ZenView
By Mary Layton
The Essence of Learning
Our body benefits from a variety of physical activities, i.e. T’ai Chi, swimming, walking and
bicycling. But in order for our mind to stay sharp and healthy we need to give it some variety and new input as well. When we exercise our memory we are improving our mental faculties.
Anytime we give our mind something new to chew on we are feeding it. When I learn something new I feel a sense of renewal and joy. Suddenly I feel that my imagination is expanding and I am having fun. To learn a new language for example, makes me feel like a new person. It changes my perspective because that language expresses things differently from what I am used to. The sound of it has a different music and rhythm. My face expression and hand movements change.
My tongue gets to exercise and move differently.
Recently I started to learn to say a few words in Italian. What a beautiful language! How cool it is to say to my friend : “Tanto piacere!”(Nice to meet you) And he says to me : “Piacere mio.”(Nice to meet you too) We can learn something new or we can learn to do what we have been doing all along, except better. We can learn how to paint, garden, play an instrument, learn how to sing, dance, sew or cook. Why don’t we learn more? We may have all kinds of reasons. Bottom line is that learning new things can combat self pity, mood swings and depression. Learning something sends you off on a journey of self-discovery. You may find out that you need more patience, that you need to learn how to concentrate and not compare yourself with others. Go people and learn something new, learn more!
For more info go to : taichi4modesto.com or call (572-4518).
