Motivation

Approaching Life with Beginner’s Mind

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By Leo Babauta

A lot of our troubles could be solved by one simple practice.

A lot of joy could be found with the same practice.

And it is simple: practice seeing life with a beginner’s mind.

I’m stealing this of course from Zen Buddhism’s shoshin and Shunryu Suzuki’s Zen Mind Beginner’s Mind, and I’ve written about it numerous times. But it’s more fundamental than most people realize.

It’s not just something you practice when you’re learning something — though dropping the “expert’s mind” and seeing the learning as a beginner is an important practice in learning. It’s something you can practice every single moment of the day (if you can remember to do so).

What is beginner’s mind? It’s dropping our expectations and preconceived ideas about something, and seeing things with an open mind, fresh eyes, just like a beginner. If you’ve ever learned something new, you can remember what that’s like: you’re probably confused, because you don’t know how to do whatever you’re learning, but you’re also looking at everything as if it’s brand new, perhaps with curiosity and wonder. That’s beginner’s mind.

But imagine if you could apply this to every activity. Take eating breakfast, for example:

  • You start by seeing the activity of eating with fresh eyes, as if you don’t know what to expect, as if you hadn’t done it thousands of times already.
  • You really look at the food, the bowl, the spoon, and try to see the details that you might not normally notice.
  • You truly notice the textures, tastes, smells, sights of the food, pay close attention as if you don’t already know how the food will taste. Everything seems new, perhaps even full of wonder.
  • You don’t take anything for granted, and appreciate every bite as a gift. It’s temporary, fleeting, and precious.

As you can see, this practice of beginner’s mind transforms the activity.

Why It Matters

When you practice beginner’s mind with an activity:

  • Better experiences: You aren’t clouded by prejudgments, preconceptions, fantasies about what it should be or assumptions about how you already know it will be. When you don’t have these, you can’t be disappointed or frustrated by the experience, because there’s no fantasy or preconception to compare it to.
  • Better relationships: If you are talking to someone else, instead of being frustrated by them because they aren’t meeting your ideal, you can see them with fresh eyes and notice that they’re just trying to be happy, that they have good intentions (even if they’re not your intentions), and they are struggling just like you are. This transforms your relationship with the person.
  • Less procrastination: If you’re procrastinating on a big work task, you could look at it with beginner’s mind and instead of worrying about how hard the task will be or how you might fail at it … you can be curious about what the task will be like. You can notice the details of doing the task, instead of trying to get away from them.
  • Less anxiety: If you have an upcoming event or meeting that you’re anxious about … instead of worrying about what might happen, you can open yourself up to being curious about what will happen, let go of your preconceived ideas about the outcome and instead embrace not knowing, embrace being present and finding gratitude in the moment for what you’re doing and who you’re meeting.

As you can see, the practice of beginner’s mind can transform any activity, get rid of a lot of our difficulties, allow us to be more flexible, open, curious, grateful, present.

I’m not saying all of this happens automagically. It takes practice, but it’s worth the practice.

How to Practice

Beginner’s mind is what we practice in meditation. Instead of sitting in meditation and thinking you know what your breath will be like, or the present moment in front of you will be like … you pay attention. See it with fresh eyes. Drop your preconceived ideas and just look clearly at what’s in front of you.

A daily meditation practice is extremely useful in developing this beginner’s mind. Here’s how to practice:

  1. Sit comfortably and upright in a quiet place.
  2. Pay attention to your body, then your breath, trying to see them clearly and freshly.
  3. When you notice yourself having preconceived ideas, wandering from the present moment, thinking you know how it will be … just notice that.
  4. See if you can drop the ideas and thoughts and fantasies and stories that are filling up your head. Empty yourself so you can see what’s actually in front of you. See what your breath is actually like, right now, instead of what you think it will be or what you’re thinking about.

Repeat the last few steps, over and over. See the thoughts and fantasies, empty yourself and see what’s actually there with fresh eyes.

You can practice this right now, with whatever is in front of you. With how your body feels, how your breath feels, whatever else is around you.

You can practice whenever you do any activity, from brushing your teeth to washing the dishes to walking and driving and working out and using your phone.

You can practice whenever you talk to another human being, dropping your ideas of how they should be and instead emptying your mind and seeing them as they are. Notice their good heart, their difficulties, and be grateful for them as they are. Love them for who they are and find compassion for their struggles.

This is the practice. Do it with a smile, and with love, with fresh eyes and gratitude for the only universe we’ll ever get — the actual one in front of us.

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Is There a Link Between Negative Emotions and Disease?

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You’re reading Is There a Link Between Negative Emotions and Disease?, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’re enjoying this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.

Do negative emotions affect your health? Conditions such as depression and anxiety have been shown to affect how we manage and treat our other chronic conditions but, even if one does not suffer from these conditions, unresolved emotions can pave the way for chronic diseases to manifest. These unresolved emotions include grief, anger, jealousy, hatred, guilt and shame to name a few. Now I am not saying that there is anything wrong with experiencing these emotions. What I am saying is that when these emotions are not allowed to percolate through our being but are repressed and ignored, emotional blocks can arise leading to physical symptoms which eventually manifest as illness. But how does one know if they have emotional blocks?

Emotional blocks can be identified by situations in our lives where we get triggered and have intense negative feelings which keep us from handling the situation effectively. Usually the situations that trigger these emotions are similar to emotionally traumatic or distressing similar situations that we have experienced in the past in our infancy, childhood and early adolescence. For example, if we were left to cry in the crib frequently when we were seeking attention and physical touch, this could be interpreted as abandonment by the subconscious mind. Similar situations in our adult life could trigger those same feelings such as being stood up on a date.

There are many experiences we have when we are young which, if not processed emotionally, can lead to issues later in life. These do not have to be major emotionally traumatic events such as physical or sexual abuse. They could be subtle and unrecognizable by those around us. For example, if, as a child, your sibling was offered a treat such as ice cream and you weren’t, this could be interpreted as neglect even if this was not your parent’s intention. If the parent does not recognize their child’s interpretation of this event as neglect, it will go ignored by the parent and perpetuate the feeling of neglect in the child’s viewpoint. Most children do not have the courage or the maturity to confront such feelings to see if there is any external validation for them, in which case they become lodged in the subconscious mind. In our example, the feeling of neglect will be translated as unworthiness by the child and can affect his or her future experiences such as whether he or she applies to the university of his or her choice, strives to obtain the job he or she desires or pursues his or her lifelong dream or ambition. Over time the feelings of neglect and unworthiness can result in depression and physical symptoms which can manifest as illness.

How do these negative feelings lead to illness? Suppressed negative emotions lead to chronic stress which leads to overstimulation of the adrenal glands with an increase in cortisol release. Over time, the adrenal glands will burnout leading to a decrease in cortisol secretion, so-called adrenal fatigue. This will result in a decrease in the inflammatory effect of cortisol, with rampant inflammation, eventually, leading to chronic disease. So how does on prevent this from happening? Like I mentioned before, the problem is not the negative emotions themselves as we are all bound to experience these at various points in our lives. The problem is not allowing ourselves to experience them fully and allow them to pass right through us. The truth is that we are multi-dimensional beings, mental, emotional, vibrational and spiritual, who take on a physical form for our journey here on earth. Our physical form, here on earth, has to and will experience the full spectrum of human emotion which is needed to experience ourselves as whole beings including the so-called negative emotions or the shadow self. It is only through the full human experience that we can know ourselves as whole. The problem is that negative emotions are often too painful to bear and we block and suppress them which results in chronic disease as I have already described. The main driving force for suppressing these emotions is fear of pain. However, our fears are often unwarranted.

There are two types of fear, psychological fear and actual fear. Actual fear is a real danger to our lives such as encountering a jaguar in the jungle. Psychological fear is those circumstances, conditions and feelings which our ego tells us will bring us pain. The problem is that the ego is only looking out for its own sustainability with no thought of our greater growth and development. Therefore, it often keeps us stuck in old paradigms and ways of thinking and being which keep us from growing which can only happen when we lean outside our comfort zones. One of the ways we can lean outside our comfort zones is to not resist our negative emotions and allow ourselves to experience them fully and completely. If we do this, we will realize that the feeling is simply our soul’s experience of a specific moment in the physical body and not to be feared as all feelings, at their core, lead us to inner peace and unconditional love. We can then gain clarity about what action we need to take in our lives to deal with the situation which led to the negative emotion. This is how negative emotions can be transmuted and fuel our journey to experiencing our higher consciousness which is our true nature. This is how we can also prevent negative emotions from leading to chronic stress and, eventually, to chronic disease.

Here is a case study to illustrate this point. I had a patient, who I will call Lisa, who came to me for shortness of breath and chest pain. She had multiple investigations including a CT scan of her chest which showed inflammation in her lungs and lymph nodes. I did a bronchoscopy, which is a test where I take a long flexible device with a camera and a light to go into her lungs and do a biopsy. This did not reveal any specific diagnosis and her symptoms persisted. I eventually referred her to a thoracic surgeon for a lung biopsy. Before this happened, she had planned a vacation to Trinidad, where she is originally from. While she was there her symptoms had, miraculously, completely disappeared but when she got back they returned. I then started to question her further about stresses in her life and it was then that she revealed to me that her marriage was not working and there was a lot of tension and conflict with her husband, who had not gone with her on the trip. This was proof that her symptoms were a direct result of her grief over her failing marriage because when she was away from him for sometime her symptoms resolved. She did not require much convincing that her symptoms were related to the grief and stress caused by her husband and she resolved to leave the situation immediately.

Can you recall a time when negative emotions derailed your health?

If you want to contact me you can go to my landing page at http://ift.tt/2krdhkL or email me directly at wholehealthexpert@gmail.com.

Nauman Naeem MD

You’ve read Is There a Link Between Negative Emotions and Disease?, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’ve enjoyed this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.

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6 Unusual Tips to Skyrocket Your Self-Esteem

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You’re reading 6 Unusual Tips to Skyrocket Your Self-Esteem, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’re enjoying this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.

Has it happened to you?

You say sorry too often when sorry isn’t needed.

At a restaurant when the waiter gets your order wrong. At the mall when someone bumps into you. At work when someone misses your meeting, and it feels like your fault because you didn’t remind them.

Or maybe you struggle to accept compliments. Instead of saying thanks, you argue against the compliment. You downplay it. You attribute it to some coincidence.

The above, described my life. I had a low self-image, lack of confidence, courage or whatever you want to call it.

Maybe you’re in the same boat I was. Always thinking if only I could alter my self-image. If only I could boost my confidence. If only I could be the person I’ve always wanted to be.

But what if I told you, you could?

Dr. Maxwell Maltz said it best: “Low self-esteem is like driving through life with your hand-break on.”

The definition of self-esteem is your faith in someone or something. Maybe you’re overweight and lost faith in your body. Maybe you feel you’ve failed your parents. Maybe you feel you have failed yourself.

If so, this post might be of help.

Here are a few tricks that have helped me, and may help you too.

1. What If

If you experience self-doubt during indecision, ask yourself: “How would I act in this situation if I was overflowing with confidence?” Then, do it that way!

Your comfort zone is a dangerous place to be. If you want to grow, get out of it.

2. Here’s Why Affirmations Don’t Work

I know what you’re thinking. Not this again! But hear me out. Here’s the catch that most people miss.

You have to say your affirmations with feeling. What’s the difference between an owner’s manual and a best-selling novel? Emotion. Your subconscious mind doesn’t understand words, but it does emotion.

Repeat the following to yourself with as much enthusiasm as possible: Everyday, in every way, I’m getting bolder, more confident, and self-assured. At first, you won’t believe yourself, but if you tell your subconscious mind something long enough, after a while it’ll believe it.

3. Knowing vs Doing

It’s easy to fall into the trap of saying: “Meh, I already know this.” Instead as yourself: “Am I applying this advice to my life?”

Also, ask yourself if this advice can improve your life. If it can, it would be wise to test this new idea in your life by applying it.

4. Reverse Engineering

If you haven’t watched Amy Cuddy’s Ted talk, you’re in for a treat.

Self-assured people have a confident body posture. But Cuddy explains the reverse can also apply. If you’re feeling down, strike a power pose for 2 minutes to increase confidence. A power pose is any position that makes your body bigger and more open.

My favorite is feet on the desk with my hands clasped behind my head.

5. Outsource

I’ll be honest with you. Building confidence is possible, but it does take time. You won’t gain it overnight.

Until you reach your goal have someone be your confidence. Whoever inspires you. It might be Tony Robbins, Oprah, or whoever.

Reading or listening to their stories can be empowering. You learn about their sheer determination and persistence that got them where they are today.

6. Act Like a Nightclub Bouncer

Negative thoughts spread like weeds. As soon as one enters, they spread. You should be like a nightclub bouncer who banishes every negative thought that tries to enter your club of happiness.

Sometimes you feel powerless, but don’t let self-doubt take your power. You have the power to choose more positive thoughts.

Is it easy? Nope! But it becomes easier with practice. Driving also wasn’t easy. But the more you practiced, the better you got.

And it’s OK if you’re scared. Courage is being scared and still moving forward. As with self-esteem, you can also learn to be courageous.

You are not your beliefs. Someone else put them there. If someone put them there it means someone can remove them.

Don’t tell yourself the lie that you can’t do it. Because that’s all it is. A lie. People with way fewer resources than you have achieved more. Not because they got lucky, but because they wanted it.

The question is, do you want it bad enough? Do you want to be confident?

Instead of going through life with your handbrake on, rather rip it out. When (not if) your confidence skyrockets you’ll be in the fast lane. No need for slowing down or parking.

Let’s stop settling. Let’s stop trying to please other people, and rather please ourselves. To hell with what anyone thinks. If you’re happy, they should be happy for you.

Because isn’t being happy the purpose of life? It sure is for me. So let’s change that.

I’m game.

Are you?

You’ve read 6 Unusual Tips to Skyrocket Your Self-Esteem, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’ve enjoyed this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.

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5 Powerful Ways to Keep the Energy and Optimism Up During the Dark and Cold Winter

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“In the depths of winter I finally learned there was in me an invincible summer.”
Albert Camus

Up here in Sweden the winter is dark, cold and often comes with a mix of rain and snow. And spring is still far away.

It is not easy to keep the energy and optimism up like in the bright and warm summer days.

So today I’d like to share 5 habits I use that make it a lot easier to stay positive even throughout this dark and often grey season.

1. Find one of your biggest energy sucks.

Ask yourself: What is the biggest energy suck in my life right now?

You may for example find that it is a person in your life that is very negative. Or that the report that you have been meaning to finish for a month now is dragging you down.

Then you follow that up with asking: What is one thing I can do about this?

Maybe you decide that you want stop hanging out with that person. Or at least spend less of the time you have in a week with him or her and more of that time with the people that give you the most energy.

Perhaps you can just set off 5 minutes today to get started again with finishing your report.

For some energy sucks there might not be a simple solution. Or a solution at all, at least at this time. Then you may want to find one of the lesser leaks in your life that you can actually do something about.

Take a few minutes or an hour out of your day to plug just one of these biggest leaks and you’ll have more energy to spend on what truly matters to you.

2. Be grateful for the small things and the things you may sometimes take for granted.

When I’m brushing my teeth in the morning and looking out the window over the dark and rainy landscape it is easy to forget about the things I actually have.

Things like:

  • A roof over my head and a warm home.
  • Clean water.
  • Three steady meals every day.

I have found that zooming out on my perspective like this helps out a lot to snap out of any kind of victim thinking and negativity.

3. Vitamin D supplements.

For the past few winters I’ve been taking Vitamin D supplements each day and I’ve found them to give back a lot of the energy I tend to lose during a long winter.

A few people close to me are also taking them and are reporting similar positive effects in varying degrees.

4. Exercise.

An obvious but a very effective one.

Regular exercise will give you more energy. It will help you to release inner tensions, anxiety and stress.

And so it will be easier to stay relaxed, positive and to think clearly with less overthinking and to act decisively.

5. Take action and move forward.

Few things create so much frustration, worries and anxiety as sitting on your hands and doing nothing.

So even though it might be a little extra tough to get started or to keep going with your dreams and goals during this season remind yourself that if you do you will replace those feelings and thoughts above with optimism and self-confidence.

And remember that you do not have to go forward in big or quick leaps.

The most important thing is simply that you move forward. Even if it is by just taking one small or slow step after another.

Because those steps will quickly add up over the weeks even if they may not look so impressive in themselves.

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How to Unleash Total Confidence From Inside of You

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You’re reading How to Unleash Total Confidence From Inside of You, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’re enjoying this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.

So you want to feel confidence that’s running through every vein? The type of confidence that brings out the absolute best in you? That inner voice that makes heads turn, the looks that make people shut up, or the suggestion that makes people nod. You want the kind of confidence that when you walk into a room and own it.

There is no such thing as confidence potion or self-esteem vitamin, however.

The good news is that self-confidence can be drawn from within. Actually, that’s what should happen – if the confidence is real. It is not something that you necessarily have to get or buy from someone. You can draw it from your own stock inside you.

Let me share with you how you can use these reserves that are inside of you and see what we can do to poke them out to get that oozing confidence!

1. Recall those small successes that bring out positive emotions

Do you remember that day when you helped your boss recover an unsaved file; when you lost your way but eventually found your destination by keeping your focus; or when you placed in the top 5 in your exams unexpectedly? These were the wow-moments when you felt great and confident about yourself. Those were the days when you were willing to take the lead, no matter how it may sound insignificant or trivial, to make an impact in your life or of another.

Being confident is not a one-time package that you can get in one box and have it forever. You have to work for it. You have to discover bits and pieces of it in the things you do, the events in your life or even in your daily routine.

Hence, make it a daily exercise to draw those positive energies from within by spending quiet moments of reflection remembering those moments when you had those little or even big successes. Use them to face your challenges. It will surely make wonders!

2. Remove the negativity in your mind and in your life

In our lifetime, we are full of negativity- those we acquired from our childhood while we were growing up, those people who tried to knock down our self-worth with verbal abuse, those unfortunate events that we did not have control of but continue to haunt us. The examples would be endless if I would take the time to list them one by one.

Some of these still hound us on a daily or regular basis. They keep coming back precisely on those moments when we face the challenges that question our self-confidence and capability. There is nothing wrong with looking back for once but we have to do so quickly just to draw learning from them. Acknowledging the past is the first step.

Furthermore, while you can spend time for reflection on the good things, you can also spend part of that time to detoxify your inner self. Find out what good we can take from those unpleasant experiences and move on. Throw them away, try to forget them and if you can’t, seek appropriate help.

3. Reflect and visualize the confident you

Author Jack Canfield encourages visualization to help fast-track the achievement of those goals or dreams. He says it activates your creative subconscious and programs your brain to be more aware of your environment.

The practice of visualization was never a formal exercise that even many successful people do. A large number of them probably did so unconsciously in face of adversity or need to survive. They tried to learn and pickup from what they see from other successful people and feed their minds that someday they will get there if they work on their goals.

Use visualization to project your self-confidence. Who do you see yourself in the next five years? Like a rich educated gentleman who speaks and walks confidently? Like a team leader who can command respect from his members? Like a community leader who can courageously beat the odds to stand for what he believes in?

You can use your imagination to see yourself in the position of these admired persons. If you have to spend a time in your routine and meditate to imagine your goals; if you have to cut down images that represent your confident self and put them on a board; if you have to write descriptive words and record them in a diary for you to remember them—do so. It will help you realize your goals faster!

The truth about oozing confidence and what you can do about it

So you really want that powerful confidence to come out of you? Think again. There is no magic pill to give you that great confidence.

Oozing confidence is about drawing from your experience those winning moments and using them to face new challenges. It is about making yourself visible and truly relevant to your workplace, family and community. It is not about the noise but the impact you make in the place where you live.

It’s about time you make a choice. I therefore challenge you to make one little step to this journey – to join my community and support group. Let’s work on this together and see how far you can go!

—–
Rob Leonardo is the creator of successful email series turned into a book, Confidence Upgrade. He advocates building self-confidence around an alternative mantra “be bold assertive and happy.” He is giving away digital copies of his book next month to the first 100 new subscribers to his support community. Get access HERE.

photo credits: Tim Inconnu

You’ve read How to Unleash Total Confidence From Inside of You, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’ve enjoyed this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.

http://ift.tt/2k1BiBr

How to Unleash Total Confidence From Inside of You

signordalLeave a comment

You’re reading How to Unleash Total Confidence From Inside of You, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’re enjoying this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.

So you want to feel confidence that’s running through every vein? The type of confidence that brings out the absolute best in you? That inner voice that makes heads turn, the looks that make people shut up, or the suggestion that makes people nod. You want the kind of confidence that when you walk into a room and own it.

There is no such thing as confidence potion or self-esteem vitamin, however.

The good news is that self-confidence can be drawn from within. Actually, that’s what should happen – if the confidence is real. It is not something that you necessarily have to get or buy from someone. You can draw it from your own stock inside you.

Let me share with you how you can use these reserves that are inside of you and see what we can do to poke them out to get that oozing confidence!

1. Recall those small successes that bring out positive emotions

Do you remember that day when you helped your boss recover an unsaved file; when you lost your way but eventually found your destination by keeping your focus; or when you placed in the top 5 in your exams unexpectedly? These were the wow-moments when you felt great and confident about yourself. Those were the days when you were willing to take the lead, no matter how it may sound insignificant or trivial, to make an impact in your life or of another.

Being confident is not a one-time package that you can get in one box and have it forever. You have to work for it. You have to discover bits and pieces of it in the things you do, the events in your life or even in your daily routine.

Hence, make it a daily exercise to draw those positive energies from within by spending quiet moments of reflection remembering those moments when you had those little or even big successes. Use them to face your challenges. It will surely make wonders!

2. Remove the negativity in your mind and in your life

In our lifetime, we are full of negativity- those we acquired from our childhood while we were growing up, those people who tried to knock down our self-worth with verbal abuse, those unfortunate events that we did not have control of but continue to haunt us. The examples would be endless if I would take the time to list them one by one.

Some of these still hound us on a daily or regular basis. They keep coming back precisely on those moments when we face the challenges that question our self-confidence and capability. There is nothing wrong with looking back for once but we have to do so quickly just to draw learning from them. Acknowledging the past is the first step.

Furthermore, while you can spend time for reflection on the good things, you can also spend part of that time to detoxify your inner self. Find out what good we can take from those unpleasant experiences and move on. Throw them away, try to forget them and if you can’t, seek appropriate help.

3. Reflect and visualize the confident you

Author Jack Canfield encourages visualization to help fast-track the achievement of those goals or dreams. He says it activates your creative subconscious and programs your brain to be more aware of your environment.

The practice of visualization was never a formal exercise that even many successful people do. A large number of them probably did so unconsciously in face of adversity or need to survive. They tried to learn and pickup from what they see from other successful people and feed their minds that someday they will get there if they work on their goals.

Use visualization to project your self-confidence. Who do you see yourself in the next five years? Like a rich educated gentleman who speaks and walks confidently? Like a team leader who can command respect from his members? Like a community leader who can courageously beat the odds to stand for what he believes in?

You can use your imagination to see yourself in the position of these admired persons. If you have to spend a time in your routine and meditate to imagine your goals; if you have to cut down images that represent your confident self and put them on a board; if you have to write descriptive words and record them in a diary for you to remember them—do so. It will help you realize your goals faster!

The truth about oozing confidence and what you can do about it

So you really want that powerful confidence to come out of you? Think again. There is no magic pill to give you that great confidence.

Oozing confidence is about drawing from your experience those winning moments and using them to face new challenges. It is about making yourself visible and truly relevant to your workplace, family and community. It is not about the noise but the impact you make in the place where you live.

It’s about time you make a choice. I therefore challenge you to make one little step to this journey – to join my community and support group. Let’s work on this together and see how far you can go!

—–
Rob Leonardo is the creator of successful email series turned into a book, Confidence Upgrade. He advocates building self-confidence around an alternative mantra “be bold assertive and happy.” He is giving away digital copies of his book next month to the first 100 new subscribers to his support community. Get access HERE.

photo credits: Tim Inconnu

You’ve read How to Unleash Total Confidence From Inside of You, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’ve enjoyed this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.

http://ift.tt/2k1BiBr

Finding Stillness

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By Leo Babauta

I’ve heard from many people who say, “I think too much,” or “I can’t get out of my own head.”

This is pretty common. Thinking isn’t the problem, but the struggle comes when we’re constantly spinning stories in our heads and getting caught up in them.

Our minds jump from one thing to another, seeking distraction or avoiding difficulty. We can’t focus, we can’t be present in the moment, and we feel the need to be constantly busy.

The answer, I’ve found, is finding stillness.

Our mental processes — jumping around and distraction and being caught up in stories — don’t have to cause anxiety, actually. They’re not only common, I think it’s the normal human condition. If this is how our minds are most of the time, then feeling afflicted by this condition is probably going to cause us constant anxiety.

Instead, I find it more helpful to learn to:

  • be aware of these mental conditions;
  • be present with the mental pattern and stay with it; and
  • work with the condition in a mindful way.

The only way to do all of that is to start with stillness.

A Moment of Stillness

Take a minute out of your busy day and try to do the following:

  1. Sit still and look away from all devices and other activities. Just sit there, maybe with your eyes closes, maybe looking at nature or a wall.
  2. Take a moment to assess your condition. How do you feel? Are you tired, anxious, frustrated, calm, happy? What state is your mind in?
  3. Assess how you’ve been behaving recently (today, or just in the last hour) … have you been constantly distracted? In a state of busyness? Focused? Procrastinating? Anxious or fearful? Irritated? Feeling down?
  4. Stay with these feelings for a moment, just being curious and non-judgmental about them.
  5. Face each of the feelings you’re noticing, and notice the mental pattern that caused it. If you’re frustrated, are you stuck in a resentful story about someone else or your current situation? If you’re anxious, is there some desired outcome that you’re holding tightly to? If you’re feeling down, are you comparing your situation with some ideal that you don’t have?
  6. Bring your attention to your body. How does it feel? What sensations can you notice in your head, neck, arms, hands, torso, hips, butt, legs, feet?
  7. Can you find gratitude in this moment? Can you find love or compassion, for yourself or others?

You don’t have to do all of these things each time you sit still, but these are all things you can try doing. Pick a couple and focus on them for a minute, then next time pick a couple more. Take a few deep breaths, then give yourself permission to return to work or whatever activity you’re doing.

Cultivating Stillness

As you can see, it just takes a minute of stillness to work with your spinning stories and other mental patterns. We can use this minute of stillness to bring less busyness and anxiety and more calmness, mindfulness and gratitude to our lives. It just takes a bit of cultivation.

Some ways to cultivate stillness in your life:

  • Set reminders to get away from technology for just a minute or two, and sit still somewhere.
  • Build time in your day for just sitting. It could be sitting meditation, or simply sitting somewhere pleasant and doing nothing.
  • Find time for disconnected reading — using a paper book or dedicated ebook reader.
  • Have tea in the morning or afternoon. Just sit and drink tea, noticing its smell, flavor, warmth.
  • Do a couple yoga poses — child’s pose for a minute or two, for example, or downward facing dog or pigeon’s pose. This can be a meditation, where you’re staying with your breath and body for a couple minutes and getting a stretch in as well.
  • Go for a walk. While this isn’t technically stillness, it’s moving your body in a healthy way while not allowing yourself to be distracted.

When you notice your mind racing, when you notice distractions and procrastination, when you notice anxiety or resentment … take a stillness break.

And in this stillness, notice all of the wonders of life that we take for granted.

“Let us be silent, that we may hear the whispers of the gods.” ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

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The 5 Best Podcasts on Ethics

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You’re reading The 5 Best Podcasts on Ethics, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’re enjoying this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.

The word Ethics is derived from the Greek word for character (ethos) and the Latin word for customs (mores). It is a word to describe how individuals interact with each other. Ethics is about what standards and virtues we uphold in our societies, from rights to justice. The origin of our beliefs have a lot to do with what we were taught when we were younger or what environment we use to justify that principle. It is necessary to examine one’s own values to make sure they are reasonable. A society’s ethical standards must be bolstered by consistent reason. Here is a list of 5 podcasts that consider the nature of ethics:

  1. The notion of moral responsibility can be impossible to find in an organization which is in and of itself, emotionless, however the assembly of people within that group can be morally and socially responsible if held accountable. This podcast is heavily complex to listen to, but makes a strong case for business ethics and corporate social responsibility.

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  1. This is an interesting podcast series where we hear many different views on ethics within various professions. The voices we hear are primarily those of people in the 20’s and 30’s discussing everything from the ethics of archeology to the ethical issues surrounding athletic trainers. The variety of these podcasts presents a perspective that goes beyond social responsibility, it deconstructs the big picture so we can understand how ethics plays an important role in our everyday lives.

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  1. This podcast tackles the issue of neuro-pharmacology (smart drugs and substances) taken by healthy people to enhance their performance, however, the assumption with this is that we know what is considered an improvement in the species. But a much greater concern is what kind of a society are we if we believe, for example, working excessively just because we can (with cognitive enhancement) is the right way to live. The serious ethical issue is that we don’t know the long term effects of these drugs, especially when children are given cognitive drugs.

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  1. Meta ethics tries to understand what it means for something to be right or wrong. Is it an opinion or is it fact independent of your opinion? Ethics begins with an assumption of what is right or wrong and meta ethics discovers whether they are right or wrong. It is difficult to verify moral claims however, if you perceive that if morality of an act is judged by its consequences, then that can be a measure of verification. Can one be objective about morality? This podcast is incredibly interesting in discussing these ideas.

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  1. This podcast examines the myth of ‘patient zero’, when one man was mistakenly blamed as the originator of HIV in North America. In storytelling, (and in this case, a media story) we always try to get to the bigger truths by taking liberties with smaller truths. There seems to be a culture that wants to find blame when we have an epidemic, so there is a search for a place of origin. This podcast considers the ethics surrounding our need to identify its source.

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Ethics is one of the most important values one can hold, as from an early age we are told what is ‘fair’, and what ‘is not fair.’ To answer these questions or to teach these values to our future generations or even to ourselves, requires one to have a constant dialogue with others and attune ourselves to what is truly ethical in terms of its benefits for society as a whole.

Do you read a great blog about ethics that’s not on the list? Leave a comment on FB!

Larissa Gomes is a breast cancer survivor and single mom to her spirited baby boy! Originally from Toronto turned Angeleno, she has worked in roles from writer, actor and producer for well over a decade. In that time, she’s developed concepts, film and television screenplays, short stories, along with freelance articles, blogging and editing work.

 

You’ve read The 5 Best Podcasts on Ethics, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’ve enjoyed this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.

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How to Use Momentum to Your Advantage Every Day

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You’re reading How to Use Momentum to Your Advantage Every Day, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’re enjoying this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.

If you’re not using momentum to your advantage, you may find yourself getting lost in a tangle day after day.

But by starting your day with activities that include reading, meditating, working out, and practicing gratitude – you will feel much more positive in the morning. By taking care of the little starts throughout your day, you’ll have a more rewarding day (more on this soon). You’ll move up the ladder of positivity quicker instead of being stuck in the middle.

This principle applies to every part of our lives.

Yet how often do we ignore this and opt for the easy road straight away? The croissant and coffee with the television on in the morning. The lack of greeting our neighbor. The rush to work because we’re late. And so, the day begins without an optimal mindset.

And then, we might be likelier to start eating poorly, snap at someone, or get frustrated with ourselves.

Not starting things off well, isn’t due to a character flaw we have; it’s simply human nature to favor taking the easy path. It’s easier to just roll into bed. It’s easier to unlock your phone first thing in the morning and check your email. It’s easier to be dismissive. But we can learn to opt to take the high road and train ourselves to start everything we do on the right note.

“Take the high road, there’s a lot less traffic up there.” Phillip C.Mcgraw

Albert Einstein once said that compound interest in life is the most powerful force in the universe. And I think this principle also applies to our daily lives. Everything we do is done once at a time. But the energy we bring to the next thing contains a residual power.

Ever notice how you feel after you’ve done everything that was on your plate? It’s a phenomenal state to be in, and everything that you do after, feels easier. That’s the power of momentum, and that’s what we should aim to cultivate more of in our lives.

Here are some examples to demonstrate this principle:

  • If you start your workout well, you’ll be likelier to have a great workout
  • If you make a good first impression on a client, you’ll be likelier to seal the deal
  • If you smile at your neighbor and start things off on a pleasant note, you’ll be likelier to have a better conversation
  • If you get in a good mood as quickly as possible after waking up, you’ll be likelier to feel good throughout the rest of the day
  • If you get to work on time, you’ll feel more productive

With that in mind, we can become more aware of our little “starts”. That’s where the potential of anything great truly lies. Whether it’s at work, when we start a conversation with someone, or right when we wake up.

If all we do is concentrate on starting well, we can worry about the rest a little less. That’s because momentum will take care of the middle and the end, we just need to push ourselves along in the right direction first. When rockets make their launch into space, 80% of the fuel is used for take-off. The last 20% is just used to maintain the momentum of the journey.

The same principle also holds true in our lives.

If you’re interested in learning more about mastering your habits, get my free guide. Here’s what you’ll learn:

  • First, you’ll find out how to split up your day into four chunks, so that you’ll worry less about external influences.
  • Second, you’ll discover how to consistently celebrate your small wins, so that you feel more creative and enthusiastic each day.
  • Third, I’ll show you the small productivity hacks that will take your output to the next level.

About the Author: Samy Felice is a writer who is passionate about unique ideas related to living a meaningful life. His Free Guide explores ways people can make success easier.

You’ve read How to Use Momentum to Your Advantage Every Day, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’ve enjoyed this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.

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3 Steps to Enlightenment: The Path of Surrender

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You’re reading 3 Steps to Enlightenment: The Path of Surrender, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’re enjoying this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.

Have you ever dreamed about going off to an ashram in India, hoping to get your life clearly sorted out once and for all, as Elizabeth Gilbert did in Eat, Pray, Love? Have you secretly dreamed that one day you will land in some sacred place and feel miraculously in tune and connected, such that all of your life’s troubles disappear?

The illusion that we can fix our life by abandoning it is admittedly very tempting, and many of us try to escape our lives in search of something better. We are often fooled into thinking we can find ourselves and find peace if only we meditate enough, go on retreats, and magically make ourselves over to have all new and healthier habits. This is not to dismiss the value of taking a short break to recuperate and gather yourself. Indeed, such changes can be immensely helpful in realigning and reinvigorating the soul. However, many of us unconsciously use these spiritual events, tools, and resources in the external world in order to escape pain, to escape the profound disconnection we suffer within.

What happens is this: We want to make a change, yet we remove ourselves from the place where we would like to actually manifest that change, and we go somewhere else—often a new and strange place—and reap only the short-lived benefits of isolated change. “It was a relaxing trip. Life feels different now,” we might think, not fully realizing that when we go back to the real places we live, we go back to the cluttered rooms, the broken marriage, and the daunting financial responsibilities.

The reality you live and breathe now is your spiritual path. Where you are right now, in the midst of your troubles and your suffering or your joy and your happiness, is the actual path. When you acknowledge that spirituality happens in every moment, you make a leap of faith. Any time you embody or act from love, any time you live from a selfless place because your inner self is already full, you bring yourself closer to the Divine. Any time you look at someone with a compassionate heart and do your best to honor that person, a piece of yourself is restored, and you feel aligned and connected.

Everything we see in this universe is a reflection of two qualities: love and truth. From there, we make our own contributions, further reflecting these two qualities in our life and the lives of others. Positive change in your life starts with acknowledging the truth, then moving into finding solutions and taking informed, loving action. No solution is complete unless we are in tune with ourselves and find our place in the circle of prayer and surrender to Divine.

What does it mean to surrender? In our limited capacity to control the outcomes of our lives, we forget that everything in the universe—the planets, stars, trees, and animals—is in a state of surrender. Surrender is about knowing when to “do”—when to exert our influence—and when to simply “be.” When we decide to embrace surrender, we are asked to become more and more discerning of what is within our control and what is not.

Alignment with the Divine is the delicate combined state of surrender and prayer. In alignment, you move and act the same way the rest of God’s creations do, secure in your awareness of the higher power that guides you. At the same time, you are in a constant state of prayer, of personal communication with the Divine, to ask for what you need and express your gratitude and praise.

The gift of free will is an honorable one, given to us by the Divine. Surrender is the art of operating in a governed universe by cultivating an intimate relationship with the Divine. You step into a sacred circle that rotates with input both from you and from the Divine. In that circle, prayer is your input. At the same time, you allow guidance and input from the Divine by wholeheartedly surrendering your actions and listening in. In this way, the Divine shapes your life with wisdom and grace. When you take action and then let go, you enter into a space of harmonious creation. You experience the light and support of the Divine.

Your life is your sacred ashram. It is up to you to make your life the most amazing journey. No one will live your life for you, and no one will create peace of mind except you. You will not find the answers any place other than where you are. So open your eyes. Begin to look at your everyday life differently, to allow it to have the light and the sacredness it is supposed to have.
Here are simple ways to practice surrender.

Surrender Your Day

When you wake up, without stating any desires or plans, release the day and its events to Divine guidance, and then go about your day. You will notice that when you let go, there is no need to force anything. Bring your heart on board and be open.

Surrender Your Health

When you have a chronic symptom or pain, try this prayer: “Dear God, I now let go of the need to fix myself. I allow the light of your truth to enter my body and restore me fully. My body knows how to heal itself. I now allow it to awaken to the truth of your creation. I am ready and willing to learn and heal. Thank you.”

Surrender Your Time

The notions of past, present, and future enable us to take responsibility and make things happen, but when we hold on to them too tightly, we destroy our own peace of mind. To break free of this trap, set an intention, and then allow the Divine plan – the “how” – to unfold. Try the following prayer as you wake up in the morning: “Dear God, I am willing to let go of my worries about time and allow your guidance to take over instead. I am open and receptive to your plans to bring me what is best. Thank you.”
When we shift our perspective, our outlook changes for the better. That’s the power of self that we all carry. By living fully and being mindful in every moment, we gather our strength and become more aligned. Our spiritual journey is fully realized in our intimate relationship with the Divine. It is when we surrender that magic enters our mundane life.

ABOUT OUR WRITER
Eiman Al Zaabi is a personal transformation coach, spiritual teacher, and author of The Art of Surrender: A Practical Guide to Enlightened Happiness and Well-Being. Outside of her coaching practice, Eiman works at New York University, Abu Dhabi campus, and lives in the United Arab Emirates with her husband and children. Sign up for her coaching sessions and newsletter at eimanalzaabi.com.

You’ve read 3 Steps to Enlightenment: The Path of Surrender, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’ve enjoyed this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.

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