Filed Under >
Meet five students from the Spirituality Mind/Body Summer Intensive
Tingting Hu
鈥淭o me, spirituality means 鈥榠nner power,鈥欌 says Tingting Hu. 鈥淚t鈥檚 your faith in yourself and your ability to shape your own path.鈥
Hu grew up in China鈥檚 heavily agricultural Henan Province. Most of her peers cared little about school 鈥 鈥渢heir attitude was, I鈥檓 going to be a farmer, like my parents, so why should I care about learning English?鈥 鈥 but she attended the prestigious Tsinghua University, known as 鈥淐hina鈥檚 M.I.T.鈥 There she met two Americans with whom, in 2008, she co-founded Teach for China (TFC), which, like its U.S. counterpart, recruits young professionals and university students to teach in high-need schools. Hu鈥檚 role has been to work with the national and provincial governments to sell a concept seemingly at odds with Chinese mores.
鈥淲e need to prepare teachers to act as leaders who can get kids to see themselves as individuals,鈥 she says. 鈥淭o do that, we need our recruits to see this not as a sacrifice, but as something beneficial to their careers.鈥
In 2013, Hu came to the United States to improve her English. Alone in a strange country, she embarked on 鈥渁 journey of self-discovery,鈥 exploring the Indian meditation technique Vipassana and undergoing 10 days of 鈥渘oble silence鈥 meditation. Then she heard about the Summer Intensive.
鈥淭he idea of combining spirituality and psychology and exploring it systematically, in a scientific way, was amazing to me.鈥
Now, she plans to introduce another new idea into Chinese culture: spirituality.
鈥淭here鈥檚 such a huge need, because as the economy grows, people have no beliefs to rely on,鈥 she says. 鈥淭hey can鈥檛 go back to God, and there鈥檚 no therapy culture. So Lisa Miller is saying, 鈥榃hat if you ground this in the context of health instead of religion? Because everyone cares about health.鈥
As Hu sets out on a new career path, her questions remain the same. 鈥淚鈥檓 still thinking asking leadership looks like,鈥 she says. 鈥淎re mindfulness and leadership at odds? I don鈥檛 think so. I think it鈥檚 possible to be a mindful leader.鈥
Matthew Evans
Growing up in Wales, Matthew Evans was working two jobs at age 13.
鈥淢y purpose was to understand the value of money 鈥 how it fits into society and the role it plays.鈥 The experience showed him that, while important for putting food on the table, 鈥渢he material gain of finance is neither influential nor important to the fundamental being of existence.鈥
Evans has brought that same outlook to his career as a physical trainer and health club owner. He has turned down offers to run gymnasiums for the Royal Caribbean Cruise Liners and private health club facilities in Finland, Australia and New Zealand, as well as service as a Royal Marines Commando in the U.K. 鈥 all to fulfill a lifelong dream to 鈥渓ive, work and inspire鈥 in New York City.
鈥淚鈥檝e always seen myself as an inspirational and motivational confidence builder,鈥 he says. 鈥淢y whole ethos is mind over matter, smile in the face of adversity 鈥 with the right mindset, you can overcome absolutely anything. We have to learn to embrace fear and failure as something that, far from being detrimental, can help us to learn and develop.鈥
Though not 鈥渁 science soul,鈥 Evans hired a tutor while he was in school in order to master some basics and pass his exams. While preparing for an undergraduate sociology course, he began reading up on the growing importance of neuroscience in psychological research. In 2013, after reading 鈥渟ome hugely influential books, he learned about the new spirituality mind-body summer intensive at 麻豆原创.鈥 In short order, he arranged his business so that he could run it from afar and moved to the United States 鈥 a decision about which he has no regrets.
鈥淟isa Miller is a rock star of psychology 鈥 it鈥檚 an absolute honor to learn and work with her. Gary Schwartz has been truly inspirational 鈥 he鈥檚 going to work with me to develop my ideas. And Ben Zander, with his witty, playful demeanor as a speaker, was an instant overnight role model.鈥
Like many of the students in the program, Evans hopes the cohort will collaborate on some sort of sustained group effort that extends beyond the program. 鈥淲e completely complement each other, with skills in health, fitness, art therapy, finance, publishing and coaching,鈥 he says
For his own part, he plans to further develop his holistic health business 鈥渟o that everyone has exactly what is needed for mind, body and soul, all under one roof.鈥 He laughs. 鈥淟ike a Toys R Us for spirituality!鈥
And then there鈥檚 his thesis project 鈥 a study he plans to conduct under Schwartz鈥檚 guidance that will explore links between consciousness and Newton鈥檚 Law of Gravity. He also hopes to develop his creative writing skills and publish a line of children鈥檚 books with inspirational stories 鈥渢o help the next generation embrace its true potential.鈥
Suza Scalora
Suza Scalora gave up a successful career as a beauty photographer to live 鈥渁 conscious, mindful life, supporting other people.鈥 She founded a nonprofit, Love 365, which 鈥渢eaches people how to live their best lives by developing a more loving relationship with themselves and the voices in their heads.鈥
With several books to her name, including The Fairies, a children鈥檚 best-seller that her writing and photography to tell the story of an archaeologist who finds real-world sprites around the globes, Scalora has become a well-known figure in health-and-wellness and spirituality communities. But she wants to do more than simply preach to the choir.
鈥淢ost people feel there鈥檚 something deeper than what happens in your everyday life,鈥 she says. 鈥淭hey want sustainable happiness, not just a new car or a new pair of shoes. But there鈥檚 a lot of skepticism about spirituality 鈥 so to bring this to a mass audience, you鈥檝e got to be able to bring in the science.鈥
For her Teachers College thesis, she plans to spend the year using her column for The Huffington Post to acquaint readers with new scientific findings about spirituality鈥檚 physiological impact. This fall, for example, she鈥檒l do a series of interviews with Summer Intensive guest faculty member Andrew Newburg, a neuroscientist who has done MRI studies showing that certain neurotransmitters such as dopamine and serotonin are more present in the brains of religious people.
鈥淲e鈥檙e learning so much more about the brain 鈥 evidence from scans and other technologies that can鈥檛 be denied 鈥 and when people see it, that鈥檚 when they start to listen,鈥 Scalora says. That鈥檚 what鈥檚 so exciting about Lisa Miller鈥檚 work, and it鈥檚 what I hope to bring to mine.鈥
Zahra Komeylian
Zahra Komeylian has long felt that people could improve their mental well-being by getting in touch with their spiritual selves. In her own life, Komeylian, a 2013 graduate of Toronto鈥檚 York College who studied mood disorders and potential interventions such as mindfulness and meditation, sought a closer connection between her work in biopsychology and 鈥渢he way that spirituality has resonated for me鈥 鈥 not simply her Islamic faith, but her broader interest in the power of positive emotions.
Last year, as Komeylian was gearing up to enter a six-year graduate program in clinical psychology, she came across Lisa Miller鈥檚 web page. 鈥淚 started jumping up and down, because it provided an empirically-based way to incorporate spirituality into well-being,鈥 she says.
The Summer Intensive program has more than met her expectations.
鈥淚t鈥檚 so liberating to be in a group where everyone is speaking their truth,鈥 she says. 鈥淚鈥檝e been opened to understanding people from different walks of life.鈥
Komeylian plans to write her thesis on the question of whether there is an underlying universality to all forms of spirituality. Do the practices of different faiths and belief systems tap into something that is the same? Are there common benefits associated with these different practices, or different ones?
鈥淚t鈥檚 been so great working with Lisa 鈥 having a teacher who looks at you and sees all of your potential,鈥 she says. 鈥淎t this point in my life, having an academic role model who is so successful in her work, and who embodies the work she鈥檚 been doing, is really inspiring.鈥
Meanwhile, the program has made her life a bit more complicated, albeit in a good way.
鈥淚鈥檓 such a goal-oriented person, and I鈥檝e always had such hard-set goals, but now I want to get off the conveyor belt of undergraduate, master鈥檚 degree, doctorate,鈥 she says. She still envisions a career as either a researcher or a clinician, but adds, 鈥淲e have to take into account our own growth as people. The key is being open to different opportunities, and then the right thing will present itself.鈥
Dila Sultanova
Dila Sultanova grew up in no particular religious tradition.
鈥淢y parents were very pragmatic, focused on math and hard sciences,鈥 she says. 鈥淭hey wanted me to become financially secure and independent early on in my life 鈥 a view I readily shared.鈥
Indeed, at 25, Sultanova has carved out a successful career with one of the top global investment banks on Wall Street, where, most recently she has led an initiative to streamline and standardize reporting, analysis and forecasting in accordance with the European Union鈥檚 Capital Requirements Directive IV legislation, which sets new safety guidelines for how much risk financial institutions can incur. She has published her own research on government regulation of Wall Street companies and, in addition to her day job, founded her own real estate business, buying her first multi-family home.
鈥淚 love my work, both in finance and the real estate industry, but I鈥檝e realized: You can build your life early, but the highs you receive from achieving your next goal may not be the same as the ones you from your earlier achievements. I jokingly call it my law of diminishing happiness: satisfaction and pride I derived from my projects were becoming less and less. I found myself constantly planning and plotting the next project instead of taking a moment to reflect and become mindful of my mistakes, achievements, wins and losses. Well 鈥 you can get burned out. Spirituality offers a balance so you don鈥檛 always need the next big thing. Instead of constantly worrying about the future, you shift your focus to the present and you begin to experience and enjoy life. This is what my cohort group and program taught me. I realized that satisfaction and fulfillment can be achieved here and now with everything I鈥檝e so far created for myself, not with the next 鈥榖est thing.鈥欌
Sultanova, who used her accumulated vacation time to complete the Summer Intensive, says she has no plans to change careers.
鈥淚 am in this program for my own self-development,鈥 she says. 鈥淭he second day alone of the Summer Intensive provided me with so much personal growth. With so many people singing 鈥楬appy Birthday鈥 to me under the guidance of a world-renowned conductor, I learned to gracefully receive. That goes against the nature of many of us, because we have been taught that we must first give in order to receive, we must earn the recognition, and we must work for an achievement. I also learned that selfless giving of unconditional love can bring so much joy and transformation to others. I will never forget that day!鈥
(Photo Credit: Meira Gottlieb)
Published Thursday, Sep. 4, 2014