Marga Odahowski - The Way of the Hammock: Designing Calm for a Busy Life

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Copyright 2015 by Marga Odahowski

Published and distributed in the United States by: Hay House, Inc.: www.hayhouse.com Published and distributed in Australia by: Hay House Australia Pty. Ltd.: www.hayhouse.com.au Published and distributed in the United Kingdom by: Hay House UK, Ltd.: www.hayhouse.co.uk Published and distributed in the Republic of South Africa by: Hay House SA (Pty), Ltd.: info@hayhouse.co.za Distributed in Canada by: Raincoast Books: www.raincoast.com Published in India by: Hay House Publishers India: www.hayhouse.co.in

Cover design: Angela Moody and Mary Michaela Murray
Interior design: Nick C. Welch

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced by any mechanical, photographic, or electronic process, or in the form of a phonographic recording; nor may it be stored in a retrieval system, transmitted, or otherwise be copied for public or private useother than for fair use as brief quotations embodied in articles and reviewswithout prior written permission of the publisher.

The author of this book does not dispense medical advice or prescribe the use of any technique as a form of treatment for physical, emotional, or medical problems without the advice of a physician, either directly or indirectly. The intent of the author is only to offer information of a general nature to help you in your quest for emotional and spiritual well-being. In the event you use any of the information in this book for yourself, the author and the publisher assume no responsibility for your actions.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Odahowski, Marga, date.
The way of the hammock : designing calm for a busy life / Marga Odahowski.
pages cm
ISBN 978-1-4019-4407-0 (paperback)
1. Calmness. 2. Relaxation. I. Title.
BF575.C35O33 2015
158.1--dc23

2015001050

Tradepaper ISBN: 978-1-4019-4407-0

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

1st edition, June 2015

Printed in the United States of America

For my parents,
William and Mary Jo Odahowski

A sign caught my eye in an Italian airport a few years ago:

ARRIVING DAILY, INNER PEACE.

I embraced this message with a smile. My career has been dedicated to understanding the mind-body connection as a path to inner peace, and Im continually discovering research that embraces the idea that peace is available to all of us. With the right tools and practices, we can claim a peaceful state of mind.

Everyone I knowstudents, professors, friends, parents, farmers, executives, and othersis busy, stressed, and overscheduled. My friends in the business world live a frantic life filled with deadlines and endless meetings, e-mails, and texting. The societal pressure to achieve through doing more is pervasive in our world. Even my Italian friends are finding it harder to claim la dolce vita, the sweet life.

With todays distractions, we must seek the inner technologies of relaxation, mindfulness, and positivity to keep us focused and on track. While these practices of calm may be new to many of you, I studied, practiced, and taught mindfulness in both my work and in my personal life for the past 30 years. I earned a masters degree in counseling; and I have worked as a counselor, health educator, university professor, and mindfulness consultant. Teaching these skills that transform lives has been one of my deepest joys in my career.

One of my greatest learning experiences as a counselor was working in an alcohol and drug rehabilitation hospital in Spofford, New Hampshire. I realized that what people needed most of all was a set of integrated skills to navigate lifes demands. I switched careers to health promotion so I could impact more individuals by teaching skills that not only created a healthy lifestyle, but also a mind style of creativity.

Later, as the Director of Studies for the International Residential College at the University of Virginia, I began teaching academic courses on mindful leadership. I married my love of design with mindfulness, which resulted in a process that not only generated calm, but also enhanced creativity. The three areas of well-researched practices I used were relaxation, mindfulness, and positivity. Along with design skills, they supported my students in sustaining behavior changes that enhance wellness, leadership, and creativity. Being creative requires awareness, empathy, collaboration, and decision making; and these same qualities are needed in leadership and life. The calm mind-set creates the openness to be flexible to new thinking, ideas, and possibilities.