000

In this episode:

The 'medicalisation' of everyday problems has been the subject of a Newcastle University conference this last week. Prof David Henry and journalist Roy Moynihan have attracted academics from around the world to examine the corporate sponsored creation of disease which turns healthy people into patients, wastes precious resources and may even cause harm.

The perennial question of nature vs nurture gets some new evidence this week. Yale University Med School shows there is a link between genetics and risk of opiate addiction. Another study, from Cincinnati links snoring from parent to child.

Possibly on the nurture side of the debate the University of Melbourne found that a marriage break up had a major effect on the children's future relationships (especially the women); made a difference to whether the children got degrees, and even adversely affected the household wealth of the children's families.

Another survey by RMIT on Yoga in Australia paints an attractive picture of people who go to yoga, and why they stick with it. Researcher Stephen Penman tells us about it. More at www.yogainaustralia.com

And prompted by a sleep deficit accumulated over the past couple of weeks we talk about sleep, and why it's so important.

Autumn has arrived in the mountains - the picture above is of poplars just outside Oberon NSW.

The WellSpring 32

rjlhughes@gmail.com (Bob Hughes) — Sun, 09 Apr 2006 12:22:00 +0000

It's been a busy week – with The Yoga and Ayurvedic Medicine Conference in Sydney taking my attention.

I spent all day Saturday hosting the speakers events and there were some wonderful highlights – like Simon Borg-Olivier's extraordinary display of yoga gymnastics. He's from Yoga Synergy, and we'll have a chat with him in a future episode.

Prof Marc Cohen gave a comprehensive run down on the state of complementary medicine in Australia – it's big and getting bigger! Stephen Penmann gave the first results from the Yoga In Australia Survey, and he'll share them with us next week too.

And in this episode – consultant physiologist and yoga teacher Swami Samnyasanand talks about breathing and meditation.

We also hear from Swamiji from Yoga in Daily Life on the meaning of life. He's pictured above with a protege Swami Avatarpuriji, the youngest sanyassin in Yoga In Daily Life. Look to the left and you'll see the two previous leaders of the lineage. It's tempting to think that the six year old could be next, but that's a long way away.

The media conference which I hosted on Friday is up on the net as an audio file, although I haven't published it in this stream. This is the link:

http://media.libsyn.com/media/thewellspring/Yoga_Media_Conference.mp3

In News You Can Use in this episode: the extraordinary waste of food in the USA – perhaps $100 billion dollars worth a year. Dr Timothy Jones says Americans have lost touch with food, where it comes from, how to look after it, and what it does to their health. You can hear him on The Science Show at www.abc.net.au/rn

And Australia may not have the world's greatest Gross Domestic Product, but we've got one of the best Gross Domestic Happinesses. We're second only to Iceland. Now that's something to make you smile!

Yoga Conference Media Conference

rjlhughes@gmail.com (Bob Hughes) — Fri, 07 Apr 2006 20:12:00 +0000

Here's the podcast of the The International Ayurveda & Yoga Conference & Press Event held on Friday April 7. I MC'd it and will be compereing the first day of the conference, which is tomorrow as I write this. Pictured is Cheryl a remarkable dancer who performed last night at an opening dinner for the speakers.

This is what the media release said:

International guests, Gurus and Masters are being united to share their ancient wisdoms of Ayurveda and Yoga; and everyone from the novice to the professional is invited to learn and experience at this authentic gathering.

Yoga is a therapeutic activity deeply embedded into the lives of many Australians who practice routines on a daily basis. In fact, a 2003 Australian Bureau of Statistic report show that more people participate in Yoga than in Australian Rules football.

Ayurveda, on the other hand, is where Aromatherapy was 15 years ago. Whilst being an ancient Indian science of medicine and healthy lifestyle, it is still in its infancy stages in western societies.

On Friday April 7^th meet His Holiness Paramhans Swami Maheshwarananda a globally identifiable Master who has been recognised by the United Nations for his humanitarian contributions. This is a very rare opportunity to meet the Founder of Yoga in Daily Life. This Friday Press Conference will also give you the opportunity to meet other Masters of Ayurveda and Yoga including Prof. Dr. P H Kulkarni a true Guru and global figure in Ayurveda & Sri Swamini Mayattinanda former successful New York designer, who after contracting cancer returned to India to study Ayurveda and established the first ever Ayurveda School in the US. Prof Marc Cohen and Dr Ramkumar, world renowned Ayurveda Doctor who just hosted a large Ayurveda Conference in India with Dr Deepak Chopra and Dr Robert Svoboda

The International Ayurveda & Yoga Conference is going to be the turning point for Ayurvedic medicine in Australia and will join the ranks of Yoga and other holistic practices to inspire healthier lifestyles. Here's the link:

http://media.libsyn.com/media/thewellspring/Yoga_Media_Conference.mp3

The WellSpring 31

rjlhughes@gmail.com (Bob Hughes) — Sun, 02 Apr 2006 10:35:00 +0000

In this episode:

The Power of Prayer? Recent research in the American Heart Journal suggests that heart by pass patients who know they're being prayed for by strangers have more complications. People who have no prayers and people who don't know they're being prayed for recover faster. Of course not everyone's happy with the study. And some people say that being prayed for by friends and family may work – because of the social connection.

Loneliness isn't healthy for older people, another study shows. A lack of connection with other people can increase your blood pressure dangerously, the University of Chicago says.

Sydney's autumnal light is almost like spring time – the leaves (pictured) were caught in the morning sun in my back yard today.

The role of chemicals in our emotions and behaviours gets some new evidence this week. The drug cortisol seems to help people conquer phobias; and the smell of fear sweat stimulates women to do better in tests. MRI's of depressed patients' brains may also show the way to go with primary treatments. It seems that when the amygdala won't 'move on' from a fear we may be more at risk from depression, and a better prospect to be cured by behavioural therapy.

I'm compering the Saturday session of the Sydney International Ayudveda and Yoga Conference this week. I hope to bring you some insights from it in the next edition of the WellSpring. www.aayur.org has more details.

The inspirational piece about how actors can imitate daring is from Sandra Lee Patterson (www.oncamera.net.au)

The full version of the three young podcasters who finished our Podcast class this week are at http://www.radioschool.libsyn.com/ and you can find out more about the "podcast like a pro' courses in Sydney at www.radioschool.biz

The WellSpring 30

rjlhughes@gmail.com (Bob Hughes) — Sun, 26 Mar 2006 04:24:00 +0000

In this episode:

Most baby boomers devote about 15 minutes a day to sex and romance, and five hours a day to the TV or Internet.

The importance of sleep continues to be reinforced by research. And our picture of King Street, Newtown is meant to portray a relaxed evening for you.

Sleeping too little or too long for has been related to an increased risk of late onset diabetes for men.

And many teenage behavioural disorders may in fact be caused by out of phase sleep patterns, and not enough sleep. We blame the sleep stealers - TV's, computer games and the internet - in teen bedrooms.

And some users of sleep drug Ambien are going on gluttonous rampages during sleep walks, some doctors say. The makers say they're tracking the side effect and will notify the FDA. They also suggest that it's a small effect given the 26 million prescriptions in the US last year.

Limin Mao follows up the UNSW research that suggests that giving up smoking does mean many people put on weight, and the ABC 4 Corners show on The Ice Age about metamphetamine use in Australia. Their report is at www.abc.net.au/4corners

Faith Martin, one of the most respected casting agents in Sydney gives her meaning of life. We'd also like to hear what you think is the meaning of your life - email an audio file to rjlhughes (...at...) gmail.com

And we give a simple introduction to a breathing meditation inspired by Dr Patricia Carrington's "The Book Of Meditation".

Our home page: www.wellspringflow.net

The WellSpring 29

rjlhughes@gmail.com (Bob Hughes) — Sat, 18 Mar 2006 13:35:00 +0000

In this episode:
That London drug trial that went badly wrong, for whatever reason, will surely mean tighter controls on human trials in future and longer times for research with higher drug prices. You may think it probably also means more trials in developing countries, if you've read or seen Constant Gardener from John Le Carre.

Prof Carol Dweck of Stanford has a new book: Mindset: the New Psychology of Success. We'll forgive her the shrill subtitle because of the research she advances on real growth. She says that people have fixed or growth mindsets. People with growth mindsets regard difficult problems as challenges. What really makes sense to me is that praising people for their fixed assets (like IQ) gets them stuck in a fixed mindset according to Prof Dweck, and that helps explain why building up self esteem can often come before a fall.

I've been in the big end of town this week (as the picture suggests) working with high level share analysts, economists and investor relations people. I'm surprised at how little they know about web 2.0. But I suspect it won't take long for them to be right onto the trend and it's usefulness in getting information out.

You can't mess up your database through an RFID virus, right? Wrong says new research. The little radio bar codes are all over the place now �� from supermarket products to athletes' id bibs and increasingly on airline luggage and even passports. And a simple virus on one chip can go back through the scanner and corrupt the whole data base, as well as all the other tags that are scanned. It's a bad enough problem for a supermarket, but a critical security issue with passports.

There's new evidence that the same genes are involved in alcoholism and nicotine addiction, although they don't seem to predispose people to other drugs of reward.

More than 400,000 American women had their breasts changed surgically last year. That was part of the 15.6 million plastic surgery procedures that took part. The biggest? Botox with 3.8 million procedures.

We take the nine round breathing technique from Bob Sharples book Meditation. It's a truly wonderful way to settle into a meditative state.

Geza Karacsony from Philo Cafe at Berkelouws Books in Leichhardt gives his view of the meaning of Life, too.

The WellSpring 28

rjlhughes@gmail.com (Bob Hughes) — Sun, 12 Mar 2006 13:18:00 +0000

In this episode:

There looks to be water on one of Saturn's moons.....could there be life? It raises some problematic questions about how humans would react to 'alien' life when we're so disagreeable to our own species. Dr Carolyn Porco who heads the Cassini imaging team has been the lead spokesperson. She gave a wonderful talk at PopTech which you can find on ITConversations.

Are they about to medicalize the fear of public speaking? A new drug, DCS, when combined with exposure therapy (that is exposing the person to what they're afraid of) is helping people report 'significantly less anxiety' when they stand up to speak.

As Australia gets fatter there are calls for a National Obesity Strategy to reverse the 11 and a half billion dollar cost to the economy each year. One answer may be to put anti-fat drugs on the PBS, the health economists say. These are two more examples of pharmaceutical companies reaching into problems that could well have behavioural solutions.

The wonderful The Science Show from Radio National reports this week that they're growing tomatoes hydroponically at the South Pole. In fact they could grow 10,000 heads of lettuce a year there, with just water lights heat and chemicals. It's a thought to ponder on.

American parents according to a new (if small survey) are more worried about job security than terrorism and more concerned about paying for their kids' education than crime.

And with half of Americans who have tattoos saying they're rather not have them, the movement towards body mods with implants continues. There may now be 50,000 people with artistic sub dermal implants from Klingon forehead ridges to horns to hearts on the chest. Next will be glowing implants and electronics like RFID tags under the skin.

And we do the Wishing to Wanting to Having exercise from Chris and Jules Collingwood's NLP Field Guide - they're at nlp.com.au. It may be one way of achieving your desires.

The WellSpring 27

rjlhughes@gmail.com (Bob Hughes) — Thu, 09 Mar 2006 11:47:00 +0000

In this episode:

Coffee and your heart: more caffeine can be good for your heart, or bad for it, depending on your genes, new research shows.

Also new radio isotope heart imaging shows that mental stress does reduce heart blood flow. Until now it's been a silent symptom the doctors say. But it comes as no surprise to people who have felt 'the cold hand of fear grasp their heart' we suspect.

Our picture is of hot air balloons floating over Canberra where I spoke at the Podcasting Conference at the National Press Club this week. The shot is taken just down the road from the NPC. The sight of the balloons floating over the majestic buildings of the national capital and Lake Burley Griffin was wonderful in the morning light. There's a short report on conference in this episode, and the audio of my presentation is at www.corpcoms.com. Among the great speakers: Dave Gravina of Digital Eskimo, who does the Senator Bob Brown podcasts (Bobcasting) and Gordon Taylor from the ABC, which delivered more than 350,000 streams last week.

Loneliness is worst for people in their forties says a new study. Once they hit fifty they seem to get over it. If you have a strong religious belief you're less likely to be lonely and so women, who are more likely to be religious are generally less lonely than men.

We finish today's show with an end of day thought from John Barclay from the Lotus Bud Sangha.

The WellSpring 26

rjlhughes@gmail.com (Bob Hughes) — Sun, 05 Mar 2006 11:38:00 +0000

In today's podcast:

The people on digg.com have been contemplating how smart we humans may be capable of being with a discussion about the brain power of Daniel Paul Tammet who recited the value of pi to 22,514 places. He's a UK autistic who can explain the way that he thinks, prompting Professor Alan Snyder to call him the Rosetta Stone for our understanding of extraordinary mental abilities.

The picture is of Sydney Harbour looking east towards the cbd early one morning last week.

If you've ever been in a relationship that felt like it was breaking your heart, or if you felt a pain in your heart because of what a partner had to say you won't be surprised that University of Utah researchers have found that bad marriages do hurt our hearts with an association between hostility and atherosclerosis.

Young humans are naturally helpful to others, and that happens in children as young as 18 months old. It also occurs in monkeys suggesting it's a trait that goes back to before the two lines split more than 6 million years.

Omega 3 fatty acids may influence your mood. Have more oily fish in your diet and and you may be a more agreeable personality, the scientists at the University of Pittsburgh say.

The US military are to experiment with brain implants in sharks which could possibly turn them into stealthy underwater spies under the control of humans. That's getting really spooky.

And finally a summary of the lecture given by Brian Tracy at the Entertainment Centre recently on how to increase your sales. He suggested everything is hard before it's easy. Time is another word for life, and you should learn to say no to people. Your job is to go out into the market place and sell yourself at the highest possible rate. And he said we become what we think about most of the time. There are more tips on the podcast.

Dr John Tickell suggested that we should spend at least one percent of our time on our health - that's just 100 minutes a week. And he said you improve your chances of not getting cancer dramatically if you eat 15 different plant varieties a day. And the HI of food, the doctor reckoned was a better indicator of whether it was good for you than the GI. The HI, the Human Interference index , suggests that the more your food has been mucked around the less good it probably was for you.

We also look at the terms 'affluenza' and 'hedonic treadmill' (the tendency for a person's economic expectations and desires to rise at the same rate as his or her income, resulting in no net gain of satisfaction or happiness) from wordspy.com

Plus a promo for Adam Dennis's podcast at http://pausingforbreath.com/

The WellSpring 25

rjlhughes@gmail.com (Bob Hughes) — Thu, 02 Mar 2006 11:52:00 +0000

After a day training people in communication skills I was reminded of the powerfulness of Professor Robert Cialdini's Factors of Influence. The six essential techniques for getting people to agree with your thinking are familiar to us all, because of their universal human usefulness. They're especially powerful when you use them as a check list for ways of thinking and talking about issues you're working on. We also hear an extract from Bob Cialdini speaking at Arizona State University about an experiment they did to influence people to re-use their towels in hotel rooms. You can find the whole speech and other links here: http://blogs.dmit.asu.edu/2005/07/15/ robert-b-cialdini-lecture-influence-and-persuasion/

Our unretouched photo is of the reflection of a palm tree in the canal at Bicentennial Park in Glebe.

A new Dutch study shows that optimists are less likely to have heart disease or stroke than pessimists. The Delfland Institute of Mental Health study of 545 men showed that the most optimistic were about half as likely to die of heart disease.

At Brain Sciences UNSW they've isolated the risk of major life depression from genetic causes. About 21% of people have a genotype that predisposes them to depression, about 26% are resistant to depression and 53% are mixed. The tipping point seems to be three or more negative life events in a year.

Research into migraines reported in the Lancet shows that drug therapy is effective for 50%, traditional Chinese acupuncture works in 47% of people, and sham acupuncture works for 39%. More evidence of the mind body link!

These are the words to the short traditional meditation that closes this show: "When a fish swims, it swims on and on, and there is no end to the water. When a bird flies, it flies on and on, and there is no end to the sky. There was never a fish that swam out of the water or a bird that flew out of the sky. When they need just a little water or sky, they use just a little; when they need a lot, they use a lot. Thus, they use all of it in every moment, and in every place they have perfect freedom." The music is from Sartori's Relaxation CD available from the wonderful folks at www.magnatune.com

More information: www.wellspringconnection.net

The WellSpring 24

rjlhughes@gmail.com (Bob Hughes) — Sun, 26 Feb 2006 12:02:00 +0000

Limin returns from China with her report on the growth engine of Asia (and Australia). She captured the image on the right in Shanghai.

Not long after the FDA approved Exubra – the inhalable insulin, Researchers at the University of New South Wales have developed a pill coating from seaweed that allows insulin to be delivered through the gut.

Meanwhile in Melbourne a Monash University has grown a human prostate using mice tissue. They can now test therapies on healthy prostates.

It raises the idea of 'victimless meat' which is mentioned on wordspy.com. That is steaks grown from frog cells – and is good news for meat lovers who want to spare the cow. One researcher had a vegan student who asked if she could biopsy herself, then grow a steak and eat it – a truly macabre idea.
Other similar concepts from word spy include 'chickenability' – the move to make fish as easy to eat as chicken – by removing the skin and nuisance bones. And flexitarian – a vegetarian who could be flexible in their diet at times.

In other diet related science stories:
A new study presented to the AAAS meeting suggests that while seafood may contain mercury that even in large quantities there may be something in the fish that protects people against the ill effects of the otherwise poisonous metal. On balance says Michael T Morrissey of Oregon State's Seafood Laboratory, seafood is good for you.

And the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine says it surveyed cardiologists and found that while they thought their patients would reject a vegetarian diet, the patients were enthusiastic about adopting a low fat diet with no animal products. The PCRM often promote vegetarian diets.

The plans for the Sydney Podcast Classes are well under way and we hope to do the first one in the last week of March. You can find out more from www.radioschool.biz.

Yes and No Signals

rjlhughes@gmail.com (Bob Hughes) — Thu, 23 Feb 2006 10:23:00 +0000

Hi folks, I'm not well with a stomach bug today.

So I've reposted the Yes and No signal meditation. It follows last episode's report on research about the power of your unconscious.

It's based on John Grinder's New Code of NLP.

You'll find more meditations under the Personal Change tab.

There will be a new episode of the WellSpring over the weekend.

Use headphones for this meditation and don't drive or operate machinery while listening - or anything else where closing your eyes might be a problem!

The WellSpring 23

rjlhughes@gmail.com (Bob Hughes) — Sun, 19 Feb 2006 12:11:00 +0000

In this episode:
New Dutch research shows that the unconscious mind makes better big decisions than you can consciously. Dr Ap Dijksterhuis from the University of Amsterdam has shown that when it comes to complex decisions (like weighing up 12 criteria for a car purchase) the unconscious makes better decisions in 60% of cases, while the conscious mind only gets it right 23% of the time. Prof Dijksterhuis makes the point in his biography that he's ��inclined to reach the conclusion that consciousness is a pretty unimportant thing��. That's pretty radical for an academic!

His research confirms one of the basic tenets of NLP, about the power of the unconscious in change or therapy. That belief goes back to the work of hypnotherapist Milton Erickson, but he also made the point that both the conscious and unconscious had to work together for meaningful change to occur.

That's the intention of the 'Yes and No Signal Process' which you'll find under Personal Change Programme Number 5 here on www.wellspringflow.net Click on Personal Change on the left.

The photo on the right above is of the very pretty Japanese Gardens at Cowra.

We revisit the Positive Psychology Seminar from Dr Martin Seligman, and consider the epidemic of depression in western society, and its causes. We also reiterate the best ways to avoid depression and to be happy. Check out www.authentichappiness.org for the Signal Strengths questionnaire and www.reflectivehappiness.com (a pay site) for a monthly proved strategy for being happy.

If it's resting it's rusting, goes the old saying. And there's new evidence that training old brains fires them up again, as shown by images of brain activity. The researchers at the University of Illinois showed that the activation of old brains look more like the way young brains do after their owners did some training.

The baby boomers might need to keep their wits about them too according to Stanford University biologist Shripad Tuljapurkar. He says that by 2010 to 2030 the most common age of death in western societies could rise from 80 to 100. Starting around 2010, if anti aging therapies are extensively used lifespans could increase dramatically. That could have huge impacts on the worlds population pushing it from a projected 8 million to 10 to 11 billion. The increased baby boomer lifespans would put more pressure on social systems. Also possible �� an east/west divide between those who can afford the anti-aging therapies and those condemned to die young.

www.wellspringconnection.net has our links.

The WellSpring 22

rjlhughes@gmail.com (Bob Hughes) — Thu, 16 Feb 2006 13:23:00 +0000

Today we report from the much anticipated Positive Psychology Seminar in Sydney, and hear a few words from Professor Martin Seligman.

That's him in the picture on the right, pretty thoroughly dominated by his message in a powerpoint.

Also in this episode:
The photos of Abu Ghraib revealed last night on SBS TV in Sydney have made global media news. They're shocking, but 'nothing new' according to the US Army. Indeed this sort of stuff has been going on for ever.

The mind body connection has curious new evidence this week with research showing that people who get Parkinson's disease are more likely to be lower in sensation seeking and risk taking behaviour. They're more likely to be scrupulous, socially withdrawn, inflexible, disinclined to take risks and relatively passive, the Journal of Neurology,Neurosurgery and Psychiatry reports. The link may be dopamine in the brain, which may explain the personality and the risk of the disease.

The heart body connection has been given further evidence in research from the Harvard Medical School. For people over 65 the death or even hospitalisation of a spouse can have profound effects on health and mortality. When a partner is hospitalised, the other person's risk of death goes up significantly, and stays that way for up to two years.

The Australian pest species, Cane toads, are getting bigger and faster, Nature reports. Once in the 1940's and 1950's the advanced about 10 km a year, but now it's more likely to be 50 or 60 km. It's Darwin's fault- they have 20,000 eggs in a clutch, and there's a lot of variation, so natural selection is working flat out for them.

Who'd have thought that exposure to loud music was self medication by ecstasy users to increase the effects of the drug? Yet that's what researchers from Italy have found. Ecstasy slows brain activity in rats and the effects last longer (up to five days) if the rats are exposed to loud music.

A grapefruit a day helps lower cholesterol, Israeli medicos have discovered. It effect works whether it's red or white grapefruit, and even with grapefruit juice. But Grapefruit can react with some medications, so check with your doctor before getting too heavily into the grapefruit.

Christy Croft, the producer and announcer behind Psycheology which she calls an Audio Burlesque, but which is really a sensitive and interesting interview programme emailed us with a promo, so we played it in this episode. Thanks for listening Christy! www.psycheology.com

The WellSpring 21

rjlhughes@gmail.com (Bob Hughes) — Sun, 12 Feb 2006 20:26:00 +0000

Sound nutrition for children is an unmet human right, a conference at Tufts University has been told. It's not conflict or natural disaster that's to blame for the starving children in Africa or the Indian subcontinent, it's a failure of the programmes designed to fix the problem, the experts say.

Loving kindness could lead to good loving says a survey that links altruism to romantic love. People who say they're altruistic also say their marriages are very happy. The survey also reports that altruism and empathy in the US have risen in the past few years.

The carrot is more effective than the stick when it comes to health promotion advertising, says the Journal Of Consumer Research. Expect to see more emotional and negative health compliance ads.

And for some people being asked if they'll do the right thing and having them answer 'yes' is a strong convincer. The self fulfilling prophecy effect for compliance works better in some than in others, though. 'High self monitors' who watch themselves in every situation are less likely to be bound by what they said. They're more likely to adjust their responses to the environment they find themselves in.

Plus size models can make consumers feel worse about themselves than moderately thin models, or extremely heavy models. The theory goes that extremely thin models, or moderately heavy models simply focused women's thoughts on how heavy they felt.

We take a couple of quotes from a recent Zencast by Gil Fronsdal (www.zencast.org).

Following the Good Weekend's piece on Generation Sex, Frances Amaroux joins us to talk about narcissism.
Frances' "He Said She Said" seminar starts at Cammeray on Saturday March 2. info@turning-point.com.au for more information. Frances' blog is at www.consciousrelating.blogspot.com

The Sydney Tibet fundraiser on February 18 - details are at www.wisdomoftibet.com

And The Vastu Shastra Talk (about the Indian equivalent of Feng Shui) is at Yoga In Daily Life's Annandale headquarters Saturday February 18, too. www.yogaindailylife.org.au

The WellSpring 20

rjlhughes@gmail.com (Bob Hughes) — Thu, 09 Feb 2006 13:53:00 +0000

We hear from Martin Seligman the professor of positive psychology and founder of the highly recommended site www.authentichappiness.org. He's in Sydney this week and I'm going to see him in a full day seminar on Thursday.

Our picture is of a handrail at St James Church in Sydney. It captures the Georgian elegance and simplicity of one of the oldest churches in Australia. It may also be a reference to the violence surrounding religious belief recently, but I wouldn't say that.

The trend towards 'precocious puberty' continues in the UK, with the average girl starting puberty as early as 10 and a quarter. Some start before eight. It may be triggered by the fat produced hormone leptin, or it maybe the consequence of family stress. It can also be the presence of a non biological 'father' in the house hold.

A study by two Dartmouth researchers suggests that the brain of an 18 year old is still growing and changing and that emotional and intellectual adulthood may not come until the 20's.

It may come as no surprise that depression is the legacy of being a parent, according to Florida State University's Professor Robin Simon. Parents have significantly higher levels of depression than adults without children, and the effect lasts even after the child becomes an adult.

Nike and Bausch and Lomb are making a contact lens for sportspeople which allow them to see better. The effect depends on the requirements of the sport, with different lenses for different sports. And some of them are spooky – they colour the eye amber, giving a new meaning to giving a competitor the eye.

Peter Wale from the Smiling Heart Sangha based in the Blue Mountains gives his view of the meaning of life. Tellingly he points out that the question slips glibly off my tongue, when the answer is much harder to define.

We contemplate the effects of the vispassana retreat that the author of A.Word.A.Day mailing list has done. It inspired a heap of Pali and Sanskrit words in his interesting emails, and many deeper thoughts.

We take a quote from Lorin Roche's book Breath Taking, too.

If you're telling your friends about these shows mention our new home www.wellspringflow.net

It's partly because it's about the flow of the information in podcasts and this blog, but also about the idea of being in flow.

As usual contact us through www.wellspringconnection.net – your connection to the WellSpring.

The WellSpring 19

rjlhughes@gmail.com (Bob Hughes) — Sat, 04 Feb 2006 14:30:00 +0000

Www.banthebulb.org is the brainchild of Dr Matt Prescott who's trying to rid the world of cheap incandescent light bulbs. If they were invented today they'd never be allowed he says. He's calling on governments to increase their price to push consumers into the initially expensive but much greener compact fluorescent bulbs.

Sex Chemistry, and Italian scientists have done more research on the hormones that go with falling in love, just in time for Valentines Day. University of Pisa researchers tracked rises in neutrophins in people who were high on the passionate scale. But the flush of the mood altering substances wears off in 12 to 24 months. Then it's replaced, for the lucky couples with a surge in the trust hormone oxytocin.

Donatella Marazziti, the lead researcher says if lovers swear their feelings are everlasting, the hormones tell a different story.

Love Coach Frances Amaroux tells us how she counsels the about to be married, too, for the time when perhaps the hormones will wear off.

Professor Stephen Farber from the University of Pittsburgh has tried to put an economic price on trees citing the value they provided in mitigating the floods following Katrina. We need to think about nature's values more explicitly, he says. Markets can't be relied upon to preserve resources of great social value, such as wetlands.

I don't know if you've noticed more and more people seem to be taking antidepressants. Chris Collingwood talks about depression and dealing with it as a verb rather than as a noun.

And we have a breathing exercise taken from Lorin Roche's wonderful Breath Taking book. I'd better send him an email saying thanks.

Contact us: www.wellspringconnection.net

The WellSpring 18

rjlhughes@gmail.com (Bob Hughes) — Thu, 02 Feb 2006 12:33:00 +0000

Going without a drink can make you more sensitive to pain according to new research out of the Howard Florey Institute in Melbourne. If you're about to go through a painful experience you'd be wise to hydrate, the researchers say. But when you get really thirsty the pain dulls. This may be an adaptation allowing people to go through hardship to find water.

It's been hot in Sydney '31 feels like 36' today, hence the cooling green picture of a Robinia tree in East Sydney.

Is obesity caused by a virus? It's a contentious issue, but the evidence is mounting. Following the links between stomach ulcers and cervical cancer with viral infections, it's an appealing theory. The American Physiological Society has just published a paper by researchers at the University of Wisconsin, Maddison on the issue. Viruses have already been implicated in obesity in chickens and other animals, and some of them have been found to be more prevalent in overweight people.

Infectious obesity takes some of the guilt out of being overweight. Although it may be that the idea that being overweight is linked to lack of self control has masked our understanding of a viral cause.

Have you heard the term 'crisis of respect'? It could be the social issue underlying the lack of manners in Australia that Jim Spigelman and John Howard have recently noted and condemned.

While some buddhists sit on buses and trains beaming out loving kindness to fellow passengers, more people seem to be doing just the opposite. Kahn Le Van of the Lotus Bud Sangha gave a wonderful meditation on the hand at this week's meeting. She repeats a short version for us. It's a beautiful meditation on being literally in touch with your parents.

This week the astronauts on the International Space Station released a space suit full of equipment to orbit earth for a while sending out radio and tv signals. http://www.suitsat.org/ has the details. I ponder the idea of someone being in it, and what that would be like for them. (The suit is not occupied, may I reassure you.)

In our Motivation Section we check out 3 ideas about getting over writers block from Authentic Happiness coach Ben Dean. His website is www.mentorcoach.com

To find out more: www.wellspringconnection.net

The WellSpring 17

rjlhughes@gmail.com (Bob Hughes) — Sun, 29 Jan 2006 14:01:00 +0000

It's almost back to work in Australia as summer break finishes for almost everyone. And our thoughts turn to the motivation part of our wellness brief of "meditation, motivation and health". As part of that effort in Sydney harbourside walks are on the agenda. The photo is of Blackwattle Bay taken from Annadale.

We've been working intensely on our Podcasting Manual and I'm offering a draft copy to prospective podcasters for your comments. Email me at rjlhughes (at) gmail.com.

Podcasting is taking off remarkably: Harvard Medical School is offering downloadable lectures, although some educators say they keep students away from classes.

The BBC says Podcasting has broken through to a new level and reports shows that are getting more than 400,000 downloads. The Guardian's Ricky Gervais show has been downloaded more than 2 million times. Both Dublin and Ireland have podcasts of tourist walks, now.

In health news inhalable insulin should be available to America's 5 million insulin dependent diabetics by mid 2006, after the FDA approved it last Friday. It's just as effective in controlling blood sugar as the injectable doses. But diabetics will still have to prick themselves to check their blood sugar.

Sex, provided it's penetrative and between partners can help keep stress at bay �� with effects lasting as long as a week, psychologists at the University of Paisley told New Scientist. The effect didn't work from other forms of sex, including masturbation they found. It may be that the trust hormone oxytocin is responsible for the calming effect, the scientists think. In any case they recommended full sex as the antidote for stressful events like public speaking.

Two recent meta studies of previous research strongly suggest that there is a link between cannabis use, especially as a teenager, and severe mental illness. Genetically vulnerable teens who smoked dope more than once a week were at a greater risk of psychosis said PLOS Medicine, while the BMJ estimates that about 10% of psychosis cases could be a result of pot.

www.wellspringconnection.net for more information

The WellSpring 16

rjlhughes@gmail.com (Bob Hughes) — Thu, 26 Jan 2006 00:25:00 +0000

On Australia Day 2006, after the riot at Cronulla and the simplistic political backlash, many people will be asking about how Australia moves forward from here. We celebrate Ian Frazer, Australian of the year who invented the cervical cancer vaccine. Prof Frazer says helping other people can make you feel really good yourself and being Australian is about doing good for the community.

Our picture is of a Lion Dance in Belmore Park yesterday. The sounds that go with it from the drum and cymbals in the background are in the podcast.

Limin recommends kangaroo meat it's lower fat and higher in iron than other meats.

And the FDA is closer to allowing Americans to buy anti-fat drugs over the counter. We lament the medicalisation of a disorder that can be substantially fixed by behavioural change.

Limin reports on the robot that films inside the body to help surgeons do their jobs, developed by the University of Nebraska

The internet game www.wheresgeorge.com which tracks dollar bills across the US has provided a mathematical model for the spread of viruses says the Max Planck Institute. This may help with the 'imminent flu pandemic' as they put it.

In news that fits our regular themes:
More evidence that using your brain substantially reduces your risk of dementia from the University of New South Wales. The journal Psychological Medicine shows that it is a case of 'use it or lose it'.
People with major depression report an improvement in energy and wellbeing after half an hour on a treadmill, the University of Austin, Texas reports.

We take an extract from John McGrath's book You Inc. about how competence can change in a moment for the better. Bob tracks the path from incompetence to unconscious competence.

Thank Bebeto and Rhumphries for our theme.

www.wellspringconnection.net

The WellSpring 15

rjlhughes@gmail.com (Bob Hughes) — Sun, 22 Jan 2006 04:11:00 +0000

In this episode we're joined by Limin, and ahead of her return to Shanghai next weekend, adopt a Chinese theme.

Acupuncture does suppress the pain response according to brain scans. A BBC-TV show to be screened this week shows open heart surgery in China performed without a general anesthetic, but with acupuncture.

A newly rediscovered map suggests that an ancient Chinese mariner, Zhen He, may have discovered America before Columbus. This was the basis of last year's book by Gavin Menzies, "1412: the Year China Discovered the World".

And a survey of developed countries' metal use by Thomas Graedel of Yale University says that there may not be enough metal to go around if demand continues, as other countries develop.

China, Paul Sheehan, wrote in yesterday's SMH, will grow at 10.1% this year. What does that mean for the world, for air pollution in Asia, and for Australia? Limin promises us a field report on her return.

We discuss the need for Omega-3 from mums to be. It is essential for the sake of their children's brain development, a new study from University College London shows.

And the Ipod that reads your moods the Xpod may not be far away, says the International Conference on Mobile Technology.

We get some Tao thoughts from Chris Collingwood, Sevapuri from Yoga in Daily Life discusses the psychology of Yoga, and the mayor of a busy coastal council talks about the meaning of life.

Our intro is under creative commons from Bebeto and Rhumphries from Freesound (http://freesound.iua.upf.edu/index.php. We dropped the backing music for this episode to help the overall quality.

Find out more about us:
www.wellspringconnection.net

The WellSpring 14

rjlhughes@gmail.com (Bob Hughes) — Wed, 18 Jan 2006 15:02:00 +0000

Sex or a TV in the bedroom it's your choice. Put down that remote control and give it some thought. We ask our Love Coach, Frances Amaroux what she thinks. And no we're not going to tell you here what she says. You'll have to listen.

About a fifth of Irish men in northwest Ireland are descended from one man, King Niall who lived in the fifth century. And about 2% of all male New Yorkers carry the gene. About 3 million males around the world are descendants of his. Presumably there are a fair few Australians who are descendants too. Niall, who's children may bear the name Neil or O'Neill, or Gallagher or O'Doherty, was only in the advanced intermediate class compared to Genghis Khan. The Mongol emperor's genes have been traced to 17 million men.

Exercise is again proving important to a healthy life with research from the National Institutes of Health showing that older people who exercise three times a week had a 32% reduction in the risk of dementia over 6 years or so. There was other research suggesting that 6 hours of moderate exercise a week had a powerful effect on your immune system. I brag about walking around Canada Bay yesterday. That's when I took the picture above.

In other News You Can Use:
Sydney scientists have isolated a gene that increases the risk of bi-polar disorder (Garvan Institute).
Cocoa improves your heart blood flow (National Academy of Sciences)
Curried cauliflower may protect you against prostate cancer (Journal of Cancer Research)
A low calorie diet helps protect your heart and can lead to longevity, but it must be optimally nutritious. (American College of Cardiology)

Oh I forgot to explain the breathing technique inspired by Bob Sharples, I promised I'd talk about. You breathe in through one nostril for three breaths, then through the other nostril for three breaths, then through both nostrils. You don't hold the nostrils, just concentrate on them. I combine this with a walking meditation where I breathe in for three steps and out for three steps. Combined it's quite powerful as a meditation.

Our music is from Satori's For Relaxation set licensed to us under Creative Commons from www.magnatune.com. You can buy it there.

Check out our meditations under the Your Personal Change Programme. They've been very popular .

This is 27 minutes and 19 megs.

Www.wellspringconnection.com

Your Personal Change Programme 9

rjlhughes@gmail.com (Bob Hughes) — Tue, 17 Jan 2006 13:24:00 +0000

The Heart Meditation is an opportunity for you to express your gratitude to your heart. It faithfully beats thousands of times a day for your life. People can be surprised by the reaction they get when they express their acknowledgement and say thanks to this constantly active organ of ours.

And when we ask our heart if it has messages for us, we can also be quite surprised at how strongly a deeper something communicates with us.

When you've done this meditation you may start to consider, and wonder at why the heart has been so widely used for so long as a metaphor for our deepest sincerest urges.

This meditation uses a lot of breath awareness, which is an integral part of my own practice.

Expect to hear more of this formula in future meditations than you have so far:

"Breathing in, aware you're breathing in; breathing out, aware you're breathing out.?

This meditation runs just under 14 minutes.

DAC Crowell's North Eastern Passage makes another appearance here. You'll hear the heart in his music towards the end, I think. Find it, or buy it at www.magnatune.com, where they let you set your own price.

Please use headphones if you can for this meditation, don't do anything that requires your attention, especially don't do anything where a lapse of attention could cause you or others injury.

www.wellspringconnection.net
and have you had a look at www.zenlp.org

We got a very nice note from Therese this week. Thanks! And we're delighted to report that the number of downloads seems to be accelerating. Let us know your thoughts, either through the comments area here, or via email at wellspringconnection.net

Your Personal Change Programme 8

rjlhughes@gmail.com (Bob Hughes) — Mon, 16 Jan 2006 12:19:00 +0000

This Progressive Relaxation meditation is the classic remedy if you have trouble falling asleep, or if find you hold emotional tensions in your body.

You may already have done another version of this meditation in the past, tensing and releasing your body from the tips of your toes to the top of your head.

This version of about 10 minutes is designed to be listened to through headphones, preferably while you're lying down. There are chimes at the end if you need to rouse yourself, too.

Don't drive or operate machinery while listening to this - it'd be a waste of a perfectly good escape, and might be dangerous.

Thanks again to DAC Crowell and all the folks at www.magnatune.com for the lovely spacy music behind my words.

The longer version is here. It's 22 minutes of just voice without music, for a deeper, slower trance state.

www.wellspringconnection.net

The WellSpring 13

rjlhughes@gmail.com (Bob Hughes) — Sat, 14 Jan 2006 19:59:00 +0000

The WellSpring #13!

In an attempt to thumb my nose at superstition about 13, I wanted to record this yesterday on Friday the 13th, but too many things went wrong! I explain in the audio.

This time we look at new research about how unhealthy young Americans are becoming. As teenagers they seem to live healthy lifestyles, but researchers at the US National Institutes of Health say that its alarming how rapidly healthy practices declined in young adulthood. Chief among the concerns: overeating, under-exercising, smoking and binge drinking.

We discuss the way ants can teach other ants where food is located is the first time this behaviour has been seen outside humans. The researchers make a distinction between one animal learning from another, and one animal teaching another.

We note that violent video games desensitize players from reacting to images of violence. Brain scans show up a 'P300' reaction when people are strongly emotionally affected by an image. We wonder how long before Hollywood uses brain scans in their market research.

We're far from alone in deep space, with another dwarf galaxy now slicing perpendicularly through the Milky Way (where we live). Scientists have just noticed it, oddly enough. But then it only has hundreds of thousands of stars, not the 200 billion in the Milky Way.

We hear from Sydney radio legend Ian MacRae on the meaning of life. He and I are putting together podcasting classes in Sydney as I noted in the previous blog. (www.radioschool.biz)

Chris Collingwood has an NLP thought for the early part of the year.

And we end with the words of Jock Elliott, who did the business of Ogilvy and Mather, while David Ogilvy did the creative advertising: "Big ideas are so hard to recognize, so fragile, so easy to kill. Don't forget that all of you who don't have them," he said. He died recently at 84.

The meditations in Your Personal Change Programmes 6 and 7 have attracted a lot of downloads. I'm tempted to re-encode them, however, because of the spacy sound. It may just work for the content though.

I think finally I'm starting to get the quality of this series right, but it has meant an increase in the bit rate and consequently the file size.

For more about us: www.wellspringconnection.net

The photo above of the Hare Krishna people in Chinatown on Thursday night is the one that I play audio from during the podcast. The flickr page is: www.flickr.com/photos/rjlhughes/

Podcasting classes - Sydney

rjlhughes@gmail.com (Bob Hughes) — Thu, 12 Jan 2006 01:11:00 +0000

Ian MacRae and I will be teaching 'how to podcast' classes in Sydney this year. We'll cover podcasting equipment, programme ideas and structure, the software you'll need, and voice production. At the end of the course you should have your own produced podcast. It's an opportunity for small businesses or hobbyists or anyone with a message to get that out to the world in their own voice. contact us at www.netcastnow.net for more information.

Your Personal Change Programme 7

rjlhughes@gmail.com (Bob Hughes) — Wed, 11 Jan 2006 13:49:00 +0000

This meditation on Infinity may awaken a sense of the great open space of awareness that is who you truly are.

It may also give you a sense of how you fit in the world.

It is a meditation on the great space of the universe down to the tiny spaces of the atoms of the cells in your body.

It runs about 10 minutes.

We are grateful again to DAC Crowell and www.magnatune.com for the music. He creates some interesting music, beyond this track.

The meditation is designed to be heard through headphones or ear buds. Don't drive or operate machinery as you listen to this. Pick a quiet pleasant open space if you can for this one. Allow your eyes to close when you wish.

If you enjoy this, zenlp.org and headless.org are worth a look.

The picture is of Fairlight Pool in Sydney.

www.wellspringconnection.net

Your Personal Change Programme 6

rjlhughes@gmail.com (Bob Hughes) — Tue, 10 Jan 2006 13:05:00 +0000

This is Your Sanctuary - probably our most popular meditation at The WellSpring.

In this you take yourself to your own special place in nature - with a little guidance.

This 10 minute meditation (11 minutes with the introduction) should get faster and easier each time you do it.

Please don't drive, or operate machinery, or do anything that takes your attention away from yourself as you listen to this.

Please use headphones or ear buds, and find a comfortable place to sit or lie before you begin your journey to "Lake You".

The music is DAC Crowell and North Eastern Corridor, available through the folks at www.magnatune.com. As we may have mentioned before.

The meditation is around 5 Megs. The picture is of Centennial Park in Sydney.

www.wellspringconnection.net

The WellSpring 12

rjlhughes@gmail.com (Bob Hughes) — Mon, 09 Jan 2006 11:39:00 +0000

Another wide ranging and discursive podcast linking science and current events with thoughts of the spirit.

In the news we cover:
A fatal shark attack in Moreton Bay in Queensland has raised alerts that an alarming number of sharks are off the east coast of Australia this summer.

Heinrich Harrer, who wrote 7 Years in Tibet, about his time in the Dalai Lama's household in Lhasa in the 1940's and 50's, has died aged 93.

However chemist Albert Hofmann who identified LSD and experimented with its effects dozens of times celebrates his 100th birthday this week.

Two new studies show that what we do can have an effect on our children and grandchildren through our genes. One study of men who were smokers shows that their children were fatter than average at nine.

Older lonely people seem to be happier when they're visited by dogs once a week than when they spend more time with people.

And dogs are proving extremely accurate in diagnosing lung and breast cancer from the smell of the patient's breath.

'Truthiness' which is not the same as factual, in fact almost the opposite, is one of the words of the year in the US.

The BMJ questions the healing effects of magnets, and some computer hackers are having RFID chips implanted as a way of storing their passwords.

Limin and I perform an interesting dialogue about intelligent design and the possibility that God could have been cleverer when she put humans on earth.

Our music is from www.magnatune.com - Northeastern Corridor from DAC Crowell gets another run, and we play harpist Cheryl Anne Fulton's Sir Watkins Delight from The Airs of Wales under the Intelligent Design piece. Magnatune allows you to listen then pay what you think the album is worth.

Find out more about us on www.wellspringconnection.net

The WellSpring is a 24/7 digital audio channel on Foxtel and Austar in Australia devoted to meditation, motivation and health.
This is our informal podcast.

This podcast is 22 minutes and 10 megabytes.

The photo is of a country road near Oberon.

The WellSpring 11

rjlhughes@gmail.com (Bob Hughes) — Thu, 05 Jan 2006 13:01:00 +0000

A drizzly but warm and humid mid summer Thursday evening in Sydney. Crowds of shoppers, holiday-makers and tourists are in the cbd, all looking a bit crumpled and sweaty, but not really caring.

For those heading back to work, likability is more important than competence, says Susan David from Yale University. And Tim Sanders has written a book about it: The Likability Factor.

But Alexandra Levit who wrote They Don't Teach Corporate in College says being liked can't compensate for lack of skills.

Detoxing does it work, or is it a waste of time, money and willpower?

Bob reports that the BBC has weighed into this timely debate by suggesting that the body has pretty good detoxing systems already. Their scientists also say that meat and fish may be low in toxins while cabbage and onions are high in bad things for the body, contrary to popular detoxing wisdom.

But one dietitian, Jane Grey, says if it means you think about your diet and make some improvements then detoxing may be good for you.

Kathy Scott gives us her meaning of life (some time alone is important for this busy young mum).

We consider the Vagus Nerve Stimulator, an electrical implant that may help in intractable cases of depression. Charles E Dononvan has written the book: Out of the black hole: The Patients Guide to Vagus Nerve Stimulation and Depression. This is getting spookily close to the implantable mood improver, the pleasure machine that's been conjured up by sci fi. Breast implants or face lifts are surgery that's undertaken by many people in the hope it will make them happy. But how many of us would be willing to have surgery that would guarantee perpetual electrically stimulated happiness. We just passed a marker towards the eventual acceptance of the mind blowing concept of the pleasure machine.

Chris Collingwood helps us consider new goals and possibilities for 2006

Following last episode's discussion of ADHD and lack of sleep, and the link between exposure to artificial light and breast cancer, we report on the Harvard Women's Health Watch's six compelling reasons to get enough sleep.

They include improvement of learning, metabolic rate, mood, cardiovascular health, and safety.

And they cite damage to our immune function from lack of sleep, too.

We play a full 2 minute guidance to a yoga posture from Sevapuri from Yoga in Daily Life.

Our music is from the folks at the Podsafe Music network. Music.podshow.com. On this episode you heard Introvert from Chronos, and Symmetrical Angles from 2-rd.

Your Personal Change Programme is a series of five nlp processes designed to be listened to through headphones as meditations. They're on this stream at www.thewellspring.libsyn.com or you can find them and discover more about what we do at www.wellspringconnection.net

This ep is 10.7 meg and 22 minutes long

The WellSpring 10

rjlhughes@gmail.com (Bob Hughes) — Mon, 02 Jan 2006 02:09:00 +0000

Our first for 2006.

Limin and Bob discuss the extreme heat in South Eastern Australia in the past few days. Temperatures soared into the 40's (Celcius - well over 100 F) in many parts of New South Wales, coming close to records. The Met Bureau says the recent very hot years are a consequence of global warming.

Bushfires have destroyed houses, caused evacuations on the Central Coast, and one man has been badly burnt at Junee.

We discuss the Barmah Forest virus, spread by mosquitoes, which is causing concern along the north coast. It causes joint pains and fever, and can take a month to get over. It's probably spreading more because warm weather excourages mosquitoes to migrate. The only protection is to cover up and use insect repellent.

We discuss the prospects for 2006. It will bring us closer to having machines that can read our minds, through MRI. Brain scans can already show if people are racist, or predict what part of a movie someone's watching from how their brain appears.

Also last year were reports of robots that could create empathy with humans by mimicing their gestures.

How far are we from what Ray Kurzweil calls Singularity? That's when machines get smarter than people.

We predict that based on Generation Y patterns of electronic consumption, it won't be long before super smart computers keep humans as pets. The antidote may be to implant computers.Wouldn't it be interesting to have a Google implant? Would that make dinner parties more or less interesting?

We talk about space tourism, and the growing gap between rich and poor.

There were experiments involving salamanders which could see humans regrow their own organs within the next 25 years. But that will probably be confined to the rich, Limin predicts.

We promote Your Personal Change Programme - 5 episodes so far (on this stream) that could help you with changes you'd like to make in your life. They're all well known nlp patterns.

Sevapuri from Yoga in Daily Life talks about the way yoga increases mental as well as physical flexibility. Bob says he'll start some yoga this year.

Our music is G.Org's Aerstream from the Podsafe music network - music.podshow.com

The picture here is from Mt Tomah Botanical Gardens.

This episode runs 22 minutes and is 10 megs.

Your Personal Change Programme 5

rjlhughes@gmail.com (Bob Hughes) — Fri, 30 Dec 2005 10:11:00 +0000

Some people seem to be in touch with their intuition and others don't seem to have the knack. But listening to the messages that your unconscious is trying to communicate is often just a matter of opening up your awareness.

This exercise does that by creating Yes and No signals from your unconscious mind. They're very useful in themselves, and often open the door to a real conversation between your conscious and unconscious.

This does involve a breathing meditation, so be prepared to sit quietly by yourself with headphones on as you do this. Don't listen while driving or operating machinery. This needs your full attention. (And so does the driving and machinery, of course.)

We continue to use our podsafe music theme for the last of this first series of Your Personal Change Programme. It's DAC Crowell's North Eastern Corridor available through the good folks at www.magnatune.com.

In our next series of five we intend to take you a little further down the meditation path.

Our homepage: www.wellspringconnection.net

Your Personal Change Programme 4

rjlhughes@gmail.com (Bob Hughes) — Fri, 30 Dec 2005 10:02:00 +0000

If you've ever thought about the way you spend your time and where and with whom, and wondered if you could do it all better then this is a useful exercise for you.

The Logical Levels Exercise is based on a concept from Robert Dilts. You can choose to do this exercise standing up and moving around, or in your imagination. Don't listen while you're driving or operating machinery - make the most of this exercise for yourself.

The music for this is again DAC Crowell's North Eastern Corridor available from www.magnatune.com, (where you can listen for free and pay what you decide the music is worth).

There are other exercises like this at www.zenlp.org. Look under 'processes'.
Our homepage: www.wellspringconnection.net

Your Personal Change Programme 3

rjlhughes@gmail.com (Bob Hughes) — Thu, 29 Dec 2005 11:26:00 +0000

The Well Formed Outcome is the rather quaint title for a set of questions that separate realistic goals from fantasy. Use this technique to discover if what you want is something that you can reasonably get for yourself.

In this exercise we allow you to contemplate what you want, whether you have the appropriate resources or can get them, and the costs and consequences of your goal. We also include a future pacing exercise where we ask you to go forward in time and then look back at how you achieved what you did.

Find a comfortable spot and put the headphones on for this meditation. Don't drive or operate heavy machinery as you listen. Give yourself your full attention for this process.

Our podsafe music is Northeastern Corridor from DAC Crowell available through www.magnatune.com an interesting site that allows you to pay what you think the music is worth.

This is an informational programme and should not replace professional advice.

We'll put these all up through www.wellspringconnection.net shortly. Our thanks to Chris and Jules Collingwood of Inspiritive for their inspiration. www.nlp.com.au

Your Personal Change Programme 2

rjlhughes@gmail.com (Bob Hughes) — Wed, 28 Dec 2005 12:29:00 +0000

If you've ever been caught with not enough options in a situation then this will be useful for you.

The New Behaviour Generator allows you to borrow other people's actions and have them trigger automatically.

Find a comfortable spot and put the headphones on for this meditation. Don't drive or operate heavy machinery as you listen. Give yourself your full attention for this process.

The music is Northeastern Corridor from DAC Crowell, podsafe and available through www.magnatune.com.

Check out www.zenlp.org and processes if you find this one useful.

Your Personal Change Programme 1

rjlhughes@gmail.com (Bob Hughes) — Wed, 28 Dec 2005 10:23:00 +0000

Welcome to Your Personal Change Programme.

In this segment we'll look at your own values and how they affect what you want, and need from life. The Values Sorting Exercise is with thanks to Chris Collingwood of Inspiritive.

This is an incredibly useful exercise that often creates "a-ha" moments, and almost always involves a reassessment of some parts of your life.

Allow yourself plenty of time for this. Think of five or more times in your life when you felt very fulfilled. Search for times when you've felt that your values have been validated. Try to choose as many different circumstances as you can.

Consider home, relationship, work, sport, social life, travelling, but go for at least five and make them as different as they can be. Also make sure they are times when you felt good about yourself, because of who you were, and that your values were the important part of being happy.

Write down names for each, and put those pieces of paper on the floor or ground, in as wide a circle as you can make.

Now step into each spot in turn, and while you're there write down the values that were fulfilled in each situation, then rank the values from the most important down to the least. Take yourself back into each situation and experience it as strongly as you can as you stand in each spot.

You will have an order of the values fulfilled for each spot. Looking at them all, they may well be very similiar, or they may not be. Don't be concerned either way.

Now step into one spot, thinking about the values that are important there and from that perspective consider each other spot in turn. Ask yourself: how does that situation feel from this perspective? For some people, the values of home and work are quite different, for example.

Allow yourself to feel the way each of the spots works with each other. Move slowly around the circle, considering each peak experience from each other spot. Take your time. It's important that you think things through, but also allow yourself to 'feel' them through.

When all the values feel right, and your intuition tells you that your unconscious mind has sorted everything out, step into the centre of the circle, and ask yourself: "What should I do with my life?"

Pay a lot of attention to whatever comes to mind absolutely immediately - it's what you really know you should do.

Also check out www.zenlp.org for more processes. The Well Formed Outcome which we mention in this segment will be YPCP #3

Our podsafe music is Northeastern Corridor from DAC Crowell available through www.magnatune.com the interesting site that allows you to pay what you think the music is worth.

This is an informational programme and should not replace professional advice. Do not drive or operate machinery while listening to this programme.

The WellSpring 9

rjlhughes@gmail.com (Bob Hughes) — Tue, 27 Dec 2005 11:12:00 +0000

In this edition we consider the time between Christmas and New Year. For many of us it is a chance to recall the past, consider how we really are now and plan the future. We mention that we're about to revisit Your Personal Change Programme in a series of mp3s as another stream. They'll address your values, your identity, and how to create achievable outcomes. Dr Limin Mao joins us to look at News You Can Use. We mention the BBC's advice on how to keep your holiday happy. We discover that eating enough of some common fruits and vegetables can cut some cancer risk by 50%, according to the University of California. We note, with amazement, that China has vaccinated 5 billion poultry since October. They're aiming to do all 15 billion. Limin talks about how effective Tamiflu may be. We note that there wil be an extra 'leap second' between 2005 and 2006. The world is being divided into thinner and thinner temporal slices. Also Gil Fronsdal (zencast.org) talks about thinking and not thinking. George Meredith says the meaning of life is to have fun and tells us how he plans to do that with his children and grandchildren in the next 12 months. Our podsafe music is from G.Org (from http://music.podshow.com/). More information about The WellSpring (and links to other audio) www.wellspringconnection.net. Vale Kerry Packer

The WellSpring 8

rjlhughes@gmail.com (Bob Hughes) — Sat, 24 Dec 2005 12:20:00 +0000

Christmas Eve 2005. We contemplate the advantages and disadvantages of spending Christmas alone. Dr Limin Mao joins us for our science News You Can Use segments. A new survey in the BMJ says there's no herbal (or other) cure for hangovers. They suggest drinking less, which for serious drinkers may not be useful information. But then serious drinkers will have their own ways of dealing with hangovers. CSIRO research says that red wine without the alcohol has positive antioxidant effects on our DNA, but the wine with the alcohol can damage DNA. The more you drink the more damage you can do to your DNA, they say, adding that you then age faster. Queensland hospitals are to hand out nicotine gum and patches while banning smoking completely in their grounds. Green tea may help people suffering from some leukemias, although more research needs to be done. The positive health effects may help explain why wise Chinese people have been drinking it for 5,000 years. And footsteps that could be 23,000 years old have been discovered in NSW. It poses the question did the mud those people were walking through feel the same way that mud does between our toes. And what footprints of our existence will be seen in 23,000 years from now? Sevapuri from Yoga in Daily Life explains Chakras, and Bradley talks about the meaning of life. Our music (under Creative Commons) is from Star Garden's Ambient Excursions album available through www.magnatune.com. They offer music to listen to and buy and you name the price. The picture (illustrating the sacred and profane) is of St. Stephens Church Newtown, taken from Camperdown Park. The Tao De Ching recordings we referred to and our meditations are available through www.wellspringconnection.net. This episode runs 21 minutes and is 9.91 megs.

The WellSpring 7

rjlhughes@gmail.com (Bob Hughes) — Wed, 21 Dec 2005 12:40:00 +0000

At last an explanation of what The WellSpring is (a 24/7 wellness audio channel on Foxtel and Austar in Australia).There's more at www.wellspringconnection.net We discuss the news that artifical lighting may be contributing to the epidemic of breast cancer, and talk about the hormone melatonin. We report the Harris Poll that 82% of Americans believe in God, and 21% believe they've been reincarnated. We borrow some good eating ideas to avoid a 'stagnant body' from Kimberley Norton, from the Food Coach. We ask are more people likely to resort to virtual worlds as Edward Castronova suggests in his book Synthetic Worlds, and the Sims Online creator Will Wright predicts? We hear about the changes people find themselves going through with Yoga In Daily Life's Sevapuri (our resident yoga expert) and Tim from Lotus Bud Sangha gives his meaning of life. Slightly more than 22 minutes, just over 10 megs.

The WellSpring 6

rjlhughes@gmail.com (Bob Hughes) — Sun, 18 Dec 2005 20:24:00 +0000

Welcome to Podcast 6. In the week before Christmas we give some thought to Midsummers Night, and the change of the seasons from the energy of Spring to a more fruitful decline into Autumn. I call the wicca festival Litha, Lilith mistakenly, and quote witch and author Yasmine Galenorn. We update the quiet weekend on Sydney's beaches, talk about sugar as an analgesic for kids, how obese Britons are becoming, and an English health service which doesn't want to do knee and hip replacements on fat people. Dr Limin Mao gives her comments and an observation on surgery on very fat people, which sounds gruesome. We show off a piece we recorded today from the Tao De Ching, from a calendar from the Evergreen Taoist Church in Redfern. They'll be up at www.wellspringconnection.net - probably tomorrow night. We hear from John Barclay of the Lotus Bud Sangha on the meaning of life, and Gil Fronsdal gives some tips on handling distractions in meditation. All in well under 20 minutes and less than 10 megs.

The WellSpring 5

rjlhughes@gmail.com (Bob Hughes) — Thu, 15 Dec 2005 11:18:00 +0000

Chris Collingwood, from Inspiritive, Australia's leading NLP trainers, joins me today. We're pleased that Sydney has calmed down a lot since Sunday's angry mob at Cronulla. We talk about the American Psychological Association's recent view on the usefulness of hypnosis. As an Ericsonnian hypnotist Chris gives some tips on how he helps clients with weight loss. We note new research that says cellphone calls from work to home, or the other way around causes distress. (We're not surprised). We talk about Stanford research into pain control through biofeedback using brain scans to help visualization. Inspired by TWiT we talk about continuous partial attention and Chris has some strategies to help stay focussed when you're distracted. Justine from the Lotus Bud Sangha Meditation group at the Buddhist Library in Camperdown gives her views on the meaning of life and the Mindfulness Trainings. Our podsafe music is provided under creative commons by www.magnatune.com - a very fresh force in distributing music - you pay what you think the songs are worth. Check their site out. The WellSpring 24/7 Meditation Motivation and Health is heard on Foxtel and Austar in Australia.

The WellSpring 4 - Why Not?

rjlhughes@gmail.com (Bob Hughes) — Mon, 12 Dec 2005 11:27:00 +0000

The rowdy street scenes at Cronulla have exercised my thoughts today. It's like spectator sport meets direct political action. And suddenly we have the danger of angry mobs and sporadic guerilla attacks occuring in Sydney. Could TV and Hollywood be partly to blame through desensitising us? We consider the idea of the pain body which is raised in Eckhart Tolle's new book A New Earth.Could it explain the anger we're seeing? We investigate the idea that eating meat is important for older people wanting to keep their muscle mass, and are we all descendents of just 10,000 Africans 70,000 years ago Peter gives his idea of the meaning of life. And Gil Fronsdal from zencast.org shares an enigmatic parable about 'Why Not?' Our music from: http://music.podshow.com. Your comments can be added on this page.

The WellSpring 3

rjlhughes@gmail.com (Bob Hughes) — Fri, 09 Dec 2005 01:18:00 +0000

In which we discuss teenagers imitating smoking in the movies, and how the trust hormone oxytocin works by slowing down our fear centre. We look at why fructose (fruit sugar) may be behind the obesity epidemic, but how Tai Chi might prevent diabetes. We also ponder the effects of ozone on Tibetan spirituality, and the health benefits of super broccoli, wheat germ and pistachios. Sydney's been very hot lately, but I'm suffering a cold, hence the delay in getting this edition up.

The WellSpring 2

rjlhughes@gmail.com (Bob Hughes) — Sun, 04 Dec 2005 01:34:00 +0000

With each of these dummy runs we're getting closer to a polished product. On this one Dr Limin Mao joins me to test out the two mike setup, and we also talk to Stu on the street about the meaning of life.

Our Podsafe Music

rjlhughes@gmail.com (Bob Hughes) — Thu, 01 Dec 2005 13:23:00 +0000

May I mention that our music comes rom http://music.podshow.com - the Podshow Music Network Or from Magnatune.com - a remarkable site that lets you pay what you nominate for music. In both cases, the music is 'podsafe', that is licenced under creative commons.

The WellSpring 1

rjlhughes@gmail.com (Bob Hughes) — Thu, 01 Dec 2005 12:46:00 +0000

The first one is there! Finally. It is a rough demo of what's possible, principally as a dummy run for testing. But then there's something memorable about starting on December 1. The music from http://music.podshow.com. is G. Org's Aerostream