Posts Tagged ‘mindfulness’

As It Is > What It Is

Posted: January 25, 2024 in Stimulus Space Response
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Thereā€™s something about the phrase it is what it is that I never liked beyond a joking context. I love the it is what it is memes. But in day to day life, it mildly rubbed me the wrong way.

One day while watching YouTube I heard Eckhart Tolle say ā€œIt is as it isā€ and something clicked/stuck.

Whatā€™s the difference between these two phrases? The meaning I internally assigned to them. Just because one clicked with me and the other didnā€™t, doesnā€™t mean thereā€™s an actual difference.

Tolle went on to explain that when something happens, we can acknowledge the situation, internally and/or externally as it is. This is what is happening. It is as it is. Now, what is my reaction going to be? How will I respond to this?

Choosing a response that is beneficial, rather than detrimental isnā€™t dependent on saying to oneself, ā€œIt is as it isā€, but it has certainly helped me. Cultivating the inner space between stimulus and response, to think or say anything constructive, that is mandatory work for all of us.

If we are reaction junkies, then we do ourselves a disservice and essentially give our power away to anyone or anything that inconveniences or challenges us. And challenges never stop in life. One need not be a sage or old or even have much life experience to have learned thatā€¦repeatedly.

Cultivating enough space between stimulus and response to say five words can be a tall task for many. It certainly turned out to be a long term goal for me. On some days, it still seems like a long term goal. I know there was a time, a long period of my life, where I was unaware of the space between stimulus and response and therefore by default gave my power away to any and all external events or shifting internal moods.

Meditation, philosophy and spirituality practices have all been a tremendous help for me. I would classify my meditation and philosophy practices as life savers. Meditation, philosophy and weight training are the three things I recommend to all human beings regardless of age.

Spirituality can run into immediate resistance from the agnostic and atheist types so I usually skip it and focus on the pragmatic, immediate benefits of practicing meditation, physical exercise, and philosophy.

Meditation and philosophy have helped to teach me about the thinking mind, emotion, and human nature. Those three lessons/concepts are almost always able to be plugged into situations that cause me to pause and say ā€œit is as it isā€. Being unaware or willfully ignorant of the thinking mind, emotion, and human nature often makes situations worse, and makes viewing negative situations as challenges impossible.

Although being able to say ā€œit is what it isā€ and laugh it off, is pretty zen too.

Impermanence Creates #Joy

Posted: January 22, 2024 in Stimulus Space Response
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Change is the only constant.

Anything that lasts forever, or even a long time, loses itā€™s appeal, becomes boring, gets taken advantage of, etc.

All experiences that we deem good or positive are that way because they donā€™t last. Same with the sting of the perceived negative.

Thereā€™s that yin-yang again.

The hot burning flame versus the slow burning coal.

Happiness versus contentment.

Be aware of it, experience it, then let it go. For better and for worse.

Trying to make things permanent creates problems.

Suffering arises because of attachment to desires as a wise man once said.

I had one of the most productive stretches of time in recent years. Woke up sick the next day. Thereā€™s that yin-yang again.

Then had a fun weekend with a friend is like a brother. But he had to go home. We werenā€™t sad at the end. We were grateful for the time well spent together and were both excited for what comes next for us individuality, respectively.

Letting go. Easier said than done. Like everything else, ever. But a little easier with practice. Just like everything else, everā€¦

Quiet & Disidentify From Noise

Posted: January 6, 2024 in Stimulus Space Response
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For me, itā€™s mental noise I need to quiet. For others, they need to stop talking.

Ram Dass (quoted in the graphic above) was a spiritual teacher, who, I havenā€™t studied a lot of, but whenever Iā€™ve listened to his talks or seen of videos of him speaking, would almost always give me goosebumps at some point. In a positive way of course. His cup runneth over with love and compassion.

Contrast that with the spiritual teacher I have studied the most, Eckhart Tolle. Eckhart rarely gives me goosebumps, but who communicates in a way that connects with me deeply, on whatever subject or subtopic he speaks about. I try to watch one of his videos on YouTube every other day.

Iā€™ve also read both The Power of Now and A New Earth which I whole heartedly recommend. Theyā€™re very long and dense, so going with the audiobook version is probably the most pragmatic way to go. Iā€™ve done a read through and a listen through of each.

As Iā€™ve gotten older, Iā€™ve become more quiet. Iā€™m sure I talked more and was louder and more obnoxious in the my past than my ego and memory will allow me to believe. But I am now, and for a decent number of years have been a more quiet than talkative person. I recommend it. A great quote that I find evergreen and true is; ā€œthe loudest one in the room, is the weakest one in the roomā€.

At times Iā€™m too quiet for my own good. But I find that to be a better way than the alternative. Especially in a culture where more and more people not only think what they have to say is valuable, but worthy of immediate and constant broadcast.

As Iā€™ve gotten older, my mind has not followed my mouth in becoming more quiet. Iā€™ve been meditating for around fifteen years now. On and off. The relative consistency to habitual consistency kicked in ten years ago. Meditation is one of the only things I recommend to all human beings without exception.

The practice of meditation has quieted my mind more than it was before I started the practice. Like anything else it is not a one time, cure-all, magic bullet. Hence why it is called a meditation practice. But it does help me. Thereā€™s more and more science showing how it tangibly helps people.

The greatest gift meditation has given me up to his point, is to help me quiet my mind and to disidentify from my thoughts. Individual thoughts, thought streams, mental movies, the voice in the head. Meditation has helped me to reduce their influence, their frequency, and to stop confusing those things with who I am.

So there is less mental noise. So I can hear more. So I can learn more. So I can do more. I donā€™t know about you, but I have a lot to learn and a lot to do that will help me live my life the way I know I want to. So every little bit helps.

Thereā€™s Value in Just Getting Through

Posted: January 2, 2024 in Stimulus Space Response
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You have to survive in order to thrive.

Crawl, walk, run.

You canā€™t pour from an empty cup.

We all want to be better people. We all want to do better.

But sometimes, some days, we just need to survive.

External factors show up.

Internal factors bubble up.

There is no instruction manual.

There is no such thing as normal.

As long as youā€™re not negatively effecting other people, itā€™s okay to just do what you have to do to make it through to the next day, the next hour, the next minute, the next choice, the next breath.

Binuaral Beats

Posted: October 8, 2014 in Stimulus Space Response
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by @anarchyroll
10/7/2014

Meditation has been a gift to my life that I am forever grateful for. If my body raced as fast and as consistently as my mind did, then Usain Bolt would be my lackey.

I have varied my meditations by;

  • length (2, 5, 10, 15, 30 minutes)
  • time of day (morning, afternoon, evening, late night)
  • focus level (breath only, visualizations, purposeful wandering)

One of the best modifications to meditation I have found is the incorporation of binaural beats.

I didn’t realize I was using binaural beats until I was on a date and the woman I was with was describing this app I had downloaded the previous year with a variety of sounds to stimulate the mind for a variety of reasons. The app is called is call Brainwave Tuner. I downloaded it shortly after hitting rock bottom in the autumn of 2012 (death in family, loss of job, dropout of college) as a small way to help turn my life around. When I downloaded it, I wasn’t exactly sure how it could help me, but my inner voice was telling me that it would help me in the future, and it has.

What I like about the app as opposed to singular binaural beats that people listen to and watch on YouTube is that the app has around twenty different beats, each with its own specific purpose. It certainly is no miracle drug or magic pill, but it is not snake oil either. It helps me achieve deeper levels of meditation, relieves tension headaches, and helps me concentrate on doing work. This article as well as my last 20 in a row, and a decent amount of the previous 170 have been written while listening to binaural beats.

Specifically in regards to pairing binaural beats with meditation, which is the primary use; I find it is good to alternate between using them and going without any additional sound/audio guidance. BUT if one lives in a loud, crowded, urban environment I recommend using either binaural beats, new age music, or audio based guidance for a vast majority of meditation sessions to aid in elimination of external distraction(s).Binaural beats can be purchased, which I do recommend doing, but one should certainly utilize YouTube to dip their toes in the water and get a sample of the effect(s) the beats can have on them.

The more people who meditate, the better. The more variety of meditations, the better. If binaural beats are used to get people to meditate who wouldn’t, or help people experience deeper meditations then they are a gift on par with meditation itself. The certainly have helped me to meditate longer and deeper with more focus. For that I am grateful and recommend them to all.

 

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