1: Introduction Can you think of an instance when someone deeply harmed you? This can be a friend who broke your trust, a loved one who disappointed you, or a co-worker who undercut your efforts. In these situations, forgiveness may appear to be an impossible task. Have you ever thought about the transformational power of forgiveness? In this blog post, you will learn about the powerful impact forgiveness can have on your live, as well as the great freedom and inner peace it provides. 2: What is Forgiveness Forgiveness is often seen as an act of weakness. However, this is a skill that only the strongest and most mature people possess. Forgiveness can liberate you from a constant anger towards a person and can cure relationships. As Buddha once said: “ Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one who gets burned .”. You can better understand this quote with an example: Imagine your best friend broke your trust by t...
1: Introduction
2: The Challenge of Overstimulation
Let me give you a few examples of how we overstimulate
ourselves in today’s society. If you are walking for 5 minutes, do you put
earbuds in to listen to music? If you are going to eat alone, do you watch a
video simultaneously? If you sit in public transport, are you scrolling through
social media?
You could describe this whole blog post in 1 sentence: “By
having a peacefull mind, the reward system (pleasure) will be activated faster
than with a chaotic mind that has too much stimulation.”
3: Methods
There are 3 main methods according to the writer that makes
it possible to experience pleasure on demand. These are all methods that can be
done with meditation. Before you click away, meditation can be started very
gently. It is possible to do this while walking. By simply focussing on your
breaths while walking, you are doing walking meditation.
The first method is called loving kindness. This is
the act of wishing that other people are happy. By focussing on your breaths
and wishing that family or friends of you are happy, you will experience a
sense of joy in you. This is because humans are social creatures and we are
happy when others are happy. The author also explains a method called compassion.
This is a method that lets you also experience the suffering of others and then
wishing they don’t have it. But I don’t advise you to practise this because it
can be hard to experience this without feeling horrible.
The second method is called mindfull eating. This
means that you are fully aware when eating. If you eat without any stimulation,
I can garantue you that you will experience flavors more intensely. By doing
this and simultaneously smiling while eating, you will feel a sense of peace.
If you want to know more about how smiling can affect your mood, I advise you
to read my previous blog post about the Power of Purposefull Smiling. If you
want to start doing this, I advise you to just eat the first 3 bites mindfully
as eating a whole meal mindfully will probably not work if you are used to
watch a video while eating.
The final method is called equanimity. Equanimity is
the act of experience physical pain and emotions without changing your mood.
This may seem contradictory at first because if you experience angry emotions,
how can you stay calm. I’ll say it beforehand: this isn’t easy indeed. It is by
sensing the anger in you and noticing how this emotional pain translates into
physical pain, that you can focus on the physical pain instead. It is important
to just notice this and not judging it. For example, you might feel angry, then
you will focus on the pain in your stomach that is caused by this. It is
crucial to just observe pain in your stomach and not judge it. It is nor good
nor bad.
4: Hapiness
Hapiness can be a complicated subject because if you focus
on being happy, you will only be less happy. This is a weird phenomen in the
relation between effort and result. With simple activities such as producing
boxes in a magazine, if you double your effort, you will create twice as many
boxes. With more complex activities such as friendships, there are diminishing
returns. If you have 2 more friends, you can be much happier. But having 4 more
friends instead of 2, will not increase your hapiness much. Lastly, with
psychological processes like sleeping, the more effort you put into it, the
less likely you will be to fall asleep. The same is true for hapiness.
Meditation can help with “finding” hapiness by the methods
mentionned above. I set “finding” between quotation marks because hapiness
is always present, you just have to remove all the shit in your life to
feel this hapiness. I know this is easier said than done but it is by letting
go as illustrated with the relationship between effort and result, you will
“find” hapiness.
5: Conclusion
I want you to keep in mind that by
having a peacefull mind, the reward system (pleasure) will be activated faster
than with a chaotic mind that has too much stimulation. We can access our
innate capacity for happiness and pleasure by practicing loving kindness,
mindful eating, and serenity. We can nurture a calm mind and more easily engage
our reward system for pleasure by letting go of incessant overstimulation and
focusing on the present moment.
6: Your Next Steps
1. Walking meditation: Take a few moments today to
engage in walking meditation. Find a quiet place to walk, focus on your breath,
and let your steps become a rhythmic movement. Allow yourself to be fully
present, noticing the sensations in your body and the environment around you.
Embrace this simple practice as a way to reconnect with yourself and cultivate
a sense of inner peace. (60 seconds)
2. Mindfull eating: During your next meal, choose to
eat your first 3 bites mindfully. Set aside any distractions such as screens or
reading materials. Instead, bring your full attention to the food in front of
you. Take a moment to appreciate the aroma, the colors, and the textures. (5
seconds)
3. Stay Connected: Click the "About Me" section on the right side
of the page and hit the Pinterest button. By doing this simple action,
you'll be able to follow and receive updates on my future posts about personal
development. Staying informed and motivated is a valuable investment in your
growth and well-being, and it only takes a mere 10 seconds of your time. (10 seconds)
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