By Leslie A. Muray
I left the United States on June 30, 2006 with my friend and colleague Russ Pregeant. After part of a day and a night in Munich, we met up with John Hill and Jeannette DeJong in Salzburg, Austria where Russ, John, and I gave papers at the Sixth International Whitehead Conference. With the Mozart anniversary, Salzburg was a unique place to be. On July 7, the four of us arrived in my native Budapest. It was a joyous experience to show such fine friends and colleagues around the city where I was born.

I have been spending my sabbatical here since the day of our arrival. I live in an apartment on the banks of the Danube in a Jewish neighborhood that was decimated by the Holocaust but is once again vibrant and creative. Currently, I am teaching two courses at Eotvös Lorand Tudományos Egyetem (Eotvös Lorand Univeristy), ELTE for short, “American Philosophy” and “Environmental Ethics.” The classes are in English. When a student has difficulty understanding something, we switch to Hungarian.

Much of the summer I spent writing my recently competed book, Liberal Protestantism and Science in the Modern World, for which I have a contract with Greenwood Publishing Company.

My most moving experiences have been reunions with family members I had not seen in fifty years or had never met because they were born after we escaped in January, 1957 (although I come to Hungary nearly every year, it has nearly always been to Budapest, typically for conferences; most of my relatives live in small, remote villages). I have found out quite a bit of material previously unknown to me in researching family history for a future book.

I wanted to be back for commemorations of the fiftieth anniversary of the Revolution of 1956, which was certainly one of the events that has had the most profound effect on my life; without its suppression, I would not be in the U.S. teaching at Curry College. I have seen a number of very moving exhibits about it, including one near my old neighborhood, and I attended the commemoration at the Technical University where the initial demands were formulated and where the demonstration of October 23, 1956 started. I am very sorry that civil disturbances, which I barely managed to avoid, marred the solemnity of the occasion. I hope to have a chance to say more about the issues involved in some forum in the near future.

With the ever growing list of demands on our time, attending to our physical and mental well-being often takes a backseat to more pressing matters. Did you know that 60% of all visits to the doctor are due to stress related conditions? The art of meditation may be just what the doctor ordered.

Meditation has been shown to help us manage our stress. Studies have also demonstrated that meditation reduces anxiety and depression and leads to increased productivity, better focus, increased self-esteem, calmness, creativity and an ability to accept what is. It has also been shown to lower blood pressure, decrease heart rate and respiration, decrease anger and hostility, alleviate insomnia, PMS, hot flashes, and infertility, and relieve some types of chronic pain, especially tension headaches.

Marlene Samuelson who practices and teaches Mindfulness Meditation explains, “Meditation is all about being with yourself, focusing on the moment. It takes practice to be able to focus on being with what is, and accepting what is. It is not a way to escape or to tune-out, but rather an opportunity to tune-in to the present.” With practice, the goal is to ultimately incorporate this into all aspects of our life, allowing us to be more present with family, with work, and all that we do.

Learning a new way of “being” takes practice and consistency. If you are interested in meditating, ideally you should set aside 10-20 minutes a day. Marlene also encourages her students to take “minis.” She explains, “Simply take a deep breath and pause. Instead of a knee-jerk reaction to a situation, that breath – or pause, allows for more possibilities in our responses. Breath is our anchor – we always have it with us, if we practice enough to remember.”

Here a few quick pointers to get started:

• For beginners, it is important to find a quiet place with few distractions. Close your eyes to keep external distractions away.
• Get into a comfortable, yet not slouchy, position. Keep head, neck, and back aligned as much as you can. Lower shoulders; relax facial muscles to release tension.
• Tune in to your breath and focus on how your belly rises with the in-breath and falls with the out- breath.
• You can also use a focus if you find it helpful: count from one-ten with each out-breath or use a word like calm or peace. Repeat with each out-breath to help stay focused. With practice you will be able to focus better with or without saying anything.

To learn more or get started, please consider attending an upcoming weekly meditation session. For newcomers, Marlene gives instruction at the start and guidance throughout the 25-minute session. Marlene has also developed a 2-disk meditation CD set for her students that can be made available to faculty and staff who are interested.

Meditation is also one of the main ingredients in yoga. Yoga provides the same health benefits described above along with the added benefits of increased flexibility, muscle toning and detoxification of the body to name a few. Your body grows stronger, more toned, and more flexible as you move from one asana—or pose—to the other.

The Curry yoga class has been a very popular addition to the list of Curry benefits. Our teacher, Christine Loomis, also teaches in the Physical Education program. She adapts her program to all levels of student abilities. Faculty and staff are welcome to attend the Thursday evening class from 4:45 to 5:45 in the ARC.

It’s that time again. The Credit to Curry committee is accepting nominations for its Fall/Winter Credit to Curry Award.

We know that across campus, many staff members go above and beyond the call of duty on a regular basis. This is a chance to publicly acknowledge those good deeds. If you know someone who deserves a special kudos, please take a moment and submit a nomination.

Nominations are due Friday, December 15. The nomination form is available on the Common Drive under HR/Credit to Curry. The award will be presented at the “Celebrate Curry” event in February.

Congratulations to these past Credit to Curry winners:

Did You Know that Curry has budgeted $2.2 million dollars for health and dental insurance this year? (That does not include employee contributions.) Eighteen percent of our health insurance claims are for prescription drugs. What can you do to help control costs? Generic, generic, generic. Generic prescriptions are on average one quarter of the cost of name-brand drugs. If you can substitute, please do!

A few Reminders:

Nov. 3 – Athletic Hall of Fame Dinner and Induction Ceremony. See who is being inducted.
Nov. 5 – Admissions Open House
Nov. 6 – The Keighton Fund presents: Mozart: The Man Behind the Music
Nov. 8 – The Keighton Fund presents: A performance by Alexander Ezerman (cellist) and Christina Valdes (pianist)
Nov. 10 – Veteran’s Day, offices closed
Nov. 19 – The Keighton Fund presents: Mozart 250 concert
Nov. 22 – Offices close at noon for Thanksgiving Break