Wednesday, August 25, 2021
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Thursday, August 19, 2021
Friday, April 9, 2021
Sunday, February 14, 2021
Saturday, February 13, 2021
When You Feel Jealous of Someone Try This Guided Meditation
Our Short Meditation To Reduce Feelings of Jealousy and Envy
The intention of this meditation is to help you with issues of jealousy or envy by wishing others well. The meditation video is about 8 minutes long and will guide the listener through a few exercises followed by a few brief periods for reflection. Some of the things covered include: absorbing the scope of someone else’s good fortune and celebrating their happiness as though it were your own. The practice ends with focusing on the good fortunes of people you don’t even know.
To listen to the meditation, simply press the play button on the video above.
The background music is 20 Blessings by Rebecca Reads Recordings, used under her Standard Music License.
Jealousy is when you count someone else’s blessings instead of your own.
-Unknown
Other Ways To Cope When You Are Jealous of Others
This article on DevelopingGoodHabits.com explains the difference between jealousy and envy and lists 10 ways to help you stop being jealous of other people. They are:
- Own your jealousy.
- Accept the fact that loving someone involves the risk of being hurt.
- Develop self-awareness to recognize the direction where you are headed.
- Appreciate who you are.
- Heal your wounds and let go of the past.
- Learn how to free yourself from resentment and anger.
- Replace the negativity with something uplifting.
- Tell your partner you trust him/her, and really mean it.
- Don’t act on your jealous feelings.
- Learn to be happy alone.
To read more about each strategy in detail, please click the link to the original article above.
Other Ways To Stop Envy
BecomingMinimalist.com offers A Helpful Guide to Overcoming Envy. The author’s recommendations to live free from the negative effects of envy are:
- Shift your focus to the goodness in your life. (Our guided gratitude meditation can help with that!)
- Remind yourself that nobody has it all.
- Avoid people who habitually value the wrong things.
- Spend time with grateful people.
- Understand that marketers routinely fan the flame to foster envy.
- Celebrate the success of others. (Our meditation video at the top of this page guides you through this exercise.)
- Be generous.
The full article (linked to above) is definitely worth a read!
Envy is ignorance, Imitation is suicide.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
We will conclude with this mantra from the meditation that wishes others well.
Repeat this to yourself when you feel jealousy or envy arising:
“May your happiness and good fortune continue.”
Let us know in the comments below if our guided meditation to reduce jealousy and envy helped and if you have any other strategies you’d like to share.
from Serenity Sherpa https://serenitysherpa.com/when-you-feel-jealous-of-someone-try-this-guided-meditation/
Thursday, February 11, 2021
Monday, September 14, 2020
Having a Bad Day? Try This Short Meditation
Our Meditation for a Bad Day
The intention of this meditation is to help put things in perspective and keep in mind that even bad days have positive or neutral events within them. The meditation is about 8 minutes long and will guide the listener through a few exercises followed by a few brief periods for reflection. Some of the things covered include: tending to moments of difficulty with compassion and appreciating moments of contentment.
To listen to the meditation, simply press the play button on the video above.
The background music is Gentle Contemplation by Rebecca Reads Recordings, used under her Standard Music License.
Every Day May Not Be Good…But There Is Something Good In Every Day
-Anonymous
Other Ways To Cope With Bad Days
This PowerofPositivity.com article lists seven strategies to help people deal with bad days. They are:
- Get in touch with your support network.
- Listen to music.
- Play dress up.
- Exercise.
- Eat better.
- Do nice things for someone else.
- Assume control.
- Get outside.
Of course, we’d throw in “Meditate” as an eighth option, but we’re biased. (wink, wink.)
Speaking of listening to music, why not sing along to a song about a having a bad day?
Here are two that we enjoy:
The first one is Bad Day by Daniel Powter. The lyrics are certainly applicable.
“Cause you had a bad day, You’re taking one down, You sing a sad song just to turn it around…”
Daniel Powter, Bad Day
The second is Sad Songs (Say So Much) by Elton John. Sir Elton also understands the healing power of singing along to songs that resonate with us.
Guess there are times when we all need to share a little pain
Elton John, Sad Songs (Say So Much)
And ironing out the rough spots
Is the hardest part when memories remain
And it’s times like these when we all need to hear the radio
‘Cause from the lips of some old singer
We can share the troubles we already know
Here are three other coping strategies listed on PsychologyToday.com that may be helpful:
1. Set an intention to be gentle with yourself.
When you’re feeling battered around by the winds of luck, you’re going to need some self-nurturing. Set an intention that you’re going to be kind to yourself while you’re waiting for the universe to start dishing out some kindness again.
2. Treat yourself.
A dose of positive emotion will increase your resilience during stressful days.
3. Get something small done that’s on your own agenda.
Positive mood comes from a combination of pleasure and a sense of mastery (feeling you’re competent and can get things done). These both go out the window on bad days because having a run of bad luck usually feels frustrating, demoralizing, and out of control.
Source: Alice Boyes Ph.D., https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/in-practice/201507/4-ways-deal-horrible-no-good-really-bad-day
Things To Keep In Mind When You’ve Had A Bad Day
Daniel Wallen over at Lifehack.com has a great article where he lists 9 things to keep in mind if you’ve had a bad day. They are:
- No one promised life would be perfect.
- Success doesn’t happen overnight.
- There is a lesson in every struggle.
- Hard times help you appreciate the good.
- It’s okay to cry.
- Worry makes you suffer twice.
- No one’s life is as picturesque as it looks.
- It takes courage to ask for help.
- There’s always something to be grateful for.
We highly recommend reading the full article here.
Lastly, try and remember two things: we all have bad days and bad days are temporary.
Let us know in the comments below if our guided meditation for bad days helped and if you have any other strategies that you’d like to share.
from Serenity Sherpa https://serenitysherpa.com/having-a-bad-day-try-this-short-meditation/
Feel More Grateful with this Guided Meditation for Beginners
Our Guided Mindfulness Meditation on Gratitude
To listen to the meditation, simply press the play button on the video above. The video is about 15 minutes long and will guide the listener through a few gratitude exercises followed by quite periods for reflection. Some of the things covered include: feeling grateful for yourself, your body, others, the world around us, and challenges we face.
The lovely background track is Moon on the Lake by Rebecca Reads Recordings, used under her Standard Music License.
Gratitude turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos into order, confusion into clarity…it makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.
Melody Beattie (author)
Why is Gratitude Important?
Gratitude expert Robert Emmons, Ph.D. gives four reasons why gratitude is good for us:
- Gratitude allows us to celebrate the present and magnifies positive emotions.
- Gratitude helps block toxic, negative emotions.
- People who are grateful are more stress resistant.
- People who are grateful have a higher sense of self-worth.
Source: https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/why_gratitude_is_good
Practicing Gratitude Has Health Benefits
There is a wonderfully, detailed article on PositivePsychology.com that lists 14 health benefits of cultivating gratitude. They are as follows:
For the individual:
– increased happiness and positive mood
– more satisfaction with life
– less materialistic
– less likely to experience burnout
– better physical health
– better sleep
– less fatigue
– lower levels of cellular inflammation
– greater resiliency
– encourages the development of patience, humility, and wisdom
For groups:
– increases prosocial behaviors
– strengthens relationships
– may help employees’ effectiveness
– may increase job satisfaction
Source: https://positivepsychology.com/benefits-of-gratitude/
Ways to Foster More Gratitude in Your Life
According to Harvard Health, there are several ways to develop gratitude. They are all great ideas, however, we are partial to the last suggestion. (Of course we are!)
Write a thank-you note. You can make yourself happier and nurture your relationship with another person by writing a thank-you letter expressing your enjoyment and appreciation of that person’s impact on your life. Send it, or better yet, deliver and read it in person if possible. Make a habit of sending at least one gratitude letter a month. Once in a while, write one to yourself.
Thank someone mentally. No time to write? It may help just to think about someone who has done something nice for you, and mentally thank the individual.
Keep a gratitude journal. Make it a habit to write down or share with a loved one thoughts about the gifts you’ve received each day.
Count your blessings. Pick a time every week to sit down and write about your blessings — reflecting on what went right or what you are grateful for. Sometimes it helps to pick a number — such as three to five things — that you will identify each week. As you write, be specific and think about the sensations you felt when something good happened to you.
Pray. People who are religious can use prayer to cultivate gratitude.
Meditate. Mindfulness meditation involves focusing on the present moment without judgment. Although people often focus on a word or phrase (such as “peace”), it is also possible to focus on what you’re grateful for (the warmth of the sun, a pleasant sound, etc.).
Source: https://www.health.harvard.edu/healthbeat/giving-thanks-can-make-you-happier
How do you cultivate more gratitude in your life? Please let us know in the comments below.
from Serenity Sherpa https://serenitysherpa.com/feel-more-grateful-with-this-guided-meditation-for-beginners/
Thursday, September 10, 2020
Monday, September 7, 2020
Sunday, September 6, 2020
Saturday, September 5, 2020
Friday, September 4, 2020
Saturday, August 15, 2020
A Beautiful Post about Waves and the Ocean
Enjoy!
The following post was originally published here:
Waves and The Ocean
Waves are the things that happen, from the smallest thought to world-changing events. The shit that happens.
The Ocean is the Big Picture, the unity that is partly seen, or occasionally glimpsed. It is the mystery that cannot be explained. The substratum of consciousness.
There is the ocean. And there are waves on the ocean. If you see only the waves they are as we usually see the events of life. There is randomness and coincidence and an apparent capriciousness in how things happen. We may think about it and take it personally. There are times and places, some to be sought out and some avoided. We dodge and weave to avoid impact and seek out sheltered places. And possibly end up blaming god for his all-too-human careless nature.
The Ocean is the Big Picture, the unity that is partly seen, or occasionally glimpsed. It is the mystery that cannot be explained. The substratum of consciousness.
There is the ocean. And there are waves on the ocean. If you see only the waves they are as we usually see the events of life. There is randomness and coincidence and an apparent capriciousness in how things happen. We may think about it and take it personally. There are times and places, some to be sought out and some avoided. We dodge and weave to avoid impact and seek out sheltered places. And possibly end up blaming god for his all-too-human careless nature.
But if
you also include the ocean where the waves play on the surface, the
waves themselves would look exactly the same but their impact and
influence would be perceived differently. The waves do have their
significance, but they are limited in perception to place and time. They
come, they happen, they go. Storms and calm are a part of the weather
cycle to be dealt with, or not, or accepted, or not.
Riding the waves
There
is a certain inevitability; an acceptance of experience to be had. Not
being influenced beyond a certain point by the randomness of the waves
and seeking out the inscrutability of the ocean is the learning, and
there the wisdom is found.
Wisdom
is not in the actual riding of the waves, no matter how magnificently
we do it; but it is in riding the waves a certain way that we begin to
see better the waves as part of the ocean. Riding the waves is
incidental to the knowledge of the ocean on which the waves take place.
We
experience the waves, liking and disliking as they come and go, but
there is also some deeper understanding, which goes beyond endurance and
desire, to wisdom acquired through ongoing wave-like experience.
The
breath of air far away may have caused the storm; our place too
apparently coincidental in the thick of it. No matter how the waves
themselves might shape up, instead of accidents of nature and timing
they are part of the uniqueness of the ocean, just as our experience in
the same scheme of things is too.
Discovering purpose in randomness
We may
accept this, in part, when we read about it, consider it
philosophically and think about it. But when the waves are bigger,
wilder, more unpredictable than ever before we have been able to deal
with, then we lose balance and get tossed and thrown. And our
philosophical viewpoint is also tossed and thrown out. But the actual
experience of riding the waves can eventually bring us to the real
knowledge. It depends on the point of view.
Every
wave, every experience, is an opportunity to discover more the
connection between wave and ocean, through mastering the art of riding
the waves. The inevitability of waves is not random fate, even if it may
seem so. But more even than just dealing with things we don’t
understand, there is a purpose outlined in this existence for every
participant in creation. To realise that purpose and put it into
conscious practice is the goal of life. That’s what we’re here for.
Thoughts,
hopes and actions of the individual will not suddenly change - even
good people make bad decisions - but the end purpose of living will be
found if the waves of individual nature are accepted and understood in
relation to the ocean of consciousness. To reject it out of hand -
usually as a result of the strength of the storm - is actually to lose
sight of the purpose.
Waves without an ocean?
And
that What-about-life question is also one of the waves; one that tries
to define the ocean itself. It is an essential question, usually
overlooked until that particular wave comes along. Even when ocean,
consciousness or god, are rejected or neglected, the question about the
vacuum that exists when you know there is nothing of permanence is the
point of departure on this particular road of discovery:
That waves arise out of the ocean and return to the ocean; that waves of every type and description are a part of the ocean and do not exist separately from the ocean; and that no matter how we arrange ourselves to accommodate it nothing changes the truth of that.
That waves arise out of the ocean and return to the ocean; that waves of every type and description are a part of the ocean and do not exist separately from the ocean; and that no matter how we arrange ourselves to accommodate it nothing changes the truth of that.
Once
the goal, one’s personal aim in life, is known then the voyage begins.
Waves will never stop. But if the measure and the movement is in keeping
with the personal aim, the waves of the world and the waves of the mind
will be understood and dealt with differently than before. There will
be knowledge of when to advance, when to retreat; when to speak out and
when to be silent; when to move and when to be still.
We
make mistakes, many mistakes, continually. We hear our own advice and
don't heed it; we take wrong turnings and go off track - sometimes even
as we do it we know it. That’s part of the deal, it's
how we learn, so we travel on. Forgive yourself; forgive others. We
have seen the chart. We have a compass. There is something to trust
somewhere, a star to steer by. But most of all, in going forward where
we are sure we must go - dealing with the random and surprising events
of life as they turn up - the awareness of the all-embracing nature of
the ocean is surely, gradually going to become clearer.
Life is a meditation - meditation is life
This
is the real purpose of meditation. We may have the breath to fall back
on; we may have powerful practices that awaken the energy; we may have
the magic of mantra that dispels the darkness; we may have faith in
external objects, people or forces that strengthen our practice.
But make no mistake, however we go about it, meditation will eventually bring us to see and confront all the waves in the mind in due course. But undeceived by thought about it. So that instead of waves causing attention to be wholly distracted by the ever-changing storm or calm, we may instead catch a glimpse, a glimmer of the vastness of the ocean.
But make no mistake, however we go about it, meditation will eventually bring us to see and confront all the waves in the mind in due course. But undeceived by thought about it. So that instead of waves causing attention to be wholly distracted by the ever-changing storm or calm, we may instead catch a glimpse, a glimmer of the vastness of the ocean.
If
that happens, it will have been worth it to pursue it, what you had to
do for it. So there remains the choice to do it that way or have life
come and get you for the same purpose? Well, it does anyway, but that’s
another matter.
For a short story on the same theme, if you haven’t already, please go to Life's Purpose
A Blog Post on Positive Thinking
Here is a useful blog post on I found on positive thinking. While it isn't a post on meditation, the topics are related. Hope you enjoy it!
How to Focus on the Positive Instead of the Negative
Negative thoughts can be overwhelming – to the mind, body and spirit. They can be draining mentally and physically. And, that’s why you need to realize when your thoughts are turning negative. Constantly thinking negative thoughts creates negative emotions, and that’s no way to live. Are you ready to move past your negative thoughts and become a more positive thinker?
4 Key Ways To Overcome Your Negative Thoughts
Tell Yourself “Quit It!”
You must be aware of when you’re thinking negative for this to work. When you do, remind yourself to “quit it.” When you feel sad, angry, fearful or anything negative, stop for a minute and breathe deep. Tell yourself, “Quit it!” By telling yourself to quit thinking like you are, you realize negative thoughts are invading your mind. Work hard in changing those negative thoughts in positive ones. This will help you to start feeling better.
Stop Living In Your Past
People who think negative often live in their past. Everybody has had something bad happen to them, but people who constantly think negative stay in their past. Remember, the past is the past, and while you don’t want to forget it, you don’t need it to rule your life. Make peace with everything that has happened, as this will help you to focus on a better present and future. Give yourself some closure.
Become Your Own Best Friend
If you had a best friend, what would you do if they were sad or upset? You would do everything in your power to make them happy again, right? Take them out for a night on the town, go to the movies, go walking, treat them to a favorite snack or something that lets them know that everything will be okay.
With that in mind, make yourself your own best friend and cheer yourself up by doing something that makes you happy! And, when you’re doing this, think positive thoughts using positive words.
Seek Out Positive People
Negative people – be it intentionally or unintentionally – bring other people down. It happens because people absorb the energy of those around them. So, if your friends are negative, it’s only a matter of time before you think the same way. So, it stands to reason that if you surround yourself with a positive group of people, you’ll also begin to think positive. These are the kind of friends who will take time out of their day to check-in with you on the little things, even if only to say hi. They’ll be there to motivate you to continue on your path. These are the kind of people that you want to surround yourself with throughout your life.
This post originally appeared here on Pinnable Beauty.
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