Bijay Raut's Posts - HigherCons2024-03-19T01:49:48ZBijay Rauthttp://bodymindheartspirit.ning.com/profile/bijayrauthttp://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/351156331?profile=RESIZE_48X48&width=48&height=48&crop=1%3A1http://bodymindheartspirit.ning.com/profiles/blog/feed?user=bijayraut&xn_auth=nonutritionist-from-japan-shares-american-foods-she-never-eats-to-live-longer-and stay youngtag:bodymindheartspirit.ning.com,2023-05-20:505106:BlogPost:1457922023-05-20T05:58:09.000ZBijay Rauthttp://bodymindheartspirit.ning.com/profile/bijayraut
<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2023/05/19/nutritionist-from-japan-shares-american-foods-she-never-eats-to-live-longer-and-stay-young.html">https://www.cnbc.com/2023/05/19/nutritionist-from-japan-shares-american-foods-she-never-eats-to-live-longer-and-stay-young.html</a>
<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2023/05/19/nutritionist-from-japan-shares-american-foods-she-never-eats-to-live-longer-and-stay-young.html">https://www.cnbc.com/2023/05/19/nutritionist-from-japan-shares-american-foods-she-never-eats-to-live-longer-and-stay-young.html</a>Nature is talking to you, are you listening?tag:bodymindheartspirit.ning.com,2021-11-28:505106:BlogPost:1400172021-11-28T09:22:49.000ZBijay Rauthttp://bodymindheartspirit.ning.com/profile/bijayraut
<div class="kvgmc6g5 cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql ii04i59q"><div dir="auto">Nature is talking to you, are you listening?</div>
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<div class="o9v6fnle cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql ii04i59q"><div dir="auto">“Drink water from the spring where horses drink. The horse will never drink bad water.</div>
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<div class="o9v6fnle cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql ii04i59q"><div dir="auto">Lay your bed where the cat sleeps. Eat the…</div>
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<div class="kvgmc6g5 cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql ii04i59q"><div dir="auto">Nature is talking to you, are you listening?</div>
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<div class="o9v6fnle cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql ii04i59q"><div dir="auto">“Drink water from the spring where horses drink. The horse will never drink bad water.</div>
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<div class="o9v6fnle cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql ii04i59q"><div dir="auto">Lay your bed where the cat sleeps. Eat the fruit that has been touched by a worm. Boldly pick the mushroom on which the insects sit.</div>
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<div class="o9v6fnle cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql ii04i59q"><div dir="auto">Plant the tree where the mole digs. Build your house where the snake sits to warm itself. Dig your fountain where the birds hide from the heat.</div>
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<div class="o9v6fnle cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql ii04i59q"><div dir="auto">Go to sleep and wake up at the same time with the birds – you will reap all of the days' golden grains.</div>
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<div class="o9v6fnle cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql ii04i59q"><div dir="auto">Eat more green – you will have strong legs and a resistant heart, like the beings of the forest.</div>
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<div class="o9v6fnle cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql ii04i59q"><div dir="auto">Swim often and you will feel on earth like the fish in the water.</div>
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<div class="o9v6fnle cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql ii04i59q"><div dir="auto">Look at the sky as often as possible and your thoughts will become light and clear.</div>
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<div class="o9v6fnle cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql ii04i59q"><div dir="auto">Be quiet a lot, speak little – and silence will come in your heart, and your spirit will be calm and full of peace.” @Saint Seraphim of Sarov</div>
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</div>Dharma vs. Religiontag:bodymindheartspirit.ning.com,2021-11-28:505106:BlogPost:1397192021-11-28T09:19:57.000ZBijay Rauthttp://bodymindheartspirit.ning.com/profile/bijayraut
<p><span> hope you understand the difference between Religion and Dharma.</span><br></br><br></br><span>Only WE talk about Dharma; the rest of the world call it religion.</span><br></br><br></br><span>Hindutva is defending Dharma, particularly from those masquerading as religious!</span><br></br><br></br><span>- Bijay Raut…</span></p>
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<p><span> hope you understand the difference between Religion and Dharma.</span><br/><br/><span>Only WE talk about Dharma; the rest of the world call it religion.</span><br/><br/><span>Hindutva is defending Dharma, particularly from those masquerading as religious!</span><br/><br/><span>- Bijay Raut</span></p>
<p><span><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/9857171492?profile=original" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/9857171492?profile=RESIZE_710x" class="align-center"/></a></span></p>Why is Yoga Becoming So Popular?tag:bodymindheartspirit.ning.com,2018-03-29:505106:BlogPost:472122018-03-29T13:39:30.000ZBijay Rauthttp://bodymindheartspirit.ning.com/profile/bijayraut
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/393663711?profile=original" target="_self"><img class="align-center" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/393663711?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" width="750"></img></a></p>
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<p class="selectionShareable"><strong>Sadhguru:<span> </span></strong>There are many reasons why yoga is becoming popular. One thing is that it makes you realize some fundamental facts about yourself. Once in a kindergarten school, the teacher asked the students, “If I stand on my head, you will see my face will turn red because blood flows into my head.…</p>
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<p class="selectionShareable"><strong>Sadhguru:<span> </span></strong>There are many reasons why yoga is becoming popular. One thing is that it makes you realize some fundamental facts about yourself. Once in a kindergarten school, the teacher asked the students, “If I stand on my head, you will see my face will turn red because blood flows into my head. But that does not happen when I stand on my feet. Why?” A little fellow said, “Because the feet aren’t empty.”</p>
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<Yoga is the only system which has lived for over 15,000 years without any papacy or enforcement.<br />
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<p class="selectionShareable">Your body is like a barometer. If you know how to watch it, it tells you everything about you. Not the fancy things that you think about yourself, the real facts about you. Your mind is too deceptive. Every day it says a different thing about you. If you know how to read the body it tells you everything just the way it is, your past, present and future – in a way. That is why fundamental yoga starts with the body.</p>
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<p class="selectionShareable">So, many other things come and go with changing fashions, but yoga has survived for thousands of years and is still picking up momentum. Even though it may be transmitted in a very rudimentary way and many times in a distorted manner, it still endures. Yoga is the only system which has lived for over 15,000 years without any papacy or enforcement. Nowhere in the history of humanity has it happened that somebody put a sword to someone’s neck and said, “You must do yoga.” It has survived and lived on because it has worked as a process of well-being like nothing else.</p>
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<As the activity of the intellect becomes stronger in the world, more people will shift to yoga over a period of time and it will become the most popular way of seeking wellbeing.<br />
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<p class="selectionShareable">Another thing is, generally in the world, people – young or old – are stressed like never before. People are anxious and neurotic and whatever methods they employ to handle internal turmoil – by going to a disco or going for a drive or climbing a mountain – it has worked to some extent, but it has not given them a solution. So, looking towards yoga is a very natural thing.</p>
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<p class="selectionShareable">The reason for its growing popularity is the large scale transmission of education. We have more intellect on this planet today than ever before. So, naturally as the intellect becomes stronger, people look for logical solutions to everything. The more logical they become, the more they become dependent on science and the outcome of science is technology. As the activity of the intellect becomes stronger in the world, more people will shift to yoga over a period of time and it will become the most popular way of seeking wellbeing.</p>
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<h2>Yoga is Not an Exercise</h2>
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<p class="selectionShareable">Today, the way yoga is being done right now in most places of the world, it is a stillbirth. It is better not to get pregnant than to have a stillbirth, isn’t it? If you want six abs or whatever number, I would say go and play tennis or hike in the mountains. Yoga is not an exercise; it has other dimensions attached to it. A different dimension of fitness, yes – you may get health out of it but not six abs.</p>
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<Yoga needs to be practiced in a very subtle, gentle way, not in a forceful muscle building way, because this is not about exercise.<br />
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<p class="selectionShareable">After twenty years of yoga entering the West and becoming popular, medical professionals are now coming forth and making studies and saying, “Yoga has benefits.” Though it is taught in frivolous ways, still the health benefits of it are undeniable around the world. But if improper, distorted kind of yoga spreads, in ten to fifteen years’ time, scientific studies will clearly come out and tell you in how many ways it is harmful to human beings, and that will be the downfall.</p>
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<p class="selectionShareable">Yoga needs to be practiced in a very subtle, gentle way, not in a forceful muscle building way, because this is not about exercise. The physical body has a whole memory structure. If you are willing to read this physical body, everything – how this cosmos evolved from nothingness to this point – is written into this body. Yoga is a way of opening up that memory and trying to restructure this life towards an ultimate possibility. It is a very subtle and scientific process.</p>
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<p class="selectionShareable">Source: <a href="http://isha.sadhguru.org/blog/yoga-meditation/demystifying-yoga/why-yoga-becoming-popular/">http://isha.sadhguru.org/blog/yoga-meditation/demystifying-yoga/why-yoga-becoming-popular/</a></p>8 Habits That Have Been Proven To Make You A Happier Persontag:bodymindheartspirit.ning.com,2017-03-03:505106:BlogPost:452032017-03-03T04:30:56.000ZBijay Rauthttp://bodymindheartspirit.ning.com/profile/bijayraut
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<p><span>Being happy sounds like the easiest thing to be, but one of the most difficult in practice. How do you smile after a you spend a long day at work with stressful deadlines and then come back home to your children’s mess? Some days you might want to just collapse in exhaustion with a bottle of red instead of dealing with all your problems.…</span></p>
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<p><span>Being happy sounds like the easiest thing to be, but one of the most difficult in practice. How do you smile after a you spend a long day at work with stressful deadlines and then come back home to your children’s mess? Some days you might want to just collapse in exhaustion with a bottle of red instead of dealing with all your problems. While being happy all day every day might be too high a goal to set, these eight tips can help you be a much more cheerful person in general.</span></p>
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<h2>1. Faking It Helps</h2>
<p><span>Fake smiling at your boss’s terrible jokes might be quite a strain on your cheek muscles, but genuine smiles can instantly lift your tensions. When you’re laughing, notice how your eyes immediately crinkle. This eye movement is the key to a real smile and tricks your brain into believing that you’re happy. Your brain responds with a rush of happy hormones and your troubles temporarily melt away.</span></p>
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<h2>2. Get Your Blood Pumping</h2>
<p><span>The thought of going to the gym might send you spiralling even deeper into sadness, but give it a chance. Exercising has been proven to be one of the most effective ways to prevent relapse in depression patients. Apart from also providing you with a rush of endorphins, exercising can also make you feel a lot more confident.</span></p>
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<h2>3. Breathe Fresh Air</h2>
<p><span>Spending your entire day in one room is enough to drive a saint mad. When you feel the gloom setting in, try going outside for a change in scenery. If you have a park near you, go for a 30 minute stroll away from the noise and pollution of city life and let the calming effect wash over you. Getting outdoors will give you some time to think clearly and your troubles won’t seem so big anymore.</span></p>
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<h2>4. Develop Strong Bonds</h2>
<p><span>Studies have shown that an average of 5 strong relationships is really all a person needs. Instead of trying to constantly expand your friend circle, find those 5 people whom you can rely on no matter what. Make sure that they’re positive people who believe in you and not just ones that you enjoy gossiping with.</span></p>
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<h2>5. Improve On Yourself</h2>
<p><span>Helping others is always a great thing to do and you should never expect anything back in return. But you can be a little selfish and gain personal happiness out of it too. In an almost paradoxical conclusion, scientists have found that giving actually is better than receiving. People who chose to spend money on others reported higher levels of happiness. Dabble in some volunteering work and you’ll not only make a positive impact on someone else’s life, but also on yours.</span></p>
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<h2>6. Travel The World</h2>
<p><span>Instead of a pair of shoes, spend money on a holiday if you want longer lasting happiness. The shoes might get scuffed, but your memories of the holiday will always be precious to you. Experiences also force you out of your comfort zone and will leave you better armed to deal with troubles in your everyday life</span></p>
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<h2>7. Find Your Centre</h2>
<p><span>With all the different voices fighting to be heard in your mind, it can be difficult to calm down and focus on the important things. Meditation helps you clear your mind and teaches you the power of silence. The calming effect it can have also makes you a lot more impervious to pitfalls.</span></p>
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<h2>8. Make Peace With Your Life</h2>
<p><span>Most of our unhappiness is often self-inflicted. We create impossibly high goals for ourselves and when we fail to achieve them, we wallow in self pity. Instead, stop setting yourself up for failure and focus on what you do have in your life. Count your blessings everyday and you’ll find that you have a lot more to be happy about than you thought.</span></p>
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<p><span>Source: <a href="http://www.curejoy.com/content/8-habits-proven-make-happier-person/slide/8/">http://www.curejoy.com/content/8-habits-proven-make-happier-person/slide/8/</a></span></p>Perpetual Curse of the Warrior Mindsettag:bodymindheartspirit.ning.com,2016-06-03:505106:BlogPost:434052016-06-03T02:11:14.000ZBijay Rauthttp://bodymindheartspirit.ning.com/profile/bijayraut
<p style="text-align: center;"><em>“We shall require a substantially new manner of thinking if mankind is to survive.” ~Albert Einstein</em></p>
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<p>For well over 2000 years a competitive “dog-eat-dog” mindset has dominated the world’s most powerful human civilizations. The goals of our leaders (as well as most…</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em>“We shall require a substantially new manner of thinking if mankind is to survive.” ~Albert Einstein</em></p>
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<p>For well over 2000 years a competitive “dog-eat-dog” mindset has dominated the world’s most powerful human civilizations. The goals of our leaders (as well as most members) have been to conquer, defeat or control whatever (and whomever) we can. Those who thought differently were quickly pushed to the side, silenced, enslaved, ignored or demonized.</p>
<p>Look closely at the challenges humanity has been struggling with. What is the root cause of the environmental destruction, the poverty and inequality, crime, racism, terrorism, economic instability, mindless consumerism, endless wars and skyrocketing military spending?</p>
<p>These problems exist (in my opinion) because the most powerful human cultures and civilizations have propagated a world view that presents life as a never-ending war between opposing forces- a struggle between good and evil, man and nature, friend and enemy, “us” vs. “them.” Such dualistic thinking can serve a useful purpose at times, but creates chaos, inequity, unhappiness and instability when allowed to continuously dominate people’s lives.</p>
<p>For thousands of years, those in power have sought to perpetuate mindsets of competition, insecurity, scarcity and fear among the masses, in order to maintain their “ruling” positions. Nationalism, militarism, materialism, sexism, racism, colonialism, slavery, industrialization and consumerism are culturally conditioned ways of thinking and behaving rooted in a competitive and cold hearted view of fellow human beings and the natural world.</p>
<p>Like <a href="https://creativesystemsthinking.wordpress.com/2014/04/11/awakening-from-the-dream-rediscovering-eden/">Adam & Eve</a>, we continue to feed one another the lie of good vs. evil, rather than sharing the true story of ourselves as sisters and brothers, magical children of the Tree of Life. It’s almost as if the human family has been living under a spell, brain-washed and hypnotized to live in fear, to close our hearts to greater generosity, joy, wisdom, creativity, cooperation, peace and compassion.</p>
<p>Without a doubt, the warrior mindset has served a useful evolutionary purpose on our planet. There have always been situations of scarcity and conflict where brave and unselfish heroism was needed. The problem is that with the rise of hierarchal civilizations (and a corresponding “ruling class”) our loyalty, bravery and willingness to battle “enemies” has been continuously manipulated by those in positions of influence and power.</p>
<p>When small tribes go into battle their chiefs go with them, and are willing to die. Civilizations’s rulers- from ancient Rome to modern Wall Street- keep themselves safe behind guards and high walls, seeing their warriors as pawns, not brothers.</p>
<p>In the current global narrative being spread by Western media and governments we are told that our modern Civilization is locked in a war with blood-thirsty Muslim terrorists. Is this story true? As journalist <a href="https://creativesystemsthinking.wordpress.com/2015/01/12/the-new-paradigm-of-democracy-nafeez-mosaddeq-ahmed/">Nafeez Ahmed</a> has suggested, the narrative of a “<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clash_of_Civilizations">Clash of Civilizations</a>” that is being told to the world may actually be intended to feed our fears, and distract us from seeing the bigger picture, that industrialized Civilization is actually in a state of crisis (<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMgOTQ7D_lk">see video</a>).</p>
<p>When fear-based thinking dominates a society the innate wisdom and compassion of artists, poets, teachers, musicians, women, children, elders and animals is often treated as inferior and unimportant- <em>if it does not support the goals of leaders</em>– be they kings, queens, emperors, dictators, terrorist masterminds or corporate CEOs…</p>
<p>Jesus understood this, as did the Buddha, Lao Tsu, Gandhi, Helen Keller, Albert Einstein, Mother Theresa, the Dalai Lama, John Lennon, Martin Luther King, Jr. and countless others down through the ages. Millions honor and treasure their words, but are we ready yet to become “warriors” of compassion, to put wisdom into action, to open our hearts and<em>question</em> the fearful and aggressive thinking that our “great civilizations” continue to perpetuate?</p>
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<p style="text-align: center;"><em>”When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace.”</em><br><span>~ Sri Chinmoy Ghose</span></p>
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<p>- by Christopher Chase</p>
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<p><a href="https://creativesystemsthinking.wordpress.com/2014/10/14/perpetual-curse-of-the-warrior-mindset/">https://creativesystemsthinking.wordpress.com/2014/10/14/perpetual-curse-of-the-warrior-mindset/</a></p>8 Habits of Incredibly Interesting Peopletag:bodymindheartspirit.ning.com,2016-06-01:505106:BlogPost:436042016-06-01T02:35:44.000ZBijay Rauthttp://bodymindheartspirit.ning.com/profile/bijayraut
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/393660896?profile=original" target="_self"><img class="align-center" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/393660896?profile=original" width="260"></img></a></p>
<div class="content-list-component mt-paragraph text"><p>Interesting people have a special magnetism. They tell incredible stories and lead unusual lives. But what exactly makes them so captivating?</p>
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<div class="content-list-component mt-paragraph text"><p>They’re curious more than anything else. An interesting person is always excited to…</p>
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<p>Interesting people have a special magnetism. They tell incredible stories and lead unusual lives. But what exactly makes them so captivating?</p>
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<p>They’re curious more than anything else. An interesting person is always excited to explore the world, and this energy radiates outward.</p>
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<p>Some people are naturally interesting, but there are also ways to learn to be more engaging. Dr. Clair Nixon is known throughout Texas A&M as an incredibly interesting accounting professor (an oxymoron if there ever was one). Accounting is a difficult subject to make interesting and fun, which is what makes Dr. Nixon so special. He’s so good at making things interesting that he doesn’t just teach accounting, he also gives lectures on how to be more interesting.</p>
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<p>Indeed, anyone can learn to become more interesting, which is a wonderful thing, because being interesting can help you strengthen your network, win more clients, and <a href="http://www.talentsmart.com/about/emotional-intelligence.php" target="_hplink">lead more effectively</a>.</p>
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<p>There are several habits that many interesting people have in common. Sometimes these habits form naturally, but they are more often than not the result of conscious effort. Here’s what interesting people do to make themselves engaging, unusual, and hypnotizing.</p>
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<p><strong>1. They are passionate.</strong> Jane Goodall, a bona fide interesting person, left her home in England and moved to Tanzania at age 26 to begin studying chimpanzees. It became her life’s work, and Goodall has devoted herself fully to her cause while inspiring many others to do the same. Interesting people don’t just have interests; they have passions, and they devote themselves completely to them.</p>
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<p><strong>2. They try new things.</strong> Interesting people do what <em>interests</em> them. They know what they want, and they’re brave enough to take the steps to get there. This often means trying new things—things at which they’re often terrible at first. The very act of seeking new experiences also happens to be great for your mood, and people who are happy are magnetic and far more interesting to be around than downers.</p>
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<p><strong>3. They don’t hide their quirks.</strong> Interesting people often have unusual preferences that don’t fit the norm. They’re open and unabashed about who they are, which gives everyone a good look at these interesting tendencies. Billionaire Warren Buffett, for example, has never been suited to the high-rolling lifestyle. Instead, he still lives in the same modest house he bought in 1958 for $31,500. It might seem quirky—or even strange—for such an incredibly wealthy man to live so frugally, but Buffett doesn’t sacrifice his preferences because of what’s expected of him.</p>
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<p><strong>4. They avoid the bandwagon.</strong> Nothing is more boring than following the bandwagon, and interesting people are intent on forging their own paths. There’s often nothing wrong with what everyone else is doing; it’s just that interesting people are innovators, who break conformity to pursue new, exciting, and yes, interesting ideas.</p>
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<p><strong>5. They check their egos at the door.</strong> An egomaniac is never interesting. Egomaniacs are always posturing, always worrying about how they’ll come across. It’s exhausting, and it’s also dishonest. Take Oprah Winfrey—an interesting and<em>interested</em> person. In a speech to the Stanford University graduating class of 2008, she said, “The trick is to learn to check your ego at the door and start checking your gut instead. Every right decision I’ve made—every right decision I’ve ever made—has come from my gut. And every wrong decision I’ve ever made was a result of me not listening to the greater voice of myself.” Oprah’s advice is so important: listen to your values, goals, and ambitions, rather than worrying about what will make you look good.</p>
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<p><strong>6. They’re always learning.</strong> To interesting people, the world has infinite possibilities. This curiosity about the unknown leads to constant learning, fueled by an ever-burning desire to discover the unknown. Despite his <a href="http://www.talentsmart.com/products/" target="_hplink">intelligence</a> and accomplishments, Albert Einstein kept a sense of wonder throughout his life that made him continue to ask questions about the world. Like Einstein, interesting people are in a constant state of wonder.</p>
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<p><strong>7. They share what they discover.</strong> The only thing interesting people enjoy as much as learning is sharing their discoveries with others. While some will spin engaging yarns about their exciting travels, there’s more to it than that. Interesting people are interesting because they feel out their conversational partner to see what sparks that person’s interest. They don’t share to expose all of the interesting things they’ve done; they share for other people to enjoy.</p>
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<p><strong>8. They don’t worry about what others think of them.</strong> Nothing is more uninteresting than someone who holds their true self back because they’re afraid that other people might not like it. Instead, <a href="http://www.talentsmart.com/" target="_hplink">interesting people</a> are true to themselves wherever they are, whoever they’re with, and in whatever they’re doing. Interesting people are authentic to a fault. The famous English author Charles Dickens personified this. No matter where he was working—in a friend’s house or in a hotel—he would bring specific pens and objects and arrange them precisely. While his behavior may have seemed strange, he was always true to himself.<br><strong><br>Bringing It All Together</strong></p>
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<p>It might not always be easy to incorporate these habits into daily life, but that’s what makes the people who do so interesting—they go against the grain, and that’s undeniably <em>interesting.</em> While I know that you’re already interesting, never forget to keep exploring the world and staying true to yourself.</p>
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<p><em>- <a class="author-card__details__name" href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-travis-bradberry">Dr. Travis Bradberry</a></em></p>
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<p><em>Source: <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-travis-bradberry/8-habits-of-incredibly-in_b_10169406.html">http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-travis-bradberry/8-habits-of-incredibly-in_b_10169406.html</a></em></p>
</div>Why So Many Smart People Aren’t Happytag:bodymindheartspirit.ning.com,2016-05-04:505106:BlogPost:428082016-05-04T11:32:13.000ZBijay Rauthttp://bodymindheartspirit.ning.com/profile/bijayraut
<p><span>It’s a paradox: Shouldn’t the most accomplished be well equipped to make choices that maximize life satisfaction?</span></p>
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<p><span><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/393696347?profile=original" target="_self"><img class="align-center" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/393696347?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" width="750"></img></a></span></p>
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<p dir="ltr">There are three things, once one’s basic needs are satisfied, that academic literature points to as the ingredients for happiness: having meaningful social relationships, being good at…</p>
<p><span>It’s a paradox: Shouldn’t the most accomplished be well equipped to make choices that maximize life satisfaction?</span></p>
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<p><span><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/393696347?profile=original" target="_self"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/393696347?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" width="750" class="align-center"></a></span></p>
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<p dir="ltr">There are three things, once one’s basic needs are satisfied, that academic literature points to as the ingredients for happiness: having meaningful social relationships, being good at whatever it is one spends one’s days doing, and having the freedom to make life decisions independently.</p>
<p dir="ltr">But research into happiness has also yielded something a little less obvious: Being better educated, richer, or more accomplished doesn’t do much to predict whether someone will be happy. In fact, it might mean someone is less likely to be satisfied with life.</p>
<p dir="ltr">That second finding is the puzzle that Raj Raghunathan, a professor of marketing at The University of Texas at Austin’s McCombs School of Business, tries to make sense of in his recent book, <em><a href="http://www.indiebound.org/book/9781101980736">If You’re So Smart, Why Aren’t You Happy?</a></em>Raghunathan’s writing does fall under the category of self-help (with all of the pep talks and progress worksheets that that entails), but his commitment to scientific research serves as ballast for the genre’s more glib tendencies.</p>
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<p dir="ltr">I recently spoke to Raghunathan about his book, and the interview that follows has been edited and condensed for the sake of clarity.</p>
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<p dir="ltr"><span>Pinsker:</span> One of the premises of your book is that people may have a sense of what will make them happy, but they approach those things in ways that don’t maximize happiness. Could you provide an example of that disconnect?</p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>Raghunathan:</span> If you take the need for mastery—the need for competence—there are two broad approaches that one can take to becoming very good at something. One approach is to engage in what people call social comparisons. That is, wanting to be the best at doing something: “I want to be the best professor there is,” or something like that.</p>
<p dir="ltr">There are many problems with that, but one big problem with that is that it's very difficult to assess. What are the yardsticks for judging somebody on a particular dimension? What are the yardsticks for being the best professor? Is it about research, teaching? Even if you take only teaching, is it the ratings you get from students, or is it the content that you deliver in class, or the number of students who pass an exam or take a test and do really well in it? So it gets very difficult to judge, because these yardsticks become increasingly ambiguous as a field becomes narrower or more technical.</p>
<p dir="ltr">So what happens in general is that people tend to gravitate toward less ambiguous—even if they're not so relevant—yardsticks. People judge the best professors by the number of awards they get, or the salary that they get, or the kind of school that they are in, which might on the face of it seem like it's a good yardstick for judging how good somebody is, but at the same time it's not really relevant to the particular field.</p>
<p dir="ltr">And those yardsticks are ones that we adapt to really quickly. So if you get a huge raise this month, you might be happy for a month, two months, maybe six months. But after that, you're going to get used to it and you're going to want another big bump. And you'll want to keep getting those in order to sustain your happiness levels. In most people you can see that that's not a very sustainable source of happiness.</p>
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<p dir="ltr"><span>Pinsker:</span> What’s the other mindset?</p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>Raghunathan:</span> What I recommend is an alternative approach, which is to become a little more aware of what it is that you're really good at, and what you enjoy doing. When you don't need to compare yourself to other people, you gravitate towards things that you instinctively enjoy doing, and you're good at, and if you just focus on that for a long enough time, then chances are very, very high that you're going to progress towards mastery anyway, and the fame and the power and the money and everything will come as a byproduct, rather than something that you chase directly in trying to be superior to other people.</p>
<p dir="ltr">If you were to go back to the three things that people need—mastery, belonging, and autonomy—I'd add a fourth, after basic necessities have been met. It’s the attitude or the worldview that you bring to life. And that worldview can be characterized, just for simplicity, in one of two fashions: One extreme is a kind of scarcity-minded approach, that my win is going to come at somebody else's loss, which makes you engage in social comparisons. And the other view is what I would call a more abundance-oriented approach, that there's room for everybody to grow.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>Pinsker:</span> I was really interested by the line you were drawing in the book between abundance and scarcity, because instantly that makes me think of economics: Economics is, in many ways, the study of things that are scarce. Can you talk about the mental processes that are at play when people are thinking in terms of scarcity?</p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>Raghunathan:</span> I'm not trying to argue in the book that the scarcity mindset is either shallow or completely useless. If you're caught in a warzone, if you're in a poverty-stricken area, if you're fighting for your survival, if you're in a competitive sport like boxing, the scarcity mindset does play a very important role.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Most of us are the products of people who survived in what was for a very, very long time, in our evolution as a species, a scarcity-oriented universe. Food was scarce, resources were scarce, fertile land was scarce, and so on. So we do have a very hard-wired tendency to be scarcity-oriented. But I think what has happened over time is we don't have to literally fight for our survival every day.</p>
<p dir="ltr">I think that as intelligent beings we need to recognize that some of the vestiges of our evolutionary tendencies might be holding us back. If I'm at an advertising agency, for example, or in software design, those are the kinds of fields where it is now being shown in quite a lot of studies that you actually perform better if you don't put yourself under the scarcity mindset, if you don’t worry about the outcomes and enjoy the process of doing something, rather than the goal.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>Pinsker:</span> Since we’re hard-wired to think in terms of scarcity, I’m very interested in what can be done to prod someone into a different mindset. One experiment you talked about in the book found that workers who received a daily email to remind them to make decisions that maximize happiness reported being markedly happier than those who didn't get the email. Is it really as simple as that sort of thing?</p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>Raghunathan:</span> On the one hand, we are hard-wired to focus more on negative things. But at the same time, we are also all hard-wired to be seeking a sense of happiness and the desire to flourish, and to be the best we can be. Ultimately, what we need in order to be happy is at some level pretty simple. It requires doing something that you find meaningful, that you can kind of get lost in on a daily basis.</p>
<p dir="ltr">When you observe children, they are very good at this. They don't get distracted by all those extrinsic yardsticks. They go for things that really bring them a lot of enjoyment. In my book I talk when we got my son a little mechanical car when he was about 3 years old, because he saw a neighbor get that car. He was into the car for about three days. After that he wanted to play with the box in which the car came. It was just a box. He didn't have any idea that the car cost more, or was more valuable, or more technologically advanced. He was into the box because he saw a character on a TV show called Hamilton the pig, who lives inside a box. He wanted to replicate that life for himself.</p>
<p dir="ltr">What we were trying to do in that particular study is bring that focus back into people's attention. For example, rather than sitting in front of the TV, a father might decide to play a little game of baseball with his son. What people might do varies, but when there’s a reminder, what we discover is that—and these are studies conducted with Fortune 500 employees, undergraduate students—they make seemingly small, you might even call them trivial, decisions, but they add up to a happier life overall. This simple reminder on an everyday basis is a kind of reality check, which puts things in perspective for people.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>Pinsker:</span> What do you think it is about the messages people receive about what it takes to be successful in business that runs counter to this mindset? In other words, do you think that working your way up any professional ladder requires not thinking in terms of abundance?</p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>Raghunathan:</span> Daniel Pink, in his book <em>Drive</em>, talks about how what used to be used as motivators to employees—what he calls the carrots and sticks approach—are now being replaced by what he calls “Motivation 2.0,” which is more trying to figure out what is it that people are really passionate about. Google is a famous big company that tries to practice this, and Whole Foods is another.</p>
<p dir="ltr">I do think that we carry lots of baggage from how businesses used to operate. Simon Sinek, in one of his books, makes the argument that businesses and the rules by which businesses operate are structured along the lines of how the military used to operate—very hierarchical and scarcity-oriented. But he talks about how, actually, if you look a little bit deeper into the best leaders in the military, they tend not to be that way. So there's been a mistaken adoption of a certain set of ideas based on how things used to operate in the past, but in fact, what's now emerging as a much more successful approach to doing business and to being successful is having a more abundance-oriented approach.</p>
<p dir="ltr">In the big picture, the business world’s messages are a little jumbled. In business schools, I see that there's a huge push towards corporate social responsibility and finding a passion, but at the same time, if you look at the kinds of people who get invited to come give keynote addresses, or what it is that we focus on to improve our <em>Businessweek</em> rankings, it's things that are extrinsic. We invite people who made a million bucks, and we look at incoming MBA students and their outgoing salaries.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>Pinsker:</span> You mentioned earlier how easily people adapt to positive changes in their lives, and I’m familiar with <a href="http://nymag.com/scienceofus/2016/01/classic-study-on-happiness-and-the-lottery.html">the research</a> showing that lottery winners are no happier, a year later, than even people who just as recently suffered serious injuries. That resonates with me: If you told me back in high school that I was going to be writing for a magazine, I'd have been overjoyed. And right now, I am happy in many ways, but I still have a lot of the same old insecurities and worries about the future. I assume it’s something a lot of others experience too. Can you talk about what's necessary to steer yourself away from that mindset?</p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>Raghunathan:</span> That's the plight of most people in the world, I would say. There are expectations that if you achieve some given thing, you're going to be happy. But it turns out that's not true. And a large part of that is due to adaptation, but a large part of it also is that you see this mountain in front of you and you want to climb over it. And when you do, it turns out there are more mountains to climb.</p>
<p dir="ltr">The one thing that has really really helped me in this regard is a concept that I call “the dispassionate pursuit of passion” in the book, and basically the concept boils down to not tethering your happiness to the achievement of outcomes. The reason why it's important to not tie happiness to outcomes is that outcomes by themselves don't really have an unambiguously positive or negative effect on your happiness. Yes, there are some outcomes—you get a terminal disease, or your child dies—that are pretty extreme, but let's leave those out. But if you think about it, the breakup that you had with your childhood girlfriend, or you broke an arm and were in a hospital bed for two months, when they occurred, you might have felt, “Oh my goodness, this is the end of the world! I'm never going to recover from it.” But it turns out we're very good at recovering from those, and not just that, but those very events that we thought were really extremely negative were in fact pivotal in making us grow and learn.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Everybody's got some kind of a belief about whether good things are going to happen or bad things are going to happen. There's no way to scientifically prove that one of these beliefs is more accurate than another. But if you believe life is benign, you're going to see lots of evidence for it. If you think life is malign, you're going to see lots of evidence for it. It's kind of like a placebo effect. Given that all of these beliefs are all equally valid, why not adopt the belief that is going to be more useful to you in your life as you go along?</p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>Pinsker:</span> It's become clear to me after reading your book and talking to you that American culture, and maybe even capitalism in general, doesn't do very much to encourage the abundance approach over the scarcity approach. Are there any societies or cultures that in your mind have figured this out, or is it the case that society will almost always send certain messages, and it’s up to individuals to have their own counterprogramming?</p>
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<p dir="ltr"><span>Raghunathan:</span> On the face of it, it might look like I'm saying that capitalism in general is not very good at promoting an abundance mindset. But I don't think that that is entirely accurate. If you were to break capitalism down into two very important tenets, one is the freedom of movement of people, thought, and goods, and the freedom of choice. The second aspect is a distribution of resources according to people's abilities rather than according to people's needs.</p>
<p dir="ltr">That first tenet of capitalism, I think, is beautiful, and I wouldn't let go of it. And if that ideology comes with the baggage of distribution of resources according to abilities, then I take that package, rather than a package where you restrict people's freedom of thought and what kinds of choices they can make, even if it's combined with a distribution of resources according to people's needs.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Ultimately, you can't force people to adopt an abundance mindset. They're going to have to select it themselves, through self-exploration and soul-searching, and looking at the science. Then, some people consciously arrive at a more socialistic way of living, by choice. That's the way in which I think this is going to work out best—for capitalism to kind of flip itself on its head to arrive at that.</p>
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<p dir="ltr">- by Joe Pinsker</p>
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<p dir="ltr">Source: <a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2016/04/why-so-many-smart-people-arent-happy/479832/?utm_source=huffingtonpost.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=pubexchange_facebook">http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2016/04/why-so-many-smart-people-arent-happy/479832/?utm_source=huffingtonpost.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=pubexchange_facebook</a></p>
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<p></p>Why Successful People Spend 10 Hours a Week Just Thinkingtag:bodymindheartspirit.ning.com,2016-04-13:505106:BlogPost:431032016-04-13T14:25:04.000ZBijay Rauthttp://bodymindheartspirit.ning.com/profile/bijayraut
<p><strong>Warren Buffett has spent 80% of his career thinking. Here's why.</strong></p>
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<p><span><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/393696349?profile=original" target="_self"><img class="align-full" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/393696349?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" width="750"></img></a></span></p>
<div class="splitArticleUpperContainer"><div class="bodycopy"><div class="article-body inc_editable"><p>Warren Buffett, the CEO of the fourth largest company in the country, isn't as busy as you are. By his own estimate, …</p>
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<p><strong>Warren Buffett has spent 80% of his career thinking. Here's why.</strong></p>
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<p><span><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/393696349?profile=original" target="_self"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/393696349?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" width="750" class="align-full"></a></span></p>
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<p>Warren Buffett, the CEO of the fourth largest company in the country, isn't as busy as you are. By his own estimate, <a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://9nl.it/4ip0">he has spent 80% of his career reading and thinking</a>.</p>
<p>"That's what created [one of the] world's most successful business records in history. He has a lot of time to think," <a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://9nl.it/quqd">Charlie Munger</a>, Buffett's long-time business partner, has said of his unusual approach to productivity.</p>
<p>For most people, Buffett's wide-open schedule is totally counter-intuitive. It goes against everything we think we know about what a leader does. Reading about the Elon Musks and Jeff Immelts of the world leads us to assume that business greatness means little sleep, and even less time with loved ones. Immelt, for example, has worked <a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://9nl.it/lne1">100 hours per week for his entire career</a>.</p>
<p>Buffett's schedule may seem like an anomaly. In reality, he's a trailblazer. Thanks in part to his example, over the past few years, several high-profile CEOs have come out against the norm of constant busyness. They argue that critical thinking time is essential in a complex, rapidly-changing digital economy.</p>
<p>AOL CEO Tim Armstrong, for instance, makes his executives spend <a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://9nl.it/pbrz">10% of their day</a>, or four hours per week, just thinking. Jeff Weiner, CEO of LinkedIn, schedules <a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://9nl.it/y13h">2 hours of uninterrupted thinking time per day</a>. Jack Dorsey is a <a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://9nl.it/xdpl">serial wanderer</a>. Bill Gates is famous for <a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://9nl.it/njbs">taking a week off twice a year</a> just to reflect deeply without interruption.</p>
<p>I do the same. At my $250 million company, <a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://9nl.it/f74f">O2E (Ordinary to Exceptional) Brands</a>, which includes brands like <a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://9nl.it/rvu2">1-800-GOT-JUNK?</a>, I set aside all of Monday for thinking. I believe that, whatever your business type or size, you can and should make time for it too.</p>
<h2>The Case For Thinking Time</h2>
<p><em>"Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe."-Abraham Lincoln</em></p>
<p>Most people see leadership as a sport where success is determined by hard work. Instead, I like to think of business as being more like surgery.</p>
<p>My father was one of the top surgeons in Canada, so when I was young I saw how surgeons aim to have maximum impact with minimum intervention. Like Lincoln chopping down a tree, accomplishing this is about careful planning. The actual surgery-the physical work-is only a small part of the process.</p>
<p>I approach business the same way. The Mondays I devote to thinking allow me to operate with surgical precision during the rest of the week. Here's what I do during that day.</p>
<h2>Step #1: Schedule the whole day in your calendar</h2>
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<p>Are other people constantly taking your time and dictating your priorities? If so, the first step to finding time to devote to thinking is to take control of your calendar. Let people know that you won't respond to emails or phone calls on a particular day, unless there's an emergency.</p>
<h2>Step #2: Do NOT go to your office</h2>
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<p>My best ideas come when I'm not in the office, so I often spend the day wandering around Vancouver. I pick where to go based on the type of thinking that I need to do. On a given Monday, I might go through six coffee shops. I might walk in the forest, take a bike ride, hang out on the beach, sit on a park bench, or even have a glass of wine. Whenever I feel stuck, I move locations.</p>
<h2>Step #3: Bring your journal</h2>
<p>Writing is a powerful way to capture your ideas and get them into an organized, actionable form. The key is not to censor or judge yourself-just spill your thoughts onto paper without criticism or even evaluation. There are many ways to do this. I'm a very visual person, so my notebook is filled with pictures, arrows and words. Find what works best for you.</p>
<h2>Step #4: Reschedule or shorten meetings you have later in the week</h2>
<p>As I'm out of the office all Monday, my Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday are usually spent in back-to-back meetings. I set aside 15 minutes on Monday to review the meetings that are set up for the week and compare them to my priorities. If a meeting isn't a high priority, I will ask my assistant to either reschedule it or shorten it.</p>
<h2>Step #5: Prune your to-do list for the week</h2>
<p>Most of those meetings lead to action steps. Over the course of the week, tasks pile up and my to-do list can become so long that it's unrealistic for me to complete all of it. Rather than blindly checking off items as they come up, I use my thinking day to review the list and evaluate which ones are truly a priority. I ask myself: 'Should we really action this?' Often, I find that what seemed important at first isn't anymore.</p>
<h2>Step #6: Identify your top three outcomes for the day</h2>
<p>Besides planning your week to come and reviewing your to-do list, set three goals for your thinking day and jot them down. This will ensure you get the maximum impact from those open hours.</p>
<h2>Step #7: Use powerful questions to encourage deep thinking</h2>
<p>You will also want to devote some of your time to thinking deeply about your priorities and the direction of your business. I find prompts are helpful for this. Here are some of my favorites:</p>
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<li>Am I doing the right things with the right people?</li>
<li>What's most important?</li>
<li>What am I good at?</li>
<li>What am I bad at?</li>
<li>How can I spend more time doing what I'm good at?</li>
<li>How can I spend less time doing what I'm bad at?</li>
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<p>Alternatively, I'll write out a goal and think about how I can strategically move toward it.</p>
<h2>Step #8: Set aside time to solve your biggest problems</h2>
<p>As important as big-picture thinking is, every business will need to solve shorter-term problems. A portion of your day can also be spent investigating challenging issues and brainstorming ways to push through them.</p>
<h2>Step #9: Set aside time to think of new ideas</h2>
<p>Reacting to problems is essential, but so is proactively coming up with new ideas to better your business. Set aside some time to brainstorm new ways of doing things, or new opportunities to explore.</p>
<h2>Remember This</h2>
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<p>Don't be surprised if taking a whole day for thinking feels like an indulgence at first it certainly did for me. I felt guilty for taking walks in the park or sipping wine while others were in the office. But now I can't imagine not doing it.</p>
<p>As CEO, I have realized I don't need to be the first one in and the last one to leave, but I do need to be the most impactful person in the office. And my 'Thinking Mondays' help me accomplish that.</p>
<p>If nothing else, remember this: Warren Buffett has built his whole calendar around thinking. "You look at his schedule sometimes and there's a haircut. Tuesday, haircut day," <a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://9nl.it/quqd">says his partner, Charlie Munger</a>.</p>
<p>In this complex, rapidly-changing world, the calendars of world-class CEOs will look more like Warren Buffett's and less like Jeff Immelt's!</p>
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</div>Who Is A Hindu?tag:bodymindheartspirit.ning.com,2015-03-03:505106:BlogPost:390032015-03-03T04:57:21.000ZBijay Rauthttp://bodymindheartspirit.ning.com/profile/bijayraut
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/393690357?profile=original" target="_self"><img class="align-center" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/393690357?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" width="570"></img></a></p>
<p>by <span style="color: #333333;"><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.in/sadhvi-bhagawati-saraswati/" rel="author"><span class="name fn" style="color: #333333;">Sadhvi Bhagawati Saraswati</span></a></span></p>
<p>Countless people across the world ask me : "Have you converted to Hinduism?" The question is understandable. After all, people don't often behold an…</p>
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/393690357?profile=original" target="_self"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/393690357?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" width="570" class="align-center"></a></p>
<p>by <span style="color: #333333;"><a rel="author" href="http://www.huffingtonpost.in/sadhvi-bhagawati-saraswati/"><span class="name fn" style="color: #333333;">Sadhvi Bhagawati Saraswati</span></a></span></p>
<p>Countless people across the world ask me : "Have you converted to Hinduism?" The question is understandable. After all, people don't often behold an American woman of Jewish ancestry draped in the saffron robes of a Hindu renunciant.</p>
<p>However, although the question is simple, the answer is complex. Hinduism does not convert. It does not exist in a box with borders and boundaries. There are more differences between lineages within Hinduism than there are between Hinduism and some other religions.</p>
<p>If one were to ask several Hindus, "What is the most fundamental tenet of Hinduism?" or "How is God understood in Hinduism?" one would get a wide range of equally viable, equally legitimate answers. In fact, two of the most fundamental teachings of Hinduism are "Let all the noble thoughts come from all directions," and "The Truth is one but the sages call it by different names."</p>
<p>So, what exactly is Hinduism, then, that is open enough to embrace an American sanyasi?</p>
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<p>"By whatever name and form the devotee worships me with love, I appear to the devotee in that form."</p>
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<p>Nowhere in the Vedas - the foundational texts of Hindu theology - does one find the word Hindu. Rather, "Hindu" is actually the name given to the people living beyond the banks of the Sindhu or the Indus River, in what was known as the Indus valley civilisation. Hindus refer to their religion as Sanatan Dharma, the eternal way of life. This way of life encompasses everything from a philosophical understanding of the nature of the universe and our role in it, to treatises on science, math, music, architecture and medicine.</p>
<p>The "religion" of Hinduism, if one wanted to attempt to neatly box it up, could be said to include several components.</p>
<p>The first of these is inclusivity. Hinduism excludes almost nothing. The arms of Hinduism are immeasurably long and embrace innumerable names, forms and concepts of the Divine. However, worshippers of varying Divine manifestations all agree on one essential component: the Supreme Reality is infinite, omniscient, omnipresent, and knowable by all names.</p>
<p>As God is infinite and all of creation a manifestation of the same Creator, Hindus see the whole world as one family. In fact, the scriptures state clearly: Vasudhaiv Kutumbakam, or "The world is one family." Hindu prayers are prayers for all; Hindus don't pray for Hindus or Indians. Rather, Hindus pray,</p>
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<p>Sarve bhavantu sukhinah<br>Sarve santu niraamayaah<br>Sarve bhadraani pashyantu<br>Maakaschit duhkha bhaag bhavet</p>
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<p>It means, "May all be happy, may all be healthy, may all behold that which is good and auspicious, may no one suffer."</p>
<p>Another aspect is that of a personal relationship with God. Regardless of the name, form in which a Hindu believes, he or she is encouraged to have a personal connection with that particular form. The God of Hinduism is a God who is knowable, approachable, infinite and yet fully prepared to incarnate in material form, a God to whom our food, water, earnings and lives are dedicated.</p>
<p>One common misconception of Hinduism is that it is polytheistic. With so many images, it is understandable that people would assume that each image is a separate God. However, Hinduism is very much a monotheistic religion, in which that one, infinite Supreme Reality is manifest in all of creation. The first line of the Isopanishads reminds us:</p>
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<p>Ishaavaasyam idam sarvam <br>yat kim ca jagatyam jagat</p>
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<p>It means the entire universe is pervaded by the divine. That same all-pervasive Supreme Reality manifests in infinite forms with infinite names. In the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna explains beautifully, "By whatever name and form the devotee worships me with love, I appear to the devotee in that form."</p>
<p>For this reason, Hindu practices emphasise ahimsa or nonviolence toward humans, animals and Mother Nature. A large majority of Hindus are vegetarians, avoid leather, pray to and for Mother Nature, and have rituals surrounding the ways and times that one may pick flowers, fruits or otherwise injure a living plant.</p>
<p>Stemming from the tenet of an all-pervasive God, one of the core components of the Hindu tradition is service, seva, or karma yoga. Hinduism teaches us to see God in the poor, sick, and needy; the tradition is filled with stories of God appearing as an unexpected guest or a beggar.</p>
<p>Most Hindu organisations have large social service programs engaged in a wide range of charitable activities. Service is seen as one of the highest forms of worship.</p>
<p>As the traditional name of Hinduism is Sanatan Dharma or "eternal way of life" the tenets and principles of Hinduism are not relegated only to worship or prayer. Rather, Hinduism informs every aspect of our lives from the moment we awaken to the moment we sleep. There are shastras and sutras for nearly every component of life, as well as for architecture, medicine, science, math and music.</p>
<p>Hinduism, in the words of Pujya Swami Chidanand Saraswatiji, "is not a weekend business." A Hindu's actions are governed by spiritual laws in the home and in the workplace as well as in the temple.</p>
<p>Another central and unique aspect of Hinduism is emphasis on the divine feminine, or Shakti, as the essential energy and force through which creation, sustenance and dissolution are performed. Worship of the Divine Mother - whether in Her nurturing, compassionate form or in Her fierce, fiery form - is a common thread that weaves through the entire tapestry of Hinduism.</p>
<p>However, it is not only the Feminine in Her ethereal, celestial role that is worshipped, it is the feminine in her human form. We are exhorted by the scriptures to hold women in the highest ideal: "Wherever women are adored and respected, there the Gods are happy."</p>
<p>As news reports cover the rape and abuse of girls and women throughout India, people misconstrue this as a subjugation of the female endorsed by Hindu culture. The abuse of women is a societal evil which must be swiftly eradicated. However, it couldn't be further from the very tenets of Hinduism.</p>
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<p><em>The author is the director of the <a href="http://www.internationalyogafestival.com/" target="_hplink">International Yoga Festival at Parmarth Niketan Ashram</a>in Rishikesh. The festival runs from 1-7 March.</em></p>
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<p><em><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.in/sadhvi-bhagawati-saraswati/who-is-a-hindu_b_6767294.html">http://www.huffingtonpost.in/sadhvi-bhagawati-saraswati/who-is-a-hindu_b_6767294.html</a></em></p>Answer 6 Questions to Reveal Your Life Purposetag:bodymindheartspirit.ning.com,2014-12-26:505106:BlogPost:387072014-12-26T07:17:03.000ZBijay Rauthttp://bodymindheartspirit.ning.com/profile/bijayraut
<p>Deep down inside, you know what you most love to do and how you can make your mark on the world. Get ready for some soul-searching. by <a href="http://www.success.com/profile/stephanie-wood">Stephanie Wood</a><span><br></br></span></p>
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<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/393691726?profile=original" target="_self"><img class="align-center" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/393691726?profile=original" width="582"></img></a></p>
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<p class="BODY">As a reader, you probably earn a good living but also define success as something more than money…</p>
<p>Deep down inside, you know what you most love to do and how you can make your mark on the world. Get ready for some soul-searching. by <a href="http://www.success.com/profile/stephanie-wood">Stephanie Wood</a><span><br></span></p>
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<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/393691726?profile=original" target="_self"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/393691726?profile=original" width="582" class="align-center"></a></p>
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<p class="BODY">As a reader, you probably earn a good living but also define success as something more than money and the things it can buy. To you it’s a holistic concept—not just financial success, but also happiness, good relationships, and the ability to give back and contribute to society. “You need a higher purpose than just survival,” says Tina Tessina, Ph.D., a Long Beach, Calif., psychotherapist and author of <em><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1494842033/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1494842033&linkCode=as2&tag=sm0fe-20&linkId=EETMT66W4AIE24TL">The Ten Smartest Decisions a Woman Can Make after Forty</a></em>. “Once self-confidence and self-esteem are established, you’ll need a challenge to feel satisfied, a way to express your uniqueness and individuality to yourself, to friends, and to the world.”</p>
<p class="BODY">“People think they will feel fulfilled when they check off their list: getting married, having kids, buying a certain house, getting a boat, reaching a certain title or profit level in their business,” says Elizabeth Lombardo, Ph.D., author of <em><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1580055494/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1580055494&linkCode=as2&tag=sm0fe-20&linkId=FE4VYQL6OJXOZTGA">Better than Perfect: 7 Strategies to Crush Your Inner Critic and Create a Life You Love</a></em>. “But happiness doesn’t come from money and success. Even celebrities who make more money than we can imagine doing just one movie don’t feel fulfilled.”</p>
<p class="BODY">What truly moves you and how can you turn that passion into a fulfilling mission in life? Everyone’s different, but we’ve outlined some common strategies that can lead each of you to your unique goal. Here are some key questions to ask yourself.</p>
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<p class="SUBHEAD"><strong>1. As a child and back in my younger days, what experiences were the most memorable?</strong></p>
<p class="BODY">What pastimes did I find most fulfilling?</p>
<p class="BODY">“Make a list of everything that gave you pleasure” as a kid and teenager, recommends Jim Donovan, life and business coach and author of <em><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1577314018/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1577314018&linkCode=as2&tag=sm0fe-20&linkId=MAPWXYTGNPSQFXBV">Handbook to a Happier Life</a></em>. “Maybe it was playing basketball or guitar. Start small and resume those activities. Then once you rediscover that passion, look for a way to use it to help others. Maybe you can volunteer to coach a basketball league for underprivileged kids.” Donovan teaches personal development strategies to prison inmates every week. “I don’t know how to not do this,” he says. “I need the experience as much as they do.”</p>
<p class="BODY">A sense of purpose comes from within and isn’t imposed or chosen from outside, Tessina emphasizes. “Your purpose may be your livelihood, or it may have nothing to do with how you make a living. Your purpose may be a simple one, like making a good, healthy life for yourself and your children, or it may be more dramatic and based on what you learned by your own childhood experience.”</p>
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<p class="SUBHEAD"><strong>2. Who is my idol and why do I admire this person?</strong></p>
<p class="BODY">The answer may or may not be a famous person. You might admire a colleague’s giving and thoughtfulness, or that he or she is so in tune with family, Lombardo says. Or maybe it’s someone really big, like <a href="http://www.success.com/article/steve-jobs-master-of-innovation" target="_blank" title="Steve Jobs: Master of Innovation | SUCCESS.com">Steve Jobs</a>. An idol like that can be intimidating, but you need to take the comparison out of the equation, she says. Admire his characteristics, his vision and ability to stay focused in spite of the naysayers, but don’t try to be him. Learn from him, but be you.</p>
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<p class="SUBHEAD"><strong>3. What are my core values and beliefs?</strong></p>
<p class="BODY">It sounds like a simple question, but it’s far from it. We can accept certain values because we’ve been taught they’re important, but sometimes they don’t work for us. That corner office and CEO title, for example, may cripple your heart and soul. “After years of listening to others, I realized that what mattered to me was freedom,” recalls Donovan. “I didn’t want a job to run my life, and I think a lot of people feel the same way. The secret is to stop waiting for the company to make it better for you. Make it happen yourself.”</p>
<p class="BODY">Start by making a list of values you think are important, Lombardo suggests. They may include everything from integrity to friendship, faith to humor, patience to spontaneity. Then rank each on a scale of 1 to 10. “All values are good,” she notes, “but understanding which are most important to you will help you understand what will give your life meaning.”</p>
<p class="BODY">For those clients who may be blocked, New York City career counselor Roy Cohen, author of <em><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0137052642/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0137052642&linkCode=as2&tag=sm0fe-20&linkId=L5BC674F7ZR3Q2RG">The Wall Street Professional's Survival Guide</a></em>, encourages them to try an activity that neutralizes and contains the distractions, such as <a href="http://www.success.com/article/meditation-your-way" target="_blank" title="Mediation--Your Way | SUCCESS.com">meditation</a>, yoga or even a more dramatic option such as an Outward Bound wilderness immersion program (there’s one just for corporate team-building). “Sometimes people are in such a familiar place that they can’t think creatively,” Cohen explains. “They need to remove themselves as much as possible from their comfort zone, so that the roles they typically play are stripped away. Being on their own and relying entirely on their initiative to survive and thrive is often transformative. It may take six months of meditating plus a wilderness trip plus therapy, but collectively those experiences will produce a spark and something will emerge from the process.”</p>
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<p class="SUBHEAD"><strong>4. What causes are near and dear to my heart? And how can I use my professional credentials to help those causes?</strong></p>
<p class="BODY">Watch the evening news for a week or check out the online headlines: What gets you most upset? Maybe it’s the stories of child abuse or the parents working three jobs who still can’t pay their bills. Maybe it’s the lack of vaccines in underdeveloped countries that could stem the spread of preventable diseases. “Just get your feet wet,” Lombardo says. “You don’t have to find one thing and stick with it forever. Just open your mind to the possibilities and you’ll be amazed what presents itself.”</p>
<p class="BODY">Understand, too, that it can take a while to settle on the right focus for <em>you</em>, so plan on <a href="http://www.success.com/article/the-introverts-guide-to-networking" target="_blank" title="The Introvert’s Guide to Networking | SUCCESS.com">doing a lot of networking</a> and research before settling on a cause or a role. “Talk to the people who are involved in an organization or area you’re interested in: What challenges are they telling you about, what is their biggest need, how can you fit in and contribute?” recommends William Winn, Ph.D., a consulting psychologist with the Boston advisory firm New Directions, which helps professionals reinvent themselves. Think of it like transferring into a college, he says. The people and systems are already in place, unlike when everyone arrives as freshmen together. You need to figure out how to fit into that existing culture.</p>
<p class="BODY">Many people may at first feel as if they want to get away from the tasks they perform at work, Winn says. “If they’re in a financial job, they think, <em>I don’t want anything to do with numbers</em>. But the reality is, the charity that you have your heart set on may really need your accounting or investing skills,” he says. “And performing those tasks for a nonprofit is going to be a completely different experience because the environment and objectives are different—you’re performing them to do good, not just to make a profit.”</p>
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<p class="SUBHEAD"><strong>5. What goals should I set for myself?</strong></p>
<p class="BODY">Take stock of each segment of your life, Donovan says, and write down what you visualize as the ultimate goal in each area. Include your career, family, health, relationships, spirituality and travel desires. Ask yourself: <em>What would my best health look like? Who are the people I most want to spend time with? What do I most want to change?</em> Write down each ultimate goal and make a habit of visualizing each one on a daily basis: you, running a marathon; your family enjoying dinner together; you and your partner building a home for the needy or embarking on a missionary trip to an underdeveloped country. “If you don’t understand and set your own goals, you will end up living someone else’s,” Donovan cautions.</p>
<p class="BODY">Next, <a href="http://www.success.com/article/john-c-maxwell-are-you-stretching-toward-your-goals-or-just-coasting" target="_blank" title="John C. Maxwell: Are You Stretching toward Your Goals or Just Coasting? | SUCCESS.com">you need goals for the challenge</a> or cause you’re focusing on. “I tell people to create a business plan,” Cohen says. “Since successful people tend to be metrics- and model-driven, they need to begin with research and information gathering, assess and evaluate what they have learned, and then turn that insight into a life-plan that is more meaningful.”</p>
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<p class="SUBHEAD"><strong>6. What do I want my legacy to be?</strong></p>
<p class="BODY">The ultimate question for anyone considering how to make a greater contribution to his or her world: <a href="http://www.success.com/article/this-is-how-you-leave-a-legacy" target="_blank" title="Rohn: This Is How You Leave a Legacy | SUCCESS.com"><em>How do I want to be remembered by those whose lives I touch?</em></a> A simple way to get to this answer is to write your own obituary. Sometimes referred to as an “autobituary,” it’s a chance for reflection that also forces you to realize that your time is limited and to take a hard look at the way you’re spending it. “Your 30s, 40s and 50s are an intense time at work and in building relationships, and the self takes a backseat to all this,” Winn says. But when business is good and your children are getting older, it’s time “to press the reset button and ask, <em>What matters to ME now?</em>”</p>
<p class="BODY">The “autobituary” exercise is a way to discover that. Just start by recording the facts, then add in others’ opinions that you would hope to be true: <em>He was a good friend. She was a parent who really understood her children. He spent countless hours volunteering in his community.</em> (Need more help? <a href="http://obituaryguide.com/template.php" target="_blank" title="Free Template | obituaryguide.com">ObituaryGuide.com</a> offers a free template.)</p>
<p class="BODY">If the idea of an obituary feels too morbid, think about your 90th or 100th birthday party, Lombardo says. “Who do you want to be there, and what do you want your guests to say about you in their birthday toasts: ‘He was a loving father and husband’; ‘She donated money and time to this cause.’ Or ‘I loved working for him because he was patient and helped me learn from my mistakes,’ and ‘He always understood family was just as important as work. He was the best boss I ever had.’ ”</p>
<p class="BODY">Whatever form it takes, “In the end, a re-examination of our lives seldom talks about money and power, but focuses instead on the ways we have all made a difference,” Winn says. Let that be your guiding principle for the next, best stage of your life.</p>
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<h3 class="SIDEBARS_SIDEBAR-TITLE"><strong>Your Personal Mission Statement</strong></h3>
<p class="SIDEBARS_SIDEBAR_SUBHEAD">Here’s a quick way to get a sense of your life’s purpose.</p>
<p class="SIDEBARS_SIDEBAR-BODY">By reviewing the kind of person you are and the abilities that come naturally to you, even if they got you into trouble in the past, you can gain insight into your life purpose, says psychotherapist Tina Tessina, Ph.D., author of <em><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1494842033/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1494842033&linkCode=as2&tag=sm0fe-20&linkId=DYDF6PAV3SUH53LG">The Ten Smartest Decisions a Woman Can Make after Forty</a></em>. Do so by writing down a list of descriptions about yourself in each of the following categories:</p>
<p class="SIDEBARS_SIDEBAR-BODY"><strong>Personal qualities</strong> (e.g., friendly, intellectual, a good communicator)</p>
<p class="SIDEBARS_SIDEBAR-BODY"><strong>Your talents</strong> (e.g., painting, motivating people by public speaking, athletics, mentoring)</p>
<p class="SIDEBARS_SIDEBAR-BODY"><strong>The circumstances that tend to repeat in your life </strong>(e.g., do you wind up teaching others, listening to people’s problems, working with children or technology?)</p>
<p class="SIDEBARS_SIDEBAR-BODY"><strong>Your desires</strong> (e.g., traveling, cleaning up the environment, running for political office)</p>
<p class="SIDEBARS_SIDEBAR-BODY">Then take the answer that is most important to you in each category and complete the following sentence:</p>
<p class="SIDEBARS_SIDEBAR-BODY">I ________________ (your name) am designed to be a ________________ (insert personal quality) who can ________________ (insert talent) and I find myself ________________ (fill in recurring patterns or circumstances) often, because I am supposed to ________________ (desire).</p>
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<p class="SIDEBARS_SIDEBAR-BODY"><strong>Example: </strong><br>I, the President of the U.S., (your name) am designed to be a good communicator (insert personal quality) who can motivate people through my speeches (insert talent) and I often find myself listening to people’s problems (fill in recurring patterns or circumstances) because I am supposed to run for office and improve their circumstances (desire).</p>
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<p><a href="http://www.success.com/article/significance-a-philosophic-take-on-what-creates-happiness" target="_self" title="Significance: A Philosophic Take on What Creates Happiness | SUCCESS.com"><strong>Purpose is essential to true contentment—because you may have a great career, be happily married and healthy but still feel that something vital is missing. Read a philosophic take on what creates happiness.</strong></a></p>
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<p><span>- Source: <a href="http://www.success.com/article/answer-6-questions-to-reveal-your-life-purpose#sthash.4gI2hmZS.dpuf">http://www.success.com/article/answer-6-questions-to-reveal-your-life-purpose#sthash.4gI2hmZS.dpuf</a></span></p>The Age of Loneliness is Killing Ustag:bodymindheartspirit.ning.com,2014-11-22:505106:BlogPost:383002014-11-22T05:08:40.000ZBijay Rauthttp://bodymindheartspirit.ning.com/profile/bijayraut
<p><em><span class="font-size-5">For the most social of creatures, the mammalian bee, there’s no such thing now as society. This will be our downfall.</span></em></p>
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<p><span><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/393682508?profile=original" target="_self"><img class="align-center" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/393682508?profile=original" width="460"></img></a></span></p>
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<p>What do we call this time? It’s not the information age: the collapse of popular education movements left a void filled by marketing and…</p>
<p><em><span class="font-size-5">For the most social of creatures, the mammalian bee, there’s no such thing now as society. This will be our downfall.</span></em></p>
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<p><span><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/393682508?profile=original" target="_self"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/393682508?profile=original" width="460" class="align-center"></a></span></p>
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<p>What do we call this time? It’s not the information age: the collapse of popular education movements left a void filled by marketing and<a href="http://www.autodidactproject.org/other/hj1.html" title="">conspiracy theories</a>. Like the stone age, iron age and space age, the digital age says plenty about our artefacts but little about society. The anthropocene, in which humans exert a major impact on the biosphere, fails to distinguish this century from the previous 20. What clear social change marks out our time from those that precede it? To me it’s obvious. This is the Age of Loneliness.</p>
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<p>When Thomas Hobbes claimed that in the state of nature, before authority arose to keep us in check, we were engaged in a war “<a href="http://oregonstate.edu/instruct/phl302/texts/hobbes/leviathan-contents.html" title="">of every man against every man</a>”, he could not have been more wrong. We were social creatures from the start, mammalian bees, who depended entirely on each other. The hominins of east Africa could not have survived one night alone. We are shaped, to a greater extent than almost any other species, by contact with others. The age we are entering, in which we exist apart, is unlike any that has gone before.</p>
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<p>Three months ago we read that loneliness has become an <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2014/jul/20/loneliness-britains-silent-plague-hurts-young-people-most" title="">epidemic among young adults</a>. Now we learn that it is just as great an affliction of older people. A study by Independent Age shows that severe loneliness in England blights the lives of <a href="http://www.independentage.org/isolation-a-growing-issue-among-older-men/" title="">700,000 men and 1.1m women over 50</a>, and is rising with astonishing speed.</p>
<p></p>
<p>Ebola is unlikely ever to kill as many people as this disease strikes down. Social isolation is as potent a cause of early death <a href="http://www.campaigntoendloneliness.org/threat-to-health/" title="">as smoking 15 cigarettes a day</a>; loneliness, research suggests, is <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/science/2014/feb/16/loneliness-twice-as-unhealthy-as-obesity-older-people" title="">twice as deadly as obesity</a>. Dementia, high blood pressure, alcoholism and accidents – all these, like depression, paranoia, anxiety and suicide, become <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2014/jul/20/loneliness-britains-silent-plague-hurts-young-people-most" title="">more prevalent when connections are cut</a>. We cannot cope alone.</p>
<p></p>
<p>Yes, factories have closed, people travel by car instead of buses, use YouTube rather than the cinema. But these shifts alone fail to explain the speed of our social collapse. These structural changes have been accompanied by a life-denying ideology, which enforces and celebrates our social isolation. The war of every man against every man – competition and individualism, in other words – is the religion of our time, justified by a mythology of lone rangers, sole traders, self-starters, self-made men and women, going it alone. For the most social of creatures, who cannot prosper without love, there is no such thing as society, only heroic individualism. What counts is to win. The rest is collateral damage.</p>
<p></p>
<p>British children no longer aspire to be train drivers or nurses – more than a fifth say they “just want to be rich”: wealth and fame are the<a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/11014591/One-in-five-children-just-want-to-be-rich-when-they-grow-up.html" title=""> sole ambitions of 40% of those surveyed</a>. A government study in June revealed that <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/10909524/Britain-the-loneliness-capital-of-Europe.html" title="">Britain is the loneliness capital of Europe</a>. We are less likely than other Europeans to have close friends or to know our neighbours. Who can be surprised, when everywhere we are urged to fight like stray dogs over a dustbin?</p>
<p></p>
<p>We have changed our language to reflect this shift. Our most cutting insult is loser. We no longer talk about people. Now we call them individuals. So pervasive has this alienating, atomising term become that even the charities fighting loneliness use it to describe the <a href="http://www.campaigntoendloneliness.org/wp-content/uploads/downloads/2014/05/FINAL-Age-UK-PR-response-02.05.14.pdf" title="">bipedal entities formerly known as human beings</a>. We can scarcely complete a sentence without getting personal. Personally speaking (to distinguish myself from a ventriloquist’s dummy), I prefer personal friends to the impersonal variety and personal belongings to the kind that don’t belong to me. Though that’s just my personal preference, otherwise known as my preference.</p>
<p></p>
<p>One of the tragic outcomes of loneliness is that people turn to their televisions for consolation: two-fifths of older people report that <a href="http://www.campaigntoendloneliness.org/loneliness-research/" title="">the one-eyed god is their principal company</a>. This self-medication aggravates the disease. Research by economists at the University of Milan suggests that <a href="http://boa.unimib.it/bitstream/10281/23044/2/Income_Aspirations_Television_and_Happiness.pdf" title="">television helps to drive competitive aspiration</a>. It strongly reinforces the income-happiness paradox: the fact that, as national incomes rise, happiness does not rise with them.</p>
<p></p>
<p>Aspiration, which increases with income, ensures that the point of arrival, of sustained satisfaction, retreats before us. The researchers found that those who watch a lot of TV derive less satisfaction from a given level of income than those who watch only a little. TV speeds up the hedonic treadmill, forcing us to strive even harder to sustain the same level of satisfaction. You have only to think of the wall-to-wall auctions on daytime TV, Dragon’s Den, the Apprentice and the myriad forms of career-making competition the medium celebrates, the generalised obsession with fame and wealth, the pervasive sense, in watching it, that life is somewhere other than where you are, to see why this might be.</p>
<p></p>
<p>So what’s the point? What do we gain from this war of all against all? Competition drives growth, but growth no longer makes us wealthier. Figures published this week show that, while the income of company directors has risen by more than a fifth, wages for the workforce as a whole have fallen in real terms over the past year. The bosses earn – sorry, I mean take – 120 times more than the average full-time worker. (In 2000, it was 47 times). And even if competition did make us richer, it would make us no happier, as the satisfaction derived from a rise in income would be undermined by the aspirational impacts of competition.</p>
<p></p>
<p>The top 1% own 48% of global wealth, but even they aren’t happy.<a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2011/04/secret-fears-of-the-super-rich/308419/" title="">A survey by Boston College</a> of people with an average net worth of $78m found that they too were assailed by anxiety, dissatisfaction and loneliness. Many of them reported feeling financially insecure: to reach safe ground, they believed, they would need, on average, about 25% more money. (And if they got it? They’d doubtless need another 25%). One respondent said he wouldn’t get there until he had $1bn in the bank.</p>
<p></p>
<p>For this, we have ripped the natural world apart, degraded our conditions of life, surrendered our freedoms and prospects of contentment to a compulsive, atomising, joyless hedonism, in which, having consumed all else, we start to prey upon ourselves. For this, we have destroyed the essence of humanity: our connectedness.</p>
<p></p>
<p>Yes, there are palliatives, clever and delightful schemes like Men in Sheds and Walking Football developed by charities for isolated older people. But if we are to break this cycle and come together once more, we must confront the world-eating, flesh-eating system into which we have been forced.</p>
<p></p>
<p>Hobbes’s pre-social condition was a myth. But we are entering a post-social condition our ancestors would have believed impossible. Our lives are becoming nasty, brutish and long.</p>
<p></p>
<p>- by George Monbiot</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/oct/14/age-of-loneliness-killing-us">http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/oct/14/age-of-loneliness-killing-us</a></p>Why Hinduism isn’t an “ism” but a Way of Lifetag:bodymindheartspirit.ning.com,2014-11-20:505106:BlogPost:385902014-11-20T10:44:04.000ZBijay Rauthttp://bodymindheartspirit.ning.com/profile/bijayraut
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/393688620?profile=original" target="_self"><img class="align-center" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/393688620?profile=original" width="640"></img></a></p>
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<p><strong>Sadhguru:</strong> The term and concept of Hinduism was coined only in recent times. Otherwise, there was really no such thing. The word “Hindu” essentially comes from the word Sindhu. Anyone who is born in the land of Sindhu is a Hindu. It is a cultural and geographic identity. It is like saying “I am an Indian” but it is a more ancient identity…</p>
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/393688620?profile=original" target="_self"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/393688620?profile=original" width="640" class="align-center"></a></p>
<p></p>
<p><strong>Sadhguru:</strong> The term and concept of Hinduism was coined only in recent times. Otherwise, there was really no such thing. The word “Hindu” essentially comes from the word Sindhu. Anyone who is born in the land of Sindhu is a Hindu. It is a cultural and geographic identity. It is like saying “I am an Indian” but it is a more ancient identity than being an Indian. “Indian” is only about seventy years old, but this is an identity that we have always lived with.</p>
<p>Being a Hindu does not mean having a particular belief system. Basically, the whole culture was oriented towards realizing one’s full potential. Whatever you did in this culture was Hindu. There is no particular god or ideology that you can call as the Hindu way of life. You can be a Hindu irrespective of whether you worship a man-god or a woman-god, whether you worship a cow or a tree. If you don’t worship anything you can still be a Hindu.</p>
<p>It is only recently and due to external influences that this geographical and cultural identity has attempted to transform itself into a religious identity called Hinduism. Hindu was never an “ism”, and the attempt to organize it as a religion is still not successful because the Hindu way of life which is referred to as <a href="http://sadhguru.org/mission/global-harmony/" target="_blank">Sanatana Dharma</a> or universal law is all-inclusive in nature and does not exclude anything. The Hindu way of life is not an organized belief system but a science of salvation.</p>
<h2>The science of salvation</h2>
<p>The conflicts in the world have always been projected as <a href="http://www.ishafoundation.org/blog/sadhguru/masters-words/what-is-good-what-is-bad/" title="What is Good, What is Bad?" target="_blank">good versus bad</a>, but really, the conflict is always one man’s belief versus another man’s belief. In the past, religion was far more important to people than it is now, but still there were no theocratic states in this culture; the ruler had his religion and the subjects had the freedom to follow theirs. There was no conflict because people did not look at religion as an organized process.</p>
<p>Everywhere in the world, whenever anyone spoke anything other than the existing organized religion of that time, the first thing that the people said was, “Kill.” In Europe, thousands of women were burnt at the stake simply because they showed other kinds of possibilities and capabilities that were not logically understood by people. So they were labeled as witches and burnt. Persecution has always been the thing. Some of the famous ones that you know who were persecuted were <a href="http://www.ishafoundation.org/blog/sadhguru/masters-words/jesus-christ-superstar/" title="Jesus Christ Superstar" target="_blank">Jesus</a>, Mansoor and Socrates. They were persecuted simply because they showed other kinds of capabilities which were not considered normal.</p>
<p>So, wherever spirituality happened in the West, it always happened in secrecy. It always was individual or in small groups, never as a society. But in this culture, there has never been anything called persecution for spiritual people. At the most, they called you for debates and asked you questions. Because the pursuit is truth, so people sat down and argued whether what they knew was true or what the other person knew was true. If his truth was more powerful than yours, you become a part of him. If your truth was more powerful than theirs, they would become a part of you. It is a very different kind of search. People were searching to know. They were not just believing and trying to prove that their belief was right.</p>
<div class="shortcode-pullquote right-quote">
<Everywhere else people believe “God created us.” Here we know we created god so we take total freedom to create whatever kind of god we can relate to.<br />
</div>
<p>There is no belief system to the Hindu way of life. Someone believes in God, someone else can choose not to believe in God. Everybody can have their own way of worship and way to salvation. If there are five people in your family, each one can worship the God of their choice, or not worship anything, and still be a good Hindu. So you are a Hindu irrespective of what you believe or don’t believe.</p>
<p>At the same time, there was a common line running through all these. In <a href="http://www.ishafoundation.org/blog/lifestyle/indian-culture/" title="Indian Culture – Why We Do What We Do!" target="_blank">this culture</a>, the only goal in human life is <a href="http://www.ishafoundation.org/blog/yoga-meditation/demystifying-yoga/what-is-enlightenment-can-spiritual-practices-enlighten-me/" title="What is Enlightenment?" target="_blank">liberation or mukti</a>. Liberation from the very process of life, from everything that you know as limitations and to go beyond that. God is not held as the ultimate thing, God is seen as one of the stepping stones. This is a Godless but a devout nation in the sense that there is no concretized idea of God. When I say Godless, we need to understand that this is the only culture that has given humans the freedom not just to make a choice of Gods, but to create the sort of God that you can relate to. You can worship a rock, a cow, your mother – you can worship whatever you feel like – because this is a culture where we have always known that God is our making. Everywhere else people believe “God created us.” Here we know we created god so we take total freedom to create whatever kind of god we can relate to. People <a href="http://www.ishafoundation.org/blog/lifestyle/ayudha-pooja/" title="Ayudha Pooja – What Is Its Significance?" target="_blank">worshiped whatever aspect of life</a> they related to most, and that was perfectly fine.</p>
<h2>A Godless nation</h2>
<p>In the East, spirituality and religion were never an organized process. Organization was only to the extent of making spirituality available to everyone – not for conquest. Essentially, religion is about you, it is not about God. Religion is about your liberation. God is just one more stepping stone that you can use or skip towards your ultimate liberation. This culture recognizes human wellbeing and freedom as of paramount importance versus the prominence of God, and hence the whole technology of god-making evolved into the <a href="http://www.ishafoundation.org/blog/yoga-meditation/science-of-temples/what-is-consecration/" title="What is Consecration?" target="_blank">science of consecrating</a> various<a href="http://www.ishafoundation.org/blog/yoga-meditation/demystifying-yoga/hindu-idols-gods-worship/" title="Idols in the Hindu Way of Life – Why Are They Worshipped?" target="_blank">types of energy forms</a> and spaces.</p>
<p>The essential purpose of God is to create reverence in a person. What you are reverential towards is not important. Being reverential is what is important. If you make reverence the quality of your life, then you become far more receptive to life. Life will happen to you in bigger ways. There is so much misunderstanding about these things because there is a certain dialectical ethos to the culture where we want to express everything in a story or in a song. But in a way, this whole culture referred to as Hindu is rooted in the spiritual ethos of each individual working toward ultimate liberation as the fundamental goal in life.</p>
<p>If you explore mysticism in India, it is absolutely incredible and this has been possible because it does not come from a belief system. It happens as a scientific means to explore dimensions beyond the physical.</p>
<p>India is not a study, but a phenomenon of possibilities, though a cauldron of multiple cultural, ethnic, religious and linguistic soup. It is all held together by a single thread of seeking. The tremendous longing has been nurtured into the peoples of the land, the longing to be free. Free from the very process of life and death. India cannot be studied, at the least one must soak it in, or at best must dissolve. This is the only way. It cannot be studied, western analysis of India is too off the mark, as symptomatic analysis of Bharat will only lead to very grossly misunderstood conclusions of a nation that revels and thrives in a chaos that is organic and exuberant.</p>
<p>This most ancient of nations upon this earth is not built upon a set of principles or beliefs or ambitions of its citizenry. It is a nation of seekers, seeking not wealth or wellbeing, but liberation, not of economic or political kind, but the ultimate liberation.</p>
<p>When <a href="http://www.ishafoundation.org/blog/sadhguru/masters-words/adiyogi-the-first-yogi-more-than-a-man/" title="Adiyogi – The First Yogi: More Than a Man" target="_blank">Adiyogi</a> was asked how many ways to enlightenment, he said only 112 if you are within the realm of your physical system, but if you transcend the physical, then every atom in the universe is a doorway. “Bharat”, as the nation has been known for many millennia, is a complex amalgamation of this variety of spiritual possibilities. If you happen to be at the Maha Kumbh, there was quite a display of this. The best compliment came from none other than Mark Twain, after his visit to India, he said, “So far as I am able to judge, nothing has been left undone, either by man or nature, to make India the most extraordinary country that the sun visits on his rounds. Nothing seems to have been forgotten, nothing overlooked.”</p>
<h2>Bharata</h2>
<p>One must not forget that the basis of seeking is that One has realized that One does not know. One does not know the nature of One’s being. Instead of settling for a culturally convenient belief, for a whole populace to have the courage and commitment to seek the truth about themselves. This the basis of this nation that is called Bharata. Bha meaning sensation, that is the basis of all experience and expression; Ra meaning Raga, the tune and texture of life; Ta meaning Tala, the rhythms of life, which involve both rhythms of the human system and nature.</p>
<p>To preserve, protect and nurture the fundamental ethos of Bharat, the legacy of wisdom and unbridled exploration of life is a true gift to the Humanity as a whole. As a generation, this is an important responsibility that we should fulfill. Let not the limitless possibilities that the sages of this land explored and expounded be lost in religious bigotry and senseless simplistic dogmas.</p>
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<p>Source: <a href="http://www.ishafoundation.org/blog/yoga-meditation/demystifying-yoga/hinduism-not-religion/">http://www.ishafoundation.org/blog/yoga-meditation/demystifying-yoga/hinduism-not-religion/</a></p>Learn Life from Your Childtag:bodymindheartspirit.ning.com,2014-11-17:505106:BlogPost:385862014-11-17T15:43:14.000ZBijay Rauthttp://bodymindheartspirit.ning.com/profile/bijayraut
<p><em><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/393686878?profile=original" target="_self"><img class="align-center" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/393686878?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" width="750"></img></a></em></p>
<p><em>Childhood is a time that we look back on with fondness – for the simple joys of life and freedom from responsibilities. But when we look at it deeply enough, are children really free? Or are they burdened by the expectations and impositions of the adults around them? Do we really have much to teach our children, or is there more we can learn from…</em></p>
<p><em><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/393686878?profile=original" target="_self"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/393686878?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" width="750" class="align-center"></a></em></p>
<p><em>Childhood is a time that we look back on with fondness – for the simple joys of life and freedom from responsibilities. But when we look at it deeply enough, are children really free? Or are they burdened by the expectations and impositions of the adults around them? Do we really have much to teach our children, or is there more we can learn from them?</em></p>
<div class="isha-divider small"></div>
<p><strong>Sadhguru: </strong>If parents are truly concerned about their children, they must raise their children in such a way that the child will never have any need for the parent. The process of loving should always be liberating, not entangling. So when your children are born, allow them to look around, to spend time with nature and by themselves. Create an atmosphere of love and support. Allow them to grow, allow their intelligence to grow and help them look at life on their own terms, as human beings – not identified with the family, wealth, or anything else. Just helping them to look at life as human beings is very essential for their well being and also that of the world.</p>
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<p>Your home should not be a place for you to impose your culture, ideas and morals upon your children. It should instead be a supportive atmosphere. If children feel most comfortable at home, they will naturally try to spend more time there than outside. Right now, a street corner may feel like a more comfortable place for them than being at home because of the impositions they face. So, if that discomfort is absent, they will not make the street corner a sanctuary. This does not mean that they are not going to be exposed to the hard realities of the world. They will be, and these realities will influence your children in some way or the other. But always, parents encouraging their children to think for themselves, to use their own intelligence to see what is best, are the greatest insurance for a child to grow up well.</p>
<p></p>
<p>Most adults assume that as soon as a child is born, it is time to become teachers. When a child enters your house, it is not the time to become a teacher; it is time to learn, because if you look at yourself and your child, your child is more joyous, isn’t it? You lived like a zombie before this little bundle of joy entered your life. Now, unknowingly, you have started laughing and singing, you crawl under the sofa along with the child. Life is happening because of them, not because of you. The only thing that you can teach your child – which you have to, to some extent – is how to survive. But a child knows more about life itself, experientially. An adult is capable of all kinds of suffering – imagined suffering. A child has still not gone to that. So it is time you learn life from them, not the other way around.</p>
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<p>Source: <a href="http://www.ishafoundation.org/blog/lifestyle/relationships/love-your-kids-liberate-them/">http://www.ishafoundation.org/blog/lifestyle/relationships/love-your-kids-liberate-them/</a></p>
<p></p>Top 7 Myths about Yoga – Busted!tag:bodymindheartspirit.ning.com,2014-08-12:505106:BlogPost:382112014-08-12T01:17:21.000ZBijay Rauthttp://bodymindheartspirit.ning.com/profile/bijayraut
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<p></p>
<p>There is a lot of “yoga” happening in the world today that has very little to do with what yoga really is. Several myths about this ancient practice have long been masquerading as facts. It’s time we demystify yoga, in Sadhguru’s very own words.</p>
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<p><strong>Myth 1: Yoga comes from Hinduism</strong></p>
<p><br></br>Sadhguru: Yoga is Hindu just the way…</p>
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<p></p>
<p>There is a lot of “yoga” happening in the world today that has very little to do with what yoga really is. Several myths about this ancient practice have long been masquerading as facts. It’s time we demystify yoga, in Sadhguru’s very own words.</p>
<p></p>
<p><strong>Myth 1: Yoga comes from Hinduism</strong></p>
<p><br>Sadhguru: Yoga is Hindu just the way gravity is Christian. Just because the law of gravity was propounded by Isaac Newton, who lived in a Christian culture, does it make gravity Christian? Yoga is a technology. Anybody who is willing to make use of it can make use of it.</p>
<p>Why the yogic sciences have gotten labeled as Hindu by a few ignorant people is because this science and technology grew and prospered in this culture, so naturally it has gotten associated with the Hindu way of life. The word “Hindu” has come from the word “Sindhu”, which is a river. Because this culture grew from the banks of the river Sindhu or Indus, this culture got labeled as Hindu. Hindu is not an “ism” – it is not a religion. It is a geographical and cultural identity.</p>
<p></p>
<p><strong>Myth 2: Why be a human when you can be a pretzel? Yoga is all about impossible postures.</strong></p>
<p><br>Sadhguru: When we utter the word “yoga”, most people on the planet only think of asanas . Of all the different things that the science of yoga explores – just about every aspect of life – today’s world has chosen to represent yoga with only the physical aspect. In the yogic system, there is very little significance given to asanas. For a little over two hundred Yoga Sutras, only one sutra is dedicated to asanas. But somehow, in modern times, this one sutra has gained significance over everything else.</p>
<p>In many ways, it is a clear manifestation of where the world is going. The whole journey of the modern world is just this, from deeper dimensions – from the spirit – to body. That is exactly what we want to reverse. We want human beings to start their journey with the body but move towards their inner nature.</p>
<p>I am incapable of being depressed, otherwise I would be depressed looking at the way hata yoga is being practiced around the world and people thinking that is what it is. The practice as you see it – the mechanics of it, is simply of the body. You have to breathe life into it, otherwise it will not become alive. This is why traditionally, there has been so much stress on a live Guru – to make it alive. The yogic system is a subtle manipulation of your system to allow it to rise to a different level. Yoga means that which allows you to attain to your higher nature. Every asana, every mudra, every way of breathing – everything – is focused towards this.</p>
<p></p>
<p><strong>Myth 3: Want six-pack abs? Yoga is a great exercise regime.</strong></p>
<p><br>Sadhguru: If fitness is what you are seeking, if you want six-pack abs or whatever number, I would say go and play tennis or hike in the mountains. Yoga is not an exercise, it has other dimensions attached to it. A different dimension of fitness – yes – you get health out of it, but not six-pack abs. If you are doing yoga to burn calories or tone up your muscle, obviously you are doing improper yoga, there is no question about that. For abs, you can go to the gym. Yoga needs to be practiced in a very subtle, gentle way, not in a forceful muscle-building way, because this is not about exercise.</p>
<p>The physical body has a whole memory structure. If you are willing to read this physical body, everything – how this cosmos evolved from nothingness to this point – is written into this body. When you do asanas, you are opening up that memory and trying to restructure this life towards an ultimate possibility. If hata yoga is taught in a proper atmosphere, it is a fantastic process of shaping your system into a fantastic vessel, a fabulous device to receive the Divine.</p>
<p></p>
<p><strong>Myth 4: It is only in the last century that yoga has gone global</strong></p>
<p>Sadhguru: Today, though it is being practiced in all kinds of manifestations and distortions, at least the word “yoga” is getting a global presence. There has never been one organized body to propagate this, but still, it has survived and lived on because it has worked like nothing else for human wellbeing for the longest period of time.</p>
<p><br>Millions of people are practicing it, but where did this come from? Who originated yoga? The story is very long; its antiquity is lost in the hoary of time. In the yogic culture, Shiva is not known as a God, but as the Adiyogi or the first yogi – the originator of yoga. He was the one who first put this seed into the human mind.</p>
<p>The first part of Shiva’s teaching was to Parvathi, his wife. The second set of yoga teachings were expounded to the first seven disciples. This happened at the banks of Kanti Sarovar at Kedarnath. This is where the world’s first yoga program happened.</p>
<p>After many years, when the transmission of the yogic science was complete, it produced seven fully enlightened beings – the seven celebrated sages who are today known as the Sapta Rishis, and are worshipped and admired in Indian culture. Shiva put different aspects of yoga into each of these seven people, and these aspects became the seven basic forms of yoga. Even today, yoga has maintained these seven distinct forms.</p>
<p>The Sapta Rishis were sent in seven different directions to different parts of the world to carry this dimension with which a human being can evolve beyond his present limitations and compulsions.</p>
<p>One went to Central Asia, one to the Middle East and North Africa, one to South America, one stayed right there with Adiyogi, one to the lower regions of Himalayas, one to Eastern Asia and one travelled south into the Indian subcontinent. Time has ravaged many things, but when the cultures of those lands are carefully looked at, small strands of these people’s work can be seen, still alive. It has taken on various colors and forms, and has changed its complexion in a million different ways, but these strands can still be seen.</p>
<p></p>
<p><strong>Myth 5: Find your groove. Yoga & music go well.</strong></p>
<p>Sadhguru: There should never be a mirror or music when you practice asanas. Hata yoga demands a certain involvement of your body, mind, energy and the innermost core. If you want to get the involvement of that which is the source of creation within you, your body, your mind, your energy must be absolutely involved. You should approach it with a certain reverence and certain focus. Not just going, playing music and doing something. One of the biggest problems in yoga studios is, the teacher is doing asanas and speaking. This is a sure way to cause damage to yourself.</p>
<p><br>No talking in the asana is not just a norm, it is a rule. You never ever speak in postures. The breath, the mental focus and the stability of energy is most important when you are doing the asana. If you speak, you will destroy all that. At least eight to ten people have come to us with serious imbalances with which we have helped them. I think about four of them have given up their profession now because they knew what nonsense they were doing.</p>
<p>A few years ago when I was in America, I was invited to speak in a yoga studio by someone. So I went to her yoga studio and music was playing – chang, chang, chang – to keep everybody enthusiastic. She was in ardhamatsyendrasana and was talking to a group of people. When she saw me, she just jumped up from the table, came and hugged me.</p>
<p>I took her aside and told her, “See, you will bring serious imbalances into your system. How long have you been doing this?” She said some fifteen, sixteen years. I said, “If you’ve done this for sixteen years, you must be suffering from this, this and this.” She looked at me terrified and the next day she comes to me and says, “Sadhguru, what you said has been happening to me. I’m going through all sorts of treatment from the doctors.” I said, “You don’t need a doctor, you are causing it. You stop this, this will go away.” After about one-and-a-half years, she gave up teaching yoga.</p>
<p>A lot of people who have done improper yoga have lost their mental balance. This is not because yoga is dangerous. Stupidity has always been a dangerous thing on the planet. You do something stupid, it will cause damage to you. Stupidity is one thing which has always been a dangerous thing on this planet, right from ancient times.</p>
<p></p>
<p><strong>Myth 6: Need a yoga study guide? You can learn yoga from a book.</strong></p>
<p><br>Sadhguru: Today, if you enter any major bookstore, you will find a minimum of 15 to 20 different yoga books. How to learn yoga in 7 days, how to become a yogi in 21 days… Many people have caused immense damage to themselves by learning yoga through books. It seems to be very simple, but when you do it, you will see it is a very subtle aspect. This has to be done with perfect understanding and proper guidance. Without this, one can get into deep trouble. A book can inspire you, but it is not meant to teach a practice.</p>
<p></p>
<p><strong>Myth 7: Yoga is something you practice every morning and evening</strong></p>
<p><br>Sadhguru: Yoga is not something that you do morning-evening. It is a certain way of being. One must become yoga. If it’s morning-evening yoga, the rest of the time entanglement – this is not yoga, this is only yoga practice.</p>
<p>There is no aspect of life which is excluded from the yogic process. If your life becomes yoga, then you can do everything. You can run your family, you can go to the office, you can run your business, you can do whatever you want without any problem if your way of being becomes yoga. Every aspect of life, either you can use it to entangle yourself or to liberate yourself. If you are using it to entangle yourself, we call it as karma. If you are using it to liberate yourself, we call it yoga.</p>
<p></p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://blog.ishafoundation.org/yoga-meditation/demystifying-yoga/top-7-myths-about-yoga-busted/">http://blog.ishafoundation.org/yoga-meditation/demystifying-yoga/top-7-myths-about-yoga-busted/</a></p>20 Lifestyle Changes Required After You Reach 30tag:bodymindheartspirit.ning.com,2014-08-11:505106:BlogPost:382092014-08-11T11:07:31.000ZBijay Rauthttp://bodymindheartspirit.ning.com/profile/bijayraut
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/393679332?profile=original" target="_self"><img class="align-center" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/393679332?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" width="750"></img></a></p>
<p><span>by </span><a href="http://www.curejoy.com/content/author/jhebbar/">Dr Janardhana Hebbar</a><span> </span></p>
<p>I am now 33 and a few health changes are more than evident already. High spicy foods have become less tolerable, so also the Sun, so also late night works. If we divide our lifespan into three, then the first one third is dominated by Kapha…</p>
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/393679332?profile=original" target="_self"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/393679332?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" width="750" class="align-center"></a></p>
<p><span>by </span><a href="http://www.curejoy.com/content/author/jhebbar/">Dr Janardhana Hebbar</a><span> </span></p>
<p>I am now 33 and a few health changes are more than evident already. High spicy foods have become less tolerable, so also the Sun, so also late night works. If we divide our lifespan into three, then the first one third is dominated by Kapha Dosha and middle one third is by Pitta Dosha. So, once you reach 30 years, some<strong><a title="Building a Healthy Lifestyle" href="http://www.curejoy.com/content/building-a-healthy-lifestyle-by-peggy-breeze/" target="_blank">lifestyle changes should be made </a></strong>to counter balance Pitta effect.</p>
<div id="attachment_11201" class="wp-caption aligncenter">
<a href="http://d1fkw8life356y.cloudfront.net/content/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/doshas.jpg"><img class="size-full wp-image-11201" src="http://d1fkw8life356y.cloudfront.net/content/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/doshas.jpg" alt="Age and Doshas." width="472" height="133"></a><br />
<p class="wp-caption-text">Age and Dominant Doshas.</p>
</div>
<p> </p>
<h4>Here are a few steps that I am <em>trying</em> to take.</h4>
<p><strong>Avoiding direct sun light -</strong><strong><br></strong>I am trying my best to stand under shade or to wear a cap or take an umbrella with me. Direct sun exposure directly increases Pitta. So, avoid it as much as you can.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>Less spicy food - </strong>More spicy stuff you take, more will <strong><a title="Ayurveda: The Philosophy, Importance of Doshas (Vata, Pitta and Kapha) and Dosha Cycles" href="http://www.curejoy.com/content/ayurveda-the-philosophy-importance-of-doshas-vata-pitta-and-kapha-and-dosha-cycles/" target="_blank">be Pitta imbalance</a></strong>. So, just cut it down a bit.</p>
<p><strong>Having a bit more of milk and ghee - </strong>Ghee increases digestion strength and at the same time, decreases Pitta. Hence, it is ideal. It also keeps gastritis away. Hence, ideal for people with sensitive stomach. Both milk and ghee are said to have <strong><a title="Rasayana : Ayurveda Rejuvenation Therapy" href="http://www.curejoy.com/content/rasayana-ayurveda-rejuvenation-therapy/" target="_blank">Rasayana effect (anti aging)</a></strong>, hence good to have. Just a small spoon of ghee per day does not cause any weight gain. Stop worrying.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>Stop worrying - </strong>all childhood days are over, now my own child has taken my place at home, so time to be a grown up. I am <em>trying </em>to be a bit more organized. Do planned work.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>Stop being angry - </strong>Anger and Pitta are related, more you lose your cool, more will be the inside hotness (=pitta). Hence, try to avoid anger with the <strong><a title="Yoga Therapy for Obesity – Lose Weight with Yoga and Pranayama" href="http://www.curejoy.com/content/yoga-therapy-for-obesity-lose-weight-with-yoga-and-pranayama/" target="_blank">help of Yoga and Pranayama</a>.</strong> Remember, during tensions…. breathe easy.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>Taking Amla - </strong>Amla regularly helps to keep Pitta balance. Either amla powder or amla fruit are good to have at least few times a day. Related – <a href="http://easyayurveda.com/2011/01/07/curds-recipe-of-amla-ayurvedic-home-remedy/"><strong>Curds amla recipe</strong></a></p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>Reduced fasting frequency -</strong> I am not an ardent follower of fasting principle. Hence, reduced it a bit, to keep stomach health. If you are a strict follower of fasting, then it is fine. Or else, go easy on this.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>Sleep and wake up on time –</strong><strong> </strong>Any amount of work lag, leftover at night, I just transfer it to next day. Sleeping and waking up early has become paramount. If we divide night into three, the first half is dominated by Kapha Dosha. Hence, going to bed at this time means, getting good sleep. Sleep is influenced by Kapha Dosha. But if we postpone sleep to later hours, Pitta will be dominant by that time, leading to dizziness and headache, the next morning.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>Including bitter substances in diet -</strong> Coriander seeds, turmeric, curry leaves, neem leaves.. anything is bitter is good to have. Generally bitter, sweet and astringent tastes balance Pitta. We need to be a little careful with sweets. Though it balances Pitta, it may cause weight gain. Hence, betting on a few bitters is a better option.</p>
<p><strong><br>Apply coconut oil to hair regularly –</strong><strong> </strong>to avoid hair loss and grey hairs. Grey hairs is due to Pitta imbalance. Related – make <a href="http://easyayurveda.com/2012/04/18/how-to-make-hair-oil-at-home-with-amla/"><strong>Amla hair oil at home</strong></a></p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>Avoid mustard oil for cooking.</strong> If you are accustomed to it by birth, then no harm in continuing it. If it is replaceable, consider other options. Any other cooking oil is good to go.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>Stop smoking and reduce alcohol –</strong><strong> </strong>Not related to me. Is it to you?</p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>Avoiding sitting for long periods of time - </strong>Now-a-days many reports are saying that sitting for long is as bad smoking. Hence, I roam here and there once a while during work.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>Avoid too hot water bath -</strong> I have totally quit taking pure hot water bath. It is only just lukewarm or cold water baths these days. Related – <a href="http://easyayurveda.com/2010/12/15/hot-water-bath-or-cold-water-bath/"><strong>hot water vs cold water bath</strong></a><strong>.</strong></p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>Weekly oil massage –</strong><strong> </strong>I have made it a point to self message with Maha Narayana taila. You can even do it with plain sesame oil. Though massage is not very directly related to Pitta, it is very well related with Vata, which dominates after we cross 50. So, some precautions now is always good. When I do not have time, I follow a <a href="http://easyayurveda.com/2012/07/30/no-time-for-massage-here-is-the-solution/"><strong>quick massage technique</strong></a><strong>. </strong></p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>Pranayama –</strong><strong> </strong>I was already doing it, but now more regularly. It helps to control anger. Anger is related to Pitta. I can think more clearly and work more organizedly on those days when I have done Pranayama, than other days. <strong><a href="http://easyayurveda.com/2010/08/28/how-to-do-pranayama-a-simple-pranayama-technique/">How to do Pranayama</a>?</strong></p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>Raisin and almonds - </strong>At about 10 pm, soak 5 black raisins and 5 almonds in water. Next day morning, before food, peal the almond skin and eat it along with the swollen raisins. Both these help to keep Pitta under check.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>Regular intake of Amla - </strong>We have less spicy amla pickle at home. But there are also other <a href="http://easyayurveda.com/2011/11/18/how-to-eat-amla-fruit-and-amla-powder-based-on-your-body/"><strong>ways to eat amla</strong></a></p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>Drinking a cup of water after every hour of work – </strong>This makes me get up from my chair and wander around. It helps me avoid staring at computer screen continuously and it also keeps me fresh and hydrated, preventing renal calculi (kidney stone formation).</p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>Pitta diet –</strong><strong> </strong>Basically any fruit, vegetable or dietary item that is sweet, astringent or bitter plus, it should have calming effect over stomach (should not cause burning sensation in stomach) and should be more on nourishing side (than on cleansing side). Any such food is good for Pitta control. Here is a small ingredient list for <a href="http://easyayurveda.com/2010/03/27/ayurvedic-diet-pitta-food-suitable-for-pitta-body-type/"><strong>Pitta Diet<br></strong></a></p>
<p>So, these are a few changes that are worth considering after you reach 30. This will help to avoid Pitta symptoms like early gray hairs, gastritis, piles, liver complaints, eye disorders, etc.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://www.curejoy.com/content/20-lifestyle-changes-required-reach-30/">http://www.curejoy.com/content/20-lifestyle-changes-required-reach-30/</a></p>101 Habits for Positive Livingtag:bodymindheartspirit.ning.com,2014-08-05:505106:BlogPost:385062014-08-05T12:18:16.000ZBijay Rauthttp://bodymindheartspirit.ning.com/profile/bijayraut
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/393685225?profile=original" target="_self"><img class="align-center" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/393685225?profile=original" width="660"></img></a></p>
<p>1. Smile all throughout the day. <img alt=":)" class="wp-smiley pib-hover-img" src="http://www.powerofpositivity.com/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_smile.gif"></img></p>
<p>2. Get in the sunshine, when possible, at least 15 minutes per day.<br></br>3. Surround yourself with loving, positive people – both in person and online.<br></br>4. Connect with Mother Earth – <a href="http://www.powerofpositivity.com/disconnect-to-reconnect/" target="_blank">Disconnect to Reconnect</a><br></br>5. Talk…</p>
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/393685225?profile=original" target="_self"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/393685225?profile=original" width="660" class="align-center"></a></p>
<p>1. Smile all throughout the day. <img src="http://www.powerofpositivity.com/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_smile.gif" alt=":)" class="wp-smiley pib-hover-img"></p>
<p>2. Get in the sunshine, when possible, at least 15 minutes per day.<br>3. Surround yourself with loving, positive people – both in person and online.<br>4. Connect with Mother Earth – <a href="http://www.powerofpositivity.com/disconnect-to-reconnect/" target="_blank">Disconnect to Reconnect</a><br>5. Talk with God / The Universe / Angels / Your Guides / Your Intuition (whatever name you relate to)<br>6. <a href="http://www.amazon.com/b/?_encoding=UTF8&ajr=0&camp=1789&creative=390957&linkCode=ur2&node=283155&tag=lipo0fe-20">Read</a> something that inspires you and teaches you something new<br>7. Stay Active Daily<br>8. Do something for yourself that you truly enjoy<br>9. Look in the mirror and compliment yourself. Take it further – do <a href="http://www.healyourlife.com/search?tag=mirror+work">Mirror Work</a>.<br>10. Take a relaxing Epsom Salt Bath (<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00513HCG6/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00513HCG6&linkCode=as2&tag=lipo0fe-20">lavender</a> is our favorite)<br>11. Laugh A LOT!! We’re talking 100-200 laughs till your belly hurts. <img src="http://www.powerofpositivity.com/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_wink.gif" alt=";)" class="wp-smiley pib-hover-img"><br>12. Help someone in need<br>13. Throw away worry<br>14. **Dream more** <img src="http://www.powerofpositivity.com/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_smile.gif" alt=":)" class="wp-smiley pib-hover-img"><br>15. Get comfortable with being uncomfortable sometimes<br>16. Check at least one thing off of your “<a href="http://www.lifehack.org/articles/productivity/why-to-do-lists-dont-work-and-done-lists-do.html">To DONE List</a>” every day<br>17. Focus on what makes you happy<br>18. Say “Good Morning” to anyone you pass (in the AM of course <img src="http://www.powerofpositivity.com/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_wink.gif" alt=";)" class="wp-smiley pib-hover-img"><br>19. <a href="http://www.powerofpositivity.com/3-things-can-learn-pets/" target="_blank">Cuddle with a pet</a> or bond with an animal<br>20. Reflect on what you’re grateful for and appreciate often<br>21. Get enough sleep and take a good nap when you need it<br>22. <a href="http://www.teambeachbody.com/shop/-/shopping?referringRepId=198197">Exercise</a> MORE!!!<br>23. Believe in YOURSELF!<br>24. Achieve a goal, go after another.<br>25. Keep your Morals<br>26. Get/Give at least 5 BIG hugs a day – 10 is even better!<br>27. Focus, Focus, Focus!<br>28. Eat two <a href="http://www.naturalnews.com/024456_selenium_Brazil_nuts.html">Brazil Nuts for Selenium Benefits</a> – good health and happiness.<br>29. Wake up and drink a BIG glass of filtered lemon water.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“Everything you are used to, once done long enough, starts to seem natural, even though it might not be.” – Julien Smith</p>
</blockquote>
<p>30. Listen to / Sing your favorite song<br>31. Recall a fond memory<br>32. Have more SEX! <img src="http://www.powerofpositivity.com/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_wink.gif" alt=";)" class="wp-smiley pib-hover-img"><br>33. Eat whole foods and <a href="http://www.powerofpositivity.com/can-you-really-eat-your-way-to-happiness-the-mood-food-connection/" target="_blank">eat your way to happiness</a><br>34. Learn something N-E-W!<br>35. Write and practice powerful <a href="http://www.powerofpositivity.com/i-am-affirmation-statements/">“I AM” Affirmation Statements </a><br>36. LOVE YOURSELF MORE!<br>37. Close your eyes and <a href="http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/flourish/200912/seeing-is-believing-the-power-visualization">visualize</a> your dreams and goals<br>38. Use <a href="http://www.powerofpositivity.com/pop-reviews-power-thought-cards-by-louise-hay-affirmations/">Power Thought Cards</a><br>39. Give genuine compliments often<br>40. <a href="http://www.amazon.com/s/?_encoding=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&linkCode=ur2&pageMinusResults=1&suo=1391113733570&tag=lipo0fe-20&url=search-alias%3Daps#/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=smudge%20kit&sprefix=smudge+ki%2Caps&rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Asmudge%20kit&sepatfbtf=true&tc=1391113736150">Smudge</a> and Add <a href="http://www.powerofpositivity.com/add-positive-energy-to-your-home/">Positive Energy to your Home </a><br>41. Be enthusiastic and FUN to be around. <img src="http://www.powerofpositivity.com/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_smile.gif" alt=":)" class="wp-smiley pib-hover-img"><br>42. Challenge yourself, take a risk<br>43. Practice <a href="http://www.powerofpositivity.com/?s=yoga">Yoga</a><br>44. Value your ambitions, work on them daily<br>45. Positively reward yourself for your hardwork<br>46. Do something exciting; go on an adventure!!<br>47. Visit the <a href="http://www.powerofpositivity.com/">Power of Positivity</a> daily.<br><i>Hey, you can even <a href="http://www.powerofpositivity.com/feed/">Subscribe to our Feed</a> and be the first to read what we publish.</i><br>48. – BE HONEST -<br>49. Enjoy Chocolate, just a little <img src="http://www.powerofpositivity.com/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_wink.gif" alt=";)" class="wp-smiley pib-hover-img"> Raw is best!<br>50. Write a Gratitude List and/or Journal<br>51. Drink 64+ ounces of filtered water everyday!<br>52. Try a <a href="http://www.powerofpositivity.com/find-happiness-with-four-little-known-mood-boosters/" target="_blank">Mood Booster</a><br>53. Practice Deep Breathing<br>54. Spend time with family and/or good friends<br>55. <a href="http://www.powerofpositivity.com/5-great-lessons-for-living-from-our-elders/">Learn from your Elders</a><br>56. <a href="http://www.powerofpositivity.com/forgiveness-the-gift-you-truly-give-to-yourself/">Forgive Yourself</a>, or as I like to say, <strong>ForGIFT Yourself!</strong><br>57. Listen to your favorite motivational speaker – like <a href="https://www.facebook.com/JoelOsteen">Joel Osteen</a>, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/louiselhay">Louise Hay</a>, & <a href="http://www.tonyrobbins.com/">Tony Robbins</a><br>58. Appreciate the small things.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“Nothing so needs reforming as other people’s habits.” – Mark Twain</p>
</blockquote>
<p>59. Allow yourself to Relax<br>60. Work hard and be okay with mistakes, that’s how you learn and grow.<br>61. Expand your vocabulary. Learn a word and it’s meaning, then use it in a sentence.<br>62. Learn from others<br>63. Release problems, embrace solutions<br>64. Drink a <a href="http://www.powerofpositivity.com/the-power-of-a-daily-green-smoothie/">Green Smoothie</a><br>65. Let go of Anger, it doesn’t serve you<br>66. Take more pictures <img src="http://www.powerofpositivity.com/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_smile.gif" alt=":)" class="wp-smiley pib-hover-img"> (CHHEEEZE!)<br>67. Communicate your feelings to others<br>68. Overcome a FEAR, and then tell someone about it!<br>69. Find out who you truly are and express it every day. Love your unique attributes!<br>70. Plan a Vacation!! (YOU DESERVE IT!)<br>71. Take time to listen to others<br>72. Take a walk or go for a run. Get F-R-E-S-H air!<br>73. Read inspiring quote posters daily on our <a href="https://www.facebook.com/powerofpositivity">Power of Positivity facebook page</a><br>74. Read a <a href="http://www.amazon.com/s/?_encoding=UTF8&bbn=1000&camp=1789&creative=390957&linkCode=ur2&qid=1391114259&rh=n%3A283155%2Cn%3A!1000%2Cn%3A4736&rnid=1000&tag=lipo0fe-20">Self Help book</a>, and then implement what you learned.<br>75. Share with others<br>76. Practice <strong>positive thinking</strong> everyday<br>77. Download <a href="http://www.powerofpositivity.com/5-personal-development-itunes-apps-youll-love/">Personal Development Apps</a> on your phone<br>78. <a href="http://www.powerofpositivity.com/meditate-to-improve-your-life/">MEDITATE </a><br>79. Gain more self confidence<br>80. Expand your mind – take a class, learn something new.<br>81. Release unhealthy habits<br>82. Create a 5 person <a href="http://www.passionforbusiness.com/articles/mastermind-group.htm" target="_blank">Mastermind group</a><br>83. Speak Positive, Remind Yourself of these <a href="http://www.powerofpositivity.com/the-art-of-staying-positive/">5 Easy Ways to Practice the Art of Positivity </a><br>84. Motivate someone else<br>85. Stop Procrastinating, Just do it!<br>86. Teach someone how to do something<br>87. <a href="http://www.powerofpositivity.com/spring-cleaning-for-the-home-and-mind/">Spring Clean</a> Early: Clean out your home and give away items your don’t use. Physical clutter resembles mental clutter.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going.”<br>- Jim Rohn</p>
</blockquote>
<p>88. Release the need to complain. Choose happy thoughts.<br>89. Dance and sing like no ones watching!<br>90. Release lack and negative thoughts around Money. Money is energy and your thoughts create your relationship with it.<br>91. Balance your Mind, Body and Soul (WINK: This <a href="http://www.powerofpositivity.com/100k-celebration-illumination-event-details-giveaways/">Celebration of Illumination</a> can help!)<br>92. Spend a little time alone, in peace and quiet.<br>93. Master <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1577312082/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=1577312082&linkCode=as2&tag=lipo0fe-20" target="_blank">The Power of Now</a><br>94. Be successful, even on the weekends. Here’s what <a href="http://www.powerofpositivity.com/what-successful-people-do-on-weekends/">Successful People Do on the Weekends.</a><br>95. Throw or attend a party!<br>96. Be loving and romantic<br>97. Start a new habit, a good one!<br>98. Write custom affirmations for yourself. If you need examples, check<a href="http://www.livepositivity.com/" target="_blank">here.</a><br>99. Try Brain Games like <a href="http://www.lumosity.com/">Lumosity</a>.<br>100. Devote a whole day to <a href="http://www.powerofpositivity.com/5-secrets-to-a-happier-family/">family</a>!<br>101. Get up with the Sun! <img src="http://www.powerofpositivity.com/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_smile.gif" alt=":)" class="wp-smiley pib-hover-img"></p>
<p></p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://www.powerofpositivity.com/101-habits-for-positive-living/">http://www.powerofpositivity.com/101-habits-for-positive-living/</a></p>Why Was The Indian Caste System Created? by Sadhgurutag:bodymindheartspirit.ning.com,2014-08-05:505106:BlogPost:385032014-08-05T12:07:32.000ZBijay Rauthttp://bodymindheartspirit.ning.com/profile/bijayraut
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<p>"The caste system in India seems unfair and uncalled for – why divide people based on profession or birth? But was it always so? And is abolishing the caste system the answer to solving the problems associated with it today."</p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>Sadhguru:</strong> The Indian caste system can be understood this way. There are four basic castes in what is…</p>
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<p>"The caste system in India seems unfair and uncalled for – why divide people based on profession or birth? But was it always so? And is abolishing the caste system the answer to solving the problems associated with it today."</p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>Sadhguru:</strong> The Indian caste system can be understood this way. There are four basic castes in what is called Varnashrama Dharma. One is the Shudras, who do menial jobs; Vaishyas, who trade and do business; Kshatriyas, who protect and administer the community or the country; and the Brahmana, who handles the education and the spiritual process of that society.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>The four tiers</strong></p>
<p> </p>
<p>This classification into four tiers of social structure can be understood in different contexts. One way of looking at it is, those who did not take responsibility for their own lives or those who did not take responsibility with the situations in which they lived in, such people were termed as Shudras; he is taking responsibility only for his survival, nothing more. The Vaishya is somebody who takes responsibility for himself, his family and his community. So trading was given to him. Today, the whole system, the whole business atmosphere is very different, but in those times the trader is somebody who stored up grains and all the necessary things that people would need. When there was a scarcity, he gave it out to the community. So in every community there were Vaishyas who took care of this aspect of life – they stored commodities and gave it out when it was needed. These are people who took responsibility for their family and to some extent the smaller community around them. Kshatriyas were people who took responsibility for the whole community or the country. They were the people who bore arms to defend their nation and community and were willing to die to protect the people. They were given administration, and the military apparatus were in their hands.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The brahmins were given education. Spiritual processes and religion were in his hands because the word ‘brahmin’ itself comes from this, that it is somebody who has realized that he is the Brahman or the ‘Divine.’ So a brahmin comes from an ultimate sense of responsibility, an unlimited sense of responsibility. Only a person who has an unlimited sense of responsibility should handle education and religion because they were considered as the most vital aspects of any society.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>Difference vs Discrimination</strong></p>
<p> </p>
<p>So accordingly, the caste system was made in India. It was a good arrangement for those days. It is just that over a period of time, you became a brahmin by birth not by worth; that is when the trouble started. That is so with every system. Whatever system we create, we must constantly work to keep it clean and make it happen well otherwise every system, no matter how beautiful the system is to start with, can become a source of exploitation.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Over a period of time, human societies have tried to make every difference into a discrimination. Differences are fine. The world is bound to be different and it is nice that it is different, but we try to make every difference into a discrimination, whether it is race, religion or gender. So when we lost our senses and started making everything discriminatory, the Indian caste system became an ugly system. What was once a very relevant way to develop skills in a society has unfortunately became discriminatory and negative, not productive. When there were no IITs or ITIs, when there were no training centers, your family was the only way to train, isn’t it? So it was very important to maintain a blacksmith culture, a goldsmith culture or a cobbler culture; otherwise there would be no skills.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>Systems of training</strong></p>
<p> </p>
<p>This whole caste system in India came when there were no formal training centers for any particular profession. Suppose your father was a blacksmith, so at the age of 6, the moment you were ready, you started playing around with the hammer and anvil. By the time you were 8, your father saw that you anyway wanted to hit it, so it was better to hit it with some purpose. By the time you were 12, you were on the job. By the time you were 18 or 20, you had some craft and expertise on your hand to make your own living.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>So if your father was a blacksmith, you became a blacksmith; if your father was a goldsmith, you became a goldsmith. Each profession developed its own training centers within the family structure because that was the only training center; all the craft, professionalism and skills in the society could only evolve like this. If you are a blacksmith, you do not try to go and do a goldsmith’s job, you just do a blacksmith’s job because we need a blacksmith in the society. When people multiplied and became a thousand blacksmiths, naturally they had their own way of eating, their own way of marriage and their own way of doing things, so they formed a caste. There is really nothing wrong with it if you look at it on one level. It was just a certain arrangement of convenience for the society. Between a blacksmith and a goldsmith, the kind of hammer they use, how they work, how they look, what and how they eat, everything was naturally distinctly different because the type of work was very different.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>It is over a period of time that it became a means for exploitation. We started saying that a man who runs the temple is better than a man who runs the school. A man who runs the school is better than a man who runs the blacksmith shop. These are differences, everybody has to do something. But we established differences as discriminations over a period of time. If we had just maintained the difference, we would have been a nice, colorful culture; but we made it discriminatory.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>A sense of inclusiveness</strong></p>
<p> </p>
<p>Human beings make every difference discriminatory simply because every human being is longing to be a little more than what he is right now. One unfortunate way he has found is to put down the person next to him. His longing is actually to feel more, but he does not know how to enhance himself, so the best thing is to depreciate somebody else. It is a very rudimentary mind, but we have worked like that for a long time and we are continuing to work like that. It is time to change it, but that is not going to change just by stripping off the old caste system – it will just establish itself in a thousand other ways. For example do you think there is no caste system in New York City? There is a different kind of caste system based on education, or economic capabilities; all these things create their own kind of discriminatory groups. So it is not going to change unless we revolutionize the human mind.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>If there is no sense of inclusiveness in individual human beings there is no way that the systems they create or actions they perform will lead to inclusiveness. If individuals do not experience this inclusiveness, they end up creating very exclusive processes. One basic aspect of spiritual process is that it makes one into an all inclusive human being. At the same time it will hugely equip the individual to be more efficient, more capable, more balanced and in turn more productive.</p>
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<p>Source: <a href="http://blog.ishafoundation.org/lifestyle/why-we-do-what-we-do-the-caste-system/">http://blog.ishafoundation.org/lifestyle/why-we-do-what-we-do-the-caste-system/</a></p>Thich Nhat Hanh: Three Books on Mindfulnesstag:bodymindheartspirit.ning.com,2014-07-25:505106:BlogPost:381122014-07-25T09:51:01.000ZBijay Rauthttp://bodymindheartspirit.ning.com/profile/bijayraut
<p><strong><span style="font-size: 2em;">The Miracle of Mindfulness: An Introduction to the Practice of Meditation</span></strong></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 2em;"><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/393675426?profile=original" target="_self"><img class="align-center" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/393675426?profile=original" width="298"></img></a></span></p>
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<p>"<span>In this beautiful and lucid guide, Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh offers gentle anecdotes and practical exercise as a means of learning the skills of mindfulness--being awake…</span></p>
<p><strong><span style="font-size: 2em;">The Miracle of Mindfulness: An Introduction to the Practice of Meditation</span></strong></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 2em;"><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/393675426?profile=original" target="_self"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/393675426?profile=original" width="298" class="align-center"></a></span></p>
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<p>"<span>In this beautiful and lucid guide, Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh offers gentle anecdotes and practical exercise as a means of learning the skills of mindfulness--being awake and fully aware. From washing the dishes to answering the phone to peeling an orange, he reminds us that each moment holds within it an opportunity to work toward greater self-understanding and peacefulness."</span></p>
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<p><span>Source: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Miracle-Mindfulness-Introduction-Meditation/dp/0807012394/ref=pd_sim_b_3?ie=UTF8&refRID=1QKANGXR5182TQY5913W">http://www.amazon.com/The-Miracle-Mindfulness-Introduction-Meditation/dp/0807012394/ref=pd_sim_b_3?ie=UTF8&refRID=1QKANGXR5182TQY5913W</a></span></p>
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<h1 id="title" class="a-size-large a-spacing-none"><strong><span id="productTitle" class="a-size-large">Peace Is Every Step: The Path of Mindfulness in Everyday Life</span></strong></h1>
<p><span><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/393679255?profile=original" target="_self"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/393679255?profile=original" width="318" class="align-center"></a></span></p>
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<p>"<span>In the rush of modern life, we tend to lose touch with the peace that is available in each moment. World-renowned Zen master, spiritual leader, and author Thich Nhat Hanh shows us how to make positive use of the very situations that usually pressure and antagonize us. For him a ringing telephone can be a signal to call us back to our true selves. Dirty dishes, red lights, and traffic jams are spiritual friends on the path to "mindfulness"—the process of keeping our consciousness alive to our present experience and reality. The most profound satisfactions, the deepest feelings of joy and completeness lie as close at hand as our next aware breath and the smile we can form right now.</span><br><br><span>Lucidly and beautifully written, </span><b>Peace Is Every Step </b><span>contains commentaries and meditations, personal anecdotes and stories from Nhat Hanh's experiences as a peace activist, teacher, and community leader. It begins where the reader already is—in the kitchen, office, driving a car, walking a part—and shows how deep meditative presence is available now. Nhat Hanh provides exercises to increase our awareness of our own body and mind through conscious breathing, which can bring immediate joy and peace. Nhat Hanh also shows how to be aware of relationships with others and of the world around us, its beauty and also its pollution and injustices. the deceptively simple practices of </span><b>Peace Is Every Step</b><span> encourage the reader to work for peace in the world as he or she continues to work on sustaining inner peace by turning the "mindless" into the mindFUL."</span></p>
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<p><span>Source: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Peace-Is-Every-Step-Mindfulness/dp/0553351397/ref=pd_sim_b_1?ie=UTF8&refRID=1QKANGXR5182TQY5913W">http://www.amazon.com/Peace-Is-Every-Step-Mindfulness/dp/0553351397/ref=pd_sim_b_1?ie=UTF8&refRID=1QKANGXR5182TQY5913W</a></span></p>
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<h1 id="title" class="a-size-large a-spacing-none"><strong><span id="productTitle" class="a-size-large">Peace Is Every Breath: A Practice for Our Busy Lives</span></strong></h1>
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/983000419?profile=original" target="_self"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/983000419?profile=original" width="194" class="align-center"></a></p>
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<p>"<span>In this much-anticipated follow-up to his bestselling classic, </span><em>Peace Is Every Step</em><span>, Thich Nhat Hanh—one of the most revered spiritual leaders in the world today—offers an insightful guide to living a fuller life. In this deeply insightful meditation, the world-renowned Vietnamese Zen Buddhist master, poet, scholar, and peace activist illuminates how each of us can incorporate the practice of mindfulness into our every waking moment. In the tradition of </span><em>The Art of Happiness</em><span> and </span><em>Living Buddha, Living Christ</em><span>, Thich Nhat Hanh’s Peace Is Every Breath opens a pathway to greater spiritual fulfillment through its patient examination of how we live our lives."</span></p>
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<p><span>Source: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/0062005820/ref=as_sl_pd_tf_lc?tag=loveservremef-20&camp=14573&creative=327641&linkCode=as1&creativeASIN=0062005820&adid=14KQX5QH42XN739YY26G&&ref-refURL=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ramdass.org%2Fpeace-is-every-breath-a-practice-for-our-busy-lives-by-thich-nhat-hanh%2F">http://www.amazon.com/dp/0062005820/ref=as_sl_pd_tf_lc?tag=loveservremef-20&camp=14573&creative=327641&linkCode=as1&creativeASIN=0062005820&adid=14KQX5QH42XN739YY26G&&ref-refURL=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ramdass.org%2Fpeace-is-every-breath-a-practice-for-our-busy-lives-by-thich-nhat-hanh%2F</a></span></p>The Koshas: 5 Layers of Beingtag:bodymindheartspirit.ning.com,2014-07-09:505106:BlogPost:374742014-07-09T10:15:17.000ZBijay Rauthttp://bodymindheartspirit.ning.com/profile/bijayraut
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/393691724?profile=original" target="_self"><img class="align-center" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/393691724?profile=original" width="243"></img></a></p>
<p>If you’re a typical health-conscious Yoga International reader, you've probably already exercised today. Whether you went for a brisk walk, played some tennis, or worked out at the gym, you recognize the importance of keeping your physical body in shape. But have you exercised your subtle body yet? Or your causal body? According to the yoga tradition, every one…</p>
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<p>If you’re a typical health-conscious Yoga International reader, you've probably already exercised today. Whether you went for a brisk walk, played some tennis, or worked out at the gym, you recognize the importance of keeping your physical body in shape. But have you exercised your subtle body yet? Or your causal body? According to the yoga tradition, every one of us has five bodies, each made of increasingly finer grades of energy. And if we intend to live a fully balanced, healthy life, it tells us, all our bodies need to be kept in good condition.</p>
<p></p>
<blockquote class="block">
<According to the yoga tradition, every one of us has five bodies, each made of increasingly finer grades of energy.<br />
</blockquote>
<p></p>
<p>The five progressively subtler bodies that compose our personality are described in a yoga classic called the <em>Taittiriya Upanishad</em>:</p>
<p></p>
<p><em>“Human beings consist of a material body built from the food they eat. Those who care for this body are nourished by the universe itself.</em></p>
<p><em>“Inside this is another body made of life energy. It fills the physical body and takes its shape. Those who treat this vital force as divine experience excellent health and longevity because this energy is the source of physical life.</em></p>
<p><em>“Within the vital force is yet another body, this one made of thought energy. It fills the two denser bodies and has the same shape. Those who understand and control the mental body are no longer afflicted by fear.</em></p>
<p><em>“Deeper still lies another body comprised of intellect. It permeates the three denser bodies and assumes the same form. Those who establish their awareness here free themselves from unhealthy thoughts and actions, and develop the self-control necessary to achieve their goals.</em></p>
<p><em>“Hidden inside it is yet a subtler body, composed of pure joy. It pervades the other bodies and shares the same shape. It is experienced as happiness, delight, and bliss.”</em></p>
<p></p>
<p>These five bodies are called koshas, or “sheaths,” in Sanskrit, because each fits in the next like a sword in a scabbard. Only the densest is made of matter as we know it; the other four are energy states invisible to the physical eye, though we can easily sense their presence inside us when we pay close attention. Since the inner bodies are the source of our well-being during life and are the vehicles we travel in after death, India’s ancient yogis developed specific exercises to strengthen and tone each one in turn.</p>
<h3>Your Second Body</h3>
<p>You’re already familiar with your physical body. It’s called annamaya kosha in yoga, (maya means “made of” and anna means “food” or “physical matter.”) But yoga also makes you aware of a second body, the organizing field that holds your material body together. This is the life energy that governs your biological processes, from breathing to digestion to the circulation of your blood. It’s called chi in Chinese medicine and prana in yoga. The ancient Egyptians called it the ka.</p>
<p></p>
<blockquote class="block">
<Acupuncture and homeopathy don’t directly affect your physical body; they work on the vital force that activates and sustains it.<br />
</blockquote>
<p></p>
<p>Acupuncture and homeopathy don’t directly affect your physical body; they work on the vital force that activates and sustains it. Orthodox physicians in the West recognized the importance of the vital force up till the 19th century, but with the development of sulfa drugs and antibiotics, their attention shifted from the energy states underlying human biology to focus exclusively on the physical body itself.</p>
<p>The energy body is called the prana-maya kosha in yoga. When it ceases to function your physical body can no longer operate. Your heart and lungs stop working and your cells begin to disintegrate. In Western culture we strongly identify with our material body, yet without prana supporting and directing it, it can’t survive more than a few minutes.</p>
<p>Yoga devotes an entire class of practices called pranayama to replenishing</p>
<p>the vitality of the pranamaya kosha. Exercises like diaphragmatic breathing, the complete yogic breath, and alternate nostril breathing are specifically designed to enhance the proper functioning of your second sheath.</p>
<p>In addition, getting plenty of fresh air and sunlight is essential for maintaining the health of the vital force. Yoga texts explain that the sun is the ultimate source of prana, and it is said that some advanced yogis go for years without eating; instead they simply absorb the prana radiated by the sun. For most of us, however, fresh whole foods are a major source of prana.</p>
<h3>Your Third Body</h3>
<p>The third sheath or mental body is the apparatus responsible for our sensory and motor activities and our day-to-day awareness when we’re functioning “on automatic.” It processes input from our five senses and responds reflexively. When we move through life passively, reacting to our environment rather than actively shaping it, our awareness is focused here. Many people, and most animals, routinely operate at this level.</p>
<p>This body is called manomaya kosha (which means “body made of thought processes”). In the West we associate our routine mental state with the brain, but according to yoga the entire nervous system (including the brain) merely mediates the activity of the manomaya kosha, expressing the commands of this higher energy state through the physical body.</p>
<p>You get a clear sense of what the mental body is when you observe a patient in a coma. Their second sheath is still operating so their heart continues to pump and their lungs expand and contract. But the person has no awareness of the external world and no ability to take action because the activity of the mental body has shut down. The pranamaya kohsa operates from the moment of our first breath to our last, but the manomaya kosha shuts down temporarily on a daily basis, regenerating itself during the state of deep sleep.</p>
<p>The health of the manomaya kosha is tremendously enhanced through the practice of mantra meditation. This soothes and balances this inner body, and helps release “knots” of energy tied up in mental complexes and obsessive thoughts. Yogis who spend a great deal of time in meditation often have very little need for sleep, in part because their mental vehicles are functioning optimally, like a car that’s just had a tune-up.</p>
<p>The mental body “feeds” on the sense impressions we offer it. If we supply our third sheath with a continual stream of violent TV shows and video games, for example, it begins to crave increasingly aggressive forms of stimulation, and may become more agitated and less sensitive to the suffering of others. If we “stuff” it with too much work or too much play we may experience a form of mental “indigestion,” leaving us feeling harried or exhausted. A harmonious environment, interesting professional challenges, and fun and supportive relationships offer an ideal diet for the mind. A daily session of pratyahara, or sensory withdrawal, leading into meditation provides an excellent inner tune-up.</p>
<h3>Your Fourth Body</h3>
<p>Subtler still is the vijnanamaya kosha (vijnana means “the power of judgment or discernment”). It’s often translated as “intellect,” but the real meaning is broader, encompassing all the functions of the higher mind, including conscience and will. It may be easier to understand the distinction between the third sheath or mental body and the fourth sheath or intellectual body by taking a look at those in whom the vijnanamaya kosha is underdeveloped.</p>
<p>One such type is someone who doesn’t seem to be in control of her life, who is constantly reacting to circumstances rather than making a decision and responding proactively. This kind of woman has a hard time making up her mind, thinking for herself, or being creative. She has very little willpower and is continually the victim of her own poor judgment.</p>
<p>Another example of a deficient fourth sheath is someone without strong personal ethics. He may attend religious services and speak piously about moral values, but when the opportunity arises to benefit himself at the expense of others, he doesn’t hesitate to act. His ability to discern between right and wrong is weak; conscience is a platitude rather than a living experience for him.</p>
<p>An activated fourth sheath is what distinguishes human beings from animals. Only humans have the ability to direct their own lives, free from the promptings of instinct, and to make moral choices. The sages considered the development of a healthy vijnanamaya kosha so important that they placed the exercises for it at the very beginning of the yoga system. These are the yamas and niyamas, commitments every yoga student is asked to make: not to harm, lie, steal, overindulge, or desire more than you actually need; instead you are asked to be content, pure, self-disciplined, studious, and devoted.</p>
<p>Jnana yoga also works with this kosha. This is the path of the intellect in which you are advised to study spiritual truths, contemplate them deeply, and finally incorporate them into the very core of your personality. On this path your spiritual understanding becomes the “food” with which you nourish your intellect.</p>
<p>As your meditation practice deepens over the months and years, your ability to connect with inner guidance is enhanced. You begin to experience the events in your life, even the painful ones, in a calm and objective manner. Your yogic lifestyle, contemplation, and meditation lead to clarity of judgment, greater intuitive insight, and increased willpower as your vijnanamaya kosha grows stronger and more balanced.</p>
<h3>Your Fifth Body</h3>
<p>In the vast majority of humans, the fifth sheath is totally underdeveloped. This is the anandamaya kosha, the subtlemost body which is experienced as ananda (spiritual bliss). Generally only saints, sages, and genuine mystics have done the inner work necessary to make ananda a living part of their daily experience, and most people are hardly even aware that this level of consciousness exists within themselves.</p>
<p></p>
<blockquote class="block">
<Generally only saints, sages, and genuine mystics have done the inner work necessary to make ananda a living part of their daily experience, and most people are hardly even aware that this level of consciousness exists within themselves.<br />
</blockquote>
<p></p>
<p>The anandamaya kosha is extremely important in yoga because it’s the final and thinnest veil standing between our ordinary awareness and our higher Self. Many individuals who’ve had near-death experiences have reported experiencing a brilliant white light radiating all-embracing wisdom and unconditional love. This is the experience of the anandamaya kosha. Saints and mystics purify their minds so that they can have this experience throughout life, not just for a fleeting moment at death.</p>
<p>In the tantric tradition, spirit is often symbolized as Shiva, the transcendent Lord who is ever immersed in divine consciousness. Matter/energy is called Shakti, the Supreme Goddess whose divine body is this entire universe. It’s said that they love each other with unspeakable intensity. Their supreme love is experienced in the anandamaya kosha, where spirit and matter passionately embrace.</p>
<p>We can awaken our bliss sheath through three practices. The first is seva, selfless service. This opens our heart to our innate unity with other beings. The second is bhakti yoga, devotion to God. This opens our heart to our unity with the all-pervading Divine Being. The third is samadhi, intensely focused meditation, which opens our heart to our own divine being.</p>
<h3>Radiant Health</h3>
<p>You are a multidimensional creature. Your awareness manifests on many different planes. Yoga introduces you to yourself and trains you to live fully and gracefully at every level of your being. From the hatha postures that strengthen and tone your physical body to the breathing exercises that balance and vitalize your life force, from the meditation practice that quiets and clears your mind to the self-study and selfless love that open up an inner world of knowledge and unity, yoga is a holistic system that develops and integrates every part of your personality. By getting to know your five bodies and the inner Self (whose awareness illumines them all), you can experience the health and fulfillment of an enlightened life.</p>
<h3>Experiencing Your Five Sheaths</h3>
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<p>The five sheaths are not theoretical constructs. They are real parts of your being that you can actually experience. The following eight-step exercise will help you get a fuller sense of these inner dimensions of your personality.</p>
<ol>
<li>Sit comfortably with your head, neck, and trunk in a straight line. Sit upright without straining. You’ll feel both alert and relaxed.</li>
<li>Close your eyes, withdrawing your awareness from the sights and sounds around you. Bring your full attention to your physical body. Be aware of your head and shoulders, chest and waist, back and abdomen, arms and legs. This is your annamaya kosha.</li>
<li>Bring your full attention to the point between your nostrils and feel yourself breathe. Gradually your breath will flow more slowly, smoothly, and quietly. Be aware of the energy pulsing through your body. It’s making your heart beat, your lungs expand and contract, the blood course through your veins, your stomach gurgle. The force orchestrating this movement—not your physical body itself—is your prana-maya kosha.</li>
<li>Shift your awareness into your brain. Pay attention to the part of your awareness that’s regulating your sensory input and motor output. This is the part of you that notices your nose is itching and orders your hand to scratch it. It notes that you’re uncomfortable sitting in one position for so long and wants you to move your legs. It generates the reflexive mental chatter that continually fires through your mind. This is your manomaya kosha.</li>
<li>Lift your awareness higher inside your skull. Sense the part of your awareness that consciously made the decision to participate in this exercise and right now is commanding you to sit still and complete it. It recognizes the value of expanding your self-awareness and compels you to get up early in the morning to do your hatha postures and meditation, even though lazing in bed might be more pleasant. This is your vijnanamaya kosha.</li>
<li>Center your awareness in your heart. Relax deeply; keep breathing smoothly and evenly. Now, taking as much time as you need, allow yourself to settle into a state of complete tranquility. Buried deep in that inner peace is a sense of purest happiness. This is not an emotional euphoria, though as you leave this state it may pour out of you as a sense of great joy and gratitude. It is a space of perfect contentment, perfect attunement, and abiding stillness. There is no sense of lack, or fear, or desire. This is your anandamaya kosha.</li>
<li>Now simply be aware of your own awareness. The pure consciousness that is having this experience lies beyond this experience. It is your true inner Self, your immortal being. Rest in your own being for as long as you can hold your attention there.</li>
<li>Return your attention to your breath. Breathe slowly, smoothly, and evenly. Open your eyes. Take a moment to relax and absorb this experience before you get up.</li>
</ol>
<h3>From Death to Birth—and Beyond</h3>
<p>In many yoga texts you’ll find the five sheaths grouped into three. The physical body and vital force are called the sthula sharira, the “gross body.” The mental body and intellect are called the sukshma sharira, the “subtle” or “astral body.” The bliss sheath is called the karana sharira, the “causal body.” These are recognized in many different spiritual traditions. Plutarch, a Greek priest who presided at the Temple of Delphi in the first century ce, called them the soma, psyche, and nous, respectively.</p>
<p>The gross body disintegrates at death. The subtle body disintegrates at rebirth, allowing you to develop a new personality in your next life. The causal body reincarnates again and again, carrying your karma with it like luggage. It finally disintegrates at the time of liberation, when the higher Self disengages from the cycle of birth and death.</p>
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<p><span>BY </span><strong><a href="http://yogainternational.com/profile/86">Linda Johnsen</a></strong></p>
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<a href="http://yogainternational.com/profile/86" class="author"></a><br />
<p><span class="light">ABOUT <a href="http://yogainternational.com/profile/86">Linda Johnsen</a></span> Linda Johnsen, MS, is the author of numerous books including<a href="http://shop.himalayaninstitute.org/products/lost-masters-sages-of-ancient-greece" target="_blank"> <em>Lost Masters: Sages of Ancient Greece</em></a> and <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0893891797/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0893891797&linkCode=as2&tag=himalainstit-20" target="_blank"><em>Meditation Is Boring?</em></a>. Her most recent book is <em>Kirtan! Chanting as a Spiritual Practice</em>. Visit her at <a href="http://thousandsuns.org/" target="_blank">ThousandSuns.org</a>.</p>
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<p>Source: <a href="http://yogainternational.com/article/view/the-koshas-5-layers-of-being">http://yogainternational.com/article/view/the-koshas-5-layers-of-being</a></p>
</div>Be in the Center, Be in the Spine - A Poem by Bijay Rauttag:bodymindheartspirit.ning.com,2014-04-12:505106:BlogPost:316042014-04-12T16:41:26.000ZBijay Rauthttp://bodymindheartspirit.ning.com/profile/bijayraut
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<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/393641092?profile=original" target="_self"><img class="align-center" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/393641092?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" width="610"></img></a></p>
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<p style="text-align: center;"><span>Be in the Center,</span><br></br> <span>Be in the Spine,</span><br></br> <span>There is Everything,</span><br></br> <span>From Worldly to Divine,</span><br></br> <span>Live with Detachment,</span><br></br> <span>Live with Joy,</span><br></br> <span>Everything is God's Leela ("play"),</span><br></br> <span>Detach and Enjoy!…</span><br></br> <br></br></p>
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<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/393641092?profile=original" target="_self"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/393641092?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" width="610" class="align-center"></a></p>
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<p style="text-align: center;"><span>Be in the Center,</span><br> <span>Be in the Spine,</span><br> <span>There is Everything,</span><br> <span>From Worldly to Divine,</span><br> <span>Live with Detachment,</span><br> <span>Live with Joy,</span><br> <span>Everything is God's Leela ("play"),</span><br> <span>Detach and Enjoy!</span><br> <br> <span>- Bijay Raut</span></p>Why Meditate?tag:bodymindheartspirit.ning.com,2014-03-24:505106:BlogPost:373942014-03-24T01:52:58.000ZBijay Rauthttp://bodymindheartspirit.ning.com/profile/bijayraut
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/393686976?profile=original" target="_self"><img class="align-center" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/393686976?profile=original" width="319"></img></a></p>
<p>During most of our waking life our minds are engaged in a continuous internal dialogue in which the meaning and emotional associations of one thought trigger the next. We hear a snippet of music and suddenly we’re thinking about the first time we heard that song with an old boyfriend or girlfriend and how that relationship ended. If we’re still holding emotional pain…</p>
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/393686976?profile=original" target="_self"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/393686976?profile=original" width="319" class="align-center"></a></p>
<p>During most of our waking life our minds are engaged in a continuous internal dialogue in which the meaning and emotional associations of one thought trigger the next. We hear a snippet of music and suddenly we’re thinking about the first time we heard that song with an old boyfriend or girlfriend and how that relationship ended. If we’re still holding emotional pain over that ending, those feelings may bubble up and then our mind may veer into criticism, self-pity, or worries about the future.</p>
<p>All day long our mind spins stories about our work, our health, our finances, our family, or that funny look the store clerk gave us. Often we’re not even conscious of the internal soundtrack unspooling in our mind and yet it is the greatest source of stress in our lives. Although the mind is capable of creating life-affirming stories, it has what neuroscientists refer to as a <em>negativity bias,</em> a tendency to pay more attention to negative experiences than to positive ones. The negativity bias evolved as a survival instinct millions of years ago, as our ancestors focused much more attention on avoiding potential threats than on rewards. Stopping to savor a delicious meal or admire a Paleolithic sunset would have used valuable attentional resources, leaving our ancient ancestors more vulnerable to attack by a predator. Those who survived to pass on their genes paid a lot of attention to danger. Their legacy is a brain that is primed to focus on negative experiences and has a tendency to get stuck in conditioned patterns of thinking, returning again and again to thoughts of anxiety, depression, and limitation.</p>
<h2>The Healing Benefits of Meditation</h2>
<p>Meditation is one of the best tools we have to counter the brain’s negativity bias, release accumulated stress, foster positive experiences and intentions, and enjoy the peace of present moment awareness. A large body of research has established that having a regular meditation practice produces tangible benefits for mental and physical health, including:</p>
<ul>
<li>Decreased blood pressure and hypertension</li>
<li>Lowered cholesterol levels</li>
<li>Reduced production of “stress hormones,” including cortisol and adrenaline</li>
<li>More efficient oxygen use by the body</li>
<li>Increased production of the anti-aging hormone DHEA</li>
<li>improved immune function</li>
<li>Decreased anxiety, depression, and insomnia</li>
</ul>
<p>Let’s look in more detail at how meditation benefits the body, mind, and spirit.</p>
<h2>Meditation Reduces Stress and Burnout</h2>
<p>Chronic, unmanaged stress can make you sick and accelerate aging. As many scientific studies have found, prolonged stress can contribute to high blood pressure, heart disease, stomach ulcers, autoimmune diseases, anxiety, cancer, insomnia, chronic fatigue, obesity, depression, and accelerated aging.</p>
<p>In meditation, your body releases stress and reverses the effects of the flight-or-fight response – that ancient instinct we all have to either run from perceived danger or take it on in battle. Intended as a short-term protection mechanism, fight or flight causes our body to speed up our heart rate, increase our blood sugar, suppress our immune system, reduce insulin production, pump out stress hormones such as adrenaline and cortisol, and reduce the blood supply to our digestive organs. All of these reactions happen so that our body can focus on either running away as fast as it can – or staying to fight. Although few people reading this face daily threats to their bodily existence, many live in a prolonged state of fight or flight, generating stress in response to bad traffic, criticism from a spouse, or a disagreement.</p>
<p>Regular meditation dissipates accumulated stress and cultivates a state of restful alertness. There are many compelling studies showing the power of meditation to relieve stress and promote inner calm. For example, a 2011 <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3118731/?tool=pubmed">study</a> published in the <em>Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine Journal</em> found that full-time workers who spent a few hours each week practicing mindfulness meditation reported a significant decrease in job stress, anxiety, and depressed mood.</p>
<h2>Meditation Enhances Your Concentration, Memory, and Ability to Learn</h2>
<p>As researchers have found, meditation can help you tap into your brain’s deepest potential to focus, learn and adapt. While scientists used to believe that beyond a certain age, the brain couldn’t change or grow, we now know that brain has a quality known as <em>plasticity,</em> enabling it to grow new neurons and transform throughout our lives. Meditation is a powerful tool for awakening new neural connections and even transforming regions of the brain. A recent <a href="http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2011/01/eight-weeks-to-a-better-brain/">study</a> led by Harvard University and<strong> </strong>Massachusetts General Hospital found that after only eight weeks of meditation, participants experienced beneficial growth in the brain areas associated with memory, learning, empathy, self-awareness, and stress regulation (the insula, hippocampus, and prefrontal cortex). In addition, the meditators reported decreased feelings of anxiety and greater feelings of calm. This study adds to the expanding body of research about the brain’s amazing plasticity and ability to change habitual stress patterns.</p>
<p>Many other studies provide evidence for the value of meditation in improving the ability to stay focused in world filled with increasing distractions and demands on our attention. For example, research conducted by the UCLA Mindful Awareness Center showed that teenagers and adults with ADHD who practiced various forms of meditation for just eight weeks improved their ability to concentrate on tasks, even when attempts were made to distract them.</p>
<h2>Meditation Helps You Create More Harmonious, Loving Relationships</h2>
<p>When you’re feeling balanced and centered, it is much easier to respond with awareness rather than have react in a knee-jerk way or say something that creates toxicity in your relationships. Meditation cultivates equanimity and compassion, allowing you to be present with a loved one, client or co-worker and really listen to what they are saying and what they may need.</p>
<p>As you meditate on a regular basis, you develop what is known as “witnessing awareness” – the ability to calmly and objectively observe a situation, notice when you are being triggered, and consciously choose how you want to respond. The ability to be present and aware is extremely valuable in every relationship.</p>
<h2>Meditation Improves Your Creativity and Problem-Solving Skills</h2>
<p>We each have an estimated 60,000 to 80,000 thoughts a day – unfortunately, many of them are the same thoughts we had yesterday, last week, and last year. The mind tends to get stuck in repetitive thought loops that squeeze out the possibility for new ideas and inspiration. Meditation is a powerful practice for going beyond habitual, conditioned thought patterns into a state of expanded awareness. We connect to what is known as the field of infinite possibilities or pure potentiality, and we open to new insights, intuition, and ideas.</p>
<p>The world’s great innovators, athletes, and other high achievers have described this state as “being in the flow,” being in the right place at the right time, or a state of grace. Time seems to stand still and instead of struggling and trying to force things to happen, everything you need comes naturally to you. You do less and accomplish more. You aren’t burdened by the past or worried about the future; you’re flowing in the ever present eternal now. This higher state of consciousness is the birthplace of all creativity. The mind is in an open, receptive state and is able to receive flashes of insight and fresh perspectives. As Marcel Proust wrote, “The real journey of discovery is not in seeking new landscapes, but in seeing with new eyes.”</p>
<h2>Meditation Decreases Depression, Anxiety, and Insomnia</h2>
<p>The emotional effects of sitting quietly and going within are profound. The deep state of rest produced by meditation triggers the brain to release neurotransmitters, including dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin, and endorphins. Each of these naturally occurring brain chemicals has been linked to different aspects of happiness:</p>
<ul>
<li>Dopamine plays a key role in the brain’s ability to experience pleasure, feel rewarded, and maintain focus.</li>
<li>Serotonin has a calming effect. It eases tension and helps us feel less stressed and more relaxed and focused. Low levels of this neurotransmitter have been linked to migraines, anxiety, bipolar disorder, apathy, feelings of worthlessness, fatigue, and insomnia.</li>
<li>Oxytocin (the same chemical whose levels rise during sexual arousal and breastfeeding), is a pleasure hormone. It creates feelings of calm, contentment, and security, while reducing fear and anxiety.</li>
<li>Endorphins are most commonly known as the chemicals that create the exhilaration commonly labeled “the runner’s high.” These neurotransmitters play many roles related to wellbeing, including decreasing feelings of pain and reducing the side effects of stress.</li>
</ul>
<p>Meditation choreographs the simultaneous release of these neurotransmitters, something that no single drug can do – and all without side effects. A growing body of medical research is providing scientific evidence that meditation and mindfulness alleviates depression, anxiety, PTSD, and other mood-related disorders. A pivotal study (published in the April 2012 issue of <em>Emotion</em>) led by scientists at the University of California, San Francisco, found that participants who underwent a short, intensive meditation program were less depressed, anxious, and stressed, while also experiencing greater compassion and awareness of others’ feelings.</p>
<p>Meditation also can benefit people suffering from chronic pain, potentially decreasing or eliminating the need for medication. A study conducted by Wake Forest University School of Medicine (published in the April 2011 issue of the <em>Journal of Neuroscience</em>) found that participants who attended four 20-minute training sessions over the course of four days experienced a sharp reduction in their sensitivity to pain. In fact, the reduction in pain ratings was significantly greater than those found in similar studies involving placebo pills, morphine, and other painkilling drugs.</p>
<h2>Meditation: The Birthplace of Happiness</h2>
<p>Beyond the substantial benefits meditation creates for the mind-body physiology, the greatest gift of meditation is the sense of calm and inner peace it brings into your daily life. When you meditate, you go beyond the mind’s noisy chatter into an entirely different place: the silence of a mind that is not imprisoned by the past or the future. This is important because silence is the birthplace of happiness. Silence is where we get our bursts of inspiration, our tender feelings of compassion and empathy, and our sense of love. These are all delicate emotions, and the chaotic roar of the internal dialogue easily drowns them out. But when you discover the silence in your mind, you no longer have to pay undue attention to all the random images that trigger worry, anger, and pain. When you meditate on a regular basis, all of your thoughts, actions, and reactions are infused with a little more love and mindful attention. The result is a deeper appreciation and a profound awareness of the divine quality of existence.</p>
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<p>Source: <a href="http://www.chopra.com/ccl/why-meditate">http://www.chopra.com/ccl/why-meditate</a></p>Thrive: The Third Metric to Redefining Success and Creating a Life of Well-Being, Wisdom, and Wondertag:bodymindheartspirit.ning.com,2014-03-21:505106:BlogPost:376032014-03-21T06:03:18.000ZBijay Rauthttp://bodymindheartspirit.ning.com/profile/bijayraut
<p><b>"In<i> Thrive,</i> Arianna Huffington makes an impassioned and compelling case for the need to redefine what it means to be successful in today's world."</b></p>
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<p><span><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/393674265?profile=original" target="_self"><img class="align-center" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/393674265?profile=original" width="232"></img></a></span></p>
<p><span> </span><br></br><span>"Arianna Huffington's personal wake-up call came in the form of a broken cheekbone and a nasty gash over her eye -- the result of a fall…</span></p>
<p><b>"In<i> Thrive,</i> Arianna Huffington makes an impassioned and compelling case for the need to redefine what it means to be successful in today's world."</b></p>
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<p><span><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/393674265?profile=original" target="_self"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/393674265?profile=original" width="232" class="align-center"></a></span></p>
<p><span> </span><br><span>"Arianna Huffington's personal wake-up call came in the form of a broken cheekbone and a nasty gash over her eye -- the result of a fall brought on by exhaustion and lack of sleep. As the cofounder and editor-in-chief of the Huffington Post Media Group -- one of the fastest growing media companies in the world -- celebrated as one of the world's most influential women, and gracing the covers of magazines, she was, by any traditional measure, extraordinarily successful. Yet as she found herself going from brain MRI to CAT scan to echocardiogram, to find out if there was any underlying medical problem beyond exhaustion, she wondered is this really what success feels like?</span><br><span> </span><br><span>As more and more people are coming to realize, there is far more to living a truly successful life than just earning a bigger salary and capturing a corner office. Our relentless pursuit of the two traditional metrics of success -- money and power -- has led to an epidemic of burnout and stress-related illnesses, and an erosion in the quality of our relationships, family life, and, ironically, our careers. In being connected to the world 24/7, we're losing our connection to what truly matters. Our current definition of success is, as</span><i> Thrive </i><span>shows, literally killing us. We need a new way forward.</span><br><span> </span><br><span>In a commencement address Arianna gave at Smith College in the spring of 2013, she likened our drive for money and power to two legs of a three-legged stool. They may hold us up temporarily, but sooner or later we're going to topple over. We need a third leg -- a third metric for defining success -- to truly thrive. That third metric, she writes in </span><i>Thrive</i><span>, includes our well-being, our ability to draw on our intuition and inner wisdom, our sense of wonder, and our capacity for compassion and giving. As Arianna points out, our eulogies celebrate our lives very differently from the way society defines success. They don't commemorate our long hours in the office, our promotions, or our sterling PowerPoint presentations as we relentlessly raced to climb up the career ladder. They are not about our resumes -- they are about cherished memories, shared adventures, small kindnesses and acts of generosity, lifelong passions, and the things that made us laugh.</span><br><span> </span><br><span>In this deeply personal book, Arianna talks candidly about her own challenges with managing time and prioritizing the demands of a career and raising two daughters -- of juggling business deadlines and family crises, a harried dance that led to her collapse and to her "aha moment." Drawing on the latest groundbreaking research and scientific findings in the fields of psychology, sports, sleep, and physiology that show the profound and transformative effects of meditation, mindfulness, unplugging, and giving, Arianna shows us the way to a revolution in our culture, our thinking, our workplace, and our lives." </span></p>
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<p><span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Thrive-Redefining-Success-Creating-Well-Being/dp/0804140847">http://www.amazon.com/Thrive-Redefining-Success-Creating-Well-Being/dp/0804140847</a></span></p>
<p>Courtesy: Amazon.com</p>10 Painfully Obvious Truths Everyone Forgets Too Soontag:bodymindheartspirit.ning.com,2014-02-26:505106:BlogPost:374362014-02-26T11:24:24.000ZBijay Rauthttp://bodymindheartspirit.ning.com/profile/bijayraut
<p><span><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/393691688?profile=original" target="_self"><img class="align-center" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/393691688?profile=original" width="403"></img></a></span></p>
<p><span>by Marc Chernoff</span></p>
<p>You know how you can hear something a hundred times in a hundred different ways before it finally gets through to you? The ten truths listed below fall firmly into that category – life lessons that many of us likely learned years ago, and have been reminded of ever since, but for whatever reason, haven’t fully…</p>
<p><span><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/393691688?profile=original" target="_self"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/393691688?profile=original" width="403" class="align-center"></a></span></p>
<p><span>by Marc Chernoff</span></p>
<p>You know how you can hear something a hundred times in a hundred different ways before it finally gets through to you? The ten truths listed below fall firmly into that category – life lessons that many of us likely learned years ago, and have been reminded of ever since, but for whatever reason, haven’t fully grasped.</p>
<p>This, my friends, is my attempt at helping all of us, myself included, “get it” and “remember it” once and for all…</p>
<h3>1. The average human life is relatively short.</h3>
<p>We know deep down that life is short, and that death will happen to all of us eventually, and yet we are infinitely surprised when it happens to someone we know. It’s like walking up a flight of stairs with a distracted mind, and misjudging the final step. You expected there to be one more stair than there is, and so you find yourself off balance for a moment, before your mind shifts back to the present moment and how the world really is.</p>
<p>LIVE your life TODAY! Don’t ignore death, but don’t be afraid of it either. Be afraid of a life you never lived because you were too afraid to take action. Death is not the greatest loss in life. The greatest loss is what dies inside you while you’re still alive. Be bold. Be courageous. Be scared to death, and then take the next step anyway.</p>
<h3>2. You will only ever live the life you create for yourself.</h3>
<p>Your life is yours alone. Others can try to persuade you, but they can’t decide for you. They can walk with you, but not in your shoes. So make sure the path you<span id="more-714"></span> decide to walk aligns with your own intuition and desires, and don’t be scared to switch paths or pave a new one when it makes sense.</p>
<p>Remember, it’s always better to be at the bottom of the ladder you want to climb than the top of the one you don’t. Be productive and patient. And realize that patience is not about waiting, but the ability to keep a good attitude while working hard for what you believe in. This is your life, and it is made up entirely of your choices. May your actions speak louder than your words. May your life preach louder than your lips. May your success be your noise in the end.</p>
<p>And if life only teaches you one thing, let it be that taking a passionate leap is always worth it. Even if you have no idea where you’re going to land, be brave enough to step up to the edge of the unknown, and listen to your heart. <em>(Angel and I discuss this in more detail in the “Passion and Growth” chapter of <a href="http://www.marcandangel.com/book/" title="1,000 Little Things Happy, Successful People Do Differently">1,000 Little Things Happy, Successful People Do Differently</a>.)</em></p>
<h3>3. Being busy does NOT mean being productive.</h3>
<p>Busyness isn’t a virtue, nor is it something to respect. Though we all have seasons of crazy schedules, very few of us have a legitimate need to be busy ALL the time. We simply don’t know how to live within our means, prioritize properly, and say no when we should.</p>
<p>Being busy rarely equates to productivity these days. Just take a quick look around. Busy people outnumber productive people by a wide margin. Busy people are rushing all over the place, and running late half of the time. They’re heading to work, conferences, meetings, social engagements, etc. They barely have enough free time for family get-togethers and they rarely get enough sleep. Yet, emails are shooting out of their smart phones like machine gun bullets, and their day planners are jammed to the brim with obligations. Their busy schedule gives them an elevated sense of importance. But it’s all an illusion. They’re like hamsters running on a wheel.</p>
<p>Though being busy can make us feel more alive than anything else for a moment, the sensation is not sustainable long term. We will inevitably, whether tomorrow or on our deathbed, come to wish that we spent less time in the buzz of busyness and more time actually living a purposeful life.</p>
<h3>4. Some kind of failure always occurs before success.</h3>
<p>Most mistakes are unavoidable. Learn to forgive yourself. It’s not a problem to make them. It’s only a problem if you never learn from them.</p>
<p>If you’re too afraid of failure, you can’t possibly do what needs to be done to be successful. The solution to this problem is making friends with failure. You want to know the difference between a master and a beginner? The master has failed more times than the beginner has even tried. Behind every great piece of art is a thousand failed attempts to make it, but these attempts are simply never shown to us.</p>
<p>Bottom line: Just because it’s not happening now, doesn’t mean it never will. Sometimes things have to go very wrong before they can be right. <em>(Read <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0060594896/ref=as_li_tf_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0060594896&linkCode=as2&tag=marandang-20" target="_blank">The Success Principles</a><img src="http://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=marandang-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0060594896" height="1" border="0" width="1">.)</em></p>
<h3>5. Thinking and doing are two very different things.</h3>
<p>Success never comes to look for you while you wait around thinking about it.</p>
<p>You are what you do, not what you say you’ll do. Knowledge is basically useless without action. Good things don’t come to those who wait; they come to those who work on meaningful goals. Ask yourself what’s really important and then have the courage to build your life around your answer.</p>
<p>And remember, if you wait until you feel 100% ready to begin, you’ll likely be waiting the rest of your life.</p>
<h3>6. You don’t have to wait for an apology to forgive.</h3>
<p>Life gets much easier when you learn to accept all the apologies you never got. The key is to be thankful for every experience – positive or negative. It’s taking a step back and saying, “<a href="http://www.marcandangel.com/2014/01/08/8-things-to-remember-when-everything-goes-wrong/" title="8 Things to Remember When Everything Goes Wrong">Thank you for the lesson</a>.” It’s realizing that grudges from the past are a perfect waste of today’s happiness, and that holding one is like letting unwanted company live rent free in your head.</p>
<p>Forgiveness is a promise – one you want to keep. When you forgive someone you are making a promise not to hold the unchangeable past against your present self. It has nothing to do with freeing a criminal of his or her crime, and everything to do with freeing yourself of the burden of being an eternal victim.</p>
<h3>7. Some people are simply the wrong match for you.</h3>
<p>You will only ever be as great as the people you surround yourself with, so be brave enough to let go of those who keep bringing you down. You shouldn’t force connections with people who constantly make you feel less than amazing.</p>
<p>If someone makes you feel uncomfortable and insecure every time you’re with them, for whatever reason, they’re probably not close friend material. If they make you feel like you can’t be yourself, or if they make you “less than” in any way, don’t pursue a connection with them. If you feel emotionally drained after hanging out with them or get a small hit of anxiety when you are reminded of them, listen to your intuition. There are so many “right people” for you, who energize you and inspire you to be your best self. It makes no sense to force it with people who are the wrong match for you.</p>
<h3>8. It’s not other people’s job to love you; it’s yours.</h3>
<p>It’s important to be nice to others, but it’s even more important to be nice to yourself. You really have to love yourself to get anything done in this world. So make sure you don’t start seeing yourself through the eyes of those who don’t value you. Know your worth, even if they don’t.</p>
<p>Today, let someone love you just the way you are – as flawed as you might be, as unattractive as you sometimes feel, and as incomplete as you think you are. Yes, let someone love you despite all of this, and let that someone be YOU. <em>(Read <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1478121734/ref=as_li_tf_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1478121734&linkCode=as2&tag=marandang-20" target="_blank">Love Yourself Like Your Life Depends On It</a><img src="http://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=marandang-20&l=as2&o=1&a=1478121734" height="1" border="0" width="1">.)</em></p>
<h3>9. What you own is not who YOU are.</h3>
<p>Stuff really is just stuff, and it has absolutely no bearing on who you are as a person. Most of us can make do with much less than we think we need. That’s a valuable reminder, especially in a hugely consumer-driven culture that focuses more on material things than meaningful connections and experiences.</p>
<p>You have to create your own culture. Don’t watch TV, don’t read every fashion magazine, and don’t consume too much of the evening news. Find the strength to fill your time with meaningful experiences. The space and time you are occupying at this very moment is LIFE, and if you’re worrying about Kim Kardashian or Lebron James or some other famous face, then you are disempowered. You’re giving your life away to marketing and media trickery, which is created by big companies to ultimately motivate you to want to dress a certain way, look a certain way, and be a certain way. This is tragic, this kind of thinking. It’s all just Hollywood brainwashing. What is real is YOU and your friends and your family, your loves, your highs, your hopes, your plans, your fears, etc.</p>
<p>Too often we’re told that we’re not important, we’re just peripheral to what is. “Get a degree, get a job, get a car, get a house, and keep on getting.” And it’s sad, because someday you’ll wake up and realize you’ve been tricked. And all you’ll want then is to reclaim your mind by getting it out of the hands of the brainwashers who want to turn you into a drone that buys everything that isn’t needed to <a href="http://www.marcandangel.com/2013/11/24/7-reasons-to-stop-proving-yourself-to-everyone-else/" title="7 Reasons to Stop Proving Yourself to Everyone Else">impress everyone that isn’t important</a>.</p>
<h3>10. Everything changes, every second.</h3>
<p>Embrace change and realize it happens for a reason. It won’t always be obvious at first, but in the end it will be worth it.</p>
<p>What you have today may become what you had by tomorrow. You never know. Things change, often spontaneously. People and circumstances come and go. Life doesn’t stop for anybody. It moves rapidly and rushes from calm to chaos in a matter of seconds, and happens like this to people every day. It’s likely happening to someone nearby right now.</p>
<p>Sometimes the shortest split second in time changes the direction of our lives. A seemingly innocuous decision rattles our whole world like a meteorite striking Earth. Entire lives have been swiveled and flipped upside down, for better or worse, on the strength of an unpredictable event. And these events are always happening.</p>
<p>However good or bad a situation is now, it will change. That’s the one thing you can count on. So when life is good, enjoy it. Don’t go looking for something better every second. Happiness never comes to those who don’t appreciate what they have while they have it.</p>
<p></p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://www.marcandangel.com/2014/01/29/10-painfully-obvious-truths-everyone-forgets-too-soon/">http://www.marcandangel.com/2014/01/29/10-painfully-obvious-truths-everyone-forgets-too-soon/</a></p>Does a Good Leader Have To Be Tough? - by Deepak Chopratag:bodymindheartspirit.ning.com,2014-02-13:505106:BlogPost:374142014-02-13T11:30:00.000ZBijay Rauthttp://bodymindheartspirit.ning.com/profile/bijayraut
<p><span>In modern business and government, leaders are expected to behave in a peculiar way. Success depends on adopting the model of warfare.</span></p>
<p><span><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/393688717?profile=original" target="_self"><img class="align-full" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/393688717?profile=original" width="639"></img></a></span></p>
<p><span>To describe someone as tough, ruthless, a winner in the battle for supremacy - these are compliments. We've become used to toughness as a desirable attribute for success. What's peculiar about…</span></p>
<p><span>In modern business and government, leaders are expected to behave in a peculiar way. Success depends on adopting the model of warfare.</span></p>
<p><span><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/393688717?profile=original" target="_self"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/393688717?profile=original" width="639" class="align-full"></a></span></p>
<p><span>To describe someone as tough, ruthless, a winner in the battle for supremacy - these are compliments. We've become used to toughness as a desirable attribute for success. What's peculiar about this is that the same warriors, if they are normal people, don't apply the war model to their personal life. "I love you, Daddy, because you're so ruthless with me" isn't something a young child would say.</span><br><br><span>I realize that there are successful people - traditionally men - who exude toughness in every aspect of their lives. But the real question is whether toughness actually produces success or whether the war model is actually ineffective. Do you have to make yourself tough if you want to be a leader? Each of us has natural tendencies that we can build upon or avoid - the choice is ours.</span><br><br><span>Here are the positives and negatives of a tough leadership style, which are well worth considering in your own career path.</span><br><br><span>Positives:</span><br><br><span>Toughness provides sharp focus.</span><br><br><span>You quickly know who is an ally and who is an enemy/rival.</span><br><br><span>You can use intimidation as a competitive tactic.</span><br><br><span>If people fear you, they will respect you.</span><br><br><span>Weaker people will submit to your will.</span><br><br><span>Time isn't wasted making friends - what counts are results.</span><br><br><span>You will be labeled a winner in the eyes of other warrior types.</span><br><br><span>You won't have a guilty conscience about hurting others - this is war, after all.</span><br><br><span>Negatives:</span><br><br><span>Other warriors will gun for you.</span><br><br><span>Loyalty based on intimidation can't be trusted.</span><br><br><span>Setbacks will be labeled as defeats.</span><br><br><span>Tough minds are generally closed minds.</span><br><br><span>Constant vigilance is called for, since everyone is a potential enemy.</span><br><br><span>The lack of friends eliminates the possibility for personal connections.</span><br><br><span>Tough leadership generally thrives only in an atmosphere of crisis.</span><br><br><span>There's a long tradition of ignoring the downside of toughness and overvaluing the upside. Notoriously tough generals like Patton were not as effective in WW II as a conciliator like Eisenhower, for example. The attitude of "you're either for me or against me" that is the code of tough leaders is quickly interpreted by others as "This is all about me," and that is the opposite of how good leadership works. Good leadership is about fulfilling the needs of those you manage and oversee.</span><br><br><span>The bottom line, however, is whether you view life - and business, which is part of life - as a battle. Many people do. They deeply believe that success requires constant struggle against the odds. There is little joy in such a worldview; at its worst, it is soul-killing. As you consider what kind of leader to become, it's valuable to know that there are workable alternatives to toughness - not the opposite, which is to be soft. An entirely different model takes you out of the hard-soft, tough-weak scheme.</span><br><br><span>The model I have in mind breaks needs down into a hierarchy, where the leader examines the kind of need the situation presents and then adapts the tactics that fit that need. There are seven basic needs a leader must confront.</span><br><br><span>1. Safety and security. When people don't feel safe, your tactic should focus of reassurance, providing security, pushing back against threats, and bringing a dangerous crisis to a safe conclusion.</span><br><br><span>2. Achievement and accomplishment. When people crave material success, your tactic should focus on rewards for good work, effective competition, and providing an avenue to personal success.</span><br><br><span>3. Community and cooperation. When success depends upon a group effort, your tactic should focus on loyalty, forming alliances, establishing esprit de corps, and creating a work atmosphere where every member can make a contribution.</span><br><br><span>4. Being understood and valued. When people are being asked to push to the limit, your tactic should focus on appreciation, bonding at the personal level, showing that you care ,understand, and listen.</span><br><br><span>5. Creativity and discovery. When a situation calls for creative breakthroughs, your tactic should focus on giving everyone free time and an open space, tearing down barriers between workers and managers, and opening the door to many viewpoints and approaches.</span><br><br><span>6. Inspiration and values. When people need to feel inspired by the challenges that lie ahead, you can't adopt a tactic. Inspiration comes by living the values you preach, making yourself a beacon of light for others to admire and follow.</span><br><br><span>7. Higher purpose and enlightenment. Finally, there is the deep need to feel an allegiance to God or a spiritual goal that will bring fulfillment to the soul. You can't plan in advance to fill this need. If you are called on, there will be a transformation within yourself.</span><br><br><span>In this model of leadership, toughness is only one of many qualities that a leader must possess. No one can expect to be a universal leader; situations change, and when they do, specific leaders rise to meet the challenge. But you will hold an enormous advantage if you have seen the whole landscape. Life is unpredictable, and chaining yourself to toughness as your only response is a narrow strategy, one that may succeed in a crisis while failing miserably in many other areas.</span></p>10 Scientifically Proven Ways to Be Incredibly Happytag:bodymindheartspirit.ning.com,2014-01-21:505106:BlogPost:370972014-01-21T07:59:59.000ZBijay Rauthttp://bodymindheartspirit.ning.com/profile/bijayraut
<p>Try one. Try them all. They work. Science says so.</p>
<div class="entry-meta"><span class="entry-byline">By <a href="http://business.time.com/contributor/jeff-haden/" rel="author" title="Posts by Jeff Haden">Jeff Haden</a></span>
</div>
<div class="entry-meta"></div>
<div class="entry-content"><p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/393691692?profile=original" target="_self"><img class="align-center" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/393691692?profile=original" width="360"></img></a></p>
<p>It’s easy to think of happiness as a <em>result</em>,…</p>
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<p>Try one. Try them all. They work. Science says so.</p>
<div class="entry-meta">
<span class="entry-byline">By <a href="http://business.time.com/contributor/jeff-haden/" title="Posts by Jeff Haden" rel="author">Jeff Haden</a></span><br />
</div>
<div class="entry-meta"></div>
<div class="entry-content">
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/393691692?profile=original" target="_self"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/393691692?profile=original" width="360" class="align-center"></a></p>
<p>It’s easy to think of happiness as a <em>result</em>, but happiness is also a <em>driver</em>.</p>
<p></p>
<p>One example: While I’m definitely into finding ways to improve personal productivity (whether <a>a one-day burst</a>, <a href="http://www.inc.com/jeff-haden/7-qualities-of-uber-productive-people.html" target="_blank">or a lifetime</a>, or <a href="http://www.inc.com/jeff-haden/8-things-you-should-not-do-every-day.html" target="_blank">things you should <em>not</em> do every day</a>), probably the best way to be more productive is to just be happier. Happy people accomplish more.</p>
<p>Easier said than done though, right?</p>
<p></p>
<p>Actually, many changes are easy. Here are 10 science-based ways to be happier from Belle Beth Cooper, Content Crafter at <a href="http://www.bufferapp.com/" target="_blank">Buffer</a>, the social media management tool that lets you schedule, automate, and analyze social media updates.</p>
<p>Here’s Beth:</p>
<p></p>
<p><strong>1. Exercise: 7 Minutes Could Be Enough</strong></p>
<p>Think exercise is something you don’t have time for? Think again. Check out <a href="http://blog.bufferapp.com/why-exercising-makes-us-happier" target="_blank">the 7 minute workout</a> mentioned in<em> The New York Times</em>. That’s a workout any of us can fit into our schedules.</p>
<p>Exercise has such a profound effect on our happiness and well-being that it is an effective strategy for overcoming depression. In a study cited in Shawn Achor’s book <em><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0307591549/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=spacforrent-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0307591549">The Happiness Advantage</a></em>, three groups of patients treated their depression with medication, exercise, or a combination of the two. The results of this study are surprising: Although all three groups experienced similar improvements in their happiness levels early on, the follow-up assessments proved to be radically different:</p>
<p><em>The groups were then tested six months later to assess their relapse rate. Of those who had taken the medication alone, 38 percent had slipped back into depression. Those in the combination group were doing only slightly better, with a 31 percent relapse rate. <strong>The biggest shock, though, came from the exercise group: Their relapse rate was only 9 percent.</strong></em></p>
<p>You don’t have to be depressed to benefit from exercise, though. Exercise can help you relax, increase your brain power, and even improve your body image, even if you don’t lose any weight.</p>
<p>We’ve explored <a href="http://blog.bufferapp.com/why-exercising-makes-us-happier" target="_blank">exercise in depth before</a>, and looked at what it does to our brains, such as releasing proteins and endorphins that make us feel happier.</p>
<p>A <a href="http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2012/03/how-can-you-feel-better-about-your-body/#ixzz2b2yfplh7" target="_blank">study in the <em>Journal of Health Psychology</em></a> found that people who exercised felt better about their bodies even when they saw no physical changes:</p>
<p><em>Body weight, shape and body image were assessed in 16 males and 18 females before and after both 6 × 40 minutes exercising and 6 × 40 minutes reading. Over both conditions, body weight and shape did not change. Various aspects of body image, however, improved after exercise compared to before.</em></p>
<p>Yep: Even if your actual appearance doesn’t change, how you <em>feel</em> about your body does change.</p>
<p></p>
<p><strong>2. Sleep More: You’ll Be Less Sensitive to Negative Emotions</strong></p>
<p>We know that <a href="http://blog.bufferapp.com/how-much-sleep-do-we-really-need-to-work-productively" target="_blank">sleep helps our body recover from the day and repair itself</a> and that it helps us focus and be more productive. It turns out sleep is also important for happiness.</p>
<p>In <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0054U5ENY/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B0054U5ENY&linkCode=as2&tag=spacforrent-20" target="_blank"><em>NutureShock</em></a>, Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman explain how sleep affects positivity:</p>
<p><em>Negative stimuli get processed by the amygdala; positive or neutral memories gets processed by the hippocampus. Sleep deprivation hits the hippocampus harder than the amygdala. The result is that sleep-deprived people fail to recall pleasant memories yet recall gloomy memories just fine.</em></p>
<p><em>In one experiment by Walker, sleep-deprived college students tried to memorize a list of words. They could remember 81% of the words with a negative connotation, like “cancer.” But they could remember only 31% of the words with a positive or neutral connotation, like “sunshine” or “basket.”</em></p>
<p>The BPS Research Digest explores <a href="http://bps-research-digest.blogspot.com.au/2011/03/afternoon-nap-tunes-out-negative.html" target="_blank">another study</a> that proves sleep affects our sensitivity to negative emotions. Using a facial recognition task throughout the course of a day, researchers studied how sensitive participants were to positive and negative emotions. Those who worked through the afternoon without taking a nap became more sensitive to negative emotions like fear and anger.</p>
<p><em>Using a face recognition task, here we demonstrate an amplified reactivity to anger and fear emotions across the day, without sleep. However, an intervening nap blocked and even reversed this negative emotional reactivity to anger and fear while conversely enhancing ratings of positive (happy) expressions.</em></p>
<p>Of course, how well (and how long) you sleep will probably affect how you feel when you wake up, which can make a difference to your whole day.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2011-04/osu-guo040411.php" target="_blank">Another study</a> tested how employees’ moods when they started work in the morning affected their entire work day.</p>
<p><em>Researchers found that employees’ moods when they clocked in tended to affect how they felt the rest of the day. Early mood was linked to their perceptions of customers and to how they reacted to customers’ moods.</em></p>
<p>And most importantly to managers, employee mood had a clear impact on performance, including both how much work employees did and how well they did it.</p>
<p></p>
<p><strong>3. Spend More Time With Friends/Family: Money Can’t Buy You Happiness<br></strong></p>
<p>Staying in touch with friends and family is one of the <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2012/feb/01/top-five-regrets-of-the-dying">top five regrets of the dying</a>.</p>
<p>If you want more evidence that time with friends is beneficial for you, research proves it can make you happier right now, too.</p>
<p>Social time is highly valuable when it comes to improving our happiness, even for introverts. Several studies have found that time spent with friends and family makes a big difference to how happy we feel.</p>
<p>I love the way <a href="http://bigthink.com/users/dangilbert#%21video_idea_id=5143">Harvard happiness expert Daniel Gilbert</a> explains it:</p>
<p><em>We are happy when we have family, we are happy when we have friends and almost <strong>all the other things we think make us happy are actually just ways of getting more family and friends</strong>.</em></p>
<p>George Vaillant is the director of a 72-year study of the lives of 268 men.</p>
<p><em>In an interview in the March 2008 newsletter to the Grant Study subjects, Vaillant was asked, “What have you learned from the Grant Study men?” Vaillant’s response: “That the only thing that really matters in life are your relationships to other people.”</em></p>
<p>He shared insights of the study with Joshua Wolf Shenk at<em> <a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2009/06/what-makes-us-happy/307439/2/?single_page=true">The Atlantic</a> </em>on how men’s social connections made a difference to their overall happiness:</p>
<p><em>Men’s relationships at age 47, he found, predicted late-life adjustment better than any other variable. Good sibling relationships seem especially powerful: 93 percent of the men who were thriving at age 65 had been close to a brother or sister when younger.</em></p>
<p>In fact, a study published in the <a href="http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2012/01/what-are-your-relationships-worth-in-dollars/#ixzz2b33s2ANx">J<em>ournal of Socio-Economics</em></a> states than your relationships are worth more than $100,000:</p>
<p><em>Using the British Household Panel Survey, I find that an increase in the level of social involvements is worth up to an extra £85,000 a year in terms of life satisfaction. Actual changes in income, on the other hand, buy very little happiness.</em></p>
<p>I think that last line is especially fascinating: <em>Actual changes in income, on the other hand, buy very little happiness</em>. So we could increase our annual income by hundreds of thousands of dollars and still not be as happy as we would if we increased the strength of our social relationships.</p>
<p>The Terman study, covered in <em><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0452297702/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=spacforrent-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0452297702">The Longevity Project</a></em>, found that relationships and how we help others were important factors in living long, happy lives:</p>
<p><em>We figured that if a Terman participant sincerely felt that he or she had friends and relatives to count on when having a hard time then that person would be healthier. Those who felt very loved and cared for, we predicted, would live the longest.</em></p>
<p><em>Surprise: our prediction was wrong… Beyond social network size, the clearest benefit of social relationships came from helping others. Those who helped their friends and neighbors, advising and caring for others, tended to live to old age.</em></p>
<p></p>
<p><strong>4. Get Outside More: Happiness is Maximized at 57°</strong></p>
<p>In <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0307591549/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=spacforrent-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0307591549" target="_blank"><em>The Happiness Advantage</em></a>, Shawn Achor recommends spending time in the fresh air to improve your happiness:</p>
<p><em>Making time to go outside on a nice day also delivers a huge advantage; one study found that spending 20 minutes outside in good weather not only boosted positive mood, but broadened thinking and improved working memory…</em></p>
<p>This is pretty good news for those of us who are worried about fitting new habits into our already-busy schedules. Twenty minutes is a short enough time to spend outside that you could fit it into your commute or even your lunch break.</p>
<p>A UK study from the <a href="http://www.thejournal.ie/sea-sun-happiness-study-973774-Jul2013/" target="_blank">University of Sussex</a> also found that being outdoors made people happier:</p>
<p><em>Being outdoors, near the sea, on a warm, sunny weekend afternoon is the perfect spot for most. In fact, participants were found to be substantially happier outdoors in all natural environments than they were in urban environments.</em></p>
<p>The <a href="http://journals.ametsoc.org/doi/abs/10.1175/WCAS-D-11-00052.1?journalCode=wcas" target="_blank">American Meteorological Society</a> published research in 2011 that found current temperature has a bigger effect on our happiness than variables like wind speed and humidity, or even the average temperature over the course of a day. It also found that<strong>happiness is maximized at 57 degrees (13.9°C</strong>), so keep an eye on the weather forecast before heading outside for your 20 minutes of fresh air.</p>
<p>The connection between <a href="http://blog.bufferapp.com/the-science-of-how-room-temperature-and-lighting-affects-our-productivity" target="_blank">productivity and temperature is another topic we’ve talked about more here</a>. It’s fascinating what a small change in temperature can do.</p>
<p></p>
<p><strong>5. Help Others: 100 Hours a Year is the Magic Number</strong></p>
<p>One of the most counterintuitive pieces of advice I found is that to make yourself feel happier, you should help others. In fact, 100 hours per year (or two hours per week) is the<a href="http://blog.bufferapp.com/simple-productivity-tips-science" target="_blank">optimal time we should dedicate to helping others</a> in order to enrich our lives.</p>
<p>If we go back to Shawn Achor’s book again, he says this about helping others:</p>
<p><em>…when researchers interviewed more than 150 people about their recent purchases, they found that money spent on activities–such as concerts and group dinners out–brought far more pleasure than material purchases like shoes, televisions, or expensive watches. Spending money on other people, called “prosocial spending,” also boosts happiness.</em></p>
<p>The Journal of Happiness Studies <a href="http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2011/04/is-there-a-way-to-create-a-positive-feedback/#ixzz2b2m2LMBe">published a study</a> that explored this very topic:</p>
<p><em>Participants recalled a previous purchase made for either themselves or someone else and then reported their happiness. Afterward, participants chose whether to spend a monetary windfall on themselves or someone else. <strong>Participants assigned to recall a purchase made for someone else reported feeling significantly happier</strong> immediately after this recollection;<strong>most importantly, the happier participants felt, the more likely they were to choose to spend a windfall on someone else</strong> in the near future.</em></p>
<p>So spending money on other people makes us happier than buying stuff for ourselves. But what about spending our <em>time</em> on other people?</p>
<p>A <a href="http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2011/11/is-being-selfless-the-smartest-way-to-be-self/#ixzz2b2lnKKci" target="_blank">study of volunteering in Germany</a> explored how volunteers were affected when their opportunities to help others were taken away:</p>
<p><em>Shortly after the fall of the Berlin Wall but before the German reunion, the first wave of data of the GSOEP was collected in East Germany. Volunteering was still widespread. Due to the shock of the reunion, a large portion of the infrastructure of volunteering (e.g. sports clubs associated with firms) collapsed and people randomly lost their opportunities for volunteering. Based on a comparison of the change in subjective well-being of these people and of people from the control group who had no change in their volunteer status, the hypothesis is supported that volunteering is rewarding in terms of higher life satisfaction.</em></p>
<p>In his book <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1439190763/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=spacforrent-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=1439190763" target="_blank"><em>Flourish: A Visionary New Understanding of Happiness and Well-being</em></a>, University of Pennsylvania professor Martin Seligman explains that helping others can improve our own lives:</p>
<p><em>…we scientists have found that doing a kindness produces the single most reliable momentary increase in well-being of any exercise we have tested.</em></p>
<p></p>
<p><strong>6. Practice Smiling: Reduce Pain, Improve Mood, Think Better<br></strong></p>
<p>Smiling can make us feel better, but it’s more effective when we back it up with positive thoughts, according to <a href="http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2011-02/msu-sfa022211.php" target="_blank">this study</a>:</p>
<p><em>A new study led by a Michigan State University business scholar suggests customer-service workers who fake smile throughout the day worsen their mood and withdraw from work, affecting productivity. But workers who smile as a result of cultivating positive thoughts–such as a tropical vacation or a child’s recital–improve their mood and withdraw less.</em></p>
<p>Of course it’s important to <a href="http://blog.bufferapp.com/the-science-of-smiling-a-guide-to-humans-most-powerful-gesture" target="_blank"><strong>practice “real smiles”</strong></a> where you use your eye sockets. (You’ve seen fake smiles that don’t reach the person’s eyes. Try it. Smile with just your mouth. Then smile naturally; your eyes narrow. There’s a huge difference in a fake smile and a genuine smile.)</p>
<p>According to <a href="http://www.spring.org.uk/2011/06/10-hidden-benefits-of-smiling.php" target="_blank">PsyBlog</a>, <a href="http://blog.bufferapp.com/the-science-of-smiling-a-guide-to-humans-most-powerful-gesture">smiling</a> can improve our attention and help us perform better on cognitive tasks:</p>
<p><em>Smiling makes us feel good which also increases our attentional flexibility and our ability to think holistically. When this idea was tested by Johnson et al. (2010), the results showed that participants who smiled performed better on attentional tasks which required seeing the whole forest rather than just the trees.</em></p>
<p>A smile is also a good way to reduce some of the pain we feel in troubling circumstances:</p>
<p><em>Smiling is one way to reduce the distress caused by an upsetting situation. Psychologists call this the facial feedback hypothesis. Even forcing a smile when we don’t feel like it is enough to lift our mood slightly (this is one example of embodied cognition).</em></p>
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<p><strong>7. Plan a Trip: It Helps Even if You Don’t Actually Take One</strong></p>
<p>As opposed to actually taking a holiday, simply <em>planning</em> a vacation or break from work can improve our happiness. A study published in the journal <a href="http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/02/18/how-vacations-affect-your-happiness/?_r=0" target="_blank">Applied Research in Quality of Life</a> showed that the highest spike in happiness came during the planning stage of a vacation as people enjoy the sense of anticipation:</p>
<p><em>In the study, the effect of vacation anticipation boosted happiness for eight weeks. </em>After<em> the vacation, happiness quickly dropped back to baseline levels for most people.</em></p>
<p>Shawn Achor has some info for us on this point, as well:</p>
<p><em><strong>One study found that people who just thought about watching their favorite movie actually raised their endorphin levels by 27 percent.</strong></em></p>
<p>If you can’t take the time for a vacation right now, or even a night out with friends, put something on the calendar–even if it’s a month or a year down the road. Then, whenever you need a boost of happiness, remind yourself about it.</p>
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<p><strong>8. Meditate: Rewire Your Brain for Happiness</strong></p>
<p>Meditation is often touted as an important habit for improving focus, clarity, and attention span, as well as helping to keep you calm. It turns out it’s also useful for<a href="http://blog.bufferapp.com/how-to-rewire-your-brains-for-positivity-and-happiness" target="_blank">improving your happiness</a>:</p>
<p><em>In one study, a research team from Massachusetts General Hospital looked at the brain scans of 16 people before and after they participated in an eight-week course in mindfulness meditation. The study, published in the January issue of Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging, concluded that after completing the course, parts of the participants’ brains associated with compassion and self-awareness grew, and parts associated with stress shrank.</em></p>
<p>Meditation literally clears your mind and calms you down, it’s been often proven to be the single most effective way to live a happier life. According to Achor, meditation can actually make you happier long-term:</p>
<p><em>Studies show that in the minutes right after meditating, we experience feelings of calm and contentment, as well as heightened awareness and empathy. And, research even shows that regular meditation can permanently rewire the brain to raise levels of happiness.</em></p>
<p>The fact that we can actually alter our brain structure through mediation is most surprising to me and somewhat reassuring that however we feel and think today isn’t permanent.</p>
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<p><strong>9. Move Closer to Work: A Short Commute is Worth More Than a Big House</strong></p>
<p>Our commute to work can have a surprisingly powerful impact on our happiness. The fact that we tend to commute twice a day at least five days a week makes it unsurprising that the effect would build up over time and make us less and less happy.</p>
<p>According to <a href="http://www.artofmanliness.com/2010/09/27/where-is-the-grass-greener-the-economics-of-happiness/" target="_blank"><em>The Art of Manliness</em></a>, having a long commute is something we often fail to realize will affect us so dramatically:</p>
<p><em>… while many voluntary conditions don’t affect our happiness in the long term because we acclimate to them, people never get accustomed to their daily slog to work because sometimes the traffic is awful and sometimes it’s not.</em></p>
<p><em>Or as Harvard psychologist Daniel Gilbert put it, “Driving in traffic is a different kind of hell every day.”</em></p>
<p>We tend to try to compensate for this by having a bigger house or a better job, but these compensations just don’t work:</p>
<p><em>Two Swiss economists who studied the effect of commuting on happiness found that such factors could not make up for the misery created by a long commute.</em></p>
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<p><strong>10. Practice Gratitude: Increase Happiness and Satisfaction</strong></p>
<p>This is a seemingly simple strategy but I’ve personally found it to make a huge difference to my outlook. There are lots of ways to practice gratitude, from keeping a journal of things you’re grateful for, <a href="http://blog.bufferapp.com/how-to-rewire-your-brains-for-positivity-and-happiness" target="_blank">sharing three good things that happen each day</a> with a friend or your partner, and going out of your way to show gratitude when others help you.</p>
<p>In <a href="http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2011/08/was-grandmom-right-about-counting-your-blessi/#ixzz2an4gw6vR" target="_blank">an experiment</a> where participants took note of things they were grateful for each day, their moods were improved just from this simple practice:</p>
<p><em>The gratitude-outlook groups exhibited heightened well-being across several, though not all, of the outcome measures across the three studies, relative to the comparison groups. The effect on positive affect appeared to be the most robust finding. Results suggest that a conscious focus on blessings may have emotional and interpersonal benefits.</em></p>
<p>The Journal of Happiness studies <a href="http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2011/04/how-to-quickly-and-easiy-feel-happier-and-mor/#ixzz2b36XGs00" target="_blank">published a study</a> that used letters of gratitude to test how being grateful can affect our levels of happiness:</p>
<p><em>Participants included 219 men and women who wrote three letters of gratitude over a 3 week period. Results indicated that writing letters of gratitude increased participants’ happiness and life satisfaction while decreasing depressive symptoms.</em></p>
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<p><strong>Quick Final Fact: Getting Older Will Actually Make You Happier</strong></p>
<p>As we get older, particularly past middle age, we tend to naturally <a href="http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/01/120106135950.htm">grow happier</a>. There’s still some debate over why this happens, but scientists have a few ideas:</p>
<p><em>Researchers, including the authors, have found that older people shown pictures of faces or situations tend to focus on and remember the happier ones more and the negative ones less.</em></p>
<p><em>Other studies have discovered that as people age, they seek out situations that will lift their moods–for instance, pruning social circles of friends or acquaintances who might bring them down. Still other work finds that older adults learn to let go of loss and disappointment over unachieved goals, and focus their goals on greater well being.</em></p>
<p>So if you thought getting old will make you miserable, it’s likely you’ll develop a more positive outlook than you probably have now.</p>
<p>How cool is that?</p>
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<p>Source: <a href="http://business.time.com/2014/01/14/10-scientifically-proven-ways-to-be-incredibly-happy/">http://business.time.com/2014/01/14/10-scientifically-proven-ways-to-be-incredibly-happy/</a></p>
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</div>Mindfulness: 5 Simple tricks to Stay Relaxed and Stay Alerttag:bodymindheartspirit.ning.com,2014-01-19:505106:BlogPost:371642014-01-19T08:57:47.000ZBijay Rauthttp://bodymindheartspirit.ning.com/profile/bijayraut
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/393696387?profile=original" target="_self"><img class="align-center" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/393696387?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" width="480"></img></a></p>
<p>Most of us go through our lives generally thinking about the past or worried or anxious about what is to come in the future. In this we lose the very precious essence, which is, this very moment. Practice of Mindfulness basically teaches us how to live this moment and be aware of everything that is happening around us NOW.…</p>
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/393696387?profile=original" target="_self"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/393696387?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" width="480" class="align-center"></a></p>
<p>Most of us go through our lives generally thinking about the past or worried or anxious about what is to come in the future. In this we lose the very precious essence, which is, this very moment. Practice of Mindfulness basically teaches us how to live this moment and be aware of everything that is happening around us NOW.<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/12/09/mindfulness-meditation-gene-expression_n_4391871.html">Research</a> shows that Mindfulness works positively in cure of Depression and Anxiety and increasingly it is becoming a part of the treatment plan of various ailments From Depression to Addiction to even blood pressure.</p>
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<p>Following are the 5 easy ways you can help yourself to be more mindful. This not only makes you more aware of this very moment, but also puts your brain in much relaxed and calmer state.</p>
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<ol>
<li>Multiple times of day (4-6 times), Spend 60 seconds consciously thinking about the present moment. Try and avoid any thoughts about Past or future.</li>
<li>Spend 5 minutes of your day focusing on your breathing with your eyes closed. Don’t try and alter anything, just try to be aware of how your body breathes. It does on its own, it doesn’t need your mind to do it. So just be an observer</li>
<li>While eating your meals, Try and focus on the taste and your bodily senses that it affects. Do it whenever you can remember.</li>
<li>While seated in your office, often remind yourself about the physical contact that your body makes with the chair underneath. On how the weight is distributed and if there is any discomfort in any part of your body. Again, just observe for couple of minutes, no need to change anything.</li>
<li>When in conversation or discussion with anyone, try and focus on what the other person is saying. Try and keep your mind open to all possibilities and opinions.</li>
</ol>
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<p>Source: <a href="http://www.curejoy.com/content/mindfulness-5-simple-tricks-to-stay-relaxed-and-stay-alert/">http://www.curejoy.com/content/mindfulness-5-simple-tricks-to-stay-relaxed-and-stay-alert/</a></p>Paramahansa Yogananda - Interview of a Yogitag:bodymindheartspirit.ning.com,2014-01-11:505106:BlogPost:372672014-01-11T13:30:00.000ZBijay Rauthttp://bodymindheartspirit.ning.com/profile/bijayraut
<div class="articleheader"><h1 class="toparticleheader"><span style="font-size: 13px;">by Ritu Khanna</span></h1>
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<div class="articlestart"><strong>An unusual 'interview' with the great master — Paramahansa Yogananda<br></br></strong>
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<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/393686926?profile=original" target="_self"><img class="align-center" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/393686926?profile=RESIZE_480x480" width="376"></img></a></p>
<p class="article">American journalist Horace Greeley, editor of the New-York Tribune, interviewed Brigham Young,…</p>
<div class="articleheader">
<h1 class="toparticleheader"><span style="font-size: 13px;">by Ritu Khanna</span></h1>
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<div class="articlestart">
<strong>An unusual 'interview' with the great master — Paramahansa Yogananda<br></strong>
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<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/393686926?profile=original" target="_self"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/393686926?profile=RESIZE_480x480" width="376" class="align-center"></a></p>
<p class="article">American journalist Horace Greeley, editor of the New-York Tribune, interviewed Brigham Young, the leader of the Mormon Church, in Salt Lake City in 1859. History shows that Young was not entirely honest in this encounter—he downsized the number of his wives and the extent of his wealth. Yet there is no doubt that this was the first full-fledged interview with a celebrity.<br> <br> And, with it, the New Journalism of the 19th century was born. Over the years, the format developed:the Q&A style lent itself to many combinations and permutations, acquiring the status of an art form in the hands of an adept interviewer. Writing from memory or hastily scribbled notes, or with the aid of a recorder, the interviewer gave the reader an insight into the thoughts, character and lifestyle of the interviewed.<br> <br> This form has been used and abused, but the interview as we know it today has certainly evolved since, say, the days of Greeley and Young or, even earlier, when Socrates used it on the streets of Athens.<br> <br> My task here, however, was somewhat different. For conducting a face-to-face with someone who has left his body is a feat never attempted before. But then, Paramahansa Yogananda is no ordinary teacher; indeed it would not be hyperbolic to say that he was one of the most significant spiritual gurus of this century.<br> <br> Secure in the belief that gurus never die, I prepared my questionnaire, covering Yogananda's early years and influences, his beliefs and values, teachings and thoughts. Theft I went seeking answers in his books.<br> <br> The most well-known of the written offerings of this master who went to the West to teach the practice of yoga and its benefits, seen and intangible, is, of course,<i><a href="http://www.lifepositive.com/spirit/masters/paramahansa-yogananda/yogananda.asp">Autobiography of a Yogi</a></i>, a book that has been perceived as a spiritual classic. The golden years of the guru live on in the pages of this book which celebrates its 50th anniversary this year. <br> <br> No one who has read <i>Autobiography</i> has remained unmoved by this simple, heartfelt testimony of a<b>yogi</b>, with its coverage of miracles and godmen, of Indian wisdom and practices. Translated into 19 languages, it was the number one bestseller in the non-fiction category in Italy in 1990.<br> <br> In 1948, American Donald WaIters (now known as Swami Kriyananda) read the book, became a disciple of <b>Yogananda</b>, and went on to write <i>The Path: Autobiography of a Western Yogi</i> in 1977: "The author's photograph on the cover affected me strangely. Never had I met anyone whose face radiated so much goodness, humility, and love… <i>Autobiography of a Yogi</i> is the greatest book I have ever read. One perusal of it was enough to change my entire life...Never before had I encountered a spirit so clearly truthful, so filled with goodness and joy. <br> <br> Every page seemed radiant with light...For, more than anything else, what this book gave me was the conviction that in <b>Yogananda</b> I had found my guru, my spiritual teacher for all time to come.<b>Yogananda's</b> lessons, laws, poems, affirmations and sayings have been immortalized on paper. And the more I read them, the more alive he became. Here was some one very human, generous in spirit, sincere, endearing and endowed with the ability to laugh at himself. He could give meaning to miracles, yet not hesitate to tell the reader that his nickname in college was Mad Monk." <br> <br> <b>Yogananda</b> seemed equally at ease writing about spirituality and success; about strawberries and cream and the tenets of <b>kriya yoga </b>; or of finding the cosmic link between getting rid of mosquitoes and sitting in <i>samadhi</i>, all in one breath, literally. <br> <br> This 'interview' slowly appeared more real than if it had actually taken place in time and space. But in a sense it has occurred, for <b>Yogananda's</b> words have given it flesh and blood.<br> <br> <span class="story-image"><img src="http://www.lifepositive.com/spirit/masters/grfx/paramahansa0.jpg" alt="Paramahansa Yogananda"></span>Looking back in time, possibly on many a lifetime, from where, in your opinion, did it all begin? <br> <br> I find my earliest memories covering the anachronistic features of a previous incarnation. Clear recollections come to me of a distant life in which I had been a yogi amid the Himalayan snows. These glimpses of the past, by some dimensionless link, also afforded me a glimpse of the future... <br> <br> I was born on January 5, 1893, in Gorakhpur in northeastern India near the Himalaya Mountains. There my first eight years were passed. We were eight children: four boys and four girls. I, Mukunda Lal Ghosh, was the second son and the fourth child. My name was changed to <b>Yogananda</b> in 1915 when I entered the ancient monastic Swami Order. <br> <br> In 1935, my guru [Sri Yukteswar Giri] bestowed on me the further religious title of <b>Paramahansa</b>. [Sri Yukteswar Giri, 1855-1936, was a disciple of Sri Lahiri Mahasaya, 1828-1895, whose guru is the ageless Babaji who lives in the Himalayas. Babaji is known as the greatest of all <i>avatars</i>, a<i>mahavatar</i>; Sri Lahiri <i>Mahasaya</i> was a <i>yogavatar</i>; or incarnation of yoga; and Sri Yukteswar, a<i>jnanavatar</i> or incarnation of wisdom. [Yogananda is known as a <i>premavatar</i>, or incarnation of love.] <br> <br> <b>Though you graduated from the Calcutta University, it is said that you were a reluctant student and were always more keen to apply yourself to the acquisition of knowledge with an undertone of divinity. You met with seers and swamis, revealing an interest in mastery over the self: What convinced you, then, to complete your studies.</b> <br> <br> [It was Guruji's prophetic words:] "Someday you will go to the West. Its people will be more receptive to India's ancient wisdom if the strange Hindu teacher has a university degree." <br> <br> <b>Sri Yukteswar had foretold that in your mind, you had created three institutions adding that your architectural dreams would materialize later; but now where's the time for study.</b> <br> <br> ...incidentally, in his simple way, my guru revealed his knowledge of the coming of three important events in my life. Since early youth I had enigmatic glimpses of three buildings, each in a different setting. In the exact sequence Sri Yukteswar had indicated, these visions took ultimate form. First came my founding of a boys' yoga school on a plain in Ranchi, then an American headquarters on a Los Angeles hilltop, and then a hermitage in Encinitas, California, overlooking the vast Pacific.<br> <br> <b>Sri Yukteswar is also said to have given you <i>kriya yoga</i> initiation.</b> <br> <br> The technique I had already received from two disciples of Lahiri <i>Mahasaya</i>—Father and my tutor, Swami Kebalananda. But Master possessed a transforming power; at his touch a great light broke upon my being, like the glory of countless suns blazing together. A flood of ineffable bliss overwhelmed my heart to an innermost core. <br> <br> <b>What is the science of <i>kriya yoga</i>?</b> <br> <br> The Sanskrit root of <i><b>kriya</b></i> is <i>kri</i>, to do, to act and react: the same root is found in the word karma, the natural principle of cause and effect.<b> <i>Kriya</i> <i>yoga</i> </b>is thus union (<i>yoga</i>) with the Infinite through a certain action or rite (<i>kriya</i>). A <i><b>yog</b></i><b>i</b> who faithfully practices the techniques gradually freed from <i>karma</i>or the lawful chain of cause-effect equilibrium. <br> <br> <i><b>Kriya yoga</b></i> is a simple, psychophysiological method by which human blood is decarbonized and recharged with oxygen. The atoms of this extra oxygen are transmuted into life current to rejuvenate the brain and spinal centers. By stopping the accumulation of venous blood, the <i><b>yogi</b></i><b> </b>is able to lessen or prevent the decay of tissues. The advanced <i><b>yogi</b></i> transmutes his cells into energy.<br> <br> The<b> <i>kriya yogi</i> </b>mentally directs his life energy to revolve, upwards and downwards, around the six spinal centers (medulary, cervical, dorsal, lumbar, sacral and coccygeal plexuses), which correspond to the 12 astral signs of the zodiac, the symbolic Cosmic Man.<br> <br> Elijah, Jesus, <a href="http://chandrakantha.com/articles/indian_music/kabir.html" target="_blank">Kabir</a>, and other prophets were past masters in the use of <i><b>kriya</b></i> or a similar technique, by which they caused their bodies to materialize and dematerialize at will.<br> <br> <i><b>Kriya</b></i> is an ancient science. Lahiri <i>Mahasaya</i> received it from his great <i>guru</i>, Babaji, who rediscovered and clarified the technique after it had been lost in the Dark Ages. Babaji renamed it, simply, <i><b>kriya yoga</b></i>. Because of certain ancient yogic injunctions, I may not give a full explanation of <i><b>kriya</b></i><b><i>yoga</i></b><i>.</i>..The actual technique should be learned from an authorized <i>kriyaban</i> (kriya yogi).<br> <br> <b>You constantly write about miracles…but do they really happen?</b> <br> <br> A 'miracle' is commonly considered to be an effect or event without law, or beyond law. But all events in our precisely adjusted universe are lawfully wrought and lawfully explicable. The so-called miraculous powers of a great master are a natural accompaniment to his exact understanding of subtle laws that operate in the inner cosmos of consciousness. <br> <br> The law of miracles is operable by any, man who has realized that the essence of creation is light. <br> <br> Nothing may be truly said to be a 'miracle' except in the profound sense that everything is a miracle. That each of us is encased in an intricately organized body, and is set upon on earth whirling through space among the stars—is anything more commonplace? Or more miraculous?<br> <br> <b>But then why do saints perform miracles?</b> <br> <br> Great prophets like Christ and Lahiri <i>Mahasaya</i> usually perform many miracles. Such masters have a large and difficult spiritual mission to execute for mankind; miraculously helping those in distress appears to be a part of that mission. Divine feats are required against incurable diseases and insoluble human problems. <br> <br> When Christ was asked by the nobleman to heal his dying son at Capernaum, Jesus replied with wry humor: "Except ye see signs and wonders, ye will not believe." But he added: "Go thy way; thy son liveth." <br> <br> <b>What is the way to God?</b> <br> <br> The easiest and best way to god is not to be limited only to <i>jnana </i>(knowledge)<i> yoga</i>, <i>bhakti</i> (devotion) yoga or <i>karma </i>(work) yoga, but to combine them. Work for god, love god alone, and be wise with god. When an ordinary man puts the necessary rime and enthusiasm into meditation and prayer, he becomes a divine man. My Master used to say: "The little cat that goes into the jungle becomes a wild cat. " The little man with small thoughts who goes into the jungle of books becomes absorbed in intellectualizing about god; he doesn't find the nectar of god-realization. But the little man who meditates, who constantly thinks of the joy of god, who constantly prays to him, becomes one with the Infinite. <br> <br> Start tonight to meditate earnestly. Do not wander aimlessly. Go straight to god. <br> <br> <b>Who made god?</b> <br> <br> Many ask that question. Because they live in the realm of causation, they imagine that nothing can exist without a cause. God, however, the Supreme Cause, is beyond causation. It is not necessary that he, in turn, have a creator; how could the absolute depend for Its existence on another absolute? <br> <br> <b>What is the best religion?</b> <br> <br> <b>Self-rea1ization</b>. <br> <br> <b>Self-realization</b> is, in fact, the only religion. For it is the true purpose of religion, no matter how people define their beliefs. A person may be <a href="http://www.lifepositive.com/spirit/world-religions/christianity/christianity.asp" target="_top">Christian</a> or Jewish, <a href="http://www.lifepositive.com/spirit/world-religions/buddhism/buddhism.asp" target="_top">Buddhist</a> or <a href="http://www.lifepositive.com/spirit/world-religions/hinduism/hinduism.asp" target="_top">Hindu</a>, Moslem or Zoroastrian; he may proclaim that Jesus Christ is the only way, or Buddha, or Mohammed—as indeed, millions of believers do. He may insist that this <a href="http://www.lifepositive.com/spirit/traditional-paths/rituals/rituals.asp" target="_top">ritual</a>, or that place of worship, bestows salvation. But it all comes down to what he is, in himself. <br> <br> <b>Self-realization</b> means realizing your true Self as the great ocean of Spirit, by breaking the delusion that you are this little ego, this little human body and personality.<br> <br> <b>What would you say was your mission in life?</b> <br> <br> To awaken people to their need for<b> self-realization</b>, through meditation, and through keeping good company, or fellowship, with other truth-seeking souls. Hence the name of this organization; <b>Self- Realization Fellowship</b>. SRF was sent to bring back to the world the original teachings and science of yoga as taught by Lord Krishna, and the original Christianity of Jesus Christ. <br> <br> <b>You have written that… while meditating… you had a vision: a vast multitude of Americans appeared before you. And the next day… you received an invite.</b> <br> <br> "He must be Babaji!" I thought, dazed, because the man before me had the features of a younger Lahiri <i>Mahasaya.</i> He answered my thought: "Yes, I am Babaji." He spoke melodiously in Hindi. "Our heavenly father has heard your prayer. He commands me to tell you: Follow the behests of your guru and go to America. Fear not; you shall be protected." <br> <br> After a vibrant pause, Babaji addressed me again: "You are the one I have chosen to spread the message of <i><b>kriya yoga</b></i> in the West. Long ago I met your <i>guru</i> Yukteswar at a <i>Kumbha</i> <i>Mela</i>: I told him then I would send you to him for training," <br> <br> "<b><i>Kriya yoga</i></b>, the scientific technique of God-realization," he finally said with solemnity, "will ultimately spread in all lands, and aid in harmonizing the nations through man's personal, transcendental perception of the Infinite Father. " <br> <b>You then made your home in what you referred to as "the vast alien hospitable land of America".</b> <br> <br> The founding in the West of a <b>Self-Realization Fellowship</b> organization, a "hive for the spiritual honey", was a duty enjoined to me by my guru Sri Yukteswar and my <i>param-paramguru</i> Babaji. The fulfillment of the sacred trust has not been devoid of difficulties. <br> <br> <b>A leader of the temple in San Diego once asked you whether your stay in the USA has been worth it...</b> <br> <br> "Blessed is the man whom the Lord doth test!" I answered. "He has remembered, now and then, to put a burden on me." I thought, then, of all the faithful ones, of the love and devotion and understanding that illumines the heart of America. With slow emphasis I went on: "But my answer is yes, a thousand times yes! It has been worthwhile, more than ever I dreamed, to see East and West brought closer in the only lasting bond, the spiritual." <br> <br> On March 7, 1952, <b>Yogananda</b> entered <i>mahasamadhi</i> (a yogi's final conscious exit from the body) in Los Angeles after delivering a speech at a banquet held in honor of the Indian ambassador. An extract from a letter to SRF from the mortuary director: <br> <br> "The physical appearance of <b>Yogananda </b>on March 27th, just before the bronze cover of the casket was put into position, was the same as it had been on March 7th. He looked on March 27th as fresh and as unravaged by decay as he had looked on the night of his death. On March 27th there was no reason to say that his body had suffered any visible physical disintegration at all. For these reasons we state again that the case of <b>Paramahansa Yogananda</b> is unique in our experience." <br> <br> A few months earlier, a disciple had asked him: "Sir, when we can no longer see you physically, will you still be as near to us as you are now?" After much deliberation, he had replied with deep seriousness: "To those who think me near, I will be near." <br> <br> And <b>Paramahansa Yogananda</b> remains near us, for his words resound in the hearts of his disciples, in SRF centers the world over, in his teachings, in his writings, in this interview.</p>
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<p class="article">Source: <a href="http://www.lifepositive.com/spirit/masters/paramahansa-yogananda/master.asp">http://www.lifepositive.com/spirit/masters/paramahansa-yogananda/master.asp</a></p>The ‘Busy’ Traptag:bodymindheartspirit.ning.com,2013-12-11:505106:BlogPost:371532013-12-11T12:00:00.000ZBijay Rauthttp://bodymindheartspirit.ning.com/profile/bijayraut
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/393691686?profile=original" target="_self"><img class="align-center" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/393691686?profile=original" width="592"></img></a></p>
<p>by Tim Kreider, from Opinionator - The New York Times</p>
<p></p>
<p>If you live in America in the 21st century you’ve probably had to listen to a lot of people tell you how busy they are. It’s become the default response when you ask anyone how they’re doing: “Busy!” “<em>So</em> busy.” “<em>Crazy</em> busy.” It is, pretty obviously, a boast disguised as…</p>
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/393691686?profile=original" target="_self"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/393691686?profile=original" width="592" class="align-center"></a></p>
<p>by Tim Kreider, from Opinionator - The New York Times</p>
<p></p>
<p>If you live in America in the 21st century you’ve probably had to listen to a lot of people tell you how busy they are. It’s become the default response when you ask anyone how they’re doing: “Busy!” “<em>So</em> busy.” “<em>Crazy</em> busy.” It is, pretty obviously, a boast disguised as a complaint. And the stock response is a kind of congratulation: “That’s a good problem to have,” or “Better than the opposite.”</p>
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It’s not as if any of us wants to live like this; it’s something we collectively force one another to do.<br />
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<p>Notice it isn’t generally people pulling back-to-back shifts in the I.C.U. or commuting by bus to three minimum-wage jobs who tell you how busy they are; what those people are is not busy but <em>tired. Exhausted. Dead on their feet</em>. It’s almost always people whose lamented busyness is purely self-imposed: work and obligations they’ve taken on voluntarily, classes and activities they’ve “encouraged” their kids to participate in. They’re busy because of their own ambition or drive or anxiety, because they’re addicted to busyness and dread what they might have to face in its absence.</p>
<p><span id="more-130759"></span><br> Almost everyone I know is busy. They feel anxious and guilty when they aren’t either working or doing something to promote their work. They schedule in time with friends the way students with 4.0 G.P.A.’s make sure to sign up for community service because it looks good on their college applications. I recently wrote a friend to ask if he wanted to do something this week, and he answered that he didn’t have a lot of time but if something was going on to let him know and maybe he could ditch work for a few hours. I wanted to clarify that my question had not been a preliminary heads-up to some future invitation; this <em>was</em> the invitation. But his busyness was like some vast churning noise through which he was shouting out at me, and I gave up trying to shout back over it.</p>
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<p>Even <em>children</em> are busy now, scheduled down to the half-hour with classes and extracurricular activities. They come home at the end of the day as tired as grown-ups. I was a member of the latchkey generation and had three hours of totally unstructured, largely unsupervised time every afternoon, time I used to do everything from surfing the World Book Encyclopedia to making animated films to getting together with friends in the woods to chuck dirt clods directly into one another’s eyes, all of which provided me with important skills and insights that remain valuable to this day. Those free hours became the model for how I wanted to live the rest of my life.</p>
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<p>The present hysteria is not a necessary or inevitable condition of life; it’s something we’ve chosen, if only by our acquiescence to it. Not long ago I Skyped with a friend who was driven out of the city by high rent and now has an artist’s residency in a small town in the south of France. She described herself as happy and relaxed for the first time in years. She still gets her work done, but it doesn’t consume her entire day and brain. She says it feels like college — she has a big circle of friends who all go out to the cafe together every night. She has a boyfriend again. (She once ruefully summarized dating in New York: “Everyone’s too busy and everyone thinks they can do better.”) What she had mistakenly assumed was her personality — driven, cranky, anxious and sad — turned out to be a deformative effect of her environment. It’s not as if any of us wants to live like this, any more than any one person wants to be part of a traffic jam or stadium trampling or the hierarchy of cruelty in high school — it’s something we collectively force one another to do.</p>
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Our frantic days are really just a hedge against emptiness.<br />
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<p>Busyness serves as a kind of existential reassurance, a hedge against emptiness; obviously your life cannot possibly be silly or trivial or meaningless if you are so busy, completely booked, in demand every hour of the day. I once knew a woman who interned at a magazine where she wasn’t allowed to take lunch hours out, lest she be urgently needed for some reason. This was an entertainment magazine whose raison d’être was obviated when “menu” buttons appeared on remotes, so it’s hard to see this pretense of indispensability as anything other than a form of institutional self-delusion. More and more people in this country no longer make or do anything tangible; if your job wasn’t performed by a cat or a boa constrictor in a Richard Scarry book I’m not sure I believe it’s necessary. I can’t help but wonder whether all this histrionic exhaustion isn’t a way of covering up the fact that most of what we do doesn’t matter.</p>
<p></p>
<p>I am not busy. I am the laziest ambitious person I know. Like most writers, I feel like a reprobate who does not deserve to live on any day that I do not write, but I also feel that four or five hours is enough to earn my stay on the planet for one more day. On the best ordinary days of my life, I write in the morning, go for a long bike ride and run errands in the afternoon, and in the evening I see friends, read or watch a movie. This, it seems to me, is a sane and pleasant pace for a day. And if you call me up and ask whether I won’t maybe blow off work and check out the new American Wing at the Met or ogle girls in Central Park or just drink chilled pink minty cocktails all day long, I will say, what time?</p>
<p></p>
<p>But just in the last few months, I’ve insidiously started, because of professional obligations, to become busy. For the first time I was able to tell people, with a straight face, that I was “too busy” to do this or that thing they wanted me to do. I could see why people enjoy this complaint; it makes you feel important, sought-after and put-upon. Except that I hate actually being busy. Every morning my in-box was full of e-mails asking me to do things I did not want to do or presenting me with problems that I now had to solve. It got more and more intolerable until finally I fled town to the Undisclosed Location from which I’m writing this.</p>
<p></p>
<p>Here I am largely unmolested by obligations. There is no TV. To check e-mail I have to drive to the library. I go a week at a time without seeing anyone I know. I’ve remembered about buttercups, stink bugs and the stars. I read. And I’m finally getting some real writing done for the first time in months. It’s hard to find anything to say about life without immersing yourself in the world, but it’s also just about impossible to figure out what it might be, or how best to say it, without getting the hell out of it again.</p>
<p></p>
<p>Idleness is not just a vacation, an indulgence or a vice; it is as indispensable to the brain as vitamin D is to the body, and deprived of it we suffer a mental affliction as disfiguring as rickets. The space and quiet that idleness provides is a necessary condition for standing back from life and seeing it whole, for making unexpected connections and waiting for the wild summer lightning strikes of inspiration — it is, paradoxically, necessary to getting any work done. “Idle dreaming is often of the essence of what we do,” wrote Thomas Pynchon in his essay on sloth. Archimedes’ “Eureka” in the bath, Newton’s apple, Jekyll & Hyde and the benzene ring: history is full of stories of inspirations that come in idle moments and dreams. It almost makes you wonder whether loafers, goldbricks and no-accounts aren’t responsible for more of the world’s great ideas, inventions and masterpieces than the hardworking.</p>
<p></p>
<p>“The goal of the future is full unemployment, so we can play. That’s why we have to destroy the present politico-economic system.” This may sound like the pronouncement of some bong-smoking anarchist, but it was actually Arthur C. Clarke, who found time between scuba diving and pinball games to write “Childhood’s End” and think up communications satellites. My old colleague Ted Rall recently wrote a column proposing that we divorce income from work and give each citizen a guaranteed paycheck, which sounds like the kind of lunatic notion that’ll be considered a basic human right in about a century, like abolition, universal suffrage and eight-hour workdays. The Puritans turned work into a virtue, evidently forgetting that God invented it as a punishment.</p>
<p></p>
<p>Perhaps the world would soon slide to ruin if everyone behaved as I do. But I would suggest that an ideal human life lies somewhere between my own defiant indolence and the rest of the world’s endless frenetic hustle. My role is just to be a bad influence, the kid standing outside the classroom window making faces at you at your desk, urging you to just this once make some excuse and get out of there, come outside and play. My own resolute idleness has mostly been a luxury rather than a virtue, but I did make a conscious decision, a long time ago, to choose time over money, since I’ve always understood that the best investment of my limited time on earth was to spend it with people I love. I suppose it’s possible I’ll lie on my deathbed regretting that I didn’t work harder and say everything I had to say, but I think what I’ll really wish is that I could have one more beer with Chris, another long talk with Megan, one last good hard laugh with Boyd. Life is too short to be busy.</p>
<p></p>
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<div class="w75 left">
<img src="http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2009/03/30/opinion/kreider.jpg" alt="Author photo"><br />
</div>
<p><em>Tim Kreider is the author of “<a href="http://books.simonandschuster.com/We-Learn-Nothing/Tim-Kreider/9781439198704">We Learn Nothing</a>,” a collection of essays and cartoons. His cartoon, “The Pain — When Will It End?” has been collected in three books by Fantagraphics.</em></p>
<p></p>
<p><em>Source: <a href="http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/06/30/the-busy-trap/?_r=0">http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/06/30/the-busy-trap/?_r=0</a></em></p>How To Fail At Almost Everything And Still Win Bigtag:bodymindheartspirit.ning.com,2013-12-10:505106:BlogPost:371492013-12-10T12:00:00.000ZBijay Rauthttp://bodymindheartspirit.ning.com/profile/bijayraut
<blockquote><p style="text-align: center;">"Most people aren’t lucky enough to have a flexible schedule. I didn’t have one either for the first sixteen years of my corporate life. So I did the next best thing by <strong>going to bed early and getting up at 4: 00 A.M. to do my creative side projects.</strong> One of those projects became the sketches for Dilbert."</p>
<p style="text-align: center;">- Scott Adams</p>
</blockquote>
<blockquote><p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Energy, not…</strong></p>
</blockquote>
<blockquote><p style="text-align: center;">"Most people aren’t lucky enough to have a flexible schedule. I didn’t have one either for the first sixteen years of my corporate life. So I did the next best thing by <strong>going to bed early and getting up at 4: 00 A.M. to do my creative side projects.</strong> One of those projects became the sketches for Dilbert."</p>
<p style="text-align: center;">- Scott Adams</p>
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<blockquote><p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Energy, not time, is the fundamental currency of high performance.</strong></p>
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<p><img class="aligncenter" title="how-to-fail-at-almost-everything-and-still-win-big" alt="how-to-fail-at-almost-everything-and-still-win-big" src="http://bakadesuyo.bakadesuyo.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/how-to-fail-at-almost-everything-and-still-win-big.jpg" width="500" height="200"/></p>
<p></p>
<div class="entry-content"><p>Scott Adams created a multimillion dollar empire. That empire is more commonly known as”<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0740777351/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0740777351&linkCode=as2&tag=barking-20" target="_blank">Dilbert</a>.”</p>
<p>I mentioned him on this blog before because he gave some of the simplest, most profound advice for getting along with people that I’ve ever heard:</p>
<blockquote><p><a href="http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2012/08/are-you-a-conversational-narcissist/" target="_blank">Be brief and say something positive.</a></p>
</blockquote>
<p></p>
<p>If you’ve read <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0740777351/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0740777351&linkCode=as2&tag=barking-20" target="_blank">Dilbert</a>, you know Adams understands a great deal about human nature.</p>
<p>(Then again I probably relate more to Calvin and Hobbes than most of the western canon.)</p>
<p></p>
<p><strong>His new book, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00COOFBA4/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00COOFBA4&linkCode=as2&tag=barking-20" target="_blank">How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big: Kind of the Story of My Life</a>, has a number of useful insights about life.</strong></p>
<p></p>
<p><strong>And what’s really fascinating is they line up with a lot of the research I’ve posted about before.</strong></p>
<p></p>
<p>Here are 5 great life lessons he gives and the research I’ve posted that backs them up:</p>
<p> </p>
<h2>Have A System, Not A Goal</h2>
<p>This is such a powerful distinction. <strong>Losing 20lbs is a goal, eating right is a system.</strong> Which one do you think provides a better path to success?</p>
<p>Via <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00COOFBA4/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00COOFBA4&linkCode=as2&tag=barking-20" target="_blank">How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big: Kind of the Story of My Life</a>:</p>
<blockquote><p><strong>…one should have a system instead of a goal.</strong> The system-versus-goals model can be applied to most human endeavors. <strong>In the world of dieting, losing twenty pounds is a goal, but eating right is a system.</strong> In the exercise realm, running a marathon in under four hours is a goal, but exercising daily is a system. In business, making a million dollars is a goal, but being a serial entrepreneur is a system.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>A system provides a method and requires activity on a regular basis. That’s how successful people operate.</p>
<p>Via <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00COOFBA4/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00COOFBA4&linkCode=as2&tag=barking-20" target="_blank">How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big: Kind of the Story of My Life</a>:</p>
<blockquote><p>For our purposes, let’s agree that <strong>goals are a reach-it-and-be-done situation, whereas a system is something you do on a regular basis with a reasonable expectation that doing so will get you to a better place in your life. Systems have no deadlines</strong>, and on any given day you probably can’t tell if they’re moving you in the right direction. <strong>My proposition is that if you study people who succeed, you will see that most of them follow systems, not goals…</strong></p>
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<p>Oliver Burkeman pointed out research that made a very similar distinction in <a href="http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2013/11/the-art-of-negative-thinking/" target="_blank">my interview with him</a>:</p>
<blockquote><p><strong>The best thing to do is to set process goals rather than outcome goals. Stop telling yourself you’re going to write the great American novel, and tell yourself you’re going to do 500 words a day. </strong>Step back from focusing on the outcome and focus on process.</p>
</blockquote>
<p> </p>
<h2>Success Creates Passion More Than Passion Creates Success</h2>
<p>Many people are passionate about things but don’t follow through. Passion is great — but it’s not everything.</p>
<p>Via <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00COOFBA4/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00COOFBA4&linkCode=as2&tag=barking-20" target="_blank">How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big: Kind of the Story of My Life</a>:</p>
<blockquote><p><strong>…my boss taught us that you should never make a loan to someone who is following his passion.</strong> For example, you don’t want to give money to a sports enthusiast who is starting a sports store to pursue his passion for all things sporty. That guy is a bad bet, passion and all. He’s in business for the wrong reason. <strong>My boss, who had been a commercial lender for over thirty years, said the best loan customer is one who has no passion whatsoever, just a desire to work hard at something that looks good on a spreadsheet…</strong> <strong>Passionate people who fail don’t get a chance to offer their advice to the rest of us…</strong></p>
</blockquote>
<p>Dilbert didn’t start out as a passion project. Adams describes it as another get-rich-quick scheme he had.</p>
<p>But once it became successful he <em>developed</em> passion for it.</p>
<p>Via <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00COOFBA4/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00COOFBA4&linkCode=as2&tag=barking-20" target="_blank">How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big: Kind of the Story of My Life</a>:</p>
<blockquote><p>…<strong>Dilbert started out as just one of many get-rich schemes I was willing to try.</strong> When it started to look as if it might be a success, my passion for cartooning increased because I realized it could be my golden ticket. In hindsight, it looks as if the projects I was most passionate about were also the ones that worked. But objectively, my passion level moved with my success. <strong>Success caused passion more than passion caused success. </strong></p>
</blockquote>
<p>This sounds a lot like <a href="http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2013/04/interview-author-cal-newport-on-how-you-can-become-an-expert-and-why-you-should-not-follow-your-passion/" target="_blank">what Georgetown professor Cal Newport said</a> in our interview:</p>
<blockquote><p><b>I set out to research a simple question: <i>How do people end up loving what they do? </i></b>If you ask people, the most common answer you’ll get is, “<i>They followed their passion</i>.” So I went out and researched: “<em>Is this true?</em>” <b>From what I found, “Follow your passion” is terrible advice… </b>My advice is to abandon the passion mindset which asks “<em>What does this job offer me? Am I happy with this job? Is it giving me everything I want?</em>” Shift from that mindset to Steve Martin’s mindset, which is “<em>What am I offering the world? How valuable am I? </em><strong><em>Am I really not that valuable? If I’m not that valuable, then I shouldn’t expect things in my working life. How can I get better?”</em></strong></p>
</blockquote>
<p> </p>
<h2>Focus On Energy, Not Time</h2>
<p><strong>Scott Adams determines what activities to engage in by his energy level.</strong> To be creative he needs peak energy, so he draws Dilbert in the morning.</p>
<p>By the afternoon, his brain is fuzzy. That’s a good time for busy work.</p>
<p>Via <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00COOFBA4/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00COOFBA4&linkCode=as2&tag=barking-20" target="_blank">How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big: Kind of the Story of My Life</a>:</p>
<blockquote><p><strong>The way I approach the problem of multiple priorities is by focusing on just one main metric: my energy. I make choices that maximize my personal energy because that makes it easier to manage all of the other priorities.</strong></p>
<p><strong>One of the most important tricks for maximizing your productivity involves matching your mental state to the task… </strong><strong>At 6: 00 A.M. I’m a creator, and by 2: 00 P.M. I’m a copier… It’s the perfect match of my energy level with a mindless task.</strong></p>
</blockquote>
<p>How can you do this if you’re not a rich and famous cartoonist? <strong><a href="http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2013/10/productivity-ninja/" target="_blank">Wake up early to work on your own projects first</a>.</strong></p>
<p>Via <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00COOFBA4/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00COOFBA4&linkCode=as2&tag=barking-20" target="_blank">How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big: Kind of the Story of My Life</a>:</p>
<blockquote><p>Most people aren’t lucky enough to have a flexible schedule. I didn’t have one either for the first sixteen years of my corporate life. So I did the next best thing by <strong>going to bed early and getting up at 4: 00 A.M. to do my creative side projects.</strong> One of those projects became the sketches for Dilbert.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Sounds like my main takeaway from <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0743226755/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0743226755&linkCode=as2&tag=spacforrent-20" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">The Power of Full Engagement</a>:</p>
<blockquote><p><strong>Energy, not time, is the fundamental currency of high performance.</strong></p>
</blockquote>
<p> </p>
<h2>Fake It Until You Make It</h2>
<p><strong>How do you overcome shyness? Out and out acting.</strong></p>
<p>Via <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00COOFBA4/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00COOFBA4&linkCode=as2&tag=barking-20" target="_blank">How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big: Kind of the Story of My Life</a>:</p>
<blockquote><p>I credit one of my college friends with teaching me <strong>the secret of overcoming shyness by imagining you are acting instead of interacting. And by that I mean literally acting. It turns out that a shy person can act like someone else more easily than he can act like himself.</strong> That makes some sense because shyness is caused by an internal feeling that you are not worthy to be in the conversation. <strong>Acting like someone else gets you out of that way of thinking.</strong> When I fake my way past my natural shyness, I like to imagine a specific confident person I know well.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>And what are other tips to conversational expertise? <strong>Focus on making others feel good and act interested (even if you’re not.)</strong></p>
<p>Via <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00COOFBA4/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00COOFBA4&linkCode=as2&tag=barking-20" target="_blank">How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big: Kind of the Story of My Life</a>:</p>
<blockquote><p><strong>Your job as a conversationalist is to keep asking questions and keep looking for something you have in common with the stranger, or something that interests you enough to wade into the topic… </strong><strong>The point of conversation is to make the other person feel good.</strong></p>
<p><strong>So how do you get a stranger to like you? It’s simple, actually. It starts by smiling and keeping your body language open. After that, just ask questions and listen as if you cared, all the while looking for common interests.</strong>Everyone likes to talk about his or her own life, and everyone appreciates a sympathetic listener. Eventually, if you discover some common interests, you’ll feel a connection without any effort.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>And scientific research on “<a href="http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2013/03/fake-it-until-you-make-it/" target="_blank">fake it until you make it</a>“ agrees.</p>
<p></p>
<p>In <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0061QAS3G/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B0061QAS3G&linkCode=as2&tag=spacforrent-20">The As If Principle</a>, Richard Wiseman shows how <a href="http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2012/04/is-improving-your-life-as-easy-as-changing-ho/">your actions might determine your feelings</a>.</p>
<p></p>
<p><strong>Researchers told people to smile. What happened? They felt happier.</strong></p>
<p>Via <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0061QAS3G/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B0061QAS3G&linkCode=as2&tag=spacforrent-20">The As If Principle: The Radically New Approach to Changing Your Life</a>:</p>
<blockquote><p>More than 26,000 people responded. All of the participants were randomly assigned to one of a handful of groups and asked to carry out various exercises designed to make them happier… When it came to increasing happiness, <strong>those altering their facial expressions came out on top of the class</strong>— powerful evidence that the As If principle can generate emotions outside the laboratory and that such feelings are long-lasting and powerful.</p>
<p> </p>
</blockquote>
<p><img class="aligncenter" title="how-to-fail-at-almost-everything-and-still-win-big" alt="how-to-fail-at-almost-everything-and-still-win-big" src="http://bakadesuyo.bakadesuyo.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/how-to-fail-at-almost-everything-and-still-win-big-1.jpg" width="500" height="200"/></p>
<h2>Increase Your Happy Thoughts Ratio</h2>
<p>Good things happen to all of us all the time. But we often fail to keep them “top of mind” and to appreciate them.</p>
<p></p>
<p><strong>Scott Adams recommends making an effort to increase the number of times you think about the positive things.</strong></p>
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<p>Via <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00COOFBA4/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00COOFBA4&linkCode=as2&tag=barking-20" target="_blank">How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big: Kind of the Story of My Life</a>:</p>
<blockquote><p><strong>A simple trick you might try involves increasing your ratio of happy thoughts to disturbing thoughts.</strong></p>
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<p>This lines up perfectly with <a href="http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2013/09/how-to-live-a-happy-life/" target="_blank">Seligman’s 3 blessings exercise</a> — the most powerful happiness booster out there.</p>
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<p>Via <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1439190763/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=spacforrent-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=1439190763" target="_blank">Flourish: A Visionary New Understanding of Happiness and Well-being</a>:</p>
<blockquote><p><strong>Every night for the next week, set aside ten minutes before you go to sleep. Write down three things that went well today and why they went well</strong>…<strong>Writing about why the positive events in your life happened may seem awkward at first, but please stick with it for one week. It will get easier. The odds are that you will be less depressed, happier, and addicted to this exercise six months from now.</strong></p>
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<p>Source: <a href="http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2013/12/how-to-fail-at-almost-everything-and-still-win-big/">http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2013/12/how-to-fail-at-almost-everything-and-still-win-big/</a></p>
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