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How to Let Go of the Past and Not Fear Your Future

 

“Stop acting as if life is a rehearsal. Live this day as if it were your last. The past is over and gone. The future is not guaranteed.” – Wayne dyer.

The other night I was sitting down with my brother watching a late night soccer match when we started talking about the “good ole days” and all of our plans for the future. After a while we paused and then started laughing because it seemed as though I was trapped in the past and he was fearful of the future. The whole conversation I had been talking about how things used to be and he spent the whole time talking about how hard things are going to be. It was a bit of an “Ah huh!” moment as we both realized that grasping on to the past/future was keeping us from being happy.

In this post I want to talk about how to let go of your past and not fear your future. It is one of the most important things you will ever attempt to do – living in the present is the only way to be happy.

NOTE – I have divided this article into two posts as they were quite long. Today’s post will be on letting go of the past and tomorrow’s post will be on learning how to not fear your future. Make sure you subscribe to the feed if you don’t want to miss out.

As always, if you have something to add or a comment that you think might help someone out there please leave a comment and let us know. All comments are greatly appreciated.

How to let go of your past

For some people, the past is like a ball and chain. It follows you wherever you go and it stops you from achieving your goals in life. It is restricting, heavy and extremely burdensome. A lot of people never break free. If you feel a little bit like that then please read through these suggestions and take them to heart. If you can break free from your past you might find your present and future moments are looking a lot brighter.

1. Realize that it cannot be changed
The most sobering thing about the past is that it cannot be changed. Things have already happened. And seeing as there is no way to travel back in time, there is no way to change the past. Learn to accept it.

I once read about a man who sped through a traffic light because he was late to work and ran over a mother and bay. Both mother and child were killed but the driver survived unharmed. This man became an alcoholic and a drug user and his life started spiraling out of control as his guilt was so painful. It took him almost 30 years but one day he realized that what was done was done and there was no way to change it. By destroying his life as well he was effectively ruining three lives.

If you live in the past and are having trouble letting go you need to realize that it cannot be changed. You can never go back to those times and you will never erase what happened. By living in this past moment you are preventing yourself from actually fixing what you did wrong.

2. Don’t make “mind stories”
Sometimes when I cast my mind back to my days in high school or my first trip to India I get a swell of emotion and then start to create “mind stories”. These stories can go on all day and basically consist of my going over all my good memories and then getting upset when I realize that times have changed. Don’t do this.

We all make “mind stories” to some extent. My mother is the opposite of me and she spends all day going over all the bad things that could happen or all the negative events that occurred in the past. The mental chatter is poisonous. As soon as you start, it is almost impossible to stop. One thought leads to another and before long you realize that you have a whole day of your life in the past.

3. Think about impermanence
It wouldn’t be a post by The Daily Minder without mentioning impermanence. I can hear of you all groaning now – “here he goes… rambling on about impermanence again!” It is an important truth to realize, however, and it is particularly useful when dealing with an inability to let go of the past.

First of all, we need to realize that we don’t have a lot of time on this Earth. Death can come at any moment. You could eat a poisonous dinner, choke on a carrot or get hit by a car. You could get cancer tomorrow. Imagine if a wise old meditation master came to you and said you only had two weeks left to life. Would you regret spending so much time thinking about the past? Would you consider that you wasted your time here on Earth? I know I would.

The next time you start worrying about the past I want you to remember impermanence. Say to yourself, “I don’t have time for this” and just drop it. Over time you will train your mind to ignore those thoughts and as the days and weeks go by the attachment to the past will fade away.

4. Meditate on compassion
A few years ago I was in North India listening to a talk by an old Tibetan Lama who had grown up in Tibet and fled to India in the 60’s. At the end of the talk the Lama answered a few questions from the audience. One of the questions said:

“Tibet was one of the most beautiful countries where people had freedom to practice meditation and live in peace. Do you miss those days?”

The Lama, without even pausing for a moment, just shook his head and said “No”. Then he followed up by saying, “thinking about times gone by is useless. It doesn’t help yourself and it doesn’t help other people”. I was impressed. What he said left an indelible mark on my mind – dwelling on the past is a fruitless pursuit and it helps no one.

If you are stuck in the past you need to realize that those thoughts and habits are helping no one. It is an extremely uncompassionate way to live your life and it will get you no where.

5. Understand we can’t control everything
I am a firm believer that we control our destiny. I do not think God or anyone else plans things out for us, I think we are the ones who forge our future and I think we are the ones responsible for our actions. Sometimes, however, we have to realize that we cannot control everything that goes on.

I once heard a mate of mine say that people who dwell on the past are just trying to control everything. I think he was right. Sometimes I feel like my sense of independence means that I blame myself too heavily when things go wrong. And that means I am often dwelling on my mistakes.

If you spend a lot of time cursing yourself for things you have done in the past I ask you to go easy on yourself and to stop trying to be so controlling. You cannot control everything. You cannot control everyone. And although you are the one in charge of your destiny there are times when you will be utterly unable to change a set of circumstances. So let it go. You will be glad you did.

Conclusion

Letting go of the past is like lifting a weight off your shoulders. It allows you to move on and make a new life and it stops you from staying stagnant. Like any habit, however, it will be hard to accomplish and it will take a lot of practice. But it is possible to let go of the past and live completely for the present.

The next post will be on how to not fear your future. Make sure you are subscribed so you don’t miss out.

Originally posted on March 17, 2009 @ 6:54 am

6 Definitive Signs Your Meditation Practice is Not Working


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I know a lot of readers here at The Daily Mind dabble at meditation. Some do it for relaxation, some for enlightenment. And when you practice meditation you expect certain results. But sometimes those results don’t occur. Sometimes, in fact, signs arise that show that your meditation is not working properly at all.

In this post I am going to show you 6 definitive signs that prove that your meditation practice is not working. If you happen to identify one or two within your own practice do not become discouraged. You should instead consider yourself extremely lucky for now you know what is holding you back.

6 definitive signs your meditation practice is not working

Meditation is a practice. It is like soccer, football, running or chess. The more time you spend doing it the better you will become. And, like soccer, football, running and chess there are signs that show whether you are succeeding or not.

If you keep missing the goal when you take a shot in soccer it means your technique is wrong. If you can’t checkmate your opponent in chess, even after years of playing it means your strategy is off. Meditation is no different. And once you recognize these signs you will be able to rectify the problem and move on.

1. You have become more opinionated
The great Buddhist master Chogyam Trungpa once stated that the first sign of a successful meditation practice is that you become less opinionated. I couldn’t agree more. Meditation should make you more gentle and spacious. It should make your mind less rigid. And when that happens your become less opinionated. You have more room to hear others opinions and you have more room to allow them to swirl around and settle. You do not react at the first sign of a challenging opinion.

If you find that you have become more opinionated it is a sign that your meditation practice is not working. Try and look in to your mind and find why that might be happening.

2. You have become less patient


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As I have mentioned many times, patience is the greatest of all the virtues. It is the direct remedy to anger and as such it should increase as you begin to become more expert at meditation.

Next time someone cuts you off in traffic take a look at your mind and see if it was more patient than it might have been two years ago. Or, the next time you get woken up in the middle of the night or have to get up super early. See if you are getting more patient. If you aren’t then something is wrong.

3. You have become more dogmatic
Wikipedia defines “dogma” as Dogma “…the established belief or doctrine held by a religion, ideology or any kind of organization: it is authoritative and not to be disputed, doubted or diverged from”. And let’s face it – all of us are dogmatic in some way. We hear a teaching we like or join a club we identify with and we automatically want to prop up its teachings.

But when you practice meditation you become less dogmatic. You start to see that all teachings have a time and a place and a meaning. Some people like Buddhism. Some people like Islam. It is not that one is more right than the other. The truth is that both have their place and work for certain people. It might be right for you but not for me. Meditation opens you up to this possibility.

4. You have become more irritable
I once used to hang out at a little Buddhist Center in Australia and got to know the people there. One day I went out for lunch with a lady whose partner was one of the more “senior” meditators at the center. She was a little upset so I asked her what was wrong and she told me how her partner had yelled at her while he was meditating the day before. “What happened?” I inquired.

“Well,” she said. “I was watering the plants outside his room and all of a sudden he screamed out ‘Would you SHUT UP I am trying to meditate!‘ and then slammed the door.”

I couldn’t believe my ears. Meditation is supposed to make you more open to situations in your life. It is not as if you are trying to make everything all perfect and lovely and quiet – you are trying to work with all situations that you encounter. If you are become more irritable then something is wrong.

5. Your desire/aggression has not decreased
When you meditate you start to work with your thoughts and emotions. You become more tuned in to the ups and downs of your mind and you learn to see through its games. This means that you should become less desire-filled and a lot less aggressive.

One sure sign that someone is not a very good meditator is when they become agitated, aggressive and angry at the smallest thing. It means they have little control over their mind and cannot separate their awareness from their emotions and thoughts. As meditators we should be able to deal with these strong emotions in a more patient way.

6. You still lack love and compassion
The final and the most important point is that meditation is supposed to make you more loving and compassionate. When you start to get in touch with your true self you automatically become more compassionate. We see this in great masters and the songs they write when they reach a new level of realization. Many of them break down in tears of sadness over the fact that they have realized their true potential while other beings still wander in suffering.

The more you meditate the closer you should come to this realization. If you are not becoming more loving and compassionate it means you are getting further and further away from enlightenment, God, or whatever it is you are seeking.

Recognizing is not faking

Now that you know some of these signs it is important that you stay honest with yourself. A lot of people would read this information and then try to mimic what they think a good meditator would do. This is not very helpful. The idea behind meditation is to work with your current situation, whatever that may be. If you are an angry person you need to deal with that, not fake being a patient person. If you are a sex-addict you need to deal with that, don’t pretend to be a monk. This is important.

If anyone knows any other signs that meditation practice is not working I would love to hear them. Please drop us a comment.

Originally posted on February 23, 2009 @ 1:28 pm

How to Become More Patient With Friends, Enemies & Circumstances


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“He that can have Patience, can have what he will” – Benjamin Franklin

Would you like to become a more patient person? Are you constantly snapping at friends and family for seemingly meaningless issues? What about your enemies? Are you ever patient towards them? Did you get angry the last time someone cut you off in traffic?

In this post I am going to show you how to become a more patient person. Most importantly, however, I am going to show you why patience is one of the most important qualities that a person can develop.

Why is patience so important?

It is said that of all the negative emotions it is anger that is the worst. In fact, the Buddha said that a single moment of anger can destroy the results of a hundred of years of positive deeds. Such is the corrupting and degrading effect that anger has on one’s mind and the people around you. Anger has been the motivating force behind the world’s most heinous acts and crimes. Everyday we hear about angry outbursts leading to:

  • Murders
  • Violent acts
  • Harsh speech
  • Wars and battles
  • The destruction of friendships and alliances
  • Etc.

So, if anger is the worst of all the negative emotions then surely the direct antidote is the king of all qualities? And what is that antidote? Why it is patience, of course! Patience is the way to deal with and destroy your anger. Only by becoming patient will you finally come to live a peaceful and hate free life. If everyone reacted with patience there would be a lot less suffering and hurt in this world. And that is why it is so important.

How to become more patient with friends, enemies and circumstances


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Now I would like to give you some simple suggestions for how you can become a more patient person. These tactics will not work over night. They will take months and years of dedication and committed effort. But, if you can stay focussed and driven you will find that your patience develops quite naturally. After all, I truly believe that we are all patient creatures at heart.

1. Look at the bigger picture
One of the best ways to become a more patient person is to take a step back from your scenario and look at the bigger picture. Sometimes in the heat of the moment this can be extremely hard to do. But, if you can manage to remind yourself of this technique you can be assured that you will see results.

So what do I mean by “look at the bigger picture”? Well, it is quite simple. The next time a friend does something to hurt you and you get angry try taking a look at the cause of their actions. Why did they do it? Did they do it to deliberately hurt you? I don’t think so. It is much more likely that they behaved in that way because there is something going wrong with their life at the moment. They might have just lost their job or been cut off in traffic. Viewing the bigger picture like this can help you get some perspective.

But you can take it even further. You can apply this on a bigger and more societal level. For example, if someone does something to piss you off you might want to think about the tough upbringing that they had or the fact that their weren’t presented with the same opportunties for growth that you were. As a result of missing out on those opportunities they decided, at that last moment with you, to do something nasty. But, instead of getting angry at them you are going to react with patience.

2. Understand that your enemy is your greatest teacher
One of the most significant ideas that the Buddha introduced to his students was the idea that your enemy is your greatest teacher. Why? Because only your enemies can give you the chance to develop true patience. If there was no one around to harm you, there would be no chance to develop real patience.

Let’s think about this logically for a second. We are people who are interested in self development. Some of us may meditate while others might just be interested in being better people. Regardless of what we are trying to do with our lives or which religion we belong to, we can all see the advantage of developing patience. Without it our ethics would be incomplete.

So, the next time someone tries to hurt your feelings I want you to try to remember that this person is the kindest person you know. This person is your teacher, your guru, your master. This person is presenting you with an opportunity to develop the king of all virtues – patience. How could you possibly hate such a person?

3. Use your logic
The next suggestion that I want to give you is the idea that you can use logic to become more patient. In particular we should use the logic of cause and effect.

Let’s pretend that you are a pretty angry sort of a person. You might snap at your parents without much warning, yell at your coworkers or even criticize your friends for their minor faults. Over time you will find that people stop wanting to be around you. People start moving away. No body wants to be associated with an angry person because it just doesn’t feel very good.

So the next time you are presented with an opportunity for anger why not remind yourself of the logical progression of that anger? Why not remind yourself that if you continue to react like this you will soon find yourself alone, bitter and not very happy? This type of logic works.

4. Look inwards, not outwards
A funny thing happens when you start to meditate. You begin to realize that most of the problems that you experience in life are due to your perception of certain events, not the actual events themselves. In line with this I put it to you that one of the most powerful ways to become more patient is to learn to look inwards, no outwards.

Think of the last time you got angry. Think of the last time you lost your cool. Now be truly honest with yourself and ask whether or not the angry response had anything to do with you. I am betting that it did. Now as yourself this question: would everyone have become angry in that situation? If you answer is “no” then you can be certain that it had a lot to do with you.

The next time you feel like getting angry it would be excellent if you could try to become aware of it. Instead of focussing so much on the object of your anger you should look inwards at your own mind and your own reaction. Is it reasonable? Is it helpful? Is the anger really going to make the situation more bearable? I doubt it. Learning to look inwards is a fantastic skill to have in life because you will finally have a solution for all of the problems that the universe throws at you. The solution is you.

5. Understand that patience is the easier option
I don’t know about you but when I get angry it ruins my whole day. If someone did something to me and I allowed myself to become angry I stay angry for a long time. I might spend the whole day cursing that person or the situation that happened. It really is a lot of work.

One way to become more patient is to realize that patience is, in reality, the much easier option. You don’t have to do anything. All you have to do is not do something; get angry! This is quite hard for some people to accept at first but I guarantee that patience is easier than anger. It is easier in the short term and it is easier in the long term.

The next time you want to get angry and some one or some thing try and remember that anger is a lot of work. It stresses you out and it makes you feel lousy. Being patient is so much easier! This is one time when laziness is a good thing!

6. Think about the impact on others
I have several extremely powerful memories from my early childhood. One of these memories has stuck with me my entire life and it pops up all the time. The memory is of my father yelling at my mother and then watching the two get in to a big screaming match. The event left an indelible mark on my mind.

However, one good thing that came from that memory is the awareness that anger really does hurt other people. One single angry outburst can stay with a person their entire life. Take the example of domestic violence – a man may lose his temper and hit his girlfriend and for the rest of that poor woman’s existence she feels fearful and afraid of connecting to men. It really is very sad.

Next time you are thinking that anger is a good idea for the particular scenario that you are in I want you to remember how much it could damage the recipient. Is that something you really want to do? Do you really want to be that person?

Conclusion

Patience is a practice. It takes time and it takes effort. We are so accustomed to anger that we find the natural state of patience to be quite foreign. However, as I mentioned, patience is something that is innate in all of us. The tips I have given you today are just methods that will help you reconnect with it. I hope they are of some benefit to somebody.

If you have any other tips or ideas about patience please leave a comment. Patience is a person favorite quality of mine and I am always interested to learn new ways to work on it.

Originally posted on January 23, 2009 @ 1:43 am

How You Can Defeat Cynicism and Become a Positive Thinker


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Do you assume the best or the worst? Are you filled with hope or are you filled with doubt? Do you think kindly of the people around you or do you judge their motivations? At times it seems as if the whole world is absorbed in negative cynicism. In this post I want to show you how you can defeat cynicism and become a positive thinker. It really isn’t that hard.

What is cynicism?

Before you can deal with anything in life you need to know a little bit about it. For example, if you want to know how to lose weight you need to learn what fat is, how you come to gain it and then methods for getting rid of it. The same is true of negative emotions and mental states. You need to learn what it is, where it comes from and then take the necessary steps to defeat it.

The Oxford English Dictionary defines cynicism in a very enlightening way:

“…a disposition to disbelieve in the sincerity or goodness of human motives and actions…”

The main thing to notice about the definition is the presence of negativity. A cynical person will almost always choose to doubt, disbelieve or discredit, even when there is no logical reason to do so.

So why do people think and behave like this? There are many schools of thought on the matter – some regard cynicism as a personal defense mechanism whereby people prevent themselves from opening up to love and friendship for fear of being hurt. Others say it comes about due to a traumatic event that occurred in childhood and caused a person to “close up”.

To be honest, it doesn’t really matter what the “experts” say about the cause. The real task is to look inside yourself and find out why you are a cynic. Why do you think it came about? When did cynicism become a personal trait of yours? Why do you continue to think in a cynical way? You could study 1000 texts on cynicism for 1000 years but a single moment of genuine introspection will teach you so much more. Look into your own mind and find out why you are a cynic.

And don’t be afraid to be honest. Even if it hurts.

How to defeat cynicism and become a positive thinker


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Let’s jump into the bulk of the article. Here are some super simple things you can do to get yourself on the path of positive thinking and away from those habits of cynicism. If you have anything else to add please do leave a comment as I would love to hear some of your suggestions.

1. Recognize the problem
As with all problems the first step is in the recognizing. Some people go their whole lives not realizing that they are horrible people with miserly outlooks and cynical views of the world. Thank yourself lucky that you have had the good fortune to recognize the problem and do something about it. This is the first step.

It might take a while for you to recognize that you are a negative thinker. It might even take one of your friends or family members to wake you up to it. That’s fine. When you finally see it just sit back and think to yourself, “Wow. I can be cynical sometimes.” That is all you have to do for now.

2. Recognize each cynical thought
Once you have realized that you can be a cynic the task is to start realizing it more often. Think of this as a bit of a mindfulness meditation. The idea is to become attuned to your own mind and thoughts and start to become aware of every cynical thought that you have.

Let’s say, for example, you meet someone at a party and they start telling you about their life. Perhaps they are a real overachiever and are sitting there talking to you about all of their fantastic accomplishments. Now, the cynic in you will probably start to say internal things like “I don’t believe this guy” and “I wish he would shut up”. Try to become aware of those thoughts. Don’t do anything with them just yet. Merely becoming aware of them is enough. This is mindfulness.

3. Use logic to debate the cynicism
Logic is a wonderful thing. Logic allows you to overcome destructive emotions and other negative things in your life. Why? Because 99% of the time the reason for your depression, anxiety, hatred or other negative feeling is illogical. If you debate the negative feeling using logic you will often find that the negative feeling gets weaker.

Cynicism, in my opinion, is usually illogical. People who are cynics seem to think the worst about a certain person or situation not because they have evidence for doing so, but because they are in the habit of thinking cynically. For example, assuming that all Muslims are extremist terrorists is a cynical thought that is not based in any shred of logic. Just because a couple of unstable idiots blew up the World Trade Center in the name of Jihad, it does not mean all Muslims are like that.

So the task is now to use logic to debate your cynicism. When you see a cynical thought arising in your mind I want to to ask yourself where it is coming from, why you are thinking like that and whether it is going to help you be happy. That is the main thing – ask yourself whether this cynical thought is going to make you happy. Ask yourself whether living a cynical life has made you happy so far. Ask yourself whether being cynic causes other people to like and respect you.

When you use logic in this way you will almost always find that cynicism doesn’t pay. It isn’t helping you or anyone else to by cynical. Try it and see how you go. [Read more…] about How You Can Defeat Cynicism and Become a Positive Thinker

Originally posted on January 10, 2009 @ 2:57 am

Matters of the Mind: A Look into the Psychology of Meditation

This is a guest post by Psychology student Brittany Miller from Rose Tinted Glass.

You’ve heard the popular mantra, you’ve seen the forms and know the behavior. It’s even prominent in the popular movie series Star Wars. Meditation is a mental discipline in which one “thinks” his or her way to a deep, relaxed state of awareness. How do we generate inner-peace through use of our own mind? Every day, your mind processes a barrage of emotions, visual images, memories, and more. Overcoming that internal chatter is hard, but when you meditate, you teach your mind to narrow its concentration to one thing, limiting the stimulation to your nervous system.

There are many ways to meditate, but they all strive for the same goal: Relaxation.

Since mediation is a mental discipline, one has to wonder: what exactly changes in the brain of a long-time meditator? Psychology is the study of mental processes and behavior, and by applying a psychological perspective, I want to find out why meditation works so well as a simple stress reducer.

Physiological Psychology: What changes in the brain?

This subdivision of psychology studies the mechanisms of the brain and their relation to one’s behaviors and perception. I’ve done some research and listed a few important findings on what meditation accomplishes within the brain of a meditator.

brain

Though your mind is focused, some activities inside your brain go unchecked. In EEG (electroencephalograph) studies, brainwaves of different frequencies are measured, and many found an increase in these following brainwaves:

  • Alpha Waves: Healthy alpha wave production supports mental resourcefulness, better mental coordination, and improves the general sense of relaxation and weariness. Many believe alpha waves are the bridges between consciousness and unconsciousness. Meditation synchronizes alpha activity between the four regions of the brain: left, right, anterior, and posterior, which positively correlates with creativity.
  • Theta Waves: Theta waves come in strong bursts in long-term meditators who report a peaceful, drifting, and pleasant experience at the time. These waves enhance creativity, intuition, and daydreaming. It is also a storage area for memories, emotions, and sensations. Theta waves are strong during any sort of spiritual focus and they reflect the state between wakefulness and sleep.
  • Beta Waves: When the EEG shows bursts of Beta waves, experienced meditators report an approach of yogic ecstasy or a state of intense concentration sometimes accompanied by an acceleration of heart rate. Beta waves can increase mental ability, focus, and alertness.

Meditation in Relation to Brain Hemispheres

meditation

Meditation seems to give us slight control of specific brain functions as well. We have two hemispheres to our brain each with different predominant functions: left (language/math/logic) and right (spatial abilities/face recognition/visual imagery/music).

Some studies show control of brain functions the importance of the right hemisphere during meditation:

  • Bennett and Trinder (1977) reported that transcendental meditators could shift brain activity
  • Davidson (1976) reported that, during mystical experience, the right hemisphere dominates cerebral function.

One study concluded that meditation might begin with activity in the left hemisphere, which then gives way to functioning characteristics of the right hemisphere. Another study suggests that meditation may inhibit the left hemisphere, shifting the focus of consciousness to the right hemisphere.

In conclusion, the right hemisphere (being synthetic and holistic) seems to be dominant in meditation. Both left and right hemisphere activities are slightly repressed in advanced meditation, however. These findings are evidence that meditation does indeed narrow focus in the brain and can even transcend a meditator to an even clearer mind by repressing both hemispheres.

“Self-awareness is the path to self-mastery; self-mastery is the way to happiness.”
-Unknown

Meditation vs. Frustration

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The best way to notice the benefits of meditation is to take a close look at the behaviors and health of meditators versus non-meditators. A study by Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn of the University of Massachusetts Medical School recorded the brain waves of stressed-out employees working in a high-tech firm in Wisconsin. The subjects were divided into two groups: 25 subjects were asked to learn meditation over eight weeks and the remaining 16 were left as a control group.
All participants had their brain waves scanned three times during the study: once at the beginning, once after eight weeks when the 25 subjects completed their meditation course, and once four months afterward.

The results?

The meditation group showed a shift in activity to the left frontal lobe. People with more activity in the left frontal cortex than in the right tend to have a cheerful temperament. These people tend to have a more positive disposition and are more willing to interact with people and be content with their lives.

Those with more activity in the right frontal area of the brain hesitate during encounters with people or situations and stress out over the smallest of situations.

Those who meditate and are happy are healthier on all levels and their brains are free to process information and solve problems more creatively. Meditation clears out the insignificant junk in your mind and boosts its performance.

There are many other effects of meditation from which a stressed out high-tech firm employee would benefit:

  • Regulates heart rate, breathing, cholesterol, and blood pressure
  • Increases creativity
  • Reduces tension, anxiety, and stress
  • Less activity in the amygdala where the brain processes fear
  • Clears state of mind and makes it easier to kick addictions and self-defeating behaviors
  • Greater intimacy with friends and family members
  • Over-all positive emotions and state of mind
  • Increases power of awareness by developing concentration on a particular object
  • Investigate your inner self and question and contemplate the nature of existence itself

Go out and explore for yourself!

These are just a few aspects in which meditation can shape your life, but there are so much more. The mind is a powerful tool and mechanism with thousands of undiscovered talents and processes. Feel free to explore the inner workings of your mind, strive towards improving it for the better, and treat it well. Meditating gives your mind a healthy refreshing, just what it needs to keep you and your outlook healthy and positive.

Originally posted on January 5, 2009 @ 12:52 am

17 Simple Mantras to Get You Through Christmas Angst


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Did you know that there are more suicides at Christmas time than any other time of the year? Did you know there are more runaways, family arguments and violent domestic acts on the 25th of December than any other day of the year? This supposedly joyous time of year can actually be quite devastating. Many people experience a lot of angst, anxiety and family related stress.

In this post I want to give you 17 simple mantras that you can use to help you get through your Christmas issues.

1. Today is only 24 hours long
2. Tomorrow will be better
3. Everyone here is doing their best
4. These people are my family, I should give them a second chance
5. I should try to be an example for everyone here
6. Do it for the children
7. Christmas is not about gifts
8. Patience is the most powerful retaliation
9. Compassion can get me through anything
10. Anger only results in more anger
11. Everyone has their own problems that made them this way
12. I did the best I could
13. I don’t dislike that person, I dislike their behavior
14. I will love each person like my own mother
15. There is no shame is responding with humility
16. This person will be gone one day, is this argument worth it?
17. Just be happy

I know these mantras are nothing special. However, sometimes when you are feeling anxious or angry you need a little mental reminder to keep you on track. For all of you out there who feel like Christmas is a horrible time of year, please remember that it won’t last forever. Try to have a good day.

From the bottom of my heart I wish all of my readers out there a fantastically Merry Christmas! I hope your day is generous, positive and extremely love-filled. I hope that tomorrow you reconnect with your family and friends and put aside your differences and squabbles and just enjoy the opportunity to be together.

Merry Christmas!

Originally posted on December 24, 2008 @ 7:31 am