A Cyclist's Life in Tenerife (Canary Islands)

Everyone already knows that babies take 1-2 years to learn basic language communication skills. What people tend to forget is that adults actually have several advantages over infants when it comes to learning new languages…

«But babies learn by immersion; they soak up everything like a sponge!»

… I can just hear the echo now. Its the same thing I tell you!!! In less than 2 years I went from knowing almost nothing (10 or 20 words) to being able to go to communicate effectively with people, go to the cinema, watch it in Spanish and understand the plot. But although it appears I can speak fluently, there’s still a lot that I don’t fully understand. There are huge gaps in my knowledge, gaps which only a formal education would fix.

During a recent adult coversation we had in the car concerning traffic rules, I recently asked a my 4 year old Spanish sister-in-law (who was sitting in the back seat with me) if she understood what was being said. She shook her head – the answer was most [Read more →]

Tags: Island Life, Mental Anguish by Dr. Leslie Brown
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Every time you select a piece of fruit, based on the condition of its skin, you’re judging the contents. No one likes to eat a soggy banana or a rotten apple. We’ve come to learn that if  a banana is bruised & blackened on the outside, inside is most likely a soggy fruit mush. 

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Tags: Mental Anguish, Vida Enigmática by Dr. Leslie Brown
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The principals of acupuncture are based on the stimulation of certain points throughout the body. These points are interconnected and are known as meridians. The organs and limbs along these meridians beneficially respond to stimulation, with a subsequent relief of pain and an improvement in the general sense of well-being. [Read more →]

Tags: Inspiration., Mental Anguish, Science Simplified by Dr. Leslie Brown
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From my own personal experience, the state of chronic depression is a relatively slow & insidious process which begins by the inability to make major choices within a severely conflicting environment. Highly important decisions (those which affect not just yourself, but other people as well) take time to solve. But you dwell on the impact of all future negative consequences and their importance, and these types of situations cannot be solved simply or quickly. You then enter a repetitive negative thought state, constantly dwelling on the major conflicting problems so much so that you can’t even begin to make what would otherwise be very minor choices.

This leads to a complete lack of motivation to actually do anything to help yourself get out of the hole you’ve spiralled down into.  It’s a classic example of what physicists term a «feedback loop». Although you may or may not be aware of it, there appears to be no means of escape -eventually- you become so entrapped by your own pessimistic thoughts that you firmly believe that any choice you make will lead to unhappiness. It’s a terrible state of self pity & guilt. So you begin to contemplate the easiest ways of easing your own suffering, which is of course where the real danger lies. It is a complete breakdown of the mind. Its impossible to snap out of, even for normally hyper-optmistic thinkers.

Tags: Mental Anguish, Science Simplified by Dr. Leslie Brown
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Are we all making «nano-niches» for ourselves, in an attempt to fit into this new highly-customised, choice-oriented advanced consumer society? We now join online local communities such as forums, blog directories, myspace, dating sites, chat rooms. We subscribe to newsletters, RSS feeds. We can search for whatever we like with google, almost without limits. As individuals, we’re always searching to redefine ourselves, to find our life purpose.

But what happens if and when you can’t seem to find your own unique, specific niche? I’m talking about major areas of your life, like employment. Your ideal partner? Your own distinct style? Your identity? Can these two states of overchoice and underchoice lead to mental health problems? What happens to your mood when there are an infinite number of things you could possibly do with your life? Do you begin to block everything out, deny existence of something? [Read more →]

Tags: Inspiration., Mental Anguish, Vida Enigmática by Dr. Leslie Brown
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I found this particular website last month. Internet masters with more than 10 years experience know to be picky when adding newfound sites to your ever-expanding list of favourites, otherwise they can get out of control. But this is one example of a site that, once encountered, will surely remain in your favourites folder forever. If you’re lacking motivation, inspirationm have pessimistic thoughts, are depressed, etc, you won’t ever want to lose it.

«Happiness through Self Awareness; Change core beliefs, control emotional reactions, and create love and happiness in your relationships»

Anyway, normally I don’t link to other blogs directly, but everything this man writes is pure gold! I wanted to show his advice to others, especially the ones with mental health problems -I think that’s nearly everyone these days- because I really think this man has incredible wisdom, which he is so willing to share with the world in order to make it a better place.

Tags: Inspiration., Mental Anguish by Dr. Leslie Brown
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Well in recent news, I’ve been banned from the TenerifeForum.com, again. And basically, I could see it coming. Hence the recent posts concerning social outcasts. I talk about the breakdown of modern society; have we lost that all important ability to interact and communicate with others? Either face to face or even on the telephone. The internet seems to have stolen that from us.

The first time, all it took was to say «I think I’ll head over to www.sun4free.com … adios!» in a private message to one of the moderators, and they took that as a form of self-exile. «Self ban» it’s called, athough I never specifically requested that. I put it down to lack of communication. I simply intended to login less & not post as much. But given the chance, that one person jumped at the opportunity to expunge me from their growing community. Now I can’t even login to find & quote some of my former posts -a pity- because I think some of them were quite profound, especially in the context of society & culture.

The second time, a week later, the excuse given was for petty minor signature violations and spamming via PM. I changed the signature, removed my commercial link (which wasn’t allowed as it contained a link to my Spanish cycling forum with less than 10 members) and left the link to this blog. What happened next? Once again without warning, they notified me that the required font size is two not three. Except they bannished me before I had any chance to change it. Well done!

 

Let’s cut to the chase – Why the discrimination of all of a sudden?

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Tags: Island Life, Mental Anguish, News Reel by Dr. Leslie Brown
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My advice to anyone thinking of moving to a foreign land is to start thinking of yourself as an immigrant not just an expatriate, accept the local culture for what it is, try your HARDEST to learn the language and use it wherever possible. Don’t make the minimum effort – go for maximum effort! Think of it this way: Language is the very basis of communication, hence it is also the foundation of a new culture.

Talk with local people as often as possible, mix with them, mingle. Eventually you’ll create new friends & associates who you can talk to openly, then you may start to understand why their culture is the way it is. Always remember that no culture is superior to another… but we can ask the question «why are so they different?»

Contrary to popular belief, anyone can learn a new language, it just takes a lot of effort. Many English-only speaking people tend to think that the English language is superior to all others, and furthermore, that it is the responsibility of «foreigners» to learn English (even in non-English speaking countries!). But they also tend to under-appreciate genuine attempts to learn English. They take for granted the ability to speak, because they’re ignorant about the level of effort needed to learn a second language. I know, because I was definitely guilty of that when I could only speak one language. We expect to hear perfect English, but that is almost like asking the impossible. That mentality is just so wrong! It’s hypocritical, arrogant & conceited.

“There are no foreign lands. It is the traveler only who is foreign.” – Robert Louis Stevenson

To all immigrants and expatriates, I say the following: realise you’re not bringing your home nation with you. If you think your own culture or country is superior, ask yourself why you are moving away from it. After learning the local language, you should attempt to meld the best customs or attributes that you’ve learned from each separate culture. Try to understand the patterns of social behaviour from the perspective of a culture other than your own. Avoid falling victim to «immiscible culture» syndrome, where you fail to truly integrate & assimilate with local culture.

Tags: Island Life, Mental Anguish, Vida Enigmática by Dr. Leslie Brown
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WARNING: possible controversy ahead!!

Who actually invented the word «multiculturalism» anyway? I think it was our politicians who did that (at least in Australia). Sure, most cultures in a multicultural society tolerate each other, but I think the real trouble arises when immigrant cultures make little or no attempt to integrate into the host culture, leading to the «immiscible culture» syndrome described below. I notice that a lot of racist comments get thrown about in general conversation when it is 100% certain that the comments will not be heard.

As far as I can tell, there is absolutely no difference between a British person emmigrating to Tenerife and an Indian emigrating to London, or an Chinese person moving permanently to Australia… all these groups of people are attempting to improve their standard of living, and they can hardly be blamed for that. On the contrary - I’ll be the first to commend them on their courage as it is likely a real lot more difficult than they first imagined.

Normal people speak from their personal experiences, and here’s mine: Australia is commonly referred to now as being a multicultural society or a multicultural nation. I used to live in Sydney, Australia, in what was relatively normal suburb called «Hurstville». I lived 28 years of my life there. Throughout that time, the Hurstville retail zone was completely transformed. What happened was this:

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Tags: Island Life, Mental Anguish, Vida Enigmática by Dr. Leslie Brown
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Almost everyone has heard of Qantas, Pepsi and IBM. They’ve saturated the world with publicity. These are household names because everyone is familiar with the business & their products. That is to say, we all know they exist, we all knows what they sell, and most importantly we all know how to reach them.

At the extreme opposite end is a hermit living in Timbuktoo. He doesn’t have much connection with the outside world (if any), hence is local network may consist of him and his dog. So in other words, It’s a question of «popularity».

Social network theory views social relationships in terms of nodes and ties. Nodes are the entities within a network, and ties are the all-important relationships or connections between them. Entities may be organisations, businesses or individuals. They say that any two people on the planet are linked to each other by only six ties, on average.

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Tags: Mental Anguish, Science Simplified, That's Business by Dr. Leslie Brown
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PRACTISE LESSONS:

After attending many driving theory lectures and passing the test in spanish, I recently received my medical certificate after several lengthy delays.

I had my first driving lesson yesterday, in Spanish. Firstly, there is no option for learning with an automatic vehicle. That’s fair enough because this place has no flat roads and autos just don’t cut it here. Secondly, you’re not licensed to drive without an instructor until you’ve passed the practical exam. Naturally I was a nervous wreck, despite taking half a gram of trankimazen beforehand. Inside the car, he started off by explaining all the instruments and their functions. I showed the instructor my clammy palms, and he rather kindly handed me a serviette.

Although he spent a fair while talking about the electric windows, indicators and lights, he then seemed to spend little time explaining the gearbox and handbrake, finishing off by skipping straight over the use of the clutch, foot brake and accelerator. Before I knew it, he was asking me to reverse out of the parking space, and straight up a 15% slope!

From there it was around a tight bend, along a narrow street, and back down a 20% slope (where he gratefully assisted me with the pedals). We travelled from La Orotava through the old windy narrow road to Santa Ursula as far as El Sauzal. I thought we’d be heading straight over the bridge to the quiet zone of El Sauzal, but there was no such luck. Instead, at the last second, without any fore-warning, he made me turn right and incorporate straight onto the TF5 freeway.

Driving on a busy Spanish freeway on my very first lesson didn’t exactly reduce my anxiety level, and after 5 minutes or so, we had to stop for some diesel fuel. He went inside to pay, so lucky for me this was my little 5 minute break. Meanwhile, that sweat-drenched serviette quickly became a soggy ball of paper mush. It was at that point that I considered taking another trankimazen - but I thought I better not because the full gram is enough to knock most people out cold. I still hadn’t managed to get accustomed to using 3 pedals, and we were doing 100km/hr by the end of the lesson. But after having thrown me in the deep end so to speak, confronting my fears directly, head on, I’m sure I won’t be as nervous in future.

Tags: Island Life, Mental Anguish by Dr. Leslie Brown
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We live in a unique time; our almost instant global communications network is enough to impress anyone; but can all the knowledge it contains be a bad thing? In our time of the internet, both the growth of information and the ability to access that information is also increasing at an exponential rate. The vast amount of accessible knowledge overwhelms even the most capable person, especially about all the bad news we receive. It looms subconciously in our minds, while we try and forget.

We must make more and more daily choices than ever before. For a start, think of all the options on all your personal electronic devices. Customisable features such as screen savers, ring tones, fonts & sizes, printer & graphics settings, software programs. The list is endless.

Which e-mails to delete? Why? What to buy and sell. Where? Who should I meet? When? What information should I try do I avoid, and what information should I attempt to seek out? How do I do that? And ultimately: What choices do I choose to make? What do I do with my life now?

Tags: Mental Anguish, Vida Enigmática by Dr. Leslie Brown
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Reducing stress might be as easy as eating the right foods:

1. Blueberries—Besides having been identified as one of the healthiest foods around, blueberries are very high in vitamin C, which has been shown to give the body added reserves to help it deal with high levels of stress. Also, blueberries contain a high amount of fiber, which helps regulate blood sugar levels. Blood sugar levels that fluctuate too much are a major contributor to stress for some people.

2. Low fat or skim milk—Milk is very high in calcium and B vitamins, which help to build your bones and protect nerve health. It is also high in protein, and protein also helps blood sugar to stay stabilized. Try mixing some milk, a sweetener and some frozen blueberries in the blender for a healthy pick-me-up that is super good for you, and an excellent alternative to ice cream!

3. Oranges—Oranges are very rich in vitamin C. When you are stressed, your body releases even more free radicals than usual. Vitamin C helps to keep the free radicals in check, and repairs the body. Basically, it helps protect the body from the cumulative effects of stress.

4. Brown rice—All whole grains, including bulger wheat, quinoa, oats and brown rice contain plenty of B vitamins and also supply serotonin producing carbohydrates that do not spike blood sugar levels. They also contain plenty of healthy fiber.

5. Green vegetables—Broccoli, kale, and other dark green vegetables are powerhouses of vitamins that help replenish our bodies in times of stress. Many vegetables also contain potassium, which is good for our nerves and can calm them. Also, when we eat a diet high in vegetables, we do not feel weighed down by our diet, and it is easier to get stress-reducing exercise.

6. Dried apricots—These are rich in magnesium, which is a stress-buster. Some people even say that magnesium helps reduce heart palpitations brought on by stress. Magnesium is a natural muscle relaxant as well. Apricots are also high in fiber and vitamin C. Don’t eat too many of them, though, because they also contain quite a bit of fructose, a type of sugar. [Read more →]

Tags: Mental Anguish by Dr. Leslie Brown
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In Spain, learning how to drive is like attending University lectures. In fact the theory lessons are so incredibly pedantic, it could be complete curriculum for a university subject entitled «Advanced Driving Theory». However, Spanish traffic control is not really concerned at all about safety, just semantics. They attempt to trick you with each and every question. The answers usually all technically correct, or there’s one blatantly wrong answer. It’s just a question of which one of the remaining questions is most correct. And it’s going to get worse say the instructors, because they’re going to introduce what they call «multi-multiplechoice»… that’s where you can choose answers a; b; c; a and b; b and c; and finally a and c. Anything to get you to fail. But that’s a whole other story…

To be eligable for the theory test, you must first pass a medical examination (except I’d hardly call it that). First they ask for your €35 in the reception. From there, a psychologist asks you to perform a quick physical dexterity test. Next, you’re trundled off to yet another room where they do a rapid eye test. Finally you get to see another Doctor in yet another room who supposedly signs the paper, granting you a clean bill of health. Hey presto, you’re done in under 3 minutes!

Except it didn’t go like that for me. In my case, this relatively straightforward procedure was has just been yet another delay. [Read more →]

Tags: Island Life, Mental Anguish, That's Business by Dr. Leslie Brown
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THEORY LESSONS: 

Almost everybody takes for granted the ability to drive a car. OK, maybe not in the first few weeks… you’re an adolescent, you study the Learner manual for a few hours, sit in front of a computer at your local Roads & Traffic Authourity Office, and bingo, you’ve got yourself a new license. You’re now permitted to drive and you can worry about getting more experience and hence your P plates at a later time.

Now picture this: you are required to get your licence in another country, in another language. Because the country where you were born -Australia- and the country you now live in -Spain- well they don’t have any official reciprocal driving agreement. [Read more →]

Tags: Island Life, Mental Anguish by Dr. Leslie Brown
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I’ve visited 42 countries in the last 10 years, and I’ve noted their cultures and customs are all very different indeed. An act that is seen as polite in one culture (slurping soup in Japan), will almost certainly offend people here in Spain. Even the many individual island cultures of the pacific are all quite unique from each other.

Cultures are different, by their very definition. Whether you like it or not. Anyone who has travelled outside their own country has surely witnessed that. But it just so happens, that most cultures are divided by geographical barriers – country borders.

It’s generally fair to say that the majority of Japanese people are very reliable & puncutal. Likewise, if I were to say that Tongan people are very friendly, stress-free & relaxed, that comment would also be acceptable to most people. Why are these statements accepted? Because they’re positive cultural observations.

I’ve noticed that the real problem arises when you make a generalised negative comment about a particular culture. What if I said, for example, Tongan people don’t respect time and are usually running late. Or that Japanese people aren’t very flexible with their appointments? [Read more →]

Tags: Island Life, Mental Anguish, Vida Enigmática by Dr. Leslie Brown
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The human mind, when submitted to unusual levels of stress, reacts in many different ways. The more unusual cases, such as mental divergence, occur when the mind creates an alternate reality in which the patient can exist, free from the stresses of real-life. Such examples are schizophrenia, split-personality syndrome, schizophrenic psychosis, and dementia praecox. Others minds react with chronic depression, fatigue syndromes, and such disorders which directly affect bodily functions. Another sort of mind, one that seems to have a stronger sense of self and determination to survive, react by aggression. Robbery, rape, assault, murder, and other violent crimes can be directly linked to stress in the subject’s everyday life. Many victims of violent crime are subject to large amounts of mental stress and paranoia, which in turn can increase the chance that they will be the perpetrator of violent crime in the future. Source.

Tags: Mental Anguish, Vida Enigmática by Dr. Leslie Brown
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Empires fall because of long-lasting wars, rebellions, disease plagues, chemical poisoning, etcetera. Civilisations rise and fall like ocean tides. What makes our civilisation any different? I believe, nothing. I often wonder: what will be our undoing?

Look around at our cities. Look at the concrete. Look at the stress & misdirected violence. The current mental health crisis. We’ve based our entire economy on the assumption that our planet’s resources are unlimited, and so when the fossil fuels run out, watch that stockmarket spiral downwards. There are countless environmental problems (which I don’t even need to remind you about). Basically, things seem to be getting uglier all the time. It’s very hard to retain hope & remain optimistic as society and the environment decays all around us. Blind optimism in the face of a crisis period is certainly not the answer either. And now vast numbers of people are even turning to artificial «virtual-reality» worlds, which I find rather sad. [Read more →]

Tags: Mental Anguish, Vida Enigmática by Dr. Leslie Brown
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(February 9, 2004) As Valentine’s Day approaches, one prevailing argument for marriage may well be that studies show married people are less depressed than their single counterparts. Behind this string of scientific reasoning for matrimony is a proven fact: the prevalence of depression in patients with coronary artery disease (e.g., myocardial infarction and heart failure) is approximately five times that of the general population.

Major depression is a significant predictor of mortality after myocardial infarction. Its predictive ability on subsequent cardiovascular events, for example, myocardial infarction, arrhythmias, ischemia, or sudden cardiac death, is comparable to that of left ventricular dysfunction, previous myocardial infarction, and smoking. Even more alarming is the finding that depression is a significant risk factor for coronary artery disease in patients without a history of heart disease. In other words, the risk for a heart attack or other cardiac disease for depressed but otherwise healthy patients is similar to the risk for patients with established cardiovascular disease.

Gender does play a role. Psychological depression is a common mood disorder affecting 2-3% of males and 5-9% of females. Depression is the leading cause of disability worldwide (quantified by years lived with a disease) and is exceeded only by coronary artery disease as the leading cause of disability in the United States. So, in addition to all the social and medical costs of depression, the disorder is considered a risk factor for coronary artery disease.

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Tags: Mental Anguish, Science Simplified, Vida Enigmática by Dr. Leslie Brown
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PERHAPS Winnie the Pooh knows something we don’t. Honey could soon be marketed as a way to combat the effects of ageing.

Lynne Chepulis and Nicola Starkey of the University of Waikato in Hamilton, New Zealand, raised rats on diets containing 10 per cent honey, 8 per cent sucrose, or no sugar at all for 12 months. The rats were two months old at the start of the trial, and were assessed every three months using tests designed to measure anxiety and spatial memory.

Honey-fed rats spent almost twice as much time in the open sections of an assessment maze than sucrose-fed rats, suggesting they were less anxious. They were also were more likely to enter novel sections of a Y-shaped maze, suggesting they knew where they had been previously and had better spatial memory.

«Diets sweetened with honey may be beneficial in decreasing anxiety and improving memory during ageing,» says Starkey, whose work was funded by Fonterra, a dairy company interested in sweetening yoghurt with honey.

She suggests the findings may be due to the antioxidant properties of honey, which have previously been demonstrated in humans. The results were presented at the Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour meeting at Newcastle University, UK, last week. From issue 2621 of New Scientist magazine, 14 September 2007, page 23. Source

Tags: Mental Anguish, Science Simplified by Dr. Leslie Brown
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