how to be aware in an unaware world

Tag: headspace

Destiny
You alone can truly determine your destiny. But there is no need to emphasize such a remark. The question posed here is what factors determine our destiny and are those factors controllable?
Destiny is defined as the events that will happen to a particular person or thing in the future.
Destiny simply is your future.
Destiny is not a straight path leading to a single result in the future, it’s an ever-changing series of tracks that is a result of our choices.
It’s a beautiful yet difficult thing. We can choose our destiny, but we cannot choose our fate. That feeling that we are supposed to do something grand or minuscule is our destiny.
How do we live in a way that we are content with whatever outcome arises, whether pleasant or unpleasant?
Since awareness precedes contentment, noting the present would lead to a more content mind.
Contentment can be defined as a state of happiness and satisfaction
Getting off track for a second, we’re going to try a quick noting technique.
Noting can either be spoken out loud or in your head. We will focus on the five senses that make up our human experience (I wonder what technology the future holds in store).
Touch: Can you feel the gentle force of gravity? What about the temperature?
Sound: What noises imbibe your attention? Can you hear your thoughts and ideas?
Smell: Take a deep breath through the nose. Can you smell even the faintest of smells?
Taste: Move your tongue around in your mouth. Can you taste anything in particular?
Sight: Opening your eyes, what immediately beckons your attention? How does the light bounce off objects? What about any movement?
Close your eyes for a few moments and try this on your own!
It’s a beautiful thing to notice the present isn’t it? The world around us moves as we remain still. People are wrapped up in ever-busy lives as we pause, even for a few minutes to do nothing at all.
Practicing noting helps us see our destiny, and helps us answer that burning question of why we were here.
Where we’ll go and what we’ll achieve is all happening now, in the present. Each small choice decides who we will be in ten years.
Our destiny is constructed by the way we interact with others. Our interactions are immensely important as they are the growing branches of our tree of destiny.
We must also have a guide to begin navigating this life if we hope to venture out on our own.
Therefore, I believe destiny is intertwined with friendship and community, a full understanding of our destiny requires the support of others.
Simply put, we would not be where we are, who we are, or why we are the way we are without those who made pivotal impressions in our lives. This is a cue to gratitude. It is our destiny.
Three Links
1. Fate vs. Destiny (read)
2. Staying engaged (listen)
3. How to change your genetic destiny (watch)
Thank you for your time and attention in reading this post. It is a rare gift. Feel free to leave a comment or share this post. You can also buy me a coffee if you feel so inclined!
June 19, 2023
Headspace
“The only way of putting the mind at ease is to let go of the desire to want it to be different.”
– Andy Puddicombe

Ever since I heard this quote after a guided meditation on the influential meditation app, Headspace, my life has changed in the greatest, grandest, and tiniest ways.

I even remember the day. I was sitting on a couch in the basement of a family friend’s home in Highlands Ranch, Colorado on my phone mindlessly scrolling through the app store. I paused, as many do, on the words Meditation, Mindfulness, and Headspace strung together next to an orange ball that is the Headspace logo.

Out of instinct I downloaded the app and tried the free ten-day introduction to meditation and sat with the most curious mind.

I think I meditated every day that entire month, trying a new meditation course back to back. Here was a former monk and meditation guide talking about some really difficult emotions and yet conveying the surest ability to work through them with meditation.

The longer I listened to his voice, the more I practiced, and the more I practiced, the more sure I became in my ability to work through my own emotions.

It was so beautiful to know that such a simple yet profound thing existed and that the culmination of all this guy’s knowledge and experience was accessible right there on my phone.
I continued to meditate almost every day for eight years now. It was as if I had found the one thing I could do so naturally and made a strong habit out of it.
Headspace has tools to help everyone from all walks of life and circumstances find meditation and turn it into a daily practice. Andy reminds listeners that mediation is the practice of a lifetime, and that results can be seen after the first exercise, but that natural inclination to be mindful throughout the entire day comes after years of consistent practice.
The app has now expanded to include more than just a guided morning meditation, but also sleep, music, video, animations, and even therapy sections.

Whereas I was once easily anxious, worried, forgetful, and unfocused, I slowly tuned into my feelings, sensations, and thoughts, seeing them for the first time at a distance rather than as they occurred.

I felt as if I gained a superpower, and others in my life noticed too. They saw I was more aware, and as a result more mindful of my words and actions.

Naturally, I began helping my family and friends more. I started noticing where to love (through acts of service and words of affirmation).

The lessons Andy taught have stuck with me for all these years. And although he doesn’t even know me (yet), he has profoundly changed my life.

I have also come to embrace Andy’s philosophy: that the world is impermanent, constantly changing, moving, and shifting over time.

And when we step back to see this change at even the slightest distance, we gain a natural perspective of kindness and compassion.

This is, after all, the essence of mindfulness: to be present in an open, and kind way.

And meditation is, after all, the practice of pausing to recognize the present in an open and kind way.

I encourage you to pause, even if it’s for five minutes.

Close your eyes and notice the world around you.

What do you hear, smell, taste, and feel? How do they make you feel? Where does the mind wander? What is your Headspace like?

Three Links
Thank you for your time and attention in reading this post. It is a rare gift. Feel free to leave a comment or share too. You can also buy me a coffee here if you feel so inclined!
May 15, 2023
Meditation
According to the Oxford Dictionary, to meditate is to think deeply or focus one’s mind for some time, in silence or with the aid of chanting, for religious or spiritual purposes, or as a method of relaxation.

In my own words, to meditate is to think deeply or carefully.

Meditation is not the same as mindfulness. Meditation is one of the best ways to practice mindfulness, but it is just one of many practices that aid in the pursuit of a more mindful self.

Another way to practice meditation is in the form of written or spoken discourse expressing considered thoughts on a subject (like voice memos and journaling).

The more common technique of sitting in observance with or without a guide is just one of many ways to meditate.

What comes to mind when you think of meditation?

For a long time, I pictured a monk figure dressed in deep maroon and gold robes sitting cross-legged on a mountain, hands on his knees, finger, and thumb touching on each hand, humming rhythmically, the wind gently flowing, and the sun slowly rising.

Though this may certainly be the case somewhere in the world, there is no defined description of meditation, which is what makes it so beautiful.

Simply pondering one’s thoughts is as meditative as sitting crosslegged on a mountaintop top humming steadily to the wind.

Once we allow ourselves the freedom to define meditation in our terms, then we can truly benefit from the practice.

For me, meditation was defined during some challenging years in college. I was often stressed and busy with my work and school load, and my anxiety held a viper grip on me. Deep down, I was anxious, fearful, and worried about so much.

I couldn’t get out of my head, and I was searching for something.

That something was peace of mind, though I didn’t know it at the time. Isn’t it strange how the things we seek in life end up finding us just when we need them?

Meditation found me, in the form of an app on a phone called Headspace.

After downloading the app, sometime in the summer of 2015, and sitting down for my very first guided meditation, my life began to change.

Quite literally. The moment was so profound that I can recall it in my mind’s eye so vividly it gives me chills.

What changed, or began to change, was how I viewed my mind.

Slowly but surely, I learned and chose to let thoughts go that would otherwise freeload in my mind, taking up much precious space.

I also began to see things I disregarded before. It was like I was waking up from a deep, unconscious dream where moments were clear but the majority was murky.

What I found was so simple it sounds ridiculous. What I found was attention.

But through attention, I also found calamity.

And through calamity, I finally let go of my anxiety, my fear, and my worry.

And with time, I found peace of mind.

The meditation that I have learned on that summer night and replayed at least a thousand times is described below.

Feel free to read through the steps and attempt them on your own.
1. Get in a comfortable, upright position, either sitting in a chair, on the couch, or cross-legged on the floor.
2. Begin with your eyes open, breathing deeply, and audibly, and noticing your immediate environment.
3. Slowly closing your eyes, take a deep breath, and let it all go.
4. Feel the subtle weight of gravity on your body, the hands on your legs, and your feet on the ground.
5. Listen to the sounds around you, not getting caught up in them, but letting them come and go.
6. Starting at the top of the head, scan down the body, slowly, and deliberately, noticing any physical comfort or discomfort.
7. As you scan down to the feet, you may notice the rising and falling sensation of the breath.
8. Take note of your breathing, beginning to count them if desired: 1 with the in-breath, 2 with the out-breath, all the way to the count of 10, repeating for a few minutes.
9. Now let the mind be completely free. If it’s been wanting to think, let it think at this time.
10. And now bring the attention back to the immediate environment.
11. Notice again the subtle weight of gravity on the body, the hands on your legs, and feet on the ground.
12. Slowly open your eyes, take a deep breath, and let it all go.
Congratulations on pausing for a few minutes and taking care of your mind! Meditation is a journey, and no matter where you are or when you begin, you are able.
Three More Things:
1. What is Meditation – Headspace (read)
2. 10% Happier Podcast (listen)
3. The Neuroscience of Mindfulness (watch)
Thank you for your time and attention in reading this post. It is a rare gift. Feel free to leave a comment or share this post. You can also buy me a coffee if you feel so inclined!
December 29, 2022