Aug 7 Tip: Learn Emotional Cool Down Techniques

August 7 Compassionate Living Tip from Interfaith Paths to Peace

http://www.courier-journal.com/article/20120806/OPINION02/308060014/1016/OPINION/Reader-Letter-Cool-down-avoid-heat-moment?odyssey=mod|newswell|text|Opinion|s

Learn "Emotional Cool Down Techniques" for the Long Hot Summer

A friend of mine who deals first-hand with the violence in our city recently told me that deadly violence in Louisville frequently results from disagreements that spin out of control. Angry words in our homes and on our streets get hotter and hotter until the situation explodes and someone lies dead. But there is something we can do to stop anger from becoming deadly.

I am a volunteer mentor in a special program in Jefferson County Public Schools through the Society for the prevention of Agressiveness and Violence among Adolescents (SPAVA). This program teaches non-violent conflict resolution techniques to students of all ages. Mentors teach students that they can cope with their anger and stay out of trouble by learning to cool down. For any of us who find ourselves in angry situations that are rapidly escalating, I would like to offer some “emotional cool down” techniques which I have learned from SPAVA, techniques that we can use to short-circuit our anger when it is getting out of control.

Even though these techniques may sound overly simple, they actually work. In fact, their simplicity may be the key to why they are successful. So, when our anger starts to escalate, let’s try:

• Just walking away from the situation until our anger subsides

• Taking 3 deep breaths, consciously breathing out our pent up anger each time we exhale

• Talking to ourselves, saying “Wow, I need to calm down,” or “I need to slow down”

• Engaging in an athletic activity such as going for a walk or run, shooting some baskets, mowing the lawn, or going for a long bike ride

• Pouring out our feelings to a close friend with a sympathetic ear

• Lying down and taking a nap

Cool down techniques are a good first step in helping us avoid acting impulsively in the heat of the moment. A next step is to learn additional tools for conflict resolution. Some ideas for this may be found at the SPAVA website: www.spava.us. And of course, cool down techniques may not work in every situation, but they do offer hope that we can reduce the number of people in our community for whom we grieve when their lives are ended by a shooting or another form of deadly violence.

Executive Director, Interfaith Paths to Peace and Member, Male Voices Project of The Center for Women and Families –

Louisville 40202 –

Aug 6: Learn about Hiroshima Peace Foundation

August 6 Compassionate Living Tip from Interfaith Paths to Peace

Learn about the Hiroshima Peace Culture Foundation

http://www.pcf.city.hiroshima.jp/hpcf/english/about/index.html

Based on Hiroshima's A-bomb experience, collaborating with peace research institutions and related organizations in Japan and abroad, this Foundation seeks to convey the facts about the bombing and contribute to the dissemination of thought promoting peace and international understanding/cooperation. The overall goal is to contribute to world peace and human happiness. 

Aug 5: Help and Healing in Ritual

August 5 Compassionate Living Tip from Interfaith Paths to Peace

Discover the Help and Healing through the Science of Ritual

http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2012/08/02/157789182/the-science-of-ritual-why-we-seek-help-and-healing-in-repetition?sc=17&f=1001

"We don't actually know how most things work," Legare says, "so we do a lot of imitating." At essence, she says, rituals offer the same type of satisfaction that we get from daily routines that we have better evidence of being effective — for example, daily teeth brushing.

In a chaotic world, she says, such repetition seems to offer us the illusion of control over what we want to happen. So whether it's a knife in a tree or a room of chanting yogis, Legare says ritual is definitely here to stay.

Aug. 4: Attend tonight's Candle Floating Ceremony

August 4 Compassionate Living Tip from Interfaith Paths to Peace

Attend Saturday Evening's Candle Floating Ceremony for Peace

http://paths2peace.org/Hiroshima___Nagasaki.html

Louisville's annual Candle Floating Ceremony, this year marking the 67th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the end of WWII, will be presented at 8 pm on Saturday, August 4, 2012 at Willow Lake (at the corner of Lexington Rd. and Grinstead Avenue). The Ceremony is free and open to the public and is presented by Interfaith Paths to Peace and the Louisville Chapter of the Fellowship of Reconciliation in cooperation with the Peace and Justice Division of the Episcopal Diocese of Kentucky, St. William and St. Agnes Catholic Churches, and the Drepung Gomang Institute.

The event will include a traditional Asian Lion Dance, the debut of a classical music piece, readings, prayers and the candle floating.

 

Aug 3: The Pain of Families of Mass Murderers

August 3 Compassionate Living Tip from Interfaith Paths to Peace

Understanding the Pain of the Families of Mass Murderers

http://m.npr.org/story/157737038?url=/2012/08/01/157737038/when-your-family-member-does-the-unthinkable

At 5:45 a.m. on Friday, July 20, Arlene Holmes woke to the sound of the telephone. On the line was a man from ABC News. There had been a shooting in Aurora, Colo., the man explained. Her 24-year-old son, James, was the suspect. Did she have a comment?

In the wake of a tragedy like the Colorado shooting, the families of victims must navigate a complicated emotional landscape. But so, too, must the families of those charged with the crimes, as they suddenly face all kinds of deeply disturbing questions.

 

Aug. 2: Explore "Compassionate Abiding"

August 2 Compassionate Living Tip from Interfaith Paths to Peace

Learn about "Compassionate Abiding" from Pema Chodron

https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?tab=mm#inbox/138e21f6578cce88

THE PRACTICE OF COMPASSIONATE ABIDING

A question that has intrigued me for years is this: how can we start exactly where we are, with all our entanglements, and still develop unconditional acceptance of ourselves instead of guilt and depression? One of the most helpful methods I’ve found is the practice of compassionate abiding. The next time you realize that you’re hooked, you could experiment with this approach.

Contacting the experience of being hooked, you breathe in, allowing the feeling completely and opening to it. The in-breath can be deep and relaxed—anything that helps you to let the feeling be there, anything that helps you not push it away. Then, still abiding with the urge and edginess of the feeling, as you breathe out you relax and give the feeling space. The out-breath is not a way of sending the discomfort away but of ventilating it, of loosening the tension around it, of becoming aware of the space in which the discomfort is occurring.

Aug 1: Learn about "No Kill Louisville"

August 1 Compassionate Living Tip from Interfaith Paths to Peace

Learn about Animal Advocates, "No Kill Louisville"

http://www.nokill-louisville.com/

Those who began "No Kill Louisville" believe it is possible to save every "adoptable" animal in Louisville. This does not mean that no animal should be euthanized.  We believe that animals who are suffering from illness or injury and cannot be treated should be humanely euthanized with gentleness and compassion.