Gift of a New Day

I wake up every morning grateful for the gift of a new day.  My ability to work towards making a difference in the world.  As I reflect on this past year, I realize that I have gone through some of the toughest challenges that I had ever gone through.  With all the strength and might that I had, they brought me to my knees at times.  I questioned my decisions, my beliefs, and my goals.  More than anything it crippled me because I kept reliving the past over and over again, the decisions and choices that I made.  

"Should have, would have, could have," are word combinations that should be eliminated from the English language.  We are programmed at a young age to look forward to the future and learn from the past.  As we get older our lives get busier, and more than ever, we dwell on the past, look forward to the future.  We never realize that we are not living in the moment, today, in the here and now.  We blame missed opportunities on luck and misfortune, when in fact we were probably focused on the future and ensuring not to repeat the past.  

One of my favorite mantras is, "look into the future (set intentions and goals), let go of the past, and dwell in the present moment." 

Letting go of the past...easier said than done.  Our past is a series of choices and decisions we make in the present moment, it is what shapes who we are, and learning to manage it and learn from it is critical to succeed.  Past memories fall into 3 categories:
1. Neutral memories that we forget the minute they happen until we are reminded by reliving the situation or revisiting the scene
2. Good/positive memories that leave you warm and fuzzy.  The danger of positive memories is that if we keep reliving them in our head, we forget to make new ones.
3. Bad/negative memories the ones that teach us a lesson and we move on, or we end up reliving over and over again because we allow them to manifest in our intentions and psyche

Test this theory...when you wake up tomorrow challenge your mind to focus on the present moment, the events that go through out the day.  Remember we should be learning from past experiences not reliving them. I wish you a very happy new year, one filled with new and happy memories, and plenty of new days.

Check out www.themeetingyogi.com for more information or email bana@themeetingyogi.com.

Namaste!

The Art of Letting Go

This post is based on a presentation that I did at the 2012 ASAE Annual Conference in Dallas.  It is also adopted from the book Let Go: A Buddhist Guide to Breaking Free of Habits by Martine Batchelor.  Click here to view the presentation.

My inherent nature is based on passion to live this life to the fullest.  Yesterday is the past, today is the present, and tomorrow is the future.  Part of our mental habits as humans is to dwell on the past and look forward to the future, often unaware of the present moment. Typically, we refer to habits as physical habits, unaware that we have mental habits that effect our day to day.  In this post, I will be focusing on the mental habits that we develop.

There is a constant tug of war between the positive and the negative mind.  The key to winning that tug of war is to accept the fact that negative thoughts occur due to our daily interactions, our reactions to other people, our emotional state, and the list goes on.  It takes practice, awareness, and mental training to recognize the negative thoughts and turn them into positive thoughts. Grasping to negative thoughts will result in negative outcomes, both physically and mentally, resulting in an aura that is unapproachable.

How can we win the tug of war and allow ourselves to think positive? By simply letting go.  Managing emotions will allow us to let go. For example if you feel a negative emotion, dissipate its energy by focusing on the breath and relaxing the body. Scanning the body and being aware of the body will allow us to let go.  Using creative ways that work for us to practice letting go, to manage negative mental and physical habits, so that we are able to gracefully handle even the most stressful interaction in our day.

• letting go will allow us to love and be loved (family, romantic, ourselves, etc.).  Love is a wonderful feeling and when we love we feel uplifted and joyous.
• letting go will allow us to be grateful and receive gratitude - Being grateful everyday.  Waking up in the morning and saying the words, "thank you...(insert what you are thankful for that day)"
• letting go will allow us to be compassionate to ourselves and others.
• letting go will allow us to break free of negative mental habits.

Can you create something out of nothing?  Your world is an open canvas.  We have an opportunity everyday to paint that canvas. If we can find stability and clarity in our minds then a grow in our creative journey and can develop new ways of looking and seeing our daily lives.

Check out www.themeetingyogi.com for more information or email bana@themeetingyogi.com.

Namaste!