Isopanisad: An English Commentary. Nithin Sridhar. 2021. Subbu Publication. Rs 348. It is available for purchase on Amazon and the publisher website.

A study of the scriptures (svadhyaya) and teaching and disseminating (pravacana) them is enjoined as a very important activity in the Taittiriyopanisad.

The word svadhyaya deserves attention. Pravacana is also possible only by svadhyaya. The meaning of it is generally presented as sva-adhyaya reflecting upon oneself. But in a sanskrit-sanskrit dictionary Sabdakalpadruma (Vol 5, Page 5) the meaning of the word is given as follows:

() ()

A good/thorough, repeated study

Based on this, svadhyaya points to that activity where one has to carefully study the text (especially the Vedic text) over and over again and also with a great amount of focus and perfection. At the outset itself, let me state that the commentary of Nithin Sridhar on Isavasyopanisad is based on such a sincere svadhyaya!

The very structure of the book shows the great ekagrata one pointed focus with which Sridhar has approached the subject. The mantras of the upaniads are given, followed by a word-to-word translation, meaning and analysis and finally a summary of the discussion. The references to the textual sources pertaining to the discussion are given at the end of each of the mantras. It is in this format that each of the 18 mantras of Isavasyopanisad is presented. And the second part of the book is a detailed discussion on the salient teachings of the upanisad in four sections.

This interpretation follows the Advaitic philosophy and based on the bhasya (commentary) of Sri Sankara Bhagavatpada. Sri Aurobindos views are also quoted in the context of Mantras 9 and 16.

I thoroughly enjoyed the lucid flow of the commentary throughout the book. I will highlight and share my views on those elucidations that I enjoyed most:

1) The clarification on the term ekam used in Mantra 4 was insightful. The difference between the Abrahamic idea of one god and the upanisadic view of one god was a very fundamental clarification. It needs to be understood and remembered by one and all, especially in the current times when the cross currents from various religious thoughts are very intensely felt on Hindu minds.

2) I enjoyed reading the approach of Sridhar in dealing with the tricky portion of vidya, avidya, sambhuti, and asambhuti. Sridhar has not rushed through this portion. The idea of karma, devatopasana, karyabrahma and avyaktopasana has been discussed in a very detailed, systematic and clear manner. The samuccaya among these practices that has been presented by the upanisad and clarified by a commentary of Sri Sankara-Bhagavatpada has been presented with clarity.

With my background in study and research in Yoga texts the discussion on karyabrahma and prakrtyupasana reminded me of the parallels in yoga sutra. The self-same concepts have been presented by sage Patanjali in the sutra (1.19) where sadhakas, through the attainment of samadhi on indriyas and prakrti, become videhas and prakatilayas respectively.The upanisadic connect/inspiration to this yoga sutra becomes clearer to me by this.

Continuing with the same topic while very meticulously adhering to the interpretative framework of Sri Sankara Bhagavatpada Sridhar also carefully presents his views on vidya and avidya (verses 9-11, pages 73, 74), which seem to be very much in line with the upanisadic thought flow.

Further, the process of krama-mukti under this section has been very well explained without leaving any element of doubt. To be specific, the idea that krama-mukti should not be taken as liberation without atma-jnana, is clarified under footnote 10 (Page 72) and is worth noting. The footnote says that even the one in the path of krama-mukti will attain atma-jnana in satya-loka and only then attain liberation.

As I was reading this portion, certain yoga sutra inputs regarding krama-mukti flashed in my mind. In sage Vyasas commentary to sutra (YS 3.26) the various higher lokas are described where sadhakas, at various levels, journeying towards krama-mukti reside. The description of these lokas and the residents of those higher lokas and their sadhanas are described in the commentary to the sutra. The reference to the content therein, in a future edition of Sridhars commentary, may quench the thirst for knowledge of those who would want to know more about those higher lokas and what sadhakas do in their journey to krama-mukti.

3) The discussion on the meanings of the terms vyuha and samuha in Mantra 16, where the views of Sri Aurobindo at the psychological level are brought in by Sridhar, is worth noting. The commentator clarifies that the rays here are taken as citta-vrittis/thoughts that are to be regulated towards receiving the knowledge of the Satya Brahman.

On reading this discussion, I, as someone interested in poetry and, thereby, in imagery and symbols, started thinking about the upanisadic symbolism in this mantra where an upasaka in his death bed is praying to the Sun god. He requests the Sun to expand/spread or even take away/remove the rays (Sri Sankarabhasya ) and withdraw or unite the light (Sri Sankarabhasya I imagined many ideas regarding the purpose of such a prayer. Could it be:

Oh! Sun God, at your biological level you keep on doing your routine act of expanding and withdrawing of rays. May you be capable of fulfilling your duty for the cosmos well. But in my case death is approaching hence my routine and duties connected with this body is ending. So lead me to my desired goal of realisation of Satya Brahman.

Or is the seeker, by referring to the regular act of the Sun expanding the rays during sunrise and contracting rays at the sunset, wants himself to be engulfed by the expanding suns rays and then gathered through the suns rays and transported to the realm of Surya to directly perceive the auspicious Satya Brahman?

I was tempted to imagine all these by looking at the symbols and imagery. But Sridhar, unlike me, does not indulge in any such imagination. As a commentator, he keeps his feet firmly on the ground and presents his interpretation within the philosophical and psychological framework.

4) Another beautiful aspect about the commentary is the way in which the cross-references are presented by the author. Various Upanisadic texts, smrtis and other vedantic works of Sri Sankara Bhagavatpada are quoted. But the quotes are given to a specific end. Those references are not adduced merely to show the scholarship of the commentator. Quotes are brought in only to serve as explanation or clarification on the specific point under discussion. This shows how serious the commentator is about his job.

Many instances can be cited from the commentary in this regard. For example: The purport and purpose of the prayer to Pusan that is hinted in verse 15 of Isavasyopanisad has been put in perspective by bringing in the details of a suryamandaladaksinaksi upasana on Satya Brahman from Brhadaranyakopanisad (5.5). The details provided herein from the Brhadaranyakopanisad aptly clarifies the purpose of this prayer to Pusan of Isavasyopanisad (Pages 87-88). This to me is a classic example of quoting and referencing with a specific purpose in the task of interpretation. This is worth emulating and a good lesson for those desirous of writing interpretations and commentaries. This was about part one where each of the mantras was explained.

5) Part two of the work conveys the philosophy of the upanisad in four major parts, namely the theme of the upanisad, the pravrtti, nivrtti paths and the third path. The beauty of this section is that it's a succinct presentation of the entire Hindu way of life which comprises karma, bhakti and jnana, samskaras, yajnas, dharma, the samanya and visesa, varna and asrama system and the underlying thought behind it, and the three-fold upasana-puja-bhakti. All these concepts are discussed herein with textual references, with clarity of understanding and presentation.

As I was studying this portion, it occurred to me that the commentator could have included a brief note on dinacarya and rtucarya (daily and seasonal routines), though it could have been a slight digression from the vedantic and dharmasastric framework within which the commentator is explaining the concepts. But it is to be noted that the smriti texts do describe ideal daily routines dinacarya for a grhastha. Ayurveda, in which dinacarya and rtucarya are mentioned, is an upaveda. Based on the brief hint on dinacarya and rtucarya, an interested reader can explore more. If these two aspects are included, any seeker, inspired by the work and who would want to follow the vedic-upaniaadic way of life, will right away get a practical starting point in his day-to-day life.

In my view, this second portion in itself can become a booklet that introduces the Dharmika Hindu way of life and the goals therein. The sections herein are crisp and well referenced. But it has to be mentioned that the final section of the book (Pages 183-191) on the third path the path to suffering jolts the reader and gives a reality check. The suffering that the unmindful way of life brings is presented vividly with references from various textual sources. Though the description of the sufferings in various narakas might disturb the unprepared mind, the author might have felt that such a shock treatment might be needed to urge the readers to take up the pravrtti and nivrtti paths enjoined in the sastras with all seriousness.

I have a few friendly suggestions to conclude.

a. On the conclusion, I have already said that the book ends with the description of the third path an unmindful way of life, a life swayed by the distractions of the senses and emotional upheavals of the mind. There could have been a reassuring conclusion after creating a sense of much-needed remorse and introspection in the reader by detailing the consequences of the tritiya marga. Quotes from the Bhagavad Gita where the Lord gives hope would have helped.

(4.36)

(Translation: Even if thou art the most sinful of all sinners, yet thou shalt verily cross all sins by the raft of knowledge).

Further, the spirit of Swami Vivekanandas statement that each soul is potentially divine, and we are all offspring of immortality, , and not eternal sinners could have been adduced. This characterises the eternal optimism that Hindu dharma has in humanity. Thus this wonderful exposition could have ended on a more positive note.

b. In part one, at the end of each of the mantras, a few questions and scenarios from life or activities for thinking and reflecting could have been provided to make the reader engage more with the content of discussion.

c. In the future editions of the book, as an appendix, an alphabetical list of the set of concepts and frameworks such as arisadvarga purusartha esanatraya sadbhavavikara karma-prabheda (sancita, agami etc) that were beautifully discussed in the book could be added with page numbers in the commentary where they are elaborated.

d. A short glossary of oft-repeated samskrta terms such as paramarthika-dasa, vyavaharika-dasa, karmanusthana, pravrttimarga, nivrttimarga, etc, will also be a useful addition and source of reference to the readers.

e. A flow chart in the appendix that summarises the discussion on the three paths could help the readers develop a quick recap of the entire focus of the book.

With these suggestions, I conclude my review and I heartily congratulate Sridhar once again for this wonderful achievement of writing a lucid commentary on Isavasyopanisad to generate renewed interest among people in ever relevant upanisadic lore. Indeed, it is an elegant expression of svadhyaya.

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A Must-Read English Commentary On Isopanisad Which Is Also An Exercise In Svadhyaya - Swarajya

In 2015, South Korean professor Jaeweon Cho hit upon a plan to revolutionise economics by commodifying human excreta. Powders derived from poop, he suggested, could act as fertilisers and biofuel, supplying food to microorganisms. This was the basis of his dream of fSM or Fecal Standard Money, which would create a modern society not based on traditional money.

Four years later, Chos seemingly esoteric idea inspired a virtual currency experiment 6,000 kilometers in Auroville, the 3,000-person international township of communal, spiritual living in Tamil Nadu.

Since late 2019, every Aurovillian who downloaded a mobile application has received 12 auras. Three auras of this allotment must be utilised in a select network of other Aurovillians. To discourage hoarding and keep the currency in circulation, auras depreciate by 9% every day.

Its very much in the Auroville spirit, said S Venkatakrishnan, who works as a Tamil translator and is one of the 400 users of the app. He uses the app to exchange his gardening and kitchen supplies. Others offer gardening lessons, a trip to the beach with friends or homemade food.

The new currency has been viewed with both enthusiasm and disappointment. In some way, residents say, the aura is emblematic of the rocky economics of Auroville itself, a work-in-progress marked by numerous attempts at renewal.

Auroville was founded in 1968 when 200 people from 20 countries settled in an arid stretch of land in Tamil Nadus Viluppuram district, ten kilometers north of Pondicherry. Following the vision of Mirra Alfassa, a French associate of the spiritual teacher Aurobindo who they call The Mother, they aimed to create a community without private property or exchange of money.

Their philosophy emphasised collective ownership of resources and sustainable living. They planned to support the settlement through a range of small-scale enterprises. Traditional market and management theories were put to the test.

Money, Alfassa had said in 1938, is not meant to make money. She explained: ... Like all forces and all powers, it is by movement and circulation that it grows and increases its power, not by accumulation and stagnation ... What we may call the reign of money is drawing to its close.

Still, it was not going to be easy, she warned. ...the transitional period between the arrangement that has existed in the world till now and the one to come (in a hundred years, for instance), that period is going to be very difficult, she wrote.

Since the inception of the settlement, Aurovillians have undertaken several experiments at achieving a money-less society. They piloted free distribution centres for necessities, a communal pot of money dispensed by a central administration and a basic income provided for those who work in the town. For many in the community, the schemes either enabled a weak economic foundation or shifted the town further away from its dream of a cashless society.

Eight decades after Auroville began, settlement member Hye Jeong Heo heard about Chos idea of Fecal Standard Money on a South Korean media programme. In 2018, Heo met with Cho and his team to explain the ideals of Auroville.

Even though there are different characters, I thought there are commonalities between the Auroville [idea] of money and fSM, said Cho, an environmental engineering professor and director of the Science Walden Center at South Koreas Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology.

At the heart of Chos plan was a toilet that converts human waste into fertilisers and biofuel. By loading powders into reactors that supply food for microorganisms, people would receive Fecal Standard Money that could be used in a market system, perhaps in parallel to existing trading systems.

Feces, like gold, is limited and precious, he wrote in Edge, an avant-garde technology publication. Nobody can make more than a certain limit, and it can be converted to energy.

Cho thought of this as a form of Circular Basic Income, an echo of the increasingly popular idea of Universal Basic Income: a periodic cash payment unconditionally delivered to all on an individual basis, without means-test or work requirement, according to the Basic Income Earth Network.

It was Heos daughter, 27-year-old Dan Be Kim who decided to push the idea of Fecal Standard Money in Auroville. She had left the settlement at 17 in 2011 because of a medical condition, but returned in early 2019 to begin a feasibility study on the new currency.

However, a high tech toilet was where we lost a lot of people, she said over a video call from Berlin, where she now lives. There was interest and hesitation, she said, but it was clear that Auroville wasnt ready for a copy paste of fSM. Her team of four re-molded the idea of Fecal Standard Money into the digital aura.

Aura takes its traits from fSM, Cho told Scroll.in in an email. It is, he said, a distinct unit of account, a rusting/disappearing money that depreciates at 9% a day and involves sharing a portion of the allotment with peers in the system.

...Both are twins with different names and separate platforms, but with the same origin and philosophy, he said.

Still, there were bumps along the way. During the research phase, questions were raised in the Auroville community. Why not just do a pure barter? Why do we need any exchange at all? Why have money at all?

It took moving mountains, said Kim.

In a presentation of the idea at Aurovilles Future School in 2019, the teachers, whose classes Kim had sat in long before, were among the most reluctant they told her that the aura wasnt going to work, that plenty of experiments had already been tried.

There is this syndrome because of a repeating pattern of experiments in Auroville where each time they think they are reinventing the wheel, said Kim. Everyone has their niche projects going on, a lot of pioneer groups, they think thats the way to move forward, and then they burn out from the burden of the past.

Kim began to reframe the premise of her project using the language of Auroville. Instead of using the words buy and sell, participants would offer and receive. Instead of products, they focused on the untapped, human collective potential of Auroville space, skills, time.

Its not a tangible value that you can touch, said Kim. Its a spiritual, collective value. We finally got to a point where we could explain that.

With a major launch at the end of 2019, the aura app, created by a team of Aurovillians and nearby volunteers, was available for any registered resident of Auroville, regardless of what work they did or didnt do.

Because the pricing of items, tasks and actions are determined by the users themselves, there is not consistent value. It has to be something ethereal, said 80-year-old Bill Sullivan, who was one of the first Aurovillians five decades ago and worked closely with Kim on the aura. You could give your motor bike for 1 aura or a mango for 100 aura. We have to break those fixed values. Things dont have a value in and of itself its all in the mind. We dont want to reduplicate old economic models.

Kim added: Aura is an alternative currency that does not strictly depend on market-determined prices It is a thought/social experiment to see how people will go about valuing their offerings on the platform when given the freedom with unconditional endowments.

This, she said, is one of the most interesting aspects of research that can be done on user-generated data: Do people value specific goods and services in a specific range when there is the absence of price comparisons or references?

A brochure for the app reads: The aura creates a space for a circular economy where things considered waste, or things that are not being purposed, can first be identified and then upcycled and repurposed.

It states: For money to flow, money must be a means and not an end ... Money as a tool is not intended for accumulation, but rather circulation, it states, echoing Alfassas ideas.

But just as congratulatory comments began flowing in, the application began crashing.

Its been a tremendous problem, said Sullivan, who is known in Auroville as B. At first, it was just for a day or two at a time, but in February this year, the application went down for two weeks.

Weve had a challenge with our developers so we have to focus on getting the app to work well, said Sullivan. We are hoping for more funding from Korea and then we can convince the market and stores in Auroville to use it.

Funded by Chos centre in South Korea, the grant has not been adequate to cover a full-blown technology overhaul so the team is looking for external funding for maintenance costs, Kim said.

When Kim was conducting her research on Auroville, many people told her that Aurovilles economy was unequal, overly bureaucratic with too much talking and not acting, tending towards capitalism, and unsustainable. While this sparked the idea to create an alternative system, the fragile foundations of the communitys economy may be the ideas very undoing.

The issue with Aurovilles economy is its not self-sufficient, said Kim. Its reliant on external sources. Its a problem that has plagued the settlement from its inception.

In its quest to create a settlement free from money, Auroville is a human laboratory. Whether it is nearer or farther from its ideals depends on who you speak to.

Auroville has always been trying to get rid of money, said Manuel Thomas, a chartered accountant from Chennai who co-wrote an economic history of Auroville titled Economics of Earth and People: The Auroville Case 1968 to 2008 and continues to be a consultant for the community. They keep experimenting, but in all these years, there has not been a no-cash economy.

At its inception, Auroville received a periodic Prosperity bundle of clothing, toiletries and other basic needs from the Sri Aurobindo Ashram in Pondicherry. After the Mother died in 1973, Aurovillians developed differences with the Sri Aurobindo Society. The Central government got involved, leading to a Parliamentary Act that handed over ownership rights to the Auroville Foundation.

The Auroville Foundation owns most of the land, buildings and assets, as Thomas book notes. The community has an international advisory council (similar to a board of directors), a governing board (a top management team appointed by the Indian government) and a residents assembly.

The introduction of the Maintenance system in 1983, which is still in place today, proved to be one of the most controversial moments in the communitys history, said Suryamayi Aswini who did her PhD thesis at Sussex University about the township.

Aurovillians who work in specific jobs receive a monthly stipend in their individual account. One third of Maintenances are received as cash credits that can be exchanged for rupees, while the rest acts as a local currency only usable for goods and services in Auroville. Some Aurovillians receive up to Rs 20,000 per month as a Maintenance, while half of Aurovillians dont receive any money because they determine themselves to be self-supporting.

The settlements major earnings come from micro and small enterprises (known as units) that are mainly involved in handicrafts, textiles, clothing and food. One of its largest employers and economic contributors is Maroma, a fragrance and body care products brand. Other major units include Sunlit Future, a solar grid system, and boutiques such as Kalki and Mira Boutique.

A Central fund (now called the City Services Budget) collects government grants and individual donations as well as earnings from Auroville units. Residents pay a standard monthly contribution, which started at Rs 200 in 1989 and grew to Rs 3,150 in 2018. Volunteers in Auroville have to contribute Rs 900 a month. An additional 20% of visitors accommodation fees is collected in the common budget.

Most of it is allocated to city expenses, the bulk of which goes to Maintenances and education. Aurovilles turnover in 2016-17 was Rs 337 crore. City services receipts for 2016 to 2017 amounted to Rs 19.5 crore, said Thomas, while Rs 51 crore was from grants and donations,.

The monthly City Services Budget, published in Aurovilles News and Notes Letter, stated that the town had a monthly loss of Rs 53 lakh in June 2021. Its internal contributions amounted to Rs 1.3 crore (the majority of which came from its commercial units and services) and its payments amounted to Rs 1.8 crore (of which Rs 34 lakh went to education).

In the early 1990s, those disappointed with the Maintenance system created Seed, a common account in which a small group of residents compiled their Maintenance and private funds to be disbursed back out by an administrator. This grew to other groups and became known as the Circles experiment. It started out full of people, idealism, enthusiasm, but failed to successfully take root, Aswini wrote.

In 2006, another experiment was attempted with Prosperity, a fund that acted more like insurance for times in need. But that fell apart as well.

In 1999, Thomas and a team set out to gather income and expenditure statements and balance sheets to be consolidated into a database, a task that was not only more arduous than assumed but also illuminated the dire state of Aurovilles affairs.

In 2002, the team released a White Paper showing that the contributions of Aurovilles commercial units per capita had dipped significantly in the previous decades. The paper encouraged the settlement to invest more into its commercial sectors to bolster income generation.

Manuel, who is currently updating his account of the settlements economic history, said that Aurovilles dependence on grants and donations seems to have reduced. Even though every experiment runs up against reality, he sees progress.

Basically, the aura is another experiment coming out of the Circles experiments a no cash philosophy, Maneul said. In the end, its still a medium of exchange and a form of informal money. But you are likely not to become an aura millionaire. Its the negative aspects of money that they are trying to avoid.

Henk Thomas, who lived in Auroville three decades ago and Manuels co-author, had a more sceptical take: Its high ideological content without solid thinking. In my view, its not very important or interesting because it covers such a small part of the economy. Henk said the aura is yet further evidence that the township never took heed of the advice contained in his book with Manuel.

There are endless experiments in Auroville and they all fail because in the end, there is a deficit, he said. The same questions come back again and again without new answers. I find it a tragedy that there is so much talent there, all kinds of people thinking from scratch and it dies out because there is no economic authority.

In 2017, Sullivan, who had helped Kim with the virtual currency programme, attempted an economic innovation of his own. He created physical notes out of waste paper with one note valued at Rs 100, exchangeable at Aurovilles Financial Service (which holds the individual financial accounts of Aurovillians and manages the Maintenances). He called one note an aura.

It was his attempt to revise the whole economy, but no one took it seriously, he said. ... Still, maybe [the first aura] broke through something that was a little bit stuck. Maybe those events helped prepare people for this aura.

Sullivan firmly believes that the critics will be proven wrong. In Auroville, you can find someone against everything, he said. This is a quantum leap to something totally different. Weve crossed a threshold and were committed. Weve tried all these other big things. The common pots, the circles. I was a part of them and they didnt really take off.

But the smartphone, he said, is the revolutionary leap that Auroville economics needed.

Manuel is among those keenly watching the aura experiment. He said: The thing with Auroville is it doesnt give up.

Karishma Mehrotra is an independent journalist. She is a Kalpalata Fellow for Technology Writings for 2021.

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In quest for utopia, Auroville hopes that it can create a society without money using an app - Scroll.in

Auroville is an intentional community founded in 1968 by a French woman named Mirra Alfassa, known as the Mother, an occultist and tennis enthusiast, and the closest disciple and confidante of the Cambridge-educated, Indian freedom fighter turned spiritual teacher Sri Aurobindo.

Carved out on a desolate plateau near the southern Indian town of Pondicherry, and founded on the principles of the integral yoga devised by Aurobindo, which envisioned a cellular transformation of mankind, creating a supremental race of men and women, Auroville was designed to bring together people from all the worlds nations, united in the cause of universal harmony a tower of Babel in reverse as the Mother had it

It is now a thriving community of some 3,500 people from 59 countries arguably the most successful reforestation effort in India, Akash Kapur writes, and a global model for environmental conservation.

But it wasnt always so. Akash Kapur, whose father is Indian and mother American, grew up in Auroville, left to attend boarding-school in America and later went to Harvard, before returning to live in Auroville in 2004. This beautifully written and thought-provoking account of the communitys earliest days, a study of idealism and naivety and the conflict between reason and faith, follows the fortunes of three characters.

John Walker was American, the son of John Walker III, the director of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, and Lady Margaret Drummond, the daughter of Sir Eric Drummond, the first secretary to the League of Nations and British ambassador to Rome. After getting mixed up in the Timothy Leary LSD experiments at Harvard, and moving through Catholicism and Zen Buddhism, John arrived at Auroville in 1969.

It was there that he met Diane Maes, the daughter of a house-painter from a small town in Belgium, who, having rebelled against the constraints of her Catholic education, moved back and forth between Europe and India before finally settling in the community.

The third is the French writer Bernard Enginger, a former member of theFrench Resistance and a concentration-camp survivor who, after making his way to Auroville, became the Mothers most ardent disciple, taking the nameSatprem.

The modernist architect Roger Anger, who drew up the initial blueprint for Auroville, envisaged skyscrapers, moving sidewalks, an airport, a world trade centre a utopian city that would require $8bn to create and which, of course, would never be forthcoming. At ground level, the new settlers, mostly Western spiritual seekers, laboured without any mechanical equipment, digging out wells, irrigating saplings with jugs of water, and excavating an expanse of land in readiness for the building of the Matrimandir, the spiritual heart of Auroville, a massive sphere 118ft across and 97ft high, encrusted with gold discs and containing a huge, marble-lined meditation area the Divines answer to mans aspiration for perfection, as the Mother put it.

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Denunciations, beatings and book burnings: when a utopian dream turned sour - Telegraph.co.uk

The Air Force is encouraging airmen and guardians to take a vacation by allowing them to accrue additional time off in the next two months, then spend those days anytime in the next three years.

Over the last 18 months, the coronavirus pandemic wrecked travel and other personal plans for many who out of caution or necessity opted to stay home and continue working. Now the military wants to give people more opportunities to take a break after a stressful and unusual year.

Rest and recuperation are vital to morale, unit and personal performance, and overall motivation for airmen and guardians, acting Air Force Secretary John Roth said in a July 21 memo. The [Department of the Air Force] recognizes the importance to provide opportunities for its service members to use their earned leave in the year it was earned and provide respite from the work environment.

Active-duty airmen and guardians may accrue 60 to 120 days of leave by the end of September, and spend it by Sept. 30, 2024. If a service member was already allowed to build up more than 60 days of leave, this new flexibility will not apply to them, Roth said.

The policy also applies to Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve members who would roll over leave from one active-duty tour to the next. They can accrue up to 120 days of leave by Sept. 30 and carry that balance until September 2024 as well.

Airmen and guardians typically have until the end of a fiscal year to use or lose as many as 60 days off. But the Air Force wanted to offer a few years worth of leeway so leave wouldnt expire while travel restrictions are still in place, or while job requirements could keep someone from taking time off in the remaining two months of fiscal 2021.

DOD let service secretaries craft their own updates to the special leave accrual policy first set in April 2020, and Roths change goes further than Pentagon officials were mulling earlier this summer.

The Air Force and Space Forces decision is not limited to service members in certain units or areas with travel restrictions, such as Japan and Europe, and allows troops to carry over leave for one year longer than previously allowed under pandemic-era rules.

It is important members manage their leave balances throughout the year, Roth said. Commanders will continue to encourage and provide members with opportunities to use leave in the year it is earned.

The Air Force said it will release more details on the issue later.

Rachel Cohen joined Air Force Times as senior reporter in March 2021. Her work has appeared in Air Force Magazine, Inside Defense, Inside Health Policy, the Frederick News-Post (Md.), the Washington Post, and others.

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Need a break? Air Force offers 2 months of extra leave valid for three years - AirForceTimes.com

BLAINE, Minn. -- Cameron Champ was struggling mightily through the first half of this year, a frustrating series of performances that pointed him back to his state of mind more than any mechanical flaw.

Like many newlyweds, the 26-year-old was distracted by the delicate balance of passionately pursuing his career while still trying to carve out a healthy personal life at home. He found himself becoming much too upset by a bad round.

There sure wasn't much for Champ to be mad about at the 3M Open.

Champ fended off dehydration and crisply putted his way to a 5-under 66 on Sunday, winning by 2 strokes for his third career victory.

"I just took a complete 180 in how I'm waking up every morning and how I'm reacting to certain things and adjusting to certain things," said Champ, who had five birdies in a bogey-free round to finish at 15-under 269 at TPC Twin Cities.

Louis Oosthuizen, Jhonattan Vegas and Charl Schwartzel tied for second. Keith Mitchell was fifth at 12 under, and behind him were five players tied for sixth.

Champ joined Collin Morikawa, Jon Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau as the only under-28 players to win in each of the past three seasons on tour. He jumped from 142nd to 49th in the FedEx Cup standings, with the top 125 qualifying for the playoff opener.

This month has brought quite the turnaround for the Texas A&M product, after nine missed cuts and one withdrawal over his first 16 starts of 2021. The best finish in that stretch was a tie for 17th at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans.

Champ hit the reset button after missing the cut at the Rocket Mortgage Classic in Detroit three weeks ago though, and emerged with a tie for 11th at the John Deere Classic in Illinois.

"After Detroit, I just took a step back and said, 'You know what? This is enough. I can't keep going on this way. I'm not enjoying the game,'" Champ said.

His wife, Jessica, was surely happy to hear that.

"It's more so realizing what I want to do in the game of golf and then who I want to be at home," Champ said. "It's a balance you have to find, and if you don't, it can really haunt you and it can cause a lot of issues. So I just feel like the last two months I've been in a lot better head space."

During another 90-degree day, Champ was far from his physical best. He felt some dizziness along the back nine, putting his hands on his knees at one point as he hung his head to try to regain some composure. He had plenty of it on the last hole, after his safe strategy with the tee shot to stay away from the lake landed way left in a trampled, sandy area directly behind a clump of trees.

Champ managed to chip out onto the primary rough, then scoot up the fairway. His approach was a beauty that landed perfectly and rolled back toward the pin. He sank the easy par putt and had enough energy to pump his arms in celebration of his first top-10 finish since last October.

"The Gatorade definitely helped, I think, keep me going," said Champ, who won the Sanderson Farms Championship in 2019, the year he turned pro, and the Safeway Open in 2020.

He had the best putting performance of the 3M Open field, with an average of 8.48 strokes gained.

Oosthuizen shot 66 too, in a much stronger finish than the previous weekend at The Open, where his 54-hole lead turned into a tie for third after a fourth-round 71.

Playing six pairs ahead of Champ, Oosthuizen birdied three of the last four holes to give himself an outside chance. His approach to the 18th green almost yielded an eagle on the PGA Tour's hardest par-5 hole, but the ball lipped out. Oosthuizen made a 2-foot putt for birdie instead and his fourth runner-up finish in seven starts. Schwartzel, his fellow South African, posted a 68 to match Vegas in the final round.

"We had a good time here this week, and I'm just trying to see if I can go one better than all these seconds and thirds," Oosthuizen said.

Cameron Tringale, a 1-stroke leader after the third round, took a triple bogey on the par-3 13th hole right after consecutive birdies had brought him back into contention. He shot 74 and finished 6 strokes behind Champ, leaving PGA Championship winner Phil Mickelson as the only 54-hole leader or co-leader to win in the past 13 tour events.

Matthew Wolff (2019) and Michael Thompson (2020), the first two winners of the 3M Open, each finished in a tie for 39th place at 5 under.

Newly minted Olympian Patrick Reed tied for 34th at 6 under, before heading home to Texas to get ready for Tokyo. He found out Saturday he'd been added to the U.S. team after DeChambeau tested positive for COVID-19.

"Once I start an event," Reed said, "I'm definitely going to finish the event."

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Cameron Champ fends off dehydration to win 3M Open by 2 strokes - ESPN

By Oil City Staff on July 26, 2021

CASPER, Wyo. 138 participants finished either the 8- or 16-mile course at the 9th annual Skunk Hollow Sneaker ChaseSaturday. Participants completed either one or two course laps on the Casper Mountain Trails System.

Molly Olsen won the 16-miler for the second year in a row with a time of 2:11:23, followed by Steven Armstrong and Justin Kinner. 32 runners did the 16-mile course.

Ethan Bauer was first of 106 finishers on the 8-miler, finishing with a time of 1:03. He was followed by Amber Thielbar and Jarod McDaniel.

Article continues below...

Top finishing times were a bit slower this year. Mike Diesburg, the race director, said that may be due to the course direction. Every year, the direction alternates. He said the clockwise direction means punchier, steeper climbs.

Mike Diesburg is founder of the 307 Running LLC, and is also active on the Casper Ultra and Trail Running Society. He said hes particuarly happy with the roughly equal mix of men and women who compete in his event.

In some high-profile ultra-distance events there are as few as 15 women out of 150 competitors. The Skunk Hollow turnout this year was 56% women and 44% women: Thats something were kind of proud of.

He noted that, as race distances become longer, gender and age tend to factor less in who finishes well.

They know their bodies better, Diesburg said of older runners. They know when to push it and not push it. They know how to train better.

Women, he noted are less prone to blast off at the start line: they ease back and theyre so consistent.

MikeDiesburg was encouraged to hear that people who attended just to support family and friends were inspired to take up running again: It kind of motivates them, so thats a positive.

Diesburg said the key to success in distance running, beyond training and nutrition, is attitude.

If you have a positive attitude and good mental strength, youll do well.

Read more about the event and Caspers running scene here. More photos are available on the events Facebook page.

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Olsen and Bauer win 16-mile, 8-mile Sneaker Chase on Casper Mountain Saturday - Oil City News

In every area of life we are on a journey. Health, relationships, career, and financial are just a few of the obvious ones. The question to answer is, are you aware of the game within the journey and are you bringing your A game on a consistent basis?

I invite you to imagine what would be possible if you found a way to bring the best, wisest, most resourceful version of yourself to every situation in life. How would your life be improved if you consistently made better decisions and choices? What would life look like if you acted on those choices?

In the context of success and fulfillment the presupposition on any journey is to improve, grow, or develop as a person. The goal is to get to a place that is better than where you are currently. The Heros journey, as described by Joseph Campbell is that and bringing back your mental, emotional, and physical expansion to help grow your community in whatever form that may be.

There is a a six step process Ive uncovered that unfolds in the lives of people that have developed the ability to bring their A game along their journey on a more consistent bases. Its not to say that playing your A game will make you immune from defeat. It is to say that you can learn, grow, adapt, and better navigate the landscape of set backs, failure and letdowns.

No one is exempt from failure. In fact, the road to any success is paved with plenty of failure. Perhaps more than most people are willing to tolerate. Nobody wants to experience loss. Nobody wants to feel embarrassed, humiliated, or ridiculed as a result.

The premise remains successful people make it a habit of doing the things the failures are not willing to do. The question now is, are you willing to fail? If not, you dont need to read any further. However, if you are willing to succeed and eat failure like energy bars on your way to success, then keep reading and I will share with you what I have found works to keep on keepin on to achieve your dreams.

In order to affect the change you want, you must align six As of your A Game.

Awareness You either want more of something or less of something. Awareness is the current realization something is not as you would like it to be. You imagine if you had whatever that is, then life would be better.

Its different for everybody. Be clear on what It is for you.

Make a list of the tings that need to change or improve in your business and life. Next, identify one item from your list and move on to A2.

Attitude This is about getting clear and staying within your power. You are in your power when you operate from your collective knowledge and wisdom.

Regardless of your age, you have lived a life time. Your life time. Therefore, you are the authority of you. Being in your power is being authentic. Pure authenticity has no room for fear, angst, and doubt (fad) since they are by products of the success assassins efforts. Experiencing fad is part of the human condition. We all have to learn to dance with it. We must come to know it is there to serve us and not for us to wallow in and keep from living our lives and achieving our successes.

We always have the power to choose the healthiest perspective from which to operate. It is not about acquiescing to the fearful voice of not enoughness that can often times lead the charge. It is continually choosing the healthiest attitude.

Anticipation We must learn to anticipate when and how the success assassin will show up. It hides in the dark recesses. Its the critical voice that came into being to protect us from harm when we were young and is now the same voice that holds us back from growth and progress. Its extremely clever and often disguised as us. And its not us.

Effectively anticipate and avoid being taken out by the assassin First, from your A2 power centered attitude, imagine going out into your future and look back on today. Notice what you had to think, feel, and do in order to bring about the desired outcome you achieved.

Second, notice and allow in any thoughts and feelings of fad the success assassin generated. Remember, its going to show up and try to protect you from perceived harm. It can serve you however. It serves you in the same way feeling the heat of a hot stove gets you to pull your hand back.

During A3 is the time to anticipate when and how the assassin shows up so we can effectively spar with it and be prepared for when we meet it on the journey.

The amalgamated voices of the assassin come together to convince us we are not enough and to play it safe and avoid perceived risks.

In business, we know we need to make the cold calls, ask for referrals, join the networking group, and conduct the seminars to grow our business yet we have 46 really good reasons why we dont have time to do what we know we must do to succeed at a higher level.

This is where you must learn to befriend the various success assassins. The voice that tells you your webinar presentation is NOT perfect yet, when in fact its plenty good enough, is simply trying to keep you safe from possible embarrassment. You cant pay the mortgage by playing it safe. You have to play the A Game.

Next time that assassin shows up in some form of fear, angst, or doubt (fad) treat it like a cloud in the sky. The cloud may be in the shape of a threatening dragon. Just notice it and say, Oh its you again rolling in. Reassure yourself you have everything under control with your A2 Attitude. Notice the cloud changing its shape until it finally evaporates out of view because you have used the power of your wisdom like the sun to burn it away.

Action Not much gets done without taking action. Based on the possible pernicious pitfalls you anticipate may surface, what is the wisdom you want to remember to call upon at the time the assassin starts lurking in the shadows? Remember, the assassin is not real and yet, can feel very real. Part of its mastery is convincing you its real and it knows better than you do. We must learn to shine the light of our collected wisdom to cancel out assassin.

Next, once we have washed out the assassin using our lifes wisdom, we must decide what is the next best action to take to keep us moving forward on our journey of success and commit to ourselves we will stay focused and be intentional taking that action. Action makes up 75% of Traction.

Acknowledgment This is about validating and integrating the renewed knowing that we are powerful beyond measure just as we are.

Catch yourself becoming aware (A1 & A3) of the assassin sooner and sooner. Catch yourself choosing the best attitude (A2) from which to operate. Catch yourself coming up with inspiring choices, decisions sans fad. Catch yourself taking better and better action (A4). Notice what you learn about yourself . Notice what you learn about the situation. Notice the progress you make as a result of it all. Progress equals happiness.

Add these accumulated catches of wisdom to your collective power and keep carrying it forward.

Accountability The more and more we come to trust our ability to make good decisions and take right actions, the more we progress along our path. We come to know we can count on ourselves to navigate our journey in a good and compelling way. This is about being accountable to ourselves and others for the greater good that our journey serves.

There will be plenty of opportunities to bring your A Game. Keep practicing and the success assassin will continually lose its power over you and you will step more fully into your personal power and true potential thereby accelerating your success and fulfillment.

Make it up, make it fun, and get it done!

Machen P. MacDonald, CPCC, CCSC is a certified life and business coach with ProBrilliance Leadership Institute in Grass Valley. He helps business people gain more confidence and clarity to live their ideal life. He can be reached at coach@probrilliance.com and 530-273-8000

Originally posted here:
Machen MacDonald: How to bring your 'A' game all the time - The Union of Grass Valley

The dreams of over 10,000 Olympic hopefuls were put on pause.

July 27, 2021, 2:32 AM

15 min read

Since the COVID-19 pandemic shuttered the world, Lilly King's path to winning a medal at the Tokyo Olympics started in a pond.

Up until last year, the Olympic Games had never been postponed for any other reason than a world war. Then the coronavirus pandemic swept across the world, putting the dreams of over 10,000 Olympic hopefuls on pause.

The Summer Olympics in Tokyo began nearly 500 days after the International Olympics Committee announced the postponement of the Games on March 24, 2020.

The logo of Tokyo 2020 is displayed near Odaiba Seaside Park in Tokyo, July 7, 2021.

After a year of extraordinary planning, the Tokyo Olympics will be different than any other Olympics Games before it: As the worldwide vaccination effort against COVID-19 continues, all spectators will be banned from attending the Games, the athletes will be isolated from one another, and all coaches, trainers and participants will be tested rigorously for COVID-19.

After going through what they called unprecedented training, three athletes spoke to ABC News about what it took for them to get to the Olympic stage while a global pandemic ravaged the world.

Two-time Olympic gold medalist Lilly King was a breakout star at the Rio de Janeiro Summer Olympics in 2016 when she won first place in the 100-meter and 200-meter breaststroke. When she heard the postponement news, King said she was at home training in Evansville, Indiana -- it was just one of many training sessions she'd had over the previous months. Yet still, she said the reality of the situation didn't sink in until some time later.

Gold medalist Lillia King of the USA at an award ceremony for the women's 100m breaststroke event at the 2016 Summer Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.

"I heard the Olympics were postponed and I didn't really know what to think. I'm kind of a serial under-reactor," King told ABC News earlier this summer. "[Five months later], my mom actually got my Olympic flag framed from 2016 I saw the flag and that was kind of the moment, I was like, 'Oh, my God, we're not going right now. This is not fun.'"

"[I had] my little meltdown that I had been waiting to have for five months I got it out eventually and I think that was good," she added.

In April 2020, King was forced to adapt her training routine to a world in which pools were closed due to COVID-19.

"I was sitting at home one day and my coach called me and said, 'Do you have a wetsuit?'" King said. She told him she didn't. "He said, 'Well, you better get one because we're gonna swim in a pond.' It was probably mid-April, but we started swimming in the pond in Indiana. It was freezing."

King said she and her teammates bonded over the brutally cold days in the pond and the long drives across the state to access the few pools that had begun to reopen.

"If one of us came to practice with a bad attitude one day, it would ruin the rest of it for the other nine of us. You had to be really conscious about what you were saying out loud, or what you were thinking, because it was very noticeable to the people we were training with since we are a small group," said King.

King said that with her previous Olympics experience, she has looked forward to the Tokyo Games as a chance to step into a role as a leader and mentor to her teammates, many of whom are young.

Lilly King of the United States competes in the Women's 200m breaststroke final during Day Six of the 2021 U.S. Olympic Team Swimming Trials at CHI Health Center, June 18, 2021, in Omaha, Nebraska.

"Having a long career in this sport is just having a good outlook and a good attitude about things and that's what I tried to do," said King. "It is the Olympics, but in the end it's just another swim meet. Hopefully that'll be helpful to those younger athletes and I know that would have been very helpful advice to me whenI was in their shoes."

Hungry to compete, King said that the yearlong wait will only make competing at the Olympic Games that much sweeter.

"We still have an incredible team here and they're ready to compete and ready to go," said King. "Hopefully I can be that mentor that I had to those younger kids on the team and just come out and swim fast and have fun."

On July 27 in Tokyo, King won bronze in the 100-meter breaststroke -- and her 17-year-old teammate Lydia Jacoby came in first.

In March 2019, professional skateboarder Mariah Duran was named one of 16 inaugural members comprising the USA Skateboarding National Team in the first Olympics Games to ever feature the sport.

Two years later, she is the leading female skateboarder in the U.S. and will compete against 26 nations in her Olympic debut.

US skateboarder Mariah Duran competes in the Street League Skateboarding championship semifinal in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Sept. 21, 2019.

"It was big to just be a part of [the Olympics] and work towards something and to have that extra goal set in front of me as a skater," said Duran.

"It's going to make the conversation for younger girls who want to pick up a board, their parents might be more down to let them do it," she added.

After a whirlwind 2019 during which she competed in qualification rounds and traveled, Duran said she used the extra time from postponement to reconnect with her love for skating.

"[This year], I would have to say I really fell in love with skateboarding even more, and that aspect of when all this other noise is canceled, I still love skating and I would do it regardless of whether the Olympics happened or not," Duran told ABC News. "I've been skating for about 14 years. So all those other years, I was just doing it because I love doing it."

Duran, who is from Albuquerque, New Mexico, said she used the city as a training ground by finding outdoor parks, stairs, ledges and other obstacles in town.

"I just want longevity in the sport. So what can I do to create that? I was able to get two trainers [to focus my training] and we would do Zoom calls. I would have [the weekend] just to myself and skate all day if I wanted to," she said.

Mariah Duran speaks during United States Olympic Skateboarding Team Announcement at L.A. LIVE, June 21, 2021, in Los Angeles.

Along with practicing yoga regularly to help with her flexibility, Duran said she also used the postponement to slow down and focus on mental training, including being present in the moment.

"When you're competing at such a high level, or you're pushing yourself to do such an extreme [trick]... getting in tune with your mental space is so important because once you can control that. You can control the outcome if you know the position you put yourself in."

Duran said she hopes that the game's global spotlight on skateboarding will inspire other people, especially women, to get involved in the sport and continue to push their limits.

"Skating is so empowering and amazing that, when you step on a board, you don't feel like a girl or a boy. At that point, you're just a skater," said Duran. "I really hope that people just look into the sport a little bit more and it sheds a light and it helps grow the sport."

Two-time Paralympian David Brown runs in the 100-meter and 200-meter sprint alongside a sighted guide in the T11 sports class, which includes all athletes who have a visual field of less than 10 degrees diameter. Brown said the past year has helped him to grow more in tune with his own body as an individual runner one who doesn't necessarily need help.

Gold medalist David Brown celebrates on the podium at the medal ceremony at the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games, Sept. 11, 2016, in Rio de Janeiro.

"What inspired me to actually start running was me starting to go blind when I was 6-years-old. I started being able to just run fast," Brown told ABC News. "Even though I am blind, I'm not going to let you take advantage of me. If you're going to beat me, you're going to have to work for it and it doesn't matter if I can see or not."

Since 2014, Brown has held the world record as the fastest totally blind athlete in the world.

Brown, who began competing in the Paralympics in 2012 and secured a gold medal in the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games, said that the extra time that he spent training last year gave him the chance to better understand his muscles, timing and pace.

Brown said that training by himself allowed him to focus inward and find his own step rather than sync his stride to another person's.

"I've been running for some years now, but I never knew the technicality of sprinting. Especially when it comes to running with someone else," said Brown. "Sometimes, not knowing what to do or how to do certain things, you end up molding yourself to the runner that you're running with."

David Brown of the United States and guide Moray Stewart compete in the Men's 100 Meter Dash T11 Ambulatory final during the 2021 U.S. Paralympic Trials at Breck High School, June 19, 2021, in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

"I don't know how to walk in a straight line or let alone run in a straight line, but I was able to learn," he added.

The extra time also allowed Brown to realize his athletic potential.

"It's odd for me to say this but for the postponement It was a blessing overall for me because I was able to find myself as an athlete [after] being tethered to somebody all the time," said Brown. "I was able to train as an individual, I was able to pretty much untether myself from my guide and find myself as an individual runner."

The Paralympic Games begin on Aug. 24, 2021 in Tokyo. In a year filled with novel protocols and critical improvisations, Brown said he's ready for whatever happens.

"At the end of the day, we're not going to leave anything on the table," he said. "The fact of the matter is, I made it here, I made it this far, which is a huge blessing and a huge accomplishment in itself."

Brown said his goal is to inspire future athletes to test the limits of their own abilities.

"That's what it's all about, giving inspiration to the future athletes," he said. "And then showing the ones that come after us what is possible."

For more Olympics coverage, see: https://abcnews.go.com/Sports/Olympics

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How 3 Olympic, Paralympic athletes adapted their training to the COVID-19 pandemic - ABC News

Jul 6, 2021; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo (34) reacts against the Phoenix Suns during the first half in game one of the 2021 NBA Finals at Phoenix Suns Arena. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

Mental, physical, tactical; sport is a battle on all fronts. Its not the one with the better game that always comes out on top. Especially in a team sport, communication, mental toughness, and the we over me attitude is what trumps physical capabilities. And thats what Giannis Antetokounmpo accomplished with the Milwaukee Bucks.

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Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks recently captured their first NBA Championship in fifty years. As much as the Bucks were phenomenal on the court, their relentless attitude in pursuit of the ultimate gold made the difference. No matter how badly they fell, they ensured that they got up from the slump ten times stronger. Giannis instilled the mentality in them; he instilled the sheer fearlessness in them.

WATCH THIS STORY: How Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Other NBA Superstars Used Hecklers to Motivate Themselves

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In Game-4 of the Eastern Conference Finals, Giannis Antetokounmpo suffered a hyperextension of the knee. This is not a small injury in any sense, and has even ended the careers of professional athletes before. As much as it was a battle with his body, Giannis was fighting against his mind. He wanted to get back on court, but the mental fatigue was perhaps just as taxing as the physical.

When the Greek freak returned against the Phoenix Suns, he did not look as devastating as he was before the injury. Things seemed bleak, but Giannis rose from the tricky terrains. After the first couple of games, Giannis proved why he is a generational talent and one of the leagues toughest. He proved his mettle with a title-sealing 50 points in Game-6 of the NBA Finals, just about three weeks post the scare.

Recently, Giannis opened up about the difficulty of dealing with such pain on a physical and mental level.Its not always about the physical. This playoffs, coming back after Game-4, my knee looked like an elbow. And I wasnt even hundred percent. People dont say that. People dont talk about it,an emotional Giannis quoted.

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Im emotional, I should not be, but thats f***in tough. The 26-year-old had a knee that was totally weak, but he managed to recover in lighting quick time. However, the road to recovery was a tedious one.Thats the tough part, not winning a game, its coming back after your knee looked like an elbow. But thats how Im built. Im never gonna change.

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If tales of recovery and mental toughness such as Giannis dont inspire people, very few things will. Milwaukee Bucks leading man is a living example of a trailblazer. He came, he saw, he failed, he got back up, and now he conquered!

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Thats F*ckin Tough: Giannis Antetokounmpo Explains the Mental Aspect of Returning From Gruesome Knee Injury During NBA Finals - EssentiallySports

Mental Health America conducted a survey of health care workers during COVID-19 from June 2020 through September. Responses showed 93% of health care workers were stressed, 86% anxious, 77% frustrated, 75% overwhelmed and 75% exhausted and feeling burnout.

Caring for people with Alzheimer's is highly stressful at times, and with the challenges and workload from the pandemic, it is no surprise that many caregivers are experiencing burnout. It could be a condition known as "compassion fatigue."

The Rev. Samuel Wood, an author and compassion fatigue educator, defines it as the natural consequence of stress resulting from caring for and helping traumatized or suffering people or animals.

In addition to sleep difficulties, mood swings and appetite changes, health care workers often experience anger and irritability, withdrawal, loss of enjoyment in the vocation, depression, low self-esteem and difficulty concentrating. They may also develop a disparaging attitude toward the people they serve and neglect family members and friends. They may also get more vocal about complaints, become consistently irritable, lose patience more often and find enthusiasm for the work has diminished.

At the height of compassion fatigue, a health care professional may suffer from physical and/or emotional issues and be at risk for leaving his or her profession.

Health care professionals who experience these symptoms should get support from co-workers, a licensed counselor or a social worker.

Those in health care and others should also practice self-care strategies, including keeping connected to other professionals and understanding that such fatigue is not a character flaw.

They should remind themselves of why they went into health care in the first place and the difference they make in the lives of others.

Exercise. Go for a walk. Do things you love.

Know that the need will always surpass the resources, and without self care, eventually you will not be able to care for anyone else.

The joy of caregiving can return with life balance. And know that your community owes you a debt of gratitude for remaining on the front line during the pandemic crisis and after it.

Questions about Alzheimer's disease or related disorders can be sent to Dana Territo, the Memory Whisperer, owner of Dana Territo Consulting, LLC, at thememorywhisperer@gmail.com.

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Alzheimers Q&A: How does a health care professional in the Alzheimers field during the pandemic manage feelings of burnout? - The Advocate