Acceptance means, among other things, acknowledging the reality of situations – but it isn’t the end of the story. Acceptance is creative. It opens the door to possibilities. Often acceptance tells us what to do next and can even lead […]
Painful emotions often pass by in a fairly short time if you devote your attention to something else in the moment. This isn’t always true, of course, but it’s true often enough to be useful. Giving energy to the demons […]
Sometimes yes, sometimes no. That’s an attitude I really like from a Japanese mindfulness based approach. called constructive living. Sometimes yes, sometimes no Are you successful? Sometimes yes, sometimes no. Are you a happy person? Sometimes yes, sometimes no. Are […]
Most of us are willing to extend a helping hand to other people. But very often we’re really reluctant to ask for help ourselves. Two kinds of people? As the author Brené Brown writes in Gifts of Imperfection, it’s as […]
We often think of mindfulness as being about the ‘now,’ getting into the ‘now’ maintaining awareness of the ‘now’ as best we can. But mindfulness also has a lot to do with the future. Distressing moments, calm moments For instance, […]
Know your purpose, know your feelings, do what needs to be done. An anti-anxiety therapy In that formula, a Japanese psychiatrist, Dr. Shoma Morita, summed up his anti-anxiety therapy a century ago. It’s a very simple formula, but many people […]
Sometimes when we get caught up in thoughts, we can actually fail to see our choices. Around in circles That’s because we go around and around in circles, ruminating, often on things that are negative or scary. It then becomes […]
We all have flaws and despite our efforts to get rid of them we usually go on having flaws. They’re not always the same flaws though often they are. Credit for what worked But we’ve also had successes in our […]
Gladness liberates the mind, or so the Buddha is supposed to have said. It liberates the mind from rumination and negativity during the time that you are feeling glad. What do I feel glad about? So it’s a good practice […]
“While this may sound passive to our action-oriented ears, the ability to rest comfortably in the present moment regardless of its imperfections is the foundation of all true happiness.” I really like this quote from Sharon Salzberg’s book, Real Happiness […]
