peacefulshitilllookatlater

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“Five minutes are enough to dream a whole life, that is how relative time is.”

Mario Benedetti (via naturaekos)

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Growth is painful. Change is painful.But nothing is as painful as staying stuck somewhere you don’t belong.

Mandy Hale (via minuty)

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Let it hurt. Let it bleed. Let it heal. And let it go.

Nikita Gill (via quotemadness)

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Hi there, I just read the quote you posed about stress by Eckhart Tolle and I'm having trouble keeping those thoughts in mind. I'm a college student, in my last semester of a very difficult program and stress has kind of just been a part of my life over the past 4+ years. I acknowledge that it is not healthy stress (not healthy at all) and I should be actively trying to reduce it but with deadlines, exams, the pressure to excel, and so many other stressors how does one "Smile at it."?

For the majority of people, stress is a chronic problem and should be treated as such. 

A chronic problem requires daily management over a prolonged period of time. When such an approach is taken against stress, eventually the tides will turn in your favor. You will switch from living in stress and having brief moments of peace to living in peace with brief moments of stress. That is when you can smile at your stress and disrupt its hold on you. 

Now the question obviously follows: How to get to that point? How to turn the tides?

I’m glad you asked!

Here are a series of steps you can take to deal with stress on a daily basis:

Monitor your diet. Stay away from fatty, processed, or sugary foods. Prolonged stress will cause you to crave sugar for physiological reasons I wont get into here. Eat healthy. 

Exercise regularly. It doesn’t have to be crazy or intense. The exercise here is for you to use up energy, not to lose weight or get sculpted or anything. Go for a run, do some yoga, or just put on some music and have a private dance party. Do this a few times a week if not daily. Don’t overdo it. 

Get enough sleep. Stress will mess with your sleep schedule majorly. Insomnia often accompanies stress. Make sure you are getting the proper amount of sleep. 7-8 hours is usually best. You need your mind to function and sleep is a major factor in how well you do that as well as consolidating memory of what you are learning. 

If the option is available, attend therapy. Therapy is awesome. It is time with an intelligent, open-minded human who is there to listen and provide useful conversation, perspective, and sometimes feedback. Your friends and family are nice to have too but they will generally be speaking from their own emotional agenda and perception of you. 

Meditate! Daily. This is huge. It has been scientifically validated. It is free. It is available. And it will change your life. Obviously I have written a lot about it. Check out the meditation page of my blog. 

Know when to take a break and allow for self-care. Chill in the tub with a bath bomb, put on some music and do an adult coloring book, read some comics/novels, get a massage. You are the weapon you use to accomplish your work, care for it! 

Balance your caffeine intake. I’m not saying you have to quit but if you use a lot of caffeine, that can exacerbate your stress. Work on toning it down. 

All of this helps to reduce the energy of stress within you. Meditation will help you to awaken from the assumptions, perspectives, fears, desires, and identities that make stress possible. By doing so, you diminish the ways that stress can occur within you and the intensity with which it can manifest. 

Two books I often recommend are The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle and The Places That Scare You by Pema Chodron. Both are excellent and extremely useful. Required reading for human incarnation on planet Earth, in my opinion. 

This is how you take control, turn the tide, and get to a place where you can smile at your stress when it dares to enter your Presence. 

Namaste :)

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Jangama Dhyana Meditation

The Practice

Set a meditation timer. 15 minutes for a true beginner, 30 for intermediate, 40-60 for experienced. 

Compose yourself with spine straight. This can be sitting or lying down. The important point is that you are wide awake and also comfortable. 

Close your eyes. Gently rest your eyes and your attention on the space between your eyebrows, a little up on the forehead. If this hurts or strains your eyes then just gaze forward toward the tip of where your nose would be. 

Do not repeat any mantras; do not visualize anything. Just focus your attention on that spot. This is a different kind of focus than what you do when working. It is like the focus you use during watching TV. You are wholly focused yet also relaxed. Again, no straining. 

If thoughts and feelings come, let them. Do not have thoughts about those thoughts or feelings. Do not try to push away those thoughts and feelings, as that too is just a thought. Just keep bringing your attention back to that space between your eyebrows on your forehead. Breathe.

Don’t get up until your meditation timer goes off. True emergencies are obviously an exception. 

Commentary

Jangama means “eternal existence” and dhyana means “meditation.” Thus Jangama dhyana means “Meditation on the Eternal Existence (of the Self).”

It is a timeless and ancient technique. It was brought into modern usage by the renowned guru Sri ShivaBalayogi and is currently taught by his direct enlightened disciple (and my guru) Sri ShivaRudraBalayogi. Neither charge money and the meditation technique is taught freely to everyone regardless of their religion, gender, race, age, and so on. 

When practiced daily, this technique renders incredible inner transformations and experiences as well as leads to realization of the Self. 

If you ever have questions about meditation, I am happy to give what advice I can. 

Namaste

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It’s easy to do nothing, but your heart breaks a little more every time you do.

Mark Ruffalo (via quotemadness)

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Personal growth becomes so addictive once you realize that it’s always possible to improve your experience of being.

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Nothing of value can happen to a mind which knows exactly what it wants. For nothing the mind can visualize and want is of much value.

Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj

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not doing great?

clean your room

open curtains/windows

take a shower

put on clean clothes

get out of your room a bit

stretch

drink a glass of water

get the hard/important stuff out of the way while you have energy

set some (any!) goals

remember that it is okay to have bad days

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You must love in such a way that the person you love feels free.

Thich Nhat Hanh (via onlinecounsellingcollege)

Can we please talk more about this? The best compliment I’ve received from someone I’m highly attracted to said sleepily one late night, as we waited for the sun to rise, that he simply feels so at ease and calm when he’s with me. That little phrase spilling out of his lips in itself was the best thing I’ve ever heard.

(via 12-22)

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!!!!!!!!

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small ways to improve your life

make your bed to immediately make your room look more put together

water first, then coffee or tea

pray or meditate, even just for ten minutes, to set the tone for your day

browse the news headlines ( & read the articles that interest you when you’ve got time) 

wear something you feel b o m b in

listen to music while doing your daily activities-commuting, cleaning, cooking, exercising

smile at at least two people 

smile at YOURSELF

call or message someone you love

eat food that makes you feel radiant 

make lists of things you need to accomplish for the day

stretch for 10 minutes 

record in your phone the positive thoughts you have so you can remember them

carry water with you (always always always) 

shut off your phone for an hour and have some ME time

take a hot shower or bath at the end of a stressful day 

try to make plans to spend time with someone at least once a week

think about 3 things you are grateful for at the end of each day

do something calming, relaxing, and non-electronic 30 minutes before you sleep

sleep pants-less 

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The best way to protect yourself is to be as fluid and formless as water; never bet on stability or lasting order. Everything changes.

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