This Becoming Gift Segment discusses the critical role of connection and relationships in promoting health and wellness. It explores the alarming rise of loneliness in society, particularly among younger generations, and its detrimental effects on health. The discussion emphasizes the importance of building relationships through vulnerability, hospitality, and active listening. It also address the challenges posed by social media and the fear of judgment that can hinder genuine connections and advocates for fostering real-life interactions to enhance well-being and longevity.

Key Takeaways

Connection is essential for health and wellness.

Friendship is crucial for spiritual and emotional well-being.

Vulnerability is necessary for deeper relationships.

Hospitality helps in making new friends especially once you have a job or family.

Andrew’s Substack

Physically Spiritual Podcast

Morning Offering

This Becoming Gift segment explores solitude and cultivating the ability to be alone and present with God and self. It distinguishes between mere quiet and true silence, and loneliness versus solitude, highlighting the negative impact of societal noise on health and the healing properties of silence. The discussion also covers practical methods for integrating silence and solitude into daily life, including scheduling silence, eliminating sources of noise, and limiting information inputs.

Key Takeaways:

* Solitude vs. Loneliness, Silence vs. Quiet: Solitude is not just being alone but being present to oneself and God, while loneliness is merely not being around people. True silence is a "silence of the heart" that goes beyond just the absence of external noise.

* Health Benefits of Silence: Environmental noise is a significant burden on health, second only to air pollution amongst environmental insults, contributing to annoyance, stress and sleep disturbance, leading to an increased risk of cardiovascular disease. Conversely, spending just two hours in silence promotes neurogenesis, the creation of new neurons in the brain, indicating silence can promote healing.

* Solitude as a Prerequisite for Communion: The "communion of persons" can form only on the basis of a "double solitude," meaning true solitude is essential for genuine connection and communion with others, as highlighted by Pope St. John Paul II in his Theology of the Body.

* Practical Steps for Cultivating Silence: To build the habit of silence and solitude, one should make space for it by scheduling it, use device "quiet hours," eliminate background noise (like TV or music), limit information inputs, and engage in journaling to clear the mind. For parents, it's important to accept moments of silence as they are offered by the Lord rather than adhering to rigid expectations.

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This episode explores how to achieve significant progress in health and wellness by applying the Pareto Principle. It discusses how identifying and focusing on the "big levers" in one's life and focusing on the 20% of effort that yields 80% of results.

Key Takeaways:

* The Pareto Principle (80/20 rule) suggests that a small percentage of effort or input leads to a high percentage of results, meaning that focusing on the 20% most important actions can achieve 80% of the desired outcomes in health and wellness.

* We need to distinguish between "big levers" and "small levers" in health and wellness, big levers cause significant changes, while small levers offer only minor differences. People often focus on minor things when learning about health, rather than what truly impacts the big picture.

* Each lever can be “pushed” or “pulled.” The four "big levers" for making substantial changes in one's life: Relationship (connecting with others or solitude), Nourishment (eating or fasting), Movement (exercise or rest/sleep), and Labor (creativity/purpose or managing stress).

The topic of this week’s segment is the virtue of studiousness in acquiring knowledge, and the vice of curiosity. The podcast delves into the various ways one can fall into the vice of curiosity, including studying too much, studying the wrong things, or learning for the wrong reasons, and emphasizes the crucial balance between knowing and doing, or loving.

Key Takeaways:

* Understanding Studiousness and Curiosity: Studiousness is defined as a virtue in acquiring knowledge. However, one can fall into the vice of curiosity by studying too much, studying the wrong things (such as something "too low," "bad" like the occult, or things that don't apply to one's duties), or studying in the wrong way (immoderately consuming data). This vice also includes learning for the wrong reasons, such as pride, covetousness, or self-reliance, which can resemble. Curiosity can be Practical Gnosticism or "salvation through knowledge".

* The Danger of "Action Faking" and Postponing Action: The self-help industry often promotes dissatisfaction and consuming self-help content can lead to "action faking," where thinking about a task or planning for it provides the good feelings of actually doing it, without any real action being taken. This excessive learning or planning can postpone actual doing, acting, and loving. If reading one or two books on a subject haven't led to change, reading additional books is unlikely to help.

* Prioritizing Loving Over Endless Knowing: Learning can become a distraction or a form of self-medication, preventing individuals from addressing immediate responsibilities or deeper issues. Knowing should direct loving, and the "doing" or "loving" should constitute the majority of one's efforts, not just the "knowing". Excessive intellectualization without corresponding action, can lead to negative outcomes.

Andrew’s Substack

Physically Spiritual Podcast

Morning Offering

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This podcast proposes an approach rooted in wonder and awe when examining personal challenges. It delves into the issues of self-condemnation and other judgmental forms of self-awareness. The discussion also identifies potential issues with the idea of curiosity, which was historically considered a vice that was an excess of the virtue of studiousness. A posture of studious wonder and awe is a virtuous alternative for self-reflection that fosters an open mind to new possibilities without succumbing to self-judgment.

Key Takeaways:

* Self-condemnation is counterproductive for improvement: Making oneself feel bad is generally not an effective path to self-improvement and can even worsen struggles by increasing the need for coping mechanisms.

* Embrace wonder and awe for open-minded self-awareness: Instead of judgmental self-awareness, adopting an attitude of wonder and awe allows for non-judgmental introspection, keeping the mind open to discovering new solutions and understanding oneself better, allowing God to teach about one's life.

* Contrition is a positive form of sorrow, unlike self-generated bad feelings: True contrition, or sorrow for sin, is an honest recognition of reality that arises in the context of simple self perception, allowing emotions like sadness to surface, rather than being a self-inflicted punishment.

* Humility and reliance on grace are essential: Recognizing personal weaknesses without self-condemnation leads to a humble acknowledgment of the need for God's grace and help, rather than relying solely on willpower to overcome challenges.

This episode explores longevity and lifespan extension through a catholic lens, prompted by recent scientific news about Chinese scientists reversing aging in primates, equivalent to a 15-year life extension in humans using modified stem cells. While longevity can serve as a proxy for overall health,

Key takeaways:

* Considerations About Life Extension: Do Catholics have a duty to extend life as a part of their right to life? The distinction between ordinary versus extraordinary means of life support can be helpful, one is not obligated to use extraordinary or extreme measures to extend life. Pope St. John Paul II's concept that we have a "duty to die well" is also important, emphasizing that this life serves as preparation for heaven.

* The Crucial Role of Motivation: A significant point of reflection is the motivation behind desiring a longer lifespan. One needs to consider whether the desire is for a longer life is for a good reason, or if it stems from a bad motivation like a fear of death, a wish to avoid judgment, or the pursuit of excessive wealth or power.

* Societal Implications and Generational Transfer: The podcast highlights the importance of passing on leadership and wisdom to subsequent generations. It suggests that an "unhealthy demographic" in society can arise when key leaders become increasingly older, delaying the transfer of leadership roles. Instead, older individuals are ideally suited to become "sages" and advisors, guiding the next generation of leaders rather than retaining direct power indefinitely.

Andrew’s Substack

Physically Spiritual Podcast

Morning Offering

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This Becoming Gift segment explores how human instincts, particularly fear and self-preservation, interact with faith ideals at both individual and national levels, drawing a connection to current events. The episode delves into the concept of divine filiation—humanity becoming God's sons and daughters—as a way to leverage the inherent human need for connection and family/tribe and overcome self-interested behaviors amongst individual and nations often called realpolitik.

Key Takeaways:

* Instincts, Faith and Co-regulation: The episode highlights the ongoing tension between human animal instincts (such as the need for food, reproduction, and safety) and the ideals derived from faith. It explains that humans naturally lean into relationships for emotional regulation and safety, a phenomenon called "co-regulation," where nervous systems literally regulate each other, helping people feel safe, social, and connected.

* Divine Filiation as a Foundation for Trust and Global Family: God's invitation for humanity to become His sons and daughters (divine filiation) establishes a familial relationship among people worldwide. This concept fosters a disposition of trust, leveraging the natural human instinct to find safety in one’s family or tribe, thereby promoting unity and trust across nations and peoples. This contrasts with the “state of nature” apart from grace in which instincts foster suspicion a fear between strangers of realpolitik between nations.

* The Consequences of Drifting from Christian Ideals: As Christianity wanes in the world, there is a re-emergence of realpolitik amongst previously Christian nations, a political theory where practical objectives and national self-interest supersede ideals. This shift away from Christian principles is linked to increased mistrust, trade wars, and kinetic conflicts globally, as societies lose the capacity for agape (selfless love) without God's grace, returning to a "state of nature" driven by fear. The ultimate solution for world peace is turning towards Christ, embracing divine filiation, and living out the faith especially through baptism and praying the Our Father.

This Becoming Gift Segment explores the experience of fear and how faith can help the believer overcome it. Andrew highlights that fear is a deeply ingrained humanity, tracing its theological origins back to Adam and Eve's first experience of fear after their sin. He explains how our body's nervous system is designed to keep us safe and promote survival, but how we can lead our nervous system by making choices.

Key Takeaways:

* The Autonomic Nervous System: Our autonomic nervous system has two main sides: the sympathetic ("gas") side, which speeds things up for fight or flight, and the parasympathetic ("brakes") side, which slows things down. When the sympathetic system is activated when the body detects something potentially unsafe, it increases heart rate and breathing, adjusts inner ear bones and dilates pupils to prime the body to notice potential threats.

* Fear & Choice: The catechism recognizes that fear can diminish or even nullify our responsibility for sin by affecting our ability to make good choices (CCC 1735). However, once we become aware of our fear response, we gain significant influence over it. It is within our control because we can choose what we perceive – what we focus our eyes on, and what our imagination and memory dwell upon, and our nervous system will respond to what we place our attention on.

* Practical Tools for Modulating the Nervous System: We can modulate our nervous system through conscious choices. One powerful tool is breath control: breathing in activates the sympathetic system, while breathing out activates the parasympathetic system. By slowing down the exhale, we provide more input to the "slow down" or "rest" side of our nervous system. Similarly, directing our attention away from anxiety-inducing things towards calming elements, such as nature or comforting memories, can shift our state and slow down our heart rate.

* The Power of Story: "Story follows state" meaning our brain often creates stories to make sense of how we feel. The good news is that we can choose to tell ourselves different stories. The gift of faith helps us believe a different, more hopeful story, leading to peace, hope, and trust. Faith, by keeping God in mind and trusting that He is in charge and loves us, can literally regulate our nervous system. A practical "toolbox" for managing fear includes choosing where our attention goes (keeping eyes on Christ), minimizing exposure to anxiety-inducing things, breathing, praying, and meditating on good things like scriptures.

In this "Becoming Gift" unpacks the transformative principle of "focus on virtue, surrender the results" for health and wellness. Discover how shifting your attention from external metrics to consistent virtuous actions can purify your intentions and help to overcome discouragement.

Key Takeaways:

* Focus on Actions, Not Metrics: Instead of focusing on numbers like scale wight of strength gains, try to judge yourself on virtuous behaviors like consistent fasting, sticking to your diet plan, getting to bed on time, or going to the gym consistently. This approach can reduce emotional swings with plateus and setbacks and purify your motivations.

* Actions Transform Desires: Consistently engaging in good actions helps you become the kind of person who delights in doing good things, restoring your nature and bringing you into a fuller life in alignment with God's design.

* Navigate Challenges with Humility: Expect an "ebb and flow" of motivation, including "desert periods". Avoid "all-or-nothing" thinking (e.g., giving up after one slip). Instead, embrace humility to maintain peace and avoid self-glorification.

* Define Your Virtue: Identify the specific virtue you're cultivating. The ultimate goal is to grow in the character of Christ, understanding that temperance might mean moderation for some, but complete avoidance for others, depending on God's unique call for you and your own history and story.

Andrew’s Substack

Physically Spiritual Podcast

Morning Offering

Becoming Gift is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

• Proclaim Christ, Not Your Diet: The central theme is drawn from 1 Corinthians 1:23, stating "we proclaim Christ crucified". In the absence of true religion, passion for health and wellness, including diets, can sometimes fill the space meant for God, becoming a "false religion".

• Skepticism Towards "Diet Wars" and Market Motives: The health and wellness space is characterized by "diet wars" between equally passionate proponents of contradictory approaches. Given that the market is driven by profit motive, particularly regarding processed foods in the "standard American diet" (SAD) which can trick us into eating more, it is important to be skeptical of what is being sold.

• Focus on Intentional Eating Principles While Recognizing Individual Needs: Principles to consider are focusing on whole, minimally processed foods like "shopping the outside of the grocery store" and minimizing "sweet fat," which is rare in nature and can act almost like a drug in the brain. At the same time, recognizing one's own story is crucial, as different diets work differently for individuals based on preferences, struggles, or physical conditions. The ‘good’ diet that happens is better than the ‘perfect’ diet that never does.

Andrew’s Substack

Physically Spiritual Podcast

Morning Offering

Becoming Gift is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.