How to Make Your Mind Happy: 5 Secrets to Mindfulness Sometimes it seems like your brain just sits around creating lousy feelings and worries. You want this, you’re frustrated about that, you’re annoyed about some other thing and the list never stops. And it makes it impossible to be happy. What would be nice is to have a perspective that helps your brain deal with all of these negative emotions. Three big names in the field have collaborated to produce an app that can teach you how to be more mindful. Dan Harris is the anchor of Good Morning America and author of 10% Happier, where he recounts his journey from mindfulness skeptic to believer. Now here’s the part where I give you an actual definition of mindfulness, right? You and I are gonna walk through the first few steps on how to be more mindful so you don’t just sound like Merriam-Webster, but you really understand what the deal is and how to do it. So what’s a good place to start? 1) Watch Your Mind For 5 Minutes It just ping-pongs all over the place. 2) You Are Not Your Thoughts Tags:
The Law of Attraction vs. The Law of Awareness By Montalk Guest Writer for Wake Up World The Law of Attraction says that you synchronistically attract from the outside what you resonate with on the inside, or that you can bring into your life what you momentarily strongly focus upon. So by having an optimistic attitude and focusing on success one attracts these, while having a cynical depressed attitude attracts negative experiences. At the same time, however, experience shows that negative possibilities manifest when we least expect them, and that anticipating them is what actually keeps them from happening. That is the paradox addressed in this article… The Law of Attraction vs. All we have to do is look at some typical cases and find the one rule that accounts for them all. Consider the following: I have experienced all of these myself and know plenty of others who have as well. To me it all boils down to this: Let’s see how this applies to the various cases: By anticipating these negative possibilities, you become aware of them.
How Marianne Williamson advocates for mindful activism In this election season, a yoga studio is encouraging patrons to get off the mat and into citizen activism. On Saturday, Wanderlust Hollywood is hosting "Mindful America: Creating a Mindful Policy For a Healthy, Prosperous America." The six experts on the panel will pose answers to a provocative question: How can the personal practices of mindful living — living sustainably, buying organically and cultivating personal spirituality — be applied to public issues such as healthcare, energy and incarceration? Spiritual teacher and author Marianne Williamson will join the panel, which also includes Los Angeles yoga teacher and activist Seane Corn, Make Smart Cool founder Prince Ea, CTZNWELL founder Kerri Kelly, Revolve Impact founder Mike de la Rocha and Rep. The event, a first for the studio, is an outgrowth of the Speakeasy lecture series held at Wanderlust festivals, which are retreats held worldwide featuring prominent writers, musicians, business leaders and health and yoga experts.
Buddha, Confucius, Lao Tzu: Animated Introductions Thank you for your interest in Patheos newsletters! Please enter your email address below and click the "Subscribe" button. Thank you for your subscription. You can visit your Preference Center to complete your profile and see what else we have to offer. We apologize, we were unable to complete your subscription at this time, please try again later. Like what you're reading? Our 21-Day Journey Into Minimalism Happiness Is a Curious Thing Happiness is an expansive concept: it can be a mind-numbing thing to try to capture with words. But it was this abstract, complex idea—the thought of being truly happy—that led us to minimalism. Eventually. But let’s rewind a moment. Before we understood the importance of simplifying our lives, we were successful young professionals from Dayton, Ohio. Back then people saw two best friends in their large suburban homes and they were envious. But the truth is we weren’t successful. What’s worse, we discovered we didn’t have control of our time, and thus we didn’t control our own lives. And then, as our lives were spiraling downward in ever-diminishing circles towards an empty oblivion, we inadvertently discovered minimalism. We embraced minimalism as a way of life and discovered that we, too, could be happy. This may not sound sexy or “marketable,” but it’s the cold truth. We invite you to join us. Background So he let go. Joshua told Ryan about minimalism.
What Hiking Does To The Brain Is Pretty Amazing 10 Ways to Shift Your Consciousness By Paul Lenda Guest Writer for Wake Up World In moments of stress, anxiety and other intense harmful mind states that we experience within our lives, it can be difficult to have our focus on positive personal development. We’re going to take a look at 10 ways in which you can help shift your consciousness to a higher level of well-being. Compassion By being compassionate, we embrace the sympathetic consciousness of others’ distress together with a desire to alleviate it. Boundary Dissolution By experiencing boundary dissolution, we experience a deconstruction and dissolving of boundaries that have been created by human cultures and societies and which have existed as long as the self-centered ego has influenced humanity. Appreciation When you appreciate someone, you are tuned into their positive qualities and express your empathy and gratitude for them. Appreciate a deep relaxing breath of air or maybe the pleasurable radiant warmth of the sun. Inner Peace Forgiveness Mindfulness Selflessness
» 9 Mindfulness Rituals to Make Your Day Better “Smile, breathe and go slowly.” - Thich Nhat Hanh, Zen Buddhist monk Post written by Leo Babauta. Are you simply moving through your day, without fully living? I did this for many years. But today isn’t preparation for tomorrow. Fully live today by being mindful. You don’t need to do all of these, but give a few of them a try to see if they make your day better. Mindfulness Rituals Ritual isn’t about doing a routine mindlessly. Here are a few of my favorites: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. These rituals aren’t the only time you should be mindful, but they’re great reminders. Brain Waves And The Deeper States Of Consciousness Every part of your body vibrates to its own rhythm. Your brain has a unique set of brain waves. In neuroscience, there are five distinct brain wave frequencies, namely Beta, Alpha, Theta, Delta and the lesser known Gamma. Each frequency, measured in cycles per second (Hz), has its own set of characteristics representing a specific level of brain activity and hence a unique state of consciousness. Beta (12-30Hz): Beta brain waves are associated with normal waking consciousness and a heightened state of alertness, logic and critical reasoning. Alpha (7.5-12Hz): Alpha brain waves are present in deep relaxation with the eyes usually closed and while day-dreaming. The following chart shows the EEG (Electroencephalography) graphs of the four major levels of brain activity. The Alpha-Theta border, from 7 to 8Hz, is the optimal range for visualization, mind programming and using the creative power of your mind. Credits: Tania Kotsos of www.mind-your-reality.com Image: Credits
Thich Nhat Hanh On Fear By Thich Nat Hanh In this excerpt from his newest book, the spiritual teacher and author of Fear: Essential Wisdom for Getting Through the Storm explains how we can release ourselves from the trap of our anxiety. Most of us experience a life full of wonderful moments and difficult moments. But for many of us, even when we are most joyful, there is fear behind our joy. We fear that this moment will end, that we won’t get what we need, that we will lose what we love, or that we will not be safe. We may think that if we ignore our fears, they’ll go away. The first part of looking at our fear is just inviting it into our awareness without judgment. The Buddha was a human being, and he also knew fear. How could the Buddha remain so calm and relaxed when faced with a murderer? Fearlessness is not only possible, it is the ultimate joy. Related on HuffPost:
How to Be At Peace: Eckhart Tolle on Seeing the Good in Life As told to Leigh Newman The author of The Power of Now reveals the things keep us continually frazzled -- and how to remove them from your life. Peace is one of the most important human experiences. 1. 2. Happiness is actually quite superficial, whereas peace is deeper. 3. This voice in your head takes you away completely from what is happening now. 4. In this case -- and most cases -- it's not the external circumstance (not getting job) that's making you unhappy but what you're telling yourself about those circumstances ("It's not fair!"). 5. The old religious word for this kind of trust is "faith."