Meditation

I’ve always been drawn to meditation. I believe the merits of proper mediation can bring about positive change. In my efforts to start meditating I came across some useful tips I thought I would share…

Start with posture. Your posture must be very comfortable and allow you to stay perfectly still. Ideally, legs are crossed and fingers clasped. Close your eyes. Now if you can… stop the mind from thinking. For me, this is often the most difficult part. And finally, relax. Totally relax.

When we cross our legs and clasp our fingers it allows our energy circuits to flow. And since eyes are the doors to the mind, so should our eyes be closed. It requires my full concentration to perfectly relax. Relaxation is one of the most important aspects of meditation because when the body relaxes the mind can “travel”.

If this is all starting to sound a bit too hare krishna, remember that meditation is a mental journey. According to vibrantenergy, the mind is nothing but a bundle of thoughts and the trick is not to go behind the thoughts. But rather cut the thought, and come back to the breath..

Always. Witness. The. Breath.

To witness the breath means allowing the natural inhalation (or exhalation) happen on it’s own. This also helps with the whole relaxation process. At this stage of meditation I’m usually done my session. Which begs a final question: How long do I meditate? The meditation guru suggests you meditate for as long as your physical age – if you are 25 you would meditate for 25 minutes.

Happy meditating  :)

The Art of Creativity.

To be creative is a task worthy of mastery. How does one become creative? I spend more time reading about how to be creative, and watching You Tube and TED videos on creative people than being creative myself. There are a heck of a lot of creative people out there.

Take Halla Tomasdottir for example, the Icelandic entrepreneur who started a financial services company in the midst of the greatest financial hardships Iceland has ever seen. Click here to watch how and why she is doing it.

Another creative genius lies in Elizabeth Gilbert’s address (watch here) on the intricacies of finding creativity and how to keep it; and most of all, whether it even belongs to us at all.

And I could not list my favorite creators these days without mentioning Leo Babauta’s Zen Habits. Besides advocating a simple, minimalist lifestyle Leo taps the creativity keg by believing the merits of creativity can be summoned by doing fun things you love every day. Shake your creativity tree! – Leo says. Blog! Listen to good music! Dance! Cook!

And go easy on yourself when your creativity is not flourishing. To live a creative life is to find fun when things start to feel stale. Finding new ways of doing things when the same ‘ol becomes routine and monotonous.

Creativity is not a spectator sport, it’s time to join the game. If only I could stop sticking inspiring notes and quotes on my fridge and actually do something creative… that would be something original!

Thank You

In the spirit of the new year, I’d like to take a moment and reflect on all that we have. It is far too easy to become mired in the illusions of want and need, so I’ve listed a few things I’m grateful for…

I am grateful for disappointment and consequences. For without these we cannot learn and grow.

I am grateful for the chance to enjoy moments when we are at our most vulnerable. Realizing the importance of living through these moments so we can push ourselves to become stronger.

I am grateful to be cognizant. To be aware of myself and my thoughts, however unsettling, intense or afflicted as they may be.

I’m grateful to be here, to be living this life. If we allow it, life has many lessons to teach us each day.

And I’m grateful for personal absolution. For the ability to release myself from past mistakes and move forward into the future with hope and optimism.

Happy new year everybody..

Six Feet Under

Oh how I miss the Fisher family.

The HBO drama Six Feet Under hosts a brilliant cast (including Michael C. Hall and Peter Krause) who tell the story of the Fisher family who run a funeral home in LA, California. Having won multiple awards (9 Emmy’s!) this series blends realistic characters who live unforgettable and intriguing lives (take for example the role of Brenda, Ruth, or Claire).

Each episode has an unwavering plot on the topic of death. A rather dark series, it explores the after-death on many levels; each funny, sad and strange. It’s black comedy at its finest.

Having watched all five seasons I genuinely miss tuning-in to the eccentric and highly addictive macabre Fishers.

Keeping Face in Wintertime

While the snowflakes fall and our world turns white, I’ve pondered the importance of keeping a happy face during the winter months. It’s amazing (and unfortunate) that our social skills shrink to zero in the blistery winter months.

In the summertime, passing a fellow pedestrian often results in a smile – sometimes a nod, and even an occasional pleasantry is exchanged. Not so in the wintertime.  While the outside world screams “Hibernate!” “Hibernate!”, I find it much more rewarding to embrace our wintertime.

Bundle up (dressing warm is key to wintertime happiness) and take notice of the beauty of the billowing snow. Wintertime has a way of teaching us to slow down, if we allow it to. Growing frustrated with the knee-deep snow and plunging temperature is easy. But what if we tried to see the good in it? Like taking the time to dress warmly, and watch the falling snow sparkle?

Enjoying the wintertime is beneficial to our well-being. Spread some winter joy this season, and the return will be well-worth the effort. Plus… the more we enjoy winter, the quicker she passes!

How far do you want to go?

Hip-pity-hop, here I go, further down the rabbit hole.

My time lately has been spent thinking about life and what it all means. Some rather heavy and existential stuff. However, in my quest to figure it all out I have come to another – and perhaps even larger question… does it matter?

I am not certain of the merits of going down the rabbit hole. To really question our physical universe and our life within it — it’s a deep and spiraling voyage into the unknown, whose purpose can serve to confuse. The advantage, however, of contorting one’s mind to try to grasp the unknown is the chance to experience life from new and different perspectives.

All this contemplating can get pretty complex and begs yet another question: blissful ignorance, or the truth of reality? Of course we’re not living in the matrix (are we?) and there is no artificial reality (is there?). But I will agree that we can simulate our own reality. So, then, is our world really our reality or only a great illusion?

My Really Awesome Trip

I’m regressing, here… folks.

Rather than making forward progress I am retreating further into my cocoon. A little over a week since we’ve been back from our trip and the magnitude of where we were and what we just saw is hitting me now. Allow me to illustrate …

Ha Long Bay, Vietnam

This is me chilling on the top of our junk (ship) boat in Ha Long Bay, Vietnam. We had just spent the night in a small cabin on this boat. We met some really awesome friends, sang karaoke and drank strong vodka together. Awesome!

Angkor Temples, Cambodia

 
This is in Cambodia, at the Angkor Temples. The large body of water before me was once the King’s bathtub! The grandiose temples that once stood are awe-inspiring and mind-blowing. The experience left me humbled by the civilization that once existed here.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
And certainly not least of all awesome activities, is lying in a hammock. A hammock pro, I purchased my ‘mock in Vietnam for the bargain-basement price of 100,000 dong (about five bucks), and proceeded to laze all over south east Asia in it.

Gili Air, Indonesia

So forgive me a moment, while I nostalgically bid adieu to a really awesome trip.

Nowhere Plans

Traveling affords me the practice of not planning for things too far ahead. Hopping from one city to the next teaches me to focus on today – the here and now. To not count my chickens before they hatch, so to speak. Why make any big plans beyond a couple days? Plan only as far as your headlights can see, I say.

Back in reality, this practice of  living-in-the-now does good for my type-A personality. I take one task at a time. Not only does this make me more efficient (versus scurrying around trying to do everything and accomplishing less), but far less stressed as well.

One task at a time. It is selecting the right task that is the key to success here. Knowing which task to select depends on three criteria…

1. Priority. These are tasks relating to what is most important in your life (i.e. family, friends, etc..).
2. Time. Time-sensitive tasks or tasks with a nearing deadline.
3. Mood. Work on a task when the mood strikes.

As for the rest… let destiny decide when they should come into play.

It is a mistake to look too far ahead. Only one link of the chain of destiny can be handled at a time.
- Winston Churchill