Deepak Chopra – You Suffer Because You Don’t Know Who You Are (Amazing Speech)

Transcript Deepak Chopra Interview with Tom Bilyeu

So, suddenly I saw the connection between mind, body, and spirit. But then I was also actually intrigued by the fact that you can have two patients who had the same illness, saw the same doctor, got the same treatment, and had completely different outcomes. One could survive, one could die. And in between, there was a wide range of outcomes.

And it did give me the insight that our normal everyday experience or what we call reality is the hypnosis of social conditioning that actually in reality shifts as your consciousness shifts.

A correlation is not a causation as we know. If the rooster crows in the morning, and the sun rises at the same time, we don’t assume that the rooster cause the sun to rise, okay? But they’re correlated. So your mind, your brain, and the physical world are correlated experiences in a deeper realm of existence, which is not in space or time.

The purpose of all healers and ultimately, of all physicians should be to alleviate suffering. Now, we’ve done a pretty good job with alleviating what we call suffering that had cause acute illness. You break your leg, you get an orthopedic surgeon to fix it. You get pneumonia, you take an antibiotic. So we’ve done a good job on what we call the physicalist level for acute illness. But then there’s something called chronic illness diabetes type II, inflammation, cancer, heart disease, autoimmune illness, accelerated aging, propensity to infections, and we haven’t done a good job there.

Because what we are realizing right now that only 5% of disease-related gene mutations are fully penetrant, which means they guarantee the disease. 95% of gene mutations that cause illness are related to lifestyle. Sleep, managing stress, and whether you mediate or not, you exercise or not, maybe you do yoga or not, breathing techniques, the quality of your emotions, nutrition, personal relationships, social interactions, environment, connection with nature influence your gene activity. We call it epigenetics.

Let’s say you got rid of all chronic illness and acute illness. Would humans still suffer? And the answer is yes because unlike other species, we have something, which is actually quite bizarre, it’s called existential suffering.

We wonder why we exist. We wonder why we get old and can we prevent that? We wonder why we get infirm and lose our memories as we get old. Can we prevent that? But we also are afraid of death. Can we prevent that? And the answer is biological death is based on a false premise, which is you are your biology. And you are your body and your mind. You are not your body, you are not your mind, you are not the experience of the world.

You are the consciousness in which all this experience occurs. To observe a thought is to know that you are not a thought. To observe an emotion is to know that you are not the emotion. To observe the body is to know that you are not this bundle of sensations and perceptions.

So who are you? What is it that knows a thought? What is it that knows a perception, the color red? Is there a color red anywhere in the physical universe, or is it just an experience? I guarantee you no scientist can tell you that the color red exists as a physical entity in the universe. It’s an experience in human consciousness, not in the consciousness of a bat who doesn’t see colors but experiences the echo of ultrasound. So what is the color red to a bat?

When you realize that everything you thought was real is not real, when you also realize that who you think you are is not real, or when you realize that all your name, your form, and everything you see is provisional to things happen to some people they have immediate, what we could only metaphorically call, the dark night of the soul. They go into a deep depression because everything they thought was real is no longer real, including their own name, form, body, and mind. Some people cross that threshold and discover Nirvana or enlightenment. And they say, “Wow, I thought I was squeezed into the volume of a body in the span of a lifetime, but I’m a timeless being that can morph myself into any experience including the human experience, which is amazing.

But the human experience is also that which causes existential depression. So the causes of human suffering, since you brought it up, are brought up are brought up in Eastern wisdom traditions as, number one, you suffer because you don’t know who you are. You confuse yourself with your body, mind, experience.

Number two, you grasp and cling at experiences which are evanescent and transitory and dream-like. You say, what happened to your childhood? It’s over. What happened to yesterday? It’s over. What happened to five minutes ago? It’s over. What happens to these words by the time you hear them? They don’t exist. So Wittgenstein, the German philosopher said, “We are asleep, our life is a dream, but once in a while we wake up enough to know that we are dreaming.”

So what do you wake up to when you cross this threshold? You wake up to your true self, which is not body or mind but the awareness in which that experience is happening. So grasping and clinging at a dream is the second cause of human suffering.

The third is being afraid of anything that’s unpleasant. Pain, abandonment, being treated by someone not respectfully. So there’s a version to certain experiences. Third cause of suffering.

Fourth is identifying, which is related to your ego identity. And fifth is the fear of death. Now they’re all connected. They’re all the same fear and they are not knowing who you are. This is the biggest question that humans, or everybody should be asking. Who am I? What am I?

Am I the changing experience of this body, which is a perceptual activity. Am I the experience of the changing mind or the changing personality? But then you don’t have the same personality when you were a kid or maybe even 10 years ago. What is it at the basis of this? When you start that reflective self-inquiry, ask yourself: Who am I? What do I want? What is my purpose? What am I grateful for? Going to the stillness of the meditation you have what wisdom traditions have called revelation. Revealed truth.

Now, that sounds very grand. I would say just call it insight. Meditation, mindfulness, awareness of body, awareness of mind, awareness of mental space. Awareness of the web of relationship, awareness of that which we call the universe. It leads you, ultimately, to the awareness of awareness. And when you discover that, that’s nirvana.

Is there anything behind consciousness? No. Now, everyday experience is modified consciousness. So right now what you’re experiencing is what we call the waking state of consciousness, okay. What do you mean by that? The awareness that I’m aware? No, the awareness that is experiencing a physical body and the physical world with eyes open is called waking state of consciousness. Okay. So awareness is modifying itself every time you open your eyes into this experience, right? And you call it the physical world. Now if you close your eyes, you have another state of consciousness where you don’t actually experience the physical world. You experience sensations, images, thoughts, emotions, stories. It’s like a dream.

As soon as you close your eyes, you’re experiencing, you might call it daydreaming. But there’s no difference between a daydream and what you dream at night. Now physical world has disappeared, there’s only a mental world. Then you go deeper at night, even the mental world disappears in what we call deep sleep. Now, that is the highest intelligence, by the way, because in deep sleep there’s unconscious processing going on, there’s creativity going on, there are correlations being made, there are toxins being removed, there’s a whole resetting of your memories and consolidation of that. So, in deep sleep, even though there’s no experience of a physical or a mental world, it’s a very intelligent, highly, highly correlated state in which unconscious processing is occurring.

Get rid of the idea that the world is physical. What we call of the world as physical, even your physical body, is a perceptual activity. And that perceptual activity for you and me is a human perceptual activity through human consciousness, not through bat consciousness, not through mosquito consciousness, not through plant consciousness. Go beyond that.

There’s only one consciousness that is differentiating. Undifferentiated consciousness differentiating into these different species of consciousness that form a matrix of conscious beings that are collectively projecting this universe.

If I ask you what is this? You’d say it’s a cup, right? Well, if you were a baby, you wouldn’t know this is a cup, this is a shape, this is a color, this is a form, this is sensation. This is a taste and it’s noise. The rest is a story. It’s a human story we created, just like we created money or Wall Street or nation states, or colonial empires. And we take that for reality. So when you have time to be still, question your habitual uncertainties, you’ll realize that, actually, we know nothing. Nothing!

Everything we know is made up. It’s a human construct and once we are embedded in that human concept, we call it reality.

We don’t question what is the source of this experience? So taking retreats, practicing mindful awareness of body, of mind, of mental space of the web of relationship, the mystery of existence, it takes you slowly, deeper to your true self. As Rumi said, “God’s language is silence, everything else is poor translation.”

Full Interview:

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Joe Dispenza on How To Rewire Your Brain

Watch the AMAZING full series on GAIA – Click Here

Transcript:

What I love about researching the brain and our biology is that it has allowed me to present the latest findings of what’s humanly possible to millions of people around the world.

I’ve learned that we’re not hardwired to be a certain way for the rest of our lives, and we’re not doomed by our genes. In fact, we are marvels of change.

My job as a doctor for 31 years, as well a lecturer, author and researcher, is to not just talk about what is possible but to show you the latest data that supports my work, that your thoughts can have an effect on your brain, your body and your life.

This is a time in history where it’s not enough to know. This is a time in history to know how. I’m Dr. Joe Dispenza, and I’m going to show you how to rewire your brain. I want to start off by asking you a strange question.

What does it mean to you to be supernatural?

To me, being supernatural is to be able to change your body by thought alone. To say it another way, it means being greater than your body.

Being supernatural also means overcoming challenges and conditions in your outdoor environment that most people would not be able to accomplish. In addition, being supernatural would also mean to be able to change some predictable future destiny or event, that is, to be greater than time.

Now, is this something that’s only reserved for ancient yogis, mystical masters and superheroes? Is it fantasy, or is there medical proof that each human being has the potential to heal themselves and in a sense, to become supernatural?

In 1986, I had my own personal experience that forever changed my life. A serious injury forced me to meld together everything I knew from my scientific mind and my training to a greater level of understanding about the nature of reality and what is possible. Much of what I discovered was not found in conventional textbooks and mainstream science. In fact, I had to find answers for my own personal healing by delving into areas of science that point the finger at possibility. I want to invite you into a journey and a scientific study of your mind, your heart and your body, with a series called Rewired. So, let’s start with some basics about the brain that you should know right from the very start. I want to offer you a new way of concepting your brain. Think of your brain as three brains in one.

You literally have three brains that allow you to go from thinking, to doing, to being. So, let’s start off with your first brain, called your neocortex. Your neocortex is the seat of your conscious mind. It’s the largest and most evolved in human beings and dolphins. This is the part of your brain that plugs you in to three-dimensional reality.

It’s divided into different regions and different areas. So, the front of the brain, called the forebrain, makes up 40% of your entire brain. It’s the largest in human beings, and it’s what separates us from all other species. The next closest species, gibbons and chimpanzees, their frontal lobe is about 14 to 17%. dogs about 7%, in cats about 3%.

Now, the frontal lobe is been known to be called the area of executive function. But think of the frontal lobe as the CEO of the brain or the symphony leader. The frontal lobe allows us to decide on action, to focus our concentration, to invent, to speculate, to have intention or attention. It’s the area of our brain that restrains our emotional reactions, or begins to speculate new possibilities. So, think of your frontal lobe as the seat of your conscience or your creative center.

Watch it all at GAIA:

Now, the rest of the brain is divided up into geography as well, for example, the back of your brain, called the occipital lobe or the visual cortex, is where you process sight or spatial orientation.

There’s strips in areas of your brain that allow you to feel certain things with your body, or to invoke or begin to initiate motor function or movement. There are areas of the brain that allow you to make long-term memories, and to begin to distinguish between self and non-self. But the entire brain is mapped geographically, and think of that first brain as that part of the brain that allows you to learn new things and to have a new experience. So then, every time you learn something new, you make new connections in your brain.

Learning is forging new synaptic connections. In some of the latest research in neuroscience, it says that one hour of focused concentration on one concept or idea literally doubles the number of connections in your brain, literally produces physical evidence as a result of your interaction in the environment. So then, all of this philosophy, this intellectual data, this theory, this knowledge, is stored in that neocortex called your thinking brain.

Now, the next step is to take that knowledge, that philosophy, and to begin to apply it, to personalize it, to demonstrate, to initiate that knowledge in some way. And if you do this properly and you can get your behaviors to match your intentions, you can get actions equal to your thoughts, you can get your mind and body working together, you’re going to have a new experience.

Now, when you’re in the midst of an experience, all of your five senses plug you into the environment, and as all of that sensory information rushes back to your brain, jungles of neurons begin to organize themselves into patterns and networks. So then, experience then enriches the philosophical circuits in your brain, and when those neurons begin to form into networks, the second brain called the limbic brain, the emotional brain, the chemical brain, the mammalian brain begins to make a chemical, and that chemical is called a feeling or an emotion.

So the moments you feel unlimited, the moment you feel abundant, the moment you feel free from any experience, now you are teaching your body chemically to understand what your mind has intellectually understood.

So we could say that knowledge is for the mind and experience is for the body. And in that moment, you are embodying the truth of that philosophy. And because there’s new information coming in from the environment, you’re literally beginning to change your genetic destiny by signaling new genes in new ways. And it is the limbic brain or the chemical brain that begins to manufacture those chemicals, so that your body begins to become chemically instructed to understand what your mind has intellectually understood. Now, the limbic brain also has some other functions. It is the seat of your autonomic nervous system. And think of your autonomic nervous system as your automatic nervous system. This is the part of the brain that subconsciously regulates blood sugar levels, hormone levels, temperature, respiration, heart rate, this is the part of the brain that’s giving us life automatically.

And so then, when you begin to manufacture that chemical from an experience, the emotional signature from that experience begins to change your body in some way. If you’ve been able to create that experience once, you should be able to recreate it again. And if you’re able to recreate any experience over and over again, you are going to begin to neurochemically condition your mind and body to begin to work as one. And if you’ve done something so many times that your body now knows how to do it as well as your mind, now it’s innate in you, it’s second nature, it’s easy, it’s automatic, it’s familiar. In fact, you’ve done it so many times that you no longer have to consciously think about it, so that it begins to become a subconscious program.

Watch the AMAZING full series on GAIA – Click Here

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What is the ego?

The ego is a self-generated identity consisting of every belief we believe about who and what we are.

This includes our personality, our talents and our likes/dislikes.

The ego is what keeps us locked away in our minds in an endless cycle of chatter, separated from the present moment.

It is the identity created and reinforced by the story we tell ourselves. Our stories are, however, just that. Stories. They do not make up who we are.

While the ego is an aspect of the human condition, it is not the true essence of who we are. When we operate from ego we are generally obsessed with right/wrong, blame/shame and justification.

Learning to identify the traits and behaviours of the ego then working to consciously make a different choice will drastically change your life.

3 Tips On Managing Your Ego To Create A More Peaceful, Loving Life!

1. Stop Taking Things Personally

The ego loves to get offended. It loves to feel wounded and it THRIVES on pain and conflict. When we choose to be offended over things we are actively choosing to allow the ego to take hold of our lives and create pain. In order to disassociate from this decision and make a different choice, we must recognise that love is our natural state. Humans actually want to connect and feel joy, not misery.

If someone does or says something that makes you feel bad, you have two choices. You can engage in conflict, or you can recognise that the trigger within you is an opportunity for your own growth. You can also choose to recognise that anything said from someone else is likely a projection of their own ego.

It makes engaging with it sort of seem silly, doesn’t it? Two egos going to battle like that? Don’t waste your precious energy.

2. Forgive

The ego loves being right. It sustains itself in this way. The problem is it also keeps you from doing what you need to do to move closer to love and truth. The ego is sort of like a weed in this way. It may have pretty flowers for your inner garden, but if left unattended it will choke out all of your other plants and leave you in a big mess.

When you forgive, you allow your heart to open and you separate from the need to be “right” and instead choose love. This is functioning from your true self. Forgive others and forgive yourself too.

3. Let Go And Observe

Let go of trying to be right, trying to win, trying to be seen, trying to be heard. Instead, observe.

The ego wants to prove itself and jump up and down to gain love and validation. Our higher self doesn’t need validation. Our higher self knows that it IS love.

By becoming aware of the ego, and its need to be seen heard and acknowledged, you open up space to be seen and heard without expectation.

By observing without expectation you then see things as they are. You see people as they are rather than through a projected sense of lack because they are not matching up to your ego’s demands.

In this space, there is also an opportunity to sit back and observe as to who or who is not functioning from a place where they can offer themselves up emotionally to GIVE love, acceptance, adoration to you.  These means we let go of controlling people in an attempt to have our needs met. This is freedom.

There is no denying that the ego serves its purpose. But when the ego becomes the dominant process of your mind, you fall out of alignment with your true self.

With practice, you can learn how to manage your ego better and create a life that feels more peaceful, loving and authentic.

What do you do to help manage your ego? Share your thoughts in the comments!

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Some people argue that the secret to success is having a grand vision, above par intelligence, learning from failure, and luck. Though these are important and do play a role, the real secret lies in your mind, and specifically your subconscious mind.

The subconscious mind regulates body functions from breathing and heartbeat. However, it also governs the mind through the reticular activating system. The RAS acts as a filter of the more than 8 million bits of information flowing through your brain. Only relevant information enters the cerebrum and further converted into conscious thought.

But this begs the question, what does the RAS consider relevant? Well, whatever is important to you. So by keeping your desires top of your mind, your subconscious mind will work towards getting them. Below are five ways you can hack your subconscious mind to get what you want.

1. Meditation

One of the ways to hack your subconscious mind is to meditate. Researchers at Harvard found that meditation increases the cortical thickness of the hippocampus which is responsible for learning and memory. Thus you learning new skills will be a breeze and you will retain more of what you read.

Moreover, it reduces fear, anxiety, and stress, by decreasing the cell volume in the amygdala. Finally, seeing as meditation involves focusing on the same object for extended periods, it improves concentration and cognitive skills.

2. Hack your Subconscious Mind through Positive Reinforcement

Neurons that fire together, wire together.

When neurons in our brain communicate, they create a neural pathway connecting distant parts of our brains. One common path is the reward pathway that automatically encourages us to seek activities essential for survival.

Positive reinforcement releases dopamine which strengthens the pathway thus driving the desire to do that activity again and again. We are compelled to repeat the thought-word-action pattern leading to success.

So, change your alarm message to “YOU ARE GREAT,” read books and listen to music/podcasts that bring you positivity and hopefulness. Keep an inspirational note on your computer, and make your newsfeed a place that catalyzes your growth.

3. Positive Affirmations

Another way to hack your subconscious mind is through positive affirmations. According to Dr. Phil Shapiro, “they work by implanting powerful commands in your subconscious mind, which, over time, reprogram it at the core level.”

Therefore, make a definitive statement about yourself daily, as if it is already true. Over time, your subconscious mind will take over and start acting by those beliefs.

4. Visualization

Visualization is one of the ways athletes hack their subconscious minds. They visualize running a course in a particular time and are later able to accomplish the feat. Visualization stimulates the same region of the brain as when we act. Lifting your right arm and visualizing lifting your right arm stimulate the same area.

If you can envisage yourself as successful, your mind will subconscious mind will process that as reality.

Seeing is believing.

5. Start a Gratitude Journal

Finally, hack your unconscious mind by starting a gratitude journal. The fastest way to put yourself in a headspace where you have over want is to practice gratitude. Appreciating what you have is shifts your mindset to one where you are satisfied, and magnetizes abundance to you.

Once you believe you have enough, you will receive more and more.

Wrapping Up

Hacking your subconscious mind takes practice. Don’t feel the need to put all the methods above into action simultaneously. Pick what works for you, and incorporate the rest as you advance.

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Ubuntu is an African term meaning “humanity.”

The philosophical concept behind the term is that there is a universal bond that connects all of humanity to each other. Simply put, Ubuntu means we are all one.

Desmond Tutu explained the concept in this way.

“Africans have a thing called Ubuntu. We believe that a person is a person through other persons. That my humanity is caught up, bound up, inextricably, with yours. When I dehumanize you, I dehumanize myself. The solitary human being is a contradiction in terms. Therefore you seek to work for the common good because your humanity comes into its own in community, in belonging.” Desmond Tutu

The Ubuntu concept is that we each exist as an extension of one another. We are all innately connected through our being here on Earth at the same time.

When one person suffers, we all suffer. When one person rejoices, we all rejoice.

What a beautiful idea.

It makes me wonder what the world would look like if every person on the planet embraced the concept of Ubuntu?

What would we see if this oneness spread itself across the globe, through all races and religions?

Sadly, the current state of the world is anything but connected. Everywhere we turn we see disconnect There are wars being fought because we insist on division.

On a global scale, we insist on choosing righteousness over the connection to others. We insist on holding on to the pain of the past and using it to fuel the wars of the present.

Further to this global issue, on person to person level, we are not connecting either. Many of us are hiding our truth and avoiding the vulnerability of sharing ourselves with our fellow humans.

Concepts along the lines of “suffer in silence, don’t share your wins, don’t share your pain” all feed into the separation consciousness.

This is tragic because, at the deepest level, we all want to connect. Primally, we all want to love and we all want to feel accepted.

So how can we bring the concept of Ubuntu into our own lives?

Really all that is required to embrace the concept of Ubuntu is to unpack and dissolve the idea that we are separate from one another.

We need to remove the idea we are alone in this world, and that we have to fight to survive. We need to forget the teachings we have received that taught us one is better than another in terms of religion, race or social status, we need to learn to trust one another again.

Start at home, start by opening up to your friends and family. Build a community around yourself then allow others, no matter who they are to enter that community without judgement. Learn to lean on those around you at the same time as being a support to them.

This is Ubuntu.

Embracing it will change your life and the world around you too. Seems like a pretty good idea right?

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We all have habits – that in itself is not a bad thing.  But by being mindful of how our habits affect us, both short- and long-term, positively or negatively, we can ensure our habits enrich our life rather than detract from the quality of life we want.

With a few tweaks in our choices and awareness of these habits, we can alter the effects in a life-enriching way.. leading to increased happiness and overall quality of life.

Drop These Surprisingly Common but Insidious Habits to Enrich Your Life

1. Being jealous

Jealousy harbors negative energy (within ourselves and emanating to others), and yet can have a positive spin when we look at the root of it and alter our interpretation.  When we feel jealous, we are most often wishing to be like someone else, coveting what they have, whether traits or material things.

That “jealous” feeling (or acting) is simply a habit we develop.

Rather than interpreting that feeling as jealousy, with a change in approach, we can choose to honor what the other person has or does.   Allow them to be a model of what we want and someone we can learn from rather than viewing them as an opponent.

With awareness, this habit can become one of lifting up others and yourself.

2. Gossiping

Gossiping is another habit that is most often slanted negatively.  Yet again, gossip, at its root, can be enriching with a thoughtful approach.

According to an article in Psychology Today, “65% to 80% of our daily conversations are about other people…” so gossip itself is part of our everyday lives.  But when misused with negative intent, it becomes harmful and can lead to hurt feelings, depression, and antagonistic behavior.

If you realize that the information you’re sharing about someone else is a negative comment, based on an unfounded rumor, or intended as hurtful, re-think your communication with an empathetic mindset.

Ask yourself how the other person would feel if they heard your comments.

Just being mindful of your particular gossiping habits can ensure they are enriching experiences rather than ones that leads to negative outcomes.

These habits are particularly insidious in that they become so ingrained into our daily lives that we often don’t even think about them as choices or habits at all. 

3. Making poor choices about media influences

Our culture is filled with 24/7 media in various forms, and our media habits stem from each related choice we make.

While “entertainment” isn’t inherently a bad thing, it takes awareness and conscious choices to ensure we’re exposing ourselves to influences that are enriching rather than draining.

We make daily choices about what news we choose to watch or read and what television shows to watch.  This can range from sitcoms to reality shows (filled with commercials) and everything in between.

So what are you choosing?  Documentaries, inspirational content, theatre, and music can be some of the most enriching media selections.  Others can provide less-than-exemplary examples of how we want to live our own lives.

Simply being aware of how your media choices are affecting and influencing you is a step in the right direction to more enriching experiences.  We can and should choose to develop media habits that enhance our lives rather than detract from them.

4. Choosing convenient (highly-processed) foods over quality choices

Today’s culture and society is one of instant gratification and convenience.  Grocery stores are filled with far more choices in boxed foods and ready-made meal and snack choices than they are with wholesome choices.

We see fast food chains everywhere (and commercials to go with them).

Marketers spend HUGE amounts of money on research to determine strategic placement of products in grocery stores.  This is researched to the point of learning how a typical customer walks through the store and drawing customers to what they want them to buy based on this.

For example, you may not be aware that marketers can now use “eye tracking” devices to research and determine, with accuracy, what an average customer experiences.  It tracks how a consumer reacts visually to product placement to influence buying choices.

From a consumer perspective, especially as marketing technology evolves, we need to be even more aware in making planned and conscious choices.  This can lessen the detrimental effects of influential marketing that aims to steer our buying choices in the wrong direction.

Awareness is the key here to make the best choices to enrich your life.

Know what you intend to buy before you walk into a store.  And know that your “impulses” to make additional or alternative buying choices are often being strategically influenced by high-paying marketers.

Choose food purchases that are healthy and make you feel at your best.  Not ones that are being sold in a colorfully packaged box in the right section of the store and at the right height to draw your attention.

5. Staying in Your Comfort Zone

Staying in your comfort zone is great, right?  (It’s nice and comfy there.)

We’re not saying yes to excitement and new adventures.  We become hesitant about (or fearful of) change.

Remember that (both positive and negatively-perceived) change leads to personal growth.

So get out there beyond your comfort zone…even in small ways.  Chances are, it will enrich life in surprising ways.

Think about how you spend your time and things you do on a regular basis (your habits).  For a more mindful approach, ask yourself these questions:

• Is this something that tends to make me (and/or others) feel better or worse?
• Does it impact me (and/or others) in a positive or negative way?
• Is it something I think about, or something I just DO…and why?
• Is it a thoughtful choice or a habit based on the influence of others? (And if influenced, is it a positive influence or a potentially negative one?)

When it comes to the habits we adopt, being aware and mindful of your choices can help steer your habits along a positive path to truly enrich your life.

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What differences are there between feelings and emotions, and what impact do our thoughts have?

We tend to use the words “feelings” and “emotions” interchangeably.  Though related, there are distinct differences worth understanding.

Feelings vs. Emotions vs. Thoughts

Do you ever question how our mind and body processes emotions and feelings versus thoughts? Wondering which happens first?  Or ponder which has the greater power over our decisions, life path, and overall quality of life?

By gaining insights about these different nuances, we can put that knowledge to use in making better choices.

We can change our thoughts and ultimately create positive change in our lives.

Here’s a breakdown to offer some clarity:

EMOTIONS

Emotions are physical reactions, often stemming from an outside influence.  Sometimes these stem from internal experiences, such as being spurred by a memory rather than an immediate outside influence.

Since emotions affect our bodies at a physical level, these are objectively measurable.  We can truly monitor brain activity, blood flow, body language, and facial micro-expressions.

According to Debbie Hampton (author of the book Beat Depression and Anxiety by Changing Your Brain), “Emotions are lower level responses occurring in the subcortical regions of the brain, the amygdala, and the ventromedial prefrontal cortices, creating biochemical reactions in your body altering your physical state.”

They precede feelings and are more instinctual and physical in scope.

(Example: You’re out hiking, and the only way to cross a river in your path is to traverse an old rickety bridge.  Your body may have an instinctual and visceral reaction, resulting in the emotion FEAR.)

FEELINGS

What are feelings, then?

Feelings are the result of our thoughts interpreting our personal experiences, and their associations with emotional experiences.

Emotional responses are biologically based and more instinctual, so there isn’t much variation from person to person.  With feelings, on the other hand, results vary greatly between individuals since these are linked to our unique associations and memories.

What’s particularly interesting is that emotions and feelings can create somewhat of a “loop.”  An emotional experience can cause a feeling.  Over time, the concentration on that feeling creates linked emotions that stem internally from the associated feelings.

(Example: Once you crossed the bridge mentioned earlier, you focused on what other obstacles might lay in your path.  This may result in the FEELING of being afraid.  This is similar to the fearful emotion, but distinctly different in that it is the THOUGHTS about the EMOTION that create the FEELING.)

THOUGHTS

Thoughts are mental processes that serve as the link between our emotions and feelings.

They represent our beliefs, opinions, ideas, and over time, our attitudes.

How we THINK about an experience (one that has evoked an emotional response) will feed the associated resulting FEELING.

(Example: Using the bridge example again, after crossing, you may have ruminated about how difficult your hiking path was.  Or you may have thought about how many other obstacles could be ahead.  These THOUGHTS lead to FEELINGS – feeling afraid as one example.) 

How This Understanding Can Benefit You

Our internal experiences are created by emotions, thoughts, and feelings – all working together in a connected way.

Whether or not we can easily change our emotions is uncertain because limited research has been done to-date.

However, research does exist to show that you can change your thoughts and create new thought patterns.

In changing your thoughts, by association, you can alter your feelings.

You can CHOOSE what you focus on (for example, by choosing to think about the excitement of an adventure rather than what other obstacles may lie ahead).

And you can CHOOSE to feel brave rather than afraid.

Changing our thoughts and feelings related to emotional experiences is not necessarily easy.

However, you CAN affect substantial positive change in your life by reframing your thoughts. It merely takes practice.

Ultimately, the truest benefit is an enhanced life experience.

The post What Are Feelings vs. Emotions vs. Thoughts: How Nuances of Each Effect Positive Change appeared first on Fearless Soul - Inspirational Music & Life Changing Thoughts.

Humans need validation.

As tribal creatures, we deeply crave connection and love from our peers.

We all want to feel accepted and loved for who we are in any given moment.

We need those around us to help us feel that we are valuable, that our thoughts and ideas are worthwhile.

The problem is – we can’t always rely on that validation from others..

This is because everyone we meet is dealing with their own set of limitations.

What do I mean by that?

Each human being you meet has a story. We each have our own unique set of fears, conditioning and limiting beliefs that have been generated over our entire lives.

These fears and limiting beliefs can restrict our ability to communicate and show love. They can make us feel unsafe and even unworthy.

So, if this is the case, that as humans, sometimes we can struggle to communicate and show love because of our fears and limitations, and it is also true that most humans need validation at some point, we can see that perhaps we have a bit of a complication here?

The nerve ending paradox of the human condition.

We all need validation. We all struggle sometimes with giving validation.

Great.

So what can we do about this complex dichotomy?

Well as we know, we can never affect another person’s attitudes or behaviours.

We can only ever work to change ourselves.

Self-validation means accepting your emotions, your inner world and your thoughts. It means becoming your own cheerleader and giving yourself that feeling of worthiness, rather than seeking it externally.

When you can do this, you place yourself in an empowered position.

This a powerful self-development practice which once mastered will mean..

You no longer rely on others to make you feel worthy.

When you learn to recognise your positive traits and accomplishments you can learn to understand yourself more and manage your emotions better.

You create a sense of peace within, and you become less “needy” because you are giving yourself what you need..

2 Steps To Self-Validation

Here are 2 simple steps towards self-validation and self-acceptance..

1. Remind yourself how far you’ve come

Take out a notepad and write down a list of every accomplishment you have ever had.

This may prove to be difficult, generally, we are much better at finding what mistakes we have made!

Once you are done, add in at least one accomplishment every day. Something as simple as brushing your teeth will do!

It sounds so simple, its often overlooked, but try it! This practice will help you rewire your brain to notice all of the amazing things you do every day!

2. Practice mindful consciousness

Notice when you are internally wishing someone would validate you.

Consciously feel whatever emotions are coming to you at that moment.

Accept the feelings as they are, validate that they are allowed to exist.

Now, give that validation you seek to yourself.

It could be a simple sentence like “Your resilience to not give up so far has been incredible” or “I think you did some of your best work on that last project” or simply “You look beautiful today.”

Self-validation is not an easy thing to achieve. But with practice, it is one of the greatest gifts you can give yourself.

The post 2 Steps To Self-Validation: Take Back Your Power! Accept Yourself Using This Simple, Powerful Practice! appeared first on Fearless Soul - Inspirational Music & Life Changing Thoughts.

We all know a complainer.

You know, the one who always manages to find a negative in every positive. The one who seems to totally miss the upside and go straight for what could have been better or what was missing in any situation.

Being around people who complain all the time is exhausting. It really drains your energy to constantly talk about what’s WRONG in life instead of focusing on what’s good or what’s going well.

The funny thing is, chances are at one point or another you have been that complaining person.

I know I have.

It doesn’t make you bad. It doesn’t mean you are unlovable or unacceptable. Being ashamed of yourself isn’t the answer here.

The point is simply, to gently tell you that you may have accidentally gotten stuck on focusing on the wrong stuff.

WHOOPS.

But, there’s good news! You can totally change it. And it’s important that you do.

When we complain or focus on the negative in life, we actually increase feelings of sadness and melancholy.

That’s not something we really want, is it?

We do however want to be honest about how we feel and allow ourselves to be truthful in the moments when we need to let out some frustration or anger.

That is healthy.

What isn’t healthy is chronic, habitual, unconscious complaining.

Complaining that actually makes you feel worse, not better, when you do it.

Complaining that affects the people around you because they must find conjure positive resistance to your negative energy.

The truth is you aren’t negative, you have just got some negative patterns of thinking.

So how do we change that?

1. Understand your reasons for complaining

Looking at the reasons why we do what we do, can be the most uncomfortable thing in the world.

It’s also how we grow.

Why do you complain? Is it because your family does it? Growing up in a household where people constantly point out the negative is going to result in you doing it too. Do you complain to get attention? Perhaps when you were growing up you didn’t feel as important as your siblings so you learned to complain in order to get attention.

Whatever your reasons are, you need to become aware of them.

2. Mindfulness

Practising mindfulness amidst your complaining is the next step to changing the pattern you are stuck in.

Learn to become acutely aware of the things you complain about. For example is it work, the weather, getting stuck in traffic etc.

When you notice that you’re complaining pull yourself up and consciously STOP.

3. Start a gratitude practice

Starting a gratitude practice is the simplest way to help rewire your brain to focus on the positive in your life.

You don’t need a fancy journal or an expensive app to do it either. Simply note down 3 things a day you are grateful for, no matter how simple, and you will start to retrain your brain to focus on what’s good in your life.

Complaining is something that we all do from time to time, but if you do it too much it can really affect your life in a negative way.

Take back control and start focusing on the good stuff in your world. I promise there is plenty if you just take a moment to look!

The post Complaining Is Stopping You From Living The Life You Want: 3 Steps To CHANGE appeared first on Fearless Soul - Inspirational Music & Life Changing Thoughts.

Eckart Tolle is one the leading spiritual teachers in the world today. Born in Germany, educated in England & now residing in Canada.

Eckhart Tolle is a #1 New York Times bestseller with, The Power of Now having sold over 5 million copies. Eckhart teaches us how to leave the analytical mind and recognise our false sense of self, which we believe to be the ultimate controller of our lives.

Eckhart teaches us..

“You are not your thoughts.“

Having suffered from crippling anxiety for many years. It wasn’t until the age of 29, that Eckhart Tolle experienced a spiritual breakthrough in the middle of the night, which was the catalyst for his spiritual journey to begin.

Eckhart Tolle has spent decades studying and deepening the understanding of his own breakthrough, Eckhart uses simple language to explain complicated shifts of perspective and thought process, which when utilised have the potential to improve our lives dramatically.

Listen closely as Eckart Tolle explains this simple process for becoming present to calm your racing thoughts.

Transcript | Eckhart Tolle – How To Silence Voices In Your Head

When we told you Eckhart would be coming on Super Soul Sunday. We heard the collective digital cheer online, you told us you had questions for Eckhart and he happily agreed to take a few. Laura one of our Facebook followers, wanted to know, how to calm the voice in her head. She writes “I feel like my mind is racing an enormous speed and at night it’s even worse.”

“How can I stop the constant stream of consciousness in my mind.”

Good question, many people will be thankful for that question. So first of all the question implies that you know that your mind won’t stop. If you are totally immersed you’re so identified with your mind, even the thought that your mind won’t stop, doesn’t even occur to you because you become your mind.  You don’t know that it is your mind, that won’t stop. So Laura that’s a big, that’s.. you’re ahead of the game. The fact that Laura knows that her mind won’t stop is a good thing.

It’s a good start, so when you hear the thought “Why can’t I stop my mind.”

Don’t believe it, because you can stop your mind.

How?

You can choose to take your attention away from thinking, and the first thing you do as you lie there in bed, you ask yourself, can I feel the energy inside my hands? In other words, can I feel that my hands are there without touching anything, can I feel that there’s an energy inside my hands and after a little while most people can.

There’s a slight tingling or liveness that you can feel when the energy goes in there and that’s an enormous step that you’ve already taken, because immediately thinking will slow down. Because it no longer has your whole attention. Got it. Then see, can you incorporate the whole body. Can you sense your legs and arms? So why does that work and not just, Laura saying to herself, let me think about something else.

There’s no anchor then for presence and the mind has such momentum that you won’t be able to stop it.

You need an anchor for presence

And the inner body as I call it is a wonderful anchor for the state of presence. Laura I hope you got that too, that’s why you just can’t say, “Okay I’m gonna think about something else.”

Yes, and then.. You have to actively choose.  Not about something else, just go into the body and then thinking slows down, you might even stop completely for a while, and the amazing thing is what before was an unpleasant dreadful sleepless night, within a few minutes can actually be transformed into a very pleasant experience of feeling the inherent and aliveness in your whole body, and you lie there..

Because, and then you recognize “Oh I have slowed down.”

You have slowed down

The mind will do very little when you’re really in the body, there’s not much thinking anymore.

So another Facebooker wanted to know, this is closely related to what Laura said, “How does one clear one’s mind of bad memories?” Can you clear your mind of bad memories?

Well not as such, but you can recognize that bad memories are thoughts that are rising in your mind and when you recognize that these are thoughts arising in your mind.

You don’t need to identify with the thoughts any longer. So memories for example, of something bad that happened to you. Yes.

It’s not happening here and now

It’s already happened. Yes. It’s done. Yes, so memories are thoughts that arise. They are not realities.

Only when you believe that they are real, then they have the power over you. But when you realize it’s just another thought arising about the past then you can you find a space.. A spacious relationship with thought, so thought no longer has you in its grip.

I call it sometimes.. I hope if people really get that. Yes. That would be a gift for somebody whose tortured by the past. Yes, another aspect of that of course is guilt, which has to do with something one did to someone or something that they failed to do, but should have done. And so guilt arises.

But of course, who you were then..

No human being can act beyond their level of consciousness.

At that time, you acted like that..

The awareness was not there, to act differently. Now the awareness is there, and the awareness is who you truly are.

Well I think a lot of the reasons.. Anytime I’ve ever felt guilty it’s because I kind of knew better, I knew better and didn’t do it.

You know there’s nothing worse I think than being upset with yourself and you’re upset with yourself, not when you make a mistake for me. I’m upset with myself when I make a mistake that I could have prevented.

But you didn’t.. [Laughter] But you didn’t so live with it.

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