As I said in my last post, it’s easy for thoughts that are just in our imagination to create strong, visceral responses. The exact type of physiological and emotional responses depend upon the content of our thoughts (e.g., lustful thoughts can create sexual arousal, thoughts of being wronged can create feelings of hurt or anger). …Read More
Igniting Emotions
Apr 10, 2008
Our emotions are typically elicited by our thoughts. Situations, in a sense, are neither bad nor good…they just are. It is our thoughts about the situations that give rise to corresponding feelings. Often these thoughts are “automatic” and just below our conscious awareness. If we learn to become aware of them, we can learn to …Read More
Practicing Mindfulness Daily
Mar 31, 2008
It’s a given that when we practice something, we get better at it. Our brains are made to adapt to different stimuli. Mindfulness can be practiced in small ways every day such that you will get better at it. If you really wanted to learn a foreign language, you wouldn’t practice one day a week. …Read More
Getting Extra Mileage Out of Walking the Dogs
Mar 28, 2008
Like many others, I need to walk my dogs every day. They look forward to it much more than I do most of the time. Usually when I walk the dogs I’m walking them and thinking what I’m going to be doing when I’m finished. That voice in my head (just to clarify – it is …Read More
You Are Not Your Thoughts
Mar 24, 2008
As you can tell, I’ve really gotten into mindfulness as of late. Although I’ve been practicing mindfulness for about 10 years, a convergence of things have led me to become more focused on it. I can say with utmost confidence that mindfulness is not a fad or the latest craze. It’s a way of living …Read More
Mindfullness Challenges
Mar 19, 2008
Honestly, I really am working on not “living in my head” too much. I am improving on this, but I am undoing years of conditioned thought patterns. Some would call this stream of incessant, unconscious thinking the “ego.” It is thinking without conscious awareness of your thoughts. So, this is kinda funny and a great …Read More