Have Sex, Dance More, and Other Suggestions for Happiness
When’s the last time you felt GREAT?
Not just okay. I mean consistently great.
Can you remember?
Hmm.
Not gonna lie, this question stopped me in my tracks. Did it do the same for you?
I read it in the opening pages of a new book called State Change by Robin Berzin MD, founder of Parsley Health. It’s what they ask all of their patients at the beginning of the intake process, as they try to get a read on one person’s “baseline” health. There’s a strong narrative in the book about physical imbalances in the body, and how treating them can help to achieve higher levels of mental focus, emotional stability and flow.
Healing your body leads to healing your mind, not the other way around. That’s the message.
That’s also the message in other books that have crossed my path recently, including one about nutritional psychiatry and another about True Fun: Health at the physical level overflows into health at the mental and emotional levels as well, which leads to a life that flourishes.
“A life that flourishes,” at this particular moment of time in the wine industry, might seem bizarrely unsuitable if not impossible or simply bizarre.
But here’s the saving grace: Physical well-being, which is at the root, the heart and the start of what we’re talking about, is tangible and accessible. You can feel it. Your body feels it.
And it feels GREAT.
A few personal examples?
Cooking more with raw ingredients, especially green vegetables and red or purple fruits, and bringing more alternative sources of protein to the table. Helping my teenage son with his physical therapy in the mornings before school, which has led to full-on workouts together including yoga stretches at the end. Running around the yard, playing with the dog. "Kangaroo care" (for adults) in bed and making love. Visiting an elderly friend who just had knee surgery. Walking the neighborhood with a friend while the sun sets.
These are simple things that don't need to be time-consuming, and that get us away from our screens.
They do feel great – for my body, mind and emotions. A bonus is that they also make me feel happy.
Imagine that.
This week, let me ask you to try something. As you go about your day, pause every so often (set a reminder in your phone if you need to) and ask yourself, does what I’m doing right now make me happy?
If so, awesome! If not, how can you make it so? Hint: Find a way to involve your physical body, at least some of the times.
Please let me know how it goes.
Namaste,
Cathy
What We're Reading:
Here's what has piqued our interest this week in the world of wine and mindfulness.
Cultivating a Peak Mind – Chopra.com
Have you ever found yourself struggling to stay focused during a meeting, on a specific work task, or in conversation with a friend? No matter how hard we try, we often find that our mind has a mind of its own. Unbeknownst to us, our attention drifts, wandering away from the task-at-hand.
Silos That Work: How the Pandemic Changed the Way We Collaborate - HBS Working Knowledge
A study of 360 billion emails shows how remote work isolated teams, but also led to more intense communication within siloed groups. Will these shifts outlast the pandemic?
Do Wine and Health Go Together? In Conversation with Prof. David Nutt – Areni Global
Whether we admit it or not, fine wine is alcohol. And with this simple statement come a lot of very important conversation around the future of our industry. Prof. David Nutt, author of Drink? The New Science of Alcohol and Health shares his thoughts on wine and health.
Alcohol-free beer brand promises ‘better sex or your money back’ – DrinksBusiness.com
Alcohol-free beer brand Days has launched a novel campaign ahead of Valentine’s Day – promising to give customers their money back if they do not “notice a better sexual experience” after drinking their beer until midnight on 14 February.
What have we learned from Dry January 2022? - beveragedaily.com
Dry January is the month of the year when the no and low alcohol category really has a chance to shine. So what have we learned about the direction of the category this month?
Meet the Community:
Here we meet some of the talented folks who make our profession so dynamic.
Philippe Blanck, Winegrower at Domaine Paul Blanck, in partnership with my cousin Frederick Blanck as winemaker (Alsace, France)
Years in Industry:
Around 40 years, not including the 20 years prior to that. I grew up with my cousins Blanck and Barthelmé working in the family winery since we could walk and talk. We were the swiss knives of the parents, doing all kinds of job from vineyards, to cellar to sales … After a few years of different diplomas (economics, marketing, viticulture) and various jobs, I came back home in 1984. After my 62 years of life, the Valley of Kaysersberg is still surprising and enchanting especially when I come back from traveling.
I am sharing my passion of nature, geology and wine by developing a tasting method called geo-sensorial tasting. It is based on breathing and relaxation techniques learned through the practice of a traditional Chinese energetic art called Qi Gong.
This technique has been imagined Jean Marc Quarin, a Bordeaux wine writer and human sciences expert, around 30 years ago. The Alsatian University of Strasbourg has developed a master’s degree in Geo sensorial tasting lead by JM Deiss. Julien Camus from the Scholar Wine Guild is now leading and mastering the tasting technique by developing a specific software in his 100 wine schools around the world. And the University of Strasbourg is offering the second edition of its university degree, “Vers le terroir viticole par la dégustation géo-sensorielle,” or "Toward terroir through the geo sensorial tasting.“ Energy (Qi, or vitality) of the wines, soils, and people… all is related.
My Top Three Challenges to Wellness:
Balance in every way: Finding a balance between my passion for my work and my family is challenging. Between outer and inner space, taking deep breaths, relaxing mind and body for at least 10 minutes every hour.
Consciousness in everyday life: This is a daily practice to enter a profound inner space. The challenge is to unfold it throughout the day before been caught by routine. Then bring the attention back.
Practicing virtue: The Chinese Taoist culture is taking great care of the intention and attention in our actions. To be present in every situation occurring during work. Cultivating gratitude is the first step in the morning. This so resonates with our ancestors’ practices of respect for Mother Nature, Seasons, People, God or Gods, Sky, rituals and celebrations in time/space consciousness.
How I Keep It Together to Stay Well:
Practicing a daily routine and sharing Qi Gong with students, customers in the vineyards and elderly persons in retired home, in order to develop a healthy Body/Mind/Spirit connection. With qi gong meditation growing in popularity, you may wonder whether it’s something you should try. (I became a certified Qi Gong teacher in 2018 and advanced in 2021.)
Daily walks and vineyard activities.
What Inspires Me:
Sharing and exploring. When we discover something valuable, something good, something beautiful, something that gives us satisfaction, everyone's natural desire is to share. Sharing is an action of the heart, true food for the soul. Sharing is offering, it is hoping that the other can live or receive the experience of what we consider important. Sharing is bringing color and joy into our lives. It gives sense to our life.
Transmission is allowing others to evolve by giving them respect and allowing them to grow in consciousness. They are the keys to knowing each other. Through transmission, we are happy, we like to receive and we take pleasure in giving. We share with sincerity and with patience what is best for us.
A Quote I Love:
“We are not human beings having a spiritual experience but spiritual beings having a human experience.” Pierre Teilhard de Chardin
You can find Philippe online on Instagram, on Facebook, and on the company's website.
New Interview: Areni Global in Conversation
Fine Wine, Health and Wellbeing
in this podcast, we meet Rebecca Hopkins, founder of A Balanced Glass, who is on a mission to help wine professionals stay safe and healthy while navigating a career in alcohol. We look at the pitfalls and problems of working with wine, and ask what role fine wine plays when it comes to questions of health and wellbeing for both employees and consumers.<< Tune in here! >>
