EXERCISES
The exercises listed here are experiential – practicing the exercises can directly expand our awareness; we get to see the positive power of certain attitudes and emotions, and we become more aware of the abundance and the support that surrounds us.
Practicing these exercises can instantly reveal more peace and stillness.
WATCHING THE MIND
The ‘watching the mind’ exercise is a simple exercise of observing, or noticing. It takes about a minute to do it, and yet practicing the exercise has the potential to reveal calmness, and give us some peace each time we do it.
WATCHING THE MIND (PART 2)
‘Watching the Mind Part 2’ is a further explanation to ‘Watching the Mind Part 1’
By doing this exercise, for as little as one minute a day, we start to change our relationship with thoughts. We start to see that we can make different choices. Like any exercise, there is benefit in establishing a routine. We can also do it throughout the day whenever we find things are speeding up, or we’re getting a bit stressed.
FOCUS ON THE HERE & NOW
All fear, suffering, and emotional discomfort is a function of thinking. If we were able to let go of thinking, and remain attentive to the present moment now, we would reveal peace and calm.
A useful approach to letting go of the suffering associated with thinking, is to gently focus on an object located in your proximity, and to remain gently attentive to that object. Such gentle attention has the ability to allow us to let go of thinking, and in that gentle attentiveness we can experience stillness and peace.
THE POWER OF PRAISE
At times, it seems that we very rarely receive praise, and on the other side of the coin, we seldom give praise or appreciation to the people around us.
Yet appreciating other people is such an easy thing to do. Receiving appreciation from a friend, or colleague, has a tendency to dissolve any doubt we have about ourselves, and it allows us to grow in life.
GRATITUDE
The reality is that life is the giver of gifts. It continues to give to us every moment of the day, and yet we can take it for granted.
However, as we become grateful it appears that we receive more; we start to experience more abundance. And within that gratitude we start to reveal more happiness and contentment.
ACCEPTING PRAISE
Some of us appear to have difficulty accepting praise. And yet accepting praise is such a powerful thing to do – it is uplifting for us – and it is also uplifting for the person who has had the initiative to appreciate us.
I invite you to have a go at accepting praise with a simple, ‘Thank you’. Let go of the resistance and simply thank the person who has praised you, and notice how more connected you feel with that person.
