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Calming and tranquilizing the mind is the whole point of meditation. - Ajahn Brahm
(My commentary: people with weak impulse control should sincerely give meditation a try.) Chuck Norris is well known as a martial artist, actor, and author. His life appears to be one success after another. While that’s true, there is another aspect to his life, one of deep grief. Norris’ younger brother, Wieland, was killed in Vietnam in June of 1970. It was a devastating loss for Norris who was both an older brother and a father figure to Wieland.
Growing up, the Norris’ family struggled to get by. The father was largely absent and it meant his mother worked full time forced to leave Chuck Norris in charge of his two siblings. “Since we couldn’t afford a baby sitter and my mother and to work, I had to rush home from school every day to look after my two younger brothers.” So, when Norris received the phone call informing him that Wieland was dead, it was a crushing blow. In his book The Secret Power Within, Norris writes: “I had nothing of greater value than my brother. I would have given anything not to lose him, and there was nothing I could do to get him back. That sunny June day was the saddest day of my life.” With the passing of time, with support from family and friends, with grief work, Norris emerged from the tight grip of loss. He describes his grief journey this way: “Consolation comes in many forms, all of them meaningful and helpful to a degree, and families, even small ones, can generate enormous amounts of power support to deal with such a terrible loss. The first piercing grief eventually becomes a kind of ever-present sorrow that doesn’t seem to want to go away ever, but then it does; or, rather it grows into something else, something you know you can live with, although at the same time you know you’ll never forget.” In spite of this pain, Norris has lived a remarkable, fulfilling life. He is an inspiring example of this truth: the power of grief to disable us is temporary. There is within the human spirit a greater power, one that is able to overcome the troubles and trials of life. (feel free to re-post and/or link to your social media) Some people store grudges the way others store recipes. - Rabbi Rami Shapiro
 (public domain image from www.pixabay.com) “There are quite a number of authoritative texts in Yoga and Ayurvedic treatises that prescribe Yogic practices for pregnant ladies, both in good health and for those who are not. My own experience shows that such a practice is of considerable benefit to the mother, the unborn child and the child when born.” - T. Krishnamacharya, Essence of Yoga I just finished a workshop on Yoga and Pregnancy. It was highly informative for me as a yoga teacher and given me some great tools, poses, approaches to use for pregnant women who come to my public classes. Here are ten ways yoga definitely helps during pregnancy: 1. Yoga helps a woman's body adjust to the many changes during pregnancy. 2. Yoga strengthens the main muscles necessary for pregnancy and delivery - those of the pelvic floor, hips and abdominal muscles. 3. Yoga relieves common physical discomforts of pregnancy - lower back pain, insomnia, fatigue. 4. Yoga balances mood shifts due to hormonal changes. 5. Yoga increases pain tolerance. 6. Yoga encourages better, more efficient breathing, something which is vitally important during labor. 7. Yoga, especially in restorative poses, brings comfort to body, mind, spirit and emotions. 8. Yoga empowers women to become more in tune with their bodies and this creates greater pregnancy confidence. 9. Yoga promotes better sleep and greater restfulness. 10. Yoga builds a healthy pregnancy which, in turn, results in a healthy baby. Getting regular restful sleep is an essential key to staying healthy and vital, yet it is so
often neglected or underemphasized. There is even a tendency for people to boast about how little sleep they can get by on. In reality, a lack of restful sleep disrupts the body’s innate balance, weakens our immune system, and speeds up the aging process. - Deepak Chopra The ninth-century Zen master Chin Lee instructed, “if you meet the Buddha on the road, kill him.” In his essay “Killing the Buddha,” author and neuroscientist Sam Harris explains that in spite of the violent language, the sentence makes this invaluable point: "to turn the Buddha into a religious fetish is to miss the essence of what he taught.”
Never wrestle with the mind. When the mind is jumping and wandering much, make no violent effort to control it but rather allow it to run along for a while and exhaust its efforts.
It will take advantage of the opportunity and will jump around like an unchained monkey at first. Then it will gradually become quiet and look to you for orders. - Swami Sivananda 1. They express gratitude. When people were told to write and then personally deliver a letter of gratitude to someone who had been especially kind to them, but whom they had never thanked properly, they experienced a huge increase in happiness, according to a study at the University of Pennsylvania. Even more, that happiness boost lasted an entire month.
2. They smile more. Smiling does more than make us look happy—it makes us feel happy, too. Studies have found that smiling has provides a variety of psychological and physical benefits including: lowering stress levels, improving your mood, and helping you make more friends. Researchers believe that this is because smiling reduces stress hormones and makes you appear more approachable. 3. They forgive. Although it may be easier said than done, learning to forgive instead of holding a grudge leads to a more positive lifestyle, says David Mezzapelle, author of Contagious Optimism. “Make peace with your past so that it won’t spoil the present. Once you accomplish this, you will close those chapters and live a more positive and happy life.” 4. They write down good things which come into their lives. Those who pay attention to the positive and write down the good which comes their way tend to be happier notes psychologist Amy Przeworski, PhD. Even if it wasn’t a particularly great day, try to find something positive to say about it, she advises. “Most situations can be seen in both a positive and negative light. You just have to find the positive one and keep reminding yourself of it in order to eventually believe it.” Taking time to write down positive experiences is a way of training the brain to be more optimistic in general. And, the benefits of being a positive person extend far beyond the writing exercise. A study of Catholic nuns who journaled regularly found that those who focused on more uplifting content ended up living longer. 5. They spend time around positive people. One study reported that forty-eight percent of the women surveyed strongly agreed that they are happier when around optimistic people. Good moods are contagious, as are bad ones. Associating with positive people breeds more positivity in your own life. It’s an upward spiral rather than a downward one when spending too much time with negative individuals. (feel free to re-post and/or link to your social media) In hard times when you get distracted and reactive, stop. Breathe. Invite mindfulness. Mindfulness sees kindly, without reacting. You know how. - Jack Kornfield
Yoga is a spiritual tradition which seeks to bestow happiness and inner freedom rather than merely physical fitness and health. - Georg Feuerstein |
Victor M. Parachin ...is aVedic educator, yoga instructor, Buddhist meditation teacher and author of a dozen books. Buy his books at amazon or your local bookstore. Archives
November 2024
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