A report from Wunderman Thompson Health found personalized and emotional messages are more effective to urge doctors to make better health decisions.

This years Health Inertia report analyzed how different messaging styles motivated doctors to order a routine test, a bone density screening for women at risk of osteoporosis. The researchers chose that particular test because it is recommended for all women over 65, but not all doctors send their patients for the test.

What we see in the pharmaceutical and medical device arena is a belief that healthcare is special in the sense that people respond to things more rationally, said Destry Sulkes, chief experience officer at Wunderman Thompson Health. I think people are starting to realize that we need to appeal to a doctors emotions just like we need to appeal to a Coke drinkers emotions to get them to switch from Pepsi.

Wunderman Thompson Health surveyed 500 doctors who treat patients at risk for osteoporosis to determine their motivation to order these tests. The team then identified four different motivations, from rational to emotional and personalized to generic, and created ads that matched those attitudes.

The team showed the doctors ads based on their preferences and surveyed them on their desire to order the bone density screening after.

More personalized and emotional creative significantly increased the percentage of doctors ordering the tests. Slightly more than half of doctors (56%) who saw the rational and non personalized ads ordered the tests, while 75% of doctors who saw the personalized and emotional ad ordered the test.

I dont think doctors are at all accustomed to being communicated with as people, said Mark Truss, chief research officer at Wunderman Thompson Health, A fair amount of the communication that happens in professional advertising today is very educational, very rational. It talks about the benefits and the data and the clinical trials. Of course, doctors need to understand the data and they need to understand the rational benefits of any therapeutic area, but its not the only thing that motivates them to action.

The other two categories, non personalized-emotional and personalized-rational also performed better among doctors, both resulting in about 70% of doctors to order the screening.

That was the most surprising finding from the study, Truss said, that the emotional ads resulted in that big of an increase among doctors.

The four ads each touched on a different motivation. One was entirely rational, asking doctors why not order the screening? Another played on a doctors pride, helping them feel good about the decision to order the screenings. The third played into the doctors concern for their patients, asking what could happen if the patient doesnt get the screening. The final ad was meant to make overconfident doctors think twice about following their decision over the industry guidelines.

Some marketers may argue that creating personalized content for every doctor isnt feasible, but Sulkes already thought of that. He debunked several challenges to this effective style of messaging in the report, from regulatory to brand issues. His solution: it can be done with a little planning and creativity.

Prominent consumer, tech and CPG brands can maintain their brand across different and personalized messaging styles, and healthcare should be able to, as well, he said. He noted that it will likely cost a little more to create more versions of ads, but not enough to eat into the whole budget.

Sulkes also suggested working more closely and creatively with the regulatory teams. Let them know early on whats coming for approval. Then theyre prepared and the different versions dont get held up in long approval processes.

Marketing is moving in this direction, whether marketers feel like they should be there or not, Truss said. It is happening and they need to start thinking about how they prepare their regulatory colleagues and their marketing tech colleagues. They need to start thinking, How would we go about doing this? My word to [marketers] is your competitors are doing this now and if youre not doing it yet, youre behind the game.

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Report: Motivating doctors to make the best health decisions - News - MM&M - Medical Marketing and Media

Christopher Milo speaks with a group of juniors in the cafeteria. (Photo by Deanne Johnson)

SALINEVILLE On first glance, Christopher Milo may not appear to be a teacher in the power of forgiveness, kindness and love helping students to conquer the tough problems they are facing.

But throughout this school year, Southern Local students are finding they have an extra special friend in Milo.

Appearing earlier in the school year at an assembly, Milo began introducing his 13 Messages from Milo, positive ideas, character traits, which can impact the students and their lives at school as well as in their futures. However, unlike other motivational speakers, Milo did not stop with one visit to the school.

Instead he has been seeking to connect with the students in smaller groups, returning to speak with students and giving them a chance to interact with him.

He attends games, including making the long journey from his home near Cleveland to Glouster when the Southern Local football team played the Trimble Tomcats in the first round of the playoffs this fall.

Theyre worth it, Milo said of his decision to make the trip to support his friends, including the boys on the team, who had invited him. This is about showing them what it is that Im teaching them. If were not modeling to our young people what it is that were trying to teach them, then Im no better than anyone else.

With his tall Mohawk hairstyle, Milo fits right in on the Indians sideline and is recognized by students throughout the hallways at the school. They take the opportunities to walk over to greet him, offering a high five on the way by. He poses for selfies. He makes students smile.

But perhaps even more importantly, he becomes one more person they can ask about lifes tough questions.

Recently, school administrators from across the state have been emphasizing the importance of helping the mental health of students. From students claiming they are stressed to those admitting they have even considered suicide, the numbers of students reporting problems has been growing. An annual survey in Columbiana County schools through the Educational Service Center showed students are increasingly dealing with some tough issues, including suicide, eating disorders, depression, alcohol and drugs.

Besides the normal stress that goes along with growing up, Milo notes there are a lot of students who are in some way connected to the increases in drug use, opioid overdoses and crime in recent years. Grandparents, who may have struggled to provide their own children with the necessary tools to stay off drugs and out of trouble, in some cases may now trying to raise their grandchild.

Milo said he believes in working with everyone in the family children, parents and grandparents.

When we lead with love instead of fear, the results are much greater, Milo said this week.

Milo has had a few things happen in his life, things that have led him to want to be a service to others and help them overcome their problems.

Milo considers himself a walking miracle now two decades after he overcame paralysis, from which doctors told him he would never walk again. Never having surgery, Milo credits Jesus for his recovery.

Im so blessed, so incredibly blessed, Milo said. While he stresses his program is not a faith-based program in any way, teaching love and kindness in schools is still the basis, the building blocks for creating a community of better people.

A renowned concert pianist, Milo was at one point providing the entertainment on cruise ships, living the good life, but he came to realize he needed to help others.

The increase of self-harm and suicide and the drug epidemic and the opioid epidemic and what not just kept increasing, Milo said. I just couldnt justify being on my third free filet mignon knowing that that need was at home, Milo said.

Another moment that brought him down his current path came when Milo said a woman in Youngstown saw him performing music on TV. She contacted him to say her son needed a special friend at school. The young man had been diagnosed with cancer and had gained a lot of weight due to the drugs he needed to take. He was being bullied and Milo decided he would go to the school and meet the young student. He attended a couple classes and ate lunch with him.

Everywhere I went (in the school) I recognized him and I thanked him for inviting me and for being my special friend and it turned everything around, Milo said. And what happened that day was life changing, they said for him, but I think it was more life changing for me because 13 years later Im still doing the same thing that I was doing that day.

Milo said he first spends time with the schools teachers and staff learning about what that school and community are about, where the problems lie and where are the strengths. Then he spends a day at the school doing what he calls the interruption visit, noting with his hairstyle and his story, he automatically gets noticed.

After that initial visit, he returns often and takes the time to talk to the students frankly about some of the issues they may be facing bullying, suicide solutions, self-harm, teenage pregnancy, trafficking and rape crisis.

Our young people are going through an identity crisis, Milo said. Were trying to figure out who we are, and I do my best to lead them down the right path.

To Milo, the most important part is following up with the students throughout the next few months and next school year.

During a short talk with the Southern Local juniors this week, Milo covered several topics urging them to seek support and support each other. He told the students no matter how tough things may become or seem to be in their life, they cannot let that define them. Each of them can make a positive change to improve their own lives and the community.

While high school students may begin to believe they know everything, Milo let the students know there will come a time when they realize they need some help and they should ask for it, because no one has all the answers. He offers to be available if they want to talk to him or urges them to speak with another trusted adult at the school.

Milo rounded out his message by talking to the students about their futures and letting them know nobody is perfect and everyone makes mistakes, but what is important is what they learn from them. While apologizing may be difficult, its important to admit when you may have hurt someone, apologize and ask for forgiveness.

High school principal Jay Kiger said the most important thing Milo does is connect with the students, using his focus on them and his ability to reach them with personal experiences to be a positive influence.

Teachers want to have it, Kiger said of the ability to connect to students. Whatever it is, hes got it.

Milo plans to be in the school building about once every other week and Southern Local is not the only place he spends time spreading the message that all people are valuable. He takes his message on the road throughout Ohio, meeting with people in businesses, schools and churches, anywhere people are seeking guidance to improve their lives and those around them in both small towns and large cities.

People are people, and Ive learned that the building blocks for success begins with great people, but the truth of the matter is, not all people are great, Milo said. I feel very fortunate that I get to do what I get to do.

djohnson@mojonews.com

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Students have a friend in motivational speaker Milo | News, Sports, Jobs - The Review

Its a pressure cooker for the IT and security channel today a threat landscape that serves up constant surprises, tighter customer budgets, solution complexity requiring even more time, and then that thing called the margin.

Up against these hurdles, if youre running a managed services or managed security services business, the last thing you need is a drop in your teams morale, motivation, and performance or even worse, a sudden exit from your company.

The cybersecurity industry, digitization, and the evolving workplace can often serve as a motivator for some employees , while being too overwhelming for others. The reality is that engaged employees produce results.

Are you making the time to invest in your team and drive engagement? Do you know where to start? It could be easier than you think.

Your teams are a powerful resource for your business. These individuals are your companys ambassadors, ready to believe in your vision, build the brand, and contribute to growing a successful company.

And this is more critical than ever before. Staying relevant in the fast-paced digital era not only requires the technology skills and the right product portfolio, but a laser focus on customer service. Who better to deliver that than the people on your front lines?

Its not hard to see the correlation between investing and results. In fact, as Fortunes annual list of the best companies to work for shows, companies like Hilton, Safesforce, and Workday are just a few of the global brands that have made investments in their employees to build happy, productive workforces and increase recurring revenue.

Its time this same focus is applied to managed IT and security services.

Leadership often inspires engagement. For example, factors like how you choose to manage and reward your team and the culture that you create for your workplace are instrumental in laying a smart foundation that demonstrates your commitment to your team. And research supports this in fact, a recent human resources survey revealed that 74% of employees believe leadership style is the greatest influencer of employee engagement.

Truly investing in your team that is, taking an interest in your people, beyond sales results and bottom line numbers is worth the effort. Yet, only 28% of respondents in the HR survey viewed their leaders as highly skilled at fostering engagement. For an IT service provider or reseller, positive engagement can be the difference in driving a new customer win and continuously producing recurring revenue.

If youre running a small business, you may already have a good level of engagement 78% of employees at companies with less than 250 team members are highly engaged but the key is demonstrating a consistent and genuine investment in your team.

So the question becomes, how will you engage your employees, invest in their skills and unique talents, and build a powerful brand in the managed services and security space?

Methods differ depending on management style, team skills and characteristics, and business goals. But there are a few realistic steps you can take to kickstart the journey.

Establishing trust shows your team you are confident in their skills and potential and that motivates and inspires people. Demonstrating trust doesnt come overnight its hard work made even more challenging by the fast pace of daily business.

Building trust begins with being honest and supportive. Create a safe and supportive environment by communicating with team members. Make time for each team member, no matter how brief. Connect and communicate, even if its a quick coffee or lunch, or a 10-minute walk outside.

Be consistent and schedule time to connect on a regular basis, and use that time in smart ways. Ask about their week and current challenges. How are they feeling about where the business is going? How can you improve in terms of being a manager? How can you better support them? Share insights about the business.

The time and conversations you have will help you understand your team. In return they will be able to see your interest in their role and contributions.

Your team members are your ambassadors. How are you helping them get to the next level? How are you inspiring them to be better?

Delegating new projects with greater responsibilities is a great place to start. Assign a project with a goal and timeline, something key to the business goals. Assigning new tasks and projects motivates team members to excel and contribute. It also starts taking things from your plate so you can make progress as well.

Empowering teams is a win-win for everyone Google listed it among the top 10 characteristics of best managers.

Be strategic in terms of what you ask them to take on. Understand not only their current tasks and responsibilities, but also the challenges they face and how they view success. Where do they feel they shine? Are there areas where you can better support them?

Take a real interest, and be realistic and genuine about the path for them.

Fostering an environment where learning, improvement, and career advancement can happen is a smart investment and will lead to a stronger, more competitive business.

How is your team staying updated on industry best practices, sales techniques, and technologies? What training and continuing education courses do you have in place today? Are you investing in internal training programs? What things are you putting in place to challenge, motivate, and ensure continuous improvement?

If you currently have training programs in place, are they effective for every team member? Do they align with your business goals?

Investing in your people not only requires building trust and empowerment, but also making the right investments in sales and technical training. Get started by reflecting on the strengths of your business, where your service model really shines, the challenges, and the direction youre taking for this year, next year, and beyond. Then review the skill sets and responsibilities of team members. What does your team need and want to improve?

Is there training you would recommend? LinkedIns 2019 Workplace Learning Report shows 75% of employees would take a course suggested by their manager. The same study revealed that 94% of employees say they would stay at a company longer if it invested in their learning.

Discuss training with team members and gather their feedback so your learning investment will be strategic and rewarding for everyone.

Feedback, recognition, and praise are powerful motivators that drive engagement. Continually showing your support through positive, constructive feedback and rewards may even boost productivity. One study showed that 40% of employees would put more energy into their work if they were recognized more often.

Acknowledging your teams contributions, big and small, on a regular basis can be as simple as a callout during a meeting, stopping by a team members desk, or scheduling a coffee or lunch. Rewards can take any shape whether its extra time off, catered lunches, occasional remote work, a bonus, even covering costs for training but ensure its thoughtful and relevant for your team.

You may soon see that investing in a consistent rewards effort can make a tremendous difference in morale, motivation, and engagement.

If you want to take your company to the next level and boost those security service revenue numbers, start investing in your people. Making time to invest in your team is a smart strategy for building an engaged, motivated skilled workforce that will take your brand and business to new heights.

The key is taking time each day to connect and communicate with team members. Build trust by showing your support and sharing your insights. Look for ways to delegate projects that will challenge and empower employees empowerment that builds strong employees and delivers business benefits. Ensure there is coaching and training in place to improve sales skills, learn new technologies, and stay current with best practices. And finally, recognize contributions on a regular basis.

Ready to start investing? For a limited time, Avast Business is offering FREE training modules (a regular cost of $700 per user) for current and new partners. Use this training and develop new sales skills, increase close rates, drive growth and demonstrate your continual investment in your team. Specifically designed for MSPs and IT solution providers, your team will benefit from the actionable insights, specific sales examples, and smart ways to build a higher-revenue business.

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How To Keep Your IT Team Motivated | Avast - Security Boulevard

Mike Sonko poses with a gun (Photo | Courtesy) SUMMARY

The governor who started 2019 in a high was slowly diminished in events that lead the governor to lose access to his office.

The outspoken Governor found himself drowned in deep misuse of office allegations that followed his dramatic arrest.

Nairobi County Governor Mike Sonko towards the end of the last decade was indeed a troubled man when it came to governance of the capital.

The governor who started 2019 in a high tone was slowly diminished in events that lead the governor to lose access to his office.

The outspoken Governor found himself drowned in deep misuse of office allegations that followed his dramatic arrest.

Humbled and shaken, the governors mannerisms changed drastically after his release from lawful custody on bail.

The governor who once took to social media to harshly rebuke different entities, that is, County workers who did not heed to the offices they held/hold, the media, and others, has since been silent on such topics.

Instead, Sonko now uses his social media platforms to motivate his followers and fanatics with messages of encouragement.

The number of posts on motivation have increased while those on political agenda have drastically reduced.

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This has attracted the attention of a number of social media users and elicited mixed reactions.

Davie Evans - Politicians,very humble when weak. Wait till they regain the power they start abusing people.

Lee Makwiny - Governor, we have missed those matusi.

Sammy Mungai - Sonko, you have turned so religious of late after being barred from the office... I wish you wrote such inspirational quotes while posing on that golden dining room or while dancing in the office.

Kelvin Joey - Sonko is learning to live a life without sophisticated power. The governor of Kanamai kilifi doesn't know how he would handle this situation. He's in a shock.

Austin flipper - God really should be glorified He used that way to win your soul.

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The Los Angeles Lakers went into Saturdays game against the red-hot Oklahoma City Thunder down three starters: Danny Green, Anthony Davis and LeBron James. For most teams, thats a death sentence, and with the supposed lack of depth the Lakers have around their two superstar players, it was supposed to be but it wasnt.

Instead, the Lakers got season-high scoring performances out of Rajon Rondo and Kyle Kuzma and 25 combined points from Quinn Cook and Troy Daniels, who had played a combined 17 minutes in the three games prior. In total, the Lakers got 48 points from their bench over 12 points higher than their season average.

While some may assume that the Lakers inspired play was a result of them feeling like they had nothing to lose with three of their key players out, Cook told reporters that wasnt the case at all (via Spectrum SportsNet):

I dont think nobody in this locker room thought we were the underdog, honestly We werent going out there and playing with free money. We wanted to go out there and compete as hard as possible.

According to Kyle Kuzma, thats the mindset the Lakers try to play with every night because everyone in the locker room is fighting for something, whether its an NBA championship or a spot in the rotation (via Spectrum SportsNet):

Everybody on this team has something to prove. AD is trying to win a ring. Bron is trying to win one in LA. Im trying to establish myself just down the line. Dwights redemption. Everybody has something to prove, and we dont take games lightly Were just a tight-knit group and we want to go out and dominate every game, and we dont see why we cant win every game.

We come into every game thinking we can win, no matter who is on the court. We believe that were the best team in the league, and just play with that confidence and swag.

That type of mentality can be detrimental to a team, as weve seen with countless young teams in the past, but on a team as experienced and in sync as this years Lakers team, it seems to be working in their favor.

Now, the challenge for Vogel is to figure out how to get similar production from his bench unit when James and Davis are healthy. On the season, the Lakers are ranked 13th in bench scoring.

Hopefully these past two games have helped Vogel understand not just which players work together, but why they work together and how they can get better.

For more Lakers talk, subscribe to the Silver Screen and Roll podcast feed on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher or Google Podcasts. You can follow this author on Twitter at @RadRivas.

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Medical Technology is now available on all devices! Read it here for free in the web browser of your computer, tablet or smartphone.

To kick off the new decade, we find out how technological innovations are revolutionising hearing aids, speak to industry insiders to understand how 3D printing is changing dentistry, and examine the challenge of regulating implants as the market continues to expand and new technologies continue to blur the boundaries between what is and is not a medical device.

Sticking with implants, we delve into the complicated world of transhumanism and biohacking to find out how rising interest in tech implants could impact medical devices, explore ways that tech can unleash preventative personalised medicine with Verita, and learn more about a computerised kidney, which is helping to shed light on dehydration.

Plus, we take a look at the current state of the medical tourism industry to see how technology is impacting such a profitable sector, find out how combining wearables and drugs could help to treat Alzheimers, and as always we get the latest industry analysis and insight from GlobalData.

Timeline: the evolution of hearing aids Hearing aids have come a long way since the weird and wonderful vacuum tube contraptions of the 1800s, but its only within the last few decades that a truly transformative wave of fashionable, functional devices have started to appear. But how did this happen?Chloe Kentlooks back at the history of digital hearing aids, from the first devices of the 1990s to the innovative AI-powered technologies of the present day. Read more.

Open wide: how 3D printing is reshaping dentistry The dental 3D printing market is expected to reach $930m by the end of 2025, and its application across different procedures is far-reaching, from the development of dentures to Invisalign retainer braces.Chloe Kentspeaks to Digital Smile Design directorGeorge Cabanasand Formlabs dental project managerSam Wainwrightto learn more about how 3D printing could help us all smile a little brighter. Read more.

Regulating implants: how to ensure safety As the implant market expands and new innovations become a reality, the challenge of regulating these new technologies is getting harder. With biohacking implants already being performed in tattoo studios, how will regulators ensure the safety of patients?Abi Millar reports. Read more.

From grinders to biohackers: where medical technology meets body modification A new generation of patients are demanding medical interventions that not only make it easier to manage medical conditions, but also enhance their day-to-day lives. Engineers and researchers have responded with futuristic innovations that push the boundaries of biohacking.Chloe Kentrounds up the bizarre and brilliant innovations that could be the future of medicine as we know it. Read more.

Q&A: how tech can unleash preventative personalised medicine with Verita Verita Healthcare Group is a company with fingers in many pies, but one of its key focuses is on bringing preventative healthcare to the masses through technology.Chloe Kentcatches up withJulian AndrieszandJames Grant Wetherillto find out more about the companys latest digital health acquisitions and what it sees in its future. Read more.

No filter: understanding how medicines impact dehydration Computer models of a kidney developed at the University of Waterloo could tell us more about the impacts of medicines taken by people prone to dehydration.Natalie Healeyfinds out more. Read more.

Medical tourism: how is digital tech reshaping the industry? Medical tourism is a large and growing sector that is being driven by high costs and long waiting times in developed countries. But how is the rise of digital technology and Big Data influencing the development of medical tourism hotspots around the world?Chris Lofinds out. Read more.

Triple combo: calming Alzheimers agitation with ai, wearables and a novel drug BioXcel Therapeutics is developing an acute agitation drug, BXCL501, for Alzheimers disease. To improve management and prevention of agitation, the company is leveraging an existing wearable device and developing AI algorithms to predict and prevent aggressive agitation.Allie Nawratexplores this novel, triple combination initiative to prevent and treat symptoms of Alzheimers. Read more.

In the next issue of Medical Technology we take a look at the need for a more proactive approach to encourage health screening uptake, and explore ways that AI could help to make healthcare more human-centric.

Also in the next issue, we find out how a combination of virtual reality and haptics is being used to help virtually train surgeons to perform complex procedures, examine the potential of smell-powered diagnostics, and investigate the rise of chronic illness groups on social media platforms.

Plus, we examine how the uncertain future of Ehtylene oxide could impact device manufacturers, speak to Medidata about the companys merger with Dassault Systmes, and take a look at the recall of Bayers Essure contraceptive implant.

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The future of implants in the latest Medical Technology - Medical Device Network

As parts of the world transition to a more plant-based diet, restaurants offering Shojin cuisine have become more accessible, drawing patrons from all walks of life.

But what exactly is Shojin, and how does it work as a dietary choice?

Ren Redzepi, an award-winning Danish chef and co-owner of Copenhagens two-Michelin star restaurant Noma set out for Japan to learn about the cuisine from an authentic Japanese master, Toshio Tanahashi.

Its a style of cooking originating from the 7th century Japan. A vegetarian cuisine meant for Buddhist monks abstaining from taking any life, Redzepi writes in an Instagram post. The cuisine of Zen Buddhism.

Not all Buddhists are vegetarians, but for ancient monks who followed the precept of abstaining from the taking of life, vegetarianism was the way to nourish their physical bodies.

First introduced to Kyoto monasteries from China in the 7th and 8th centuries, the cuisine primarily consisted of vegetables that were boiled or eaten raw with simple seasonings.

Dogen Zenji, the founder of the Soto sect of Zen Buddhism, wrote an essay titled Tenzo Kyokun (Instructions for the Cook), which sparked further development in the art.

By the 13th century, it evolved to become Shojin ryori, combining the words shojin (meaning devotion) and ryori (meaning cooking).

Based in Kyoto himself, Tanahashi has decades of experience in Shojin cuisine, hosting events around the world to share its philosophy.

He believes that the age of gluttonous cuisine is over and that Shojin is the best alternative to our meat-heavy, fat-saturated and wasteful diets.

In February 2008, Tanahashi established the Zecoow Culinary Institute, which plans to establish a Shojin dojo a traditional space for learning that would serve as a center for proliferating and advocating the art and spirit of the cuisine.

In my pursuit of Shojin cuisine, regardless of whether from the east or the west, my aim is to continue to discover how the unique Shojin approach can reveal true beauty and health in our clothes, home, environment, healing practices, and agriculture, Tanahashi says.

As its name implies, Shojin ryori is not merely an adherence to a vegetarian diet. In essence, it is the practice of meditating while consuming a plant-based diet.

Plants give tangible and intangible joys of living, helping establish a healthy life, Tanahashi says. This is the basis of the right way to live for mankind. No more and no less. The gratitude in knowing that this is enough will lead to good health.

Like the concept of veganism, Shojin goes further beyond the cuisine, according to Tanahashi.

A plant-centered, calm and modest life will lead to physical and mental health. Crime and conflict will be reduced, he says. I believe that a plant-based life is the richest and most beautiful form of humanity, [when subscribed to] in all clothing, food, and shelter.

Redzepi, meanwhile, is part of MAD, a global cooking community with a social conscience and an appetite for change. He has also co-written a book on fermentation with David Zilber, who also works at Noma.

Redzepi, who has nearly 900,000 followers, concluded his Instagram post by sharing his learnings from Tanahashi. Some include:

Nature and environment is the starting point for us all. By attaining a symbiosis with the land, we can understand that earth and body are inseparable, he adds.

Feature Images via @reneredzepinoma (left, right), Zeecow Culinary Institute (center)

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Japanese Master Teaches Shojin Cuisine to One of the Best Chefs in the World - NextShark

Shih-In Ma is a social justice advocate who works to promote diversity and inclusion in Centre County.

The State College native and Penn State alum, left a corporate career at IBM to begin a journey of spirituality, self-reflection and meditation. Her journey has taken her around the world and included spending four years in India with Amma, who's known as the hugging saint.

Shih-In Ma teaches meditation and shares opportunities for others to gain better insight and understanding of those around them.

TRANSCRIPT:

Cheraine Stanford Welcome to Take Note on WPSU, I'm Cheraine Stanford. Shih-In Ma is a social justice advocate who works to promote diversity and inclusion in Centre County. The State College native and Penn State alum, left a corporate career at IBM to begin a journey of spirituality, self-reflection and meditation. Her journey has taken her around the world and included spending four years in India with Amma, who's known as the hugging saint. Shih-In Ma teaches meditation and shares opportunities for others to gain better insight and understanding of those around them. Shih-In Ma, thank you for joining us today.Shih-In Ma Thank you for having me.Cheraine Stanford I think one of the things that you're probably best known for is a list or listserv of, you know, diversity activities and organizations and just events that you call the inclusion expansion opportunities. Can you explain a little bit about what that is and why you decided to start that?Shih-In Ma Well, actually, the IE what I call IEOs is a list of everything I can find locally to help people get to know and learn about the lives of to meet people outside their demographics. So coming from the Bay Area in California, honestly, I find this place to be pretty homogenous. And so. And I really love diversity. I've traveled a lot. There's so much to learn. And yet I think that people are at heart the same across cultures, across religions across any any of these kinds of demographics. So I started the list when I first came here, because I wanted to do this for myself. And finally, I guess this is two, two and a half years ago. It's like wow, maybe it'd be helpful for some other people. So now, now I do it pretty much about when I, as my time allows about every three weeks on the other piece of that, so for initially I was trying to leave myself out of it. Now I'm finding since I'm the editor and the curator of it, I guess sometimes I put things in so that people because most people who are really busy, so things that they can read things of links, because I find that at least what I learned in school in terms of history, what have lots of things were missing. And there's more and more coming out. And so as, as people, we, there's a process, it's psychological is also spiritual of projection. So I actually don't know what's going on with you, right? I just look and say, if she looked like that, if she had that facial expression, if she had that tone of voice, or he or whatever, that would mean this, right? So then we put our projections out, and we think that they're real. And so this is the beginning of, to me, biases of prejudice, of stereotypes and this sort of thing. So when and studies have shown that we tend to be really siloed in terms of who we run around with on demographics and in a place as homogenous as a State College, or even, you know, Bellefonte, where I live is even more homogenous, right? That then we actually don't get out of our, we don't get out of our silos and we can continue to have these misconceptions about each other. And it could be positive or negative.Cheraine Stanford So you're hoping that this list would help people go to spaces and places to do more of that learning about different kinds of peopleShih-In Ma And meeting people coming to see lives that aren't their own. Even if they don't go for instance, there was a thing in Carlisle that there actually was an Indian School in Carlisle, where they were pulling what they called an Indian school where they were basically pulling Native Americans out of their homes, depriving them of the right to their language, cutting, their hairs, changing trying to change the culture, right? I read that and it's like, oh, you know, this is going on. So I put it in the list. I don't necessarily expect anybody to go but I'm hoping and this is what I've heard back from some people who tell me even just reading the list, they get little light bulbs of "Oh, yeah. What's going on? Oh, yeah, this is possible." So I mean, honestly, at this point with this list, maybe on a good day, good week, I go to one or two events in addition to my regular commitments, right. So I don't go to all of them, but even just knowing to get us to think outside of our usual life experience. That's part of my, my goal for that.Cheraine Stanford And you mentioned going to the Bay Area, you were in the Bay Area, but you grew up in this area. You grew up in State College. Can you talk about what it was like to grow up in State College? It would have been the end of the 50s, early 60s here. What was that like for you growing up as a child?Shih-In Ma Oh, it was so white, honestly. So for those of you who don't know, I'm Chinese American, in terms of ethnicity. So I had 600 people in my college class and when I started to get involved here, when I came back from India, I started to look at I went through the yearbook, starting to count becauseCheraine Stanford You said 600 people in your--Shih-In Ma No, no, sorry, high school, in my highschool class. So out of that I could count approximately 10 of us of people of color. Right. So, as much as it's, well, Centre County, I believe I read was 88%. White, right? As much as that's 88% white now, it was a lot whiter then. So, there was racism, there was name calling, there was bullying. And it yeah, it's, you know, I, I'm here, I've done a lot of inner work to heal from the trauma that and some issues with my family of origin. So I know how much it hurts. And that's part of the other reason I'm involved in, in some of this. I also know which is that we're, as human beings I believe that we're capable of enormous good and also of causing enormous pain for other people. It's, it's worth the oppressor and the oppressed. We both hold what at least I find for myself the capability of both within within ourselves within myself. So part of this is to actually do my own inner work on my biases biases on my, I try and get people to take implicit bias tests at Project Implicit, they're free, they're all across all different kinds of demographics, getting we can't change something that we're not aware of. And none of us likes to be on the receiving end of bullying, of disparagement of discrimination. And so I think the flip side is that we have a moral duty to look inside ourselves and find out where we might be perpetrating these same kind of behaviors on other people.Unknown Speaker What do you think are some of the biggest issues that are facing us in Central Pennsylvania? That's our local community? What are some of the issues that you're seeing?Shih-In Ma I think that people are really busy. I think that culturally, I'm actually I'm reading a book right now by brother Wayne Teasdale called "The Mystic Heart" and he, he says that our culture is so focused on consumerism, this is not just Central Pennsylvania consumerism and entertainment. So, I, you know, I don't have a TV, I haven't had a TV for probably 20 years, right? That we get, we're looking for distractions, right, we're looking for so whether or not it's shopping or it's drugs or it's work, or what we're looking for distractions, we're not actually coming being present to ourselves. And so as a result of all these distractions, we're also not being present to what's going on in the community. Also, because of the siloing, I just talked about, about people, you know, there was a study by what PRRI I think that said that and this is a US study not Central Pennsylvania but 75% of white people had no people color as friends, right, 90% only had one, one or less people of color as friends. So, we have so much and religiously, you know, most Christians stick together, Muslims stick together and we I mean, it's just, we're just continuing this kind of compartmentalization. So, to me that's one of the things that makes me the saddest here. And then, when we're so distracted then we're actually not finding the common goodness in our heart so that it's a child of God, the Buddha nature, the whatever you want to call it, the essence of of the truth of who we are, which is totally independent. It was totally connected, which is sharing the same divinity because we're watching television. So, I think that that distraction is, is a problem. I think that not having conversations that we need to have. And you know, I'm as much, I don't want to say, to blame, but I find it's hard to have conversations about hard topics. But I think we need to have, we need to have those. And yet, we also need to be able to be open to opinions and worldviews that aren't our own. Because otherwise, we're just preaching to the choir.Cheraine Stanford After growing up here, you went to Penn State.Shih-In Ma I went and got a Bachelor's in math. And then I went to the Peace Corps for two years in Ghana, west Africa, which changed my life actually one of the major life changing experiences, I came back here and got a degree in engineering and then I went off to Arizona to work for IBM.Cheraine Stanford So let's step back. Why was the Peace Corps experience so life changing?Shih-In Ma Because, you know, I grew up middle class, right. And so I actually went to the Peace Corps believing that there was three essential externals to happiness, three essential to happiness, a roof over my head running water and electricity. And then I got stationed out in a village at the end of the road, for which there was electricity from the village just in the evenings. So one thing that I discovered was that externals won't make happiness, happiness doesn't really come. I mean, there's some minimal I think things that make things easier, whatever, but really, happiness is independent of external circumstances. Another piece that I found out about, and it still actually informs, hopefully, how I treat other people and how I live is these people had, for the most part, so little materially, and they were so generous and so kind. I mean, I'd stand in line in the hot sun, for waiting for a bus and people who didn't know me, and would never see me again, would actually push me forward in the line. So basically, usually by the time the next bus came, I was there in the front seat, and they were still standing in line. Over those two years, there was a whole other way to live. There's a whole other way to treat strangers to treat people who don't look like you to treat this than frankly, what I think a lot of us do in this culture.Cheraine Stanford So you went to Penn State, got your undergraduate degree in math, went to the Peace Corps, got your masters in engineering, and then moved to the west coast to take a job at IBM,Shih-In Ma Actually Tucson, Arizona,Cheraine Stanford Tucson, Arizona.Shih-In Ma And from there, then I moved, I transferred with IBM to the Bay Area in California.Cheraine Stanford So why did what were you doing for IBM and did you enjoy it?Shih-In Ma Yeah, I actually I did a lot of things I went in as an engineer. I ended up in finance. I had a couple stints in management. I was the you know the assistant to a functional director, I did business system reorganization, a lot of different things and what I finally came to realize about that was for myself that I could do a lot of things but really why I went to work was for the people. And also I found out I didn't like management. So I'd say yeah, I enjoyed it, but in the meantime, there was always this kind of I don't know. I finally started looking looking inward and I realized, so following on from Peace Corps and externals, I had all the externals but yet there was something that was not really happy that was kind of depressed. And so that's why I ended up on this spiritual path or going on this inward path. So it's included some 12 steps and therapy. And then, you know, actually, we treat some things in the Christian the Buddhist, The Hindu, even the Sufi tradition, so I don't actually differentiate much across traditions. But this and then, in 1993, my therapist actually told me to read a book called "Tibetan Book of Living and Dying". I read that book and it's like, well, either the Tibetans are all 100% crazy, all of them, or everything I believed about life was subject to change. And so I thought, well, probably it's not the first thing so I became open to a lot of possibilities that I'd been conditioned against, or educated against. And so I went on retreat, and had actually a massive spiritual insight if you want to say an enlightenment experience. It closed it went on for the whole morning after lunch, and then it started to close but after that, I kind of lost my motivation to for the corporate world. I knew there was something more and I wanted it again. So a lot of the rest of my life has been focused on coming to live more with what is gnown and I don't mean known with the k-n-o-w like head knowing but g-n-o-w like gnosis with this with, with what, with what's known.Cheraine Stanford And so you left that corporate job after more than a decade of being there. What gave you the courage to do that?Shih-In Ma It just wasn't, it wasn't fulfilling. I had a little bit of money saved up. So, you know, I thought I could hack it for a while. And actually, one of the things that really helped me was, I had a mentor there. My boss, he became a friend. And at one point, he finally looked at me, he said, You know, I was talking to him about quitting or not, and he finally looked at me, he said, he said, "It's time for you to go," he said, "You've outgrown this place." So that kind of affirmation from him really helped me to decide to go.Cheraine Stanford If you're just joining us, this is Take Note on WPSU I'm Cheraine Stanford. Our guest is Shih-In Ma, a social justice advocate working to create an inclusive community in Centre County.Cheraine Stanford One of the things that I know you did was to spend four years with Amma, who's known as the hugging saint. For our audience who might not know, she does what her name suggests. She travels around the world and in other places and people wait in line for hours to hug her. She's hugged millions of people. How did you end up there? And what was it about her that drew you to her?Shih-In Ma Well, basically, the short of it is I well, I ended up with some back pain due to a car accident and physical therapy. None of this biofeedback didn't fix it. And somebody told me try yoga. So I started to try yoga. Then I started to feel energy running in my body. And about that time, I'd actually read about Amma two or three years earlier in a book by Linda Johnsen called "Daughters of the Goddess" about 10 women saints in India, and I was really drawn to her in particular but, you know, I was still in my box, say, prejudice box about, you know, thinking of Hinduism and Hare Krishnas at the airport when I was growing up. So I had to overcome that bias that prejudice. So finally, I read about her in yoga journal and said she was coming an hour and a half from where I live. So I took the day off work, and I went up to see her. And there was some sense of, well, recognition, you know, with this hug and just these tears, and it's like, oh, this is what's possible in a human body. I want that and that was, that's the beginning. That was the beginning. So I'd been every time she'd come to California, I would see her even though I was practicing Zen Buddhism, and really involved with most of my time at a Zen monastery, but when Amma would come to town, I would leave, I can go, go spend time. You know, we have physical bodies. We also have energy bodies, sometimes they're called auras. So my experience of being around Amma is that the shakti, the energy. It's like getting my aura clean. There's some purification, some healing that's going on about getting my aura cleaned, getting things, heaviness and things taken out. But, but I just, yeah, this is, you know, honestly, I think if Christ were reincarnated he would be Amma.Cheraine Stanford So I think if people looked at maybe your life journey, the path they would call it unconventional, maybe non-traditional, but when you when you look back to the things that you're doing now, these spiritual experiences you've had, is there a through-line that you see, is there a path that you can see when you look back over your life?Shih-In Ma Well, I think it comes down to spiritual issues. [Inaudible] would say "Your Buddha nature is always calling for you." Right? I think there's something in the Christian tradition about God is always calling us home. There's a question about why were we born why, we're not this body, that consciousness comes into the body and when we pass away, it leaves the body. So the question about why were we born? Why did we take this incarnation? I think that's a question that we need to answer. So whether we answer it while we're still young or whatever, by the time you hit your deathbed, I think most people are going to be my father, for instance, you know, when he was on his deathbed, we're going to face that question sooner or later. When we stop our distractions there is there is this calling and this call is always calling us home.Cheraine Stanford And your call home literal home. You did come back to State College. How did you end up coming moving back to State College?Shih-In Ma Because my mother still lived here. And so I was four years in India and every time I'd come back, she was in her early 90s and I'd come back and you know, there's just a little bit of kind of going downhill. And then the next last time I came back, it was like the slope had steepened. And it just got really clear to me that my brother has a full time job in New Hampshire and so it got really clear that I needed to come back and take care of her as as, as a daughter, and also as part of my spiritual practice. It's probably one of the hardest things I've ever done.Cheraine Stanford What was hard about it?Shih-In Ma Because there was trauma in my life growing up. So whatever wasn't healed around that, actually, some stuff came up, you know, when I was living with her. And because I had found what I thought was like a home there, I was working at the temple, helping the priests with the poojas and things and teaching people how to make the offerings and all I really had found, had found something and also with the people who really prioritized their spiritual life, both with say the Zen monastery that I was at and also with this, whereas here, I find I get kind of dispersed and I can get distracted, I go shopping on Amazon or whatever because people don't prioritize that here. But basically coming back to the town and not knowing anybody and starting over, with actually no clothes and whatever and starting over again.Cheraine Stanford So when you moved here you were living in a monastery?Shih-In Ma Yeah, well, I was came from Amma's ashram, monastery in India. So, I did the four years there, and then I came back, came back here.Cheraine Stanford And that healing that you have talked about the spiritual, you know, inner work that you've talked about. Do you feel like your life has been better doing that work?Shih-In Ma Oh, absolutely. Absolutely. I mean, at one point in my life, I, my vision of life was that, I mean, I was really depressed that you even though I was doing fine at IBM, right, so that you drive, you're going down a tunnel and when you die, basically you're a train going down a dark tunnel when you die, you hit the end of the tunnel, right? And now you It's like totally I mean, life is a mystery. It's a joy. There's so many blessings. So, I feel really blessed about it. But people wouldn't know that actually from talking to me or looking at me that this is where I've come from. But it's, it's possible. It's possible.Cheraine Stanford How did you come to teach meditation to women who are incarcerated?Shih-In Ma I actually practice with the local Zen group and they were wanting actually one year they were wanting calendars. So I started to collect calendars and collected like 1300 calendars because there's 1400 ladies. So the next year, they asked the Zen teacher that's associated with the group, I mean, if she would teach Zen, and she said, well, she would teach Zen if I would co-teach with her. Right? And then we could trade off or whatever. Well, she got really busy and she only went in once. And so I've been teaching this is at Muncy women's prison. I've been teaching there for three years now. So I don't You know, I was really surprised that she said that and I don't really feel qualified in some way. But, but I know a lot about ending suffering. There's the, in the Buddhist and Hindu traditions there's that pain, old age, sickness and death are inevitable. Suffering is optional. So the high-level view is suffering is caused by attachment and greed, by hatred, and aversion, or by delusion and ignorance. So basically, the power in that is that we have a way to influence or to change, practice our responses to things so were not always in reaction to things and especially to things we can't change.Cheraine Stanford And how does meditation, what role has that played in your life and how, what impact have you seen it have on the women you work with? If, if there has been anything.Shih-In Ma Meditation I think has helped me slow down it's helped me to come inward, to come inward and to be more centered. I don't worry as much. I mean, I used to worry a lot. But now it's like the thoughts come up and it's like, oh, it's worry, because actually, it's really hard to have a thought that's in the present. We either are in the past or the future, or there's a saying, which that with one foot in the past, and the other foot in the future, right, we're peeing on the present, right? It's true.Cheraine Stanford I've never heard saying.Shih-In Ma So, so I think it's really, it's really helped me that way. So I actually, as I said, I'm not I don't consider myself depressed anymore. And I have a lot more trust and I think calm, hopefully, you'll have to tell me, somebody else will have to tell me more kindness and more compassion than I did. For the ladies particularly the ladies at Muncy they say it's helping them, they don't always practice the whole lot, but it's helping them also. I'm just, for the most part I take in Rumi I take in Byron Katie, which is one of the best ways of working with, she's a nondenominational teacher, "Loving What Is", one of the best ways of unknotting thoughts I've ever found. So I take in whatever I think helps them and mostly just to my aspiration, to see them and help them see themselves in their true nature. Because I think that's one of the steps what we can find is what the Christians call I guess, the fruits of the Holy Spirit. So you know, kindness, compassion, patience, this sort of thing, we don't have to become a better person, this is who we are. When when, when things, ego, whatever gets thinner, then we are we are that we are love. We are this loving awareness. We are, we are that so, you know, I spent a lot of my life trying to be a better person. But basically, that's like beating yourself up trying to be a better person, which is just another form of violence.Cheraine Stanford Tell me about singing in Essence 2 which is a local choir that performs music from the African and African American tradition. Have you always enjoyed singing?Shih-In Ma Yeah, I've always enjoyed singing but this is the most I've ever, ever, ever enjoyed singing. So somebody told me about this choir, four years ago, or something and I've joined I basically set my whole schedule around this around this choir. I love the music. It's devotional, but mostly, it's this energy again. So that, Shakti, Holy Spirit, whatever. I mean, I go to rehearsals, and a lot of times I go tired, maybe I'm kind of whatever and I leave flying, that the energy is coming through in the music,Cheraine Stanford The work that you are doing now, to try to bring some inclusivity to the area. How do you think people can better connect with each other?Shih-In Ma By trying to put ourselves in each other's shoes. So when I go into, say, a fast food restaurant, and then I look and I, you know, I try and imagine what is it like to live on $7.25 an hour, sometimes, like, when things happen to people of different demographics, or whatever, then I try and change the picture kind of like, you know, the the woman that Brock Turner raped, has got, now got her book out, right. And one of her questions was, well, would he have he got a six months sentence, right, that actually only spent three months in jail for being caught. I mean, a lot of people rape and they don't get caught. And her question, one of her questions was, well, if he had been a person of color from, you know, lower income underprivileged status to whatever would this have happened? You know, and honestly, I think no. So, even looking at something like that, and then knowing what the statistics are some amount of knowledge and this sort of thing and then trying to imagine what would it have been like if the demographics were different? I think that's that's one way to help. I think there's another way I came to a point maybe a year and a half ago or whatever where I was, and I'm still working on it, to be honest, where it's kind of like I was really struggling with people who had different views than I did. So I've got a bumper sticker on my car from American Friends Service Committee that says, "Love thy neighbor, no exceptions." And that is my that is my aspiration.Cheraine Stanford So, you're involved with groups like Community and Campus in Unity, Community Diversity Group and the Interfaith Initiative. What do you hope the impact or the work that you're doing and others are doing in this space, what do you hope the impact will be on this area?Shih-In Ma I hope that we will help create, I think the world that we all long for, you know, His Holiness, the Dalai Lama has said, everybody just wants to be happy, we all want to be safe, to have peace, right to to not struggle for our basic existence. So this we all share. And I think, but individually we need to come together. We need to come together but we need to take action as individuals to both inward inward actions internal process and also outward in the world in order to to help create this paradise.Cheraine Stanford Shih-In Ma, thank you so much for being with us today.Shih-In Ma Oh, thank you, Cheraine for having me.Cheraine Stanford Shih-In Ma is a social justice advocate who works to promote diversity and inclusion in Centre County. Shih-In Ma teaches meditation and shares opportunities for others to gain better insight and understanding of those around them. Hear more Take Note interviews on our website at wpsu.org/takenote. I'm Cheraine Stanford, WPSU.Transcribed by https://otter.ai

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