“Let go a little, you’ll have a little happiness. Let go completely, you’ll be completely happy.” Letting Go of Body Sensations Ordinary breathing, focusing on exhalation, intending to let go Diaphragm breathing. Breath of fire Heartmath: Breathing evenly through the heart with a positive emotion Scanning the body and releasing tension. Progressive relaxation. Using imagery to relax. Letting Go of Thoughts Two fundamental errors of thought: Overestimating the bad Underestimating the good Systematically argue against errors of thought, on paper or in your mind Identify “sub-personalities” generating errors of thought; thank them for sharing, ask if they have anything new to … Continue Reading
Mindfulness
Compassion: The Mainstay of Mindfulness
One of the quickest and most effective way to start being mindful is to invoke compassionfor yourself and for others. If there is one thing you can do immediately it is to become more compassionate. Here are some ways that you can be compassionate: Being reflective (gentle) & responsive (feeling) instead of reactive (angry) Being sensitive to others’ suffering as well as your own suffering Changing critical attitudes (greed, hatred, delusion) into compassionate attitudes ( generosity, love, awareness) Taking responsibility for mistakes instead of blaming & defensiveness Invoking “right speech” – instead of complaining about others Cherishing (loving) your partner/spouse … Continue Reading
On Blaming and Forgiveness
Blaming keeps you stuck, whereas understanding and forgiveness frees you up. “We habitually erect a barrier called blame that keeps us from communicating genuinely with others, and we fortify it with our concepts of who’s right and who’s wrong……” - Pema Chodron, When Things Fall Apart We can practice mindfulness by slowing down, recognizing our strong emotional feelings (i.e. anger, blame, criticism, etc.) and choose not to over react. Breathing and quieting down enough to make the next best decision. Metaphorically you “keep on paddling”. A “tireless debate” is when both parties are embroiled in an argument that is not … Continue Reading