123/5 for “Ageless Body, Timeless Mind”

Have you ever heard of someone taking a tag after 10 months? Well, that’s exactly what I’m out to do right now. Its been 10 months since Ooomz has tagged me with his 123/5 post, and here I am responding to it now! (In my defense, I’ve got the time only now you see ;)).

A brief repeat of the rules of the tag - its all about writing what’s written in the 5th paragraph of the page 123 of the book I’m reading right now. In my case, the book is ”Ageless Body, Timeless Mind” by Deepak Chopra. Here goes (the 4th paragraph of the page, since there is no 5th para, and my move is as per the rules):

There is no denying that free-radical damage occurs and is suspiciously linked with aging, along with cancer and heart disease, the two leading causes of death. Yet it has not been shown that older people necessarily have higher levels of free-radicals in their cells, or lower levels of antioxidants. What I’d like to suggest is that free-radical damage is but one type of imbalance that can occur at the level of cellular intelligence when the balance tips towards entropy. If the body’s intelligence is at full strength, disorder and chaos do not attack a cell. The basic tenet of life extension - preventing free-radical damage before it occurs - is sound. To do that, however, we need to understand a cell’s intelligence directly.

Profound, eh? :). Well, this is the first book I’m reading, authored by Deepak Chopra - a pioneer in mind-body medicine, and holistic healing. Before reading this book, I was acquainted with metaphysics, healing and a bit of quantum physics (Autobiography of a Yogi by Swami Paramahamsa Yogananda comes to mind). But this book has introduced to me some mind-boggling concepts, especially in Part One “The Land Where No One is Old”. Referring to the body as a storehouse of energy and information, Deepak analyses its biochemistry and drives home the importance of awareness in definining its intelligence, processes and existence in this dimension. Part Two speaks about Aging and Awareness, and with it the plot thickens - merging theory with case studies and exercises. With “Defeating Entropy”, “The Science of Longevity” and “Breaking the Spell of Mortality” - the other three remaining parts, the mind-body can no longer be relegated to being an incomprehensible, indisciplined instrument. Deepak tries to bring to light our unconscious programming that’s the root cause of sickness, deterioration, and also seeks to break moulds of how we’ve perceived growth and aging. Deepak’s writing is not for the faint hearted  - some lines/paras would need two to three reads for the full breadth of its significance to sink inside you. Interpretations could vary and even change the whole dimension of your thought - especially since concepts of time, space and reality, all fade into oblivion.

The above paragraph is an excerpt, and concludes a chapter titled as “The Free-Radical Theory” in Part Three. The chapter tries to expose the paradoxical nature of free-radicals, once thought of as the enemy because of its contribution to cellular damage, till it was proved that they are beneficial also in maintaining the body’s balance and protecting it. The chapter and the paragraph seek to show a bigger picture to the Free-Radical debate, by encouraging us to see beyond the damage, examine and solve the original cause. What I also found relevant in the chapter is the mention of how people are (even today!!) always so ready to consume antioxidants, vitamins and other drugs (beta carotenes, vitamin B, C, E, zinc etc), in the belief that they’re contributing to their personal health and life extension, when in reality these may end up doing more damage than good.

Coming back to the purposes of this post - apart from my need to take up the tag in the first place :), it also lets me tell you that if you have the time and interest in all of the above, pick up this book, or atleast read up on material in this line of thought - be aware of your body, and know that the way you perceive, understand and choose to change will make all the difference. There’s a lot out there that you probably don’t know, yet!

P.S. Ideally I’m supposed to tag 5 people. But then, I choose to just throw open this tag to anyone else who thinks they’re reading an interesting book and would like to talk about it.

I’m an ENFJ! What are you?

This seems to be the season for personality analysis tests, what with me getting multiple requests to take them and find out what I am

I started off the week by doing a test that told me what gender my brain was. Here’s a brief description of the test, from the page:

Some researchers say that men can have ‘women’s brains’ and that women can think more like men.
Find out more about ‘brain sex’ differences by taking the Sex ID test:

• Get a brain sex profile and find out if you think like a man or a woman.
• See if you can gaze into someone’s eyes and know what they’re thinking.
• Find out why scientists are interested in the length of your fingers.
• See how your results relate to theories about brain sex.

The test has a series of logic-based puzzles, some face ’n eye-gazing (to know how intuitive you are), some calculations and voila! Your brain sex profile is out. As I had suspected all along in my life ;-), the test told me that I had a mostly male brain - or think like a man.

Of course, it doesn’t mean that I need to have a sex change ;)… I think the whole assumption in the test is that “logical, mathematical” thinking is a typically male characteristic, while “intuitive, feeling-based” thinking is a typically female characteristic. I scored well on all of the logical/mathematical tests (not a surprise, considering my profession also validates my ability ;)), and since there were more of them than intuitive tests (where also I did score well), I was mapped to have a “more male” brain.

Mid-week, I got a suggestion from Raman Sir that I should attempt the Jung Typology Test to discover which of the Myers-Briggs personality types I was. I did, and discovered that I am an ENFJ - Extroverted iNtuitive Feeling Judging Personality - also known as the Idealist/Teacher. If you’re left saying “Whaa…t??”, then here are some of the  (very flattering) descriptions to give you a general idea of what I am [*Halo on my head*] -

From Portrait of the Teacher Idealist:

The eNFj, rightly called the educative mentor or Teacher for short is especially capable of educing or calling forth those inner potentials each learner possesses. Teachers expect the very best of those around them, and this expectation, usually expressed as enthusiastic encouragement, motivates action in others and the desire to live up to their expectations. Teachers value harmonious human relations about all else, can handle people with charm and concern, and are usually popular wherever they are. They are found in no more than 2 or 3 percent of the population. 

From ENFJ Profile:

Many ENFJs have tremendous power to manipulate others with their phenomenal interpersonal skills and unique salesmanship. But it’s usually not meant as manipulation — ENFJs generally believe in their dreams, and see themselves as helpers and enablers, which they usually are. ENFJs are global learners. Some can juggle an amazing number of responsibilities or projects simultaneously. Many ENFJs have tremendous entrepreneurial ability.

Whoa! Too much, I say ;)…Truthfully though, I was quite surprised to see the word “Teacher” in my profile, since that is something I enjoy doing the most.

Wait, I’m not done. Don’t you wanna know what type of blogger I am? Here it is from Bloginality:

As a weblogger, ENFJ’s enjoy the relationships with other bloggers because of their rich insights and people skills. Even while they enjoy journaling, they may still feel alone in their thoughts despite the number of people linking to them.

Hmmm, that could explain my title “Lonely In Space”… [*Contemplative*].

TeamTechnology tells me what type of a person I am in the team environment:

In a team environment, the ENFJ can contribute by:

• promoting insight and common understanding amongst the team
• facilitating discussions, encouraging contributions from all team members by asking questions in a structured way
• seeking to arrive at consensus decisions
• focusing on areas of agreement and building on others’ proposals
• bringing discussions to positive conclusions

Sounds good. Now, I realize why I am so obsessed with structure, conclusions and consensus. Now, here’s the not-so-nice part (Just to bring me back to earth level from the clouds):

The potential ways in which an ENFJ can irritate others include:

• talking too much
• avoiding conflict and not giving criticism when it is needed
• taking criticism personally

Ahem. Talking too much?… me?? I guess that’s a dead give-away considering that you can judge my verbal ability from the length of my blog posts. Yup, I need some cellotape on my mouth, sometimes.

And finally, here’s what I can be at home, from ENFJ - The Sage:

ENFJ’s are socially adept and make excellent companions and mates. They also are deeply devoted to their children, yet tend not to be domineering to either the children or mate. In fact, the ENFJ is so even-tempered that he or she can be victimized by a mate who might have become more and more demanding.

:O. Victim, huh? Well, that should teach me to keep an eye open for demanding mates ;-).

All in all, the personal profiling was fun. And the personality typing was amazing, because much of it fit the description I had in my head of my *best* self.

For those of you, who have some time on your hands, I would suggest that you attempt to find out your type too… who knows, it could be a real revelation!!

P.S. Similar Posts from my friends

• What Jungian type are you? by The Visitor
• Open Intentions Initiative by RKVS Raman
• The type logic by Umesh Gopinath