WaterfallMachine

It might have to do how humans shake during stress. Many animals shake when they're stressed to release tension. But the tendency of human beings like us is to repress the instinct to shake. Sometimes when I'm getting high strung and stressed, I try to go shake it off inside my room and I feel better. Maybe if you take time to shake it off alone, the instinct to shake won't reach you once you're in public. It's most likely a symptom of anxiety. But otherwise, ask a doctor. Good luck.

@Marks199 It's good that you're working on mindfulness. How about take time to schedule a break too? It seems to be taking a toll on your body. If you're looking to relax your muscles, I recommend muscle progression relaxation technique. See https://www.anxietybc.com/sites/default/files/MuscleRelaxation.pdf for instructions.

@AleksM I didn't know strengthening my intuition would have these side effects. No wonder I've been getting oddly more painfully empathetic. My senses have always been sensitive but these days I kept getting a sneaking suspicion that it was getting worse. I've been absorbing all this energy without knowing. Damn. The mojan article helped the most. I was getting sensitive enough to lights and the music from the dancing club outside my house that I was getting exhausted. When I tried the exercises, it cleared up those sensitivities almost instantly. I was vaguelythinking of learning more about chakras somewhere along the way but thanks to this, I'm putting it on my priority list. Thanks! Ps : I've been feeling a pain in my head. Does that mean anything with the context of all this?

For some reason, my senses can be really sensitive. Especially to noise. I can handle crowded environments but if I stay too long — I actually start crying. Loud noise seems to increase other sensitivities — like getting too sensitive to bright light and the cold. I'm usually allowed to leave the room when I want to since other people are aware of this. I start worrying about this — if it'd get worse — and then later on because of my anxiety, it actually does get worse. Anyway I can relax that anxious tendency? At least the worrying part? The easily getting overstimulated part I'm looking for therapy in.

Sounds interesting. Mind if you explain more what you mean by energies needing to be grounded with nature? What energy is that? Why does it work well? Maybe understanding that would help me figure this out better.

Sometimes I wondered why I got depressed when I was younger. This determination sitting has given me a lead on that. I observed why I kept fidgeting all day. And it led me to something that could change my life. My parents didn't seem all that bad. They weren't perfect saintlike parents but they showed they tried their best to show that they loved me. Many other students bullied me as a kid. They'd steal my things and run around with them. They'd call me names and some people would turn away when I approached them. While the others liked me because of my optimistic looking persona and sense of humor — the bullies still frustrated me terribly. But eventually my teachers came around to stop them. It could also have to do with the fidgeting. I thought to stop my movement I had to see how it begins as an intention inside my mind. I looked for my impatience to keep my legs jumping. I watched for the restlessness to rock back and forth. I zeroed in rubbing my fingers off each other. My faster breathing and blinking at certain times. I thought it was just a habit. People fidget when they're nervous but I just happen to fidget just because, right? But no — sometimes I was actually nervous. It just happened so often I thought it was normal. I fidget a bit faster when something too cold passes my way. I fidget even faster in a crowd. I fidget more when my eyes are exposed to something too bright. I fidget more when I can't walk around. It was shocking at first but being aware of my body made all this nervous energy become more calming. Like how athletes talk of feeling joy in the most grueling parts of their workout. But the feeling wouldn't always last. I've known for a long time that my senses were sensitive. But not like this — I didn't know it was this often. Maybe it was less recognizable because it was more being subtly uncomfortable than outright stressful. Though, at times, it could be so stressful that I'd break down in tears — which is why the teachers don't stop me when I walk out of the classroom when I want to. But as I passed my day — I noticed that my other more deeper stresses were deeply impacted by my sensitivities. I grew more anxious, insecure and self criticizing in overstimulating environments. Especially when what's background noise for other students in a classroom is to me like the roar of an army. All this time — was I sensitive as a kid to now — because of my senses? Why I easily cried as a kid? That the bullies didn't only cause my sensitivities. Did my sensitivity attract the bullies too? That could be why even at my level determination sitting is hard and I'm barely making progress — the fidgeting was vital to keep me coping with my nervous energy all day. That's why I start panicking if I stop moving when doing determination sitting during or just after somewhere loud. I found something called Sensory Processing Disorder. I tried answering the symptoms checklist and got a huge amount of them. I always thought my sensory sensitivies were because of my fears — but could it be the other way around too? So many of my fears are gone now — but busy environments clearly affect me still. How many days have I walked pass the door at my home tired from the noise? How many classes have I skipped from the noise? How much tension has been in my body for this? I looked the treatment up. Occupational therapy. Maybe it didn't affect my entire life. Maybe I can deal with it alone I thought. But now I can't deny that it affects much of my life outside my nice quiet home. I asked my guidance counselor. She said it was already discussed over a year ago. Even recently she said. But it was decided not to due to my refusal to try any therapy at the time. Well, goddamn. Now I know what to do.

Yesterday, I was excited. And I was so excited that I wanted it to stop. I bought the book The Mind Illimuninated and I found that yesterday, I was in stage 8 of the 10 Stages for much of the day. Maybe stage 7 or even stage 9. I remember going into this state before from time to time. I'd feel my body exploding with joy, a rush of sensations everywhere. And I have to stop the meditation because I can't help but get distracted by how extraordinary this is. Sometimes I'd get a taste of it outside meditation. I remember programming once and I was suddenly enthralled by an intense joy. It was like being a volcano, but instead of anger, I erupted with joy. I got myself some really celebratory music and thought of how amazing life was. But when I chased after it, the farther it left me. I became attached to it. I kept a story of myself in my mind about how I was "the success story". Managed to get myself from the depths of depression into now. But the thing about it is that I kept my sense of self. As Peter Ralston said, it's like associating yourself as a hard worker. It might be true most of the time. But often they'd associate the hard worker image even when they're tired and need to rest. And because of this challenge to their image, they get upset. They might associate with certain music, certain people, certain activities and more that they lose themselves farther and farther in a false identity. The thing is even if I'm generally "A success story" by that means, that doesn't mean the unconscious associations of perfection, the end of it all and similar ideas are true. When people say Buddhism teaches to let go of desire, that's rather misleading. As if we're taught to become wide eyed happy people accomplishing nothing in life. But the deeper I go, the more I realize that what's really being taught is to remove rigid desire. And to achieve a desire of flowing in something, effortless, yet still powerful. It's like realizing that desire isn't a rigid metal bar no one can break, but like a clay you can form into whatever you want to. When I let go of that image, I fell into what happened yesterday. It was tiring at the end, but it was still pretty amazing. Phabhaker told me to try Osho Kundalini Meditation for my problems with excess energy. And in the beggining, I was told to shake as my body wanted it. When I thought I'd use up enough energy, it still kept going later on. The next stage was to dance and while I imagined a kind of elegant fluid dance, my body found its way to do something pretty whacky in kicking and flailing arms randomly while throwing in some hip hop moving dance. I heard a joke before about breakdancing monks. I never thought there's a chance it could be real. Heh. I felt like natural geographic is making a nature documentary on the ceremonial human being's dance into nothingness complete with classical music. And here you see is the natural homosapien of meditative tendencies dancing the way of Kundalini. But I just told myself to keep focusing. Then I was told to sit down or stand still but I was so tired, I just lied down. But when I lied down, I felt my arms needed to move. So I punched the air. And so did my legs. Kick. Kick. WATASHI KARATE MASTER. HARDCORE XXX! Motherfucker in the face! or whatever my bad Japanese is in a horribly done accent. But the deeper I went, the more I felt myself being absorbed. By what? I don't know. It was as if I was wrapped by nothingness. Like water in a glass. But without the glass. What do you imagine when you hear the word nothing? Do you see an empty box? Pitch black? No, it's just nothing. And that can't be imagined, thought or felt. Just experienced. I read that before stage 8 are like horses going in different directions. Obviously, it's hard to move well and the direction they move will come from the strongest horses. Stage 8 is when the horses move into the same direction, but at different speeds. Some horses rush forward wanting more and the other horses resist to want a slower pace. If I want my focus to be more matured, I had to allow these horses to move as one. One practice for stage 8 was focusing on nimitta. It was a picture of a luminous round object in someone's mind, appearing naturally. I was told to let it grow naturally and was told how to. As I practiced, I noticed the nimitta changing colors. Green. Yellow. Red. They never mentioned something about that. And I moved it around a bit back and forth. But I found I can only move it subtly. I felt a strange calmness. As if sitting inside an enormous temple, seeing the majesty of its heights and absorbing it all. This lasted for about 10 minutes. They described "popping" when we got out of this Jhana state. When I got out, I felt like I heard all the sounds and saw all the sights. Nothing in particular. Just everything at once. With an expansion of awareness yet with a penetrating depth of detail. And in my mind, it was all nothing. Take a book and you'll often have ideas of it in your mind. Cultural ideas. Spiritual ideas. Memories. Likes. Dislikes. Facts. Details. History. But if I saw a book in that state, I won't see that. I'd just see the colors, the lines and the shapes. And it's like that image of it in your mind but go farther to remove what certain colors and shapes and lines mean to you. And remove how these all come together to connect into something you see as an object because even that is an idea. And when everything is removed, there is only nothing. I tried a practiced that involving noticing stillness. It told me to imagine the universe around me first and contrasting that with my breath to gain a stillness. But I already felt it. I focused on this stillness, as if hearing the silence between sounds. As I type this, I feel pretty calm and tranquil. But I can be satisfied with it because I'm not chasing after that intense joy. Maybe to get nearer enlightenment, I have to be even satisfied without something luxurious as intense joy. Or maybe I'm losing focus and just getting bored. Eh, who knows? Not that I need enlightenment right now, do I?

Yeah, I experienced something similar. I felt like I could pass out and threw up my dinner. I experienced panic, misery, anger, terror and so on. But after that, my experiences while not perfect become richer than ever before. I 100% don't regret it. Maybe you could benefit from what others posted when I asked for help before. I was so depressed I got suicidal there. Yep. Not very fun.

It's true that enlightenment would better solve your issues in the long term and that's why you're better of seeking it. But there are many short term stresses to enlightenment also. People can get very depressed or scared with these experiences since it questions much of everything they believe. Ayla gave a pretty good post on what to do during events like this if you want to see it.

I used to be someone who never really felt close to anyone. Barely ever felt warmth to anyone. And barely any connection to even my family, a long time friend or a group. And I thought — why should I? Each time I've make friends, they'd fail to interest me as much as my own solitary intellectual hobbies. I didn't know love. . . so what I did was follow my own curiosities. That was until my mental health problems grew so bad — I had no where to turn to than ask for help. I had volunteer listeners come to take care of me — I thought all this was all an illogical distraction from finding some way to solve my issues. But it drew me in — maybe somewhere in there I wanted to know why people thought so highly of love and friendship. And even if it took months for much of anything relevant to arise — I kept going. I distrusted them. I distrusted everyone after all — I rarely ever shared secrets with anyone before. And I talked with the assumption that they were all going to turn on me and they were all going to hate me. But for some reason — they listened, and listened with patience, and listened with acceptance. And if only for a few moments — I'd experience a new feeling — a warm feeling when I talked to them. "What's that?" I asked. "Oh, that's connection." Then I got embarassed. Ever since then, I've been gradually getting better at this thing. Until I found that I simply liked almost everyone and those I disliked were only for a short period of time. I freak out from time to time — mostly because as it increases, it's ridiculously unfamiliar. For example, I've been missing people lately including this forum. And what the hell I don't miss people. I guess I just wanted someone to experience the happiness I felt from all those damn nice ass volunteers. Eh. Oh well. Let's see what happens next.

I'm looking for new people to learn from. Any recommendations? And why? What do they have that other teachers don't? Is there any cons to learning from them?

I wouldn't call myself much of a good source of advice for this. I had trouble getting my credit card to work once on Amazon and gave up for years trying to buy anything there. In this country, about the only spiritual books around are about Christianity. I could occasionally get books from my local bookstore but it would take a long long long time until it got here. It's only in the recent months when I tried fixing things up with Amazon again could I get access to all the books worldwide with Kindle. I did manage to get some really useful apps for it though. Headspace and Buddhify allowed the most growth for me. As I'm starting to get into the books more, it really struck me how much I've learned in those two apps that were in these books. Not that these offered everything — but still a wonder to look at. In my early meditation days, I was really interested in those books that set up specific meditations for each week with explanations each. Ones that allowed a lot of practical exercises in it. Stuff like Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction, Finding Peace in a Frantic World and The Mindful Way (for depression). From my more recent choices I found The Mind Illuminated to allow better insight in practical exercises for each level of meditation — I could only imagine how far I could've gotten if that book was given to me earlier. Because of Leo and this forum I've been looking into the theory side of this more. Though note — I've literally just been on this stage since April. I was especially new to the idea of a self not existing — I got better introduced in that with Peter Ralston's The Book of Not Knowing and Daniel Ingram's Mastering the Core Teachings of the Buddha as recommended by Leo. Though upon some reflection, some of the meditations that had to do with no self were in Headspace and Buddhify apps had meditations on this without directly talking about that the point was to get to an experience of no self. And here I was wondering how the hell I got a Non Dual experience within the first 1-2 weeks of self inquiry. In my earlier days, I learned a lot from the author Jon Zabatt Kin though — especially his Wherever You Go, There You Are. From what I remember, I found the most insightful were the particular attitudes for mindfulness. Another thing I've realized is how mindfulness is not just about the meditation practices but the idea of self awareness in general. Whatever self awareness of myself in knowing my thoughts, feelings, desires, goals, personality and cravings — it made me much more able to concentrate more in meditation and day to day life. Maybe the most important thing I've ever learned here was that to direct your attention, you had to be aware. And so I looked for all kinds of different things to be aware of in every area of my life. (I recommend this article for a start : https://scottjeffrey.com/self-awareness-activities-exercises/) Well, good luck.

It seems that you're seeing this all as just one sudden thing as if the benefits would come only at the end of it. The truth is that even the benefits along the way are worth it. I first tried meditation deep in depression and saw worthwhile benefits in a few months. I saw myself getting gradually less easily frustrated. I saw myself slowly becoming more aware of my emotions. I saw myself inch by inch taking more time to be mindful of what I had to do. When unmotivated, look for the little wins. Often a good practice is to ask how you feel before and after meditation. It won't always be perfect — but whatever change there is, it could allow to continue along the way. Then after some time, you could review how you feel in previous meditations and see how it differs. Often unless you look far back enough, you won't realize how much progress there would be. People say to move on from the past. But to realize how far you've come — whether it's big or small could be a gift. The more progress comes — know that the farther you've looked back, the farther you could envision what potential there is for the future. Take care.

When you're criticizing a person's interest, beliefs, creations, words etc. You're not just criticizing that. You can be also criticizing their identity. Not just what they think or do but who they are as a person. Unconsciously, what people think or do is something they can change. But to them. them as a person can't change. So it takes a harder hit to their ego.

Other than what @PetarKa said, these are other possiblities. Desire for fame. They want to look like heroes and gather people to praise them. Desire for admiration. They want some people or somebody to admire them. Different from fame in that it doesn't have to be that many people. It could be a certain small group or person like their parents. Desire for love. They want to be genuinely loved and appreciated in return. Think of how someone would help someone more if they fell in love with that person. Desire for influence. If you're nice, people would more likely trust and listen to you more. People can turn away someone with intelligent ideas that are too rude and distant. But there are people out there who are incompetent that can win people's hearts with their charm.

A big part of starting out is being aware of what you have to work on in the first place. Out of all the different bloggers I've seen, Scott Jeffrey puts out the steps to self awareness the most comprehensively and clearly to me. See https://scottjeffrey.com/self-awareness-activities-exercises/ for more.

Yesterday, I had become a deity. Kind of. It was called deity Yoga — a practice that involves imagining yourself as a Buddhist Saint. Deity in this sense doesn't mean a god or goddess. But simply an enlightened being. It's not just the Buddhist version of western ideas of "role models". The idea is to not just become similar to them — but to change your sense of "I" to become them. After all, if there is no self, then you are everyone. And that includes those people right? It came to me when I tried to find an alternate for determination sitting — a meditation focused on developing your concentration by not moving. I often gave up somewhere along the line and had to find another meditation to fill in the rest of the time. For some reason, I could get in a luminous Jhana — the deepest type of Jhana but not finish determination sitting for an hour. I could focus ridiculously well in comfortable quiet or even loud places. A lot less when I'm tired or stressed. This was why I was training on this practice. I began as Milarepa. He was a famous Tibetan who was known for his songs and poems of enlightenment. When he was younger, his father died and his uncle and aunt took his family's wealth. As revenge, he is said to have used black sorcery to make the house they were in to collapse. In his grave guilt upon this, he seeked a teacher. His name was Marpa and he was a teacher that casted him many difficult challenges for years to come. Even telling him to build three houses and to destroy each of them. He used a forgery of a recommendation letter to seek another teacher named Chudor but upon his eventual lack of progress, he confessed to this. He was told that without the acceptance of his previous master, he wouldn't gain the wisdom he sought. When he came back to Marpa, he would train over a decade with him in meditation. And when he became enlightened, his skin would turn into a greenish color and would travel around the land — singing songs of enlightenment and wisdom. I don't know if it's true. I'm open to either conclusion. But I bet it'll still be useful as something metaphorical. Je Mila Shepa Dorjela Solwa Deb So This was supposed to be the chant for Milarepa. I had no idea what it meant. Until a voice came into my head, chanting the same chant over and over. Happily calling me over to join him. The voice felt involuntary. It's like turning on the television. You can choose whether to turn it on or off but you can't choose what television show would be on it. It wasn't the first time this happened but what I know is that these voices tend to give some good advice. "Do you know what those chants might mean?" He said so in a gentle manner. In another accent of some kind. Maybe Indian, but not so. "What do you think it means?" "Well, Milarepa obviously wanted to make up over his guilt. Maybe I chose him because I used to be that way — not to the point of murder though. Maybe it has to do with that?" "What is more important? The words or the meaning to you?" "The meaning of course." "Then what else do you think it means? Do you understand a person most by their actions or their intentions? You are trying to become this person. But to become them you must understand beyond their behavior." And I read the stories of him. His lessons. His pain. His view of life. "Good. Now return to determination sitting while "becoming" him. You'll find something. . . interesting. Take care. Remember. You are not trying to be like him. But to become him." And I sensed his presence disappear like smoke released into the air. I noticed when trying not to move in determination sitting, when I thought of myself as him I stayed in stillness. When I thought this was crazy and stupid, I started jerking into movement again. I was taught to question the polarity of good and bad. But I questioned less the neutral aspects of what makes me "me". While sitting on my good ol' couch cross legged, I fought over my own hesitation to believe something this crazy. I remembered memories of myself. What happened yesterday. My childhood. They were all me weren't they? Then how could this man's memories become mine? At the end of how far I could go — the last minute was when I reached a point. I felt like I was him. And strangely this allowed me to potentially feel like everyone else. It was a peacefulness. It was a warmth. It was a hope. We interpret the world only through our thoughts and feelings. I wasn't becoming them in what people might think — I was becoming the thought of them. Because after all — all you can ever know about a person is the thought and ideas of them. Even our senses are subjective to human beings — a bat happens to be blind. Certain insects can see more colors than human beings. Even what we see is an idea. When you draw — often most people can't draw it exactly as if it was a photograph taken by a camera. You're only seeing the sensory "idea" of what you see. Same with your other senses. Hearing. Touch. Taste. Smell. My legs and arms would jerk back in pain — and that would be the end of my session.

Politics is essential when you're working to influence it for the better. Whether it's to vote wisely, to rally for a cause or donate money to the right place — you need an understanding of that. What affects politics can also affect everyday life — including you. Especially if it has to do with your life purpose. Personal development isn't just after all developing yourself to become better — the best ones tend to include developing yourself to become better for others. And that. . . That changes things.

I heard a story that had to do with this lesson. The main character was a boy with powers to move even heavy objects with his mind and exorcise powerful spirits. His brother often admired him for his special gift and people seeking to match his effortless psychic power envied him deeply. He wasn't satisfied though. He had those powers but otherwise, he was just a normal teenager who wasn't popular, wasn't good at sports and didn't have high grades. His master told him something like this when he was young. "You have those powers, but it doesn't make you superior. It's like any other talent a person has. It's like someone good in math. In gymnastics. In piano. And so on. You're equal to everyone else because everyone has their own strengths and weaknesses." Take them out of their field and environment — and they can't adapt as well someone else could. Now switch psychic powers with the skills you've learned in personal development — and you'll have something similar. The show is called Mob Psycho 100 by the way — it explores the themes of superiority in multiple angles. It got me out of that line of thinking in such a deep humility by the end of the last episode.

I used to struggle with the same thing too. Visualization becomes stronger when you find ways to use it as you go about your everyday life. I googled spatial reasoning hobbies and chose from them. I practiced how to draw realistic drawings. I remmeber some sports that needed visual attention. Whenever I read an article or a book, if there's something to visualize, I'd try to practice that. I visualized more in conversations and my studies. I visualized more as I go about my usual thoughts in the day. I'd try to look around me and try to absorb its image in my mind more. I've also tried making really bad doodles on my ideas. They're bad — but it actually allows you to deeply remember an image more. I've also tried mentioning more visual details in my daily thoughts and words — writing or typing it down.. You can do this specifically with your visualization practice. It might seem like a lot of effort for one technique but visualizing isn't just about motivation. I've found many studies that visualization allows better creativity, better memory, better logical skills and better problem solving skills. It's so flexible because it's another language. It's like if you learn any other foreign language, you'd get access to a better understanding of the world. The visual language is deeply embedded to this world and it allows you to understand it more. But in general — the more awareness of your senses, the more you become aware of. Take care.

It's not exactly stopping thoughts. It's simply directing your attention somewhere else. Whatever thoughts pass by — is better met with noticing it with gentleness and using that same gentleness — to watch the objects of the monkey mind like clouds in the sky. To naturally pass by in time. Your emotions directly affect your intentions and motivations which also extends to affecting your focus. When forcing it away — you're not actually removing them. You're actually focusing on the thought of removing them more. The thing about overthinking like this is that even when the mind wants it, the comfort is only short term. You can never ground in more and more thinking — without any grounding to reality — the images continue to be unstable and loosely held. So that it can switch from bad to good and good to bad quickly. It's like a swing going up and down — for there to be an up, there must be a down. To really stabilize it, you have to learn to focus on the moment. First — and this is important — to let them go, you have to allow it first by trying to be aware of the monkey mind. It's not just "anxiety", "sadness", "frustration" and the rest. It has a certain subtle movement to it. A pressure or a lightness. A texture. A slowness or rapid movement. A certain shape to it. A certain manifestation in your physical body. This can be painful at first — but this allows for more acceptance in the long term. Then focus on the present. What do you see? Hear? Touch? Feel? Smell? Taste? Be aware. It can be really anxiety inducing to start like this. I used to be a pretty intense overthinker myself. But continue with baby steps, graudually increasing the time you can just let go and relax your mind. Best of luck, bud.

Often in personal development, the most important thing to know about that is that you can't prove anything for sure well unless you try and see it for yourself. But there are other things to factor in. People who've done something first hand are more reliable than those who aren't. Not that those who aren't are saying falsehoods but they have less credibility. Its also useful to think of their intentions for sharing this. Does it look like they're doing it to genuinely help you or for something else? For attention? For praise? Are they being too one sided on a topic? Are they saying it calmly or with frustration? What are their specific reasons for believing in something? What arguments? Emotions? Experiences?

I'm frustrated with determination sitting. About between 1-2 weeks in and it looks like I'm getting worse than what it was like when I started this. I can't do a minute without moving. I tend to fidget a lot. And I've realized later in life that I don't just fidget because of excess energy — I do it because my senses can be too sensitive. Focusing on a repetive sensory experience like a certain way of fidgeting is a lot more calming than having to focus on erratic noises like crowds or really bright lights. Sometimes I can do it better — usually at the weekends where the environment is quiet and familiar in my home. But after a tiring day full of stuff to do in a crowded environment— when going home, I have to fidget to stay calm. Or I'll literally be panicking. I wonder if this is even possible like this after all? Maybe I'd have to move to another meditation.

@Loreena Negative visualization is a practice in stoicism that is made to create more gratitude in life by imagining how you could be much worse off. Other ideas. 1. Remembering your dream and interpreting it in the morning. 2. Reading a book. Especially a personal development one. 3. N Dual back — from HighIQPro to train your working memory. 4. Contemplating on your progress and giving yourself feedback. What problems are there? What opportunities? 5. Think of 10 ideas a day to practice your creative thinking. 6. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy review of your day. 7. Practicing being aware of your emotions for the day to monitor it. 8. Being aware of certain strengths. How this manifests throughout the day and what else you can do about it — often using the list of VIA Strengths. 9. Training ability to deal with novelty by changing small to big areas in life — it could be as small as sitting in a different chair at the dinner table than you usually sit. It could reach a difference by taking a different route to work/school. It could be bigger like trying a new hobby. Etc. 10. To contrast the above is to try to discipline yourself in small ways if you're the type who's too spontaneous in an impulsive manner. It could be as small as walking straight without moving from left to right or as frustrating as trying to sit on a chair without moving. I heard someone practiced discipline by staring at their favorite food and trying not to eat it for several minutes. 11. Weekly to daily dose of deep ideas in life from different authors. I get a weekly email from the site Brainpickings. Or you can try watching from TED talks. Maybe even the best picks from Pocket. 12. Muscle progression relaxation practice for less stress. 13. Hypnosis. 14. I've tried using Leo's worksheet for developing intuition for several days straight once. 15. Shadow Work Practice for mental health. 16. Lateral thinking or logic puzzles for problem solving skills. 17. Affirmation. 18. Noticing and questioning every paradigms and assumptions in life beliefs.

I don't see this as something that means that there's no purpose to action. Instead of doing action for the sake of the future, I want to act upon things for the sake of the present. Act for the sake of acting. Learn for the sake of learning. Appreciate for the sake of appreciating. Doing something for a future that is coming is more of a guide to what to do in the present than the final trophy. Because often when you achieve a goal, you get tired of it and move on to dreaming for the next big thing. People are often impatiently waiting for something. And impatience isn't always shown in clear frustration or anger, it often can be there even in subtle ways if you take a look. Why wish for something that doesn't last when you can appreciate the present you're always in?