Annica

I just listen to the "collective ego episode" and I find upsetting that you keep on pointing outwards about how much devilry is going on without once admitting that of course you yourself and actualized.org also have similar problems. Please be a little more humble and admitting with that.

Hello everyone! Here I would like to introduce a space where we can exchange knowledge about cutting edge research around topics like - meditation, contemplation, tai chi, reiki, holotropic breathing, ... - brain training, habits, neuro-psychology, ... From the mundane to the weird stuff From the immune system boosting effects of japanese forest bathing and nature therapy to metaanalyses about the effects of holotropic breathing Please share your most interesting research discoveries in the form of papers and journal articles here. Best, Annica

Thank you! This is very reasonable.

Thank you for this journal! I think many people feel this discrepancy between dream-self and actual self. I know because I do. We are confronted with many ideas and ideals about how to live and for every aspect of life there seems to be someone who does it "exactly as I want to be". And if not that someone already lives in our head as a fantasy. Stop thinking! You are beautiful And there is infinite potential for you. But it doesn't wait for you in your dreams. It is right here. And you might be closer to tapping into it than expected

I know you love comfort. Everybody does. But living maximally comfortable is easier said than done. There are a number of obstacles, such as worry, isolation, lack of attention and boredom which can be addressed by manipulating your reality through spiritual techniques. Here in this easy to read post I will show you hassle-free ways for not having to do shit while also feeling noble and superior. Building the foundation Cultivating apathy: The average human is way to agitated in mind and body for actually going all out in comfort. You want to completely get rid of all the urges of physical movement or mental stimulation. That is best done by forcing yourself in a situation that makes these two natural instincts impossible. A great situation like that is the 10-Day-Vipassana-Retreat, held world—wide for free. You get to practice doing nothing all day long which is crucial in order to live fully comfortably without getting bored. After these ten days when you successfully avoided any real spiritual growth by being caught up in narcissistic thought spirals 24/7 you will be ready for the next step. Cultivating the narrative: Since one thing that we can not easily turn off is our mind, we need to feed it a well-engineered story about ourselves that allows us to feel special and superior even though we are lazy slugs. Spirituality is a great way to do that because it presents us endless perspectives on situations that we can bend and break until they suit our individual purpose for rationalizing away any doubts or worries that would otherwise disturb our blissful lethargy. Effective ways to do that: Calling hanging around “being” Calling splurging on food, booze or porn “embracing my shadow” Calling turning away from your reality “detachment” Cultivating a social circle for getting attention: If you are serious about staying in your comfort zone but want to live in the fantasy of actually growing and doing good then it is crucial to surround yourself with spiritual people and coaches who all tell you that you are in a very particular phase of life in which you have to give yourself some rest and a lot of self-love in order to grow ahead. With a justification like that, you can let your ego run wild because not only does it get the all the comfort it wants but also it feels like it was doing something epic for spiritual purification. Then slowly you will actually believe that, too and you will eloquently feed your mentors human need for caring about you as well as your need for getting attention and social interaction. You won’t ever need to take responsibility yourself again either because you can just think: “Oh, my next meeting with my mentor will cure it.” … I am too lazy to actually finish the post but I think you can guess what the bottom line is. With the power of the mind you can flip everything on its head to live in comfort and ease while being under the illusion of growing. Once you are wrapped up in the stories of your noble life, it will get easier and easier to lose touch with the reality of life and thus you can avoid doing all the exhausting duties that come along with it.

In my case: About Self-Actualization, how I am doing the opposite of it, how I am wasting my privileges and how I am too weak to change it. Simultaneously, how this is a ridiculous thought to think and that I should just act. But all this mental noise makes it impossible to get clearity and focus on one thing. I feel like I have thought through the issue 100 times and I also have great ideas about how to change it. The action aspect is lacking though. I am working my way out slowly though. I will now do some university work.

I feel you. I don't know how to change it either...

For two years now I am following actualized.org and my life changed in beautiful ways. In the last months however, I was noticing that all the ideas from this content and other self-help material built up a big story of how life should be. Everything that did not fulfill these ideals I pushed away or - if I engaged in it - hated myself for. That is a very poor way of living life I figured and thus tried to drop all of these ideals for a while and fasted on self-help. The results of doing that were wonderful. I finally feel like I got a lot of authenticity back and stop just acting on what other people told me was right. It was a big trap for me to blindly follow the advice and I got out of it be detaching from the content. I sometimes think it is good to have a break even from the most valuable contents just to see what is true and genuine for yourself. Just wanted to share that with all of you

That question would also interest me, I know people who really don't use it and now I am considering using fluorid-free toothpaste aswell.

Hey All, Leo talks at the end of his "What is the Devil"-Video about these Imagination Exercises he does and then he quickly puts some together from his own mind. He invites you there to try to feel the way a holocaust victim felt, a slave felt or how a pig in a giant factory farm felt. Really trying to put myself in the shoes of these beings opened my mind alot. Especially if you look at it from the non-dual perspective of being all of them. I got the Idea of delivering some content to you guys. I would like to present Audios that one can listen to and get a deep sense for how it could feel to be a person that has gone through a lot of stuff. What do you think, would you listen to something like that? Would you want to actively train your Empathy and Understanding of being all these people? Looking forward to your answer. Love, Annica

Hey everybody! Since I have begun to observe my thoughts consistently I have stumbled upon a lot of interesting and sometimes shocking things. In the last weeks or so, I vividly imagined my kneecap slide out just as or sometimes even worse than it already happened to me in the real world. It gets me in all kinds of situaltions, sitting in the train, meditating, on the toilet, reading... I tried to just observe it but it usually comes and goes too quickly. I did manage to observe my physical reaction to it though which lasted on longer than the thought. What other techniques are there to cope with these flashbacks? What would you recommend?

Hi everybody, I just returned from my second Vipassana-Retreat and my biggest realization was that my thoughts are the number one enemy of my spiritual progress right now. Before the retreat I joined a Radical Honesty Workshop in Munich which also left me realize how the mind cuts off all connection to being. Back home now with talking, internet and the hectic modern lifestyle my meditation sessions turned into 90% thinking sessions with 10% half-assed body-scan. I am really tired of it and was not able to find a practical way out yet. What are some of the best techniques to deal with this problem? Thanks in advance, Annica

Hey fellow germans, for anybody interested in Radical Honesty (advocated by Leo in "How to get started with self-actualization"): There is a great seminar held in Munich this weekend and I will be there. For anybody willing to check it out just inbox me Would love to meet some fellow German self-actualizers there!

@phoenix666 @Dan Arnautu @el_duderino Thank you guys for so much valuable input! I will definitely reevaluate my options and put more emphasis on developing myself on my own without relying too much on University. Also I will research new niches of modern education and walk the small middle way so that I can found a business that on the one hand earns money but on the other hand still really thoroughly educates people. That's one thing I really admire about Actualized.org.

I am from Baden-Württemberg, near Karlsruhe. Would be interested in researching into psychedelics and finding safe substances aswell.