Meditating To Get More Out Of Life

Would you like to improve your life in only 15 minutes every day? Read my latest article called Meditating To Get More Out Of Life, at Make the World Move.

In line with this article I have decided to set myself a 30 day challenge. As you will read, I have started and stopped a regular meditation practice over the years. As of today, I will set myself a goal to practice each day for 30 days. I am interested to see how I feel at the end of the month, and how my life and decision making processes may have changed.

Anyone want to join me?

Jess xx

Loving Your Life

Does life feel harder than it should? In Chopra’s fourth law, “The Law of Least Effort,” he explains how you can “do less and accomplish more.”

By looking at Nature, Chopra encourages us to see how things can occur effortlessly. He explains that flowers don’t try to bloom, they just do, and fish don’t learn to swim, they just swim. In the same way, when you are operating out of your true Self, in harmony with your true nature, things become effortless…you can begin to “do less and accomplish more.”

So what does it mean to operate out of your true Self and to be in harmony with your true nature?

I’ve always enjoyed writing and playing with words and ideas. I loved university and really enjoyed my final year writing a thesis. One day I was speaking with a friend who has been a farmer all his working life. He said he would hate doing what I do. He cringes even having to write a letter or email.

When I think about the life of a farmer - early mornings, physical labour, long days - I also cringe. I know I would struggle to enjoy being a farmer and I know my friend would struggle to be a writer. It’s a beautiful reminder of how wonderful it is that we’re all different. It’s also a stark reminder that we find some things more effortless than others.

The secret to living a happy and healthy life is to do more of what you find effortless and enjoyable. This is what Chopra is referring to when he says you should live from your true Self. As 13^th Century Persian poet, Rumi explains, “Everyone has been made for some particular work, and the desire for that work has been put in every heart.”

Have you, or are you doing things in your life that are going against your true Self, going against your grain? When you spend your life doing things that aren’t quite right for you, life begins to feel like you are pushing a wheel barrow of wet cement up a hill.

Sometimes you have to do things out of necessity, be it for financial reasons, family commitments or a multitude of other reasons. Living too far outside of what you would like to be doing, however, can be a damaging way to live. Not only do you begin to lose a sense of who you are and what you love, but you become more stressed and unhappy, which can lead to serious health issues.

If you are unable to work in a career that supports you, then it becomes even more important to do things during your free time that help you stay connected with what you love. When you do things you love, your body responds to this and your stress levels decrease and you begin to feel calmer and happier.

As Johnny Carson, the host of The Tonight Show said, “Never continue in a job you don’t enjoy. If you’re happy in what you’re doing, you’ll like yourself, you’ll have inner peace. And if you have that, along with physical health, you will have had more success than you could possibly have imagined.”

Are there things in your life you could be doing that could bring you more joy? Could you consider a career change that might be more fulfilling?

Jess xx

Karma: 5 Life Lessons

Do you ever wonder, ‘How did my life get to this place?’ In Deepak Chopra’s third Spiritual Law of Success - “The Law of ‘Karma’ or Cause and Effect” – he explores how the choices you make determine the life you live, and how you can learn to make wiser decisions. 

Lesson One: You Are Responsible For Your Life

Put simply, karma is the idea that the decisions you make have consequences; consequences that can be either positive or negative. Good karma is a result of good decisions, and bad karma is a result of bad decisions. “We sow what we reap” says Chopra.

Based on this premise, he explains “Whether you like it or not, everything that is happening at this moment is a result of the choices you’ve made in the past.”

Hmm...how do you feel hearing this? Offended? Proud? Depressed? Motivated? No doubt your reaction is dependent on how you feel about your life.

Reading Chopra’s statement, my first response was defensiveness.

For those of you who don’t know my story, I was diagnosed with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) when I was 23 – five years ago. According to Chopra, having CFS is my fault. I don’t like this idea. Putting my ego aside, though, and thinking about my past, I can actually see how my life choices led to illness.

You can’t push your body to extremes and not end up with some form of sickness or illness. While I wasn’t fully aware of this as a young person, it doesn’t change the fact that choosing to live in this way resulted in CFS.

The silver lining, however, is that by being responsible for your life, you have the power to make choices which can bring positive change. How then, do you begin to make wiser choices in your life?

Lesson Two: Becoming a Conscious Choice-Maker

Modern life is full of choices. A simple stroll down the dairy aisle at the supermarket will have you choosing from around 15 styles of yoghurt. Bombarded with choice and information, it can be hard to think clearly. According to Chopra, in order to make good decisions in life you need to make conscious choices.

Living a busy life often leaves you feeling there is no time to reflect on where your life is headed. All too often you go through life making decisions automatically, without considering the consequences.

So how can you slow down long enough, to bring awareness and consciousness into the choices you make?

Lesson Three: Meditating for Mindfulness

Getting in touch with your feelings and thoughts is much easier when you meditate. Ten to fifteen minutes of daily meditation can dramatically increase your level of inner awareness.

While meditation can include sitting quietly, breathing deeply, and imaging calming scenes: there are other ways to meditate. For some, spending time in nature helps to still and calm their mind. While for others, it could be painting or cooking. Whatever is right for you, make sure you have a place or activity that slows your mind down long enough to become aware of your feelings and thoughts.

Once you have inner awareness, there are two important questions you have to ask yourself…

Lesson Four: Making Decisions for Happiness

Chopra says, “When you make a choice – any choice at all – you can ask yourself two things: First of all, “What are the consequences of this choice that I’m making?”…Secondly, “Will this choice that I’m making now bring happiness to me and to those around me?”

When asking these questions, Chopra explains that the sensations in the body provide clues to the answer. Discomfort is a sign that you have not found the right choice. Using your body and your heart’s intuition, you can begin to make decisions that better support your health and happiness.

What happens though, when you get it wrong? What happens when you experience bad karma in your life from bad decisions you have made?

Lesson Five: Turning a Negative into a Positive

Life’s biggest lesson – learn from your mistakes. By asking, “What can I learn from this experience?” and “How can I make this experience useful to my fellow human beings?” you can shift a negative situation into a positive and life-affirming experience, says Chopra. This is how you transform bad karma into good karma.

I agree whole heartedly. Once diagnosed with CFS, I chose a career as a freelance writer in the area of health and wellbeing. I aim to encourage others to live a life of balance, creativity, hope, health and happiness. In this way I have transformed a negative situation, or my bad karma, into a new lifestyle that I love.

Learning from mistakes, by looking for that hint of light within the darkness, means you can always live a life that’s fulfilling and meaningful. Of course it helps if you can learn to make decisions which bring happiness and joy in the first place. As my boyfriend always reminds me though, “It is through mistakes and failures that we learn the most.”

So tell me readers, what do you think of the idea of karma? Do you agree that you are responsible for where your life is at the moment? Have you been able to turn negatives into positives in your life? I would love to hear your thoughts and stories. Have a wonderful weekend.

Jess xx 

 

Is Less More?

Do we need as much as we think we do to be happy? Check out my latest article, 'Less is More: Creating Room for Flow and Energy' on Make The World Move;

http://www.maketheworldmove.com/less-is-more-creating-room-for-flow-and-energy-by-jessica-stead-make-the-world-move/