Dr. Mao Shing Ni: Inspiring Boldness Speaker helps us to gather our thoughts and to take a breath

“We live in interesting times. There is a lot of conflict and there is constant, tremendous change. Change is scary for most of us. You are not alone.” 
 
These words opened Dr. Mao Shing Ni’s presentation to the Marymount community on Monday, October 13th.  As the first ‘Inspiring Boldness’ speaker of the year, Dr. Mao focused on concerns around inevitable student stress and the best ways to minimize these anxieties as we progress through the academic year.
 
Focusing on wellness has long been a priority at Marymount, and is paramount to the commitment we have to helping our students find ‘breathability’ in their lives.  Dr. Mao, who is a 38th generation Doctor of Chinese Medicine, inspired our girls to make a closer connection between stress and illness, providing some insight into real ways to harness stress and make it work to our advantage.
 
Dr. Mao emphasized that there is no “running away from” stress – it is a part of our lives, no matter what stage we find ourselves in.  The key to managing stress is to “reframe” situations, turning stress into positive actions that will ultimately free us of negativity and launch us back on to a successful path.  Dr. Mao used the example of a movie theater chain magnate, who had, in his youth, been too poor to purchase movie tickets and after sneaking into the theater, was publicly humiliated and escorted out. The young boy was so embarrassed by the event that he channeled his stress and anger into motivation, later going on to buy the theater and eventually grow it into one of the largest movie houses in the United States.  This tale, said Dr. Mao, was an example of turning a stressful experience into positive action.
 
As the talk wound down, Dr. Mao took our community on a journey of self-exploration, asking us to think about common stressors, and the many ways in which we can combat them, including guiding us through an impromptu group-meditation session. Key ideas, such as reframing, living in the moment, mindfulness, and taking the long view of life, were peppered throughout our journey.  Over 400 hands went up across the room when asked after the exercise, “Who feels more relaxed?”  This experiment helped our community to gain a very real sense of what Dr. Mao teaches – it truly does only take a few moments to refocus our minds and bodies -- and is something that we could all very easily build into our lives.
 
 
Dr. Mao closed the day’s presentation by saying, “Try to accept any situation that is stressful and "reframe" it -- change your perspective, express your emotions creatively and positively, focus on the here and now instead of what you cannot control, eat well, get sleep, exercise, meditate, pray/connect with the divine, forgive, be grateful and BE YOU.”
 
 
 
Dr. Mao is the author of 16 books, most notably “The Secrets of Longevity,”
“The Power of the Feminine” and “Second Spring.”  His practice, The Tao of Wellness: Acupuncture, Chinese Medicine and Nutrition, has offices in Santa Monica, Newport Beach and Pasadena.
 
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